3.5 Razors

Batman and Robin #16

/ / Comics

Guess who’s back under the cowl? Grant Morrison’s Black Glove story arc mercifully comes to an end here as Simon Hurt‘s plans are stopped by Robin and not one but two Batmen.

On the plus side we finally get some explanation as to who Hurt is and how he’s managed to survive for so long. We get to see Batman finally smashing this annoying character’s face in (something I’ve been waiting months for). And Morrison delivers an ending which changes Bruce Wayne‘s relationship to Batman permanently and sets the stage for Batman Incorporated.

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Teen Titans #88

/ / Comics

I’m not sure how long it’s been since I’ve picked up a Teen Titans comic, but it’s been awhile. This latest new beginning entitled “Team Building” is a good place for new readers to jump in. The team consists of Wonder Girl, Superboy, Kid Flash, Ravager, Beast Boy, Raven, and, if the final panels are to be believed Robin. (Please, oh please, let Damian stay on this team!)

The comic starts out with the team taking on zombie sewer creatures, but the meat of the comic comes inside Titans Tower and the interactions between various members. Those who have been reading the comic on a regular basis might feel like not enough happens here (other than the tease of Damian’s involvement), but for new readers this is a good story that gives you important nuggets of information about the various members and their relationships.

And it doesn’t hurt that it sports a cool cover and inside art from Nicola Scott whose work I loved (and miss) in Secret Six. This one’s definitely worth a look.

[DC $3.99]

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Delivered with Conviction

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Conviction
  • IMDB: link

Conviction is based on a true story about a man (Sam Rockwell) wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a murder he did not commit. His sister (Hilary Swank), beginning her quest without even a high school diploma, spends the next several years of her life raising her two sons and struggling through college and law school to become the lawyer her brother needs. What may sound like a bad TV-movie of the week turns out to be so much more.

Screenwiter Pamela Gray and dirctor Tony Goldwyn deserve a fair amount of credit for finding a way to share this story without over-simplifying events or falling into an all too easy trap of caricature and cliché.

The film’s central core is the relationship between a brother and sister who love, rely, protect and never give up on each other. It’s the strong performances of Swank and Rockwell (as well as Bailee Madison and Tobias Campbell as their younger selves) that grounds the film as a compelling drama rather than just a feel good story about one woman’s fight against insurmountable odds.

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Sherlock

/ / Home Video, Television Reviews
  • Title: Sherlock – The Complete First Season
  • tv.com: link

“Do people usually assume you’re the murderer?”
“Now and then, yes.”

Created by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock takes the famous detective out of Victorian London and into modern day. The first season is currently playing in America on PBS and is available on blu-ray and DVD.

The three episode first season begins with the meeting of Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) in a loose adaptation of “A Study in Scarlet” titled “A Study in Pink.” Aside from introducing the characters to us, and each other, this first episode begins the Holmes and Watson partnership as the pair hunt down a killer on the streets of London.

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Power Girl #17

/ / Comics
  • Title: Power Girl #17
  • Comic Vine: link
  • Writer:Judd Winick
  • Artist:Sam Basri

Batman helps Power Girl track down Benjamin Vitale, the sixth most prosperous arms dealer in the world, who has stolen a Cybernetic Re-Adaptive Stimulant Humanoid.

Sadly Batman only stays around for the first few pages. I say sadly because it’s Power Girl’s thoughts about Dick and the interplay between the two that works best. I like Kara’s take on Dick, and love her comment about how much he sounds like Bruce when he tries to look out for her (and how much he doesn’t when he offers a joke before he swings off into the night).

That’s not to say the rest of the issue involving a confused Power Girl fighting a fetishized weirdo in the Antarctic isn’t fun (’cause you know it is). The fight itself works well as the does the “surprise” ending (which you should be able to guess).

The next issue should have another big throwdown and more answers, but this issue works well on its own (mostly for the early scenes with Batman). Worth a look.

[DC $2.99]

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