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Dana (24 KP) rated Batman: Arkham Asylum in Books
Mar 23, 2018
I have not read too many of the DC Comics, but this one was really good. Batman is one of the few DC heroes that I like, so it was cool to see this side of him through the Joker's eyes.
Okay, so in this comic, the Joker is trying to turn Batman crazy by exposing him to all kinds of horrifying things, namely the villains he has put away.
We get Arkham Asylum's backstory. We learn that the owner, a man who had lived in the house before turning it into an asylum after his mother had died after going insane herself. After many years of trying to help those admitted into the asylum, he ended up going crazy as well and locked himself inside one of the rooms scratching a story into the ground with his fingernails. Gruesome, right?
I really enjoyed getting to see the patients in their natural state and seeing them trying to fight Batman and make him feel as they felt was strange, but really interesting.
The artwork is what really set this comic apart. It set the mood perfectly, capturing the creepy, haunted, and ominous tone of the asylum while still keeping a sense of beauty to it. All in all, it was absolutely stunning, if not unnerving.
I enjoyed the story, even if I was a little confused at first, but it all comes together in the end.
There will be some spoilers in this next bit. This comic comes full circle in the fact that it, the comic, the asylum, and the old Doctor Arkham, all foreshadow Batman's involvement in the asylum itself. He is the one to bring people in, deeming them insane, and bats are what drew Old Arkham insane. It was very well thought out.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic book and I want to see if there are more that are told in this style!
Okay, so in this comic, the Joker is trying to turn Batman crazy by exposing him to all kinds of horrifying things, namely the villains he has put away.
We get Arkham Asylum's backstory. We learn that the owner, a man who had lived in the house before turning it into an asylum after his mother had died after going insane herself. After many years of trying to help those admitted into the asylum, he ended up going crazy as well and locked himself inside one of the rooms scratching a story into the ground with his fingernails. Gruesome, right?
I really enjoyed getting to see the patients in their natural state and seeing them trying to fight Batman and make him feel as they felt was strange, but really interesting.
The artwork is what really set this comic apart. It set the mood perfectly, capturing the creepy, haunted, and ominous tone of the asylum while still keeping a sense of beauty to it. All in all, it was absolutely stunning, if not unnerving.
I enjoyed the story, even if I was a little confused at first, but it all comes together in the end.
There will be some spoilers in this next bit. This comic comes full circle in the fact that it, the comic, the asylum, and the old Doctor Arkham, all foreshadow Batman's involvement in the asylum itself. He is the one to bring people in, deeming them insane, and bats are what drew Old Arkham insane. It was very well thought out.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic book and I want to see if there are more that are told in this style!
Micah Ulibarri (79 KP) rated Star War #44 in Books
Mar 15, 2018
A Strong start to a new story
Contains spoilers, click to show
A new story begins in Marvel's flagship series for the Star Wars universe. After the destruction of the Death Star, the Alliance's greatest heroes; Leia, Han, and Luke, must convince the Mon Calamari to join their rebellion and donate their great capital ships to the cause.
Readers familar with the Star Wars galaxy will understand how important this never before told story is to the universe. The rebellion has few warships at this time and decide to ask their friend and everyone's favorite Star wars meme, Admiral Ackbar, to call in a favor from his planet. In a time when Star Wars comics has been criticized for being irrelevant in the grand scheme, this story is one worth telling and with real stakes on the galaxy.
Don't worry. You're faborite Star wars characters are written with great respect to who the characters are while still keeping them fresh and interesting. I particularly found myself enjoying Han in this issue.
While the previous arcs had been somewhat episodic and disjointed, this one seems to make sense and includes reveals from the previous issue, leading to a more cohesive overall feel to the series since Kieron Gillen took over from Jason Aaron.
The main thing holding the issue back from being great is its need to exposit and introduce what the next arc will include. A couple times the exposition can be a bit cumbersome.
