5 Razors

Atomic Robo and The Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur #2

/ / Comics

Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur #2Everything considered, Atomic Robo has had better days. A secret black-ops unit of the United States Government is framing the robot as a nuclear terrorist in order to seize Robo for their own, and while searching for evidence of Cryptids in the jungles of Venezuela suspiciously close to an old Nazi Science city under Kukenan Tepui Atomic Robo and his team run into the robot’s least favorite person (who just happens to be an insane dinosaur scientist) – Dr. Dinosaur. Let the insanity begin!

I really enjoyed the first issue of the latest volume, but this one raises the stakes with some great banter between Robo and Dr. Dinosaur, the dinosaur’s “facts,” and the increasingly impossible situations Robo and his team find themselves in including the dinosaur’s rock minions with lasers in their faces, a secret underground city with a time bomb and lava pit that the deranged dinosaur has plans for.

I simply can’t recommend the awesome of this comic, and the first two issues of the latest series, enough. Bring on issue #3! Must-read.

[Red 5, $3.50]

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Astro City #2

/ / Comics

Astro City #2Telling peripheral stories to the larger than life heroic adventures in a world populated with super-powered heroes and villains has always been a strength of Astro City. The latest issue gives us a peek at the life of Marella Cowper who answers an innocuous ad for a data position and finds herself working in the super-secret Honor Guard Emergency Contact Line.

Once again the series thinks outside the box to examine the needs of a world filled with super-heroes. A specialized communication hub to prioritize dangers, the regular people needed to staff it, and the precautions to keep its existence and location secret, are fleshed out in this single issue that offers enough possibilities to become its own spin-off. With the need for heroes to only make cameos this would actually make for a cool TV series.

Presented completely from Marella’s point of view, we get her initial awe at her new job, the driven nature and yearning to get that one call to help save the world, and finally the acceptance and understanding of her small role in the larger picture. Without doubt, Astro City #2 is one of the best comics I’ve read this year. Best of the week.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #21

/ / Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #21Written and drawn by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, the latest issue of the title features the heroes in a half shell doing battle with an annoying enemy in command of a variety of martial arts styles who continually bests the Turtles over the course of a single evening, while constantly mocking their feeble skills and even goes so far as to threaten the life of their master, Splinter.

We also get a short back-up story, setting up the comics next arc, involving the Shredder digging up a new threat for our heroes. As someone who didn’t read The Secret History of the Foot Clan, I’ll admit Kitsune’s appearance didn’t do much for me on its own, but Shredder’s reaction certainly help sell her arrival as an important event.

Fans of Eastman’s style will definitely want to pick this issue up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #21 is filled with several fight sequences all drawn in the original style of the first TMNT comics. Longtime fans of the Turtles should be able to guess the identity of the Turtles’ attacker, but it certainly doesn’t take away from one hell of a great comic. Must-Read.

[IDW $3.99]

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Zero Dark Thirty

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Zero Dark Thirty
  • IMDB: link

Zero Dark ThirtyDirector Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Marc Boal‘s examination of one woman’s 10 year odyssey to track down Osama bin Laden is an amazing piece of filmmaking that earned the top spot on my list of the Best Movies of 2012. Jessica Chastain stars as the increasingly obsessed CIA agent who isn’t lacking in self-confidence or knowledge but could use better people skills. Plucked from high school after 9/11 the movie follows Maya’s mission to find the illusive courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (Tushaar Mehra) who she is certain will lead back to bin Laden.

Bigelow delivers a hard look at the successes and failures of the operation which finally bore fruit thanks to Maya’s (Chastian) dogged determinism. The movie doesn’t shy away from controversial issues such using torture to extract information, but it neither endorses or condemns the methods used over the decade long search for the man responsible for the attacks on 9/11.

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Doctor Who – Blink

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – Blink
  • tv.com: link

“Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck.”

Doctor Who - Blink

With this being the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who you can expect to see reviews of old episodes of the series pop up on the site from time to time. Ask anyone to list their favorite Doctor Who episodes from the new series (2005-present) and you can be sure “Blink” will show up at or near the top every single time. Not only did the episode win multiple awards, but in a poll by Doctor Who Magazine it was chosen as the second best episode of Doctor Who ever made.

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