'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!