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When things aren't looking good, play the hits. It's always a good way to get your loyal fanbase back onboard. And with that in mind we can say that after the little break and this latest episode, The Flash hasn't completely lost us. It wasn't looking good there for a minute. The last two episodes before this weren't that good and really had us worried. But this episode being the final goodbye for Cisco and Team Flash did hit us pretty good. Mainly because they got back to basics and didn't have Barry and the team backsliding on their character development. If anything, Barry not initially showing emotion for Cisco leaving because he knew if he did, he would have asked Cisco to stay and Cisco would have...is the character development we're looking for. We don't want to see Barry continuing to make the mistakes he's made previously. Plus it was nice to have Vibe be the one to save the day. 

We're definitely going to miss Cisco. Chester has some big shoes to fill.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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So it's time to dive into something really good. We're starting our "Into the Hickmanverse" series where we cover the major Marvel runs of Jonathan Hickman. Now if you've been a long time listener, then you'll know that we've not only talked about the works of Hickman a lot but we've also covered a lot of them already. But you're still not going to want to miss this series. First, while we've covered a lot of these stories already, it's really been all over the place. Some have been Character Corners, some have been premium-only Comic Book Book Clubs and some of the more recent stuff (like the current X-Men run) we've been covering on the Pull-List. But this series is going to be us going (mostly) in chronological order, all in one place. Secondly, we've never done the full Hickman run back-to-back-to-back like we are here. And why does that matter? Well, it lets you see how masterfully Hickman connects all of the dots. It also makes it easier to go back once things start clicking and go "hey, wait a minute...didn't that get mentioned here?"

We're going to ease into it though with Secret Warriors. Something that could have just been a throwaway tie-in series to Dark Reign centered on Nick Fury. And then Hickman had to go an introduce DaVinci and the Great Wheel (and explain nothing) leaving you confused as to "what the hell was that?". Don't worry. It's by design and we'll dig more into it in Part 2 with the SHIELD series. But for now, just have fun reading about the spycraft of Nick Fury vs Baron von Strucker, the trashiest white trash name of all time, the God of Fear, Gorgon becoming a problem and so much more. 

Part One: Secret Warriors

1-9, Dark Reign: The List - Secret Warriors, 10-16, Siege: Secret Warriors, 17-28.

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What the Hell was that? Seriously. What the Hell is going on with The Flash? We got a bit excited when we saw they were taking from the Williamson run and doing the Force War. There was so much potential with that story, particularly with dealing with Barry and bringing Family back together. And instead we get a two part, contradictory storyline that makes absolutely no sense. First it was the Forces were bad and tried to kill the Speedforce and needed to be stopped. Then it was Nora/SpeedForce was really the evil one (complete with a switch over to Goth attire). Then it was the Forces are Barry & Iris' children and need to be protected from their "sibling" the SpeedForce. We're just gonna ignore all the people Psych and Fuerza killed. Then...inexplicably this the forces go back to being the "bad guy" cause they're tearing apart of the city (unknowingly I guess? It's never really explained). We get some really really REALLY bad CGI in a fight. And then in the end, just like with Eva, it's all taken care of with the power of "Love". And that's all in addition to the random Frost storyline that literally erases The People vs Killer Frost (why did we go through all that just for her to be paroled for doing what she already did but now in a pointless fight?) and Joe West for some reason deciding to not be Joe West and sit on his ass and do nothing. Whut?

Guys...this was not good. It was really really really bad. So bad it actually gave us pause as to whether we want to even finish the season and that has NEVER happened before for this show.We were giving them the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of the season because of Covid and the need to wrap up the last season. But now there's no excuse. We're glad they're taking a week off because we need a moment to talk ourselves back into finishing the season.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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They've finally done it. Legends has finally done an episode that is so ridiculous that it even gave us pause. Maybe part of that was the really TERRIBLE JFK impersonation. Then there was the literal football game over the nuclear football in the White House. And then there's the fact that...we're really not feeling Spooner. We get it. The new person on the Waverider always rubs people the wrong way at first but for the love of God can someone show this supposed "gun loving" character the proper way to hold a gun?

