Okay, now there is another Star Wars first, seeing the Mon Calamari placed in internment camps as slaves… how depressing. It happens in this episode, then after the Empire forms in the Expanded Universe and once more in the EU when Darth Krayt orders all Mon Calamari systematically exterminated. But the episode itself was quite a follow up to the first. The Mon Cala, although defeated in the last episode fight on against Tamson and his droids along with their Quarren allies.
One of the new titles of the New 52 DC titles that I was most anticipating was Red Lanterns, so it only stands to reason that the one I was most excited for didn’t deliver to me on all fronts. That is not to say the first issue was bad, it was just average.
The story takes place in the same continuity that the War of the Green Lanterns ended in: Krona is dead and on Ysmault as a trophy of sorts to Atrocitus who has nearly lost all of his fervor due himself not being able to finish the renegade guardian himself. And his Red Lanterns seem to be able to sense Atrocitus’ wavering attitude…. Bleez in particular who seems to be a rallying point for the other Red Lanterns. We know that Bleez will have a larger role to play in the New Guardians so it will be interesting to see how things play out between her and Atrocitus in this series. Is she going to get the Red Lanterns under control for Atrocitus? It seems like their main function is just be on Ysmault looking pissed off and fighting one another. On the other hand she might just challenge Atrocitus for leadership, which seems more likely to me.
A few things were revealed about Atrocitus and his past life on Ysmault which were a pleasant and interesting surprise. We were able to see his wife and child’s death at the hands of the Krona re-programmed Manhunters. Also Atrocitus’ used to simply be called Atro. And before his planet’s destruction his occupation was as…. a psychologist. Can you imagine that counseling session? And he looked pretty scary before his family died!
Dr. Atrocitus “AND HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL MR. JORDAN?”
I give the issue a 3 out of 5 Lanterns.
The art was average and the story itself felt like nothing that deserves an ongoing series. I’ll reserve final judgment until the next couple of issues, but I’m worried about where this story could possibly be going.
Well it looks as if the Green Lantern comics will be occurring in the same continuity it left off from during War of the Green Lanterns. (Just like Red Lanterns) When we last left the Green Lantern Corps, things were not going so great. Hal Jordan was relieved of duty and his ring by the Guardians and Sinestro was chosen by a green power ring. After the War and the on the verge of an uprising over Sinestro having a ring, all Lanterns have returned to their respective sectors and Sinestro is still under the jurisdiction of the Guardians.
The issue starts with those events still lingering. With Sinestro the Guardians had Sinestro say the oath of the green and then releasing him and ordering him to go and protect his home planet of Korugar. They hope for redemption for this scumbag Sinestro, something I’m not very keen on. To me, Sinestro has done a little too much damage and caused the countless deaths of others all in his so called quest to bring order. Good job doing that with a corps made up of baby snatchers (Kryb) and overgrown psychos. (Arkillo) Will Sinestro have proved me wrong at the end of this issue? Is he truly a green lantern again?
Hal is most definitely doing a lot worse. He’s broke, with bad credit and no car. THE GREEN LANTERN HAS NO CAR!!!! This is just humiliating. And to top it off, Carol Ferris won’t even hire him back as a pilot. But don’t count him out yet, because by the end of this issue it seems that most unexpected person may be able to get him back into the superhero game somehow.
I give this issue a 4 out 5 power rings.
Mahnke’s art is great as always and Johns has basically picked up right where he left off with the Lantern storyline. Readers of the new 52 who are long time readers of DC material will more than likely be most comfortable with the Green Lantern titles since there are no questions of which timeline or continuity these stories are coming from. Readers who are just jumping on? They’re going to not have such as easy time. Stay tuned for the Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 and Green Lantern Corps #1! Also check out my Red Lanterns #1 review!
If I was complaining about Fear Itself having too much action, this issue definitely put a stop to all of that. It’s the penultimate chapter to Marvel’s Summer event, and it was quite a build-up to the inevitable knock-down, drag out fight coming with The Serpent and his Worthy against the heroes of the Marvel Universe.
Thor is thankfully back on his feet, with some fancy new armor and the Ragnarok sword to face down the Serpent as the prophecy says he would. Does that mean Thor’s reprieve is only temporary? I sure hope not. But at least his dad was being helpful as he continued being a crotchety old man in this issue.
