TV Review: The Defenders - A True Convergence

In 2012, years of build-up lead to the culmination known as the Avengers, the first major live action superhero crossover in film and television. Now in 2017, Marvel and Netflix have formed another team with the Defenders, bringing Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist together after their own adventures. The results are similar to the Avengers, but also different.

What makes this miniseries so great to me is how it really feels like the shows are coming together and not just the characters. When it starts, we pick back up with each of our characters to see where they are following their last seasons, until their stories slowly bleed into each other and they begin to cross each others paths. A nice touch is that with each character, the screen has a certain tint or color scheme to math their own series; red for Matt, a kind of gray for Jessica, yellow for Luke, and green for Danny. In addition to that, we also have Alexandra, leader of the Hand and played by Sigourney Weaver, whose color theme is white. And while it was a little harder to tell, the scenes where they're all together either don't bother with the color scheme or they're mashed up in some way.

The character interaction between the heroes is great, aided by how in tune with the characters our stars are, not to mention how they play off each other. Along when they're fighting together, the best scenes are when they're all together and just talking, showing how different they are, but also similar. The funny parts of this are when they consider each others' backstory a little far-fetched. A blind ninja? Bulletproof skin? Receiving a magical fist after defeating a dragon? This is part of what makes these characters different from the Marvel characters in the movies. There, whenever they meet someone with spider powers or a size changing suit, any initial surprise quickly subsides. If the Avengers are gods, then the Defenders are but men (with another difference between the two being the police not wanting to work with the 'vigilantes'). As I said way back in my Daredevil season one review, these Netflix series put the MCU under a microscope and focus squarely on New York. These heroes are just doing their part to help their city while dealing with their own problems, still having relatively normal lives.
That said though, having the four finally together does point out the weak link not just of the characters, but the shows. That is of course, Iron Fist. I think many would agree that Iron Fist was the weakest of all the characters' solo seasons, and unfortunately, some of that rubs off here. While he is the youngest of the group and has lived most of his life outside of New York, his naivety is clear when he's with the other heroes, who are definitely more seasoned. There are a lot of moments where I thought to myself "Danny, you idiot".
While all the characters interact, only two pairs have actual extended one on one time together: Luke and Danny, and Matt and Jessica. Luke and Danny's first meeting is one of my favorite (and funniest) parts of the series, with Danny's fighting style not phasing Luke at all until he summons his chi. After that though, the two begin to get to know each other after being forced to by their girlfriends and later on once the whole team is together. They play off each other well and I sense a true friendship building; considering their comic counterparts are the Heroes for Hire, they better have good chemistry. While they're both getting a second season of their own shows, I really wish they would have combined them for a Heroes for Hire series. Then again, I'm really looking forward to Luke getting payback on Mariah and Shades in his second season, so maybe after that. Matt and Jessica's moments aren't as good as Danny and Luke's, but they still have good interaction with each other, which I think is significant because they were the first two series that started all this.

Besides the main heroes, we also have interaction with the supporting casts of each show. While Claire has been a part of each series, we also have Karen, Foggy, Malcolm, Trish, Misty, and Colleen appearing together. This is another element of the shows actually coming together, which is an aspect that puts this above the Avengers. While the Avengers films are great, in terms of a true crossover, it really feels like its own film with very few supporting characters from the solo films appearing or even meeting each other. Much like villain development, supporting character inclusion and interaction appears to be another advantage that the Netflix series' extra time allows compared to the films, where there's definitely little chance of Aunt May meeting Hank Pym.

Our main villains of this miniseries are the Hand, specifically their leaders known as the five fingers. I have mixed feelings about them. Out of the five, the only two that are actually interesting are Alexandra and once again returning Madame Gao. Besides that though, I felt the Hand here were a little too similar to the League of Assassins (or Shadows depending on the source), particularly in the aspect that they've been known to raze cities, with New York planned to go down next. I'll admit that I don't know that much about the Hand in the comics, but a quick glance at Wikipedia makes it appear the two are similar.
But our standout on the villains side is the resurrected Elektra, once again played brilliantly by Elodie Yung. She's very similar to the Winter Soldier, initially having no knowledge of her past life and being a soulless killing machines. Slowly, she begins to remember herself after seeing Matt again (the chemistry between the two still on point from season two of Daredevil). But unlike Bucky, she doesn't take the opportunity to fight her captors or right her wrongs. I won't spoil what she does, but her development and eventual endgame make her one of the best parts of the series.

Overall, while my expectations were a little higher than they should have been, I still found the Defenders satisfying, bringing the four heroes together with the strengths of their own shows, but unfortunately the weaknesses as well. Still, if you were a fan of any of the characters' solo series, you'll enjoy watching one or all of your favorite characters on one screen.

RATING: 9/10

Much like how the films are divided up, this marks the end of Phase One of the Netflix shows. While another Defenders crossover hasn't been announced, I have no it will happen. Building up to that though, I wouldn't be surprised that like the films, the characters will have more crossovers with each other even in the solo series. Not to go into specifics, but I'm really expecting Iron Fist to be a big part of season three of Daredevil.

A Look Back at Dragon Ball GT Part Two: Baby Saga

Previously on Dragon Ball GT: After Goku is inadvertently turned back to a child by a wish on the Black Star Dragon Balls, he, Trunks, and Pan travel into space to gather them back before the Earth explodes in one year's time. On their journey, they are joined by a little robot named Giru. When they visit Giru's home planet, Giru reveals his true nature, leading Goku and Trunks to be captured, leaving Pan alone and betrayed.

Welcome to part two of my look back at the infamous anime series, Dragon Ball GT. While the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga was attempting to recapture the feel and tone of the original Dragon Ball series, the Baby Saga can be seen as a return to the seriousness that came about from Dragon Ball Z...the tone of the Buu saga to be exact, but still. Let's go ahead and get started.

With an unconscious Goku and Trunks captured and taken to a lab, Pan sneaks into the base, even disguising herself as a robot when she find parts on an assembly line. The robot scientists begin to examine Goku and Trunks, starting with a power analysis, and of course, the readings for Goku are off the chart, which concerns General Rildo. He would rather destroy Goku, but Dr. Myuu needs the Saiyans for his experiments. To ease him, Giru reveals that he has records of the battles he's watched Goku in as well as Pan and Trunks, which he downloads the files of into not only Rildo, but the Sigma Force.
Eventually, Pan's cover is blown and she's detected in the base. Rildo sends out one of the Sigma Force, Nat, to take care of her. With Pan having trouble with him, Nat reveals that Giru had recorded their battles and that he knows her moves. Greatly upset at Giru's betrayal, Pan powers up a blast that takes Nat by surprise and destroys him. Pan's reasoning is that Giru never saw her that mad.
In my opinion, they should have used this moment for Pan to transform into a Super Saiyan. (And before anyone says that that instance shouldn't have been enough to spark a transformation, let me remind you that Goten first sent Super Saiyan getting too worked up while training with Chi-Chi.) In fact, Pan never goes Super Saiyan in this series at all. I've heard two reasons for Pan not going Super Saiyan. The first is that because her Saiyan DNA has been too diluted, only being a quarter, but from what we see later in this series, that isn't the case. The other reason is that they didn't know how a female Super Saiyan would look. What's so hard about that? Her hair turns yellow and stands straight up. Even fan artists can do this.

Pan busts into the lab but quickly gets knocked out (get used to that happening in this series). Goku, having just awoken, becomes furious at this and powers up, breaking him and Trunks out of the containment pods they were in. Trunks gets Pan to safety as Goku fights the remaining members of the Sigma Force. Since they have Giru's recordings, the Sigmas are able to match Goku until he's able to outsmart them. Eventually, they combine into the Sigma Force Cannon...which is really more of a bigger robot than a cannon.

It's a pretty even fight until the robot is thrown into the air by Goku and destroyed with a Kamehameha. Goku then heads back to the ship and meets up with Trunks and Pan, discovering that the three Dragon Balls they had are gone. Soon enough, Rildo arrives too. Trunks gets zapped by Rildo and becomes encased in metal, done in a similar way to something I can't put my finger on...

Trunks is teleported to Myuu's lab. Pan goes after him as Goku begins his battle with Rildo. It's a good fight with good banter, and things get taken up a notch when Goku goes Super Saiyan and Rildo assimilates the parts of the Sigma Force into his being, becoming Meta Rildo. This form doesn't last long though as it's quickly broken apart, so Rildo sheds it and transforms into what I like to think as his "pure" form. In this form, he's able to travel like liquid through any metal on the planet, including the areas he creates himself.

