Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3

Took me all month to find this issue due to how many people bought it because of its popularity, but it was worth it. The third issue finally has Batman and the Turtles fighting together to defeat the Shredder and Penguin, with a flashback showing what happened when Splinter led the Turtles to the Batcave and convincing Batman to help. With clever writing and magnificent artwork, the third issue delivers especially with the bleak ending wherein Shredder destroys the portal to the Turtles' universe, thus ensuring that the longer they're in Gotham the more the mutagen inside them will were out. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3 is fun, exiting, and has such a fascinating story that it makes me want to read the rest of the series at once. Over all: 100%
Top list so far:
1. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3
2. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2
3. An Innocent Guy
4. Batman: The Killing Joke
5. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
6. Batman: The Long Halloween
7. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe
8. Crisis on Infinite Earths
9. Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive
10. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2
11. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
12. The Dark Knight Returns
13. Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War
14. Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 1
15. Civil War
16. The New Mutants #98

Independence Day: Resurgence

Made, released, and set twenty years after the original 1996 film, Independence Day: Resurgence looks at an Earth that stands together after the alien invasion that nearly wiped them out. Though Will Smith decided not to reprise his role, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman still deliver as they did before along with the other returning actor, with new cast and characters played by Liam Hemsworth and Maika Monroe also giving their all. The united people of Earth must now contend with another invasion from the same aliens, only now they have new information from an opposing alien race on how to defeat them. Though at times the film repeats some things from the first film, Resurgence still does and shows some original things as well as some world building regarding the interstellar alien war that hopefully will be touched upon in a possible sequel. The effects are amazing and unforgettable that make the original's seem not as great, but both are amazing in their own right. Over all: 96%
Top list so far:
1. Zootopia
2. Deadpool
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Finding Dory
5. Indepence Day: Resurgence
6. The Nice Guys
7. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
8. Kung Fu Panda 3
9. Hail, Caesar!
10. X-Men: Apocalypse
11. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Finding Dory

The sequel to Pixar's 2003 hit, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory takes place a year after the end of the first film. In it, Dory starts to remember more of her past and sets out to California with Marlin and Nemo to help her find her parents. Once there, Dory is brought to a public aquarium that she was born in and gets help from an escaped octopus, a near sighted whale shark, and a beluga whale with a head injury. At first, because of the title and the idea one might think it's a complete retread of the first film, but that's only for the first few minutes of the film. Dory brings back some well known characters, while introducing a lot more new and very memorable ones. With a wonderful story, amazing visuals, a heartwarming ending, and well written characters Pixar once again delivers. One negative complaint I have is the constant times Dory, Nemo, and Marlin are reunited only to be separated by certain circumstances. The story of how Dory was separated from her family and reuniting with them, the introduction of the sea lions voiced by Idris Elba and Dominic West, the truck chase scene with Hank the octopus driving, and the small appearance of Crush and the other turtles are definite iconic moments. Over all: 97%
Top list so far:
1. Zootopia
2. Deadpool
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Finding Dory
5. The Nice Guys
6. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
7. Kung Fu Panda 3
8. Hail, Caesar!
9. X-Men: Apocalypse
10. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Piper

Piper is a Pixar short that debuted alongside Finding Dory and tells the story of a baby sandpiper as he learns to find food for himself along a seashore. The baby bird learns how to find food on its own, with encouragement from its mother, as it goes through sand and avoids the tide water. Pixar once again delivers by not only having a silent story without any need of dialogue, but absolutely creates such beautiful scenery in such a limited area such as a beach and how amazing it can look.

The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys is a buddy comedy film with elements of the neo-noir and crime genres, which stars Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe and directed by Shane Black, who is also the co-writer. Set in late 1970s Los Angeles, Gosling and Crowe play two different private detectives that reluctantly team up to solve the death of a porn actress which leads them to a government conspiracy involving lots of dead bodies and smog. Though slow and tedious at times, the film is funny, well written, and fun to watch though to among other things the chemistry between the two actors, the bloody fun violence, the amazing performance by the young actress playing Gosling's daughter, and two hilarious scenes involving hallucinations of both a giant bee and Richard Nixon. A perfect call back to the noir films of the '70s, Shane Black previously made a similar film called Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that is just as acclaimed and thus makes me want to see it now that I've seen The Nice Guys. Over all: 96%
Top list so far:
1. Zootopia
2. Deadpool
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. The Nice Guys
5. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
6. Kung Fu Panda 3
7. Hail, Caesar!
8. X-Men: Apocalypse
9. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The New Mutants #98

My first comic in the middle of a series, The New Mutants #98 is the comic that introduced Deadpool to the Marvel Universe. The copy of the issue I bought is a rerelease that promotes it as Deadpool's first appearance and changing its title to Deadpool #1. In it, Cable is helping to train some new and younger mutants, and while on a break is suddenly attacked by Deadpool who was hired to take him out. This being made by Rob Liefeld, my first by him as well, it's hard to understand what's going on due to his blocky artwork as well as hard to look at due to the body proportions that I've heard other people complain about. The comic is still interesting to read and seeing the first ever version of Deadpool is certainly amazing. Over all: 55%
Top list so far:
1. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2
2. An Innocent Guy
3. Batman: The Killing Joke
4. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
5. Batman: The Long Halloween
6. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe
7. Crisis on Infinite Earths
8. Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive
9. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2
10. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
11. The Dark Knight Returns
12. Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War
13. Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 1
14. Civil War
15. The New Mutants #98

