A Bunch of December Reviews

If you read the other web site (www.cutandprint.ca) you'll know that I was on Christmas vacation. I loved those in school and still haven't let them go. I usually take a week off around this time and this year was no different.

As a result of having my hand in too many honey pots (as good 'ol Pooh Bear would say), I'm going to keep all this comic reviews, except for one, really, really short. IF that makes you mad, well, there's only like 5 people that read this blog, so, no worries!

There is a bunch of stuff to get too, starting with the much anticipated Infinite Crisis #3

INFINITE CRISIS #3 – This entire issue is worth it for one moment, the conversation between Batman and Superman of Earth – 2. Thus, it gets a CUT & PRINT YEAH! If you haven’t been reading the Crisis, you really should be. So get out there are read it. Everything hinges on the next issue, which promises to be awesome. Can’t wait.


JUSTICE #3 – Alex Ross art = awesome. Alex Ross story = Inane. A CUT & PRINT IF YOU LIKE PRETTY PICTURES.


ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #647 – Superman always saves everyone. I still like that fact. There’s a little Lana, a little Pete and a whole lot of fun action. Ruin is finally taken down. A CUT & PRINT GOOD.


JSA CLASSIFIED #6 – Best issue of the series so far. The villains are interesting and the JSA is not factoring into the story at all. The villains backstabbing each other are great. A CUT & PRINT DEFINITELY.


GREEN LANTERN #6 – Who cares about the story when the art is just this good? My mouth is still agape at the beautiful pencils and colors that inhabit this issue. Just based on the art this is A CUT & PRINT DEFINITELY.


GREEN LANTERN CORPS: RECHARGE #3 – A fun issue with Rayner and his crew rippin’ around space, going into the dreaded Vega system and just kicking ass and getting in trouble. A CUT & PRINT YEAH.


SNAKE EYES: DECLASSIFIED #5 – The master finally dies and it’s sort of anticlimactic. A lot of padding in this one but the next issue has Snake Eye’s joining the G.I. Joe team. A CUT & PRINT EH.

Another take on Smallville Season 5, Episode 9

Damn you Brzovic!
I sort of agree with your review, although not completely. I will say however, you are are spot on by asking why Clark didn't have glasses 7 years in the future. That is an almost unforgivable mistake, isn't it?

Even Lex Luthor’s wildest dreams are like nightmares.

Lana dies in childbirth. And that’s supposed to be the good life Lex is striving for, says the ghost of his long-dead mother. Give up your money and your power to live a pure, happy, middle-class existence full of values and ethics and troublesome car seats that just don’t hook-up quite right to the back of your wood-paneled station wagon. Oh and your wife dies. And I’m the ghost of Christmas future. Err… right.

In what should be a landmark Smallville episode, Lex takes one giant leap towards the dark side. Yet, this episode pretty much sucks. Why? Because Smallville continues to take place in a world where vampires, witches and – at Christmas-time – Santa exist. Some drunk guy on a roof in a Santa costume wants to kill himself because the world has lots the spirit of Christmas. But Clark talks the guy down, and later we learn he’s really Santa Claus. For real. Seriously.

Fuck off, WB. I know “realism” in a show like Smallville is a bit of an oxymoron – after all, the lead character is an alien from another planet with super-human abilities who goes on to be a character created in a comic book… but still. Santa?!?! Are you kidding me? At least throw a kryptonite plot in there, maybe with a new colour of kryptonite, such as fascia, which gives a person the powers of Saint Nicholas. Or something. Anything. Don’t leave the viewer hanging and embarrassed to be watching the show! I lowered my head in shame on that one.

Putting the Santa issue aside (and as you can tell, that takes a great deal of effort) there are a couple of great moments in this episode. The scenes where Clark darts around Metropolis at super-speed delivering presents is a truly inspired idea by the writers.

As well, the final sequence where Lex makes the fateful decision to take out Johnathon Kent was superbly acted and dynamite.

“Do you know what the secret to living happily ever after is? Power. Money and power. See one you have those two things you can secure everything else and keep it that way.”

“Find it, fake it, do whatever it takes to knock Jonathon Kent out of the race. I want to be senator. I want it all.”

Gold. Too bad the rest of the episode wasn’t.

Smallville - Season 5, Episode 9

I beat Rob. Suck on it Shaw! Suck it long and suck it hard! Finally, I scooped the unscoopable. The real reporter goes down in a blaze of glory to the hotshot Internet writer with the ego the size of Smallville.

Episode 9 of the 5th season brings us the obligatory Christmas episode. Will Smallville be able to keep the momentum its built since that Vampire fiasco of three episodes ago? Let’s buckle down and find out.