Finally, my hope is that this series will bring another tie-in from The Clone Wars animated series. They seem to be telegraphing the return of Mon Cal king Lee-Char. I would be quite tickled if we got to see a more wisened version of him in this series.
Conclusion: A fun and strong start with just a couple hiccups in the set up and a great place to junp on for the curious.
Readers familar with the Star Wars galaxy will understand how important this never before told story is to the universe. The rebellion has few warships at this time and decide to ask their friend and everyone's favorite Star wars meme, Admiral Ackbar, to call in a favor from his planet. In a time when Star Wars comics has been criticized for being irrelevant in the grand scheme, this story is one worth telling and with real stakes on the galaxy.
Don't worry. You're faborite Star wars characters are written with great respect to who the characters are while still keeping them fresh and interesting. I particularly found myself enjoying Han in this issue.
While the previous arcs had been somewhat episodic and disjointed, this one seems to make sense and includes reveals from the previous issue, leading to a more cohesive overall feel to the series since Kieron Gillen took over from Jason Aaron.
The main thing holding the issue back from being great is its need to exposit and introduce what the next arc will include. A couple times the exposition can be a bit cumbersome.
Finally, my hope is that this series will bring another tie-in from The Clone Wars animated series. They seem to be telegraphing the return of Mon Cal king Lee-Char. I would be quite tickled if we got to see a more wisened version of him in this series.
Conclusion: A fun and strong start with just a couple hiccups in the set up and a great place to junp on for the curious.
Katie (868 KP) rated Fire HD 8 Tablet with Alexa in Tech
May 30, 2018
Affordable (3 more)
Expandable Storage
Good for reading
Good for video
Somewhat poor image quality (2 more)
Some apps/browsers are slow
Need to sideload some apps
Fire HD 8 6th Generation Tablet
For the most part, this is a solid tablet. I mostly use it for reading and watching movies and it works well for those things. Most apps run pretty smoothly on it. The browser (Silk) works pretty well but can be somewhat slow.
Another downside was that I had to sideload Google Play onto this tablet because there are several apps that were not available through Amazon's selection. They do seem to have most things, but obviously, they would prefer you to use their reading platforms over others so some of them are not available through their app store.
The screen may not be as clear as an iPad or some other tablets, but it still works very well. I've watched movies on it and read comics and have had no issues. If it's important to see an image as clear as possible for any reason this may not be the tablet for you. I've spoken with some photographers who will not use this tablet because it somewhat distorts the images they want to view. Of course, for most people, I doubt that will be a problem.
The device has either 16GB or 32 GB options. This may seem small to most people, but the Fire allows you to expand that with an SD card.
If tablet color matters to you, I love the magenta option for this tablet and I think that the color choices of the 6th generation were much better than the current generation.
Overall, this is not a perfect tablet but it is still a great device. If you have the need for high image quality or fast speed, this may not be the tablet for you. If you just want a tablet to enjoy media on that can fit into just about any budget, this might be what you're looking for.
Another downside was that I had to sideload Google Play onto this tablet because there are several apps that were not available through Amazon's selection. They do seem to have most things, but obviously, they would prefer you to use their reading platforms over others so some of them are not available through their app store.
The screen may not be as clear as an iPad or some other tablets, but it still works very well. I've watched movies on it and read comics and have had no issues. If it's important to see an image as clear as possible for any reason this may not be the tablet for you. I've spoken with some photographers who will not use this tablet because it somewhat distorts the images they want to view. Of course, for most people, I doubt that will be a problem.
The device has either 16GB or 32 GB options. This may seem small to most people, but the Fire allows you to expand that with an SD card.
If tablet color matters to you, I love the magenta option for this tablet and I think that the color choices of the 6th generation were much better than the current generation.
Overall, this is not a perfect tablet but it is still a great device. If you have the need for high image quality or fast speed, this may not be the tablet for you. If you just want a tablet to enjoy media on that can fit into just about any budget, this might be what you're looking for.
