Okay, so From really made me feel like LOST with these three episodes that ended season one.
I ended the first season on Netflix today, and the build was tense and suspenseful. As I said, I could feel the ghost of LOST in the episodes. The show had always had a DNA of LOST, particularly with Harold Perrineau as the lead.
But these episodes had the following:
The idea of building the tower on top of Colony House and having the town join in to help build it gave me vibes of the raft from the end of season one.
Jade suddenly gave me Sawyer thoughts, especially with the nicknames and the bad attitude.
The surprising and mysterious voice on the radio who knew Jim’s name at the end made me think of the Others, particularly Mr. Friendly.
Tabitha digging the hole in her basement and finding a room made me remember the Hatch and Victor was playing the role of Desmond here.
The voices tell Sara that the land was angry, making it feel alive like the Island from LOST.
We even had a flashback to see what had happened to Boyd’s wife.
Boyd and Sara in the woods is some scary stuff, and I am curious where that tree took Boyd and what happened to Sara.
The sweet proposal by Ellis to Fatima was a nice moment, though that makes me more worried for them. I just feel as if the happiness is not necessarily something that will last in this town.
Speaking of great scenes, this is the first time that I did not want to kill Jade. When he went back for his rolling paper, he came across Tian-Chen Liu and they have a beautiful exchange.
Great performance in this group of episodes by Elizabeth Saunders as Dona. Her reaction to the death of Eric and the idea of the tower and the signal to the outside was powerful. Her taking the axe to the floor of the Colony House was a shocking moment.
This was a mysterious first season that provided us with a ton of unexplained riddles going on in this town and the surrounding woods. The characters are fun and I get the feeling that no one is safe.
Episode 7 of VisionQuest was a spectacular tour de force for Paul Bettany. People forget that Paul Bettany is a tremendous actor. He absolutely reminded people tonight.
Vision had to go into himself to find the source code, the sixth key (surprise Jocasta) preventing her from opening up the cask of her family, where the nanotech was stored.
I had guessed that JIM would be the client who hired Paladin, but that turned out to be inaccurate. However, JIM was going to play a major role, as he was inside Vision, and, also played by Paul Bettany, had an amazing scene opposite himself. JIM was able to finally get Vision to accept that he was a sum of all the parts and that Tommy was actually his son.
When Vision mentioned Wanda, it was remarkably powerful and emotional.
The reveal of the Client, someone being played by James Spader, was a wonderful reveal. I am not sure how that worked, but I think it is an intriguing answer. I am excited about seeing the story play out in next week’s finale.
I am concerned that FRIDAY just bit the big one in the last few moments because of Ultron. I hope that is not the case, but it did not look promising. It also looked like Paladin got blown up. I hope he was able to escape as well considering how cool he turned out.
I loved that we finally had the mention of Billy. Vision mentioned him and finally showed Tommy the WandaVision highlights, which would show him that he had a brother. Intriguingly, Vision still believes that Billy is dead. I am hoping that we get a guest appearance of Agatha and Billy next week… maybe in a post credit.
I was so invested tonight, and it was heavily because of Paul Bettany. There was less from James Spader than previous weeks, and this episode was highlighting the chops of Paul Bettany and the remarkable character of Vision.
Next week, we have a finale that could make this one of the best Marvel series on Disney +.
Seven episodes into this first season and so much has gone down.
The mysteries of the town are loading up. I feel like I need to start writing on the walls.
For a couple of episodes I wondered why they dropped the plot point of Victor digging the graves as he was doing at the end of episode 4. Boy, did they pay that one off.
Strange things going on. How can there be electricity in these houses without cords with wires in them? What a weird detail. Plus, does digging a giant hole in your basement lead to that answer?
I never guessed that Father Rudra Khatri would be killed this quickly in the series considering he seemed to be a vital role.
Sarah, Victor and Jade feel different from others in the town. They all have some kind of contact or delusions happening to them… way more than anyone else. Jade is such a douchebag so far though that I wish it were anyone else but him. However, I do believe that he is a vital piece to this puzzle.
Where do these monsters come from at night. They seem to be just normal people, who turn deadly. I was yelling at Kevin as he was letting the girl in to make out with. That dumb f**k deserved what he got, but, because of his stupidity, a bunch of others got killed as well. He did not deserve the good name of ‘Kevin.’
Then, as if Boyd does not have enough troubles, Parkinson’s Disease? Geez.
I am curious about who these people were that they wound up stuck in this town. I wonder if we will eventually get flashbacks to them prior getting trapped in this place.
This absolutely reminds me of an amalgam of LOST and The Walking Dead. From has been tense and scary as well as thoroughly riveting.
“No One’s Normal. It Just Looks That Way from Across the Street”
I finished the series this morning on the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, and it gave me all kinds of emotional feels.
What I was dreading came to pass. Floyd himself had spiked his Bloody Mary drink with the full bottle of the medication Amphezyne in it. This was not a murder, but a suicide.
The show does an admirable job of setting everything up. I believe that Floyd had been suffering from depression for some time. I believe that he has a difficult life and that his own self-image played a massive role in the end of his life.
