Little touches

Some of you may have noticed that my review scores have had colours lately, fairly minor I know. Basically, I'm gonna outline the colours corresponding to the scores here for you, just to make sure that it's not left open (some don't look too much like the intended colour, but oh well!):

1-3 Brown, for obvious reasons

4-6 Green, run of the mill, average

7- Bronze, not bad (or as close to it as I can get)

8- Pretty damn good, check it out

9-10 Exactly what it says on the tin, either perfect or just about.

So hopefully that's all clear now :) It only really came in recently, so don't expect it from my older work.

'Future's End' #1 Comic Review

This is another prime example of how DC is seeing how far they can push the fan base, with yet another weekly title on the shelves, DC really aim to rake in the money. As much as some of us may complain, the fact remains that each of the first four issues of ‘Batman Eternal’ (a weekly) took places in the top 10 bestselling comics of April this year. Don’t complain if you’re gonna buy them, folks. However, that’s an argument for another day.

Story

 ‘Future’s End’ #1 should in reality go by the name of ‘Future’s End’ #2, as the title did essentially begin with the FCBD 0 issue, which established some fairly important plot details (as far as I could tell). This makes me wonder why DC didn’t just throw the FCBD issue into this book anyway for the sake of those that didn’t manage to get a hold of a copy, but again, that’s another story. The book is of course, as the title suggests, focussed on the somewhat bleak, dystopian future of the New 52, where a cybernetic apocalypse has been set in motion, with a similar structure to that of the ever so popular Zombocalypse formula of wounding and subsequent infection. It’s this cybernetic dominance that acts as the book’s main antagonistic force. Following the escapades of a time travelling Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond) and with an appearance from Grifter and an aging Firestorm, the book shows how these heroes go about their quest to save the DCU in a number of different well known locations. While the premise itself is suitably dark for the event, the book still feels like it is ultimately tied down by the tirade of apocalyptic works currently stagnating in pop culture, and results in it feeling quite clichéd. However it does show promise, with an ending that, while clichéd, is still quite enticing and leaves enough for the reader to want to return.

Art

The book’s art has a fairly standard feel to it, while not spectacular by any means; it still does enough to keep the book alive, and is admittedly impressive with the character’s themselves, with their designs feeling interesting and somewhat inspired, especially when there is such a variety of characters on display. Environments look foreboding and dark enough to match well with the subject matter, and the book on the whole has a fairly dread filled tone about it, unsurprising for a DC title.

Readability

The book, while not completely engaging, is still quite easy to follow and well balanced between text and visuals. However, it does, at times, feel a little too simple, although that is likely just a result of its weekly format leading to a more drip by drip method of storytelling, which is quite clearly on display here.

Verdict:

‘Future’s End’ #1 is a fairly uninspired take on the future of the New 52, but leaves enough to evoke some interest in the reader, and is faithful to the characters it portrays. While not as emotionally jarring as some other DC titles, it still shows enough promise with an ending that, as overdone as it is, brings in enough in the way of enigmas to warrant a second outing.

Score:

6/10

TV Reviews! Format and first review announcement

This is my first step into yet another unknown territory, like a colonial period American with an interest in the world’s media. TV is one of those things that I have never fully explored up till this point as I felt that reviewing TV would be simply too difficult to do. Whatever the case, however, I’ve decided that it’s worth a try, so now I need to define a format, and here it is:

TV- Story, Acting Quality + Presentation, Watchability, Verdict, Score

This is fairly similar to my Film format, without music being judged, as I feel that TV’s use of music is too minor to hold its own section, so I have mixed it in with visuals to bring presentation as an alternative. Now that the technicality is out of the way, it’s time to move on to the fun stuff, i.e the review itself. It will be separate to this piece, just for the sake of it not looking daft in the title, but I can tell you that the first ever BWR Television review is of  ‘Hannibal’ season 2 episode 1!

As usual, feel free to rate it or slate it, and any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated!

 Do svidanya, folks.

'The Walking Dead' #126 Comic Review

Story:

This thing has been building up nice and slowly since September last year, the thing in question being the ‘All Out War’ arc. While hyped up immensely and made out to be the arc to end all arcs, I can’t help but feel as if I’ve been let down quite harshly by the arc’s ending. While I can’t deny that the arc has had its fair share of flaws during its run, I still felt as though I was being drip fed just enough to keep me hanging on each fortnight for the next instalment, even waiting excitedly at times. Sadly though, this issue, considering what it represented, namely the end of the titular war, just wasn’t good enough to justify the reader’s anticipation. The climax of the war was incredibly rushed and just downright disappointing to watch, culminating in nothing more than a particularly lacklustre action scene with very little in the way of genuine payoff. Considering how fantastic the series’ endings have been previously, one wouldn’t be out of place to say that this issue was simply not up to the standard. While, admittedly, the book does have what is essentially a series’ first in terms of post arc tone, it simply isn’t satisfying enough for me to acknowledge this unique change of direction that could have perhaps drawn more appreciation if the ending had been dealt with more cleanly, as the war aspect of this issue is quite swiftly expelled, leaving room for this change of direction to awkwardly take shape. One particular disappointment comes in the form of a section of character interaction towards the end of the book that feels really quite pointless, with very little in the way of any genuine emotional impact for me, which is something that ‘The Walking Dead’ has managed to pull off effortlessly before now.  This left me asking myself, yet again, if I had already seen this before, and unfortunately the answer was yes. This trend is becoming more and more common in ‘The Walking Dead’, which begs the question: “Is now the time to call it a day?”

Art:

Adlard’s performance in #126 is as usual still quite competent, with most panels remaining true to the current series’ standard. However, the aforementioned action scene’s art suffered from the same problem that the interaction scene suffered from later on in the book, and that was the distinct impression that left me saying that I had seen it all before, and the fact is that I have. The scene was boring, uninspired, and did not live up to the chaotic nature of what had come before it. The scenes involving Rick were particularly clichéd in their delivery, with the usual camera angles being brought in as yet another speech is given. However, I cannot fault Adlard himself too much as the story plays a large role in the art feeling so rehashed and limp.

Readability:

This issue is very familiar. The same speeches, conversations and dilemmas presented in previous books return once again to bring this issue down. Perhaps I’m just fed up with the series now, but I found this book particularly arduous to read, as it seemed to simply drag on in a fashion that makes me wonder how long this series has until Robert Kirkman’s weary character killing sword is brought down swiftly onto the neck of the series itself.

Verdict:

While not enough to warrant a pull list removal, I would advise all to lower their expectations for this issue, as its cliché ridden pages feel disappointingly familiar, and the ending which the readers expected remains undelivered, whilst the replacement, as different as it was, still does not live up to the hype that this arc had gathered. Though it cannot be denied that this issue has done enough to warrant my future curiosity if nothing else.

Score:

6/10