Superman and Lois - Season 1

Wow. Let me tell you why I feel that this show has the best Superman we've had on screen.

Initially, I was not sold on Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as Superman and Lois when they first appeared in Supergirl and during that big Infinite Crisis crossover event that ran through all the CW shows.

I am glad that I was so wrong. 

If there is one problem with Superman, is how can you have him be threatened when he is so powerful? One answer is to give him a family. Now, given all his power, he can't be there ALL the time and he has to juggle between saving the world and his family. That struggle becomes very apparent early and often in this series. I think that choice makes Superman instantly more compelling. I won't rush to say relatable, but it gives him more real world problems that he can't punch his way through. The fact that I recently became a father also probably plays into why I love this take on Superman. It lines up with what I think was the best run of Superman in a long time with the volume that Peter J. Tomasi wrote about a years ago. It is now the status quo in DC Comics continuity.

There is enough Superman-like action to balance out some of the typical CW drama. Since he has teenage sons, you know that will be part of the package. Fortunately his kids are likeable. Not at first, but they each grow throughout the first season. For a TV show, the action is surprisingly good and they display his power set well. He also gets villains on his level.

Lois Lane is also equally strong here. This is going to be a bold claim, but I think this is one of the best portrayals we've ever seen. I just like her that much. She is kind of a bully when it comes to her news stories and that shines through here. Making her bulldoze her way into the local Smallville paper backs that up. She was played with equal amounts of "go get em" and humanity that she doesn't become instantly unlikeable, a balance that can be hard with her.

These CW shows tend to overstay their welcome with each season, so the fact this was only fifteen episodes is a blessing. I hope they show restraint and stick to this number going forward. There was a season long plot thread that builds and builds, but at least we had some short arcs in between. 

I'm trying not to give too many spoilers here, but I did like the inclusion of John Henry Irons here. His origin is vastly different and that is okay. He has motivations that you see play out and I got excited when his hammer finally makes an appearance.

As first seasons go, it was one of my favorites out of all the CW shows. I don't believe I ever said this out loud, but Superman is my favorite DC character after Batman. It's just never cool to say that because he is corny. I can admit that. There has always been something about him other than his power set. I always felt he really does do things with the best intention and stands up for the little guy.

I absolutely recommend checking this show out.

The Suicide Squad

Ah yes. The Suicide Squad. I know it did well at the box office, but I'm shocked they got another go at this particular set of characters. Even more surprising is that they lured James Gunn over to direct. Clearly they wanted some of that Marvel-ness injected into their movies. I don't think that is debatable. Did it work? Well, to me, not really.

This is a vastly superior movie to the first Suicide Squad, but I have a couple of problems with this film. I'm going to go in no particular order.

Scope. I don't like the scope of this movie. When this particular set of characters are squaring off against Starro, you've gone in the wrong direction. That is a Justice League level villain, not the Suicide Squad. These movies are better served with the characters doing black ops operations against more normal humans. The final battle is ridiculous in all the wrong ways, I feel. 

Last movie they fought a powerful witch, this movie a five story tall alien. That does not fit at all.

Another point. Harley Quinn. She's a fantastic character and I love Margot Robbie truly embracing and advocating for the character. She doesn't belong in the Suicide Squad in the movies or the comic books. By it's nature, the Suicide Squad as a concept was a way to kill off Z-List characters, which this movie does. The problem with Harley Quinn is she is surrounded in plot armor. There is zero chance that she actually dies in these movies and they power her up and down depending on the situation. I think her inclusion is a fundamental flaw. Also, to be honest, she is above this. I know she is here because she is a beloved character and meant to elevate this movie, but I think it brings her down. She can carry her own movie, so she does not need to be part of this stitched together cast.

I think with this movie, I am now seeing the James Gunn formula for success and I think I am tired of it. He was hired to bring his brand of filmmaking and he does that. The problem is, we've seen this same sort of thing too many times now. It feels like a lesser Guardians of the Galaxy. He has his cutesy, on the nose musical choices which is exhausting. It takes me out of the movie. Everyone is full of quips, which is the Marvel bread and butter. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting tired of that in the Marvel movies too. This just felt like Guardians Vol. 2 and not the first Guardians of the Galaxy. He is trending in the wrong direction.

The principal cast was good and there were some funny jokes. However, they definitely showed all the best bits in the trailers. 

Did I like this movie? I thought it was okay. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I'm not going to recommend it though. Do so at your own risk.

Milestone Comics Returns

This is another post that is going to feel very dated because this is already happening. The imprint, "Milestone" is back at DC and after years of talking about it, they have finally brought it back. In a nutshell, Milestone was created back in 1993 by a couple of black artists and writers as a way to diverse comic books, which was severely lacking at the time. I had a long post talking about my complicated history with Milestone. I have scrapped that and will spare you all of that. In summary, as a kid getting into comics, I didn't give it a chance because while I wanted more black super heroes, I wanted them in one of the big two, Marvel or DC. To me, they were not legitimate enough. So I never gave them a chance until I was much older. It is something that I regret. 

As an adult, I got into them and realize how special it truly was. I could also trust that because it was created by black creators, what I was getting was authentic. Not some white guy's interpretation of black people based on a movie or two he just watched. There are obvious influences from where they came from, but as a whole, I thought they were all good. They will feel very dated, because they are very rooted in the culture and language in the mid-nineties. The themes, however, still play well today.

