Comic Panel of the Week: Doctor Chaos

That's an obscure pull.

My Opinion on Netflix's Knights of the Zodiac

"And I raaaaan, I ran so far away. I just raaaaan I couldn't get away. I couldn't get away." I grew up in a period of time during the late 90's and mid 2000's when Western animation was was dropped for licensing Japanese Animation, cause why go threw the trouble of animating something yourself when you could just licenses it from another country. Even the few popular Western show I watched went for a more anime inspired estetic, shows like Teen Titans and Avatar the Last Airbender. Out of all these shows one of the first I watched was Knights of the Zodiac. If I'm being honest I don't really remember much of Knights of the Zodiac besides some character designs and vauge plot details. And Docrates, who's the only character who's name I remebered. No idea why.

Years flew by and Knights of the Zodiac faded into obscurity, until a few months ago when I heard Netflix was doing a new series. I was interested but hesitant since Netflix's anime adaptations can be dicey. So when the trailer dropped a few days ago I was optimistic and after watching it I was... whelmed..

It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look that great either. I will admit that might be my 3-D animation bias, the show does look good but something about it just seems flat. Although I will say it looks league's better then other 3-D anime's like Beserk 2017, Fist of the Blue Sky, and that show with the CGI bear that Crunchyroll keep trying to get me to watch. For some reason I was really reminded of RWBY, another Western show trying to emulate anime, while watching this trailer. All that being said I have seen good 3-D shows like Beast Wars and Green Lantern the Animated Series, and at the end of the day if the story is engaging and the characters are interesting it doesn't matter to me what it looks like.

Now speaking of characters one weird choice was that they changed the gender of the character Shun, because I guess guys can't wear Pink Armor. Now that being said I'm not personally invested in the characters from this show as much as I would be for the characters in some of the other anime I watched growing up so it doesn't really matter as much to me as it would to a diehard fan of Saint Seiya but whatever. Just thought it was weird. Also they changed Cloth to Armor cause why not, reminds me of the MCU's changing of the Infinity Gems to Infinity Stones. 

Besides that all the other character designs look like the way I remebered them. Despite the fact I may have come off as negative I'm still hopeful for this show, at the very least I'm going to give it a couple of episodes and I hope you all do too.

Comic Panel of the Week: The Scarecrow

Recently read through the "Doctor Strange: Lord's of Fear" Trade, and finally found out what the deal with Marvel's Scarecrow is! I'm going to try to review something for Halloween but if I don't get a chance I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

"Golden Wind: Episode 1" First Thoughts

---SPOILER WARNING---

So after a long wait Part 5 of JoJo is finally out and to my surprise this episode actually covered alot, episode one pretty much covers chapters 1 to the beginning of chapter 6 excluding Giorno's back story from the beginning of chapter 5. Usually anime episodes adapt 2 to 3 chapters. They even added stuff like Leaky Eye Luca interrogating someone. I think the voices were good, obviously there in Japanese so of course there's something lost in translation but from what I can tell the voices match the characters.

The animation is still top notch but it seems to get better with every Part which means by Steel Ball Run the animation will look unbelievable. It looks like they put a bit more detail into everything compared to Diamond is Unbreakable, if I had to complain about one thing it's that some of the backgrounds looked like CGI but I might wrong. It was just really cool to see these scenes animated. It was awesome when we got references from other parts like Jotaro looking at a picture of the Stardust Crusaders, references to Dio, and the return of one of my favorite JoJo character's Koichi. Sadly we didn't get an opening or ending so I guess we'll have to wait until next week for that.

Like I said in my previous post about the Part 5 anime, Vento Aureo or Golden Wind as it's officially called isn't my favorite Part but maybe by re-experience it through watch this anime I'll like it more. Overall I really liked the episode and I hope this anime adaptation changes my opinion on the Part.

Comic Panel of the Week: Say my name

A little bit of Fist of the North Star.

My Opinion on the Joaquin Phoenix Joker Origin Movie

As a DC fan the current state of their movies has left me pretty down. Yeah I kind of liked BvS and Justice League when they came out but on additional viewings I noticed more and more problems. I'm also one of those weirdos that thought Suicide Squad wasn't as bad as everyone thinks it is and Wonder Woman was great of course. But with the recent announcements of Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill possibly leaving it got me worried about the future of these DC movies. Then they put out an image of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker from the Joker origin movie a week or two ago and needless to say I was whelmed.

Like the earlier pictures from the upcoming Tom Hardy Venom movie, instead of showing pictures of them in character they just showed pictures of the actors that look like mug shots they attached to their resume. All in all I wasn't too excited for this movie until today when they released a teaser/make-up test showing him looking more like the Joker. And I really didn't know how to feel about it but it did peak my interest.

