Flash and Supergirl mid-season reviews

Avec les spoilers

FLASH 2.9 - RUNNING TO STAND STILL

It's Christmas in Central City, and we celebrate with a villain team-up. This episode has the feel of an episode of the classic 90s Batman animated series, what with the over-the-top plot (exploding Christmas presents!) sitting alongside a grimmer plotline (Patty faces her desire for revenge against her father's murderer). Plus, the presence of Mark Hamill as the Trickster naturally makes it seem like the Joker's around. (Thought: Jay says they don't have a Trickster on Earth-2. He should have said they have a Joker instead.)

Weather Wizard, despite his silly name and powers, is a cold, heartless individual, and makes a great mirror to the Trickster, who's utterly insane but blessed with a strongly emotional worldview. Alongside them you have Captain Cold, who gets to show his noble side, setting the stage further for Legends of Tomorrow, which will hit early next year. There's some strong development of the Zoom/Wells plotline, and Wally West makes his debut appearance, but the most important thread is Patty's storyline coming to a head as she finally gets some closure. She's still the Iris of this series, the only character kept out of the loop when everyone and his mum knows Barry's the Flash. They really need to sort that out. Otherwise, though, this has been a strong half-season and this was a great episode.

SUPERGIRL 1.7 - HUMAN FOR A DAY; 1.8 - HOSTILE TAKEOVER

I'm very much enjoying the direction the series is taking, with more focus on Kara's emotional reaction to both current and long ago events. The comicbook fan in me is loving the introduction of familiar characters; Red Tornado was a treat (even if T. O. Morrow was an irritating villain), and then the spectacular reveal that Hank Henshaw is, in fact, the Martian Manhunter. Really didn't see that one coming. Henshaw/J'onzz is a bit glib with his alien identity now the cat is out of the bag with viewers, but still, this was great misdirection for fans, who fully expected him to become the Cyborg Superman as in the comics. (Not that this precludes the return of the real Henshaw, who could well be the Cyborg Supes.)  The "finale" episode has some great scenes, including the various battles between the alien forces and the protectors of the Earth, but any scene involving the Kryptonians actually speaking (either flashbacks to Krypton or Earth events) is marred by stultifyingly po-faced sci-fi dialogue. It really damages the whole episode. Still, at least Non gets an upgrade from mute slab of moron-muscle to an actual thinking, speaking, calculating character.

The best parts, though, remain Kara's interactions with her family, friends and team. I like that she's really getting put through the ringer emotionally, and her outburst at her mother's hologram, railing against being abandoned on Earth, is probably the best scene for her in the series so far. Although, the climax of the previous episode, in which she pours all her rage at her life's flaws and injustices, into burning up the Red Tornado, is a close second. I'm also truly loving Cat Grant now, portrayed with cut-glass iciness by Calista Flockhart but with moments of real warmth and humility. Cat could have been just a one-note bitch character, but she's become the highlight of the series. "Hostile Takeover" sees her facing the attempted ousting of Cat from her own company by a hacking and smear campaign, thwarted by Kara and her gang, and it works brilliantly. At its best, Supergirl is a very modern, strongly feminist series, and here it really explores the incredible obstacles women face in positions of power and responsibility, by showing rather than just echoing well-worn platitudes. Oh, and then Cat shows she has more brains than any of Superman's allies ever did, by working out that Kara is Supergirl and absolutely not backing down. 

December Comics Round-Up

Ultimates #2 (Marvel)

Yes, this is definitely the Avengers-esque title I'm going to follow. Black Panther's team - Blue Marvel might nominally be calling the shots, but it's definitely Black Panther's team - are all incredibly powerful, hyperintelligent, or both, and they're travelling the universe to sort shit out. Dan Brown's art is perfect for this. There's a real cosmic feel to this issue, ending with a complete inversion of what Galactus stands for, that could lead to some very interesting things indeed.

Doctor Who - Eighth Doctor #2 (Titan)

Emma Vicelli absolutely nails her depiction of the eighth Doctor. I prefer this issue to the first; this is the other side of the eighth Doctor, the careworn old man who's trying to remain positive in the face of an overwhelmingly cruel universe. It ends on an optimistic note, but we know that this Doctor is going to have to face his own war soon, which adds depth to the story. Very good.

Doctor Who Magazine #494 (Panini)

Haven't we had sword-and-sorcery planets in the comics quite recently? This is fine, but there's not an original element in it. Adrian Salmon's art style doesn't really work for it, either. I'm going to call this one a miss.

