'Titans' Finale Prooves an Explosive Episode Without Much Closure

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

So I need to first apologize as this post is a bit delayed, however, I wanted to make sure I got to watch the Titans finale a few times and make sure that I hadn't missed anything.  The final episode of the first season puts the series protagonist, Dick Grayson, in his biggest test yet. Trapped in a dreamscape created by Trigon, Dick must face his own personal darkness in the form of his old mentor Batman.

Throughout the series, Dick has often criticized Batman for his methods. Dick believes that Bruce didn't actually care about him because Bruce never actually helped Dick cope with his trauma, which to be fair Bruce's catharsis for his own trauma is dressing up as a bat and beating up criminals so I wouldn't really expect his methods would really be helpful to a 10-year-old kid who just lost his parents. Dick believes the only thing Bruce has done for him was turning him into a weapon that Bruce could use in his fight against crime. However, there is a lot of blame that Dick rests on Batman's shoulders that is misplaced and in fact, is Dick's own fault. Either way, the series has been building up to a confrontation between the two and in this finale, we finally get it: Robin vs Batman.

Now before I go any further, I want to inform you that I am going to be delving into SPOILERS as I break down the events of the finale. If you don't care about spoilers, go on ahead, but if you do, you can skip ahead and there will be another disclaimer for when the spoilers end.  Now then, let's get started. The story starts off and it appears to be taking place several years after Dick had met the Titans. He's retired from the cape life as an LAPD detective. He's married to Dawn, the iteration of Dove from the current Hawk and Dove duo, and they are both very happy with a five-year-old son and another baby coming around very soon. Rachel and Gar at college, and while there are no signs of Kori at the beginning, everyone seems to be very happy and living their best lives. However, this all changes as a wheel-chair bound Jason Todd shows up to the Grayson household, and his purpose is to plead Dick to return to Gotham and save Batman.

According to Jason, Batman has been in a downward spiral and it all started when Dick left (a fact that Jason claims even Superman can attest to). However, it has recently gotten so much worse. Alfred has passed, Barbara is missing, and with the latest brutal death of Jim Gordon at the hands of the Joker, Batman is broken and is on the verge of breaking his code. Batman is going to kill the Joker, and Dick is the only person who can stop him. After much deliberation, Dick reluctantly decides that it's the right thing to do, to go and save the soul of his former mentor the way that the Titans saved him, and so off to Gotham Dick goes.

Gotham with a broken Batman is a scary sight. In addition, with no Gordon to keep the police force on the straight and arrow, criminal activity has run rampant. Dick tries reaching out to Bruce on the phone and has no luck. Just when Dick is about to give up, however, the dreamscape is manipulated to ensure Dick stays. A loud crash is heard nearby and Dick finds a crime scene where the Joker has been thrown off a building and has landed on a car, face through the windshield. Dick approaches the lead Detective at the scene and gives him clues on where they should be looking, and as a result, the detective deduces that Grayson knows more about how to find Batman. Grayson decides not to give up his mentor's identity because the Joker is revealed to be alive. Dick instead goes back to his old home of Wayne Manor and tries to gain entry through the iconic clock entrance of the cave, however, Bruce prevents the clock from opening. Since he knows Bruce is watching, Dick tries to reach out to his teacher, explaining to him that there is still a chance for Bruce to turn away from that darkness, and that Dick knows that Bruce can do it because he hasn't compromised his moral code since the Joker is still alive. Bruce is revealed to have been watching the whole thing and while we don't see his face, his body posture reveals that he is less than pleased and that Dick's words have had the opposite effect of their intent.

Just to be safe, Dick goes to the hospital where the Joker is being held/treated. Shortly after arriving he meets up with Kori, who is now an FBI agent and has been called to Gotham due to the continued escalation of the Batman situation. During their exchange, Kori and Dick have an amazing dialogue regarding Batman's 'conscience,' to which Dick relays that Bruce has never had one, that he instead had a code and a sense of Justice. Kori eventually tells Dick that he should return home, that he isn't the guardian of Bruce's soul, but before Dick can leave, the dreamscape is manipulated again and Batman shows up, killing the Joker with a Batarang through the heart. That's not all though, with Bruce's moral compass broken, Batman goes on a rampage. He goes to Arkham and massacres all the members of his rogues gallery that are being held there, some guards, and even the warden of the facility. With no other choice left, Dick reaches out to the GCPD Detective from earlier and reveals Batman to be Bruce Wayne.

Dick Grayson accompanied by Kori, leads a GCPD SWAT team on a raid of the Batcave. Dick tries to reach out to Batman one last time, begging him to come in quietly, but the Bat is too far gone. With an explosive Batarang, Batman leaps into action butchering the GCPD SWAT team in a fight sequence that really does capture the nightmare of an unhinged Batman. Kori eventually goes down there to take on Batman herself, but Bruce is prepared and brings out Freeze's cold gun. With Kori firing off her flames and Batman firing the cold gun, an explosion goes off that kills Kori and leaves Batman pinned under the rubble. In the anger of Kori's death, Dick submits to "what Bruce had always planned for him" and kills Batman. It then cuts to the actual reality where Rachel is trying to wake up Dick, however, his eyes are now black like the Demons on Supernatural. This is where the finale ends, with things looking pretty bleak as Dick Grayson has been lost to his own darkness. In addition, they also have a post-credit tease that reveals Superboy breaking out of his Cadmus cocoon and has him rescuing Krypto the super dog.

Spoilers End Here

Titans finale is probably the best episode of the series, however, I feel like I have honestly said that about every episode since the first one has come out. As a show, Titans has done an outstanding job of outdoing itself. It may have started off on shaky footing (click here for my review of the first episode), but it has finished quite spectacularly and honestly, that's what counts in the end. That being said, as great of an episode as the finale is, I feel like it was not an especially strong finale. While I understand that Titans is billed to be a multi-season show, closure is important for any finale. The narrative of a story follows a fairly basic structure: setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. While I understand the idea of ending things bleak-looking in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War, there still has to be a level of finality to the episode, and this episode just doesn't have that, in other words, this episode feels like we just got left in the falling action of a story. It feels hollow and honestly, it feels like there should have been one more episode, and what's worse is that very much is the case.

It has been recently reported that Titans was initially billed for 12 episodes and that they did, in fact, have an episode 12 ready to go. However, the showrunners decided to cannibalize that episode for the second season's premiere. Part of me gets the logic, they are hoping to retain the audience for a second season, and a frustrating cliffhanger like this could do it. However, it's sad that they didn't think the show's quality writing and performances were enough to have their audience's investment. Between the show's narrative the writers have weaved for these characters, and the expanded universe they have built (throughout the show they have confirmed the existence of Wonder Woman, Justice League, Superman, and so much more) that makes the cinematic Universe pale in comparison, there is more than enough to return to without such a cheap cliffhanger. That being said, the episode is still too good to be completely ruined by the lack of closure it provides as a finale. I would give the episode "Dick Grayson" an 8 out of 10 and I would give the entire a series Titans a rating of 9 out of 10.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon!

