The Bat Looks to His Shadow for Answers in the First issue of an Epic Crossover Between Batman and The Shadow

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

This past week something happened that I have been personally waiting for quite some time to happen. The Batman has discovered the evil that lurks in the hearts of man with his 2017 run in with The Shadow in the first issue of the Batman/ Shadow crossover  was released this past Wednesday on New Comic day, and boy did it not disappoint.

When you think of enigmatic and theatrical heroes the list is topped by two people: Batman and The Shadow. As the latter provided inspiration for the former, having the two crossover seems only natural. While it has been done before, this new story was scribed by the legendary Scott Snyder, whose run writing the Bat throughout the New 52 is considered to be one of the greatest runs an author has had on the character. The blending of these two characters so enshrouded in the darkness was just meant to be and Snyder writes it beautifully. (Just as  a warning there are spoilers ahead )

The story starts off with Bruce going to see a former mentor about a murder he is having issues with, after all what else could bring these two detective figures together better? However, there is a twist. The victim of the murder in question is a young food caterer to Arkham Asylum: Lamont Cranston (this name should be familiar to those who are fans of the Shadow as one of the alter egos to the character). While investigating the crime, Batman has a run in with a suspect he can only assume to be the murderer of Lamont that turns out to be The Shadow. Eventually Bats gets out stealthed and The Shadow literally disappears without much of a trace. Bruce then takes it upon himself to research the victim and ends up finding out that the original Lamont Cranston was in fact The Shadow.

After following some leads and interrogating those of The Shadow's associates left alive still (including an AMAZING moment where an old and jaded Margo Lane punks out Batman), he finally had found a safe house for The Shadow. While exploring the safe house he came across some evidence that gives him a lead that his aforementioned former mentor also trained The Shadow. Leading him to confront his old teacher on the location of Lamont Cranston.

This brings us to the end of the issue where the greatest reveal of all happens. The teacher recounts Bruce's first time coming to him, calling him "Ducard the Manhunter" and describes his struggles as one of going against the grain. However, while he is explaining the panels get smoky and distorted and while Bruce's back is turned, the former mentor's form begins to change, until it finally is revealed that Bruce's mentor, Ducard, is in fact none other than The Shadow himself!

As a fan of the Shadow, naturally I let out a high pitch squeal, frothed at the mouth, ran in a circle and hit a wall a few times in excitement. I realize this is a crossover arc, but I am praying that it is cannon to the Batman mythos. It is just such an excellent nod to the fact that Batman has taken much of his inspiration in character and design even from The Shadow, so to see The Shadow literally be one of Bruce's mentors, I nearly had a stroke from joy. An excellent ending to what is an incredible start to a promise miniseries!

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

As Aquaman Cast Expands, Is the Ship Liable to Sink?

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

So it's been a crazy past few months for DC comics as they announce and reveal all sorts of new looks at upcoming films and franchises. Yesterday, they even announced both the title of the third season of Young Justice and a live action show: Titans based around the teen team of the same name (which will star Dick Grayson as Nightwing, accompanied by Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and a few others for their initial team. However, among all this great news there is more news of which I am not exactly sure how I feel.

Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, Expendables 1,2,&3) has been announced to play Aquaman villain: Nereus in the upcoming Aquaman film that starts it's shooting here this summer. This will make Nereus the 3rd villain confirmed for the film (along with Patrick Wilson's Orm/Ocean Master, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta). That's right, 3 villains, one movie. This is worrisome even if it weren't for the less than inspiring track record that superhero films with 3 villains have had in the past (*cough* looking at you Spider Man III). This is especially the case since these 3 characters are A  listers in Aquaman's Rogue's gallery. While Jason Momoa certainly looks beefy enough to take on 3 rogues at the same time, each of these characters are good enough and powerful enough to deserve their own film.

Orm: The Ocean Master

There are many different iterations of this character, however, I feel that he reaches his best in New 52, so that's the one that I will be talking about. Orm was the legitimate son of Queen Atlanta and her husband (apparently this king of Atlantis was too much of a jobber for us to know much of anything about him other than he was kind of a dick). Anyways, upon finding out that he had a brother living on the surface world, he reacted in quite possibly the most unexpected way you would think for someone finding out there was someone more favored for the throne than them: he wanted to go to the surface with a special forces squad of Atlanteans and save his brother from the "evil surface world." When they finally met years later, Orm even abdicated the Atlantean throne to his older brother, and acted as one of his chief advisers. During Arthur's youth he was angry at the world that had fostered him after the loss of his father at the hands of another villain on this list, and so he and Orm together planned an Atlantean war seal detailing the plans and magics for an invasion of the surface if the need ever should arise.

