The History of Brisco County, Jr.

Uncanny X-Men #2

Bouncing around a bit more than is probably necessary, Uncanny X-Men #2 offers the core characters of this title reacting quite poorly to the mutants who responded to the call for help they left. We get the obligatory fight between Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine versus Calico, Ember, Jitter, Ransom, and Deathdream before calmer heads eventually prevail with Rogue stating the obvious about who she and her friends are and will forever be. 

The Old Man - VIII

The Old Man returns for its Second Season with Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper (John Lithgow) attempting to work together. Having successfully infiltrated Afghanistan, things quickly go wrong leaving them with few allies to find and save Emily (Alia Shawkat). The episode stays with the old couple pairing of the two, and sharing thoughts on Emily and the steps Dan went to to hide the truth from her, with the action coming from dangers they run into including a friendly face who turns out to be anything but and nearly ends the pair's adventure before it gets started. Good stuff here, although Emily's own thread isn't picked up on just yet and I do miss Amy Brenneman.

Star Wars #50

This volume of Star Wars comes to a close not with the adventure relating to saving Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt (which was teased at the end of Star Wars #49) but instead a story told by master to apprentice. Framed during Luke Skywalker's teaching of Ben Solo, the Jedi Master (potentially already aware of the darkness within him) tells him a story of the Rebellion coming across a weapon prior to the events of Return of the Jedi which could have killed the Emperor (and also anyone connected to him over the course of time).

LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Part One

Shaking up LEGO Star Wars and mixing and matching to create something new, the first episode of the four-part mini-series LEGO: Star Wars: Rebuilds the Galaxy introduces us to brothers Sig (Gaten Matarazzo) and Dev (Tony Revolori) whose discovery of a Jedi Temple on Fennesa leads the outgoing brother to needle Sig into removing a block from the temple, shattering it (and all of reality). Although neither Sig nor Dev offer much in the way of interesting characters, they do the job into getting the ball rolling. Once Sig emerges from the ruins of the temple, everything has changed.

The Killer's Game

After starting a new relationship with a dancer (Sofia Boutella), a contract killer is diagnosed with a rapidly-deteriorating illness. Unwilling to go out that way, and unable to do the deed himself or convince a friend (Ben Kingsley) to help, Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) goes to an enemy (Pom Klementieff) and pays for his own murder. The twist comes when the doctor tells Joe there has been a mix-up and that he's actually not dying giving the killer a reason to live but no way to call off the hit.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #9

Wrapping up the Vengeance of the Moon Knight run, Vengeance of the Moon Knight #9 gives us Marc Spector fulfilling the debt he made to save Reese. Khonshu comes for payment, and the payment the god wants is the life of the man who dared impersonate one of his hands: the false Moon Knight Maximillian Coleridge must die.

Batman: Caped Crusader - Nocturne

The choices on what Bat-villains to include in the First Season of Batman: The Caped Crusader are interesting. Not loading up on A-villains, other than Catwoman (Christina Ricci) and Penguin (Minnie Driver), who have yet to step into the light for the first time, the show mainly played with stories of gangsters, corrupt cops, and when dipping its toe into the super-villain pool making some intriguing choices from B-list or even D-list of Batman's long list of enemies. None of these are more unexpected then in "Nocturne" where the show reimagines the long-running character of Nocturna as a kid whose powers were greater than her control.

Chapel

Opening with a murder during a marriage ceremony that didn't even happen, Chapel is a failed attempt at a psychological thriller. After waking up from a five-month coma with no memory of who he is, "Cohen" (Jeremy Sumpter) begins a relationship with his nurse Sofia (Pardis Saremi) building a new life together (apparently built entirely on sex) but is haunted by flashes from his previous life while fighting his psychiatrist's (Melinda Yeaman) attempts to help him remember.

Anime Expo 2024 Cosplay Highlights

Heidi Mae - X Horror Trilogy

Inspired by Maxxxine, Heidi Mae offers this parody of Billie Elish's "Lunch."

Only Murders in the Building - Gates of Heaven / Two for the Road

The second and third episodes of the new season deal with Charles (Steve Martin) coming to terms with the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch, who appears as a ghost only Charles can see working through his grief), and the trio beginning an investigation into her murder starting with the residents across the courtyard in the less-prestigious West tower of the Arconia. The suspects include the eyepatched Vince (Richard Kind), the Christmas-obsessed Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani), and the family of Alfonso (Desmin Borges), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and Ana (Lilian Rebelo).

