RAVE: Secret by Jonathan Hickman and Ryan Bodenheim.

 

    "Never Get Caught" - Secret

    At the beginning of this month, I have done my now patented review of all media I consume during 'X' month Rants and Raves. Spoiler if you have no seen read it or seen it but my tied number one piece of content for the month of September is 'Secret'. I say shared because it was tied with a Korean Drama me and my wife watched called 'Moving' which was just as amazing as 'Secret'.  'Moving' and 'Secret' also have earned a new distinction, something I have called the 'Golden' RAVE which means it is hands down my favorite content of the month so it'll differ itself from other highly rated content. 'Moving' however has got its flowers not just from me but from the massive amount of people who have watched it. It is critically acclaimed and publicly lauded as one of the best K-dramas of 2023 when it first aired and rightfully so, it is an amazing piece of media. However on the other hand I believe that 'Secret' does not get the accolades I feel it deserves so for that reason and others; I present to you, my RAVE for 'Secret' by Jonathan Hickman and Ryan Bodenheim.

    The Man with the Plan.

    After revitalizing the Fantastic Four; creating Secret Warriors with Brian Michael Bendis and his other slept on masterpiece S.H.I.E.L.D, Jonathan Hickman was called the new architect of the Marvel Universe by Marvel themselves. They put all their faith in him as they gave him full reign over Marvel's biggest property at the time, the Avengers. This was around the time the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was at the height of its powers so for him to be given the rein over the golden goose truly showed how much Marvel believed in him. A lot of the MCU biggest moments owes its very existence to Hickman and I often do that Leonardo DiCaprio meme when I spot his fingerprints in their films. Some of its biggest upcoming events still to come in the movies is again drawing a lot of influence from him, specifically Avengers: Secret Wars. So what I am trying to say is Hickman is a master of his craft and when he plans, he plans big. Over the last 10-12 years, when it comes to reading comics, I know if I pick up a Jonathan Hickman book, I am due for a good time. He is consistently the only writer I would go to a comic book store and pick up a floppy (aka a single issue of a comic) over what I normally buy because I can not wait for the trade. He is my favorite comic book writer of all time, easy. So I am saying all of this because I read anything he writes and for the longest time I had a book of his on deck but I never pulled the trigger. That book is called 'Secret'.

    I have purchased all of Hickman's creator owned/ independent work through the years after making him my favorite writer. When ether it be the hard sci-fi of 'The Red Wing', the thought provoking time travelling saga 'Pax Romana' or his magnus opus (at least so far to me) Western epic that is 'East of West'. I, however was missing two series, one was the 'The Dying and the Dead' and the other was 'Secret', ironically both drawn by Ryan Bodenheim. I have since corrected that and I now own both. Tragically 'The Dying and the Dead' was never finished and it looks like it never will be due to the passing of Ryan Bodenheim but 'Secret' was and what a story it weaves.

    Using all the hallmarks of a good Hickman story; 'Secret' combines witty dialogue, morally grey characters, a epic plot and a killer ending. It focuses on a private security firm stumbling onto the something much larger then them after the death of one of their own. As our main characters try to get the bottom of the titular secret and get some revenge a long the way it all explodes, literally. People die, uneasy alliances are exposed and betrayals most foul. I won't give away anymore because I honestly want anyone that reads this RAVE to read the book for themselves.

    Now here comes the crazy part. It is not super easy and I feel it is because 'Secret' has fallen in the cracks. The 'Secret' trade paperback which collects all seven issues is not available on Amazon. You can not even purchase the physical singular issues, everything concerning 'Secret' is only through digital means. As a collector/ fan of physical media especially for things I love, this was un-acceptable. Because of this I had to go outside of my normal haunts and I was only able to get my hands on it thanks to Ebay. This is not the first time Ebay has come in clutch for me and it probably won't be the last. Now I think about it, all my most recent purchase for this duo of Hickman and Bodenheim has been through Ebay. I purchased their previous collabo 'Red Mass for Mars' through them and their last collabo, the aforementioned 'Dying and the Dead' as well. Funny that. Because it slip through the cracks a lot of people do not know just how good this book is. I do not see any Youtube explained videos for it, or 'read this comic' videos and it is a shame and one of the reasons why this RAVE exists. The other reason is I want to draw attention Hickman's collaborator and the person who brought 'Secret' to life, Ryan Bodenheim.