Meanwhile, Pan fights her way through the lesser robots in the base to find Trunks, eventually confronting Giru. But before she can get her payback, the building's security literally spits her out. Mysteriously, the three Dragon Balls are spit out with her as well. Pan then goes to the battle between Goku and Rildo, but her distraction gives Rildo the opportunity to turn Goku and Pan into metal too, who are then teleported to Myuu.

As Myuu is about to begin his experiments on the Saiyans, Giru transports in and actually saves them, destroying a good part of the lab and freeing Goku and Pan from their metal encasements. Before he can free Trunks, Myuu grabs his slab and threatens to destroy him. During the attempt to retrieve him though, Trunks' slab falls to the floor and it shatters, apparently killing him. But soon after, the real Trunks arrives, having been saved by Giru beforehand with his slab being switched out for a fake. It turns out Trunks and Giru have had a secret plan from the moment they came to M2 after Giru told Trunks the truth about everything.

Myuu tries to run but is stopped by Trunks, who opens a secret lab Myuu doesn't want them in. In this lab is another bionic organism gestating in a tube that Myuu calls Baby, made up of different energies from across the galaxy. As this project was going to be Myuu's ultimate tool for universal domination and unlike any of his other creations, rumors has spread across the machine community of M2, particularly that they were all to be deactivated once Baby was completed. Having been told about this by Giru, Trunks used his time to find Baby and shut down the experiment once and for all...or at least he thought he did.

Baby opens his eyes as his energy begins to build up, he fully forms, breaks free from his tube and causes a huge explosion in Myuu's base, significantly injuring the doctor in the process.

Much like a newborn, Baby has to develop and does so constantly during his time on the series. He even has to learn to walk and talk. Even his voice matures over time. As Myuu orders him to kill the Saiyans, Baby's first words are "Kill Saiyans", and as we learn more about Baby later, that's very fitting. Soon enough though, the GT gang all blast Baby, blowing him into pieces and believing him to be dead. Dismayed, Myuu activates a ship which he uses to escape, not knowing that a piece of Baby attaches itself to Myuu's foot. Since they believe Baby to be dead, Trunks thinks there should be no need to worry about Myuu anymore. On Myuu's ship, Baby literally bursts out of Myuu's body. Given Baby's parasitic nature and the little phallic growth on his head, I wouldn't be surprised if the Xenomorph served as some inspiration for Baby's character. Baby, now able to form full sentences, reveals that he was the one manipulating Myuu's actions (which I'm not exactly sure how that was possible), and reveals his own goals of domination as he crushes Myuu's head, revealing the one-star Black Star Dragon Ball.

With everyone safe and the three Dragon Balls back with them, the GT gang attempt to take off from M2, but are stopped by General Rildo, holding on to their spaceship. All three Saiyans step out and fire a blast at Rildo, freeing them from his grip and apparently killing him. As we find out though, Baby was possessing Rildo. I would say that Rildo, given his capabilities, could have survived a blast like that, but I'm willing to chalk that up to Baby's possession, as he probably wasn't able to use Rildo's full capabilities at that moment; the same thing happened when Ginyu took over Goku's body during the Frieza saga.
And with that, the search for the Dragon Balls resumes. They detect a ball on an attacked and apparently empty ship floating through space and not only find the one-star ball (uh-oh), the lone survivor of the ship, a young boy. They take the boy on their ship and find the nearest planet to give him medical attention, where the doctors save him. As it turns out though, the boy is possessed by Baby.
So let's talk about how insanely fast Baby is. After killing Myuu, he's able to go back to M2, possess Rildo, attempt and fail to stop the GT gang, takes off into space again, gets ahead of the GT gang, finds a ship where he kills (and we find out later that he feeds on) every passenger, save for one boy who he possesses, and leaving the one-star ball he had as bait to lure them in. Baby, forget universal domination, you could make Jimmy John's freaky fast delivery slogan a reality. Seriously though, I feel like we needed to have an episode where they found another Dragon Ball before they ran into Baby again just so his plan could seem just a little feasible.
Baby plans to possess one of the GT gang, first by getting one of them alone. Baby jumps from the boy to a doctor and offers Trunks a tour of the hospital to look at their technology. Once alone, Baby makes his move, but Trunks is saved by Goku and Pan. While a battle ensues, Baby is still clearly no match for a straight fight, but is able to push them back with an energy burst. This also causes a cut on Trunks' arm, which Baby uses as an entry point to possess him. While he's able to control him at first, Trunks powers up to Super Saiyan and is able to purge Baby from his body. Baby realizes he needs more energy to fully possess a Saiyan and makes his escape, possessing a woman boarding a spaceship (eventually killing and feeding everyone on board once they're in space). With no way to find Baby, the GT gang resumes their search for the last three balls.

We then jump back to Earth where he have our biggest development yet: after being told by his daughter Bulla that he looks like a geek, Vegeta has saved his moustache!

No, but in real developments, Goten's date with Valese is interrupted by a strong man with laser eyes tearing up the city apparently looking for Saiyans. Goten takes him down, but is then attacked by two more assailants, and is able to take down as well. A fourth man kicks Goten in the stomach, and it's then revealed that all four men had been possessed by the freaky fast Baby, who has made his way to Earth and in a new form, revealing himself when he realizes Goten is a Saiyan.

The two battle, but since Baby isn't strong on his own, his plan is to wear down Goten and then take over his body, which he succeeds in doing. He's then able to access Goten's mind and learns that Vegeta is the strongest Saiyan on the planet and set's his sights on him. Baby Goten arrives at Capsule Corp looking for Vegeta and acts coldly to Chi-Chi and Gohan, who are also visiting. Gohan is able to tell something is wrong right away and leads "Goten" away from the city. They battle, and it's Gohan's unwillingness to hurt his brother that allows Baby to jump over and possess Gohan.
Piccolo arrives afterward, having sensed Baby's dark energy. Unfortunately, he is quickly taken down by a Kamehameha from Baby Gohan. It doesn't kill him, but he's apparently left for dead. So this is Piccolo's first appearance on this series, and he gets taken down as if he were Krillin or Yamcha. It's not hard to argue that after all the Saiyans, Piccolo is one of the strongest beings on Earth, and he probably keeps up his training unlike Gohan, Trunks, or Goten. He's an important character, but it feels like the writers forgot about him and had to put him in last minute just so they could find a reason for him not to show up for a little while.

Anyway, Baby Gohan takes the injured Goten back to Capsule Corps and goes after Vegeta, attacking him and Bulla as they're returning home from shopping. Immediately sensing something's wrong, Vegeta sends Bulla away so he can deal with "Gohan". It's here that Baby reveals that his true lineage is that of the Tuffles, the race that shared the same planet as the Saiyans before they were wiped out. So the motivation for Baby's actions is revenge for his fallen race. The two battle, and Baby reminds Vegeta that he'll have to kill Gohan to kill Baby, to which Vegeta responds in a very Vegeta way "What makes you think I have a problem with that?" Nice to see family life hasn't changed him that much.
Soon enough, Goten arrives and appears to want to help Vegeta but then he turns on him. As it turns out, Baby leaves traces of himself in those he possesses and is able to bend them to his whim. The two double team Vegeta, cutting up his body, giving Baby entry points to possess him. Vegeta tries to fight off Baby's control and ultimately fails. Unlike Baby's other victims, he actually begins to change Vegeta's body, now that he has the right host.

And with that, Baby begins his crusade to infect everyone on Earth as the first step for universal domination.
After finding the last three balls, the GT gang finally return to Earth, first stopping at the lookout to give the balls to Dende and Popo, unaware they along with everyone else has been possessed by Baby. Trunks heads back home as do Goku and Pan. When Goku and Pan arrive, they are treated coldly by Chi-Chi and Videl and are soon attacked by Gohan and Goten once they arrive. After Pan gets hurt and passes out, Goku goes on the offensive against his possessed sons. Goku prepares to blast them with a Kamehameha, but is stopped by Mr. Satan, who has been able to stave off infection from Baby thanks to Majin Buu's help. Mr. Satan informs Goku of Baby's actions, and soon enough, Baby Vegeta arrives as well, along with the possessed Bulla and Trunks (who was infected when Baby attempted to possess him). Goku has Buu take Mr. Satan and Pan to safety as he battles Baby. Unlike the other Saiyans, Baby wants Goku dead. Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 but his child body isn't able to sustain the form; to be fair, Super Saiyan 3 was always a drain on Goku's power, even as an adult. Baby then gives Goku what is probably the worst beatdown he's received since his battle with Frieza on Namek. Baby then plans to finish off Goku after being given energy from everyone he's infected on Earth, transforming him into his final form and the power to form his Revenge Death Ball, which he throws at Goku, apparently killing him.
The best way to describe the Revenge Death Ball is like a negative version of the Spirit Bomb, being made for evil intentions rather than good. It's an interesting concept that hasn't been done before. And much like the opposite of a Spirit Bomb, it only takes one episode to form.

