Part of the fun of this series is how, even though they’re friends and superhero partners, Superboy and Robin really don’t get along at times. They argue, they tease each other, and occasionally they’ll get into a fight. In this issue they generally get along very well. As fun as their arguments are, it’s also nice to see them work smoothly as a team.
The Journey to The Last Jedi continues here, with the second chapter of Captain Phasma’s mini-series. The first issue took place during the destruction of the Starkiller Base. Phasma just escaped the garbage chute. Before she could delete the files showing that she disabled the shields, one other officer with access learned of her actions. Her mission is clear – kill the officer to save her reputation.
For the entire series so far, Jean Grey’s been facing the threat of the Phoenix Force coming her way, and she’s been trying to deal with it by seeking help from as many people as possible. Although I’d prefer that writer Dennis Hopeless would have saved the phoenix storyline for a bit later, it’s been enjoyable so far. Each guest star brings something different, whether it’s former hosts telling Jean about their experience or other people helping her to prepare for the cosmic entity’s arrival. In the previous issue, Doctor Strange helped Jean contact the spirit of her adult self, and at the end of the issue, that spirit somehow remained.
Another Wednesday, another batch of comics. This week, half of my pickups are Star Wars. Four Star Wars comics came out this week and I picked up three of them. A Star Trek comic also released. This week is heavy on space faring books, and I guess that’s appropriate for me since I finished Mass Effect: Andromeda a couple of days ago.
Anyway, the comics I picked up this week include Captain Phasma 2, Star Wars Annual 3, Jean Grey 7, Poe Dameron 19, Super Sons 8 and Superman 31. Here are my first impressions, and links to full reviews will be added when they’re posted.
Normally I don’t talk about video games very often on this blog. The main reason is that my game playing has slowed in the last few years. But I’ve enjoyed video games since I was 6. I think that was the year I received my first game system, the Nintendo Game Boy, for Christmas. I still have that Game Boy, and it still works too.
My favourite game trilogy from the previous generation is Mass Effect. It’s a science fiction Third Person Shooter with heavy RPG elements. You play as Commander Shepard, a human in a galaxy where the human race has only recently joined galactic civilization. Over the course of the series, you learn a lot about the galaxy’s politics, the criminal underworld, and the different species that inhabit the Milky Way. Oh, and you also try to fight off an ancient power that’s been wiping out all advanced life every 50,000 years or so.
I first played through Mass Effect about a month after Mass Effect 2 came out, and I enjoyed it enough to play through both games (about 30 hours long each) within a week. I’ve played through both games at least 5 times each, and Mass Effect 3 three times. Why the third game only 3 times? Mostly because that’s around the time I got into comics. Not too long after that, I took an extended break from video games. Ever since, I’ve wanted to play through the trilogy again. More so now than before.
I even defended the controversial Mass Effect 3 ending when it first came out. I don’t stand by everything in that blog post – in fact there are a number of reasons I rarely link to my old blog. I do agree that the ending has its flaws, but I would still defend the extended ending Bioware offered as free DLC.
Since I enjoyed Mass Effect that much, you’d think I’d play Mass Effect: Andromeda sooner. But for some reason, I just couldn’t get that excited for the newest chapter in the franchise. Something about the advertisement sounded intriguing, but it felt off as well. All the bad publicity from the game’s technical problems didn’t help. Still, I bought it earlier this month and played through it over the last couple of weeks. Here are my thoughts.
This issue concludes Supergirl’s struggle against the Emerald Empress and her followers (the fatal five). It’s been a rough story arc for Supergirl. First she’s blasted by an energy weapon that caused her powers to go out of control, to the point where she accidentally caused a lot of damage for a couple of issues. It was later revealed that her altered powers might cause her to overload and die. While they did get it under control in the previous issue, she’s still more powerful than she used to be, and that’ll take some getting used to. Then she was attacked on nearly every front of per public life. The Empress’s crew hacked the media and revealed secrets to hurt her public approval, while also harming some of her positive relationships with influential people. They also attacked the DEO – the organization she works with as Supergirl.
So a bit of background here. I picked up and reviewed the first issue of Action Comics in the DC Comics Rebirth line way back, but when I enjoyed Superman 1 more the next week, I decided to stick to that series instead. I don’t regret sticking with Superman by any means, but I’ve heard that Action Comics is also pretty good right now. So when my local store was in the middle of its anniversary sale, I picked up the first three DC Rebirth Action Comics trades. I enjoyed them enough to pick up this issue. We are also fast approaching Action Comics 1000 after all, and anyone who enjoys Superman in the slightest will probably want to pick up that celebratory issue when it comes out. Also, there’s a major reveal that also affects both Superman and maybe even Detective Comics in this issue.