The opening scene has Lex meeting a mysterious guy named “Griff” in the back allies of Kansas, while a funky Christmas tune belts out in the background to remind us that even though there isn’t any snow on the ground, the Christmas spirit is in full effect. Griff is a bad dude who says that he can find dirt on Jonathan Kent or make it up, in an attempt to discredit his campaign (not that Lex is going to need it, Jonathan is going to bite the big one in episode 100. Make my words on that one). Lex, apparently, hears the music in the background and says that he wants 24 hours to think about his other options.


Of course, Lex walks out of the dark ally and gets shot, leading to a dream sequence that is going to show what his life would be like if he decides not to go through with his campaign to screw Jonathan Kent. In this “The Family Man” knock off storyline, Lex is married to Lana, they have a kid and another one on the way and everything has that white, “this is such a dream” haze to it. The amazing thing here is that Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) shows off another side of Lex we haven’t seen before. He’s completely different from the current Lex and the doppelganger Lex we saw last year. Rosenbaum has some acting chops but I’m sure we’ll never see them outside of Smallville as he’s probably type cast from now on. Lex is going to run this episode, which is a great thing. Lex’s mother, on the other hand, is a tool and a terrible actress, with almost porn like qualities with her “This… is… you life” delivery.

Uh oh… Chloe has a problem and only Clark can help. She needs toys delivered! You go Clark. Be all the Santa Claus you can be. Nice Clark and Lana moments, though. I forgot that they were going out. Or at least, the writers seem to forget that when they need to so that Clark can play with Lois. Hey, have you noticed this season that we never see Lana in the same place as Lois? You don’t think that they’re the same person, do you? Nah… couldn’t be.

Oh, back to Lex’s dream. The kid is a bit big for a car seat. Lex is on a budget? Whoa. That’s cool. Lana loves him so much? She sure falls in love easy. First Whitney, then Clark, then Jason, then back to Clark and then onto Lex? Jeeze, make up your mind you silly girl. Lana’s not a very good Christmas decorator, by the way.

Clark is now a full fledged reporter at the Plant! Way to go buddy. Didn’t know you had it in you!

Wait, how is Clark, logistically, getting into all these homes without a key? Is he breaking the door down at every turn? If Chloe was going a “toys for tots” program, wouldn’t people register and then pick up their toys? Talk about forced plot point. Why? That’s the question. Oh, there we go. The real Santa has lost his Christmas spirit and is a drunk. Good one. Superman can save even the mythical creations. Whoa, Santa’s dropping the word “Bitch”. This is envelope pushing television. Only on Smallville.

Okay, we’re back to the Lex storyline now. Why does it take 9 hours to get a Christmas tree? They leave in the morning and come back for supper? And why does everybody get their tree on Christmas Eve? Why not enjoy it for awhile.

You know what is missing here? The writers and director completely missed the boat on Clark. He should have been wearing glasses. Yet he’s not. Why not? 7 Years in the future and the boy is Superman, okay? He needs the glasses. Huge oversight on the writer’s part.

The glow of this episode is starting to hurt my eyes. The Christmas decorations in this episode are such overkill. Apparently the Christmas lights budget was through the roof for this episode.

Oh Ho Ho! Santa has delivered all the toys after being saved by his Christmas miracle (Clark). Why is Chloe just writing at her computer on Christmas Eve? Way to not help out Clark.

“How dare you play God with my life.” Interesting foreshadowing line as Lex is going to want to play God with everybody’s life in the future.

So, it’s come to an end and there was no freak of the week. Thank you Smallville writers, that’s like a Christmas present all of its own. A refreshing episode that lays a lot of groundwork and let us have a glimpse of a story that will never play out. A fun little episode to tie us over until the countdown to 100 starts in February (that’s right, no more Smallville until then).

It should be exciting, considering we’re 3 episodes away from the death of Jonathan Kent. Smallville rules this year. At this point, one of the best final seasons of a show, ever (I’m convinced that they’re going to pull the plug with the release of the next movie).

Comic Reviews - Week of December 7th

Before getting to the comics reviews this week, let’s stop for a moment and discuss that X3 trailer. While it doesn’t quite capture the epic nature of the best superhero trailers (*cough* Superman Returns trailer *cough*), it does do a good job showing how bad they’re going to screw this one up.

I mean, Cyclops is barely anywhere to be seen. Storm is going to ruin the movie with her expanded role and Beast looks like a fat, blue vampire. Okay, I’m hating because Cyclops has always been my favorite X-man and I have a bad feeling that he is going to be on the receiving end of one of the three deaths but seriously, it should be an okay movie and a good way to end the trilogy. I doubt, though, that it’ll be able to match the first and second X-men movies. Here’s hoping it does.

On to the comics.