 Eventually Arthur turned his back from these plans and notions of invasion and decided that coexistence between surface and Atlantis was a better option. He left the throne to Orm once more and so Orm resumed the rule over the Atlantean people while Arthur built report with the surface world before revealing Atlantis' existence to humanity. Orm was once again monarch but only did so until Arthur thought he was ready to resume his post. However, during this time, a former chief advisor: Vulko, set in motion a plot to ensure Arthur's re-ascension to the throne. Missiles from a surface vessel struck home on Atlantean soil, and Orm was forced to invade. The war seal was broken and Atlantis stormed the east coast under the guise of a hurricane, decimating populations in harbor towns such as Boston, with Orm leading the charge. 

Aquaman tried to reason with is brother and the League, but upon seeing the poor treatment of his brother by his new super powered associates caused a feral rage toward both parties and he attacked both of them. Eventually Orm was defeated and imprisoned at Bel Reve where he awaited trial for thousands of accounts of first degree murder, press dubbing him: "The Ocean Master."

Black Manta

Again I am going to use the New 52 story for Manta. New 52 was not the greatest relaunch of a universe, however the work they did for Aquaman and his respective universe was one of the biggest silver linings. Black Manta was a mercenary in the comics and was hired by a former and rebuked tutor of Arthur curry to "scare" Arthur into coming back to him. However, the incident ended in Arthur's father's demise. Thomas Curry was killed by Black Manta, and in a fit of revenge, Arthur tracked down his father's killer and murdered him in cold blood... or so he thought. At Arthur's foot lay an old man slain and in front of Arthur, his father's killer knelt breathless as he looked down to see his father dying in his arms. Killing Manta's father is what Arthur considers to be his ultimate shame, and similarly it is the deed that has permanently sewn the hatred Manta feels for this king of Atlantis. No matter how many lives Arthur saves, it will never equate to the life he took in his father (apparently Manta didn't have too much an appreciation of karmic retribution). The two's blood feud might be simple, but it's one of the most vicious feuds in the DC universe at this point.

Nereus 

Nereus is literally a product of the New 52 from what I can tell. There isn't a whole lot to say about him at this point. He has only really appeared a few times, but I feel that he is going to be a key player soon, as the last time we saw him he was recruiting Orm as an ally against his half brother. Nereus is a king of a rogue faction of Atlantis, and was also the original promised husband to Arthur's wife: Mera. Mera initially was meant to assassinate Arthur so that Nereus could invade and claim Arthur's overthrow the main empire of Atlantis and ascend to the throne. However, there was a monkey wrench thrown into that plan when Mera fell for her target upon realizing that he was NOTHING at all what had been described to her. Naturally Nereus is a bit peeved that Arthur "stole" his intended betrothed, so he hates Arthur for that reason alone. 

As you can see all three of these characters are strong enough to hold their own in a film, the only one that can really pull off being a side character is Nereus, but that's more for a lack of material to go on for the most part. While I have immense faith in the Director of the film: James Wan, I just don't want a repeat of the fiasco that was Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, where you had two A list Aquaman villains that have to compete for screen time in a 70 minute animated feature. Spoiler alert: this resulted in Orm being reduced to an incompetent and incoherent cry baby with mommy issues, and a Black Manta who came off as a half baked Iago whose greatest accomplishment all film was being eaten by a Great White shark in the film's finale. All in all I still expect good things, but while I want to be excited on the casting news of Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, I can't help but worry that the boat might get to heavy to float, and as everyone is fairly aware of at this point, the DCEU can't really afford another sinking ship. 

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

(ps here's a meme of Black Manta getting eaten by a great white) 

Ghost in the Shell Suffers Not From White Washing, but of Lack of Faith in Source Material's Marketability

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

One of the biggest controversies from the past year has been the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi (The Major) in the live action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Accusations on Hollywood White Washing have been thrown at the film. However, with the film having been released here in the past month or so, I feel it's time to set the record straight. There are some problems with the live action rendition of Ghost in the Shell, but it is very clear that Scarlet Johanson's casting is NOT one of them.