Tony Stark is just finishing up in Svartalfheim with the weapons Odin has allowed him to forge with the foundry there. So now the Worthy will have met their match with the Stark Weapons imbued with Asgardian magic in the form of the Mighty, made up of the world’s mightiest Avengers shockingly enough.
This makes me very excited for the next issue. Even though I’ve thought that the whole Fear Itself event has just been ok, I think the last issue is going to go out with a bang. The Worthy have been tearing the world up with no one on the same level to stop them except Thor and even he was badly wounded. Once the Mighty take them on it’s going to be with tons of collateral damage.
I give the sixth issue a 3 out of 5 grizzlies. I’ve become more and more accustomed to Immonen’s art, while the story dominated over action in this issue. Before I would have given the issue a higher score due to this fact, but when the last four issues were nothing but action it kind of screws up the pacing a little bit. Stay tuned for the final part 7!
After visiting Deadline about an hour ago, I was saddened and dismayed to read about the passing of an actor who’s greatness was gone far too soon, and who had the potential to be even bigger than he already was. Andy Whitfield was the main lead in the Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, playing the main character of Spartacus who would rise through the ranks of the gladiators to lead a slave rebellion that would be talked about for centuries after. Whitfield owned the character of Spartacus in my eyes. He had intensity and the strong silence that made people like Clint Eastwood the icons they are today. Sadly, the non-Hodgkin Lymphoma that he was diagnosed with a couple years ago forcing to him withdraw from the role of Spartacus, claimed him today shy of 40.
I only hope that his replacement Liam McIntyre realizes the enormity of the role he inherited from one of my favorite actors in the last five years. An actor that I had hoped to see in a variety of things outside of Spartacus in the years to come. I wish Andy Whitfield’s family and friends all the best as they mourn a loss felt by his many fans. And I wish to thank Mr. Whitfield for giving us a memorable performance in his turn as Spartacus that will live on for many years.
This is it my friends. The end. The last time we will see the crew of Entourage together (until the inevitable movie). No more of my boy, Johnny Drama acting a complete fool with his permanent scowl. The show has had a good run and even though there were some low points, I’m really gonna miss it after tonight. Still a few things to deal with going into the finale: Vince and his quest to have a legitimate relationship with the beautiful and high morality Sophia. Ari and the never-ending saga of he and his wife staying together or getting divorced. And of course the Baby Mama drama between Eric and Sloan. So with that, let’s get right into it.
This episode starts with Vince making the announcement that he is getting married to Sophia in Paris… in the same day that the episode takes place. Everything is going great for our main character, but this episode was all about tying up the two major loose ends of Ari and his wife Melissa, not to mention Sloan and Eric.
Ari, looking good.
Ari is just about at wits end not giving two shits about work. He and Mrs. Gold have one last therapy session deciding to tell the kids about the divorce. After speaking to his daughter about whether or not he listens to her, Ari finally sees what he has to do and I can’t believe he didn’t do it before. He quits his company, sells his shares and goes to his house for one last ditch attempt with Melissa. Ari tells her what he did and wants to move to Florence, Italy with her and just be together and she agrees.
Ahhhhh, it’s so tough being rich… I was actually impressed by the emotion in the scene where Ari wins her back and even though it was a little cliche’ I still enjoyed seeing them have a happy ending.
With Eric and Sloan, we had a little back and forth tipping of the scales as Johnny and Turtle try to mend things to have Sloan at the wedding. Then Vince tries to do the same through Sloan’s father Terrence, but only serves to make things worse. In the end Vince convinces her to give Eric a last shot and be a father to their child. By the end the whole crew meets at the airport where a jet awaits the wedding party. Vince surprises Eric by unveiling a waiting Sloan and a jet that will take them anywhere they want and Eric goes his own way as Vince, Ari, Turtle and Johnny board the plane for Paris…. and credits roll.
I give the episode a 4 out of 5 bears because it felt a little rushed to tie everything up and give the boys a proper send off. I thought maybe an hour finale would have done it justice, but I suppose the ambiguous ending works too.
The only one we actually get to see a little more of is Ari as he and Melissa live the life in Italy. Ari actually gets a call from his old boss who is offering him the top spot at his studio. You can tell Ari is seriously considering it until he hangs up and Melissa is back with wine. But on the other hand he does lie about who it was to her and who knows maybe we’ll see an Ari Gold spin off show that I’d totally watch!
Grizzly Bomb 