This image is from 'The Dying and the Dead' Issue # 1

    Eyes Wide Open

    Ryan Bodenheim or as he like to be called Bode is a self taught artist from Oklahoma but he spent most of his time in Dayton, Ohio, which is wild to me because that is super close to where I live. Ryan peacefully passed away in Dec, 2021 and I must say the world has lost a prodigious talent in his departure. I found Ryan's art of course through Jonathan Hickman and their collaboration, 'The Dying and the Dead' and I was blown away by his talent. There is one splash page in 'TDD' that still to this day, takes my breath away and as I type this I think I might have it framed for my office. From that day onwards, my eyes were wide open. Sadly, 'TDD' was never completed and was plagued by delays so I never really got to experience it until last month when I finally bought all the available issues from... you guessed it, Ebay. My next experience with Bode's work was him and Hickman's first collaboration 'Red Mass for Mars.' Again I was blown away by how hyper detailed Bode's work was and whilst the story for 'Red Mass for Mars' is good, it is the art which truly made me like it. In 'Secret' I truly got the best of both worlds with both of them at their peaks. I mean look at the image above and say you are not in awe.

    Sadly, related to Bodenheim not getting his flowers while he was here, only 'Red Mass for Mars' is readily available for regular purchase easily (again not digital.) and there has never been a trade paper back for 'TDD'. I think this is criminals because instead of people seeing the praises of Ryan, we instead have hacks like Greg Land and AI artists clogging our internet feeds. Again, it is not much but here, I am using my platform and voice to elevate that Ryan Bodenheim might be the one of best artist you have never heard of and a gem for anyone who have discovered him. His beautifully detailed art, spot on reflections, complex storytelling techniques and way he was able to collaborate with frequently colorist Michael Garland is a sight to be seen. Speaking of.

    A Family Affair

    Using a style they started in 'Red Mass for Mars'; Michael Garland's coloring brings another dimension to Bode's art. All three projects collaborations of Hickman/ Bodenheim/ Garland use a distinctive coloring which is unlike anything I have ever seen and it is in full display in 'Secret'. This might take some getting used to at first but once you see it is part of the process; you'll grow to like it. This is use to perfection in 'Secret' and 'TDD' and I can not sing praises for 'Secret' without acknowledging the importance of its colorist.

    The color red is used perfectly and sticks out like blood on a monochrome figure, men's ties and a spook's glasses. It actually inspired my new profile picture on the side of this blog. The irony is not loss on me that in a world of blurred lines with no black or white hats, a world filled with spies and secret societies, a more subdued palette is used and to great effect. Also amazingly, Michael Garland is not known for coloring comics but as an author and illustrator of children's novels... like what?!

Is this was the cover I might have bought it day one.

    "I've always been the boss."

    Earlier in this RAVE, I discussed why 'Secret' was one of the last Hickman independent projects I have picked up. I mentioned how it is not mentioned in a lot of conversations of what Hickman has done. He has done three different books with the word 'Secret' in it, he has also written 'Secret Wars' and 'Secret Warrirors' with both getting much more attention then this, his independent project. I mentioned how hard it was to purchase through regular means and having to resort to Ebay of all things (which I have come to discover is amazing at getting my hands on niche things I enjoy) but I will not lie to you. One of the major reasons why I didn't pick up 'Secret' originally was because of the cover they picked for the first issue and the trade paperback. Yes, the very same image that started this RAVE. I'll admit it, I judged a book by its cover. Sure, the cover makes sense and in the same first issue it plays big into the story but I just could never escape how strange it was. All of Hickman's covers are strikingly unique with amazing use of negative space so for this cover to just be what it was, I didn't buy it. By sheer luck, I stumbled on 'Secret' during a library visit and borrowed it and as soon as I finished reading it I was like... I need this in my life and bought it. HECK, I am going to buy a second copy because my original copy is kind of in a bad shape (you get what you pay for I guess) so I'm going back to Ebay to purchase another copy and I am giving the beat-up one to my bestie because honestly, people need to know about Hickman, Bodenheim and Garland and if it falls on me to spread the message, consider me contagious.