'Into the Spiderverse' is a Fantastic Improvement on the Source Material

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

When it comes down to beloved characters in comics, you'll be hardpressed not to find Spider-Man amongst the top of many lists. Created by Stan Lee in the '60s, the story of Spider-Man has been one that has connected to so many people due to the sheer relatability of Peter Parker as our Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawler. As times have changed, so too has Peter for the sake of his continued appeal to such a large audience. In recent years, however, in an attempt to reach an even broader audience, they have allowed for more than one person to hold the mantle of Spider-Man. Miles Morales was initially introduced in 2011 in the Ultimate brand books after Brian Michael Bendis killed that Universe's Peter Parker in the conclusion of the Ultimate Fallout story. While the character may have sparked controversy, he has gathered a fairly decent following in the comic community, and for years, there have been talks on shifting the focus from Peter to Miles on the big screen. Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse realizes that goal, and not only was it successful, but it also modifies the original story in a way that makes Miles a much better character and one that everyone can enjoy.

What really makes this movie shine was intertwining Miles' story with the acclaimed Spider-verse story that ran through 2014 and 2015. By doing this Miles gets exposed to very different mantle holders of Spider-Man as he struggles with finding his own way of fitting in the mantle. These are large shoes, or spandex, to fill in and the weight of that is something that Miles deals with throughout the film. However, the movie shines its brightest is in the shaping of a new Spider-Man story. The point of the film is to establish Miles as THE Spider-Man of this universe and by the end of the film, he more than earns the title.  Honestly, I feel that the way this was made possible was by integrating Miles' origin with the Spider-verse crossover.

While Miles' origin is intriguing, that story strongly is only enhanced by the addition of Spider-verse. This additional plot allows for the bit that actively carries the movie, the very strong dynamic between Miles and his reluctant mentor, Peter Benjamin Parker. Peter B. Parker, is both very familiar and different from the Spider-Man we've come to know and love. He's a Spider-Man that has grown up, and in a spectacularly Peter Parker way, has rather made a mess of his life. He's recently lost Aunt May, and his fears toward being a father led to the end of his marriage with Mary Jane. His relationship with Miles allows for not only a chance to mentor him and show Miles how to be Spider-Man but to also put his own mistakes into perspective and consequently grow and rediscover what it means to be Spider-Man. When you pair this with Miles' own personal struggles of identity within his own family and city, you get quite an engaging story that everyone can enjoy.

As far as the film's flaws, I am not sure I can pick any out. It's a damn near perfect movie. I guess if I was splitting hairs I could say that some of the footage from the trailers I was looking forward to were not included in the film and that some of the character designs for villains didn't do it for me, but those are just very minor nitpicks. It's honestly crazy that Sony could put out a product THIS good and at the same time, within just a few months, have also released the train wreck of a film called Venom. I give Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a solid 9.5.  PS. Stan Lee's Cameo was so beautifully fitting, and it will make you cry.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you enjoyed and we will see you again next time!

DC Makes Its First Step In Recovery: Aquaman Review

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

The film industry can be a bit cut throat at times, and lately, this has been especially the case with the superhero genre. Marvel has paved a way to success through its cinematic universe, and as such, every film with a superhero in it is automatically compared to the best films Marvel has done. It's not exactly fair, but that's the way it is. As such, the DC films have honestly had a rough time of it. With the exception of Wonder Woman, all the DC films have fallen short in critical and audience reception. However, it seems like DC has found its sea legs in Aquaman.

James Wan delivers possibly one of the most beautiful superhero films ever made in Aquaman. If the beautiful designs of the underwater kingdoms of Atlantis and the design of the creatures like the Trench and the Fisher people weren't enough to sway you, then the dynamic action sequences should add additional icing to the cake. In addition to the film's visuals, you have some pretty stunning character acting from the entire cast. This may be one of the best-acted Superhero films as even the more minor characters were given A-plus performances. The biggest standouts to me were Patrick Wilson as Orm and Amber Heard's Mera. While Momoa undoubtedly brought his charm to the role of Arthur Curry, the performances of his support cast, in particular, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, and even Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, really allowed Momoa to shine even brighter.

As far as the narrative goes, it's the film's weakest point. This is not to say that the narrative is bad, it's just that in terms of quality, it certainly plays second fiddle to the film's visuals and character performances. What really hurts the film is that the first act is a bit clunky. None of it is bad perse, its just that the first act had so much heavy lifting to do, so it gets a bit crowded. Between juggling the film's main narrative and Arthur's childhood, things got a bit cluttered. However, the moment Arthur heads down to Atlantis, the film really takes off. Aquaman honestly feels like Lord of the Rings meets a Godzilla monster movie, and in the moments it gets to be that the movie is at it's best. In fact, the moment Arthur gets the trident of King Atlan, I couldn't help but think of Aragorn's smug look as he fights the king of the Oathbreakers: "It has been remade." In addition, the final battle of Orm (Ocean Master) invading the Brine to take control of their army, and Arthur intervening honestly gave me goosebumps it's so good.

At the end of the day, Aquaman is a refreshing change of pace from the monotone Snyderverse of DC. It's definitely the first step in the right direction for DC films. The only thing that I can see hurting it are the clunky first act of the film, and the unfair comparison of this film to the likes of Avengers: Infinity War. I honestly feel that it is only fair to compare this movie to the first phase of Marvel films, not only does this film set to establish Aquaman in its Universe of films but more importantly this is the first step in a very evident course correction for the cinematic universe of DC. All in all, I give DC's Aquaman a solid 8 out of 10. It may have some issues taking off, but when it finally hits it's momentum, it's a fantastic time!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you next time!

'Titans-gate' is Proof of the Death of Journalistic Integrity

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!


If there has been a series that has really surprised me this year, it's the show Titans for the exclusive streaming service app: DC Universe. What I thought was going to be an utter disaster has turned out to be one of the best live action superhero shows in quite some time. With its only real faults being a poor production budget, and the same guy in charge of lighting for the Snyder led DC films, Titans has continued to deliver quality storytelling and character growth in a way where each episode seems to outdo the last. I was initially intending this to be my review of the series overall as a whole, giving a glowing endorsement to watch it, however, since the release of season finale trailer, and the controversy that has sparked from it. I have decided on a new direction for this piece.

This trailer teases quite the action-packed finale as Dick Grayson faces off against his mentor in the episode titled "Dick Grayson." This confrontation is a long time coming in the series as Dick has been working to distance himself from his former mentor and has constantly called the Dark Knight's methods into question. However, where the controversy is, if you couldn't already guess, is that Batman has snapped and is now killing some of the most iconic members of his rogues gallery. Dick has been appealed by a wheelchair-bound Jason Todd to try and reason with Bruce and try to stop him from committing this rampage. Many people have issues with this after the many complaints on the murderous side Ben Affleck's Batman showed in BvS being a key criticism of the film. However, what I am having a big issue with is the lack of journalistic integrity that has been shown by sites like Comicbook.com and Heroic Hollywood, who have written pieces that are only fuelling the rampage rather than informing people with context, because if any of their writers had actually been watching the show, they'd know that this whole set up is not real.