I just have a hard time believing that Floyd would kill himself. I understand that depression is an insidious thing and that it can lead terrible situations. I just have a difficult time believing that Floyd would take that choice. He knew how important he was in Clark’s life, and he had told him that he was there for him…only to kill himself?
I told myself that it was going to be a tragic scene with Richard, who the episode had been setting up as our latest suspect. He had rode the bicycle to school for his first day and had a great day. He was so happy when he got home, and the new stuff that Carol had bought him went great as well. It was when he discovered the DTF St. Louis website on Floyd’s computer that led to a freak out.
Richard saw Floyd and Clark in their whitey-tighty underwear dance, making the assumption that they were having an affair. Richard could not comprehend the depth to that conversation between friends. I thought maybe Richard would have gone back and blasted Floyd and that is what broke the camel’s back. However, Richard just approached the window, made eye contact with Floyd and then turned away in disgust. Floyd pounded on the window and gave Richard the “I love you” ASL gesture, which Richard misinterpreted as “rock on.”
But Floyd did not know that Richard misunderstood him and I find it hard to accept that Floyd would kill himself with the issues between Richard unresolved.
Maybe that is what the series is saying. I learned to love the character of Floyd Smernitch over these seven episodes, with the heartfelt portrayal from David Harbour, that I can’t accept that the character would feel flawed enough that he couldn’t see the tragedy suicide would be. That I could only see the man whom is so caring and loving, but a man who was damaged beyond what he could possibly repair.
In the end, Clark was left very much alone, with his wife and kids gone, Floyd dead, and the affair with Carol, that had led to much of this, over. The final scene of Clark sitting alone on his swing set was heartbreaking.
Then, with Carol, most of the season was spent showing that she was an unlikeable character who appeared very selfish, only for the finale to completely switch that up. She went from being a prime suspect to just a loving mother who was trying to do her best for her family.
The episode is amazingly poignant, beautifully written and shot, with some fantastic acting. I don’t want to suggest that my difficulty accepting the result of the show meant that this was not exceptional TV. I found this episode thoroughly enthralling and deeply tragic. It is a sad end, but one that has all kinds of vitality. David Harbour absolutely deserved the Emmy Award that he received. The limited series received seven Emmy awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Linda Cardellini and Best Supporting Actor for Harbour.
Starting next week, the next show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk will be Amazon Prime’s Carrie.
So much happened. We started the episode “Firewall” with Ultron in control of Vision’s body and trapping him and the other AIs in the same “prison” that Vision had stored Ultron for all these years. Turnabout…
We ended with Ultron and Jocasta together, readying to turn the world’s humans into something more.
We had a sensational showdown between Vision and Paladin with Thomas’s life in the balance. In Madripoor of all places. When we went to Madripoor, I really thought that maybe the Power Broker was actually going to be involved. That did not happen though.
By the way, I am now even more certain that the person who originally hired Paladin to reclaim Vision was Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch.
We had a shocking appearance by a character that we haven’t seen since Iron Man in 2008. Raza, as played by Faran Tahir, a man connected to the Ten Rings, arrived in Madripoor in hopes of collecting the Vision body. At first, I thought he was the guy who hired Paladin, but it turned out he had not. It was an amazing cameo from out of nowhere.
FRIDAY is out of the house, unhappy when Vision dropped the firewall allowing Ultron to escape into the weird matrix stuff. She went into it too, and I am not sure exactly her part in this.
Jocasta, with Ultron at her side, sent a miniscule bot into the eye of Lisa, transforming her into a synthezoid being. Vision stopped her, but I am not sure that he will be able to save her.
The whole Jocasta/Ultron pairing is extremely unsettling and it makes me very scared for what the future of the series will hold. James Spader is, once again, spectacular and had tremendous chemistry with T’Nia Miller.
The first episode this week was shot in such an astonishingly creative way, that I truly enjoyed the journey they were putting us in. The whole Ultron/Vision conversation on the prison phones was amazing writing.
I was completely enveloped by these two episodes. Where as last week, I liked the VisionQuest episodes (especially E4), these two were just a brilliant work.
Next week there is only one episode, but it is over an hour in length. I have loved the length of these episodes and the manner in which Disney + has released them.
It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I have considered the possibility of going bi-weekly on the Cavalcade, but I am not sure that works well. I am still considering the potential.
Comic of the Week
It Demands Sacrifice #1
The new Bad Idea book is interesting. Why does a Satanic hippie cult want to grab a little young goat named Bronson? Who knows, but it is a very brutal and bloody book.
In the vein of Feral and Stray Dogs, It Demands Sacrifice creates a group of animals and places them in the horror genre.
Books This Week:
Avengers Armageddon #5. Written Chip Zdarsky with art by Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio. The world is starting to turn away from the superheroes. There are no Avengers, but Spider-Man is thinking that they are still needed. Oh, and Bucky lives!