    Beyond a shadow of a doubt; it is no longer a 'Secret' (to me at least) and it gets a massive RAVE.

AV

P.S Now I have completed my Hickman independents collections, I'll be making a LIST ranking my favorites to my not favorites because I do not have any least favorites when it comes to Hickman. It'll be out later this month.

LIST: September's Rants & Raves

Y'all should know how this works now. Rantings go from worst to best but this week we even have a extra rating which I will only use for wrap up LIST, which is the Golden RAVE which is hands-down my favorite thing of the month.

Shall we begin!

14. True Detective Season 3: 6.5 - Okay

    Honestly this one almost fell into a RANT territory. This month I decided thanks to my local library to watch a TV show that had been pay-walled by HBO. I watched two season of True Detective and I must say both were completely different experiences. I will discuss season one much later so let's focus on season three.

    This season was boring. A case which started out very interesting became less and less and the tension between the main characters was nowhere as well done as it was in season one. I know now why a lot of people say season one of True Detective can not be replicated because this season tried and failed in all aspects.

    As a big fan of Mahershala Ali's work, he was one of the few bright spots in what was a very pedestrian, safe and mediocre season. Also do not get me started about the ending scene which lowered this show final rating a whole point. It is funny, I was told season two of True Detective was cheeks and three was a return to form. Whoever said that was lying through their teeth.

13. Star Trek Discovery The Final Season: 7 - OKAY

         It is funny that this comes right after True Detective season 3 because Star Trek Discovery Final Season was no-where as bad as it. Sure, Discovery weakness are still very obvious. This season we get back arguably my favorite character Tillie but they side-line Saru instead and Saru is so badly needed because he makes Michael Burnham less of a Mary Sue if he is there because Lord forbid, someone other than Michael saves the day.

    I heard this season was a bit more optimistic because the last two seasons of Discovery have been pretty serious and I did feel the optimism. The overarching storyline was not bad and had some high but the lows were pretty bad. One episode in particular, 'Whistlespeak' may go down as the worst episode of any Star Trek media I have ever watched and an insult to long time Star Trek fans with how frivolously they played with the Prime Directive. Also I am all for inclusion but this episode felt like Tyler Perry levels of pandering to a specific audience. Yes, it was that bad. This episode alone dropped this season final rating by a full point. Discovery has always given us bad, filler episodes before but they mastered it with 'Whistlespeak'.

    Overall, the final ending had some good moments and I am happy we got some resolutions but on the other hand there was also a very egregious scene which I won't spoil but left a very bad taste in my mouth as well. Now I think about, The Final Season does deserve its spot here. Part of me wants to write a full RAVE/RANT about Star Trek Discovery as a whole but the other part of me is just happy it is done.

12. Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning: 7.5 - OKAY

    Bloodfever the second book in Karen Marie Moning's 'Fever' series was a good read. I think my only real issue with it was it was very safe and not much happened in it. Mac, our heroine starts book one looking for who killed her sister, the book ends with her looking for who killed her sister, our hero does know if she can trust her advisor Barrons, it ends with her not knowing if she can trust her advisor Barrons. Y'all noticing the same pattern I am right.

    Honestly Darkfever, the first book in the series at least had some real moments that moved the needle, while this one just felt like bridging chapter in a book, not a full sized novel. Even the 'big bad' of this book isn't a new character and a left-over from the previous one. Also the abrupt ending did not help at all as well. I was like 'That's the final chapter?'

    I do intend to continued with the series now that I am invested but I have heard worrying talk about how this book and every one after it follows a trend of spinning its wheels before the big conclusion in book five. I guess we shall see after I read book 3 but if the word on the street is right I might skip out the remaining books.