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 is my first continuation of a comic book miniseries event and once again I only got one issue out of the six that have come out. The comic begins where the last one ended with Batman fighting the Ninja Turtles believing they're responsible for the theft of some technology throughout Gotham. Both Batman and the Turtles are portrayed perfectly in their own fighting styles with both ninjutsu and detective reasoning being handled well. Meanwhile, the Shredder briefly teams up, then soon betrays, the Penguin as he's handing the dangerous ninja leader new weapons and technology. The comic ends in an amazing cliffhanger in which after escaping from Batman, Splinter leads his sons underground where they find the Batcave. As the second issue, this is definitely better than the first as we see how both heroes interact with each other and their reactions. Having Batman use his detective skills in defeating the Turtles shows how the comics portray one aspect of him that many live action portrayals lack. Over all: 100%
Top list so far:
1. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2
2. An Innocent Guy
3. Batman: The Killing Joke
4. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
5. Batman: The Long Halloween
6. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe
7. Crisis on Infinite Earths
8. Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive
9. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2
10. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
11. The Dark Knight Returns
12. Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War
13. Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 1
14. Civil War

X-Men: Apocalypse

Set in the 1980s, X-Men: Apocalypse is the latest in 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie franchise first started in 2000. Bryan Singer once again returns to direct for the fourth time after the first two films and the previous film, Days of Future Past. The film sees Xavier's team fight off the powerful and ancient mutant villain, Apocalypse, who has recruited his own group that includes Magneto and Storm and hopes to rule the world and subjugate anyone who opposes him. Apocalypse introduces new mutants never seen before, like Psylocke and Jubilee, while reintroducing older mutants in the new timeline created by Days of Future Past, like Cyclops and Jean Grey. The superhero movie has many amazing moments but sadly has a lot more problems throughout the whole thing. One of the best scenes ever committed to film was Quicksilver's super speed mansion save that was definitely better than the one in Days, with Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) as a great song throughout it. Once again James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender deliver amazing and believable performances as Professor X and Magneto, respectively. Fassbender especially really shows how far Magneto can go when everything he has is taken away and loses all hope. Oscar Isaac plays the title character and though he does a masterful performance the fact is he felt way too powerful and had a lot of random powers, along with never explaining how he knows or has certain things especially someone from Ancient Egypt. What I feel is an example of the studio trying to hard to push an actress due to her success as well as wanting to show her true face without makeup too much, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique is forced into too many moments and not shown in her blue form too much, while Lawrence at times feeling annoyed at certain points. One huge highlight is the one scene that Hugh Jackman is in as Wolverine where he goes on a rampage against his captives in what I feel is the most ferocious he's ever been. One problem I find that leads to another is the repetition of mutant rights, Xavier making a speech about how the world changes and mutants are a part of that, and Magneto being convinced not to do what he does and then parting ways with Professor X instead of staying. This leads to the problem of the X-Men being owned by Fox rather than Marvel, since they're only made so they keep the rights and through that only have a limited time to make the film and thus don't have enough time to check over the script. Over all: 69%
Top list so far:
1. Zootopia
2. Deadpool
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
5. Kung Fu Panda 3
6. Hail, Caesar!
7. X-Men: Apocalypse
8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

When Television Characters Leave

Since the introduction of television, one of the most important things that keeps people coming back for more each week is the great, well written characters that many connect with and become huge fans of. One common thing that shows, especially well written ones that have run for a long time and with memorable characters, is that a few or more characters are expected to go, either leave the show as a regular and maybe come back later and/or be killed off over the course of the show. This can be for a number of reasons such as an actor deciding to leave the show or maybe their contract expiring and unable to make a new one, introduce a new character by getting rid of older ones, the actor dying for real and wanting to be sincere and not recast, and/or many numerous differences. A famous example of a character never being seen again is Chuck Cunningham from the popular 1970s and '80s sitcom Happy Days who appears in the first two seasons and then never appears for the rest of the show's ten year run, not even mentioned by anybody. Doctor Who is a show that thrives on the idea of characters leaving, as it has been running for over fifty years and has had nearly hundreds of characters appearing throughout the show either as The Doctor's companions or recurring enemies and/or friends, as well as The Doctor changing his appearance and personality and becoming a new person overtime he's near death. Of course, every once in a while some characters in the sci-fi show end up killed as well, but either way a new companion is introduced soon after. Two popular modern shows that are well known for killing off characters due to the settings their in rather than just leaving are Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, where the death of a character will immediaetly start a frenzy online. Sadly, this can backfire as a character that might have been loved by many might be the one thing that kept them watching that show, leading to less people watching a show that character left and thus might cause cancellation.