SUPERMAN #224 – We go from a great Superman title (last week’s Adventures of Superman) to this garbage. The Blackrock storyline is back again (from the last Superman comic) and look, Superman beats her in a lame, lame way, by shielding her using lead and the rock losing faith in the chick. This, somehow, lets Superman pretend that everything’s alright again and that he can be a hero (it seems he’s learning in every issue that he needs to be a hero again). I thought this was a lame issue, thus, it gets a CUT & PRINT LAME.


SUPERMAN: SECRET FILES & ORIGINS 2005 – From a lame Superman title to a half way interesting one. This is a collection of stories and such that would never fill an entire issue. There is some good stuff, like the “Superman appreciation day” story and some lame recreations, like the first time Superman and Lois do an interview (Lois is written over the top in that one) so this one falls in the middle somewhere. Pick it up if you want some different type Superman tales. The art is awesome in the one, though, with many different artists all giving their different renditions of the Man of Steel.

A CUT & PRINT OKAY.


JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #80 – Oh please God, don’t let Keith Champagne kill Dr. Fate… Yes! He didn’t kill Fate! Whoohoo. Nothing more to see here. Move along now… move along.

A CUT & PRINT THE LAST THREE ISSUE’S CONFUSED ME BUT AT LEAST THEY DIDN’T KILL DR. FATE.

Comic Reviews for the week of November 23rd and 30th

With the whole lack of comics I’ve bought in the last two weeks, I thought I’d put two weeks of reviews together (which is why there were no reviews last week).

So, here are the quick and dirty reviews for the past two weeks. Still, only 4 books that I bought. I guess it shows that I’m picky with what I read, more so than what I watch in the movie realm.


JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: CLASSIFIED #5 - I’m still pissed at missing out on #4. Still no word on if I’ll ever see that issue. I might have to break down and go buy the stupid thing on-line, but then I’m going to have to battle with shipping charges and the like. I hate shipping charges.

On to issue number 5. This is the start of a new arc, so there’s not much to talk about. I do like, though, that this arc is focusing on the villains (the Injustice Soceity) instead of the heroes. It’s a really nice change and it provides for some fresh writing and some fresh situations.

And even if they’re bad people, they do have a heart, taking the poor Wizard in and helping him as he goes through a hard time in his life (I think you’d also sympathize if a being from the astral plane was trying to use your body as a conduit to come to Earth). A great spotlight on a group of villains who haven’t had the spotlight in awhile.

A CUT & PRINT IT’S A GOOD START.


SNAKE EYES: DECLASSIFIED #4 – Snakes Eyes and Storm Shadow, still the best two G.I. Joe characters to ever be created. They have an intelligent back story which is getting filled in even more with the Declassified series. It’s been solid so far, but the real test is if the book can keep the momentum. Well, it’s another solid issue!

The only complaint I’m finding with the series is that Storm Shadow, who I find just a bit cooler than Snake Eyes, is really getting the short end of the stick. While the two are evenly matched, the story is making Shadow look like the decisively weaker of the two. He’s not. It’s great, though, to see that Snake Eye’s actually had a personality before the accident that marred his entire run in the original comic series and the cartoon.

I should also note that the artwork is fantastic throughout this one.

Still, the split that’s going to happen in the next issue has been built well and the story is ready to mutate into the revenge story that it has always been building to. A good issue that makes me anticipate the next.

A CUT & PRINT YES.


ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #646 - Now this is the first Superman comic in the last few months that has had me just enthralled. This was a great, great story. Basically, Ruin has been on the loose for awhile now, using the Phantom Zone to appear and disappear whenever he wants. Also, he’s been setting up Pete Ross to look like Ruin (Pete of course was Vice President to Luthor’s president).

Superman completely believes that Pete is not Ruin. But who is? That will shock you.

It’ll also shock you (and this is a great running trend in DC comics right now) that the most important character in this one is that old pest, Mr. Mxyzptlk who finally helps Superman. Mxyzptlk has lost a lot of his magic ability, due to the Spectre wiping out most of magic and he’s now a bum on the street, looking for Big Blue. He finds Clark, they talk and Mxyzptlk, in about 15 panels, redeems everything he’s done in the past 20 years of Superman history, since the Crisis re-boot in the Mid 80’s. He comes to save the day and damn it, if it’s not completely believably. That’s some great writing and we have Greg Rucka to thank for that one.

This arc is going to finish up with the next issue and I encourage you to pick up this issue and the next one. A CUT & PRINT DEFINITELY.


WONDER WOMAN #223 – Basically a big gigantic battle with Wonder Woman taking her sweet time to get to the action and save the day. By the end of the issue, she’s being trampled by OMAC’s, setting up the final confrontation and the “ultimate weapon” that the Amazon’s possess. The next issue should be good. This was simply a setup.

A CUT & PRINT IF YOU LIKE WONDER WOMAN… A LOT