11. Aliens vs Avengers: 8 - Rave

    Ahh, our first Rave of the month and to no surprise it is a book written by Jonathan Hickman. However, to my surprise and anyone's surprise if they know me this book is only a lower case Rave and also outside of the top 10. How does a J. Hickman book end up outside of the top 10? Easy. It is because of it's low stakes.

    I know, how the heck can a book that has the death of 90% of the world population, the death of many major Avengers and more be considered low stakes? Well, first it does not take place in the current timeline or even our universe. To give Hickman the permission to go nuts the upper management let Hickman destroy a non prime universe instead. Which is cool because if Hickman can write him an amazing post apocalyptical saga (see 'East of West'). However when this was first sold to me I really hoped it would not be an alternative universe saga which it ended up being.

    This is still a great read tho, Hickman still has his favorites, the Iron Man, Black Panthers, Valerie Richards  and Mister Sinister that he writes so well and his gives us some amazing moments with Miles Morales and Carol Danvers. I am also rating this lower because the ending just lacked something and it is sad because if it is one thing Jonathan Hickman does is stick the landing.

10. Marvel Zombies (Disney Plus): 8.5 - RAVE

    Shambling into the top 10 is Marvel Zombies. As a big fan of the original 'What If' episode which gave creation to this series, I was looking forward to it and it did not disappoint. Sure, it got a bit formulaic with killing off main characters one by one for shock value but the storyline was compelling. Also kudos to all the voice talent that reprised their roles especially Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan, who I have said countless times before is a MCU MVP and deserves to be treated thus) and Simu Liu (Shang Chi) who did a lot of the heavy lifting.

    The animation was good however I could never connect with how they did Elizabeth Olsen's human version. She just looked... different. Wanda is one of my favorite characters in the MCU and in comics so when she doesn't look right I don't like it.

    So why top 10 and not higher? It appears to the same reoccurring issue with the bottom part of this month's content, the ending. I think as a budding writer, I always aim to have a good if not great ending so when I get endings like the bottom of this list I am always feeling odd. I always say to myself, that is how we wanted it to end? That was the best choice? Now, Marvel Zombies is part of the horror genre so 'shocking' ending are the norm but still, I was left wishing for more.

9. Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 2 The Paper: 8.5 - RAVE

    

      Our second Jonathan Hickman entry and surprisingly it also falls in the back end of this LIST but I have my reasons. Similar to my critique of Bloodfever above, this volume of Ultimate Spider-man feels heavy on the world building and less on the cool action stuff something volume one did not have an issue balancing. One of my biggest critiques for this volume is how talking heads it felt with tons of dialogue and don't get me wrong, I love dialogue and Hickman writes some of the best 'talking head' scenes in the business, hands down but sometimes I just wanted something cool to happen and it just... didn't.

    However, all of my complaints fall apart as we reached the final issue of this volume and well Hickman comes out swinging and I am fully invested in Ultimate Spider-man saga again. As I said above, my issues with some of content I enjoy is either they don't stick the landing or the ending it is just there. This volume's ending shows you can end with a bang and leave people anticipating the next chapter. Hickman also masterfully re-introduces a character who has never been relevant in Mary Jane's sister and made her a fully dimensional character IN ONE ISSUE. Amazing.

8. Light Shop: 8.5 - RAVE

    Yes, we are adding K-drama content to this LIST now, why? Because it is my list and I determine what going on it. Light Shop by popular Korean webtoon artist Kang-full is part of his Kang-full universe. His other big project is also on this list but we will discuss that one when we arrive there.

    How can I describe Light Shop without spoiling it? The irony of a show called Light Shop that is actually very, very dark has not escaped me. The first couple of episodes will definitely throw you for a loop and it is very non-sequitur by nature, it also has some really challenging moments for people who don't normally watch scary content. But at the same time, it has real heart as well. One scene that I will not spoil almost had me in tears.

    All I can say is you need to experience it for yourself especially if you are a fan of good acting, labyrinthine story telling with a goal and you need a good scare. Also shout out to K-pop artist Seol-Hyun from AoA fame, this should have been the role that propelled her to mega stardom because she killed it.