Now before you read any further, I wish to warn people that there will be spoilers here from the most recent episode of the show "Koriand'r." Throughout the episode, Dick, Donna, and Kori are uncovering the truth about Rachel (Raven) and uncover that Rachel's mom is, in fact, another agent of Trigon who is planning on manipulating Rachel into returning her father to Earth. Without giving away too much, the mother succeeds and Rachel does indeed summon Trigon to this earthly plane, and with his arrival come some pretty bad omens. At the end of the episode, Dick, Donna, and Kori have returned to the house where they had left Rachel and her mother, and find nothing. Dick recognizes it to be an illusion and rushes through it, however, when Donna and Kori try to follow they cannot pass through. Simultaneously, Rachel's mother is celebrating the return of her lover and inquires Trigon if it is time to "devour this world" to which Trigon insists that they must wait for Rachel's heart to break. With this piece of information now available for context, it's pretty easy to see where they are going with this, but just in case I'll spell it out.

Lacking an Actual Look From the episode, Seamus Dever (left) plays Trigon (Right)

Throughout this season, Dick Grayson has established himself as a brother figure to Rachel and has earned a place as someone she can truly depend and lean on. His belief in her overcoming her own darkness and the hope he has in her has been a driving force for his own redemption. Trigon has allowed Dick through because he knows this. Trigon is going to try and corrupt Dick Grayson to the dark and have him fully submit to shatter Rachel's hope in the light in this world. In other words, if Dick Grayson couldn't overcome his darkness, what hope does she have against hers?

While I can understand not wanting to spoil the episodes for the viewership, I can't really see this as a viable excuse considering sites like Heroic Hollywood and Comicbook.com spoil movies and shows all the damn time. Ultimately this comes down to the fact that they are more interested in getting clicks and views than informing their readers of what's going on. It really is tragic that this is the state of things, that industry media outlets are fine printing half-truths and using headlines like "Major Batman Support Character Confirmed Dead in Season Finale" or "Titans Season Finale Teases Death of the Joker" just for clicks and likes. Don't get me wrong, they aren't exactly incorrect, because the show does technically promo those things, but they are far from the whole truth.

At the end of the day Titans will continue to do what they have done throughout the show, deliver a different, but very enjoyable take on these iconic characters. It may be a bit on the darker side in tone, but at their core, these characters are still very much Titans at heart.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we'll see you again soon!

The Decline and Fall of Assassin’s Creed

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This past week, we posted up our review of the recently released Assassin's Creed Odyssey! While we really enjoyed the game, there were some issues, but chief among them was the fact that while it may have been a great game, it was not even close to being a true-to-form Assassin's Creed experience. So I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at the progression of these games to lead to the departure of form that we see not only in the recently released Odyssey, but in the previous installment as well: Origins.

The first Assassin's Creed game was released way back in 2007, the game followed a guy named Desmond Miles who was reliving the memories of one of his ancestors in a redemption story of the assassin Altair Ibn La'Ahad. The game took place in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade. In this game, they established the staples of this franchise: lots of free running across rooftops, scaling large buildings, stealth assassinations with the hidden blade, and a counter-attack based combat system. Over the next several years we got to see the franchise grow and expand as they took on different time periods and introduced new Assasins. In Renaissance Italy, we met Ezio Auditore di Firenze who would be a protagonist for three games. In the games, Ezio traveled all over Italy and finally ended up in Turkey during the height of the Ottoman empire to find out the secrets of his predecessor, Altair. During the time of the American War of Independence, we got to meet Connor Kenway, a half Welsh, half Native Assassin hunting for revenge, and ultimately the decline of these games began here.

Assassin's Creed III is to date probably this franchise's most publicized entry. Promotions were everywhere as the franchise was brought to the literal defining moment of American History, and with as much time was spent in making Connor as authentic as possible, the hype behind this game was immense. However, Assassin's Creed III was met with a mixed response. While the game certainly was praised for its gameplay mechanics, it was heavily criticized for its narrative and portrayal of the protagonist. This would lead to a bit of course correction for the next game of the franchize.

One of the most popular aspects of Assassin's Creed III was a newly introduced Naval Combat system. Connor would occasionally captain a personal vessel of his own. With this in mind, the next Assassin's Creed game was one that would go all in on this mechanic as the driving force of the game. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is to date probably the best-received game in franchise history. Investing in the naval combat paid off, and the choice setting of the Carribean during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy was a fantastic choice. The story of the game was fantastic as well, sporting probably the most popular of the protagonists of any of the games, Edward Kenway. Sailing around the Carribean and being a Pirate was a dream come true for most, however, there was a big issue. It was not really an Assassin's Creed game, and in all honesty, the main character is only an Assassin for like 10 seconds at the end of the game. This was the first sign of the true start of the decline of the franchise.

With the hype of Assassin's Creed being back up due to the wild popularity of the Black Flag, Ubisoft decided to push Assassin's Creed the way most companies try to push their triple-A titles, push quantity over quality and so they tried to push out 2 games at the same time, one for the next generation consoles (PS3 and XBox 360) and one for the, at the time, recently released generation now consoles (PS4 and XBox One). The next-gen consoles would receive Assassin's Creed: Rogue which was the story of an Assassin gone Templar, and the gameplay was essentially just a port of Black Flag in the far less colorful setting of British Columbia during the Seven Years War, and for the generation now we got Assassin's Creed Unity which was to be set during the French Revolution (a time period that I had been advocating for years prior to this game's release).

Assassin's Creed Unity promised to be a return to form for the franchise. The cinematic trailer was very reminiscent of the old trailers for the Ezio Games as we saw our new protagonist running along the rooftops of Paris, following the massive mob of Sans-Culottes as they storm the Bastille. The game even teased the ability to invite friends along to assist on missions and explore Paris together. With the credibility of the franchise back to top form, the anticipation for the game was very high.

Now ultimately, Unity just didn't live up to any of the expectations. The game was released before it had been properly tested for bugs, and so players all over had horrifying glitches during the game. Even more than that, however, the story was terrible. The game's protagonist, Arno Dorian, is a pale imitation of Ezio from previous Assassin games, and the plot felt like a cheap knock-off of an Alexandre Dumas book, most notably: The Count of Monte Cristo. In  addition, the game's story had little to nothing to do with the events going on at the time, something that previous games in the franchise made sure to put focus on (in the Ezio games you had the rise and fall of the Borgias, Connor was instrumental to the efforts in the American War of Independence, Edward was a silent partner at Nassau and was an instrumental figure in the Golden Age of Piracy that brought the big names together). The game lacked appearances from substantial people of the time and some of the people that do make it in the game have such a limited part for the very grand role they provided to the Revolution. Worst of all however was the blatant slap in the face to the French by having all the characters voice by British people, an even larger slight considering that while exploring Paris all the people around are speaking in perfect Parisian Dialect French, only to be interrupted by a BBC program whenever one of them talks to you (talk about immersion destruction).