I know that this is a topic of IMMENSE controversy, however, this is something that I feel needs to be explained. Ghost in the Shell, the animated film from the 1990's, was a film that delved into the deeper meanings of what it means to be human. It takes place in Japan in the "near future" where the world has kind of united as one universal entity culturally where everyone has some cybernetic implant or another for the most part. The main character: Motoko Kusanagi, is a purely synthetic being and the only part of her that is "human" is her mind. This is the whole point of the film, for if in a society that is striving so hard to become more and more synthetic, where does one draw the line of what it means to be human. However, to go back and reiterate, Motoko Kusanagi is PURELY synthetic, meaning that her race is a non issue. She may carry the identity of a Japanese person, however, that is not necessarily how her new body is designed. In fact if you look at the other characters of the film she is one of the few characters distinctly NOT Japanese looking (pale skin, wide blue eyes, almost Blue hair). This was done intentionally to strengthen the whole message of the film: What truly constitutes the Human soul?

Sorry for the crude job on paint, but just to juxtapose: Motoko is in the top left, Togusa on top right, and the Old Man at the Bottom. The last two have a distinct Japanese look whereas Motoko looks fairly European

All this being said, the most recent adaptation of Ghost in the Shell does have it's issues. While, when the film adapts straight from the original it tends to be stellar (barring them butchering the diving scene and the dialogue between Batou and Kusanagi), and the character portrayals being very solid, especially by Michael Pitt as the villain (even though Togusa was criminally underused), the film suffers primarily from what is clearly studio fears of a lack of marketability of it's source material. To be fair, the 1995 Ghost in the Shell is a fairly dense film that pushes a lot out and takes multiple viewings to appreciate fully due to it's complex and deep nature, however, that does not mean that you have to use dialogue to force it's messages down the throats of your audience and dumb it down.

After the success of films like The Matrix (that exist solely due to the success of the original Ghost in the Shell) the biggest shame is that the studios had a lack of faith in it's audience to a. understand the original message of the film so they dumb it down to an identity piece rather than the broader realm of humanity and b. that they thought the overall theme presented in the original movie and it's spin offs would not resonate and sell. I have read a lot of things about people enjoying the shift to it being more of an identity piece, however, it results in ultimately my least favorite thing of the film, which goes back to the initial controversy of the film: justifying Scarlett Johansson's casting choice.

In the film The Major does not know herself as Motoko, instead she is Mira Killian, but throughout the events of the film she discovers that before she was Motoko. This whole side plot honestly disgusted me. First off, once again it assumes ineptitude on the audience and tries to hold our hands through the narrative dragging us along rather than allowing us to piece these things together for ourselves, but secondly and chiefly, it is faltering to the whims of, and I use this term here in risk of some flack back, weeaboos who have missed the point entirely and foam at the mouth for it solely because it's Japanese or people who just assume that because it's Japanese made that all the characters in it have to be. I realize that these are generalizations, I have had many discussions with people that have valid points about the casting, however, ultimately Scarlett Johanson was the pick of even the series creator, and that alone should make the argument a moot point.

All in all 2017's adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is an okay film that doesn't quite hit the mark of it's legacy, but still burns a lot brighter than previous anime adaptations (I'm glaring at you Dragon Ball: Evolution). As a silver lining, to those fans of the original anime, this film is a very good introduction point to your friends who you want to get into the series. It presents enough of the original material to compel the audience to go seek out the original and better understand the film.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! Next time I will be talking a bit on Netflix's Iron Fist. See you then!

New Spider-Man Trailer Show's the Responsiblity that comes with Great Power

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

Evidently there is no getting a break for the DCEU. Not even days after releasing their first Justice League film, Marvel called their bet and went all in with a new Spider-man Homecoming trailer. The trailer (which can be found at the bottom of the article) is INCREDIBLE, dare I say: Amazing! No worries, I cringed at that pun too. Anyways, this is the second good look we have had at the wall crawler's next solo outing, and the first of him in the MCU, and boy did it not disappoint.

There are many things essential to properly capturing Spider-man. Quick wit, a sharp tongue, and obviously the web slinging and wall crawling. However, equally important (if not more so) is the integral words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This sage like wisdom from Peter's beloved late Uncle has defined the character's moral compass for the past 60 or so and is key to properly portraying the character. Shortly after the release of DC's first Justice League trailer since the San Diego Comic-con footage, Marvel released it's second trailer of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Marvel had already sold most on the movie in it's impressive first trailer, but any naysayers of the first trailer have almost undoubtedly been put to bed by this second trailer as we get an even clearer window into the feel of this film.