Louise (64 KP) rated Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery in Books
Jul 2, 2018
Meet the Rat Queens! Betty, Dee, Hannah and Violet. The depiction of sass!
Due to their unruly behaviour of drunkenness and bar brawls, the mayor of Palisade has assigned the rat queens to the task of clearing out some Goblins in a cave, however if they fail they will have to leave the town.
I really loved this comic for so many reasons, first and foremost I loved the humour from all of the characters. I literally laughed out loud and that doesn’t happen often when reading a book. It was fun and very easy to read. The pace is constantly fast so you will speed through this book or you can take your time to appreciate the amazing artwork (I loved the artwork). The only thing that let it down was there wasn’t much of a plot, mostly battle scenes and not enough character development, however I chose to ignore this due to it being so friggin good!
First off this is a feminist graphic novel and appears that is becoming somewhat of a trend which is great to see. The main characters are all so different, they are all shapes and sizes, and not perfect with perfect tits and asses. The women are drawn to be attractive but each in their own way. They also got the LGTBQ theme going on in the story – Betty the Smidgen is a lesbian but done in a casual way. There is also different races in the book and interracial relationships. It’s so refreshing to see all, races, genders, sexualities in books now and done so with perfection.
This book is not for children or the easily offended so if you don’t like violence, bad language, gore and sexual discussions then it’s really really not for you as this is what most of the book is about.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes magic, battles, Orc’s, assassin’s, goblins, gore and more… This is a bind up of the first 5 comics in the series.
Due to their unruly behaviour of drunkenness and bar brawls, the mayor of Palisade has assigned the rat queens to the task of clearing out some Goblins in a cave, however if they fail they will have to leave the town.
I really loved this comic for so many reasons, first and foremost I loved the humour from all of the characters. I literally laughed out loud and that doesn’t happen often when reading a book. It was fun and very easy to read. The pace is constantly fast so you will speed through this book or you can take your time to appreciate the amazing artwork (I loved the artwork). The only thing that let it down was there wasn’t much of a plot, mostly battle scenes and not enough character development, however I chose to ignore this due to it being so friggin good!
First off this is a feminist graphic novel and appears that is becoming somewhat of a trend which is great to see. The main characters are all so different, they are all shapes and sizes, and not perfect with perfect tits and asses. The women are drawn to be attractive but each in their own way. They also got the LGTBQ theme going on in the story – Betty the Smidgen is a lesbian but done in a casual way. There is also different races in the book and interracial relationships. It’s so refreshing to see all, races, genders, sexualities in books now and done so with perfection.
This book is not for children or the easily offended so if you don’t like violence, bad language, gore and sexual discussions then it’s really really not for you as this is what most of the book is about.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes magic, battles, Orc’s, assassin’s, goblins, gore and more… This is a bind up of the first 5 comics in the series.
David McK (3495 KP) rated Star Wars: Bloodline in Books
Jan 30, 2019
By and large, most of the Star Wars books to date (including in the old EU), have pretty much belonged to the 'boys club', dfocusing more on the male characters (Han, Luke, the X-Wing pilots, etc) than on their female contemporaries.
I think that's to be expected, given the predominantly male targer audience of the film series - an expectation that Disney themselves are trying to shake up, both in the new films (both of which - The Force Awakens and Rogue One - , so far, have female leads), and in the wider media, as can be shown by their 'Princess Leia' series of comics.
This follows(?) (or did it come first?) in the latter footsteps, with nary a sign of Luke and Han only popping in to give Leia a hand towards the climax of the novel.
Set in the period between the end of 'Return of the Jedi' and the start of 'The Force Awakens', this also seeks to bridge the gap between those two films, providing a bit of background to the history of The First Order and explaining why, if Leia was part of the Rebellion which toppled the Empire, just why she is now a key member in The Resistance - the Resistance to what, I hear you ask? This answers that question.