The make-up looks more like a traditional clown with a bit of Heath Ledger's Joker thrown in, mostly just the hair. I was thinking that this might be what he looked like before he totally became the Joker and that he was some sort of tv/carnival clown instead of being a stand up comedian like he sometimes is in the comics but from what I saw of the set photos I think that this is going to be the Joker design. Which I am actually okay with, especially after seeing the set photos. Overall I think this might be a very interesting direction to go with the movie and I just hope that It's good. Us DC fans need a win. I do have to wonder if this is going to be stand alone though or is this going to take place within the continuity of the current DC movies. It might be a bit weird to see this Joker and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn together.

Comic Panel of the Week: Fencing Mary Marvel

Bad Bootlegs

Ah Bootlegs, They never cease to put a smile on my face. I first learned about them in a article from the Dragonball Quarterly Fan Magazine, and have come across many whether it be from a trip to the local dollar store or given as a hastily bought gift when I was a child. From time to time when I'm bored I go to eBay and see if I can find some funny or bad Bootlegs to get a chuckle from and today I decided to share some of the odd, funny, Or just plain weird Bootlegs I came across today.

First up is this He-Man and Star Wars chimera called Space Lord Vader. Pretty much just a repainted He-Man figure with a weird custom Darth Vader Head. Not really too much but we're just getting started. Also just a heads up alot of these are going to be Star Wars related.

Just in time for her solo movie comes this Carol Danvers Ms.Marvel figure, and she looks like she's seen some sh!t. The molding makes her look like a dude and I love the dynamic action pose of just kind of slouched over. It literally looks like they combined the individual pieces from several figures to make this one. The painting on this just looks lazy, they didn't even try to paint the arms the right color. Also I think you missed a bit around the chest area.

I know that you all wanted a Better Call Saul styled Star Wars Figure. The eBay account selling this lists it as "Star Wars Sucklord The Litigator 5000 Better Call Saul." The figure itself doesn't even look like either of those two things and looks more like a cross between Dark Helmet and Cobra Commander. Also I love that the backing looks like an ad for a lawyer cause it just doesn't go with the figure at all. But those are nothing compared to the next two.

This one has to be a joke because I laughed so f#cking hard when I saw this. C-3P-Ho. How do you come up with this sh!t. It's literally C3-P0 with Leia's hair buns and boobs. So what can top that?

Behold the weirdest bootleg, Pre-Osteoporosis Yoda. So let's break this down, the figure is a tall Yoda however his arms unfortunately are still the same size. The packaging looks like it was drawn in crayon and it depicts a carton of blue milk and a picture of Yoda like this is a "Got Milk?" ad. I guess this is saying the Yoda we know from Star Wars is short because he has Osteoporosis because he didn't drink enough milk...this is a masterpiece. Anyway that's all I got today but before I go I'm going to show you some cool looking bootlegs of some Fnaf Animatronics. Maybe I'll do another one of these one day.

Comic Panel of the Week: Everyone Hates Charmy the Bee

No one likes Charmy and this was before he even had a voice actor.

Justice League Dark (2018) #2 Review

Wow it's been a while since I wrote a review for a single issue of a comic. Justice League Dark wasn't my favorite book to come out of the New 52 but out of the other Justice League books we got I think it was the most interesting. Although it was relatively popular, lasting at least 40 issues, I was surprised that they were bringing it back after the No Justice event. Even though I was less interested I decided to give the first issue a chance and it was okay, nothing spectacular. I wasn't even going to read this issue but after seeing my favorite Superhero Doctor Fate on the cover while at the comic store I decided to give it another chance. So did I make the right call? Let's find out.

---SPOILER WARNING---

Just to catch you up from the first issue there is something wrong with magic and it has something to do with creatures called The Otherkind. In order to figure out what's going on Wonder Woman enlists the help of Zatanna as well as Swamp Thing, Detective Chimp, and Kirk Langstrom aka Man-Bat who form the new Justice League Dark. In this issue after finding out that whatever is going on is also affecting the Red (The energy that connects all living animals on earth) they decide to request the help of Doctor Fate and they travel to the Tower of Fate in Salem. When they arrive however Doctor Fate is acting strange and will only talk to Wonder Woman and Zatanna. They go to a different part of the tower and Doctor Fate starts to tell them the origins of Magic as well as a retconned origin for Nabu and the Lord's of Order where instead of being cosmic beings they are the first humans who learned to use and manipulate magic.