Redcoat #21. Written by Geoff Johns with art and cover art by Bryan Hitch. Simon Pure has ended up paralyzed from his final battle with Benedict Arnold. Simon, who has lost his wife and children to violence. Simon has no desire to make it back from his injury, but Albert Einstein is refusing to give up on him.
D’Orc #9. “Dead Meat.” Written, art and cover art by Brett Bean. The running joke with our new character who has been dubbed “Raawk” and it is a total hoot. There is a Necromancer building a meat monster army. They are being pursued by a Dark Golem. There are a bunch of fun things going down with D’Orc and his crew.
Filthy Lambs #1. Written by Pallie Paul Allor with art and cover art by Chris Evenhuis (Gold Medalist). Grimaldi Manor is home to three generations of the wealthy, dysfunctional Grimaldi family and every ten year contract with “their Lord below.” Filthy Lambs was a very enjoyable issue. Mad Cave continues to be a top comic book company with some original ideas.
Something Epic #16. Written, Illustrated and cover art done by Szymon Kudranski (Cover B-Silver Medalist, C Cover- Bronze Medalist). We are getting closer to the answer about who our killer is. We get some info from Bigfoot, from Creature from the Black Lagoon and more. It sounds as if we need to go see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as a potential suspect. I have enjoyed the Something Epic arc.
Uncanny X-Men #37. “Soul Deep.” Written by Gail Simone with art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. Rogue and Gambit are trying to have time to themselves as Gambit heals from his huge troubles over the last several issues (Oh, what a page with Rogue and Gambit in the pool. Woof). Problem is that The Hag, aka Sarah Gaunt, does not want to let things happen. Uncanny X-Men is some excellent storytelling and characterization.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3. “Level 3: The Burdens of the World.” Written by Bryan Hill with art by Nico Leon. Cover art was done by Simone Di Meo. Miles has to battle Revenant who is after Miles’s father, Jeff. The background of Jeff is still being investigated. Does Jeff’s past affect Miles’s opinion of him?
Amazing Spider-Man Halloween Special #1. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Mike Hawthorne. Cover art is done by Mike Hawthorne & Alex Sinclair. Hallows’ Eve uses her magic to altar Spider-Man’s web shooters. One of them now shoots candy and the other shoot spiders or bats. Trick of treat! This is a fun little adventure with Spidey and Hallows’ Eve and I would say this has been one of my favorite Halloween specials of the year so far.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight #9. “Demolition.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Jose Luis Soares, Jonas Trindade & Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight finished off the mysterious house. However, Daredevil is not happy and, once everything was over, DD took his anger out.
Fury of Firestorm #7. “Rebirth.” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Rafael De Latorre. Cover art was done by Rafael De Latorre & Marcelo Maiolo. After it seemed that Firestorm was killed last issue, but we get a transformed version of Firestorm being followed around by a young spectral-vision called “Ronnie.” What does the Justice League think about this new Firestorm?
Absolute Flash #20. “The Darkness at the End Part 1” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Haining. Cover art was done by Nick Robles. We see Wally trying to recover after getting himself crushed. Absolute Atom is here trying to help Wally and we are introduced to Victor Stone and the eventual Absolute Cyborg. There are working towards an Absolute Teen Titans.
Detective Comics #1114. “Hearts of Ice” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Clayton Henry. Cover art was done by Mikel Janin. Mister Freeze and his wife Nora, along with Batman are trying to prevent the expanding plants before they head worldwide. The Bad Seeds arc is coming to a close soon (I think it is next week).
Nightwing #143. “The Good Old Days.” Written by Dan Watters with art by David Lapham. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Nightwing and Robin are involved in what feels like a side event with Scarface and his attempt to grab control of some of Gotham’s underworld. Robin’s use of explosives blowing the dummy’s head up was awesome.
The Last Driver #3. Written, art and cover art is done by Sean Murphy. We discover some of the background of Clutch as he was still being pursued by Officer Womack. I still love the style of the book, with the side view of the art.
Six of Us #2. “The Thing About Killing That Guy.” Written by Tom King with art and cover art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta. I love this issue as it feels like the dark underbelly of a sitcom. The flashbacks to the past with our cast is intriguing and Tom King continues to be exceptional. This is one of the best books of the month.
Hello Halloween #2. Cover art by Jenny Frison (cover B & glow in the dark variant). Hello Halloween came out last year with a special issue and this year, we get number two. We keep getting some great short Halloween tales from Boom! Studios.
G.I. Joe #27. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art by Tom Reilly. Zartan, still imitating General Hawk, is desperate to find the Baroness, so he is manipulating the Joes. However, the Baroness is fee and she has found old man Hawk. How long has Zartan been pretending to be Hawk? Hawk looks crazed and she is in some trouble.
If Destruction Be Our Lot #5. Written by Matthew & Mark Elijah Rosenberg with art by Andy MacDonald. Cover art was done by Andy MacDonald & Francesco Segala. I also picked up the NSFW Cover that is hilarious and a Abe showing off his chest and torso… although not exactly what I would have said was NSFW. This issue started off a new arc as Abe heads past the city wall and into the outside wasteland.