The trailer ultimately maintains the lighter tone that the first had, however, the trailer is not without it's drama. In the trailer Spider-Man makes a rather large mess of a Staten Island ferry and not even his spidey strength, can he hold it together. This is followed by a rather peeved Tony Stark cleaning up Peter's mess and demanding the suit back after this gross misuse of power. In it Tony Stark has a line that is sure to be a defining moment of the film in: "If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it." Sure it's not uncle Ben, but it's a fresh take of an old message that has been integral to the wall crawler's story since the very beginning. This trailer once more showed just how much Spider-man needs to be back home at MARVEL.

From seeing ol' webhead swinging through the residential area in Queens, to the amazing chemistry and fun bromance between Peter Parker and Ned Leeds, and finally to the message of the film ringing so true to the struggle of this much beloved character, this trailer is a love note to fans of the comics and of the Spider-Man.

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns home to live with his Aunt May. Under the watchful eye of mentor Tony Stark, Parker starts to embrace his newfound identity as Spider-Man. He also tries to return to his normal daily routine -- distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just a friendly neighborhood superhero. Peter must soon put his powers to the test when the evil Vulture emerges to threaten everything that he holds dear.

Thanks for swinging by this latest edition of Comic Relief! Look forward to seeing you next time!

Unite the League in the first trailer of Justice League

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

Alright, so I have been waiting to write about this for quite some time. Back in December of last year, Zack Snyder promised us a Justice League trailer "before the end of the month." After failing to deliver on that, he promised us a trailer was right around the corned and soon. Well after quite possibly the LOOSEST definition of that word as possible we finally got a trailer some 4 months later in March, and boy did it deliver. The hype is real ladies and gents, Justice League hit the internet with an incredible first trailer:

What a treat. Honestly I had goosebumps the first 10 times I watched it, and it still gets me excited. Now there is a lot of worry in the fan community to the very mixed response to the last Snyder film: Batman vs Superman. That is understandable, however, I feel like I might be able to put a lot of those worries to bed, or at least give everyone a few reasons to get on board with giving this film a chance.

Now the visuals of this film displayed in the trailer are stunning, however effects and aesthetic have never been a problem for Zack Snyder. Even his worst movies like Suckerpunch look breathtaking, so I am going to skip that. The biggest thing that I feel this trailer shows us is that these heroes are becoming the main 7 of the DC film universe and they are becoming the beacons of hope they were always intended to be. A while back I wrote a piece on moviepilot defending the current state of the DCEU. Probably the biggest complaint about the DCEU is the considerably darker tone than it's competitor at Marvel. While I do feel that the DCEU needs to maintain it's tone to a degree to keep it distinct and be true to itself, I have always felt that Man of Steel and BvS (perhaps even Wonder Woman) were always meant to be the darkest films of the DCEU (the hyperlink will take you to my moviepilot article). From what we have seen in the trailer, this is very much the case. While the film is still darker than the Marvel universe, the characters have much more levity to them. Batman and Wonder Woman are revitalized and their energy is contagious to the rest of the league (as it should be).

Now there have been some complaints that Superman wasn't in the trailer, so I am just going to end those silly complaints now. WHY WOULD YOU REVEAL THE BIGGEST TWIST OF THE MOVIE IN A TRAILER?!? While I do think the trailer's weakest point is allowing us to understand a little more of the narrative and was a overload of action sequences, the fact we don't see the man of steel is important to the film's shock value. That's like having a Captain America: Civil War trailer showing the scene of Bucky killing Stark's parents. You don't lead with the big mystery of the film. We know that Superman is going to come back, HE'S SUPERMAN, but don't spoil the big surprise.

All in all there is a lot to be excited for in this Justice League trailer, my personal favorite moment was seeing Batman interact with Gordon, one of the things I have been anticipating since JK Simmons was announced to play him. Anyways next time on Comic Relief! I am going to talk about the trailer that Marvel responded with: Spider-Man: Homecoming second trailer!

Legacy of X

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! It's been a while and we are glad to be back!

