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Teen Titans: Raven
Teen Titans: Raven
Kami Garcia | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels
7
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
graphic novel introducing Raven's origin story
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Teen Titans: Raven (Teen Titans #1) by Kami Garcia is a graphic novel with a story written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. Fans of YA may recognize Kami Garcia as a coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures series. Teen Titans: Raven is Garcia's first graphic novel.

Growing up I was a DC Comic fan but, after the introduction of the Marvel Avengers movies, especially Iron Man, I switched teams. However, you do not need to be a fan of Teen Titans, Raven, or DC Comics to appreciate the way in which Garcia and Picolo present Raven's origin story.

I thought the story was interesting and enjoyed the illustrations. Many reviews mention Raven's snarky attitude is missing from the story. I had not watched or read the Teen Titans and my niece was too young to understand attitude so I do not have a reference in which to compare Raven's story. Although enough reviews mention the lack of snarkiness I felt the need to mention it.

The 2nd book in the series, Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) will also be written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. It is scheduled to be released in 2020.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/10/19.
  
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David McK (3425 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Oct 27, 2019 (Updated Dec 5, 2021)  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
So, we've had plenty of Batman movies, stretching right back to the Adam West era.

But, prior to this, never one about his most famous nemesis; about the Joker.

And that, I felt, was always part of the appeal: we never really had a clear hold on who the Joker was, why he was the way he was, where he came from.

As the character himself says in one of the movies: "If I have a past, I would prefer it to be multiple choice …"

With that said, this film does just that, giving the Joker a tragic past (and somewhat different than that he had in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film), with - or so I thought, when I first heard about it - taking inspiration from the seminal comic 'The Killing Joke' ("all it takes is one bad day …").

Joaquin Phoenix puts in a powerhouse performance here as Arthur Fleck, a struggling comedian who suffers from a debilitating illness that causes him to break into uncontrollable laughter at the most inopportune of times, who also suffers from severe mental health issues.

With Bruce Wayne only making a short appearance, I do have to say, however, that (to me) the timeline see's somewhat 'off': I always saw Joker and Batman as being roughly the same age, but by the time this Bruce becomes the Dark Knight (and yes, his parent's murder does happen in the film), this Joker would be near retirement age ...
  
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David McK (3425 KP) rated Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) in Movies

Jan 3, 2022 (Updated Dec 24, 2023)  
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure
There's a famous (and controversial) Marvel comic run called 'One Last Day', where - following his self-unmasking during the previous 'Civil War' run - Peter Parker ends up making a deal with Mephisto (Marvel's version of the devil) that everybody would forget his true identity, following Aunt May being shot by an assassin.

Sound at all familiar?

Yes, it's used as the building blocks for this movie, where Peter's identity ahs been revealed to the world by Mysterio during the end-credits of the previous movie ('Far from Home'), with a knock-on effect on friends and family.

Instead of Mephisto, however, Peter seeks help from Doctor Strange, who agrees (for reasons) to cast a spell in order that everyone would forget who Peter was - a spell that goes awry, and that leads to characters from the previous non-MCU iterations of the Spider-Man films finally joining the MCU. Some of those characters are more effectively scary here than they were previously ...

This is maybe a little bit slow getting started, with plenty of nods and Easter Eggs throughout (including FEAST, where Aunt May works) to both the comics, games, and previous Spider-Man movies, and ends with, effectively, the character of Spider-Man being reset: no longer part of The Avengers; no longer with MJ, Aunt May, Ned or even 'Happy' Hogan knowing his identity, back to being your 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man'.