It's not all negative though. We see what they're doing with Mick and we like it. He's one of the last of the OG's and so its nice to see his character get a bit more focus as this might be his last season. Also, we saw it but don't you dare do anything with new Zari and Nate.This show is known for doing that kind of stupid stuff with relationships (one of its few consistent problems). We're really hoping they don't fall back onto old habits here.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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So we're getting close to the end of our Invincible Comic Book Book Club and it would be an understatement to say things have escalated. To be honest, things get so intense in these 5 volumes, I was so traumatized, I thought I had already released this episode. So apologies for the delay but we're finally back. 

So what happens in these 5 volumes? Oh nothing, just....

* Allen decides to release the Scourge virus on Earth, knowing that it might kill all the humans on earth as well. Oliver agrees

* Invincible gets hit with concentrated Scourge virus, nearly killing him and taking his powers

* Bulletproof becomes the "Black Invincible" 

* Invincible's plan with Dinosaurus goes horribly wrong, surprising no one

* Cecil bans Nolan to the Moon to keep an eye on the other Viltrumites

* Nolan & Mark are revealed to be the direct descendants of Emperor Argall, thereby making Nolan the new and rightful leader of the Viltrumites

* We find out what really happened with Monster Girl & Robot on the Flaxan home dimension and it's way worse than you could imagine

* Anissa rapes Mark

* Angstrom Levy returns

* Mark and Eve have a baby

* Rex/Robot launches his plan for world domination and....wins

So just a few things. Nothing major.

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After the success of the first Maleficent, centering another iconic Disney character in a live-action film was inevitable. Having that character be Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians? Well, that's a move certain to have a some people asking why. But it's not really that complicated. There's plenty of opportunity for mayhem (and monetizing) telling a villain's origin story. The twist? Just don't watch Cruella expecting a redemption arc....or a story about dogs. 

Cruella blends aesthetics together with its rather obvious storyline into a stylish-to-death path of a young genius' (Emma Stone) turn to the dark side. It is a Disney property; so despite its PG-13 rating there's a line this story doesn't cross but it has it's moments. There's excessive signposting via an overloaded soundtrack/score. It's a Camp meets Punk, while The Devil wears Prada with Mannequin sensibilities. Come for the vampy two dimensional villain. Stay for a hyper-stylish, messy, and ridiculously imperfect peek at nature versus nurture. 

It's a heist film, a found family story, mentor v mentee pit fight. But mostly its a delightfully garish test of your ability to not rolling your eyes. But overall, Cruella is for the dark and twisty little kid who really wanted to know what's up with the nutty lady obsessed with dalmatians. So come for the fashion and stay for Emma Thompson's brutal foil Baroness von Hellman. 

But whatever you do, for goodness sake don't expect the film's deadpan humor, and romp through the 60s and 70s to ever be more than a snarky, sly bit of sleight-of-hand when it comes to the backstory of Cruella De Vil. 

Listen as Phenom and Ro discuss Cruella's highs and lows wherein Ro freely admits she's that kid who only watched 101 Dalmatians for its absolutely unhinged villain.  

Cruella releases simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on Friday, May 28.

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Who knew that Director Sharpe tasted like chicken? Of course it would be Gary to figure out first that the people after him and Sara were actually Ava clowns and of course he ate a few (It's going to take a while to get used to Gary being an alien). That's the great thing about Legends. We have no idea where any of the stuff is going with Sara and Gary but we're fully invested. And while we wait for it to be revealed, we get to deal with the usual Legends hijinks and watch the Legends spoof America's Got Talent/The Masked Singer to hold off an alien invasion. 

What makes Legends work is that it leans into its ridiculousness and knows exactly what it is. We were disappointed with this weeks Flash episode because we had Barry doing the same dumb thing that he's been doing every season and it feels like we're getting now growth. But Legends does the same thing every season but manages to keep it fresh by mixing up the characters learning the lessons and using it as character growth. As ridiculous as this episode is we get more growth on social influencer Zari, another odd ball relationship (Zari and a Constantine that wants to settle down), and Ava telling Mick to get his shit together and calling him out. This show has always been about the cast and letting them do what they do best to tell the story and it really reminds us of how well Agents of SHIELD worked out. 