Batman/TMNT #1 (DC/IDW)

Just much more fun than it has any right to be. I like that this avoids going for all out campery. Batman and the Turtles might actually work very well together. And using Killer Croc here is so obvious it would have been foolish not to do so.

Ms. Marvel #2 (Marvel)

This is rather excellent, with Kamala facing the twin evils of gentrification and the exploitation of fame. There are some rather lovely moments with both Bruno and her adorable older brother, and pitting the youngest Avenger against a new, corporate version of HYDRA makes sense. The important stuff is Kamala's entirely believable reaction to the developments, though.

The Mighty Thor #2 (Marvel)

"Just take me to my cell, serpent. I figure it's best I get one now... before all the good ones are filled." That's just a brief line showing how awesome Heimdall is, but this is brilliant throughout. Thor is just excellent right now. The war between the Light and Dark Elves rages, with the incongruous sight of Roxxon tanks mowing down unicorns. Loki is back, all re-grown up and bad again, while the Elves and Jotnar lay waste to the Nine Realms in a beautiful and finely written story. Recommended.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3 (Marvel)

A fairly middling issue for Squirrel Girl, but still way more fun than pretty much any comic series running right now. Retro-Dr. Doom just about works in this context, revelling in the campness of the character, but Nancy isn't quite up to the task of holding the storyline up against him without Doreen. Things work much better once the girls team up again. Digging Doreen's sixties costume. Includes the perfect footnote, "That guy's The Punisher! Like all men who take themselves extremely seriously, he likes to spend his downtime sewing cartoon skeleton heads onto every shirt he owns, so that way everyone can tell right away how extremely serious he is." When a comic running at half-power has lines like that, it's a keeper.

Lucifer #1 (DC/Vertigo)

Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be. I still don't really see the point of it; the original Lucifer series by Mike Carey was truly brilliant and a closed story, ending in the most perfect and final way possible. I'd expected this to be a reboot, rather than a continuation as it is here, and I'm not sure which is more pointless. Still, Lucifer returning to the Universe in the wake of God's apparent murder has some potential. Not a patch on Carey's work, but approximately 130 times better than the shit they cooked up for TV.

The Wicked + The Divine #17 (Image)

Wow, this has gone off the boil. The last issue of the current "let's look at everyone's backstory" season, this one focuses on cat-goddess Sekhmet, who is only interesting in fucking and drinking and is correspondingly boring as hell. Looking forward to how the series kicks back into gear upon its return in April, as it really needs some forward momentum.

And that's yer lot. I'll be cutting right back on the comics next year - Saga, Squirrel Girl, Ultimates and The Mighty Thor will be on my list, probably along with Ms. Marvel and maybe Spider-Woman. 

Whotopia Returns!

It's been nearly two years, but now the popular web fanzine Whotopia is back with its 28th issue. In this very Masterly issue, I provide the first article in a series called "Master Who," examining each incarnation of the villainous Time Lord in the same vein as my "Doctor by Doctor" articles from 2013. David P. May also provides an insight into the villain's schemes in "Master of Disaster," and also takes a look at the underappreciated first Doctor serial The Keys of Marinus. There's also new fanfic from Michael Baxter, a look at third Doctor story Carnival of Monsters and Bob Furnell explores some of the unmade scripts for the fifth Doctor. Click below to go straight to the issue.

The International Astronomical Union recently held a vote to determine the names of a list of planets and stars in distant systems. It would be impossible to assign a name to every star and planet in the Galaxy - there are just too many of them - so they generally just get an alphanumerical designation. However, a few have accrued names from popular usage, and now a select group have had names officially assigned by the IAU, according to popular vote.

The full list is at the link, but some of my favourites include Thestias, the new name of the only known planet orbiting Pollux (Beta Geminorum), named for the epithet of Leda, the mother of Castor and Pollux (the Gemini twins) in Greek myth. The Mu Arae system has five known planets, named for characters from the Don Qixote story: Quijote, Dulcinea, Rocinante and Sancho, plus the star itself has received the common name Cervantes, after the author.

Another star, formerly known only as PSR 1257+12, has been named Lich, and undead being from myth, and its planets have been named in kind: Draugr, Phobetor (i.e. Nightmare) and Poltergeist! The well known Epsilon Eridani is now also called Ran, and its sole known planet is Aegir, named for two Jotnar from Norse myth. And a particular favourite planet of mine, Fomalhaut b, is now known as Dagon, after the Semitic deity (made famous in the modern era by H.P. Lovecraft).