As for Baby's final form, I like it. It gives him his own distinct appearance without looking like he's possessing Vegeta. Although I have to wonder what it would have been like had Vegeta kept his moustache (no promises, but that's the last time I plan to bring up the moustache).

After Goku's defeat, Dende brings Baby the Black Star Dragon Balls and summons the giant Red Shenron. Baby wishes for his home planet to be restored right in Earth's orbit. Shenron grants the wish and the balls scatter across the galaxy once again. Why does Baby wish for Planet Tuffle back when he can just use Earth for his base of operations and christen it the new Tuffle planet? Aside from pride, if you had to press me, it's for plot convenience later on. With his new planet created (with a city already in place), Baby begins transporting everyone on Earth there, thanks to a doomsday situation created by Capsule Corp, which is one big ass spaceship. Pan, Buu, and Mr. Satan are able to sneak on the ship and make it to Planet Tuffle. There, Pan has a plan: throw laxatives down people's throats to expel Baby from them. Obviously this doesn't work and it almost leads to her being killed by Gohan until she is saved by Uub, who was also able keep himself from being infected by Baby.
Uub battles Baby, and after sensing how much strong Uub is than the Saiyans, he blasts Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, stating he's done with them. Baby soon defeats Uub in a beam clash and tries to finish him off with a Revenge Death Ball. Majin Buu steps in and absorbs the attack and then explodes. Buu's energy surrounds Uub and goes inside his body and the two become one being: Majuub, who is basically just Uub wearing new clothes similar to Buu's, but is also stronger and acquired Buu's ability to turn people into chocolate. For those who forgot, Uub is the reincarnation of Kid Buu, so they are essentially becoming a complete being again, much like Piccolo and Kami when they fused.
Despite this power boost though, Baby defeats Majuub in yet another beam clash, and he ends up turning himself into chocolate, which Baby proceeds to eat. So as you can tell, Goku spending seven years away from his family to train this kid turned out to be really worth it. Seriously though, they built up a lot of hype with Uub, about how strong he was and that he was going to be Goku's successor, but they turned it into a lot of wasted potential. It's like how Gohan was always meant to surpass Goku but they decided to keep the spotlight on Goku. History repeats itself again it seems.

As you probably know though, Goku isn't really dead (which means like the Spirit Bomb, the Revenge Death Ball doesn't always get the job done). While the aforementioned events have been going on, Goku's been doing his own thing. Before the Revenge Death Ball collided, Kibito Kai teleported in and grabbed Goku, but the shockwave caused him to drop Goku mid-teleportation and Goku ended up in another dimension. What happens in this other dimension is so stupid and ridiculous that I'm not even going into detail on it, because it doesn't even have bearing on the plot. It's essentially filler, which I'm surprised even exists on this show since there's no manga like before to go along with. It's practically like the fake Namek arc back in Dragon Ball Z, just not as long. Maybe this is another reason people hate GT, that it has pointless moments and a good chunk of people watching just want to get this over with as soon as possible.
Eventually, Goku escapes the other dimension and Kibito Kai is able to bring him to Other World (which is essentially Heaven in the Dragon Ball series). Old Kai has a plan to give Goku the power boost needed to defeat Baby: regrowing his tail. But since they don't have time for the proper training to do it naturally, their only option is to painfully yank it out, and after some comedy that works half the time, they're successful and Kibito Kai takes Goku to Planet Tuffle just after Baby eats the chocolate Majuub.
Goku and Baby battle again, and while Goku is now able to sustain his Super Saiyan 3 form, Baby still mops the floor with him. As Goku is laid out, he looks up at the Earth above and feels sadness that he won't be able to save it along with his friends and family. But thanks to his tail, looking at it triggers Goku's Great Ape transformation, now in a golden form thanks to his Super Saiyan abilities. While a Great Ape usually appears when a Saiyan with a tail absorbs the Blutz Waves from a full moon, it's stated here that the Earth gave off Blutz Waves as well. I'm just willing to accept that since this is fictional science after all, though I'm still chalking this up as plot convenience.

Much like when he was a kid (the first time), Goku has no control of himself in this state, acting like a feral beast. While he's able to hurt Baby, he's putting everyone else on the planet in danger as well. Goku eventually stops when he looks up at the Earth and tries to reach it with his hands. Pan tries to reach her grandfather inside the giant ape and finds success by showing him an old photo of the whole Dragon Ball gang on an outing to the beach when Pan was four years old. Along with some touching flashbacks that show Goku's caring nature as a family man rather than a fighter, seeing Pan crying and catching her tears on his giant finger starts to bring out the old Goku. He looks up at the Earth again, which triggers a transformation into the form that this series is known for: Super Saiyan 4.

The design for Super Saiyan 4 is quite a departure from previous transformations, which is its strength and weakness. I have to say though that with the long hair that came from Super Saiyan 3, having more hair grow on the body probably seemed to be the next logical step. And while the gold hair is gone, that does help it stand on its own. Overall, it really is the best compromise between the Great Ape and Super Saiyan transformations. Why does Goku turn back into an adult and his clothes change size too? I'm just going to say it's probably the same logic that allowed Justin to grow to adult size when he morphed into the Blue Ranger on Power Rangers Turbo. Either that or Goku figured out how to do Piccolo's clothes beam.

I've had this theory about Super Saiyan 4 that others have probably had. When Vegeta told the legend of the original Super Saiyan way back in the Frieza saga, it was stated that he was destroyed by his own power and there was a silhouette of a Great Ape, most likely a gold one like Goku transformed into. Since a tail makes a Saiyan more powerful, transforming into a Super Saiyan immediately with a tail may be too much to handle. Goku however has been without his tail for decades and has trained his body to handle immense power, even reaching two more levels of Super Saiyan. By the time he grew his tail back, he had been able to channel the energy he had from his Great Ape form and turn it into Super Saiyan 4, which can be seen as the ultimate Saiyan form.

Baby, wanting to achieve a Great Ape form as well, tasks Bulma with finding a way despite the fact that he in Vegeta's body doesn't have a tail. Goku then crashes in in his new form and the two begin to battle again, but now the tables have turned. The now seemingly indestructible Goku is finally inflicting considerable damage on Baby. When it looks like Baby's end, Bulma is able to focus the Blutz Waves coming from the Earth onto Baby with a Blutz Wave amplifier, causing Baby to transform into a Great Ape as well, even growing a tail. Unlike Goku when he transformed though, Baby is able to retain his intelligence, can talk and stay focused on Goku. Also unlike Goku, when Baby causes collateral damage to his planet and the people, he either doesn't care or he's having fun doing it.

The battle appears to be even again as the two eventually knock each other out. During this break in the action, Old Kai sends Kibito Kai to retrieve the Sacred Water from the lookout on Earth. For those who don't know, the Sacred Water was a plot device during the Garlic Jr. saga back in Dragon Ball Z. After Garlic Jr. infected the people of Earth with the Black Water Mist that turned them into mindless animals, the Sacred Water was spread to cure them. Dende and Popo try to stop Kibito Kai, but he's able to cure them once he finds it and then heads to Planet Tuffle where he cures and heals Trunks, Gohan, and Goten.

While this is happening, Bulma uses the Blutz Wave Amplifier again on Baby, reviving and giving him a power boost. Goku awakes as well, but he's starting to run empty on energy. Pan steps in repeatedly blasts Baby in the face only to be smacked away. Baby prepares to step on Pan when Trunks arrives and blasts Baby, followed by Gohan, Goten, and Kibito Kai. They figure out that the best chance to stop Baby is for the four Saiyans to give Goku the energy boost he so needs. Of course, Baby won't just stand around and let them accomplish this, but a distraction comes in the form of Majuub, who has reconstituted himself inside Baby's stomach. It turns out Majuub allowed himself to be eaten by Baby knowing he could turn himself back to normal (although this doesn't make sense because Majuub thought Goku was dead and he was supposedly the last hope to stop Baby). With Majuub causing pain for Baby, this allows Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Pan to give their energy to Goku. Baby's eventually able to regurgitate and spit Majuub out, and he fires a Gallick Gun at the Saiyans. He's too late though as Goku is back to full strength. And so the final stretch of the battle begins. Baby uses his Revenge Death Ball again on Goku, but Goku takes it head on and is able to disperse the energy. This action amazes and frightens Baby as Goku follows up with a Kamehameha that sends Baby flying. With Baby down for the count, Goku blasts the tail off of Baby, causing him to shrink back down to normal size.

