Justice League 15

The Throne of Atlantis story line kicks off in DC premier book and to be honest its one of the better story's in the book for a while, someone has altered an aircraft carriers nuclear missile test and sent the missiles into Atlantis which the Atlanteans take as a declaration of war. They react by initiating The Atlantean War Plans which Aquaman drew up during his time in Atlantis, the first stage of the plan is to flood and drown the major city's coastal city's first on the list Metropolis and Boston.

Before these city's are flooded we spend a bit of time with Superman and Wonder Woman who have spent time in Smallville and are now on a date in a fish restaurant, where Clark is showing Wonder Woman that with only a pair of glasses you can change your whole appearance. The panel showing Diana wearing glasses looked very Linda Carter and was a nice nod to the characters history, meanwhile Batman is taking down a group of Scarecrows henchmen who have kidnapped two people who have agreed to testify against him. Just when the kidnappers look like they have the drop on Bat Aquaman turns up to save the day, although he is later told by Batman that he had it covered and didn't need help (good old Bats).

Meanwhile in the Watchtower Cyborg is talking with his farther via video link when all power shuts off heralding the start of the Atlantean attack, as the weave hits Metropolis Superman and Wonder Woman spring into action to try and save the day. The double page that shows the wave crashing into Metropolis carrying the aircraft carrier, and the single page showing Superman and Wonder Woman crashing out of the restaurant are worth the price of the book alone.

There is the usual save of Lois Lane but this time its by the Atlantean Vulko which is a nice twist, although the fact that she seems jealous that Superman and Wonder Woman were working together was a surprise. I'm not reading the Superman book so I am unsure of their relationship but I thought there wasn't one,
 the book ends with the next weave about to hit Gotham with Batman, Aquman and Mera looking on an ending that left me desperate to read the second part of this story in Aquman 15 something a JLA book hasn't done in a while.

The backup story continues the origin of Captain Marvel sorry Shazam as he is now known, as I didn't read this part of the comic I cannot comment on it. My reasons for not reading it is my total dislike on the way Geoff Johns has redefined this character, but I buy the book to read Justice League story's not Shazam ones so I will leave it at that for now.

Star Trek Doctor Who #8

This is the final episode or I should say issue of what has been an intriguing if not always dynamic story, the action takes place on a Cyber ship as the Doctor, his companions and the Enterprise crew try to stop the assimilation of the Borg by the Cybermen. The Doctor is with Picard and Data searching out the Cyber Controller so they can download a pure copy of the Borg Executive to the Cyber corrupted Borg collective, while Rory and Amy are with Worf and his team trying to cripple the engines of the Cyber ship before it reaches the Borg world.

The action comes thick and fast as the story jumps between both teams as the Doctor, Data and Picard battle hoards of Cybermen and Worf's team set about their task and you wont be surprised to learn both teams manage to pull off (Spoilers be quite River). The full on action does feel disjointed as there is so much going on as the two sets of teams try to achieve their end goals, I was also sceptical that a battle hardened warrior such as Worf would allow Rory and Amy to carry around guns. The gun aspect for the two companions was something that didn't sit well with me, and seemed out of character to see Amy firing one given her stance she took in resent episodes of the series.

The final scenes back on the Tardis where the Borg try to assimilate the Tardis are handled very well and are a reminder that the Tardis is just not a ship, add to that the panel where the Doctor say he can get the team back to the Enterprise and Picard says ''Make it so'', and you had this fan boy punching the air.

Overall this has been an enjoyable series and the artwork by JK Woodward has been nothing short of spectacular throughout the entire run, he has captured the likeness of all the characters and his eye for detail is something to behold. However, I do feel that the story overall wrapped up too quickly which is an unusual thing to say about an 8 issue mini series, but everything seemed rushed in this final issue when I feel at least another issue would have been the order of the day. That been said if you are a fan of either or both franchises then this is essential reading for you and you wont be too disappointed, and given the final panel it may not be the last time we see a crossover between these two again, once the Doctors 50th anniversary celebrations are completed.

News 7.1.2013

ESO Network:

The ESO Network has started this year as it ended last by expanding its line of podcasts, the latest podcast to join the ESO Network is Needless Things which is hosted by The Phantom Troublemaker. Phantom is a regular on the ESW (Earth Station Who) podcast and also appears on ESO (Earth Station One) from time to time, ESO has had an explosion of podcasts added to its network in 2012 with I believe more to be added in 2103.

The first episode of Needless Things covers the topic of 30 years of Masters of the Universe, you can access the podcast by clicking the Needless Things  links below.
Click the ESO link to see check out the they guys at Earth Station One, 

ESO Network:

Needless things:

Mocking Bird Lane:

According to Bleeding Cool NBC have announced that they will not be progressing Mocking Bird Lane into an ongoing series, Mocking Bird Lane is a re-imagining of the classic Munster’s show with Mocking Bird Lane been the name of the street where the Munster’s lived. The new show stared Eddie Izzard as Grandpa and wasn't meet with much enthusiasm by both fan of the classic series or NBC themselves when it was aired over Halloween  as a fan of the original show I cannot understand why they would create a new Munster’s show then not call it the Munster’s, but that could be just me.

Molly Danger:

Jamal Igles Kick Starter comic Molly Danger is well on the way to completion and character designs can be seen on Jamal’s Facebook page, a preview Molly Danger comic will be available on this years Free Comic Book day. Molly Danger is a book that Jamal has wanted to bring to life for a long time and I can only imagine the excitement the man must have as he nears completion of this project, as someone who supported this comic book I am very excited to see these character designs and cannot wait to get my copy once it sees print.

Peter David:

Sad news last week when it was reported that writer Peter David had suffered a stroke on holiday with his family in Florida, early reports from his immediate family were that Peter has lost most of the use in his right arm and leg, and has blurred vision. Despite this however he is said to have retained his sense of humour, David has written stories for some of the main characters in Marvel as well as an acclaimed run on Aquaman. For me some of his best work was on Aquaman and his X-Factor run in the 90's, information on how Peter is doing and how you can help him are on the link below. 
At the time of writing this 7/1/13 Peter had stood with assistance and taken a few steps, I wish him a full and speedy recovery.  
Peter David.Net