7. K-Pop Demon Hunters: 8.5 - RAVE

    Okay, this month's first big confession. I did not know how I would feel about K-pop Demon Hunters at first. When I first heard about it and how the talent attached to it only had K-pop adjacent connections I figured this was just some people trying to ride the popular K-wave and make some easy money. So it was my surprise when many members of my family decided to recommend it to me and my wife who are massive K-pop fans. Now these are people who would barely know a ATEEZ from a AESPA but they loved it and was disappointment me and my wife had no watched it yet.

    So one random night we did and we loved it. The animation was done very well, with some really satisfying scenes with well used colors, the voice talent all brought it and the songs? Each one of the songs from 'Soda Pop' to 'Golden' are certified bangers and me and my wife can see how it became instant brain bugs. Like take the quick accessibility of K-pop add culturally unique story and catchy visuals and basically Netflix and Sony Animation tapped the perfect storm.

    Also unlike last month's previous entry Butterfly which definitely had Korean references and even had legit Korean stars, K-pop Demon Hunters feels more honest in it's homage to the Korean culture. When ether it'll be dropping some Korean words in songs which could have been in 100% English or reference K-pop behavior correctly by showing how fandoms really make or break a group. Even the food references were on point. In Butterfly the Korean references felt like a costume, something that was interchangeable with any other culture, in K-pop Demon Hunters it felt like its identity and it embraced it and honesty as well as its catchy songs and good storyline made me and wife a genuine fan.

6. True Detective Season 1: 8.5 - RAVE

    

        Just barely outside of the Top 5 is True Detective season one. You know everything I said about True Detective Season 3 at the top of this list? This season is why it failed because had such big shoes to follow. True Detective season one maybe one of the best single seasons of American TV ever written explicitly for TV, this is no hyperbole. This show is why HBO should exist. I feel no other network could have deliver what True Detective delivered in this season, a potent mixture of dark themes, sensuality, carnality and human drama.

    The main leads, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson (whom I always felt was a decent actor but did he deliver in this show) and Michelle Monaghan brought their A-game with Matthew's character spouting some of the wildest most quotable stuff imaginable. The storyline moved with the a tidal force, pulling us along with it and the masterful mixture of three time periods to tell one story inspired me in my own fiction I am writing and that ending? Chef Kiss and even raised this show's final score up a half mark and elevated it above the two other 8.5 in this LIST.

    So the question exists. What went wrong with every other season after this one? Why did all of them fail to even touch the top of the boots of season one? I have no answers for you. Part of me thinks it is because Cary Joji Fukunaga (the sole director of season one) was no longer apart of the creative process and his vision as the director helped make True Detective season one what it was but who knows. Maybe writer Nic Pizzolatto had one great story to tell and the two seasons he has written after is just him trying to capture lighting in a bottle again.

5. The Stand (2020): 9 - RAVE

    One of Stephen King's most talked about and popular novels, The Stand was remade and released during 2020. Whenever it be the worst timing ever or divine intervention, for a show about a super flu killing the lion share of the world's population coming out during the peak of the pandemic is something no-one could have predicted.

    After seeing both versions of The Stand, I have to say I disagree with the people saying the original one which came out back in 1994 is the better adaptation. This version was done so much better for me and even what I felt was the biggest problem with the original (a very cheesy ending) felt less comical this time around. I also feel the newer version dives deeper into the religious core of The Stand and instead of shying away from it, it embraced it wholly. It is rare for modern popular media to embrace religion in a respectful way so I was legit surprised The Stand did. We have Whoopi Goldberg's character Mother Abigail quoting the bible verse by verse during appropriate scenes for example.

    I rated this right after True Detective and gave it a higher mark and spot because both of them explore similar themes, the eternal battle between good and evil. The Stand however explored the themes much better and it always felt it was moving forward where I felt True Detective season one stalled a couple times. My reason for it being lower on the list was an extended ending that felt kind of tacked on and self indulgent. I sadly found out this new extended ending was also written by Stephen King himself and well, he could have left this one in the drafts.

4. The Things we leaved Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros: 9 - RAVE

    Number four is actually a shock to anyone that knows me. A romance/ human drama novel? By an author I have never read, let alone heard of? Well, this book was one of those books that when you put down you have like have the biggest bittersweet smile ever. You are happy but man, did the book change you and the story, it sticks with you.