Realizing his defeat, Baby leaves Vegeta's body and retreats as Vegeta turns back to normal. Baby takes a ship and leaves the planet, only for Goku to fire another Kamehameha that directs Baby's ship into the sun, finally destroying him once and for all.

Following Baby's defeat and spreading the Sacred Water to everyone infected by Baby on Earth and Planet Tuffle, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Pan, Mr. Satan, Majuub and Kibito Kai return to the lookout. It's here we see that Goku is still a child in his normal state. In my opinion, they should have used this opportunity to make Goku an adult again. They made Goku a kid again at the beginning of GT because they wanted to recapture the tone of the original Dragon Ball. Now that things got serious again like they did with Z, I feel like the need for a kid Goku had subsided and adult Goku should have been brought back and not just when he's Super Saiyan 4. It's not like there was an issue with voice actors; Goku's Japanese voice actress has been voicing him as both child and adult since the beginning.

Anyway, danger still looms though as the Earth is two weeks away from exploding because of the wish made on the Black Star Dragon Balls. While they did bring the balls back, Baby's wish started the countdown again. With no time for another search through the galaxy, Vegeta comes up with a plan: move everyone still on Earth to Planet Tuffle (our second instance of plot convenience). But since not everyone would believe such a crazy story, they have Mr. Satan spread the message since the people love him and will believe anything he says. You know, I've always hated how stupid the people of Earth seemed to become since the Cell saga when they hang on Mr. Satan's every word; I guess it helped that he was able to become part of the Dragon Ball family and they can use it to their needs like here.

And so the migration begins. Some Earthlings take ships while Goku and Kibito Kai use Instant Transmission to teleport people to Planet Tuffle. There are also some who need to be taken by force, and this is accomplished by Vegeta knocking them out. This also allows for some cameos from past Dragon Ball characters, both major and minor (and yet still no Launch).

Everyone is evacuated, except for Piccolo, who has elected to remain behind. He contacts Gohan telepathically to say goodbye and explain his reasoning, that with him gone, the Black Star Dragon Balls will no longer be a threat to any world. It's a pretty emotional farewell, followed by the Earth's explosion and Piccolo's demise. I wish Piccolo had a bigger role in these past two sagas considering his role in the Black Star Dragon Balls' creation. But this isn't the last we see of our green friend though.

Soon after, the Namekians use their Dragon Balls to restore the Earth, and everything goes back to normal with the whole Dragon Ball gang gathering for a get-together at Capsule Corp as the saga ends.

The Baby Saga is leagues above the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga and is probably the best saga to come from GT, bringing us a devious villain and the Super Saiyan 4 form that while there may be different opinions on it, is still iconic in some way. Of course the saga does have its problems from wasted opportunities with Pan and Uub and needless filler. While things do tend to get drawn out like the previous saga, I feel like it's done the same way as in Dragon Ball Z that while some things will take forever, they still keep you entertained in my opinion. While Dragon Ball Z's ending was left open ended, if they ended the overall anime series here, I think it would have been a fine saga to conclude on.

Next month, we venture into the second half of Dragon Ball GT as we look at the Super Android 17 Saga. The dead rise and villains from the past return. Sounds good, right? Prepare to be surprised.

Comics Review: "Power Rangers: Aftershock" - Short, but Satisfying

Earlier this year, I reviewed the film reboot of Power Rangers. Revamping the original Mighty Morphin' days, the film took a more grounded and realistic approach, dealing with some mature and modern themes. For what it was, I thought it was good even if the actual Ranger parts seemed rushed in the end. In broader terms, I think the film got more of a mixed reaction. For one reason or another, some fans liked it, some didn't.
What some may not have been aware of though is that the film had a short aftermath graphic novel released just a few days after the movie intended as sort of a sequel. I didn't pick it up when it came out back in March as I wanted to wait until the movie came out on Blu-Ray so I could read the book after rewatching the movie.

To call this a sequel is a bit of a stretch and makes it sound grander than it actually is. If this story was actually put to film, it would probably be the length of a traditional Power Rangers episode, and maybe a two-parter at that. While I did expect more, that doesn't mean the story was actually bad.
Set shortly after the film, the book follows the Rangers literally picking up the pieces from their first battle, as remnants of Goldar have spread out across Angel Grove with residual energy reviving the Putties Rita had made. But eventually, this "Goldar Dust" eventually infects a teenage brother and sister living on the streets.

Where the book succeeds is capturing the tone that the film set, and on two fronts. The first is the voice of the characters. Reading the dialogue with voices of the movie cast in mind felt natural in my mind. Like an actual episode of the show though, it only gives real focus on two Rangers, Jason and Zack. While it didn't show during the final battle in the movie, Jason is still coming to grips about being the leader of the team and worries about making a mistake that could hurt the others. Zack wants to be as strong a Ranger as he can be and make sure nobody has to lose a loved one on his watch, a feeling believe stems from his own fear of one day losing his mother. All that said though, the other Rangers do have their own character moments though.
Besides that though, there's another instance that hints to build up of a romance between Jason and Kimberly. If you followed the show like I did, you know there was never anything between the two, as Kimberly was immediately attracted to Tommy when he debuted. At first I was okay with the idea of a Jason/Kimberly romance, but after watching the deleted scene of the two making out after their conversation in Jason's room, it just seemed off, like the kiss was forced. Plus, it makes me worried it would make an eventual battle between Jason and Tommy seem like it's over a girl.
The second front is how the film continues its grounded and realistic take. It turns out the damage to Angel Grove after the Goldar fight was more extensive, with relief camps having to be set up. And as it turns out, the police aren't too happy that all these crazy things have been happening to the city once the Power Rangers showed up. I kind of like this take, that the people aren't just accepting of the Power Rangers right away like in the show. It makes me think of the escalation theory that applies to Batman and his villains. But besides that, there is some government involvement here too, which makes a lot of damn sense. I mean, when there's a giant monster and robot fight, someone higher up has to get involved.

When I was a kid, I didn't really care for what little Power Rangers comics I read. They just didn't wow me, especially when what made the show itself such a hit was the action, from the martial arts to the Megazord fights. In comic form, the same impact isn't made. Unfortunately, the same can still be said here. If I didn't like the movie as much as I did, I might not have wanted to pick up this book to see what happened next.

All in all, "Power Rangers: Aftershock" is a nice little follow up to the film. Nothing great, but enjoyable. If you liked the movie, I can kind of recommend it, but it's not necessary.
At the time of this writing, an actual sequel to the movie doesn't seem likely as the film didn't make enough money at the box office. I know I said back in my review that I wouldn't mind if there was a sequel or not, rewatching the movie a couple more times kind of made me hope for another one. It was said though that good sales on DVD and Blu-Ray could lead to another movie, but only time will tell. So as it stands, "Aftershock" may be the end of these Rangers' story, but it's not a bad note to go out on.

RATING: 7/10

Movie Review: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" - Welcome to the Big Time

When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most characters that have been introduced have either never appeared in film or TV before or at least had a prior version that wasn't well received. Spider-Man is a different case obviously. He's had two different movie series this century alone that have had their share of both success and failure. So when it came time to bring the webhead to the MCU, there were a lot of expectations. It had to be a good Spider-Man movie and a good Marvel movie, but it still had to be above all, Spider-Man's movie. The result is that it is the movie people wanted and does much to break the mold from past Spider-Man films.

If his appearance in Civil War wasn't enough to bring you around, this film shows that Tom Holland is both the Peter Parker and Spider-Man that fans deserve and worthy enough to stand alongside the Avengers. I think a lot of what makes this version so great is the approach Marvel took with the character. While the previous film series depicted the character ranging from high school senior to college student, this is the youngest we've seen the character, being a 15 year old high school sophomore. Holland said he read a lot of Ultimate Spider-Man to prepare for the role, and I definitely see the influence. They make it very clear he's still just a kid who doesn't have a big idea of what he's doing and can get in way over his head. And also like Ultimate Spider-Man, specifically the 2005 video game, this Spidey's fighting style seems focused much more on acrobatics than strength. Besides that though, when you think about it, Spider-Man should be a character on the same level as Daredevil. But now he's had a taste of the big time superhero life and wants to prove that he belongs there. And besides that, I got the sense that Peter feels he needs to be there so that all the hardships he's faced in his life were worth it to make it to the top. It makes for a good character journey that it doesn't matter how you're a hero, but that you are one.
The film does get points that we don't get the origin again since most people know it by now, but I still wished they would have done what Incredible Hulk did and recap the origin in the opening credits. A reference to Uncle Ben at least would have been nice, and there was a perfect opportunity for one.
While I thought the suit in Amazing Spider-Man 2 couldn't be topped, the suit in Homecoming really impressed me more than I thought. Besides the level of faithfulness to the source, a lot of it had to do with the eyes, which as we've seen have lens that change based on Peter's reactions. They actually moved around more than I thought they would, doing a great job at displaying Peter's emotions through the mask without having to take it off all the time like we've seen in past films.