At the end of the day, all those negative things compounded snuffed out the positive points of the game, like a truly enjoyable co-op based around ACTUAL events of the Revolution, or the smoothest free running of the games, and the massive crowds that you can literally disappear into upon assassinating people. What's sad is that the things the game does right, it does exceedingly well and after playing Odyssey and experiencing its hollow RPG mechanic, it's an even bigger shame because this game could have actually been a true RPG with a meld between single player and multiplayer. It could have been a game where you can play the main story either by yourself or invite others and invest skill points in your character to make them unique in a squad of assassins. They could have also allowed you to choose the origin of your Assassin as both Women AND  Persons of Color were instrumental in the French Revolution. Most importantly though, it FEELS like an Assassin's Creed game. The Urban setting of Paris is perfect for free running, and with buildings like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Toulerie Palace, there are plenty of large buildings to scale for Viewpoints. The game promotes stealthiness, and while you can take on droves of enemies, the range and damage of rifles and pistols make doing this far more of a challenge than before. Sadly this all doesn't count for much as the thing that sells a game like this are the very things that game failed to provide: a captivating narrative, an enjoyable protagonist, and world immersion. So when Ubisoft saw the numbers for this game it was all but dead.

Assassin's Creed would release one more game prior to Origins, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which took place in Victorian London. Despite the intrigue behind the setting, people didn't pick up the game. While those who played the game did enjoy the game, lauding it for its story and two main characters, the failure of Unity had destroyed most people's faith in the franchise, so it was time to hit the reset button. They brought back the team who did Black Flag and gave them a new project, set in Ptolemaic Egypt. They continued in the same vein of Black Flag in making a game that was Assassin's Creed in name only, and while the pay off certainly did come through as Origins was well received and sold very well, the death notice of the Assassin's Creed template of the game was signed. While the franchise may be alive and well, Assassin's Creed will never truly be Assassin's Creed again.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we hope you enjoyed and we’ll see you again soon

Farewell to a Friend: Tribute to Stan Lee

Welcome Back to Another edition of Comic Relief! Where we talk about all that is going on in the world of nerd!

Sadly, that world is one in mourning as we grieve the passing of one of, if not the most iconic name in the industry. Stan Lee, the prolific co-founder of Marvel comics, passed away today at the age of 95. If you have been following this page for a while, one of the first pieces I wrote was on Stan: The Man. It talked not only on his legacy of characters he bequeathed to comics but his stand against censorship from the CCA (Comic Code Authority). We have truly lost a great man today, however, I feel that with as much sadness as there is in the world, sadness would be the last thing he would have wanted. Instead, I propose we take a moment to celebrate the life he lived, and the gifts he gave to us in his stories.

If you were looking to know Stan, I feel that there is little else that needs to be known other than that even in fading health, in the wake of losing his wife Joan, he still dedicated himself to being there for his fans. Even with his poor health, Stan made it out to conventions all over the country, maintained a fairly heavy social media presence, and made sure to let us fans know that as much as we appreciated him for the characters and worlds he gave us, he appreciated us just the same. Normally I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable calling someone I met for only a brief few seconds by there first name, but just like a certain wall-crawler we all know and love, Stan Lee was your friendly neighborhood kind of guy, and I believe he would be friends with everyone. In fact, if you look at his work in the industry, I feel it only reinforces that. To Stan Lee, there was no such thing as a stranger or an outcast, only a potential friend to make.

During times of adversity, Stan Lee used comics to fight institutions of hatred and bigotry. Titles like X men and Black Panther tackled civil rights issues in complex and nuanced ways that allowed people to appreciate people for more than the color of their skin, but their actions. Characters like Peter Parker shine a bit of Stan through as a person that wants to see the best in everyone and tries to do right for others more than himself. Stan Lee was about telling human stories through fantasy and sci-fi, so, to him, a person's sex, ethnicity, beliefs, it didn't matter, what mattered was how a character overcame adversity, in whatever form it may have come.

Thank you, Stan Lee, for the gifts you gave us: every character and every issue. While it is sad that you are no longer with us and can no longer grace us with more brilliant cameos, the ride couldn't last forever, and so on behalf of the entire world of nerd: Thank you for it all, it's been a blast! I am not a particularly religious or spiritual person, but I do hope that you are with your wife and are watching over us. Excelsior!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we will see you again soon!

A Much Needed Apology to a Great Series: 'Titans' Review

Welcome Back to Another Edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of Nerd!

Today marks the day of the 5th episode of the DC streaming service exclusive show, Titans. With the first being comprised of 11 episodes, we have finally reached the midway point of the season and so I feel like I can give an official verdict on the show overall as a whole. The first thing I want to say is that I owe an apology to this show. When those set photos and that first trailer came out, I was objectively against this series. I wanted it to fail because I refused to see how anything about this show could be good. While the first episode certainly didn't quell all my fears about this show, the increased quality of writing and acting throughout each episode has more than earned its due, so before anything else, Titans I am sorry for misjudging you, I can't promise I won't continue to evaluate how I think something is going to turn out based off of what I am seeing, but I have to admit you have certainly proven exception to the rule. Without further ado, let's talk Titans, the best live action, Superhero-Team Show!

The Good

So let's talk about all the good in the show. The most obvious is the writing, having comic legend Geoff Johns write the screenplay for this show so well proves two MAJOR things: 1) comic writers should be the people writing any comic adaptation, film or tv, and 2) that investing in high budget Super Hero TV shows is the best way to do justice for your characters while establishing a connected universe. In this first half of the season of Titans Johns effectively establishes an overarching universe far more successfully than ANY of the DC films have. The reason it has been so effective is due to the episodic nature of a comic book that lends itself perfectly to the TV format. One season of a show can effectively set up more than 4 movies can and they can do it in far less time! 

Moving onto the next good thing is the cast. By this point in the show, every character is shining. Some shine brighter than others, Dick and Gar are easily my two favorites of the show, there is no member of the cast that still feels awkward in their respective roles. While these characters are not exact adaptations from the pages, the spirit is there and they become more like their comic book selves each episode. What's more is that these characters are at their best when they are together (which is ironically the name of the 5th episode) as you see both their personalities as characters and fighters play off one another. I am very much looking forward to all the transitions that will be made for these characters over the course of the second half of this season, in particular, a certain boy wonder turning into Nightwing. 

The Bad

While this show has very much surprised and impressed me, it's not without its flaws. However, the two biggest ones I feel are somewhat connected. The first of these issues is the very clear cheap production budget. It is no mystery that the biggest thing that turned everyone against the show in the first place is the poor character designs shown from st photos and character posters, and sadly this cheap aesthetic is almost a universal constant. With few exceptions, nothing really looks cinematic in quality and this really hurts the series as I am actively paying 5.99 a month for this subscription service. I would hope to see costumes and action on par with the Netflix Daredevil series if it feels like I am the one picking up the tab actively. Which leads to my next point, the forced use of gore during the fight sequences.

