Author Archives: Doc
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #17
#17
Loki
One of the best Marvel Studios Disney + shows is next on the countdown as we reach Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson.
After Avengers: Infinity War, it looked as if we had seen the last of Loki in the MCU. “No resurrections this time” Thanos said as he cracked Loki’s neck. Fortunately for us, Thanos was not quite right.
While that Loki would not be back, we learned about the multiverse and the unlimited number of Loki variants, one of which would become our protagonist of this series.
Grabbed by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), Loki was recruited by Mobius to help with the apprehension of another rogue Loki who was causing all kinds of trouble. We would come to find out that the rogue Loki was, in fact, a female Loki who named herself Sylvie. Loki and Sylvie had a real weird relationship that carried this show through its run.
But truthfully, the key relationship of the show was Loki and Mobius, played by Owen Wilson. This bromance was apparent from the first scene they had together. Hiddleston and Wilson had amazing chemistry and made an amazing duo.
Loki and Sylvie confronted the man at the beginning of time, He Who Remains, who turned out to be a variant of Kang the Conquerer. This was easily the best moment for that character in the MCU as Kang ended up being defeated by ants. However, this version of Kang was an omnious force over both seasons of Loki.
The writing was extremely clever and funny. It was also a major event in the MCU, with the finale changing things massively with ripples we are still waiting to discover.
Who would have guessed back in the first Thor movie that the antagonist of that movie and the major villain of The Avengers would have one of the best TV shows from Marvel?
Loki went for two seasons.
IT: Welcome to Derry S1 E5
Spoilers
“Neibolt Street“
We have now officially seen Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the sewers of Derry. He is as frightening as ever.
I have to say, that I immediately really wanted that to be Matty… but I knew it wasn’t. Actor Miles Ekhardt looked amazing with his long hair and his white complexion. It was obviously a trap, but, man, I was hoping that Matty somehow defied logic and survived.
Of course, he did not.
When Matty changed into Pennywise, that was just terrifying. For a moment, too, I thought Lilly was a goner. I did not have any idea how she was getting out of that sewer. The magical rod (which was the piece of his cage that Daniel had brought in to the sewers and lost) stopping Pennywise in his place… awesome.
Of course, as soon as I saw Pennywise take the form of Charlotte and confront Leroy, I knew the kids, who were real and in the sewer, were in danger of being shot. I am glad they weren’t and I think Pauly needs more credit than he received for saving those kids lives. He took that bullet to stop Leroy from shooting Will.
We discovered the white woman that Hank was having his affair with… it was Mrs. Kersh. After the prison bus to Shawshank is attacked, Hank escapes and went to Mrs. Kersh for help.
Oh.. and Dick Hallorann … poor Dick Hallorann. He went through it…and he does not seem to be in his right mind yet.
Great episode. Very excited to see Bill Skarsgård in his clown attire.
Pluribus S1 E4
Spoilers
“Please, Carol”
Carol goes on the offensive in an attempt to discover what chance she has on finding a way to reverse the Joining. She comes up with a plan to inject Zosia with a truth serum (via heroin) but Zosia goes into cardiac arrest, which is where the episode ended.
This gives Carol the start of her investigation into what exactly is going on with the earthlings and their new hive mind.
Carol lists the things she knows on the board:
- Eager to please—would give me A BOMB?!
- Can’t kill, not a fly
- Don’t play faves, like all jerks same
- ***Trying to change me!***
- Weirdly honest?
Very funny. A little creepy.
The cold open of the episode returned us to the phone call Carol made on the airplane to the man in Paraguay. His name is Manousos and we get the conversation from his POV this time. I figured that character would return to the show and he is back just a couple of episodes later. He is fairly bizarre as he was licking the lids of pet food cans for remnants of remaining food. The cold open was mostly dialogue free and was just wild. He wrote down Carol’s name at the end of the scene so he is clearly on his way, one way or another.
This was a fun episode, though Carol’s desperation really has placed Zosia in jeopardy a couple of times.
After the Hunt
The film, After the Hunt was a film that I missed out on while it was in the theaters earlier this year, but with it coming available on Amazon Prime, I was able to watch it this weekend. I have to say that I found this to be extremely disappointing and mostly a mess.