Meanwhile Langstrom and Detective Chimp are looking around the tower while waiting for the others to return when they find Khalid, the DCYou Doctor Fate, imprisoned in a pot that Langstrom accidentally breaks. He tells them that Kent hasn't been in control and that Nabu imprisoned him in the pot right before he shatters like the pot he was imprisoned in. Hopefully they didn't just kill him off because while Paul Levitz's Doctor Fate isn't my favorite run I like Khalid. Anyway back with the others Fate reveals that he is Nabu and he is behind the Otherkind. His reasoning is that magic is naturally chaotic and only by destroying it can there be order. Wonder Woman and Zatanna attack him but he flees as the world goes dark and the comic ends with the Otherkind finally arriving on this world.

I really enjoyed this issue and I am glad I gave it another chance since this was way better then the last issue. Before I talk about my thoughts however I think I should address the elephant in the room in that this storyline bears some resemblance to a story that was in Doctor Strange a year or two ago called the Last Days of Magic in which extra dimensional beings called the Empirikal are trying to destroy magic on earth. I would say this might be a coincidence since beside the core concept of the story the details and execution are different but while looking up stuff on this book earlier today I discovered that the first trade for this series is also titled the Last Days of Magic. So i'll let you decided if this is a rip-off or not.

I'm kinda pissed they made Doctor Fate a d!ck again however I think the execution was handled well and made sense for Nabu's characters. At least it was way better then in Injustice 2 where he decides Brainiac is right to blow up the earth. I just hope he dosen't go full villian and I hope he didn't kill Kent or Khalid. There was also a really good scene, that I didn't mention in the plot synopsis, between John Constantine and Swamp Thing that made me nostalgic for Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing. I shouldn't forget to mention that the art was really good, Doctor Fate hasn't looked this cool in a while. Once again I should say that I really liked this issue, like alot of books since Rebirth it feels like the books I was reading when I started reading comics.

Comic Panel(s) of the Week: My Little Plastic Man

My Opinion on Richter Belmont Being Announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Richter Belmont was announced to be a playable character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during today's Nintendo Direct, and I AM SO HYPED!!! From the title of this blog you can probably guess I'm a huge Castlevania fan. This is like a dream come true. If there was only one Castlevania character to be in Smash I figured it would be Simon since he's who everyone knows but if I had a choice it would of been Richter since Rondo of Blood is my favorite Castlevania game and naturally he's my favorite Belmont but I didn't think they would both be in the game. It was so nostalgia for me to see him again it reminds me of when I use to play Dracula X Chronicles on my PSP, and how I use to stay up after I was suppose to be In bed on school nights and play it. I can't wait to play Smash Ultimate now.

Judging from how hype everyone is right now it just goes to show you that if you have a crossover game people want to see cool characters that they have a connection to and that their not just functions, right Marvel Infinite. Sorry to all you Infinite fans I actually think it's the best fighting game to play out there right now but it does have alot of issues with it. Mostly stemming from Marvel's X-Men Vendetta but hopefully now that they own Fox they will cut that out.

I'm Rambling but it's been a while since I was this hyped for anything. I don't think I was even this hyped when Megaman came out. With this, the Netflix series, and Bloodstained Curse of the Moon it's been a good year to be a Castlevania fan. Anyway are there any characters announced for Smash that your excited about? Post a comment if you like? Is it obvious that I don't know how to end a post yet? This is The Mystery Theatre saying have a wonderful non-curse-filled night.

Comic Panel(s) of the Week: Cosmic Ghost Rider

Is it wrong I like Punisher better this way?

My Opinion on JoJo Part 5 Anime

If you read my last couple post you may have notice I like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, although I got into it pretty recently. Since last December I've been reading through the manga from beginning to end and as of two week's ago I've completely caught up. I really enjoyed the series and am super hyped for the upcoming Part 5 Anime adaptation, despite it not being my favorite Part.

The preview we got is awesome. It shows off all of gang members doing there thing while Giorno's vines created by Gold Experience Link's them all together it's great. The colors are really nice and the animation is still top notch but it seems to get better with every Part which means by Steel Ball Run the animation will look unbelievable. It looks like they put a bit more detail into everything compared to Diamond is Unbreakable. I just can't wait for some of the scenes from the Manga being animated like the Dance and the 7 page punchfest. Of course seeing how everyone reacts to everything will be great too.


Like I said Vento Aureo isn't my favorite Part but maybe by re-experience it through watch this anime I'll like it more. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it or anything and it's not my least favorite Part but maybe seeing this will make me see what so many others see since alot of people I've watched talk about JoJo really liked Part 5. Overall I really liked the preview and am super excited to see more.