Dog Tag #6. Written by Mark Russell with pencils by PJ Holden. Cover art was done by PJ Holden & JP Jordan. The Germans surrendered, but World War II was not yet over because Japan was still in and it seemed as if they were not going to give up. Hiroshima happened and then Nagasaki and Japan surrendered. Tom is sent to Hiroshima for the story and he is shocked by what he saw. This was a really strong issue with some thoughts by the soldiers that Tom struggled to understand. This was a really good series and I thought this was probably the best issue of the series.
The Twilight Zone #11. “Plant Kingdom.” Written by Mark Russell with art by Victor Alpi. Cover art was done by Victor Alpi. This issue could be called Bad Seeds: Twilight Zone. All we were missing was Batman. Basically this was the same story that was being told in the Batman: Bad Seeds books. As I was reading, I was thinking that they should try to use cold to stop the plants because it worked in Gotham.
Watson v. Holmes #2. Written by Jon Santana & Rafael Santana with art by Jordan Rodriguez. Cover art was done by Chin Fong. Watson has found part of the answer… from Professor Moriarty. Meanwhile, Watson’s wife in back from the dead… well sort of. She is a vampire and standing besides Holmes. I have enjoyed this new take on the old IP.
X-Men United #8. “Blood Debts” Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The X-Men team up with Blade to save Blade’s daughter Brielle aka Bloodline. Lucas Cross, Blade’s estranged father, is part of the tale as well.
Doomquest #5. Written by Ryan North with art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Doom is playing Dr. Samuel Beckett from Quantum Leap as he now leaps into the body of Susan Storm, and takes on Galactus. This was before Sue knew how powerful that she was… but Doom knew.
Absolute Green Arrow #6. “The Longbow Killer Chapter 6” Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Cover art was done by Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo. We finally get to know who is behind the mask of the Absolute Green Arrow. Oliver Queen’s son Connor was revealed as the Green Arrow. This ended the first book, but DC has extended this series for more.
Other Books This Week: X-Men Outback #5, Star Trek: The Last Starship #12, The Punisher Showdowns: Black Widow #1, Iron Man Racing Towards Doom #1, 51 #6, and Did You Her About Mimi Green #4.
Quick Hits: Some of the mystery of who is the Patron is starting to be revealed in The Patron #3. I picked up a cool foil virgin cover of Power Rangers Green #3. The book itself has not been one of my favorites, even though I have always been a fan of Tommy. The Forever Home #2 sees Tommy outside the the house, and how he has aged during the time. Yet, they are hoping to find their way to the Forever Home to save his group from the Red Storm. The Eye Collector #5 continues being one of the wildest and weirdest books on the market. There is a bunch of sex and nudity in a couple different books this week. Sweet Paprika: Black, White & Pink-Halloween Special #1 had so much nakedness and I’m not sure that they have any clothes at all in Ofiusa #2. End of Life #9 fits with the theme of this Quick Hits as they have characters called Big Cock and Little Cock. Inglorious X-Force #10 brings the Ms. Marvel arc to an end, but now the team is on the run-leading to a new #1 new month. Space Ghost vs. The Herculoids #2 sees the battle continue between our two cartoon stars. Dynamite keeps putting Space Ghost into huge situations with so many different characters. I’d love to see him with Blue Falcon some day. Exquisite Corpses brought us Rascal Randy #4 as we keep learning more about the rabbit assassin.
Emotions are on high as the new arrivals have to choose where they live in a process called Choosing Ceremony.
Jade, who finally awoke, thought this whole town was a set-up by Toby as a complex “escape room” type situation. He was acting extremely obnoxious about everything since he did not believe the story of the town to be true. When he was shown Toby’s body, he finally came around to the reality of the situation.
Meanwhile, the Matthews family chose to live in Town… except for Julie, who throws a huge curveball and states that she wants to live at Colony House. The surprise move upset her family, but the rules were once picked, you do not change.
Speaking of rules, we learn about the Box, which was constructed by Sheriff Boyd to punish those whose choices lead to the death of someone in the community. They had never had to use the Box before, but Frank’s negligence led to the death of his wife and daughter, and he was to go into the Box that night.
Boyd was having a deep, moral question if the Box was a fair thing to do. He even tried to get Frank to leave, to go to a cabin on the outskirts of town with a totem. Frank refused to do so and he wound up in the Box and is killed by the monsters.
I am very curious about what these nightly creatures are and where they come from. I am hoping that this is a mystery that the show will delve into with more detail as the seasons move on. I do not just want to accept it as a way of life in the town.
Why can no one leave the town? That is another fascinating mystery that I hope the creators of From have an answer to and it is not just a plot element to make the show work.
I have a soft spot for mysterious small town/location with some kind of enigmatic strangeness. Twin Peaks, Eerie, Indiana, LOST, Picket Fences, Widow’s Bay… and now you can add one more to the list.
From.
I have heard about this show for quite awhile now. It starred Harold Perrineau, who was, of course, on LOST as Michael Dawson, and the show had that eerie, weird feel immediately.