    Coming highly recommend by my wife, The Things... is definitely not in my normal wheelhouse of books I enjoy reading but I can not lie, I enjoy this book a lot. World War 2 played a big role in this book as well and I am so not a fan of that setting but the setting made so much sense with the story it told. Also when I say the twists in this book will get you? I am not lying.

    90% of the books I read these days I use as inspiration for Cloudale, the trilogy of books I am currently writing. I can say beyond a shadow of doubt, a lot of Rebecca's prose inspired me to write better and deliver the best product for my readers. I rated this book as high as I did and placed it so high in this LIST because unlike some of the content on this LIST, I felt like a better enjoyer of content at the end of it.

3. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben: 9 - RAVE

    It is funny with Rebecca placing so high and I've never read one of her books before that at number three we also have an author I have never read before. However I know a lot about Harlan Coben. Me and wife watch a lot of TV together; we watch just about anything but in the last 2 years we have become slightly obsess with the works of Harlan Coben thanks to his hit Netflix shows. We love the twists, the turns and the breakneck pace of them. However as we get to the tail-end of the shows he has written and produced we had to find new outlets, hence his books.

    I Will Find You is the first Harlan book I had read and needlessly to say, the TV shows translates his writing really well. It is the same crazy twist, turns and breakneck pace (unless you are The Woods, but we don't talk about The Woods) we are accustomed too but it is now in book form. I Will Find You is Coben in fine form and delivered a story that'll keep you on the edge of your seat.

    Harlan is an amazing everyday man's writer. Sure he writes for the masses but since when has that been a bad thing, if anything, his writing and pacing has inspired me and I hope that one day to become as prolific as him. Until then, I'll keep reading his novels because from never reading one to picking up a second book straight away, just like his TV shows, I am now hooked.

1 (TIE) Secret: 9.5 - RAVE

    It is funny, this is my first month I have added a 'Golden' RAVE to my LISTs and in this month we have a tie. I need to do a tie this month because no matter how much I tried, I could not bring to give one the edge over the other. My number ones this month are interchangeable in the landscape of my favorite piece of content.

    I will be writing a full length RAVE for Jonathan Hickman's Secret, it deserves one because I have a lot to say and I do not think I can fit it in three paragraphs. That however leads us with a draw and without further ado and tied for first place.

1. (TIE) Moving: 9.5 - RAVE

    I believe the best way someone had described the K-drama show Moving was to call it NBC's Heroes but it never sucked. Heroes season one was a revelation when it came out. Never had a TV series crystalized what made comics so enjoyable but for television. The complex plots with detailed back stories with larger then life characters that engage in epic battles. Heroes even spawned endless copycats but none got close to the perfection of season one. Then season two happened and the rest goes down in infamy.

    Moving does everything Heroes did good (sometimes even better) and make next to none of its mistakes. The pace is never slow, characters are never there just to be there. From the bus driver to a bullied girl at school, everyone has a story. Moving tells a compelling story with three dimensional characters like mobster turned heart of gold protector Joo-won played to perfection by Ryu Seung-ryong or Han Hyo-joo adding to her already impressive resume of amazing roles by bringing subtle nuance to her character Mi-yeon, the fiercely loyal mother of main character Bong-seok. Speaking of Bong-seok get a first class seat and fall in love with him as he falls in love with the girl of his dreams, Hee-soo. But this is not your regular Kdrama, no sir. This drama has it all, government conspiracies, epic betrayals, detestable villains' and epic loves stories which will move you in ways you can not imagine on a epic scale rarely seen outside of a MCU movie.

    I mentioned previously Kang-full delivered a dark but moving story in Light Shop but in Moving, there was never a dull moment and me and my wife binge-watched the Hell out of it. This drama comes so highly recommended that if you have not watched you I am envious of you because I would love to experience it all over again because this... this is super heroes done right.