According to IMZDB, “A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.”
Thing is, this synopsis from IMDB is much more concise than this film is. I’m not sure what the overall story as meant to be, and it felt as if these characters were jumping back and forth in so many different manners that it muddied the waters of the narrative.
There are great actors in the film. Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny all had important roles in the film and they all can really act. There just was too much chaos in the script to allow any of them to elevate the material. Certainly, Julia Roberts had the strongest performance, but there was just so much going on that was needlessly convoluted that it sapped any semblance of her performance.
The score was constantly in the way. I have never been as distracted by the music in a movie as I was with this movie. The score was nonsensical at times and really caused disruptions.
The narrative was scattered around and did not have a comprehensive idea of where it wanted to go. This was compounded by the different characters and what they brought to the story. Some things were brought in for reasons that I am not sure have a purpose.
I found this to be overly long, messy, and wasteful of some strong performances. After the Hunt never really knew what it wanted to be, and that is hat it became.
2 stars
EYG Comic Cavalcade #179
November 23
Good Sunday to all. We are back with a HUGE week of books. Legitimately, this was one of the largest weeks of comic purchasing that I have had in a long time. I am jumping right in…
Batman Deadpool #1. “The Cosmic Kiss Caper” Written by Grant Morrison with art and cover art by Dan Mora. It is DC’s turn to team up Batman & Deadpool. There are, of course, a bunch of variant covers going with it. I picked up three other covers, including one with Joker vs. Doom, Nightwing & Laura Kinney and a homage to Crisis on Infinite Earths. I really enjoyed this comic this week. I would give a special shout out to the back up story featuring Nightwing and Wolverine.
Zdarsky Comic News #17. Chip Zdarsky’s news mag is always fun, but I included it here because, according to Chip inside the book, next issue is the final issue of the Zdarsky Comic News. That made me very sad as I enjoyed this every time I would grab it in Bettendorf. I think it probably has to do with the big Marvel stuff Chip is going to be doing soon.
No Man’s Land #3. Written, art and cover art by Szymon Kudranski. I picked up Cover C (Antlers variant) as well as the cover A by Kudranski (Gold Medalist-TIE). I truly love this book. It is one of my favorite books of the 2025 calendar year. The team up between our two agents from competing super powers continues to be engaging as can be, as does the mystery of who is responsible for the murder.
High Strangeness #2. “Book Two: 1975” Written by Daniel Noah & Zac Thompson with illustration and cover art by Noah Bailey (Silver Medalist). Is this a bigfoot story or some other type of monstrous creature? I don’t know, but I enjoyed reading it.
Amazing Spider-Man #16. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. More earth-bound action with Norman Osborn covering for Peter. I loved this issue because of how Tombstone reacted to Spider-Man. He was worried about the reactions Osborn-Spidey was having, that they were not the Spider-Man that he was used to, and he wanted to find out what was wrong. The level of respect Tombstone held Spider-Man in is one of those things that I love to see.
Radioactive Spider-Man #2. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Kev Walker. Cover C variant art was done by Juan Ferreyra. Age of Revelation, X Years in the future, it gives us a cool futuristic Spider-Man tale, featuring how much Peter loved his Aunt May. This has been a solid piece of the Age of Revelation.
Lion King #1. Written, illustrated and cover art by Edin Galmon. I grabbed this off the shelf for the heck of it. I have enjoyed the Dynamite books lately and this look like a nice collector’s item to have. Then, I thought the story was better than I anticipated. So much so that i will probably grab issue two as well.
One World Under Doom #9. “The White Sail of her Soul”. Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. The One World Under Doom arc came to a close with this issue as Doom went cosmic to undo his accidental killing of Valera Richards last issue. He lost his Sorcerer Supreme title as well.
Deluge #2. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Marika Cresta. Riley Rossmo did the cover art. The prison is flooded, putting the lives of the inmates in jeopardy, but the females of the prison did not have to face just the waters. It is what is in the waters that is the most dangerous. Ignition Press has a winner on their hands with Deluge.
The Twilight Zone #2. “A World of Your Wildest Dreams.” Written, art and cover art by Tom Scioli. Another story that would be exceptional as an episode of the TV show. The design of the art in this book was very original and different and I enjoyed it quite a bit. This has been a great anthology series so far.