In these premiere two episodes, we get introduced to the fact that no one can be out past dark because of some kind of creatures that are all kinds of bad news. The little girl in the cold open of episode one paid the price for opening that window. A bloody, bloody price.
Lots of mysterious rules that we are told and see in action right off the bat. Not very many answers. Just how I like it.
Harold Perrineau is Sheriff Boyd Stevens and he has been clearly going through this for some time now. We see him trying to help people immediately.
There is a family driving into the town in their RV, after being redirected by a tree that was blocking the road. Apparently, once you are in this area, you do not leave. Again, reminded me of LOST with the people who could never leave the island.
The family is involved in a wreck with their RV, putting them all in danger. Little boy gets impaled in the leg by a table leg. That means he can’t be moved and darkness was coming.
There is a loaded cast and it will take some time for me to be able to identify which character is which. However, the show did a good job of showing me Boyd, his son Ellis, the Matthews family, and Donna. Donna’s story about her sister was tragic. The rest of the group will be people I am sure I will get to know over the next four seasons.
From is now on Netflix, while it is also on MGM + on Prime.
It is that time of the week again. I had had hopes that I could get this done on Sunday, but it just did not work out. So I am back on Monday with the EYC Comic Cavalcade. It is post #225 too, another of those comic benchmarks that usually requires some kind of anniversary celebration. I am waiting for 250 before we do.
I was able to pick up the original four-issues of Hour of the Wolf from Mad Cave and the 12-issue Camelot 3000 series from DC back in the day. I am currently doing a Daily Read on the Hour of the Wolf and I intend on doing Camelot 3000 next.
Comic of the Week
Hammer Head #1
This is a great horror book out from Mad Cave. Brand new this week. The main protagonist, Julie McCormick, was the sole survivor of the immortal slasher Henry “Hammer Head” Elgin killing spree.
Twenty years later, Julie is arrested and finds herself in a mysterious, high security prison.
I enjoyed this book very much and I love this variant cover even though it did not quite make the Medalists this week.
Books this Week:
Amazing Spider-Man #1001. Written by Joe Kelly and art by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was done by Federico Blee. I also picked up Cover B by Todd Nauck. This continues the story from ASM #1000 with Aunt May and her son Cormac Crane. Crane is the villain Ravage, but it does not seem as if he and Peter are going to mend their fences.
Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #1. Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with art by Fran Galan. Cover art was done by Patricio Delpeche. With the DC Studios movie Clayface coming out this coming weekend, this series may be picking up some steam.
Mark Spears: Graveyard Shift #1. Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears. The new book from Mark Spears debuted this week. The art is still the highlight to me as Mark Spears is just spectacular. The story featuring the Boss gathering together a crew for the “graveyard shift” to take care of business. I liked this, but it did feel like the same as we usually got from him. Love the art though.
Sicko #3. Written by Tini Howard and illustrated and cover art by Amilcar Pinna. Valentine returned to OMELAS, but she has discovered that this was a mistake. Valentine discovered that several other patients with Breton’s Disease had mutations giving them powers much like Valentine. This has been a solid book so far from Ignition Press.
Lion King #6. Written by Edwin Galmon with art by George Kambadais. Cover art was done by Edwin Galmon. After the first five story arc that included Simba, we now have a new story with Timbon and Pumbaa, and it was a fun start. It felt like a small little issue with a fun story dealing with Pumbaa seeing things that were not there… or were they. It was another fun issue form this unexpectedly good book.
Legion of Super-Heroes #2. “No Escape.” Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Tamra Bonvillain. Brainiac 1 of 5 and Matter-Eater Lad are trying to solve the case of the murder of R.J. Brande. Garth Ranzz is looking for a new trainer so he can become a super hero. I have liked this new version of Legion.
The Doom Patrol #2. “That’s the Spirit!” Written by Darcy Van Poelgeest with art and cover art was done by Niko Henrichon. While I have never been a fan of Doom Patrol before, I have been loving the first two issues of this new version from DC. I have found the characters to be extremely compelling and I am happy to be learning about them. This has been excellent so far.
Teen Titans #2. “AFK” Written by Kyle Higgins and art and cover art by Danielle Di Nicuolo. I have liked this new Teen Titans book, and the idea of kind of setting them opposite of Nightwing feels fun. I have to say that I am struggling with learning the characters. In Doom Patrol, there is only three characters for me to learn about, but Teen Titans has multiple ones and only the Red Hood is the only one that I know well. I do like this and I am into the book.
Iron Man #10. “Who is Citizen V?” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Happy Hogan is back alive as Citizen V, which was revealed last issue. This gives us background on how he is alive and why he did not tell Tony about his truth.
Nova: Return of the Rings #1. “Return of the Rings” Written by Josh Trujillo and Rafael Loureiro with art by Bruno Abdias. “Shining Light” Written by Juan Ponce and art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. Sam Alexander is back in the helmet. This is a one-shot and the comic indicated that Sam will be back in the pages of Iron Man. Iron Man? That is a weird tie-in. I am anxious to see what that is like.
