Comic Book Reviews - September 26, 2018

End of the month? More like end of my existence as we have NINE comics to check out. From Clark Kent getting personally victimized at work to a team-up between a badass Colonel and a badass barbarian, we've got it all! Including some controversy. OOH CONTROVERSY!

Shattered Grid - Greatest Power Rangers Story Ever?

Perhaps the most important thing to come out of this year's 25th anniversary celebration of the Power Rangers franchise was the major comic book event "Shattered Grid." It featured a villain exclusive to the comics and brought together every single Ranger team, from Mighty Morphin' to RPM to Ninja Steel to Hyperforce (from the RPG show on Twitch). It covered every facet of the Power Rangers mythos and even bore an influence upon the 25th Anniversary episode of Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel. It's garnered hype from fans young and old and will likely be remembered for a long time to come. But, how does it fare against the other major stories of the franchise?

Comic Book Review - June 6, 2018

In a pedestrian week of comics, is it possible that one can rise up as a diamond in the rough? Will it be Green Arrow? Of course it'll be Green Arrow.

Comic Book Reviews - May 2, 2018

This week we have more anthologies featuring Superman, a new Power Rangers book, and I only bring up Infinity War twice and neither time is with spoilers. Take that, Internet!

Comic Book Review - April 25, 2018

This week, the art is all over the place, there's Power Rangers all over the place, and I still can't believe Avengers: Infinity War is premiering so soon. HYPE. Also major storylines are setup. MORE HYPE.

The Importance of Legacy in Power Rangers

When a show exists for a long time, say something like 25 years, it tends to build something of a history behind it. It creates a mythos, something that people will remember during its long run and, hopefully, well after it's done. In television, shows like Star Trek live on in now just how they shaped the Science Fiction genre, but also key characters and motivations that have been either revived in different media, or been made a point of reference. However, sometimes it's just important for a series to look back and reflect on its own legacy. The comic book character The Flash has an immense history that's built almost exclusively on the legacy of Jay Gerrick and Barry Allen. But perhaps few shows or series analyze and give respect to legacy better than Power Rangers...most of the time.

Comic Book Reviews - April 18, 2018

This week, Superman takes center stage! A run ends, and a run begins. Unfortunately, though, we must also say goodbye to both a ninja...and a Power Ranger?!

Comic Book Reviews - March 28, 2018

Well with DC deciding to throw their two biggest books at us at the same time, I guess someone decided that it would be funny to do the same with Power Rangers! How do these major comics stack up, and what about the climax of X-O Manowar's fun space adventures?

Obstacles in an Action Series: How They Matter Most

Arguably the most talked about piece of anything in an action-genre story is how the hero is able to overcome the odds and defeat whatever is in front of them. Sometimes it's completely overpowering a villain, sometimes it's outsmarting an opponent, but most overlooked of all is the hero managing to use their wits or own abilities to overcome some kind of an obstacle. These obstacles, quite often, will prove far more vital to the story or series as a whole than if a hero just defeats a villain using whatever they have at their disposal. Obstacles in action fiction are the most important part of the story's development, character's development, and audience's development with the series.

Comic Book Reviews - February 21, 2018

This week in comics, we finish things up in Redlands, Florida while beginning a new journey in Yharnam, all during the return of a new Power Rangers villain to go see the Ice Cream Man. Strange how it all connects sometimes.

Halftime Report: 2017 Comics

2016 was an absolutely magical year for comics. Even if you were a Marvel fan for the back half of the year or a DC fan for the first half of the year, on the whole 2016 proved to be one hell of a year in terms of revitalizing both DC and Marvel for some of their stranger characters or concepts. Valiant and Image continued to see creative success, last year in particular for Valiant with Ninjak and the two “Divinity” series. So, now that the year is halfway done, how is 2017 holding up? In short: pretty damn well.