AV    

LIST: August's Rants & Raves

 Building on last month's LIST, I have decided to make it an ongoing thing to review most of the media I consume. This month we are adding 'completed' comic books to the list as well. The Rants & Raves system goes like this, rating from worst to best: RANT, Okay, OKAY, Rave, RAVE. This was a busy month so without more to say, lets talk about it.

13. Old : 7/10 - OKAY

Thanks to Amazon Prime, I was finally able to watch Old, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Even tho this is least favorite piece of media for this month, it is actually not that bad. The films pacing was decent, it had some good actors including Aaron Pierce before his 'breakout 'film Rebel Ridge and the storyline was good enough.

However, I do not know why the film casted foreign actors and make them speak English because it was noticeable when they struggled with the language. I do not mind actors speaking in their native tongue, I watch a lot of foreign content and I prefer subtitles over dubs 90% of the time but I guess for an English language film, they needed them to speak English and it just felt odd choice to make. Also the twist was completely un-necessary and I feel M. Night has built his brand over his twists now and sometimes I feel the movie can just shine on it own without a 'uh huh' moment. I originally had another M. Night film in my catalog of films to watch, The Village, but because of Old and me needing a break from his style of film, I have pushed further back in my catalog. Maybe in September we will get to it.

12. Star Trek Discovery Season 4: 7.5/10 - OKAY

Normally a 7.5 on my rating would be classified as a Rave but I am thinking of changing my rating system slightly going forward. I think a 7.5 should be classified as an OKAY and I have no problems giving Season 4 of Discovery an OKAY rating because that is what it was.

Thanks to my local library, I have been able to watch Star Trek Discovery, season by season and while I do not hate it as much as some Trekkers do (and for the most un-reasonable reasons too), I do feel it will eventually rate as a decent series. I do enjoyable it has ongoing arcs, I do enjoy most of the cast. However this season showed a lot of problems with it and I can't ignore them anymore. The storyline while decent but filler episodes galore (All In I am looking at you in particular) spoiled what could have been a really good story. It also did not help they sidelined arguably my favorite character Tilly early on as well. Compared to other seasons of Discovery; it felt lacking to me. It also did not help I saw a much better version of this season but I'll save that for my Season 2 review.

11. The Iron Trial: Book 1 of the Magisterium by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black: 8/10 - Rave 

Okay, big confession. For awhile my wife and I was consuming YA novels like a madmen. I read The Hunger Games and a couple other YA books but the ones I enjoyed reading the most was the Shadowhunters series of books written by Cassandra Clare and I really enjoyed her trilogy set in the past called The Infernal Devices. During my Cassandra Clare reading days I learned of pentalogy of books she planned to write with a good friend, Holly Black. Me and my wife actually bought the first book when it came out but also around this time me and my wife both had a falling out with the YA/ Cassandra Clare craze and we subsequently ignore every book of this pentalogy and even anything Shadowhunter related she wrote as well.

Well early in August, I remember we bought this book and decided to add it to my reading list and I actually enjoyed it. Sure, it borrows a lot from Harry Potter and similar books but it has its own uniqueness which made it stand out to me. The characters are a like-able bunch, there was a nice twist and  I also forgot how easy it was to read YA books like this and it was a nice juxtaposition to the other big book I was reading this month, which I will discuss later in this list. The main thing is, this first book did its job and I will eventually read the second book in this series and maybe even pick up some Shadowhunter books I have missed a long the way to. It may be third last thing in this list but I actually recommend this book to anyone who likes this genre.

10. Wicked: 8/10 - Rave

Second big confession. I think I do not mind musicals anymore. I used to actually avoid any movie that was a musical, however over time I realized I can watch them and even enjoy some of them. The most recent The Color Purple for example? I enjoy the heck out of it. I have even seen some musicals live recently and I am not bored out of mind anymore. I guess I just had to have the right mindset for them and now I have it, I can enjoy them. How can I relate this long confession to Wicked? Well, I think it might be my favorite musical of recent memory.