Hit-Monkey - The Estate

While sadly not furthering the Akiko (Olivia Munn) storyline, "The Estate" involves the Collective dealing with the last living member of the Aldermen and retrieving the final artifact which has an effect on animals temporarily pushing Monkey against his new killer friends. After a purposefully off-putting setup, there's plenty of action with the most notable piece of the episode being Haruka's (Ally Maki) observation about one of the members of the Collective leading to some troubling conclusions which will lead to friend vs. friend in the next episode.

Scarlett #4

Having survived her suicide mission, Scarlett finds a minute to catch up with Jinx while Storm Shadow and the Arashikage continue to search for the weapon. The comic plays out both sides simultaneously showing Storm Shadow slicing his way through those between the ninja and his prize while continuing to allow the women to talk. Happy to be together again, Scarlett is saddened to learn Jinx has no plans to leave the ninja as she believes she is where she needs to be with what is coming.

Terminator Zero - Model 102

While suggesting creating an unsympathetic artificial intelligence to stop the rise of a separate unsympathetic artificial intelligence may have not been the smartest move to save the human race, "Model 102" gets Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno) back to 1997 to track down Malcolm Lee (André Holland) and prevent him from helping create the hellscape of her reality in 2022. The twist in the early part of the series is the scientist's big dreams of stopping Skynet with his own AI apparently only help bring about the disastrous future of the Terminators.

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #9

There may not be a mystery to solve in The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #9 but there's still plenty of fun to be had when Mystery, Inc. find themselves at a heroes gala without any other heroes. It seems all the heroes in town are busy putting an appearance in at Gotham City Comic-Con (the meta of which the comic doesn't attempt to explain) leaving the charity gala ripe for the picking by not one but two different villains.

A Discovery of Witches - Episode 2

The second episode of A Discovery of Witches features Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode) attempting to steer clear of Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), attempting to get his desires under control, while Diana discovers the stir she's created given her access to the missing manuscript. The realization of what the witches want it for, the methods they use to attempt to frighten her into getting it for them, and a personal betrayal, all leave Diana at her wits end with no one left to turn to other than the vampire. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #4

The anthology series in black, white, and green returns for another issue with four separate stories taking place in different times and versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' history. My favorite of the bunch is the humorous "Shredder Gets Caught on Things" which features Michelangelo highlighting Shredder getting caught on things over the years in comics, movies, and TV (often with deadly results). Every one of the flashbacks shown in various styles of the original it references.

Shaun of the Dead

Returning to theaters 20 years after its initial release, Edgar Wright's horror comedy Shaun of the Dead still entertains. Written by Wright and star Simon Pegg, the film gloriously celebrates and mocks both zombie films and romcoms alike in this tale of a zombie apocalypse descending on London while many people are too busy to notice until it's too late. Who best to survive? Bet you didn't have your money on a group led by two of the laziest men in Crouch End. I'll also note that viewing this in a post-COVID world also adds a different flavor to the film (as does viewing any zombie film highlighting humanity's stupidity).

Batman: Caped Crusader - Moving Target

An attempt on Jim Gordon's (Eric Morgan Stuart) life sends Batman (Hamish Linklater) to prison in an attempt to get the hit called off and with a warning for Barbara (Krystal Joy Brown) and to visit the prison in an attempt to get Muller (Peter Jessop) to call of the hit leading to an unexpected discovery: Jim isn't the target. While the action is good, and the twist works well enough with Barbara revealed to be the target even one of the police detectives is willing to kill for, "Moving Target" is the most forgettable episode of the season. The point of the episode, so to speak, is to provide Barbara a new perspective as to what someone deserves. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

After languishing in development hell for three decades, a sequel to 1988's Beetlejuice finally makes it to theaters (sadly without any references to the previous failed sequel plans such as Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian). Bringing back some of the original cast (with notable exceptions of Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) while mixing in a few new faces such as Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, and Justin Theroux, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice captures the same zany energy of the first film if not quite the same magic. Lacking the boldness of Beetlejuice, the sequel feels very much the compromise of a movie just happy to have finally gotten made.