Power Rangers Review

In the last few years, I think I've been pretty good about setting a proper expectation and gauging how excited I should be for a movie. Take, for example, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. I expected it to be about on par with Man of Steel and for the most part I was right. This year, though, my expectations are all over the place. I don't know what Spider-Man: Homecoming or Wonder Woman are going to be like. Power Rangers was a movie that I had no idea what it could be. Could it try to be just like the show and take a silly approach to an even sillier concept? Would it go for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/ Transformers route of trying to make this grim and gritty and for adults? What would it do right or what would it do wrong? 

Top 10 Power Rangers Series

So there's a certain movie coming out quite soon that has to do with 90s nostalgia as well as people taking a novel concept from Japan and contorting it to fit their American needs. Yeah. Ghost in the Shell is happening, kids, and boy...I can wait for that movie. Oh, and Power Rangers or something. Meh.

Power Rangers Ninja Steel Early Thoughts

This season has a lot to prove, for both new fans and longtime viewers. New audiences may be kids finally getting around to watching the series for the first time, or it's kids that saw the Power Rangers movie trailer and heard there's a TV series on air for them to see. Longtime viewers need to be shown that the new Saban era can indeed holds on it's own, since while Dino Charge was a pretty great series, Dino Super Charge dropped the ball hard and fast. 

2017: Another Dud Year in Franchise Movies?

The new year is here, and that means we're about to get a heck of a lot of new movie trailers headed our way. And not just for the summer! Thanks to Deadpool, we'll be seeing big-blockbuster releases pretty early in the year. March alone has three movies that might be worth checking out. That's pretty awesome! And I can't wait...well, if it weren't for 2016, and it how it wasn't the kindest year to big franchise movies

Power Rangers Dino Super Charge Review

Power Rangers has finally been caught back in the public eye. Some people took a nostalgia trip three years ago as the show entered its 20th anniversary, some revisited the series when that Power/ Rangers short film came out, since it attempted to show what life would be like for the original team after the events of...Zeo? I don't know, it was weird. Point is, with Power Rangers coming to screens and a big trailer having dropped about a month or so ago, Power Rangers has been poised to make it's biggest splash yet. Not to mention it'd just come off one of the show's best individual seasons so far, Dino Charge! What could go wrong?

Power Rangers: Wild Force Review

Ah, Power Rangers. You silly little franchise you. I've been wanting to do a good review and discussion on the latest series, "Dino Charge," but it's once again on break until late summer. So, why not fill the gap with another series? I've been meaning to check "Wild Force" out for a while now. When I was a kid, this show was my jam. Sure, "Time Force" will always be my favorite, but I had all the stuff for "Wild Force." All the action figures. All the Megazord figures. I even had the Lion Blaster. I pretty much was a Ranger (and I still am darn it). So I was a little worried that, so many years later, a cherished part of my childhood wouldn't hold up. Did it? 

Great Stories Need Great Villains

When my blog started up nearly two years ago, it seemed like there was a great focus on villainy, on the bad guys and how cool they are. While my idea that they are pretty darn great has not changed, the focus certainly has. I haven't been able to discuss themes and concepts in a while, moreover trends that have been happening in geek culture, or things on upcoming events.

"Power Rangers: Jungle Fury" Review

So I've kind of found there to be two main kinds of "Power Rangers" fans, excluding the target demographic of children. There are those who are die-hard Mighty Morphin' fans and count everything afterward to be dumb, rubbish, and crap, or that it doesn't even exist. Then there are those who have seen pretty much every season of Power Rangers, usually adults actually, and can judge every season fairly. Every season with the exception of "Jungle Fury" that is, which I find to be the least talked about season of the series. I think that the main reason for this is that the true fans had just gotten through watching the horribleness that was "Operation Overdrive." Plus, the premise of the show is vaguely reminiscent of "Wild Force," so some people may not have wanted to watch the same premise twice. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was so short people kind of skipped over it like it wasn't even there.