If there is one bad trait this show inherited from the DCEU it's being edgy for edgy's sake, and there is no better example of this than the over the top gore effects in a lot of the fights, especially in the first 2 or 3 episodes. Goreing and maiming people should not be the objective of portraying these characters. While the Titans books of the past certainly dealt with a lot of drama and teenage angst, brutalizing a man's genitals with garden sheers and slicing out the back of people's knees, isn't exactly the repertoire of these characters. While I am fine with some of these being used as shock value to show, in particular, Dick Grayson's struggle with his own personal demons that will lead to the transition of Nightwing. Moments like that are hindered when you watch a fight scene that shows the character years before, being less brutal for sure, but he still appears to be murdering people (it just doesn't seem to bother him as much) because blood is flying in every damn direction the moment he hits a thug with his bo staff. This is not conducive to the story being told and actively hurts it! Hopefully, both of these problems will be resolved by the next season as the show has already been approved for a second and third season. The show can only become better if they continue down the path that they are in, and so long as these characters continue to develop and don't remain stagnant. 

All in all, Titans is a great show, at the end of every episode I have been excited to watch more and I patiently endure my week wait for the next episode to drop. I would give Titans a solid 8.5 out of 10 and my official backing for anyone on the fence to go on ahead and binge the episodes they have. Episode 5 of the show, Together, was released this morning and episode 6, Jason Todd, will be released next Friday. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon! 

An Odyssey Through the Aegean: Review for 'Asssassin's Creed Odyssey'

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! 

I apologize for my hiatus, it's been far too long and that's unacceptable, however, it's not without reason. The next piece I wanted to deliver to you was a review of the recently released: Assassin's Creed Odyssey. This has been a game I have been anxiously awaiting as I have always dreamed of an open world, sandbox set in the Peloponnesian era of ancient Greece. With the amazing job that Ubisoft did in Assassin's Creed Origins, completely redeeming the hatchet job of Assassin's Creed Unity, I was eager to see how they handled my favorite time period in history. Let's just say they did not disappoint. I have been gone for so long because I have been very busy exploring ancient Greece, and selling my sword to the highest bidder in the first Peloponnesian War. Without further ado, let's talk about the game, what I enjoyed, and what problems there were with the game.

The Good

Normally when I do these reviews, this would just be a long summary paragraph talking about all the things I enjoyed, but a game of this scope deserves a bit more than that. I am going to be talking about each of this game's facets it brings to the table in a great deal of depth, for quite possibly my lengthiest review I have ever done. 

The Narrative

Assassin's Creed Odyssey does something unique that it has never done before, the choice between two protagonists: Alexios or Kassandra. While I have only chosen Alexios, due to my wish to maintain posterity with a semblance of Historical Accuracy, it honestly doesn't matter who you choose as both their stories are identical. Either way, you play as the descendant of Leonidas, whose family underwent a  horrible tragedy that left you stranded on the island of Kefalonia where you were brought up to be a mercenary by trade. As an adult, you are hired by a mysterious man to kill a Spartan general of great renown, and this sets you on an Odyssey across the Aegean Sea as you become an instrumental force in the Peloponnesian war, swaying the tides of war one way or another by aiding either Athens or Sparta, while simultaneously hunting a cult bent on spreading their dominion and influence across Ancient Greece. It is a story of revenge, redemption, and family and whether it be Alexios or Kassandra, there has not been a protagonist with so much heart since Edward Kenway. While this will be a statement that will undoubtedly spur some argument due to the very positive reaction of Bayek of Siwa, the protagonist of Assassin's Creed Origins, the reason why these characters are better are due to how much better the story of this game flows. Origins, for all its strengths, had quite possibly one of the worst narrative flows of any Assassin's Creed games that left me confused for a good quarter of the game. No such issues exist with these characters as their narrative flows very well and you feel for the characters throughout every step of their journey. 

'

Setting and Historical Accuracy

When I was a boy, the Iliad was my bedtime story. I was obsessed with Greek myths and by the time I was finishing grade school, I had filled myself with enough knowledge of Ancient Greece, it's culture and history, to give my teachers a run for their money, so when I got to experience this time period firsthand, I was overwhelmed with joy. Speaking to the Pythia at Delphi, standing before the statue of Zeus at Olympus, meeting the great Perikles and having discourse with some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers of any time, fighting in battles in the Peloponnesian war, it was all a dream come true. While Historical accuracy is also a problem I had with this games, those problems were mere the minor details that were things only classicists like myself would really care about. 

The Mythology

By far the BEST time I had in the game was fighting the monsters of myth and finding the legendary armor sets and weapons of the great Greek Heroes like Theseus, and Achilles. I don't think I have been happier in any game as I was when I entered the labyrinth and was led to the Minotaur by the thread that Theseus had used to ensure that he would not be lost in the labyrinth. What's more was that as a big fan of the Dark Souls series, it seems Assassin's Creed has implemented the multi-phase boss fights for these monsters of old, and what's better is that unlike the shitty 'Trial of the Gods' from Odyssey, each of the monsters are unique and have different move sets.

The Bad

That pretty much wraps it up for the good portion, now we get with the bad parts of the game. Now before I get started here, I feel I should clarify that MOST  of these are not big problems, they nitpick on minor details in the game. I want to make sure that is clear before anyone gets up in arms about anything I say here. 

The Combat

In Assassin's Creed Origins, the franchise introduced a brand new fighting mechanic modeled heavily after the Dark Souls series. This has become a very common trend for the fantasy/RPG game as it frankly is kind of the gold standard. In Assassin's Creed Odyssey we see that mechanic return in a very odd way. It's not that the combat is bad, it just doesn't seem particularly organic to the time period. The Combat of Ancient Greece, during this time period, was heavily reliant on the Shield. The hoplite formation dominated the battlefield as strength was found at it's greatest in numbers. The interlocking of shields to form a Phalanx created an impenetrable unit, good for both defensive and offensive maneuvering on the battlefield. Our character uses no shield whatsoever but instead uses an Isu (first civilization) tech spear paired with another melee weapon. While this is without a doubt a very fun mechanic. I feel it should have been that his shield was an artifact that allowed for these powers to be used, or to have made this the combat mechanic of Origins and this game have been heavily reliant on the shield. This is a good time to shift into my next problem: 

Historical Accuracy and Its effect on the Story 

So these problems are interconnected, and part of it is nitpicky, but it does lead to a MAJOR problem I have with the game. While the setting and the gist of Greek culture is done beautifully, it's on the minor details it fails, however, there are enough of them to leave a sour taste in my mouth at times. For example, this character was trained by their father to be a Spartan warrior and is a Spartan. However, he/she does not use a shield (to go back to the issue from before). The hoplite shield or Aspis was an almost religious artifact to the Spartans. The Spartans had an idiom: 

Come back with your shield, or on it 

While I understand that the main character did not complete the formal hoplite training that Spartans go through, it just doesn't feel right to be this Spartan mercenary without a shield. However there is a problem that goes hand in hand with the character's training and the game's story that becomes a massive problem, and that is how they handled the character of Kassandra.