Nights #10

After dealing with the drama and searching for meaning and truth in the lives of the other characters, Gray and Vince are happy together and Ivory has started something good with Molly. That leaves things open for the odd man, er Ghost, out. On his birthday, Ivory takes his friend camping to search for the beast who killed him. The set up allows the comic to explore both the idea of ghosts and Matt himself (allowing us to see him before his death).

The Umbrella Academy - The Cleanse

"The Cleanse" is most notable for revealing how the Ben died during the flashback of the opening scene showing the last mission he went on as a member of the Umbrella Academy. Hargreeves (Colm Feore) explains the action of his other self and also why this version was working so hard to keep the team away from the adult Jennifer (Victoria Sawal) whose proximity to a member of the team, or anyone exposed to the marigold which gives them their powers could lead to the end of the world (foreshadowing the end of the series).

The Powerpuff Girls #2

Although he didn't make it into the new comic's first issue, Powerpuff Girls #2 delivers Mojo Jojo who sets out with a fun little plan which, like most of his plans, doesn't go as expected.

Chasm: Curse of Kaine #1

The only thing I've ever wanted out of Ben Reilly is for him to be the Scarlet Spider. I don't have much in the way of interest of him being Spider-Man or being a Spidey villain (which sadly are the only two options that Marvel seems interested in). Currently calling himself Chasm, Reilly is back in villain mode calling himself Chasm with his crazy girlfriend Hallow's Eve robbing New York tourists for fun. He's also had his past wiped from his mind, unaware of who he used to be or what he could become.

Retro 50s Street Fighter

Created by AI, here's a look what a retro 1950's Super Panavision 70 Street Fighter could have looked like.

Leverage: Redemption - The Belly of the Beast Job

In one of the more interesting setups of the relaunched series, "The Belly of the Beast Job" features our team taking on a sexual predator of a music producer (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) but keeps them mostly in the background allowing the guest-stars to take over center stage when the naive Jenna (Emily Hall) gets hired for the new assistant position that their plans relied on. Working their way around less access than they planned, Leverage gives Jenna the proper nudges at the right time to lead her to uncover the truth about her boss and expose him, and his crooked business partner (Gail Rastorfer), to the world.

Immaculate

Sydney Sweeney stars as a novice recruited to be a nun at at a remote convent in the Italian countryside where older nuns are taken care of in their final days. From the pre-credit sequence, involving a nun frantically attempting to flee the order only to be tracked down and buried alive, it's obvious to the audience there's something dark happening in the convent long before Sister Cecilia (Sweeney) arrives. Not long after arriving, Cecilia discovers she is pregnant, leading the nuns treat her as a new Virgin Mary... well, except for the one (Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi) who attempts to drown Cecilia out of jealousy.

Hit-Monkey - Akiko

Akiko (Olivia Munn) finally catches up to Hit-Monkey in her self-titled episode but is unable to get her revenge. Despite being warned about the dangers of letting an enemy live, Monkey can't bring himself to kill her leading to her eventual escape and new partnership with Lady Bullseye (Reiko Aylesworth). Looks like all killers are getting ghost mentors these days. Also of note, the episode fills in some origin stories for members of the Collective and Iris (Cristin Milioti) begins a new career cleaning up crime scenes.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #3

Zatanna spends most of the third issue being talked at by both the Casters and the Order of the Rabbits who magicsplain and accuse the young woman.. Sticking up for herself, and to her story that she hasn't used magic since she was a child, Zatanna is frazzled by the end of the issue and at her wits end (especially after learning that, perhaps without meaning to, she has indeed been using magic). The introduction of John Constantine to the story may provide more answers but probably won't lower her stress level.

Delicious in Dungeon - Dumplings

Although it ends the season without any further action toward finding the Mad Mage or rescuing Falin (Lisa Reimold), the final two episodes of the First Season of Delicious in Dungeon provide plenty of stand-out moments. First, we get a proper backstory for Senshi (SungWon Cho) explaining his time in the tunnels and his reaction to the Griffin. Laios (Damien C. Haas) helps put him at ease with the latter with the help of the same monsters who cause the party a different kind of trouble. Senshi's flashbacks take an incredibly dark turn, with old fears being dragged back into the light. Thankfully, Laios' gamble pays off and allows his friend to find peace.

Lazy Afternoon Supergirl by Mike Maihack

lazy afternoon 🛋️ pic.twitter.com/SVdc9CmOs3

— Mike Maihack (@mikemaihack) September 1, 2024