For those worried that Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark was going to hog the spotlight and that this was going to be "Iron Man 4", guess what: he's only in like 10% of the film. He doesn't even help fight Vulture. For what portion he is in the film, I do like his interaction with Holland. But that said, he's not that good of a mentor. Any mistakes Peter makes in the film I think can be partially placed on Tony as well since he doesn't keep Peter in the loop on things. And I think if Tony's the father figure, Jon Favreu's Happy Hogan is more like a big brother, keeping the link between the mentor and mentee and being annoyed by him, only to be impressed by the end.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series was Peter's large supporting cast, especially in his school life. This is something that is also prominent in Homecoming, and the characters that really stood out to me were Ned Lee, Liz Allan, and Flash Thompson.
Ned, portrayed by Jacob Batalon, is Peter's best friend and discovers he's Spider-Man, wanting to be his "guy in the chair". While we've usually seen Harry Osborn as Peter's best friend, it was always a matter of time before they became enemies. But with Ned, there's no real sense of danger and it's kind of nice for Peter to have a male confidant with his activities.
Liz, portrayed by Laura Harrier, is Peter's crush and later Homecoming date. It's actually a nice change of pace that the romance isn't a vital part of the film's plot. Unlike the previous films, the relationship here doesn't go anywhere so there's not much to get invested, but I do think she and Holland had good chemistry together. Plus, it's still a better love story than Peter and Mary Jane in the original trilogy since Peter didn't pussy foot around for two movies here.
Tony Revolori plays Peter's well known bully, Flash Thompson. It's a very different version of Flash than we've seen before, more smug and mocking than a physically imposing jock. Despite this change though, he still does what you expect by picking on Peter all the time, so it is in character, which makes for an enjoyable moment later when karma comes calling. That said, Flash is supposed to be a character that despite his treatment of Peter, does have some redeeming factors. Right now, he is clearly selfish, but this basically leaves room for sequels for the character to develop more.

In my opinion, Michael Keaton as the Vulture is the best villain to appear in a Spider-Man movie yet. He doesn't have a split personality, a direct connection to Peter Parker, or portrayed as over the top. He's a character who's doing what he believes is justice and doing so to provide for his family, no matter the cost. Just before the film's climax, there's a good chunk of time where I really felt afraid of the character, and he wasn't even in his suit.
This film also displays how efficient Marvel is at handling multiple characters in a film, in this case the villains, where we also have two Shockers and the Tinkerer as part of Vulture's crew. Sony has attempted multiple villains in two previous Spider-Man movies, and both were the lowest rated of the franchise. We have multiple villains again in Homecoming, but their connection and partnership is there from the start. It's not "Oh no, it's the New Goblin!", followed by "Oh no, it's the Sandman!", followed by "Oh no, it's Venom!". At least with Amazing Spider-Man 2 though, you can say there was more of a definite link between the three villains that appeared.

I'm going to do something different now and put up a SPOILER area, because I have a lot to say in that regard so if you want to skip ahead to the end, go ahead.

SPOILERS DISCUSSION BEGINS

Remember those rumors that Zendaya was playing Mary Jane? Well, they were true...sort of. Technically her character is named Michelle Jones, but she says at the end to call her "MJ." So at the moment, it's safe to assume that this is a new version of Mary Jane. I don't necessarily have a problem with her essentially being Mary Jane, but it's definitely not what I expected when it comes to my idea of the character, whether 616 or Ultimate. Plus, I think it makes sense for her to be MJ because I get this feeling that she knows Peter is Spider-Man, and in the comics, Mary Jane knew Peter was Spider-Man from the start because she saw him sneaking out of his house in suit one night.
But whatever character she played though, she had absolutely no bearing on the film's plot. You could have cut her out and nothing would change. The owner of the deli Peter goes to felt more important than her. Anytime she's on screen, it's basically "Here I am, I'm funny, bye." I mean, I don't get it. She's obviously playing an important character, she's a big Disney star, and she's part of the headlining cast, yet I kept asking myself "Why is she here?". It's Jared Leto all over again.

Around the middle of the film, we are introduced to Mac Gargan, who in the comics becomes the Scorpion (who even has a scorpion tattoo on his neck). In the mid-credits scene, we see Gargan and Vulture in the same prison together, and Gargan says he has some guys on the outside who want to take down Spider-Man too. I believe this is setting up for Gargan to become the Scorpion for the sequel, but more than that, I believe that "Spider-Man 3" will bring together the Sinister Six. Besides Scorpion, I believe there will at least be two other villains along with him in the second film. I get the feeling that the Six will be more tech based, especially if the line-up we have so far would be Vulture, Shocker, and Scorpion. One thing for sure though is that Doctor Octopus needs to be the one to bring the group together, because you can't have a Sinister Six without Doc Ock. Right now, the only other two I can see rounding things out are Rhino and Mysterio.
On a related note, I believe this film is the first crossover between the Marvel films and Netflix series, as it appears that Vulture and Gargan were sent to the same prison Kingpin and Punisher were sent to during season two of Daredevil.

At the end of the film, Tony attempts to give Peter another updated version of his suit (and an awesome one at that). To give you an idea, it kind of looks like the suit in the upcoming PS4 game, but more shiny and the spider being black.

I'm willing to bet that not only will this suit actually be used next year for Infinity War, but that it's essentially the Iron Spider suit. I know it's not like the one in the comics, but I get the feeling that this version of Tony, while still vain to some degree, appreciates the design Peter had with his homemade suit and incorporated that into the suits he made for him. Otherwise, we would have had the proper red and gold Iron Spider in Civil War.

One thing that stood out to me was the big spider on the chest. You know what other famous Spider-Man suit has a big spider? Ahem...

I've always had a feeling that if the symbiote were to debut in the MCU, it would be in Infinity War. I think the design of the "Spider-Man 3.0" suit is another sign we're heading into that direction.

SPOILER DISCUSSION ENDS

While it is another reboot, any worries you have are understandable, but you can rest assure that this is a new Spider-Man that is worth seeing. Even though he is now part of the larger MCU picture, this nearly perfect film is still very much about Peter Parker in what is essentially the true beginning of his superhero career. I really look forward to where the character and his relationships go in the future.

RATING: 9/10

My Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

5. The Avengers

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

7. Doctor Strange

8. Spider-Man: Homecoming

9. Ant-Man

10. Iron Man 3

11. Thor

12. Captain America: The First Avenger

13. Iron Man

14. The Incredible Hulk

15. Iron Man 2

16. Thor: The Dark World

A Look Back at Dragon Ball GT Part One: Black Star Dragon Ball Saga

When it comes to the Dragon Ball franchise, there's a particular sore spot some fans don't like to think about: Dragon Ball GT. While the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime ran concurrent with the Dragon Ball manga, GT was an anime exclusive story that had very little involvement from series creator Akira Toriyama. Because of this, many fans regards GT as non-canon and treat it like it doesn't exist, even considering it the worst thing to come from the franchise...until the live action Dragon Ball Evolution film from America at least.
Now I haven't watched GT in probably 15 years and I kind of remember it not being that bad; of course I was a kid at the time and my mind wasn't at critical as it is now. After a recent conversation with a friend about whether GT was really that bad, it brought up quite a few moments from the series that kind of made me feel infuriated. So I decided given the large gap in time since I originally watched the series, I decided to begin watching it again and see how I feel about it now.
So for the next four months, I will be rewatching and analyzing each saga from GT. This month, we begin the series with the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga. Now, I'll only be going through what I feel are the important parts so it might seem like I'm rushing through it. Also, since I will be going through the entire series, there will definitely be spoilers, so there's your last warning before we jump in.

At the conclusion of Dragon Ball Z, Goku had met Uub, the ten year old reincarnation of Kid Buu. Realizing his potential and wanting to help him hone his power, Goku and Uub went off who knows where to train. GT picks up seven years later, as we see Goku and Uub finishing up their training on the Lookout. Uub heads back to his village and Goku is about to head back home himself until he comes across some uninvited guests. The Pilaf gang from the original Dragon Ball series, who hadn't been seen at all during Z and are now elderly, have snuck into the lookout to retrieve the Black Star Dragon Balls, which her hidden deep in the mausoleum. According to Pilaf, they were created before Kami and Piccolo separated and are twice as strong. They summon the dragon, and it's a gigantic red version of Shenron, who is so huge, he looks like he could eat the lookout.