As I said in The Good section, the story of these characters are IDENTICAL which means that where Kassandra was a baby in Alexios' campaign, Alexios is a baby in Kassandra's. Kassandra received combat training from her father, which is something that just WOULDN'T happen in this time. Now if Kassandra was just an exception due to her heritage as a granddaughter of Leonidas, that would be one thing, however, Ubisoft and the dev team of this game decided that rather than deal with the sexism of the ancient world, they would just ignore that it was a problem and portray the time period as something it wasn't. Where this becomes a huge issue for me is that despite the disclaimer that these events are in fact fictional, people look to these games as a representation of history. By doing this you allow people to have romanticized this time period as being something it's not, and this can be very dangerous. History is doomed to repeat itself if we don't commit ourselves to learn from the mistakes of the past. There was a lot of great things about ancient Greece, but it was a far cry from a society of gender equality that they show in this game. Female mercenaries, women who own property in Athens, women being able to attend symposiums and seminars with Socrates, it's all a fiction that NEVER happened, and that annoys me a great deal.

This is NOT, nor SHOULD it be an Assassin's Creed Game

My last problem with this game is that as great of a game as it is, it is a TERRIBLE Assassin's Creed game. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a cry for a new IP or at the very least admitting that Assasin's Creed has an expanded universe where new titles can exist while being attached to this overarching story. The weakest parts of this game were the parts that were forced to be associated with the Assassins, and big shock, they are, for the most part, all in the present. This game could have been so much better if it had the ability to run wild and actually explore the potential of being something new. I feel like all the assassin nonsense could have been replaced with being hired for mercenary contracts where you actually led your crew of mercenaries into an all-out battle to turn the tide. Instead, we got "WE NEED TO TAKE DOWN ABSTERGO!" that was frankly played out in the original games.

At the end of the day, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a great game, a solid 8.5 out of 10 for me. I had a great time exploring the Greek world and will definitely continue playing the game on days off. However, it is restricted by the fact that it's attached to a franchise that's, in all honesty, past due for extinction. That along with a lot of minor issues in historical representation compounding prevent it from being the perfect experience it COULD be. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! hope you enjoyed and we'll see you again next time! 

Netflix cancels Iron Fist...and no one is shocked except for "geek journalists"

Saturday evening it was announced that Netflix’s Iron fist staring Finn Jones as Danny Rand The Iron Fist and Jessica Hendwick as Collenn Wing would not be getting a third season and I had to stop and ask...is anyone gonna be upset about this? Like truly upset?
Are we gonna be missing anything?


Season 1 was a sincere let down on so many levels. Casting, choreography, story, costume design, characterization, getting any single thing about the books correct at all.

Let's start with casting.

Casting:
Finn Jones and Jessica Hendwick are both not who I imagine when I think of their respective characters for a lot of reasons.

But mainly, they don't look the part.

Finn is just not Danny Rand. I don't mean his face...

Does this guy look like a martial artist in pique condition? 
Marvel was also AWARE of this issue as they felt the need to get out in front of it by trying to get you to think of him as ripped as you can see with this tie-in book here. 











This was the promo art they debuted at New York Comic Con before the launch of the show. We figured he would bulk up or train, or something. But apparently, he only had something like three months to get ready for the role. So, I could give them Leeway with that. Just cover him up all S1 and by S2 he would be trained up? But no.
{no idea why Luke cage and Matt Murdock's actors where selected pre jacked then?} 
But when your casting someone to do brutal, big fights and a show like daredevil to live up to, you would think let's get someone who can do martial arts?  Nope. 
Finns big break out role was playing a very well acted but and non-physical character Ser Lorass Tyrellon on Game of Thrones who like most everyone on that show, gets killed. And at first that didn't seem like such a huge issue as Charlie Cox doesn't do the majority of his demanding stunts cause Daredevil has a mask. That lets his stunt double make Daredevil look amazing with no need for Charlie Cox learn to be an actual muay thai fighter. Then we learned there would be no mask...and the majority of the fights would involve Finn really needing to do his stunt work....and it didn't get better in season 2.


Jessica Hendwick has a similar lack of character similarity but, on this, I'm much more willing to be forgiving as Marvel had an issue up until recently drawing Asian people seemingly. Sooo her looking the part is not as pivitol to me.

That Aside, she gets a second pass but as she brought something to the role that Netflix left out when casting Mr. Jones. Ms. Hendwick can fight. Her last role was physically demanding and had her train in martial arts. Again, your most recent introduction to her before Iron Fist was probably her role as Nymeria Sand on Game of Thrones, where she played one of the Oberyn brats and we saw her mix it up. She took six months of training to play the part of the sand snake where she learned to properly use a bullwhip in fights so, at the very least, she is familiar with physicality and training and could play the part of a martial artist.


Since the show's announcement, it's faced backlash over not capitulating to a small group of people who don't read comics representing marginalized people and communities. The same people who are losing their fucking minds "let down" that Ruby Rose, A open lesbian is playing an openly lesbian character where mad that a white guy was playing a character who was white.

Now there was a lot of heat about SJW's Demanding Danny be Asian cause a white guy using kung fu is cultural appropriation. Now in all fairness, Me personally, I didn't care if, for Netflix, they made Danny Rand Asian. I was fine if that happened. But i think this one decision, in particular, is a great example of why this whole show was so poorly run from start to finish. I'll be brief. 

Towards the end of season one, Danny faces Hand henchmen Zhou Cheng a master of Zui Quan the Drunken Fist style. He is portrayed by Lewis Tan. Tan was considered to play Rand, in his short 8 minutes on screen he outclasses Finn Jones and Colleen Wing in every way. I personally thought this fight scene was hands down the best of the show up till the utterly stupid and nonsensical end.

Sadly this was Tan's  only apperence in the whole series. He was never even brought him back? And there is foreshadowing in his first line that SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS IF HE DOESNT DRINK.  We never see this. I was hoping we would see him again later in the series or season 2?  I mean they fucking brought nuke back in Jessica Jones for Christ sake.
You might recognize Lewis Tan form his VERY SHORT recent appearance in Deadpool 2 as Shatterstar. His father was a Martial Artist and Fight choreographer, He has spent his life working on looking better than most of us AND being able to fight/preform violent ballet without hurting people. He's half Chinese and half British and could easily have been a ringer for Danny Rand that satisfied both Fanbois and Soybois. 
Instead of shooting scenes around stunt doubles with their hoods up, Tan could have done all the work, he LOOKS like he could wield something called the Iron Fist.  Fans would have been happy to have a Iron Fist who could preform martial arts and it would have satisfied the studio's guilt over SJW's screaming cultural appropriation. Well, probably not. They would have still lost their minds that he wasn't also an albino Eskimo who's pronouns where Blender/Blander and Xur but, the rest of us would have been fine.
Of course with the scripts we got it's prolly better for Tan that they passed. He has been doing well and is now gonna be appearing in Netflix's Wu Assasins.