Spider-Man Holiday Spectacular #1. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Luciano Vecchio, Paco Medina, Nathan Stockman, and Bob Quinn. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio. I usually do not like these holiday specials, but this one I absolutely loved! Aunt may is on a cruise, so Peter is going to be alone on Christmas, so the rest of the Marvel Universe stepped up to show how much they love Spidey.
The Ultimates #18. Written by Dennis Camp with art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art by Dike Ruan. Tony Stark makes a video appeal to the superheroes of the Ultimate Universe as major problems are coming soon.
The Last Wolverine #2. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Edgar Salazar. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Matthew Wilson. Leonard, along with Nightcrawler and Heather Hudson, are on their way to try and save Logan. I do like this character of Leonard quite a bit and this has been one of my favorite of the Age of Revelation books so far.
Punisher: Red Band #3. Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. Punisher is back, though he does not remember who he is. But the Kingpin is trying to control him, use him as a weapon. Frank is on the case… and killing people in a violent manner.
G.I. Joe #14. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art by Tom Reilly. Did Cobra Commander just get fed to some pigs? The Dreadnok War moves along as CC and Duke try to find their selves a place to hide. Maybe they choose poorly.
Absolute Flash #9. “Rogue’s Revenge” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Nick Robles. Wally and the Rogue’s Gallery are looking to team up to take care of their mutual problem… however, there is a traitor in their midst.
Nova Centurion #1. “Deep Space Drifter” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvero Lopez. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. I also picked up the foil variant cover by Ivan Shavrin (Bronze Medalist). I wasn’t much of a fan of the Imperial comic, so when I picked this up, I was not expecting much, even though I have always been a fan of Nova. I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this new take on Richard Rider. Much like Planet She-Hulk, this separate series started off strong.
Unbreakable X-Men #2. “Burial at Sea.” Written by Gail Simone and art by C.F. Villa. Lucas Werneck did the cover art. We learn about the X Years later fate of the Outliers. This continues to be one of the best written group of characters in the X-universe.
Terrorbytes #2. Written by Mark London with art by Emanuele Ercolani. Cover art was done by Sebastian Piriz. This Mad Cave book tells the story of a guy who is influenced by AI to do many bad things in exchange for money. It is the easy way… or is it?
X-Men: Book of Revelation #2. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, JP Mayer & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. Kitty Pryde, the Ghost of Philadelphia, showed up to save a little girl who was one of Revelation’s Choristers, Elbecca from Fabian Cortez. However, things are not as they seem.
Don’t Forget Your Briefcase #5. Written by Eliot Rahal with art and cover art by Phillip Sevy. The political-spy thriller/comedy book from Mad Cave wrapped up with this issue. I have to say that I was a little unclear about the ending of the book, but it seemed like everyone was happy. Maybe?
Pecos Bill and the Guns of Oz #1. Written by J. Hammond with art by Erick Marshall. Cover art was done by J. Hammond. This new Keenspot book including the tall tale character of Pecos Bill attracted my attention on the stand. It was a weird book, but it seemed to fit right in with some of the other weird Keenspot books.
Red Book #2. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Michael Avon Deming. The mysteries of UFOs are not just an American phenomenon. It is also found in China, and this comic gives us some background behind the Chinese stories. Tynion IV has always been great with these types of books and this is no exception.
Final Boss #1. “Stage 1: Genesis.” Written by Tyler Kirkham and art by Tyler Kirkham with David Miller. Cover art was done by Tyler Kirkham. Tommy Brazen is one of the top fighters around. This book reminds one of the fighting video game such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. The panels are oversized and the imagery is fantastic. Story is not remarkably deep, but you kind of expect that.
News from the Fallout #6. “Chapter Six: Darkness Everywhere” Written by Chris Condon with art and cover art by Jeffrey Alan Love. One of the most original and enjoyable mini series of the year closes with this creative issue. Weirdness everywhere and I love it.
Nightwing #132. “Slapstick” Written by Dan Watters with art and cover art by Dexter Soy. Nightwing goes in search of a group of children that had been taken by the Spheric Solutions. However, Nightwing discovered a truth about Olivia Pearce that is definitely frightening.
