Cartoon Reviews: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Episode 56 - One Bad Apple

The Story
When Apple Bloom's cousin, Babs Seed comes to visit, Apple Bloom is at first excited to have a new friend. But Babs soon turns out to be a bully when she joins Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in harassing the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Cartoon Reviews: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Episode 55 - Too Many Pinkie Pies

The Story
When Pinkie realizes that there is too much fun going around for just one pony, she uses a secret pool to make a duplicate of herself. When the duplicate realizes there is more fun than just two Pinkies can have, she decides to make more and more copies. But these copies care for nothing but having fun, and soon Ponyville is overrun with Pinkie Pies.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Catwoman 013

The Story

Catwoman is hired to move a giant chess piece to a designated location. After completing her job she realizes that a woman is trapped inside the chess piece, and that another piece, a pawn, has a child in it and is about to be sacrificed. She manages to save the child, but the woman in the Queen dies in the explosion.

The Review
I've been pretty positive about Catwoman overall, with the exception of the first issue and issue zero. But this...well this was just incomprehensible. The first half is understandable at least, but the moment the chess pieces come into play I lost the thread. Coming back to the story a second time allows it to make a little more sense, but my initial impression remains very confused.

First of all...giant chess pieces? Really? I don't even have any specific complaint about this, it's just so nonsensical. And the fact that it is so nonsensical damages the entire rest of the plot. I forget about everything that happens the moment I reach that end.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Nightwing 013

The Story

Nightwing's investigation on Lady Shiva leads him to discover that a small time gangster has hired a squad of men to murder the assassin upon arrival. Even though Shiva most certainly deserves death for the crimes she's commited, Nightwing goes to stop the attack, only to discover that she has arrived in Gotham, but not by the means everyone thought she would.

The Review
First off, if you've noticed that the plot summaries on these reviews have been somewhat short, that's because while I consider some kind of plot synopsis is necessary, I don't put that much weight on them. I like to keep the spoilers in more or less the same place so anyone that doesn't want to know what actually happens in the book doesn't have to watch out for spoilers during the review itself. And considering that I don't really feel like summarizing every little thing that happens, you end up with only a few lines. If you like your reviews with plot summaries, I apologize for the shortness of mine, but I probably won't be doing more than the most basic of summaries anytime soon.

Anime Reviews: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 002 - A Letter From the Past

The Story
Seven years later and Jojo and Dio are now close friends. Or at least so it seems to others. On the inside Jojo knows that the friendship is not true, while Dio revels in his deceit of everyone, while preparing to take control of the Joestar estate.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Detective Comics 013

The Story
The night the Martha Wayne Wing of the Nevile community center is meant to be opened, the Penguin hires assassins to take out Bruce Wayne, and thugs to waylay Batman so he can't interfere with the assassination. Batman makes it to the dedication anyway, just in time to discover that the Penguin has bribed the chairman of the community center to rename the children's wing as the Cobblepot wing.

In the backup story Ogilvy and a newcomer to Gotham break into a bank and steal some codes. After the breakout the newcomer turns out to be too clever for his own good and Ogilvy murders him.

The Review
I'd heard that Detective Comics was picking up the slack, so I figured I'd give it a look see. After the supernatural vibe of Batman and Robin, it's nice to see a more down to earth kind of story where the focus is on regular crime and assassination, and motives that are driven by human motives.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Batman and Robin 013

The Story
Batman takes Robin up to teach him how to repair their satellite during an eclipse. He is later called to the Mount Hope Cemetery where the signs point towards what looks like an outbreak of the undead. Batman of course believes that there is a human explanation for the attack. Still, he orders Robin back to the batcave. While on his way back Robin runs into people running away from what for all intents and purposes looks like an outbreak of the undead. He buys the people time to escape, but falls into the mass of undead.

The Review
I'm not the biggest fan of zombies there is. I like the basic story structure, but generally most examples of it are too gory for me to properly enjoy. As such I approach this story with some trepidation. Though, to be fair, since this is being published under the DC label and not Vertigo, so I think it's safe to say this won't get excessively gory.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Teen Titans 0

The Story

During Tim Drake's attempts to discover Batman's identity, in order to apply for the position as Robin, he ends up stealing money from the Penguin, getting himself and his family targeted. After Batman saves him, Tim's parents are taken into protective custody and Tim becomes Batman's protege as Red Robin.

The Review
I will confess, my knowledge of Batman lore comes more from reading done on wikipedia than actually reading the comics. I am currently working to remedy that, but at the moment my knowledge is still somewhat limited. That being said, I know for a FACT that Tim Drake did not start out as Red Robin.

I'm not sure what the reason behind the change was, though I can imagine it had something to do with establishing Tim as separate from the Robin identity that has been bestowed on Damian. I still think his choice of name is ridiculous. Either a certain restaurant chain doesn't exist in the DC universe, or the writers and editors at DC have never heard of it. Either way, they're all missing out on the Royal Red Robin Burger, which is an absolute shame.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Talon 0

The Story

As a child, Calvin Rose escapes from his abusive home and joins Haley's Circus. While there he learns to become an escape artist, and is recruited by the Court of Owls to become their Talon. On his first mission he is sent to murder a woman and her daughter. Unable to go through with it he kidnaps the two and leads them to safety.

In present day he is attacked and left to die by the current Talon of the court. Calvin manages to break out and escapes from the Talon.

The Review
I bought this because I figured it was worth a look to see what Scott Snyder and James Tynion could do with a story centered around one of the Talon's as the protagonist. What I found was a series I  hope will go on for a long, long time. I absolutely loved this story. Snyder and Tynion tie past and present together in a way that flows perfectly and introduces us to everything we need to know about the character.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Detective Comics 0

The Story

Bruce trains with Shihan Matsuda, a warrior monk of the himalayas, to take that necessary step to becoming the perfect warrior he needs to be to complete his mission. While there he struggles between banishing all light from him, or accepting it as a part of his whole. When his master is murdered by the girl Bruce had been developing feelings for his path is set.

In the second story Alfred fights against attempts from the Kanes to take over the Wayne fortune. He chases one of their representatives away, just before Bruce returns home with a plan.

The Review
The best part about the main Bat Book Issue Zeros is that together they tell a mostly complete story. They tell the entire story of Bruce's past and training. Overall it all ties together nicely, and while the horse is still dead during this entire rehash of Batman's past, I like the complete picture I'm given after having read all of them.