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #6. “Old Friend.” Written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Pablo M. Collar. Cover art was done by Karl Kerschl. Barbara Gordon is still in prison, and the end of this issue brought about a huge arrival… Two-Face. Two-Face just had his own mini-series and now he is here to deal with Barbara Gordon.
Ice Cream Man: Chocolate/Vanilla Twist #1. “Raspberry Suprise” Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. Cover was done my Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran. A black & white story that reaffirmed that Ice Cream Man is the BEST of all the horror anthology of all time. So many other books have come out since Ice Cream Man to a various amount of success, but Ice Cream Man is consistently the best read of all of them. Plus, they are the most original and big-swinging horror book of them all. This special was a fabulous issue that I enjoyed tremendously.
12-Foot Skeleton #1. Written by Aaron Campbell & Tim Seeley with art and cover art by Ben Templesmith (Silver Medalist). Another cool new horror book with two kids at the heart of the book. The Halloween decorations in their yard is more than just a decoration. It is a fun concept and the first issue was solid. Ignition Press has been hitting on all cylinders over the last year or so, and they have earned my trust on reading new issues. More often than not, they are really good.
Wolverine: Paradise #1. Written, Drawn, and cover art by Dan Panosian. This book has a different feel than a lot of the other Marvel books “set in the past” that we have had so many recently. This one feels more special. Dazzler is making an appearance in the book, which is always great. I really love the look of the art from Dan Panosian. It had the great atmosphere for this throwback story.
DNX #3. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Kaare Andrews. The X-Men are desperately trying to prevent the crashing of their ship into Philadelphia after 3X escaped. How are they going to stop the metal missile? How about Magneto? Magneto makes his fully powered return thanks to the FF and he arrived at the end of the issue. DNX has been interesting so far.
X-Men #39. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel & Jay David Ramos. While the action in Philadelphia is hot and heavy, the Factory in Alaska has been left … well, not quite defenseless. O*N*E* was going to make an attack on the factory. Xorn and John Greycrow have been left behind to protect it. However, it seemed that it was not just them… but also Glob.
Black Cat #15. “Dress for Success” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Gleb Melnikov. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanova. Peter Parker asked for help from Black Cat, going undercover at the opera. So Felicia needed a new dress. Problem: the dress shop would not take cash. So Cat just chose to steal the dress. This brings Tombstone into the mix as well. Black Cat is such a fun book with some great writing by G. Willow Wilson.
Batman & Robin Year One- Dynamic Duos #3. Written by Mark Waid and art by Chris Samnee. Cover art was done by Chris Samnee and Mat Lopes. Robin’s undercover mission does not go well, as he is placed in the situation where he had to prove himself by shooting Catwoman. Dick was able to get out of that, but Catwoman followed him to his meet up with Batman. This has been a great series so far. Even though there are like three hundred Batman books.
Spawn ’77 #2. Written by Mark Spears & Todd McFarlane with art by Mark Spears. Variant cover B art was done by Shawn Crystal. Spawn works extremely well in the art style of Mark Spears. I think Spawn is much like the monsters that Spears is used to draw.
Cassie #1. Written by Sam Humphries and illustrated and cover art by Eleonora Carlini. This Boom! Studios book was a bizarre baseball book. I have had several strange baseball books over the last couple of years, but this one I just could not get through. It is only a one-shot, but I would not have been buying it had it been a series.
The Infernal Hulk vs. Fantastic Four #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Cian Tormey. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. The Infernal Hulk is trying to create a new age of monsters, and now it is up to the Fantastic Four to stand in his way. Unfortunately, they take quite a beating.
Venom #1. Written by Charles Soule with art by Tommaso Bianchi. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. Charles Soule writing Venom is interesting. The book has reset Venom, with Eddie Brock back in the symbiote and in New York to save people. I am not sure if I want to continue with Venom, but this first issue was pretty solid. We’ll have to see.
Generation X-23 #9. “Have a Nice Trip” Written by Jody Hauser with art by Marco Renna. Variant cover B art was done by Partha Pratim. I have loved this book so far. I did not expect this book to be as enjoyable as it is. These young characters are all fabulous and I am hoping this book keeps going after issue 10 (although it seems most Marvel books do not any longer).
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #9. “Big Guns Part 3 of 4” Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Geoff Shaw. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. The sort of team-up between Deadpool and the Punisher moves along into the third part as Bullseye joins the conflict. One more issue with the crossover in the next Punisher.
Other Books this Week: The Seasons #12, 100 Bullets: The US of Anger #4, Blood & Thunder #18, X-Men ’97 Season 2 #5, Star Crossed #3, DC Studios Clayface #1, Planet Atmos: Exordium #6, Avengers: Meals to Astonish #1, Horror Comics: Dead Man’s Party #1, Bludwire #4, and Jinx & Stitches: The Great Revenge #1.
