Fantastic Universes

“Knights Fall” Writer: James Tynion IV Artists: Philippe Briones and Allen Passalaqua Review by Steve J. Ray There are very few things on this Earth that one can call perfect, if any. When I finished reading  Detective Comics  #974 I truly felt that I had found one of them. “Knights Fall” is one of the single best comics that I’ve ever read… and I’ve read A LOT! From the front cover, reminiscent of the classic  A Death In The Family  to the shocking double cliffhangers from pages 20, and 21, this comic delivers… in spades. Clayface is dead, shot through the head by  Batwoman . As one would expect, her teammates are shocked, and angry. Tim can truly see his world unravelling. The Dark Batman, his future self, had warned him of this, and told the Gotham Knights that this could be the beginning of their end. Batman, of course is furious, but the realest, strongest, and most heart-wrenching reaction comes from Cassandra. Orphan and Clayface had been fr...

Review by Philip Clark Well. Disney can stop the production of their live action Lion King , as they can just use Black Panther instead. That's not to say the film isn't great in it's own right, because it is. I just found a lot of similarities between it and Lion King . I'll be getting into that later, but first let me give you my opinion on the film. As spoiler free as I can be. Black Panther  is, as to be expected, a fantastic movie. It has everything we've come to expect from our superhero films, especially our Marvel Cinematic Universe ones. The action scenes are intense and well-paced. The humour's light-hearted and well timed. The emotional moments are gut wrenching and genuine. While it ticks all the right boxes, it doesn't really add anything new to the genre, but it's a more than worthy continuation of the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. That being said, I would highly recommend seeing the film, as I don't think you...

Review by Steve J. Ray After the fun of  episode 12 , the latest episode “True Colors” cranks up the heat, the tension and exposes yet another layer of the huge onion that is Clifford Devoe’s master plan. Just like an onion, I’m sure that it will bring tears to the eyes of Team Flash. We last saw Barry in the clutches of Warden Wolfe, about to be sold into slavery to Amunet Black, along with The Thinker’s “Bus Metas.” This season is moving along at a very satisfying pace. Every single episode is unravelling secrets and building on everything that’s gone before. The intricacy of Devoe’s plan is slowly becoming more apparent, but at the same time enough questions are left unanswered for the audience to keep coming back for more. The Metas From The Bus Go Round And Round While The Flash and DeVoe’s Rogues attempt to escape prison, Elongated Man and the rest of team Flash are still trying to prove Barry’s innocence. One of my favourite ongoing sub-plots this se...

Interview by Scott Hamilton (No relation... I promise) Ryan Hamilton hangs his hat, literally, in the state of Texas. Softly spoken with a love for life, Ryan has time for everyone around him. You’ll often find him chatting away to audience members at his gigs, preferring to spend his time mingling with the crowd rather than hiding away backstage. Back at his home that he shares with his cosplaying wife, Ryan has a real passion for classic American comics and its art, which he was happy to chat to us about. Scott Hamilton: Would you like to tell us a  bit about yourself, Ryan? Ryan Hamilton: Not really. Haha. My name is Ryan Hamilton. I'm a singer songwriter from Texas.  SH: What's your particular geek love of choice and how did you get into it? RH: I am OBSESSED with comic art. Something about the rate at which these guys & girls crank out INCREDIBLE cover art that BLOWS MY MIND. Really love the work of J. Scott Campbell, Arthur Adams, Jae Lee. O...

Interview by Scott Hamilton Rob Lane provides the bottom end in Ryan Hamilton and the Traitors . Onstage he’s a blur of hair, throwing shapes with his trusty bass like a full on rock star. Away from the band, he heads up his own project Straight To Video , a mix of rock/punk music which draws influence from eighties culture in general, as well as creating some cool merchandise to go along with the music. Rob was cool enough to chat to us recently about music, the eighties and being a geek. Scott Hamilton: Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself Rob? Rob Lane: Hey Scott.... Thanks so much for reaching out! So, I guess I start with introducing myself.... my name's Rob Lane... a bass player from the East Midlands / Nottingham / Derby area. I've been actively playing with various bands for the best part of 20 years. For over ten years I was the bassist for Nottingham Power Pop Rockers TEENAGE CASKET COMPANY ... we had a pretty good run from 2003 through to Nove...