Taking us to the present, I was excited when DC was finally going to actually have this happen and announced creative teams on the books. It was a mix of some of the creators that were part of the original launch and up and coming or established black creators from today.  We still had to wait a while for them to come out and right now they are happening as "seasons". This is comic book talk for limited series. I don't like this approach because I feel like it gives you too easy of an out to cancel them.

At this point, three issues of "Static" and two issues of "Icon and Rocket" and an issue of "Hardware" have come out so far. Static feels very much rooted in today and gives a more updated take on the character. The backdrop for all of this is with racial protests and how experimental gas was used on the crowd. That is how the various characters will develop powers. It is something that feels very relevant while trying to be socially conscious. In this respect, I think the series has been good so far. I think the dialogue is authentic, the characters feel real enough. Vita Ayala (writing) and Nikolas Draper-Ivey and ChrisCross (artists) did a great job. I have found myself reading more and more of Vita's work and I will now actively search out more of what they have been working on.

"Icon and Rocket" on the other hand feels a little dated. It feels exactly like the original "Icon" series, even if some subtle changes were made. That is not a good thing. This is supposed to be an update that is modernized for the now. Not a series that is just drawn differently, but still essentially the same. As first issues go, it was kind of dull. The second issue did get better. It's a disappointment to me, given the team that is on it. Reginald Hudlin and Doug Braithwaite are industry pros, so my bar was set a little higher. I think there is still a chance to turn it around, so I'm not giving up on them just yet.

I was probably looking forward to Hardware from Brandon Thomas (who I have recently discovered over the years) and industry vet and original artist, Denys Cowan the most. With the first issue, it didn't disappoint. I will say that as a first issue, it is only setting up the status quo.

I will definitely write again when all the series have concluded.

Here's my hot take though. I am afraid that the books will not do well enough to warrant more coming out. DC will get to say, "Well we tried" this diversity thing and that will be that. I just don't have enough faith in the fans of the big two to actually support diversity in comics with their dollars. So I hope people go out and buy these books so that we can get more. I think having books like these in the big two will help the creators get noticed more and then they can get more opportunities to work on their own creator owned, passion projects. It can only be good for the business in the long run. I do recommend giving these a shot.

Hulu's M.O.D.O.K.

Once again, life has gotten in the way and I have yet to give my thoughts on this show, which I finished months ago.

I will summarize this show. It is show created by Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt. It also starts Patton Oswalt as the titular character. 

Think of it as being in the same vein as Robot Chicken. If you're not familiar with THAT show, then think stop motion animation. 

It is ten episodes long and at 30 minutes an episode, digestible enough to make it east to binge in a short amount of time.  

My feelings on it? I liked it, but did not love it. It is  funny given it's tone and the genius of Oswalt's voice acting. They do assemble a pretty good voice cast around him and it is fun to watch the shenanigans of a super villain and his villainous empire or lack thereof. 

There are definitely a good amount of funny gags, but at ten episodes, not everything is going to be a winner. I mentioned before how you could binge it, but I found myself only being able to do two at a time at most. Still, I didn't find this show completely exhausting. It is weird that this show didn't get a lot of advertisement from Marvel or Hulu. It just kind of appeared. In that way, I don't think this show got a fair shake. 

If you're a Marvel fan, it is definitely worth your time. There are some deep cut jokes to be found here. Sometimes they will take the piss out of some of the Marvel Heroes. Modok is such a ridiculous character, it is best he is played for laughs like he is here. The show at least recognizes that and tries to humanize him a little bit.

I would say it is worth checking it out as a palette cleanser to something else you are watching.

New Mutants

A few weeks ago I finally got around to watching, "The New Mutants". As it is a comic book based movie AND in the X-Men universe, I am obligated to watch. This is the service I provide to YOU, dear reader. I will spare you all the details about how troubled the production on this movie was and dive right in.

Right off the top, this is a bad movie. It's a shame because you have some good actors that have gone on to become bigger names. In this movie, you have a mutants with varying powers and they are confined to a house to make it a like a locked room mystery. This is a gross misuse of these characters to confine them to a setting like this. I didn't look into it, but I can suspect that maybe budget was one issue. If you don't have the money to do these characters right, you shouldn't do them at all. I say this because they chose the characters that have different iconic displays of powers. 

I don't have a problem with the characters they chose. I actually love the choices. They are all new mutants I recognize. We have Sunspot, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar and Magik. The problem is the following: Sunspot becomes a being of solar power. Think of him as a low rent Human Torch. Cannonball turns his lower body into combustion so that he can fly around like...a cannonball. Wolfsbane is practically a werewolf. I'm being reductive, but just stick with me. Magik can warp around and has a gigantic sword. Dani can create psychic illusions of someone's worst fears. As I name these off, you can see how a lot of special effects would be required of each. The movie gets around this by having them use these RARELY. A no-no in a super hero movie.

Let me stress this again. For a movie, you should not confine characters like this to one static setting. This movie has a bland and dreary color palette that doesn't allow anyone to shine. Also, the mystery isn't all that great and is resolved rather quickly. This kind of thing works in the context of one episode of TV show.

There was also one deep cut X-Man, Cecilia Reyes that included in this movie. She is more of an evil scientist never feels quite right. She also has a power that would be more useful if she used it more, but that isn't that kind of movie.

Outside of the cast, the only thing this movie gets right is that it is short. It clocks in at a little over an hour and a half. Unless you're curious or a completionist in the worst way like me, you can avoid this movie. It is clear it will have no impact on anything for any of the eventual X-Men movies we will get. 

I DO think it is something that should be a TV show.