The next part is the most head-scratching as it relates to the above and if done properly you could look past these surface level issues.   

The Choreography:

actual trash.

Let's say you're doing a show about a martial artist. Not just any martial artist but, ONE OF THE BEST IN YOU'RE WORLD. You have a star who is, say, not the best at it?  Wouldn't you want to choreograph scenes that hid that fact by having him fighting large groups with simple moves and lots of cuts? Distract from his lack of skill by making it look like fighting 20-30 guys takes nothing for him? Quick cuts to imply he is fast but really to cover up the lack of technique?  Especially when we have ALREADY SEEN one guy fight 10-15 guys and it be VERY hard for him and do it all in one take?
You would think. 

Instead the choreographer decided to have Mr. Jones take on bad guys one at a time like this is some Assassin’s Creed reboot? And to make it worse EVERYONE else on the show can actually fight, so when they did fight together,  other actors had to go down to Mr. Jones skill level.
That being said, you didn't see much of that as per the choreographer, for reasons I'm still lost on, put very few fight scenes in. But worse still, The use of the iron fist, Danny's core power, mostly involved him doing a ground pound knocking everyone down for like 20 seconds. That's the Dreaded Iron Fist. 
A very weak AOE with a 20-second stun.
A show like Daredevil was outclassing them in even their shortest fights.


Story:
The Netflix shows have done one thing right in their origins, Getting the story right. I don't mean being 100% accurate. I mean making the stories work.  Daredevil Joins Matt Murdock as an established lawyer frustrated with the system and starting to consider doing the vigilante thing.  We learn how Luke Cage got his powers in jail after being illegally experimented on and that he is debating how to use them for good or profit? Jessica Jones S1 debut deals with the Trauma her origin brought her. Not just in her guilt over what happened and surviving it but in how she chooses to handle her powers and the pain she goes through because of it. As well her surviving a horrific situation where she is held hostage for something like a year by the purple man in a physically and emotionally violent situation. Including being forced to kill against her will.  Jesica Jones season one is right up there with Daredevil season one.

....Iron Fist be like "I'm Danny Rand, and I'm the iron fist"
We hear this endlessly, and we have Danny explaining it the whole series. But you're left wondering if Danny is insane or if its true?  We never get the same kind of flashbacks or explanations of the origin we do in Daredevil or Jessica Jones. Or even just Danny Dialoging like Luke cage about the past, which Mike Colter does exceptionally well. When he talks about everything in K'un-lun even fighting a dragon the lines are delivered in an odd syncopated way that reminds me more of Don Quixote than a person trying to convince me they punched a dragon. Now you could say, well they are building up to S2 where we will visit K'un-Lun. So all this mystery is to build the lore up and they want you to question Danny's grasp on reality?  But you would be wrong. As by the end of S1 we see that when Danny returns to K'un-Lun, it's gone and can never be returned to { Insert sad trombone}. How convent for the budget.

Instead the show is spent going over the corporate ownership aspect and plays more like "Rand Vs. The Mechums: civil case 14518" And what makes it worse is Danny is a total incompetent boob when it comes to business.  I was really left siding with the Mechums.  Danny is the best example of why wealth mostly stays in a family about one to two generations.
But it doesn't end at the business aspect. Danny seems like he's a dunce about EVERYTHING. They try to play it off as he was out of society so long and he is a country mouse. That he is Nieve. Or that the virtuous nature and values of K'un-Lun he was raised with are so simple and pure and different from our world that Dannys woke-ness makes him unable to stand by the evils we have become accustomed to accepting but his altruism also makes him vulnerable to being taken advantage of.

But it just comes off like Danny is stupid and thinks the answer to all questions is punching with really poor form. And by season two we see K'un-Lun as this screwed up backwords place where everything is about manipulation, child abuse and they don't care much about anything except K'un-Lun. Like Multicultural Wakanda. {cause although it's in Asia everyone there is not Asian. The dynamic would have been better if it was so awkward cause he was the only outsider} 
This, in my mind, doesn't fall on Finn Jones totally. This is writing. The writers made Danny this way, and Mr. Jones just did what they asked of him and again, we really don't get much of Danny using the iron fist save ground slams once or twice even the Season 2 trailer is him fighting two guy...and instead of acting like Bruce Lee...He does a ground slam ...which is not really...that's not how it works.


Costumes:
This section will be really short as there weren't any. S2 we see a version of the traditional Iron Fist mask IN A FLASHBACK. That's it. That's your costumes. Moving on.


Characterization:
Where to start...
I'm gonna start with what I liked. The Mechums, (Joy portrayed by Jessica Stroup and Ward portrayed by Tom Pelphery) They were, for me, the most interesting part of the show.  You got to see what was originally a powerful partnership devolve into mistrust and chaos. The performance by Tom Pelphery was amazing really the MVP of the season. Not to be outdone by Jessica Stroup.  Seeing their alliance be slowly torn apart by Danny's reemergence and the meddling of the Mechums father was interesting and well portrayed. In fact, one reason I give Iron Fist such little praise is it didn't feel like the show was about the Iron Fist. I felt like it was about the Mechums. The show could have been better marketed if Netflix had just decided to make it Damage Control and have Iron fist be a pop in character. They were the standout performance in the season and THAT'S NOT GOOD.

I'm not saying this is like Daredevil Season one where Vincent D'onofrio's performance was on par with Charlie Cox's but more talked about cause villains usually aren't so complex and relatable. This is the Mechums were good and everything else sucked. And I'm sorry to the rest of the cast. As I said previously I put most of the onus on the writers. But the fact remains the same.

I pretty much covered Dannys flaws in the story aspect. so I'm not gonna restate them here. 
Although I praised Ms. Hendwick for being physically capable to play Colleen Wing, her characterization seems flat on many levels. And it's not all on the actress. This is one of those prime examples of a writer saying " I need this Character to do X and I don't have a reason so I'll just make it vague and about emotions and call it complex"

The super-powered heir to a multi-billion corporation wants to work for Colleen Wing,{ why? I couldn't tell you}  a non-super powered martial artist he just met. She rejects having a master of martial arts who's also a world-famous billion-heir teaching at her struggling Dojo? Why? I assume the show wanted me to think she was a strong woman who didn't need help but, it just makes her look either petty, stupid or jealous. 

Next, we are shown that Colleen is chastising students for fighting outside of the dojo, but then She is involved in a fightclub? I assume to show you she is tough. Yet her reasoning is illogical. She says she needs money and is breaking her morality to keep the dojo going? But Dany has offered it to her. He has also offered to teach at her dojo which would bring in more students. A guy with a glowing fist teaching how to kick peoples asses would drive membership plus bring free publicity being he is a celebrity. The Mechums offer her money, but she has to do it " her way".  
She has now been offered three separate ways to make money. One allowing her to say she didn't take a hand out in hiring Danny. She would have made a smart business decision, But no. She has to struggle on her own.
That's not how the world works. This isn't an 80's movie and she isn't some spunky protagonist. In reality,  if Colleen was behind on her mortgage/rent she would sink into debt and within months the late fees and leans on her property would be too much. She would have to declare bankruptcy and be foreclosed on. Ruining her credit and chance of ever getting a business loan.  When you are drowning and someone offers you a stick you don't swat it away and say you will drownd on your own power unless you have issues.