After a brief skirmish with Goku, an irate Pilaf speaks out loud that he wishes Goku was a little kid again so he could teach him some manners. But uh oh, Shenron heard him, and turns Goku back into his 12 year old self (I assume that age because that old he was when Dragon Ball began). I guess Pilaf should have high tailed it from the Lookout and made his wish later.
Behind the scenes, the reason for turning Goku back into a kid was that they wanted GT to recreate the spirit of the original Dragon Ball since DBZ was so heavy in action by comparison. As we see as the show goes on though, it appears that Goku's intelligence has reverted back to his younger self as well, which can get annoying considering he didn't seem as dumb during DBZ.
As we find out, Goku can only be returned to normal by gathering up the Black Star Dragon Balls again. The problem though is that these Balls spread out across the galaxy, meaning it could be impossible to find them. Since he seems stuck as a kid, Goku takes it well and heads off home to break the news to everyone. Chi-Chi seems to take it the hardest, given that she is now married to a child...now physically as well as mentally. They are then contacted by King Kai who, after doing some research, discovers that if a wish is made with the Black Star Dragon Balls, they create a negative effect on the planet they're used on, and if they aren't returned to that planet within a year of the wish, the planet will explode.

Let's talk about the Black Star Dragon Balls for a second. I'll admit I don't know much about what goes into making Dragon Balls, but I can only assume that a Namekian has to be pure of heart for the process to be perfect, and any hint of evil can taint them. I can only assume that Kami attempted to create the balls before and ended up with the black star one, realized something wasn't right and hid them away. After separating from Piccolo, the black ones were inert and Kami created the proper balls. But since Piccolo and Kami refused during the Cell saga, the Black Star balls reenergized and just waiting for a wish to be made. It just seems odd that the shred of evil in Kami could taint the balls to essentially a cosmic scale.
Also, how exactly did Pilaf know about the balls or that they were from before Kami and Piccolo separated? He says he did research, but I don't how much there could be on the Black Star balls since clearly no one made a wish with them before. King Kai says he did research too, but I find that more believable. He could have at least contacted Piccolo, who probably knew about them before and would have Kami's knowledge of them as well.

With a year to gather the balls, a ship is made for Goku and two others to travel through space to find them. Gohan offers to go and so does Pan, Goku's granddaughter and Gohan's daughter, but everyone says she's too young and treats her like a child. I guess in the time since Buu, common sense affected everyone, considering how young Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks were during their battles. Hell, they were even younger than Pan, who is 11 at this point and Gohan was 4 when he began his training.
In the end though, a newly mustachioed Vegeta drafts Goten and Trunks to accompany Goku as he feels they have gotten soft after nearly 20 years of peace.

Whether you hate or love the moustache, you have to admit, it's funny to see Vegeta have one.

Anyway, Goten and Trunks don't really want to go. Goten has a date with his girlfriend Valese (who we meet in the next saga but she's not really an important character). Trunks' excuse is that he has to run Capsule Corp. as he is the CEO, but as we see earlier, he flies out of his office to escape the job any chance he gets; in short, his excuse is bullcrap. Seriously though, what's wrong with these kids? Didn't they have dreams of going to space? Vegeta was right, they do need to get out more.

As they're about to take off, Goten gets a call from Elise. Goku and Trunks board the ship and find Pan, who hits the button and the ship blasts off, taking the three into space and leaving Goten behind. Unfortunately, the ship was fully prepared to take off and one of its stabilizers was loose, which causes the ship to crash land on the planet Imecka. During the crash, Pan, who was talking a big game before, starts crying for her mommy. Like I said before, it's been awhile since I've watched GT, so I may have forgotten how annoying Pan can be in the series. There are many instances where I find myself saying "Shut up, Pan."

The ship needs to be repaired, but Trunks suggests they find a hotel to stay in and find parts in the morning. However, the hotel they're staying it has money meters on everything, from the bathroom to the bed and everything else. Needless to say, they skip out on the bill. Though truth be told, did anyone of them actually bring money with them? Hell, I don't expect them to have any kind of alien currency obviously. While walking through the rain, the three meets a family who take them in, only to have their home repossessed (literally piece by piece). It's here we learn that the planet is ruled by Don Kee, who is obsessed with money and wants as much as he can get, and doesn't care if his people live in squalor. Hmm, a money obsessed leader named Don who only thinks of himself...can't imagine how that would be relevant today.

When the GT gang (that's what I'm going to refer to them now) head back to their ship, Trunks drops the Dragon Radar, when it's eaten by a little robot. For some time, they keep the robot in Trunks' backpack until they figure out what to do with him. They then see their ship being carried off and follow it to Don Kee's palace. The GT gang take it back with a fight, which leads to them being plastered on wanted posters and hunted by police. Eventually, the GT gang surrender themselves, but it's all a ploy so they can take down Don Kee and free the people of Imecka. But before then, they have to face Don Kee's most powerful warrior, Ledgic, who scares even his master. It must be the voice; it's pretty cool.

This leads to our first real fight of the series between Ledgic and Goku. Unfortunately, it's short lived after Goku goes Super Saiyan defeats him. However, it appears there is some honor among fighters as Ledgic lets them do with Don Kee as they please, and Goku hopes they can fight again someday (spoiler alert: they never meet again). I really felt like there was a lot of potential in Ledgic and wish his fight with Goku had gone longer. I would have liked to know his history as well; he knew right away that the three were Saiyans, so maybe he's the last of his kind from a planet that the Saiyans destroyed long ago.

In the end, they threaten Don Kee to change his ways and be a man of the people. The results are everyone is given free housing and ships are returned to everyone who had theirs taken. After the GT gang repair their ship and are about to take off, they realize the robot, who they later name Giru, has assimilated the Dragon Radar into his being, and essentially becomes part of the team. And so the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls finally begins.

They find the first ball, the four star one, on a planet where everything is giant. Before they can get the ball, Goku and Trunks have to save Pan when she is kidnapped by giant bees.

(Sorry, I had to.) Eventually, the find a giant who took a bite of an apple that had the Dragon Ball stuck in it. The ball becomes stuck in the giant's tooth, causing him pain. Goku is able to remove the tooth and retrieve the ball. One down, six to go.

They track the six star ball on another planet to a village that's being threatened by a monster called Sunama, who can apparently create earthquakes with his whiskers. He'll leave the village alone, if they give him one of the women of the village, Lane, as his wife. The village will give the Dragon Ball to the GT gang if they help them stop Sunama. Pan comes up with a plan to disguise Goku as Lane to infiltrate Sunama's lair and defeat him there away from the village. But since Goku is too small for Lane's wedding dress, that means Trunks has to be the one to go undercover. Why Pan wasn't willing to do the deed is anyone's guess.

You know, before we go any further, I think we need a moment to remember how badass Future Trunks was and think about what could have been.

Anyway, the rest of the plan is that once Sunama takes Trunks to his lair, Goku, Pan, and Lane's fiancé Doma follow them, and after Trunks gets Sunama drunk and pass out, they cut off his whiskers and take away his power. The plan almost goes awry when Trunks' wig falls off. While Sunama realizes he's not Lane, he still thinks he's a girl and still wants "Trunksette". I'm assuming it's the purple hair that can give someone the idea Trunks is a girl. So everything goes as planned at first, but they're only able to cut off one whisker before Sunama awakens to find he's been played. He appears to still have power even with one whisker as one quake happens, but since he's still drunk, he thinks he's causing quakes even when he's not. They realize that Sunama's whiskers don't create quakes, but predict them, and he's been fooling the villagers the whole time. Shortly after, a huge quake occurs that causes a volcanic reaction. They all escape Sunama's lair, but the village is still under threat until Goku destroys the whole volcano with a Kamehameha.

With the village saved, the GT gang is given the Dragon Ball, and even Sunama lives among the village now after feeling regret for his actions. However, the ball is then stolen by another alien who takes off in his own ship. Of course, the GT gang chase after in their own ship.

We find out that the other ship is piloted by the Para Para Brothers, who are a pretty annoying bunch, and as we see later, they get worse. The Paras lead the GT gang into an asteroid maze filled with giant worm monsters and make their escape while the GT gang try to navigate and fight their way out. The Paras make their way to a planet where a cult resides and present the Dragon Ball to Cardinal Muchi Muchi, who sends them back out to get the other ball the GT gang has under threat of sacrifice to Lord Luud. The Paras go back to the asteroid and confront the GT gang after they defeat some of the worms. The Paras apparently have the power to compel others to dance through their own little hip hop musical number, which they use on the GT gang and beat them up at intervals.