Quick Hits: Mad #602 is out this week with a look at the world of art. It is nice that it is still being released at a semi-regular rate. There is a cool and lovely black & white version of the Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #1. I’ll pick up the rest of the series from Image. There are a series of art from Lee Bermejo in the Amazing Spider-Man: Amazing Visions #1. There is an interview inside this book with Bermejo along with his art of some of the greatest Spider-Man moments of the history of Marvel. This was also the bronze medalist for the week. I grabbed the foil version of Archie vs. the Terminator #1 from Dynamite. It is a cool cover, and the Archie renaissance continues. Captain Britain: 50th Anniversary Special #1 dropped from Marvel this week as there are several past Captain Britain stories. Pancho Villa: Monster Hunter #2 keeps sending our Mexican hero after monsters. This Amp book has been entertaining so far. Babylon Cove #5 brings this story to a conclusion. It was a decent book, but maybe not as great as I had hoped. We look at Mrs. Hyde in the Accessories #3, which is the third of four issues. They have just now introduced all of the members of the Accessories and there is only one issue left. I wonder if this should have been more issues than four. Batman-Bad Seeds: Streets of Gotham #1 was the gold medalist for the Favorite Comic Cover of the Week for the B variant cover. The Nice House By the Sea #12 wrapped up the new series this week from Vertigo. Of course, this series was not from Vertigo when it started. We focus on Elita Prime in Transformers #37 on Cybertron in the war. Elita learns a lesson. New ID book You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive #1 arrived on the stands this week. This is one that I am going to need to see a little bit more before I decide if I like it. The Omega Book #3 continues to be wild and bizarre. Love the swing this series took. I am shocked at some of the scenes from Chachu #3, because Iman Vellani is such a sweetheart that I did not expect a blowjob scene. Speaking of sex stuff, Lilith: Blood & Burlesque #1 had a cover by Garth Graham that is very sexy. Then, I received this in the mail from eBay today: Watson v. Holmes #1. What an interesting book. It is a twelve-issue series. I have #2 coming from eBay as well and I have added it to my pull list.
Boston Legal has always had some wonderful guest stars over the years who played some extremely memorable characters. The three episodes of season two had several examples of some of the best.
Catherine Piper- played by Betty White. She had been on previous episodes as well as on The Practice. She starts robbing convenience stores to get Alan’s attention.
Jerry Espenson- played by Christian Clemenson, who would eventually become a series regular… at this point was just an eccentric lawyer who would not take his hands off his thighs. He also held a knife to Shirley’s neck when he found out that he was not making partner.
Daniel Post- played by Michael J. Fox, who was a young CEO who had terminal cancer, but becomes involved with Denise. Daniel was very spoiled and used his money to try and take advantage of a special cancer trial.
Bev Bridge- played by Joanna Cassidy, had sex with Denny the night they met… the the coat check room. Denny and Bev planned to marry, and the firm worried about the influence she would have over Denny. She does fire the sandwich guy.
This is not just guest stars, but these roles are being played by big name stars. They all would appear in several episodes, if not many more.
These episodes start to show that Alan Shore is more than just a lawyer with questionable ethics. They are showing Alan as a man who is willing to fight for what he believes and for his clients. He might still do what it takes (like bribe a witness with a new car), but I might go as far as to say that Alan is beginning to become the heart and soul of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. He’s always been a good man deep down, but much of these episodes show him being a good man outwardly.
It has been a great year for horror. I spoke about it in a review just a few weeks ago after watching Resident Evil.
Then came Other Mommy.
They can’t all be winners.
Other Mommy was a huge disappointment because the initial trailer for this movie was so good. How could a trailer be so intense, creepy and disturbing while the movie it is from is dull, stupid and downright pathetic.
According to IMDB, “Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity which comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.”
Jessica Chastain committed to the role, but I was underwhelmed by the performance. It was funny at times, and that is not what the film wanted.
I will say that the young debuting actor Arabella Olivia Clark as Bela did a good job. She handled a lot of the heavy lifting in the story as she had most of the story on her shoulders.
The problem is the story itself was lacking in too many ways. There is no specific plot involved. What is Other Mommy’s motive? Not really sure. There are moments when the tone of the film is all over the place. It felt like they tried to infuse some humor into the story that just never worked and only served to pull me out of the film.
The biggest problem of Other Mommy is that, outside of the great jump scare that they showed in the trailer, this movie was just not scary. It was nowhere near as creepy or intense for almost the entire run time of the film. The trailer made me think this would be a tense and anxious film. Nope. I actually laughed at several of the scenes that were supposed to be scary.
I thought the acting was fine, but there are just too many problems with the film to add to the list of great 2026 horror films.
The finale of Lanterns was really good, in my opinion, but I have a feeling that it may not be as well received as it should be.
The mystery of who killed Hal Jordan was wrapped up with an interesting twist when it was revealed that Sheriff Kerry did indeed shoot him in the head.
Motive? She was protecting her son, Noah, who was revealed as a Manhunter. Noah knew he was a Manhunter and had healed Hal when Hal got stuck in a burning building. Noah had confessed to John that he had killed Hal, in order to protect his mom. Noah was the one who freed Sinestro and convinced him to forge him a lantern in exchange. Noah got the drop on John and got ahold of the ring, but he and John had a powerful conversation inside a car.