Ferocious #1. “Hello, Survivor.” Written by Written by Luke Piotrowski and art by Emanuele Ercolani. Cover art was done by Andy Clake & Jose Villarrubia. The new Mad Cave book is based on the survival FPS video game Ferocious from OMYOG and tinyBuild. A young boy trains under a warrior woman who destroyed his village.
Captain America #5. “Our Secret Wars” Part 5. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Valerio Schiti. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. Cap’s adventure in Latveria comes to a close and Cap leaves the military to join the Avengers.
Omega Kids #2. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Andres Genolet. Rod reis did the cover art. The Omega Kids, led by Quentin Quire, are a psychic spy network for Revelation. However, there may be more to these kids than it seemed.
All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #4. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art as done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Gwen Stacy’s former symbiote has taken over a prison and, seemingly, has been able to control multiple hosts at once. What can Gwen and Flash Thompson do to stop this?
Justice League Red #4. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Clayton Henry. Cover art was done by Clayton Henry and Arif Prianto. Red Tornado lays out the plan to face off against Black Adam in an attempt to prevent the apocalyptic future.
Space Ghost #5. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. Space Ghost prevents a war between two squabbling planets.
Exquisite Corpses #7. Written by Michael Walsh with James Tynion IV and art by Claire Roe with Michael Walsh. Cover art was done by Michael Walsh. I also picked up a virgin variant with art by Marcos Martin. Wild action continues on in the tournament. There was a bit of a twist in the action that might affect the families.
Other books this week: The New Gods #12, Good as Dead #3, Marian Heretic #2, Mary Sue #2, It Killed Everyone But Me #3, Ghost Pepper #5, and Yuletide #2.
Quick Hits: Todd was able to find me a copy of Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1, from Dynamite. James T. Kirk is back and alive again in The Last Starfighter #2. Curious to see where that may go. While the X-books are involved with the Age of Revelation, Marvel released X-Men of Apocalypse #1, a book with characters from the previous dystopian future. Tama #4 is getting more and more violent each week as Tama is losing even more control. The Terminator Metal #2 gives us a human to cheer for and then pulls the run out from under us. There are two reprints from the world of Mark Spears. Mark Spears Monsters #1 has a cool reprint with a zombie crawling through the grass and Mark Spears Monsters #4 -2nd print (Gold Medalist-TIE) has a Santa Claus Skeleton. I missed Grim #25 last week, which was the final issue of the series. Not sure I loved the finale, but I am glad I have the complete series. More zombie problems in Everything Dead & Dying #3 as the humans have found the zombie city. Viking Moon #2 is pretty awesome again as we get werewolves vs. Vikings. 20th century Studios comics Thor dies in the Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #4. A group of heroes are teaming up to take on the Predators… with the title, it does not seem like a positive thing for them. Hector Plasm : Hunt for Bigfoot #2 comes across what could be a Bigfoot. This is a weird book so far. Racer X #3 still focuses more on Speed Racer than on Racer X. More cool horror stories in the anthology book Hello Darkness #16. I grabbed this book, John Le Carre’s The Circus: Losing Control #1 from Dark Horse off the stands. It felt like a book that had other series prior that I was expected to know. Not going to continue with this one for now. There was a cool virgin cover of Spawn: The Dark Ages #1, but it was also a book that the story did not interest me. Awesome cover though (even though it did not crack the medal round this week). The final issue of Silverhawks #10 came out this week. This has been a book that has been losing my attention as it progressed so I am glad to see it end. Harley Quinn X Elvira #2 from Dynamite is filled with weird interactions between these two characters. Th, we got huge sword fights with oversized swords in Lost Fantasy #5.
Sunday Morning Sidewalk #44
Spoilers
“Eulogy”
More creepy things are going on with the Crain family as they have the funeral for Nell, and we spend a focused episode on Hugh.
Hugh has a major secret about what happened on the night when Olivia died, and we are slowly coming around to the answer to it. Of course, there are just three episodes remaining so those answers should be coming soon.
Hugh is shown being questioned by the sheriff and he was not overly forthcoming. We know that something weird happened that night that he felt the need to protect his kids from, but this does not shine any light on that.