This being my first ACTUAL article in a long time, we are going to rewind a little. On the first weekend of March, we were graced with the piece de resistance of Hugh Jackman's 17 year career of playing Wolverine: Logan.

Logan is without a doubt a cinematic achievement for the entire genre. The film's grit and tone match the character perfectly and the film itself is a fitting end for the longest live action super run  as a super hero character. Hugh Jackman, and Sir Patrick Stewart are again at top form as their respective roles. However, the breakout performance of child actress: Dafne Keen as X 23 was probably one of the most impressive. After seventeen years of films, there was no reason to doubt the veterans' ability to perform, but this child star came out of left field and was easily one of the strongest parts of the film. People have been so impressed in fact that her name has been put forward by many fans as the future of the X legacy as Wolverine. However, is that really the best option?

I would first off like to say that in case I weren't clear enough, I loved Logan and I thought Dafne Keen was incredible. That being said, I don't feel the future of the X franchise lies or should lie on her character's shoulders. Dafne Keen plays Laura Kinney, better known to fans of the comics as X 23. X 23 is an amazing character that, similar to DC's Harley Quinn, was first introduced in an animated series: X-Men: Evolution (2000). The origin you see in the film is not far off from her original, however, there are some pretty big differences. Like in the film, Laura is the result of a corporation attempting to replicate Wolverine. However, she is not his literal daughter as she is in the film, but instead a clone. Laura was trained from young to be a weapon, an instrument of assassination, but, she was occasionally allowed to see the outside world and "play" with other kids. Sadly, she had issues connecting with other children and her anger subjected her to frequent outbursts of violence that would result in her being dragged off. This disconnect directly resulted in envy and so she broke out of the facility she was held in, but not before discovering she inherited this anger and was created from the DNA of Logan to be the perfect weapon. Laura hunted down her "father" and tried to take revenge on him for all that she had been robbed of, all she was forced to do. As one can imagine this story raked in a lot of attention and eventually she transcended the show. X 23 has become a staple character of the Marvel comic universe, and even took up the mantle of Wolverine after Logan perished in the Death of Wolverine arc in 2014.

I know what you guys must be thinking right now, "well with X 23 being such a HUGE character, why even question her being the legacy and future of this franchise," and that answer is a bit complicated because as much as I loved Dafne Keen I feel adding to that story the way it  is written is the wrong way to go. The tragedy of X 23 is that of a girl robbed of her childhood to serve as a government weapon. While that is still the case the biggest issue of continuing that story line is that it completely cheapens the end of Logan. Logan died giving Laura Kinney, and the other mutant children escaping to safe haven, a chance to not only live, but to enjoy a childhood. I feel that last part is most essential. As much as seeing Dafne Keen kick ass in another film appeals to me, I feel that ultimately making another arc for X 23 as a sequel to Logan would cheapen the excellent finale to the career of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

It's certainly been a hot minute since I have posted much of anything on Comic Relief! and it's a grand return indeed. I have a lot of stuff I will be posting here in the next few days or so! It's good to be back and I hope everyone will enjoy the new articles I will be posting! See you next time on Comic Relief! 

Where'd you (I) go?

I have honestly been awful with keeping deadlines for everyone here, and I am profusely sorry about that. I hope everyone is doing well. I have had some bouts of good and bad luck, starting with my laptop crashing a mere week before the end of my deployment (hence the elongated abscence). With my recent return, however, I will hopefully have my laptop restored here in the next week or so. I do apologize for the inconvenience and I do have a lot of great stuff for everyone when I finally get a chance.

I look forward to sharing more with you all here in the next week. I have a lot of ground to cover: Logan, Might Morphin' Power Rangers, New Justice League and Spider Man: Homecoming trailers, Iron Fist, a Sony helmed Venom movie, and much more! So keep your eyes peeled because you will be getting slammed with some great content here very soon! Hopefully, you are as eager to read as I am to get the stuff out to you.

As for maintaining a fixed schedule, I doubt I will be maintaining that anymore for a few reasons: 1. My following is not large or demanding enough to need one, 2. Writing is a creative process and putting these mandatory deadlines down I force myself to sacrifice quality for quantity, 3. and this is the last of them, While there is always SOMETHING going on in the nerd world, not everything that comes out is something I have a strong enough opinion on.

That honestly wraps this up, I am glad to get back into the swing of Comic Relief! and I hope that enthusiasm is shared with my readers!