It would have been a better plot to have her struggle and either admit she needed help or lose the dojo and learn humility since her issue is trying to be strong enough on her own and being alone.
INSTEAD, they put this "you can't do it on your own" angle on Danny, you know, the guy who beat a ten-thousand-year-old dragon with his bare hands and has glowing fists as hard as iron? 
And in all this Colleens poor life choices are never addressed I.E. Joining a cult bent on world domination and immortality at any cost. So having her need help would have made more sense. and that would have bookended nicely with Danny's country mouse wisdom that they tried but never successfully landed.

The characterizations, baring Ward and Joy Meachum, in summation are insane. They are actually counter-intuitive to the idea of the show. Colleen Wing is shown to be just as strong as Danny in skill and even teaches him. Well if she is just as strong why isn't she fighting all these baddies on her own before him? Why isn't SHE the hero of the show and him her sidekick?
If that's the case why is he the Iron Fist then? The better dynamic would have been Rand is super powerful but naive and Colleen has to teach him to live in this world with his values and be street smart lie her, well he teaches her about inner strength and that its ok to rely on others. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT DYNAMIC. That would have had both of them being strong but needing each other. And that would have better facilitated the odd forced romance they failed to launch.
Why doesn't she just beat him and prove she is better? The show basically says that. How is this show about him? 

Then we have whole reveal that she was working for the hand?
Just...if I had a low opinion of Colleen wing before it's got worse then.
She is shown thinking it's this great utopian, a super socialist society that's just misunderstood. I give them credit for making the leader of the hand in this series, Bakugo,  not just evil for evil's sake. They really believe their organization is gonna make the world better. But if Colleen is such a strong, street-smart independent woman,  how come she fell for such an obvious lie about an evil cult?
Pretty much EVERYONE who knows about the hand realizes they are a criminal organization? Low-end street thugs like Turk Barrett know the hand are legit bad ass's not to be fucked with.  Oh and each finger of the hand {their high councle} also happen to moonlight as violent gang leaders. Is that normal in Colleen's view? I mean, her new found friend Danny keeps telling her about how HE, THE IRON FIST, HAS ONE SOLE PURPOSE. TO DESTROY THE HAND. CUASE IT'S EVIL!

BUT, they needed to show Colleen could be just as strong as the iron fist.
And in Season two they do actually realize that yeah, their show makes no sense so
Spoiler warning:
He gives the Iron Fist to her via some back ally sorcerers.

Why did K'un-Lun even have their selection process for the Iron Fist in the first place if it can just be passed to anyone via a nickel and dime witch?  IS the Iron Fist like a copy of pokemon? you can lend it to your friends and just get it back in a month? It's such bad writing. 
I imagine the decision to end the show was made well before Season 2 aired. They just said
"we're done here. This mess is too big to clean up."
Oh, and I almost forgot and to top it off Danny gets guns! That's right kids! Iron Fist has a new sidekick, Gun Kata cuck. Which is canon if he was Orson Randel, the Iron Fist of 1914.
If you watched this show and for some ungodly reason LIKED WHAT YOU SAW AND WANTED MORE, you would be so confused if you picked up an iron fist book. 



Summation:

So with all this in perspective,  Did we really lose anything? Iron Fist has been an abysmal disappointment. Be honest with yourself. Don't make excuses. The only people I have ever heard say Iron Fist was good where some YouTubers and Journalists who try to candy coat every failure.
"Comic book" sites who also seem to want to bring up the "Problematic nature of underrepresentation of marginalized communities".  Cause that's the only thing that matters in comic books. Not like the writing matters.  I know Dc is like an episode of friends but, Marvel has had Diversty'n'comics since before I was reading books. These same people lamenting that Iron fist was so promising when it ended in season 2 are the same who acted like all the leaks about Justice Leauge were "totally normal and nothing to worry about. Its gonna be fine" and reviewed it as a good movie.
I'm never sure if they are just afraid of being critical and the attacks that coe with not obeying or if they just have bad taste and truly like a lot of the garbage out there?

This show was always a mess. And it's dragging the Netflix/Marvel series down. They have not been doing so well since there respective S1's. Daredevil Season 2 started off strong but after the bait and switch with the Punisher, the rest of the season had a painful story that dragged and really bad everything else.  Luke Cage and Jessica Jones followed suit with cringe-worthy Season 1 follow-up that where praised cause this generation thinks theirs no such thing as constructive criticism. No one else had a Punisher moment in their Season 2's. 
Defenders was so badly received they just pretended it didn't happen.

Iron Fist was the most insanely idiotic adaptation I have ever seen. At no point in its rambling, incoherent story did it come even close to being considered a rational interpretation.
Everyone who has seen it is now dumber for having watched it. I give it a 0/10 and my god have mercy on the showrunners soul.

It's time to start trimming the fat. As it is the fate of the Netflix/Marvel shows are up in the air with Disney preparing to launch its own Streaming service in the near future. And with the non-stop missteps Disney has been making with Starwars it's safe to say they will want their most popular and profitable properties back. With Iron fist wrapping up and Punisher S2 not seeming to be anywhere on the horizon, it's possible that we might see Daredevil S3 put a bow on Matt Murdock and everyone's stories or start to wind them down.
"But Automatauntaun, they tweeted out a trailer with a skull saying 2!" Defenders 2 was also greenlit as where many DC films like Cyborg, Batgirl, Swamp Thing, Justice Leauge 2, Justice Leauge Dark ALMOST EVERY OTHER FILM THEY EVER ANNOUNCED. If things are going poorly, studios will pull the plug.  As we have seen.  I saw a VERY PROMINENT Youtuber the other day saying "Realistically, Third season {of Iron Fist} is gonna be the best" just in time for his upload to correspond with Netflix announcing they canceled it. Everyone says they are gonna do another now. You plan to be successful and you change course after you know the trade winds.
whatever the case, Daredevil S3 Looks to be correcting this. 
With the Return of the dynamic between Fisk and Murdoc and the introduction of Bullseye, Daredevils most fearsome foe. Too bad they already killed off Elektra...maybe they will just kill her again...cause she was horrible.

EDIT: Since the time of writing this article the, day of the cancelation, it has been announced that Luke Cage is also canceled. Leading to more proof the Marvel/Netflix verse is coming to an end. As well WB's The Flash film was delayed for what, the tenth time?  And Ben Affleck and Henery Cavil have been officially released as Batman and Superman so get ready for my long-winded "the DCEU was always getting reboot" article. I have been saying since BVS that the DCEU is dead and all of these new facts point to that if you don't stick to the source material, you better be dam well be creative cause although journalists might be kind in reviewing it, journalists don't watch enough to make you money.