It is that time again. Time for another round-up of comic book shows..
Let’s start with Gotham. It still feels like the show is rushing along too fast. We have full on supervillains all over the place. The Riddler is exposed, complete with his signature question mark, and promptly arrested. He may not be sporting the outfit, but his basic motif is there. Same with the Penguin, who goes back to his villainous ways. Dinner with Cobblepot is the reality show no one is asking for. If anything, he is more brutal than ever. This would be great if Batman existed yet, but at this point it all feels rushed.
Supergirl was a bit overstuffed this week. Too many balls in the air. They offhandedly introduced Maxima, and then moved on. Myriad is on line, Non(the low rent Zod) shows up, people are thrown off buildings to get the classics superhero choice moment, Indigo shows up(presumably to vamp), and there is the cliffhanger ending. The show definitely didn’t take time to let things breathe. Maxwell Lord shows up and make choices that they laid little foundation for. The show has been a mix of wonderful, and ham handed all season. All of that said, I still enjoyed the season finale.
Agents of Shield was fine. This is a transitional episode through most of it. The episode did not seem to be set for much action, but giving us insight to various character backgrounds. Malik’s a bad guy, but like most bad guys, he doesn’t see himself that way. We are given a bit of bait and switch on how the episode was going for him. The new Hive/Grant Ward bad guy is bad at villainy. He has the whole cruelty thing down, but he has overestimated the value of fear. Some things trump fear. Also, fear can lead to irrational panic. He is way too arrogant. The cliffhanger ending does not look like it will end well for our heroes. Next episode should be interesting. We get our full on Secret Warriors group rolling. Not quite avengers assemble, but it should still be fun.
Lucifer was largely a crap episode until the last 15 minutes. I am so bored by the mystery solving aspects of this show. The bits I do like are the parts where it gets weird and supernatural. After a few solid episodes, this one was merely okay. I didn’t hate it, but I couldn’t find anything interesting to say about it.
Legends of Tomorrow was a fun western romp. Hanging out in 1877 in disguise goes about as well as you might expect.
Saloon brawl…..Check.
Staring down an evil cowboy….Check.
A bunch of modern city kids knowing how ride a horse….Check?
Discussion of impact on history trumped by doing the correct thing….Check?…Sort of.
Jonah Freaking Hex!!!!!….Check!
I am a little sad we didn’t get more of the classic DC Western Heroes, and there were a few bits I wish had been better, but it was a fun episode.
iZombie is one of my favorite shows ever. The two part finale delivered on the promise of the season. The various people have had arcs. The bad guys are really terrible. They brought poor Rob Thomas into this. They saved they full on zombie apocalypse for the end. High body count and jokes galore. They maintain a sense of humor without losing the stakes. That is the genius of this show. It is a fun and humourous show, but still manages to maintain the darkness. There is an innate reality to the motivations of the characters, and the humor that is there is largely incidental. There are of course a range of in jokes, as well. The whole Rob Thomas thing is there because the head of the show is also naled Rob Thomas.
The next season looks like it will be interesting. The finale clears out one problem, and sets up the problems of next season. No spoilers, but it is a nice reveal at the end.
Next week is the return of Arrow and Flash. I look forward to seeing how they round out the season on both shows.