The 55 Cancri system has been named in honour of great astronomers, with the star itself now called Copernicus, and its planets named Galileo, Brahe, Lippershey, Janssen, and Harriot, while Iota Draconis b has been named for the great Hypatia. Wonderful stuff.

WHO REVIEW: 9-12) HELL BENT

You know what? I really enjoyed that. This hasn't been the most consistent of series, and there are problems with the finale that reflect this. It's certainly not what I expected to see, following on from the remarkable Heaven Sent, but that's not a bad thing. This was a perfect end to the season, and to Clara's story. Clara's character has suffered particularly from the inconsistency this year, and she's never been the most consistent character in any case. As a farewell, though, this worked beautifully. As many have pointed out, this was essentially an inversion of Donna's fate at the end of season four, with Clara taking retaining her own agency and the Doctor being punished for his own arrogance and hubris. "Never be cruel, and never be cowardly; and if you are, always make amends." For once, the Doctor was both cruel and cowardly, and he payed for it.

So they're out of the way, complaints (ish):

• Clara didn't die after all. Are we surprised? Even if the cast of the episode hadn't been released ages ago, this wouldn't have been unexpected. Nobody stays dead in this series. It's just part of the way the show works these days.
• Gallifrey's back then? Sat at the end of the Universe, not up to much. The Doctor finally arrives there and takes the place over in a bloodless coup (which is just perfect), exiles the President, takes his place and promptly runs off again. All great, but still, it was a bit anticlimactic.
• Rassilon was a disappointment, and a bit of a waste of the great Donald Sumpter. It's a shame we didn't get Timothy Dalton back, but perhaps, actually, it was for the best. This was the real Rassilon; the scared, desperate old man behind the blustering warlord, who simply isn't relevant now the Time War is finally over. The Doctor finally kicked him out by simply refusing to take him seriously.
• Why were Ohila and the Sisterhood there? And how? They seemed rather surplus.
• The Doctor really put himself through billions of successive iterations in a cyclic hell just so he'd have a bargaining tool when he finally got to Gallifey? He really is a stubborn old bastard.
• All that Hybrid stuff really didn't work as a mystery. We'd never heard anything of it before Davros randomly mentioned it in The Magician's Apprentice, and since then it's been dropped in rather awkwardly more or less every episode in an attempt to make us think it's been haunting the Doctor and the Time Lords since the series' inception. It really didn't work. Applause for the fan-baiting tease of the half-human Doctor though (which he notably doesn't actually deny).

With that out of the way, though... this was rather joyful, when it wasn't milking tears. The Doctor goes home - and he really goes home, not to the President's office but to the place he hid out as a child. I was very pleased to see the General again (I'll have to stop calling him General Bones now). A shame to lose Ken Bones, who I rather adore, but that regeneration was just fabulous. T'nia Miller is actually rather excellent as the new General, with a real authority that makes it believable she's the same character. And the gall of it... the old white guy regenerates into a young black woman, right in front of us, a full-blooded Time Lord, damned right it's canon, deal with it. And basically says, "ah, back to normal at last." Just perfect.

Even before that though, the moment between the Doctor and the General, the former acting appallingly, blinded by love, the latter standing his ground, unwilling to waver. Two characters with utter respect for each other, at odds. It's a beautiful scene. But for the Doctor to gun someone down, a friend, even though he knew he'd probably regenerate; I don't think we've ever seen him go so far.

Good to see Maisie Williams used well again. She gave an astonishingly controlled and confident performance as the last woman in the Universe. By then, after trillions of years of life, she'd either be completely insane or, well, god. Also, that classic, white TARDIS interior, with the Doctor in a severe black coat. I had nostalgia for the sixties, and I wasn't even there. 

So, very Moffat, and the Moffat haters will, of course, hate it. And fair enough; if it's not your cup of tea, that's understandable. It was somehow overblown and undercooked at once, it made no sense whatsoever, but it was quite simply a wonderful experience and I imagine it'll be an episode I go back to again and again (unlike, say, Zygon ISIS, which although the best story of the year, isn't one I'll get a lot of rewatch value from). It ends with the Doctor picking up the pieces while Clara and Me/Ashildr travel the Universe together. Spot on.