We do learn for sure that Hugh has been talking to Olivia, as we suspected last week. He told Luke, who saw the Bent-Neck Lady and a scary Olivia at the funeral, that he had been talking to Olivia since the death, and that it was a coping mechanism that had been given an okay by his therapist. It feels like there is more to that than what he said.
Some of the scenes involving the dead and decaying corpse of Olivia, whether it be in Nell’s grave, grabbing Luke’s arm, or crawling along the floor in front of Hugh and Theo, are truly frightening and well done. The story of what happened on that night has been drawn out slowly over the first 7 episodes and I expect big things over the final three.
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #18
#18
Ted Lasso
This is the show that many people made an account to Apple TV + for. Ted Lasso had three seasons on the streamer and was some of the best TV you were going to find.
Ted Lasso was a American football coach who was hired to move to England and coach football (aka soccer to us Americans), despite the fact that he had never coached the sport before.
There has never been a character like Ted Lasso on TV before. I binged the first couple of seasons because I was catching up with all the hype, and I can remember multiple times thinking to myself, “I wish I was more like Ted Lasso.” The constant positives and the humor that he faced every situation was inspiring.
Ted Lasso was played by Jason Sudeikis with such a perfect balance of zeal and down-home-charm. The rest of the cast around Ted was great as well. This included Hannah Waddingham, as team owner Rebecca Welton. Her story arc as the evil owner felt right out of “Major League,” except it took an entirely different path, completely unexpectedly. Bret Goldstein was Roy Kent, aging superstar player who had to come to terms with his skills slipping way. The relationship with Roy and Keeley Jones, played by Juno Temple, was one of the best storylines on the show.
Others on the show included Phil Dunster, Nick Mohammad, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, James Lance, Andrea Anders, Sam Richardson, Anthony Head, Cristo Fernandez, Annette Badland, Billy Harris, and Keeley Hazell.
Much like the Tick, Ted Lasso became known for his quotes, dubbed Ted Lasso-isms. Here are some of my personal favorites:
- “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”
- “If that’s a joke, I love it. If not, can’t wait to unpack that with you later.”
- “I always thought tea was going to taste like hot brown water. And do you know what? I was right.”
- “You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a 10-second memory.”
- “This woman is strong, confident, and powerful. Boss, I tell you, I’d hate to see you and Michelle Obama arm wrestle, but I wouldn’t be able take my eyes off of it either.”
- “Sam was more open than the jar of peanut butter on my counter.”
- “You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t want to hear it.”
- “It’s just a group of people who care, Roy. Not unlike folks at a hip-hop concert whose hands are not in the air.”
- “Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.”
- “I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad, and that’s being alone and being sad.”
- “There’s two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze.”
- “I shouldn’t bring an umbrella to a brainstorm.”
- “Don’t fight back. Fight Forward”
- “He thinks he’s mad now, wait till we win him over. He’ll be furious.”
- “I’m like an incomplete list of Madeline Kahn’s best films. I ain’t got no clue.”
- “Well, fellas, if you’re looking for a pep talk from me, you’re in trouble. ‘Cause I’m like Michael Flatley at 11:59 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, I’m tapped out.”
- “I’ve had more psychotic episodes than Twin Peaks.”
- “I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”
- “I’ve never been embarrassed about having streaks in my drawers. You know, it’s all part of growing up.”
- “If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that sometimes it’s easier to speak our minds anonymously.”
- “You two knuckleheads have split our locker room in half. And when it comes to locker rooms, I like ’em just like my mother’s bathing suits. I only wanna see ’em in one piece, you hear?”
- “Here’s an idea that’s gonna help a little or hurt a whole lot. Who needs a drink?”
- “Well, as my doctor told me when I got addicted to fettuccine Alfredo, that’s a little rich for my blood.”
- “Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that.”
Hazbin Hotel S2 E7, E8
Spoilers
“Weapon of Mass Distraction”
“Curtain Call”
It’s Pope Leo XIV’s favorite show!
Hazbin Hotel’s second season ends with two massive episodes that are absolute BANGERS!
The two songs at the end of each of these final episodes are just the best of the entire series. The major ensemble songs were so brilliantly written and kept the mood absolutely amazing.