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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Episode 10 of Season 7 of  The Flash (Family Matters Part 1) is a bit of a frustrating and disappointing episode. Yes, this season is doing a great job of sticking to the theme of family and making it connect to all the characters on the show. We're also happy with the adaptation this season is doing with the Williamson run. That said, this episode was disappointing because it feels like Barry had a huge backslide. We've done this before. We've seen Barry push someone he's training too hard and not be understanding. Watching Barry push Alexa was just annoying. His whole thing of "We need to do this to protect yourself" made no sense. There's no indication that the other forces, even when trained could stop the Speed Force (see the end of the episode). Not only that but just logically, it makes no sense to train someone to use this power when you don't even fully understand it yourself. It would have made more sense if it was Iris or someone else on the team pushing Alexa to train but not Barry. Especially when he made a boneheaded decision the last episode (time travel...again Barry?). It shouldn't have taken Caitlin pointing out that Thawne Wells should more patience and understanding when trying to teach Barry to use his powers than Barry showed Alexa. Come on man.

Our hope is that since this is a Part 1, Part 2 will make up for this momentary lapse. The good news is Barry seemed to finally get it. Problem is, in the end Alexa still went to help him so did he really learn a lesson? We'll see.  We'll also see what's next for Joe now that he's stepped down as Captain. We're really curious as to what Kramer's problem is. Her fight against metahumans seems way more personal than "a meta betrayed my team". 

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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Gotta hand it to Iris and Barry. They take the approach of "Go Big or Go Home" when it comes to bad ideas. First, Iris really gotta stop calling the Speed Force 'Nora'. That's not Barry's mom. Clearly. Also, while we appreciate the optimism and desire to save people/things, not everyone can be saved. When the Speed Force not only admits to manipulating Barry to help her attempt to kill another Force but then flat out says "You're gonna help me kill more", that's not the time for "We can still save her".

On the flip side, Barry...time travel never goes well for you. Never. Don't even think about it.

That said, all the choices, even the dumb ones, line up with the characters and the story that's been building. The Flash is about family and making Barry & Iris the creators/parents of these new forces make sense. It also highlights how much not having a Flash Family anymore has affected them. Flashes don't run alone. And right now we're seeing more and more of the non-runner family slip away. Wells is gone. Frost is locked up. And it seems like Cisco is finally ready to leave Central City. Clearly the big theme this season is family and building the Flash family back up.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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Never ask what's in the secret sauce. Never. It never ends well and you're never going to want to know the answer. As always, what makes Legends of Tomorrow so good is that it's able to be absolutely ridiculous, while also having serious moments. Sure it's easy to focus on the ridiculous things like the not-Mothra Mothra (complete with Godzilla roar), the not-so-subtle shots at McDonalds or Sara & Gary following a dog on an alien planet with a scarf. But there are other things that actually connect to the ongoing themes and story on the show:

* Nate has actually been really enjoyable this season. Nate is at his best when he's not just blindly following behind his latest love. He actually seems content and accepts what's happened to Zari and that just makes for a better character. Also, he's a good character to be the number 2 to Ava and remind her that it's okay to not be okay with Sara being gone

* Ava's actually becoming a good Captain because she's leaning into the disorganization of the legends and recognizing that that is what makes them work. This is what Sara wanted her to understand last season and she's doing it. Also, as a whole, the Legends have been pretty competent so far this season and part of that is that Ava is leaning into their strengths

* Sara has always been special but it seems we might be getting more information on that and why Gary was told that she was the one to capture

* Spooner is this season's misfit that is joining the Legends and well, can't argue with her plan: Save Sara and shoot as many aliens as possible. We can work with that

We don't know where this season is going but we're all on board for whatever it is.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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