This is probably one of the strangest moments in all of Dragon Ball. It's annoying, but the more it goes on, it gets catchy damn it. Besides that, considering GT aired in Japan during the 90's and it didn't air in the U.S. until the early 00's, their little routine seems a bit dated to me.

Eventually, more worms show up, which distracts the Paras and causes them to stop dancing (thank Gamikai for that) which allows Pan to break free and knock them all out. When Pan and Giru search the Paras' ship for the Dragon Ball they took, the autopilot takes the ship back to Cardinal Muchi Muchi with the two on board. Goku and Trunks chase after once the Paras tell them where their ship went.

Pan finds the cult's lair and goes inside, but Giru is too scared to follow. Pan listens on while Cardinal Muchi Muchi talking to his congregation about how they'll use the Dragon Balls to revive Lord Luud to take over the universe, until she's discovered and turned into a doll. Goku, Trunks, and the Paras arrive once Giru leads them in. Enraged at the Paras's failure, Muchi Muchi turns them into dolls as well and sacrifices them to Luud. Goku and Trunks battle Muchi Muchi who transforms into his true form, but he's eventually defeated after the two go Super Saiyan.

Elsewhere, Master Daltaki, the true leader of the cult, meets with his followers and tells them to sacrifice themselves to Lord Luud. However, when they notice Daltaki's mechanical device, they realize he's a fraud and that Luud is just a machine. This doesn't stop Daltaki though from turning them all into dolls and sacrificing them to fuel Luud. As it turns out though, Daltaki does keep some of the dolls for himself, including Pan, and I'm not gonna lie, I sense some creepy shades of pedophilia during these parts.

Soon enough, Daltaki activates Luud (bottom left) to battle Goku and Trunks, and he kind of looks like a mechanical baby version of Janemba from the Fusion Reborn movie.

As they battle, Daltaki is contacted by his true master, Dr. Myuu (above right), who wants a progress report on Luud. Myuu watches the battle, but since it appears Luud isn't strong enough to defeat Goku and Trunks, he orders Daltaki to sacrifice Pan. When Daltaki refuses, Myuu turns him into a doll as well sacrifices both of them to Luud, who turns red from the power boost...either that or he's just overheating. Probably both.

As it turns out though, the inside of Luud is a bit of a pocket dimension where everyone sacrificed to him is floating around, including Pan, Daltaki, and the Paras. The Paras use their dance powers again to force Daltaki to reveal Luud's weakness. He reveals that Luud was a bionic mutation created by Myuu from one of his cells, which hangs above everyone in the dimension. If someone hits the cell simultaneously from the inside and outside of Luud, he'll be destroyed and everyone is free. The Paras telepathically contact Goku to inform him of this and he and Pan succeed in the task. Once everyone's free, Daltaki escapes in his own ship.

With that, the GT gang are now in possession of two Dragon Balls. But with the threat of Myuu, who is also after the balls, Trunks considers taking Pan back to Earth to keep her safe. While this of course doesn't happen, I really disagree with Trunks on that idea alone. They still have less than a year to find all seven balls, and considering all the unintended detours they've been taking, it really wouldn't be smart to backtrack so they should just soldier on with what they have and face whatever comes their way head on.

The GT gang then arrives on a desert planet and retrieves the five star ball, leaving four remaining. Elsewhere though, Daltaki tries to meet up with Myuu and get back in his good graces, only to be confronted by General Rildo, who kills him.

Myuu then contacts Rildo and tells him to bring him the GT gang alive, wanting to use their power for his experiments.

While flying through space, the GT gang pass over Giru's home planet, M2. When Pan notices Giru appearing homesick, she suggests that they pay a quick visit. Trunks objects at first but relents to staying there one day. When they touch down, they find a seemingly abandoned city until they're attacked by the Sigma Force, who reveal that Giru has been acting as a spy for Dr. Myuu since the GT gang picked him up on Imecka. The Sigmas capture Goku and Trunks, but leave Pan after Giru tells them to spare her and that the other two were more important. The Sigmas fly off to bring Goku and Trunks to Rildo and Myuu, leaving Pan alone and feeling betrayed as the saga ends.

Let's talk about Dr. Myuu's plan. After somehow finding out about the Black Star Dragon Balls, he sends Giru to Imecka, where he apparently knew the GT gang would crash land and make sure Giru becomes part of their team, gang their trust, and eventually lead them to M2. I have to say that at the moment, Myuu's plan seemed to depend on highly specific circumstances to occur, although maybe it's elaborated more in the next saga.

For the beginning of the series, it's a bit of a mixed bag for me. I've always enjoyed the more action based Dragon Ball Z over the comedic adventures of the original Dragon Ball. So when it comes to GT and the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, I enjoyed some of the action parts, what little there was anyway. As for the comedy, half of the time it hit the mark and I did find it funny, but the other half of the time it was just cringey. Besides that though, I did find some of the plotlines to run a little too long, especially the Don Kee and Luud stories. Overall nothing great, but I do see where the creators' heart was and their intentions during this point in the series, and the latter half of the saga showed some potential for the next one.

Next month, we'll continue Dragon Ball GT as we carry on the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, discover Myuu's master plan, meet our first main villain of the series, and witness the next evolution of Super Saiyan in the Baby Saga. And if you think this post is long, the next saga is the longest of the series. Until then, here's an ominous image of what's to come.

The Curious Case of Peter Parker

Recently, I was reading the first issue of the new "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man" series. There's a part in that issue where after Spidey saves a lady from being mugged, they have a bit of a back and forth, and the lady actually asks Spidey out. Spidey, not Peter Parker. Later on in the issue, he does actually call her and they set up a date, with him promising not to be late...but if you've been reading Spider-Man as long as I have, you know he will be. At first I thought, what's Peter's plan here? Is he that desperate for a date lately that he'll take one as Spider-Man? He's obviously not thinking that far ahead, but then I thought to myself, what's it even matter? It's not like anything important will happen with this girl. And that's something really depressing hit me.

Last year in my "Batman: Lovers and Madmen" review, I made a similar crack about how Bruce has an endless line of love interests that are completely forgettable and they don't really have a chance of being a mainstay like Talia or Catwoman. And what's happening right now with Batman in the comics? Bruce just proposed to Selina; she hasn't answered yet, but at this moment, there's the possibility of a big change coming for Batman's world. It's amazing how much can change from ten years ago, when Spider-Man was happily married and Batman was the loner who didn't need a relationship. Bruce has shown to grow as a person, where Peter, despite how much he's been through, doesn't seem to have grown as a person and is basically not allowed to. It's actually made me hate "One More Day" even more.

For those unaware, "One More Day" was the controversial and poorly received storyline where Peter and Mary Jane sold their marriage to the demon Mephisto to save Aunt May's life after she was caught in the crossfire of an assassin hired by Kingpin to take out Peter. The marriage was retconned out of history, and it was stated all the stories that happened over the years still happened, only that the two were not married. This had been the latest, and unfortunately successful, attempt by the heads of Marvel to make Peter single again because they felt him being married aged the character and made him less relatable to young readers. Previous attempts were replacing Peter with his clone Ben Reilly as Spider-Man and even killing Mary Jane, both being undone due to negative fan reaction. Despite negative fan reaction to "One More Day" though, Peter and MJ are still separated as of this writing.
Spider-Man is seen as the everyman's superhero that anyone can relate to, especially the geeks and outcasts like Peter was as a teenager. The thing is though, those types of people do grow up. Peter marrying Mary Jane was a moment of him maturing, and it was nice to see him have someone by his side through it all. By removing the marriage is to take Peter backwards instead of forwards.
But let's play devil's advocate here. Let's say Peter Parker and Spider-Man only works as a character when he's a lovable loser struggling to make ends meet and can never keep a relationship...oh wait, right now in the comics, Peter is a successful CEO of his own tech company with headquarters set up across the world.

During the Superior Spider-Man run where Doc Ock had placed his mind in Peter's body, he started up his own company, Parker Industries. When Peter got his body back, he kept the company going and took it in the direction he wanted. After an eight month time skip, he's shown to have more enhanced tech and is having adventures all over the world as Spider-Man. Essentially, he's the new Iron Man.
Regardless of how you feel about this current state in Spider-Man comics, it shows Marvel's giving Peter a chance to move forward with his life instead of being stuck in the same rut he has been in for decades. And from a reader's standpoint, if people want to read about a young Spider-Man coming into his own, there's Miles Morales, thus allowing Peter to grow up. All that said, Marvel should go all in in that regard, by giving Mary Jane back to Peter.