Alastor is playing the long game. He is awesome. He is not on anyone’s side… only his. I still think he has a respect for Charlie that shines through. He manipulated Vox every second of these episodes. Plus, bringing back the favor from the first season that Charlie owed
Sir Pentious had a big job to do and he had a fabulous song with Seraphim. I was concerned with his place in Heaven when he first got there, but he came through big time these final two episodes.
Angel Dust’s story is clearly not finished as he returned to Valentino after the big final song.
These two episodes were as good as any this season. The show felt a little disjointed at times in season two, but these brought them home in ways that were so satisfying that it made everything worthwhile.
We did not get Lilith this season outside of a few cameos. I really expected her to arrive in this finale, but she did not. That story will also continue into season three I am sure.
Wicked: For Good
Last year, Wicked found its way into my top 10 of the year. I loved the first movie and I was excited to see the follow-up, the finish to the story with Wicked: For Good.
I did enjoy the movie, but it just did not feel as enjoyable as the first half.
We pick up back in Oz with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) being pursued and demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, and she is trying to show the citizens of Oz that the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) was a fraud. Glinda (Ariana Grande) was the public face for the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), and was being created as the Good Witch.
The strengths of this film included the two leads, Erivo and Grande. Their chemistry was off the charts in the first film, and they both carry it right into Wicked: For Good. Both of them give Oscar worthy performances once again, however, there was too much of the film where they were at odds, which dragged things down a bit. Specifically, with the love triangle between them and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), which did not seem to work very well.
The film looked beautiful once again. They had filmed this right after the first film, so everything was still in place and the sequel is sensational looking.
While there is no song in the second film that could match the power or emotionality of “Defying Gravity,” I did enjoy the music throughout. The voices of both Grande and Erivo are spot on and could handle anything thrown at them. My personal favorite songs were “Wonderful” featuring both Erivo and Grande with Jeff Goldblum. The scene of them dancing together really was an awesome shot and “No Good Deed” with Erivo standing out.
I just had trouble with this film not reaching the levels of the first film. Wicked was filled with magic and charm, while it felt like Wicked: For Good was too busy trying to cram the parts of The Wizard of Oz to make it fit the story of the original 1939 film. I am not sure much of the Wizard of Oz bits worked for me.
Specifically, the origins of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man made no sense to me and felt extremely shoehorned into the script. I won’t spoil this for anyone who doesn’t know from the stage play, but I did not like the use of these characters.
A lot of the story was not dealt with, as if there were several dangling plotholes left unfilled. Again, without spoiling I can’t go into too many details, but this was a problem for me, especially in reflection.
The second film is definitely darker than the first one with a few surprisingly dark scenes. There was less humor in this new film, which is not a bad thing, but Ariana Grande, whose comedic timing was on full display in the first film, did not have the opportunity as much in this one. Again, that is not necessarily bad, as it might show character growth, but it was a missing feature for me.
Wicked: For Good is a solid film, if not as good as the first one. I wonder what it would be like to watch both films back to back? I wonder if that would change the thoughts I had for part two? Maybe I’ll do that some day.
3.75 stars
Sisu: Road to Revenge
A few years back there was a film featuring a Finnish protagonist who had become a legend by his brutality and his survival. Dubbed the “Man who refuses to die,” Aatami Korpi stomped through Nazis, killing everyone in his path.
Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila) is back after the war and he returned to his home in Finland, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in the peace treaty, to the home where his wife and two sons were murdered.
Korpi dismantled his house, taking the lumber from it to leave the now Soviet Union so he could rebuild the house again. Unfortunately, the man who killed his family, Yeagor Dragunov, played by Stephen Lang, was hired to go and kill the legend, once and for all.
The story was really simple, and Jorma Tommila does not have one line of dialogue, but he did a nice job with his body posture and his facial expressions (that is, when we could see the facial expressions through the crimson mask that covered his face at multiple times in the film) to express the pain and anguish he was going through.
Korpi is beat all the crap in the film, to the point where it is amazing that he could possibly still be functioning, much less alive.
I have to say that while I did enjoy a lot of the excessive violence that was going on in the film, it got to a point where it may have been too much. It was difficult to accept that he was still alive after so much without any sort of magical/mystical abilites.