It's not a bad read by any strecth of the imagination - according to Goodreads own rating system, 2 stars is a 'I liked it'; I just personally found this a slower, somewhat heavier read than [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg]'s other Star Wars title: '[b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860]';. And yes, I'm aware that this is aimed at a different audience.
How best to put it? I didn't find myself reading this quite so much in my spare time on the bus on the way to work!
I think that's to be expected, given the predominantly male targer audience of the film series - an expectation that Disney themselves are trying to shake up, both in the new films (both of which - The Force Awakens and Rogue One - , so far, have female leads), and in the wider media, as can be shown by their 'Princess Leia' series of comics.
This follows(?) (or did it come first?) in the latter footsteps, with nary a sign of Luke and Han only popping in to give Leia a hand towards the climax of the novel.
Set in the period between the end of 'Return of the Jedi' and the start of 'The Force Awakens', this also seeks to bridge the gap between those two films, providing a bit of background to the history of The First Order and explaining why, if Leia was part of the Rebellion which toppled the Empire, just why she is now a key member in The Resistance - the Resistance to what, I hear you ask? This answers that question.
It's not a bad read by any strecth of the imagination - according to Goodreads own rating system, 2 stars is a 'I liked it'; I just personally found this a slower, somewhat heavier read than [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg]'s other Star Wars title: '[b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860]';. And yes, I'm aware that this is aimed at a different audience.
How best to put it? I didn't find myself reading this quite so much in my spare time on the bus on the way to work!
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Sin City (2005) in Movies
Jan 7, 2021 (Updated Jan 11, 2021)
I absolutely adored Sin City when it first released way back in 2005, and I still do to a point, albeit a little less than I used to.
The main positives are of course the cast, and the style.
The cast is stacked - Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, Rutger Hauer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Jaime King... that's a fair ensemble if you ask me.
The style is of course a huge part of Sin City. It's neo noir black and white with splashes of colour translate perfectly from page to screen. 15 years later, the effects still look pretty decent and the overall look of the film is practically watching the graphic novels come to life, a strength that is bolstered by the cast involved.
It has a cheesy yet engaging screenplay - the runtime clocks in at over two hours, but never gets boring (just about), and the constant growly voiceovers and on the nose script beats could have potentially been laughable in anyone else's hands, but Robert Rodriguez somehow gets away with it.
The comics ultraviolence is well realised - the movie doesn't shy away from the grimness of proceedings. Some of the content however feels a little problematic in this day and age. The whole thing is plagued by a steady stream of misogyny, which would have probably been toned down if released today, but in my opinion, it's never glamorised. 95% of the male characters are grim shitbags, and the audience know it well.
I understand why a fair few people have an issue with Sin City and it's content, but personally, I find it to be a unique film with plenty of positives, a project that respects it's source material, and just about manages to avoid falling inside of its own arse.
The main positives are of course the cast, and the style.
The cast is stacked - Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, Rutger Hauer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Jaime King... that's a fair ensemble if you ask me.
The style is of course a huge part of Sin City. It's neo noir black and white with splashes of colour translate perfectly from page to screen. 15 years later, the effects still look pretty decent and the overall look of the film is practically watching the graphic novels come to life, a strength that is bolstered by the cast involved.
It has a cheesy yet engaging screenplay - the runtime clocks in at over two hours, but never gets boring (just about), and the constant growly voiceovers and on the nose script beats could have potentially been laughable in anyone else's hands, but Robert Rodriguez somehow gets away with it.
The comics ultraviolence is well realised - the movie doesn't shy away from the grimness of proceedings. Some of the content however feels a little problematic in this day and age. The whole thing is plagued by a steady stream of misogyny, which would have probably been toned down if released today, but in my opinion, it's never glamorised. 95% of the male characters are grim shitbags, and the audience know it well.
I understand why a fair few people have an issue with Sin City and it's content, but personally, I find it to be a unique film with plenty of positives, a project that respects it's source material, and just about manages to avoid falling inside of its own arse.