The basis of "One More Day" and the removal of the marriage was because it was believed a married Spider-Man wasn't as relatable as a single one. If we take into account the general comic book audience, I kind of fail to see how a CEO Spider-Man is more relatable than a married one. Now, that's not to say comic readers can't enjoy rich heroes like Batman, Iron Man, or Green Arrow, but character relatability hasn't factored greatly in their histories compared to Spider-Man. I know not everyone has worked at a newspaper or science lab like Peter has over the years, but the job he had didn't play that big of a factor in his adventures as Spider-Man like being head of Parker Industries has. Not everyone can be a CEO, but anybody can get married.
At the moment, it seems they want Peter to mature but not all the way. If Marvel's going to allow CEO Peter to be the status quo for now and allow him to grow up, then let him have a sustainable relationship as well, preferably with Mary Jane. I wouldn't care if they brought up "One More Day" or not in the process, as long as they got back together. Even DC's learned that splitting up characters' long standing relationships was a mistake. Relationships lost in the New 52 were brought back through Rebirth: Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Barry Allen and Iris West, and Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance. Even Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are finally letting their relationship flourish after all these decades. When it comes to fiction, some characters are just meant to be together. Why should Peter and Mary Jane, whose marriage lasted 20 years of publishing and to the public were a couple as famous as Lois and Clark, be any different? And in what way could them being together affect what's happening with Spider-Man comics now?

While the struggles of Spider-Man will never end, maybe it's time Peter Parker finally got everything he ever wanted in both life and love.

Comics Review: "Nightwing Must Die!" - Return of the Dynamic Duo (SPOILERS)

Back in 2009, when Bruce Wayne was believed to be dead, Dick Grayson took on the mantle of Batman and officially instated Bruce's son Damian as the new Robin. As the new dynamic duo, they brought a new approach to the iconic partnership, with a more lighthearted Batman and a serious no nonsense Robin. When Bruce came back, he and Dick shared the role for about a year. After that, the New 52 reboot began, with Dick becoming Nightwing again leaving Bruce the sole Batman. This whole situation may have happened just a short time ago, but the reboot made it feel much longer, especially when a lot of DC's continuity had been in question and only passing references were made to Dick's time as Batman. Besides that, Dick and Damian only had a few team-up stories since then. But recently, the two had a full arc with many call backs to their time as partners that reminded me what made them such a great team.

Prior to this arc, Dick had set up operation in Bludhaven to forge his own path, much like he did in the pre-Flashpoint continuity but this is being treated like the first time. There, he met a woman named Shawn Tsang, a former teenage art-based supervillain named Defacer that Dick had encountered before when he was Robin. Since then, Shawn has reformed and become a counselor for a support group of low-grade supervillains wanting to go straight. The two worked together to stop a plot to frame members of the group for murder, discovering each other's identities, and entering into a relationship. In an issue between these two arcs, we got to see their relationship grow over a period of time, and I really liked them together. Dick is feeling read good about his life at this point...so let's see how this arc throws a wrench in things for him.

Damian's arrival in this story is motivated by a conversation he finds on Chirper (DC's version of Twitter) of users praising Nightwing about how he's becoming the Batman of Bludhaven, that he's the best Robin and would likely become the next Batman. When his fellow Titans agree that Dick's the right choice to be succeed Batman, Damian breaks his phone in anger (he's rich so he'll get a new one no problem) and heads off to Bludhaven in an attempt to prove himself to Nightwing. As Damian confronts Dick while he's on patrol, Dick receives a voicemail from Shawn, saying that she's late and asks Dick to bring her a pregnancy test. Dick rushes off to do just that and tells Damian that they'll continue their conversation later. When Dick arrives, he finds Shawn missing, one of her paintings defaced with the word "daddy" and coordinates written down in a Robin Hood book that Dick gave her as a gift. Damian arrives soon after and helps Dick get his head together, spotting the pregnancy test, inviting himself to go along to make sure Dick, in his fragile state of mind, has someone watching his back. They head off in a flying Batmobile stolen by Damian, which in the first of many callbacks, was the one they used during their time as Batman and Robin.

While I basically just surmised the first issue of the arc, I won't be doing that for the rest, as I just wanted to explain the basic set-up so I can talk about the elements I really enjoyed about the arc.
To get to the point, the mastermind behind this story is Dr. Simon Hurt, one of the main villains from Grant Morrison's long run on the Batman books, who Dick and Damian faced before; his backstory is complicated to say the least, and you should just check out his Wikipedia page. His main goal in this story is to unlock Dick's true potential, by taking away the person he cares about most, the first target being Shawn before he decides on Damian. To do so, he hires Professor Pyg, the first villain Dick and Damian faced as Batman and Robin. To surmise him, he's crazier than the Joker, wears a pig mask, is basically a twisted plastic surgeon who uses people for his art, creating brainwashed henchmen called Dollotrons, and let's say he's a perfectionist when it comes to his work. In my opinion though, Pyg still talks crazy in this story, but he doesn't sound as crazy as he did in the past. In this story, he creates a enhanced Dollotron of Nightwing, brainwashing a nobody into becoming a dark and twisted version called Deathwing, even having Dick's memories. Deathwing is the one who kidnaps Shawn. It's also worth mentioning that Pyg also attempted to create a Robin Dollotron of Damian, but the programming didn't take full effect, so the boy, Dinesh Babar, has memories of his life and Damian's. That said, he actually aids Dick and Damian in their mission.

As I said before, Dick and Damian had one of the best dynamics as partners. But since their time together as Batman and Robin, a lot has changed. Dick has moved to his own city, found someone special, and could potentially be a father. Damian seems a little insecure lately, mostly about how he seems to be being pushed out of the bat side of things of the DCU. From a reader standpoint, it's kind of true. Since the Rebirth era started, Damian has barely had any appearances in the Batman titles. The main titles he stars in currently are "Teen Titans", acting as team leader, and "Super Sons", a book where he works with Superman's son Jon, the new Superboy. Meta reasoning aside, in this story, Damian feels like Dick is abandoning and replacing him, in that he's becoming a Batman in his own right and that he may be having his own child. While Damian sees himself as Bruce's true heir, he also sees himself as Dick's heir as well, given the Robin legacy and the partnership they had. I've always seen their relationship as a brotherly one, but I know there are some cases in life where a big brother can also act in a fatherly mentor role. This is where the true heart of the story lies, in the two reconnecting and working through their issues. The Dollotron copies of the two really help with this. Deathwing is part of the plan to bring out the darkness in Dick and Damian's there to keep him from crossing the line. Dinesh even has a moment while Dick and Damian are arguing where, accessing Damian's memories, he reminds the two of what a great team they were and that they need each other. By the end of the story, the two seem to be able, or at least begin to, work past their differences, as they head off to a bank robbery, with Damian stating "Pity these miscreants. The heir to the mantle of the Batman and the original Robin come for them. We are still the greatest." It kind of reminded me of this flashforward moment from "Batman R.I.P." teasing the two in the roles before it actually happens:

So what ends up happening with Shawn and the pregnancy? Well, she takes the test and it's negative. Afterwards, she asks Dick for some space, which essentially means they're done. I know this was the expected route, but I was hoping it wouldn't happen. Having Dick become a father would have been an interesting development for the character. While the New 52 reboot took some characters backwards, you can say Rebirth is trying to move them forward again. But in this case, Dick's character remains the same as it did at the beginning of this story, even if he did have some introspection on potentially being a father, as well as his own thoughts about his role in Damian's life. And like I said before, I really liked Dick and Shawn together. When Shawn is freed and Damian is kidnapped afterwards, they even work together to get him back, talking briefly about the possibility of being parents on the way. It made it seem like they would stay together, which is why I'm surprised they ended it, even if the test was negative. I guess maybe she was hoping she was pregnant, giving her a little bit of hope for her future, but the negative result probably helped the trauma she faced truly set in, as she has brief flashback of being held captive by Pyg and his Dollotrons. This is still a recent issue, so maybe she and Dick will get back together later, but at this point, she feels like just another random love interest there for just the story.

In terms of a bigger picture though, there's actually a bit of tease for the upcoming DC event, "Metal". There's a special knife in the story used by Deathwing and Hurt that when inflicted on someone, the victim experiences visions of the multiverse, seeing endless possible versions of themselves. It's a good tease and made even more ominous with even Hurt, crazy as he is, saying "It's coming here, Grayson. Don't you see what I'm saying?! I am evil incarnate and I am afraid!" Other than the aspects of the multiverse and a special kind of material that the knife in this story was made of, I don't know what to expect from the "Metal" event or how it will tie into the overall Rebirth mystery, but I'm really looking forward to it.
 
Overall, if you were a fan of Dick and Damian's time as Batman and Robin, this story is definitely worth checking out, bringing a bit of nostalgia as well as a look into the potential possibilities for the characters and their relationships moving forward.

RATING: 8/10