Some of the things he does is also too cartoonish. Some of the things had me rolling my eyes or trying to decide exactly why he did that. There was one scene with a tank that truly showed this concept.
Because of the violence becoming too out there, I felt like the movie took a step back from the previous one. I do not remember the last Sisu movie being this over-the-top, Looney Tunes type violence and this just was more than I wanted.
It was still a fun revenge flick, but, interestingly enough, Korpi wasn’t in search of revenge. Had the Soviets not sent Dragunov after him, he would have just left the Soviet Union and built his new home. I am not even sure Korpi knew that Dragunov was the man who killed his family until he started bragging about it.
A solid revenge flick that does takes things too far for my tastes, Sisu: Road to Revenge is a decent afternoon watch, it is paced quickly and has some good humorous kills. Lots of blood too.
3.4 stars
Daily Countdown: TV Show #19
#19
The Tick (animated series)
This is the third time that The Tick has made it on to this list. His live action show on FOX was first, then his live action show on Prime was next, and now is the show that, for me, started it all.
Yes, I know the Tick was from comics, but I had not owned any Tick comics when he debuted on FOX Kids Saturday mornings. My introduction to the character was from that animated series and it made the Tick, along with the other eccentric and wild characters from this world, one of my favorite shows ever.
Spooooooooooooooooooooon!
From sidekick Arthur to Chairface Chippendale to Man-Eating Cow to Barry, the characters were so fun, so funny and worth the time. This is the last time we would see Die Fledermaus and American Maid, as these characters did not appear in live action because of legal reasons.
There are a couple of notable episodes that I will never forget with minor characters (if you can call them that) that absolutely were sensations. Little Wooden Boy was Tick’s sidekick after a spat with Arthur. I wanted my own Little Wooden Boy, so badly. Then, there was Tick’s pet, Speak, the “dog” who was named because “that’s what you do.” Speak was actually a capybara, which is a rodent.
Blowhole, the Terror, Proto the Clown, El Seed, Dinosaur Neil, Thrakkorzog, the Breadmaster, Filth, The Evil Midnight Bomber that Bombs at Midnight… so many creative and extremely clever characters, some adapted from the comics, some seen first time on the animated show. The group of super heroes running around The City was as great too.
There were three seasons of this animated show and I waited patiently for each one. I loved this show so much. It gave me a character that I could completely relate to and it was as funny as any show on this list.
Creator and EYG Hall of famer Ben Edlund was behind the show, in all its forms. With all due respect to both Patrick Warburton and Peter Serafinowicz, the classic and all-time Tick performer was Townsend Coleman, who voiced the animated version in this show. Coleman’s voice was perfect for this character and was what helped this show become the cult classic that it is.
Because of this show, I spent many years finding Tick comics from New England Comics (thanks Todd) and the Tick is one of my favorite comic book heroes of all time.
The animated show provided some of the best quotes of all time… some of which I still use in real life.
“Gravity is a harsh mistress”
“You’re not going crazy. You’re going sane in a crazy world!”
“Four yaks and a dog. Laxative log. Susan.“
“You know, Arthur, when evil is afoot, and you don’t have any arms, you’ve gotta use your head. And when evil is ahead and you’re behind, you’ve gotta do the legwork. But when you can’t get a leg up, you gotta be hip. You gotta keep your chin up, and kick some-…”
“Eating kittens is just plain… plain wrong! And no-one should do it, ever!“
“Yeah, well, don’t count your weasels before they pop, dink!”
“Yes, destiny has her hand on my back, and she’s pushing.”
“Mucal invader, is there no end to your oozing?”
FYC: Best Supporting Actress Predictions
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #20
#20
The Big Bang Theory
As we enter the Top 20 remaining in our Daily Countdown, we come to a sitcom that ran for 12 seasons on CBS.
Bazinga!
The Big Bang Theory was the story of a group of four geeks, all incredibly smart scientists, engineers and physicists, who love geek culture, playing D & D, and comic books. We follow these four men, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali and Sheldon Cooper, through their lives, loves and shenanigans.
There are people I know who hate The Big Bang Theory because of their portrayal of the main characters as geeks. They say it is insulting to the geek community. While they are welcome to that opinion, I disagree. It is a sitcom and the characters are exaggerated. It’s like saying that detectives should be mad about Monk or that doctors should be offended by Doogie Howser.