Comic Panel(s) of the Week: Deadpool vs. Rogue

Despicable Deadpool is actually pretty good.

The Problem with The Thinker: A Look at the Villain of Season 4 of The Flash

 





















---SPOILER WARNING---

So this upcoming Tuesday is the 4th Season Finale of the Flash. Now for those not in the know The Flash is a show currently airing on the CW about the Comic Book of the same name. Back when it started I really enjoyed it but during these last two seasons it's gotten a bit dull. Last season suffered due to the villain (Savitar) who was threatening but his motivation was a bit lacking especially when his identity as a future version of the Flash was revealed which made everything more complicated then it needed to be due to time travel shenanigans. Plus there was the fact he was yet another evil speedster just made the whole season feel a little been their done that.

Still looks like Megatron

As for this season it's improved a bit some of the episode were really good like "Enter Flashtime" where Barry has to figure out how to stop a nuke and can't stop running or else it will explode. Though it still has problem's such as the good old Meta-of-the-Week formula, and the constant need to have drama which just makes it seem like a 22-minute show that they need to pad out with scenes of people getting upset over trivial things and storming out of rooms for 20 minutes. One thing they dropped that people where complaining about though was this season's main villain isn't another speedster. Clifford DeVoe aka The Thinker has been a pretty good villain all things considered, at the very least he's better the Damien Darhk. However his plot doesn't make much sense when you think about it which is what I'm here to talk about today.

DeVoe's plan is to enlighten the world by erasing everyone's memory's so that he can teach them the error's of their ways and make the human race smarter. Now I say erasing but it's more like, as he put's it, Rebooting every human's brain on earth. So what this means is essentially everyone will be reduced to what would be the mind of an infant, having to to learn everything they know all over again. Presumably walking and talking as well as proved by Harry Wells who accidentally caused himself to undergo what DeVoe call's the "enlightenment." He keep's tripping up in the cortex and keeps forgetting what people are telling him. What Devoe want's to accomplish with this plan is peace and the removal of pesky things like Emotions. I am not a scientist however even I am able to see there are massive issue with this plan.

No one expects Evil Sugar from the Zone

First off let's deal with the whole getting rid of emotions thing. It's is very clear that DeVoe thinks emotions are a weakness and believe's that he should focus on getting rid of them however that isn't how are brain's work. A common misconception is that are brain's are like computers when in actuality they are much more complicated. You can't just delete things. Getting rid of memory's wouldn't get rid of emotions because emotions aren't learned. Sure some more complicated emotions like Love would be affected due to the fact you wouldn't be able to remember your loved ones but your primal emotions such as Happiness, Sadness, and Anger will be there with or without your memory's. Besides even if you can't remember your loved ones you wouldn't be incapable of falling for the same person again or someone else. We're still human beings with hormones and a desire to procreate that is embedded in our brain chemistry. Remember he isn't altering anyone's brain just their memory's. That's not to mention the people with mental disorders or hormone imbalances, is he just going kill those people? Cause that's alot of people. Speaking of...

 Now that we established that we would still feel emotions my second point is what make's him think that anyone would listen to a work he says. Think about it even if they do listen what's stopping someone from trying to rebel against him. DeVoe is trying to reestablish humanity's innate curiosity of the unknown however when you erase everyone's mind you get adults with the mind of children only able to comprehend there base survival instincts. Essentially Cavemen, lacking morality and only looking to survive. DeVoe's plan wouldn't cause Enlightenment it would cause Moral Degradation. I wouldn't call this a plot hole though cause it's been established that DeVoe can't comprehend how a person acting purely on emotions instead of logic and rationality would react to any given situation, and that's what all the people who underwent his "Enlightenment" would be.

Plus there can be an argument made for the fact that the people might on some level, Conscious or Unconscious, understand what has happened to them once again like Harry Wells who while getting stupider can still comprehend that he use to be smarter. With that mixed with humanity's ego it wouldn't surprise me if they rebelled against DeVoe. Admittedly though it would be hard to fight DeVoe with all his powers as shown in the beginning of Episode 22. But there are still billions of human's and only one DeVoe. How is he planning to re-educate that may people anyway? He would have to teach them all how to talk, read, and walk all over again. What about people in other countrys? Is he just going to leave them to themselves until he Re-Educates America one town at a time? There is still one episode so maybe they'll address the issues I've brought up but with Flash's track record on explaining some of there more complicated science plots *cough* Savitar *cough* it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. It just bugs me because for someone called the Thinker he really didn't think this one threw.

--The Mystery Theatre

Should of just took Flash's Body