I say that I do not think the finale will be as well received because there was not much action in the episode, and there was a lot of talking. I like that kind of writing, but I know there has already been criticism about the use of the Lantern powers in this show.
I do think the episode was strong for the character element though, and watching John Stewart claim the ring and use the forged lantern to charge his ring with his own distinct oath.
In Brightest Day In Darkest Night I’ll embrace my fear… I’ll do what’s right I choose this ring, I choose this fight… In service to this lanterns light
Guy Gardner made another appearance and John told him what it was going to be. It was great to see John become what he was destined to be, but taking it in his own way.
Great series. I am sad that Hal Jordan seems to be done for good, but, even still, this was very entertaining.
I mean, the character of Floyd, as brilliantly played by David Harbour, is one of the best character/people on TV. Everything about him was awesome, personality wise.
That all came through during the interrogation between Clark and Detective Plumb and Homer, after Plumb discovered that Carol had lied about the Go Getter drink.
The way Clark spoke about Floyd was as loving as you could and the descriptions of the way Floyd handled his life, from his step-son to a chance encounter, was so above board that one wonders why anyone would want him dead.
This episode revealed that Floyd was not a closeted gay. He had misinterpreted a picture on the DTF St. Louis site as a woman (didn’t have his spectacles on) when it was a picture of David Bowie, and his chance encounter with a man. Floyd lets him kiss him in the parking lot to avoid hurting the man’s feelings, even though he was not into him in that way.
This episode spent a chunk of time setting up Carol as the obvious suspect in the murder. Since it is episode three, I think she is also a red herring. We saw Carol riding one of the recumbent bikes like Clark does, plus she spent a bunch of time trying to get Clark to help her get life insurance for Floyd.
There is no doubt after this episode that Clark did not kill Floyd. The key that the police showed him clammed him up. I think it probably leads to some life insurance that would point the finger at Carol, and Clark was trying to protect her. I have a suspicion that he believes she killed Floyd.
Their sex life encounters… weird.
By the way, the gymnastics routine from Floyd on the hostile architecture was epic. Floyd was really out of breath after it. Is that a clue?
I am intrigued with this case, and I really want to know what happened to the wonderful Floyd.
The juxtaposition of the excitement of the Richmond Lady Greyhounds winning their match in comeback fashion and earning the promotion against the sudden and shocking death of Mae Green.
Now, the show, technically, never uttered the words that Mae was dead, but it was not difficult to tell with the painfully emotional moments and body language of both Rebecca, who was told initially, and Ted, who was told by Rebecca. We did not hear the words, but seeing Ted’s head slouch was obvious.
It was a serious gut punch in an episode that was such a joyous celebration.
We also got Keeley discovering that she was pregnant and her own health issues kept her from attending the game. However, Roy’s sweetness helping her stay calm during the televised game, not even knowing that Keeley was pregnant. He thought she had fainted at the previous game because of high blood pressure.
After the wonderful victory, Keeley whispered the truth in Roy’s ear and he responded with such a happiness that you hoped he would. It was another wonderful moment in an episode that was determined to make you feel anguish at the end.
It was revealed that it was not Rupert trying to buy shares of Richmond from under Rebecca, but instead was eccentric billionaire and sports entrepreneur Zelda Southport, played by Tracey Ullman. This was not a surprise as Zelda has been a questionable person all season long.
Then, the progression of the character of Coach Alice has been tremendous this season as she has taken some serious steps in becoming the coach that she could be.
However, the penultimate episode ended with a crushing feel and sets up some real questions for next week.
An Emmy winning limited series from HBO Max is the next show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk and I am a little disappointed. Not with the show, I thought it was a compelling and gripping first episode that I am excited to continue. I am disappointed because I knew the premise of the show before I watched episode one.
I knew that there would be a surprising murder in episode one… truthfully, it was what attracted me to the show… but I really wish I had not known this fact because the surprise would have been monumental.
We got some hints at the non-linear storytelling techniques in the first episode as we did see David Harbour’s character Floyd Smernitch in flashbacks after his body had been discovered dead. I do enjoy the non-linear structure as the use of flashbacks can help tell the story extremely effectively.
Jason Bateman’s weatherman character Clark Forrest feels like the classic red herring, as he was arrested in the first episode. Linda Cardellini, who was Floyd’s wife, Carol, was purposefully made to look sinister at times in the episode.
It’s really early to try to make a judgment on whom the killer is, because there could be any number of factors that played into it that we do not know yet. The manner in which Floyd was killed does seem to limit the number of possibilities.
I love a good mystery and a major character being offed in the first episode is great. It reminded me of when Laura Palmer was found wrapped in plastic, though I do not expect any sort of weirdness like I got in Twin Peaks in DTF St. Louis.
I do love the dynamic between Richard Jennings (who played Detective Donoghue Homer) and Joy Sunday (who played Detective Jodie Plumb). They will be a fun pair to follow as the facts of the case are laid out before the audience.
Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini and David Harbour are awesome actors that I love in just about everything I have seen them in, so I expect this seven-episode limited series to be a fantastic ride. It already dropped a bunch of shocking reveals that I can’t wait to see play out.