The center relationship of the show is Leonard and Sheldon, who are roommates. Sheldon is, let’s say, difficult to deal with, yet Leonard continued to put up with his craziness. When Penny (no last name) moves in next door, Leonard fall for her hard. Other love interests were introduced into the show as regulars: Bernadette Rostenkowski, who would wind up marrying Howard, and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, whose relationship with Sheldon would be a major focus of the last half of the show’s run.
The relationship with Howard and Bernadette, for me, really saved the character of Howard, who I disliked for much of the early seasons. He was so creepy so often that I just did not understand why the others wanted him around. Still, Howard had his moments and became one of my favorites as he became a husband and father.
The show had a regular set that was a comic book shop, which I always find awesome. The comic book shop owner, Stuart, eventually became a regular, and is reportedly part of a spin off of the show coming sometime over the next year or two.
The cast included Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch, and Kevin Sussman. Recurring actors to appear on the show included such stars as Kathy Bates, Bob Newhart, Sara Gilbert, Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, Teller, and Stephen Hawking. There were also a bunch of cameos of people as themselves including Stan Lee, Leonard Nemoy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Levar Burton, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, James Earl Jones, Kevin Smith, Nathan Fillion, and many more.
EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week
November 20
Okay, this was an absolute EPIC week for covers.
Seriously, as I start typing this, I am not sure which of the FOUR covers that will earn a medal this week (yup, a tie) is going to get the GOLD. When I first separated the books, I had chosen 16 comics as potential medal winners. Then, it took some real soul searching to decide which ones were out. That was after I had decided to make there be a tie.
Here are the others this week that did not make the cut…
Also-Rans: Batman Deadpool #1 (variant C- Doom and Joker), No Man’s Land #3, Exquisite Corpses #7 (Claire Roe Stealth Variant), Spawn: The Dark Ages (Virgin Variant), Final Boss #1, Pecos bill and the Guns of Oz #1, One World Under Doom #9, Radioactive Spider-Man (Variant Cover C), Terrorbytes #2, Everything Dead & Dying #3, Red Book #2, The Twilight Zone #2, Hello Darkness #16, and Space Ghost #5. WHOO.
And now… I have finally made my decision for the medal rounds. This was the toughest week I have had in a long time… and it has become a special week where HISTORY was made. The first ever TIE FOR THE GOLD MEDAL!!!
Bronze Medalist
Nova Centurion #1
Foil Variant Cover C
Cover art by Ivan Shavrin
I already had a copy of Nova Centurion #1 (the A Cover) and then I saw this on the shelf. It was just a gorgeous foil variant and I could not help myself. I honestly thought this was going to be the GOLD medalist this week, and it only could muster the bronze. It got dropped because of the gimmick.
Silver Medalist
High Strangeness #2
Cover art by Noah Bailey
What a beautiful cover. The snow storm surrounding this man who looks to be confronting some kind of creature with red eyes that blends into the blizzard. This was another book that I thought deserved a GOLD Medal but came up short to two other books this week. This would have won the race in many other weeks, but not this week.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER… A TIE FOR THE GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!!!!
Gold Medalist
No Man’s Land #3
Antlers Variant Cover C
Cover art by Szymon Kudranski
I first thought this was an homage to The Thing, but it turned out it was an homage to Antlers. I have been a big fan of the horror homages Feral has been doing this year, so this really attracted me. What a stunning cover. Szymon Kudranski has hit the heights with this No Man’s Land Series. I believe it won a Gold medal three times now. What book could compete with this awesome cover?
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #4
Second printing
Witching Hour Homage
Cover art by Mark Spears
If there was going to be someone who ties for the GOLD medal for the first time ever with the HOT No Man’s Land artist Szymon Kudranski, it’s gonna be 2025’s eventual cover artist of the year, in Mark Spears. He had another multiple printing book this week that could have been in the medalist too (I should have added that one to the Also-Rans). Love this cover with the skeleton Santa Claus. Spears never seems to miss.
What a week of covers. The year is coming to close soon, and it feels as if the cover artists are bringing their best yet!
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 