I was actively avoiding this film for the longest time. I must admit over time I have grown to not like Ariana Grande as a person. Do not ask me why but she just rubs me the wrong way. Add that to Cynthia Erivo's meltdown over a edited picture (you all know the one) and well I did not know if I wanted to watch something with both of them in it. However when the chance arrived to watch it for free, I decided to give it a try and I am happy I did. Both leads killed it, singing wise with Cynthia as 'different' as she is being a particular stand-out. Gal can SANG. I love how they remixed the story of the Wizard of Oz and I enjoyed the sheer spectacle of it. I enjoyed this movie so much that when its sequel comes out later this year, I think me and my wife will be seeing in the theater. It was that good. Also as a big fan of Jon M. Chu, I am happy he is finally getting recognized as well for his directing. I have followed him since his web series The Legion of Xtraorindary Dancers and it is nice to see him have another massive hit under his belt to go with his Crazy Rich Asians success.

9. Butterfly: 8/10 - Rave

Along side Jon M. Chu getting more recognition I am also happy to see another industry stalwart Daniel Dae-Kim his flowers too. DDK has been in the business for a long time (I remember seeing him in the Angel tv series lifetimes ago) and it is nice he finally has his moment in the sun with a product he really believes in. Butterfly based on the graphic novel by Arash Amel was brought to people's attention thanks to DDK and after reading the source material I am happy the creator of the series and DDK changed it enough to make it even better, at least to me. The graphic novel was good but as a TV series it just worked better.

The cast was great, with them being able to merge the worlds of the west with DDK, Piper Perabo and Reina Hardesty (who a newcomer to me, did an amazing job bringing Rebecca to life) with the east by bringing in well known Korean talent like Kim Tae-hee, Park Hae-soo (of Squid Games fame), Kim Ji-hoon (who plays bad a bit too well) and ol' reliable veteran actor Sung Dong-il, which if you watch any Korean media you should know who he is. The story was compelling and the action was shot well. I also enjoyed how much of Korea was shown off and I know this was something DDK wanted to do explicitly. 

However it is at the bottom end of this month's list because despite it being a marriage of East and West, the West sensibilities took over. Instead of a true marriage, it seem the West influences won because Butterfly has more western DNA then eastern sadly. The action was more violent, the sexuality was turned up and the curse of every western show, the need to write for a second season showed its head with a very 'on-the-nose' cliffhanger. I honestly had higher hopes for it and I do hope it gets renewed because of it does not, I feel my rating will go down considerably because of how it ended. Referencing my Old Guard 2 review, I do not enjoy when media is written with sequels in mind when it is not guaranteed. Purposely cutting your work off at the knees in aims for more profit/ more product is never a good look to me.

8. Star Trek Discovery Season 2: 8/10 - Rave

Earlier in this very blog, I discussed how much season 4 of Discovery was good but there was better examples of what they did. Well, season 2 is that example. The storyline was much more compelling, the filler episodes felt less tacked on (they were definitely some filler episodes tho, looking at you New Eden) and despite the cast getting bloated with new additions like Captain Christopher Pike and Spock, they were welcomed additions. I think it helped that Michelle Yeoh's Captain Georgiou was a bigger part of this season and well, she is just amazing in every scene she is placed in.

When the climax happened and everything clicked, it was some of the best Discovery I have watched  and I think following up on this season was not easy. Season 3, which I never reviewed here but I did watched did a decent job and I feel season 4 is when the cracks really begin to show. Both 3 and 4 tried to replicate what season 2 did and it just did hit the same for me at least. Season 2 showed what potential Discovery had and I even put it above seasons of my classic Trek like Voyager and DS9. It was that good.

7. Imajica by Clive Barker: 8/10 - Rave

Imajicia by my favorite author of all time Clive Barker is a massive book. At 800 + pages, it took me awhile to get through it and at the end I can say, I enjoyed it. However compared to most of Mr. Barker's amazing work, I rate it pretty low on my favorites of his. Sad because Imajica was a book, I have owned for years and I purposely sat on it because of its scope and its almost mythical status in Barker's fan circles. The beginning of the book? Yes, I relate and I agree but Imajica lost me a lot during the middle of the book and almost near the end as well. Thankfully the last couple of chapters really redeemed it in my eyes and I started really enjoying it again but for awhile Imajica could have got a 7.5 or even a 7 from me.

It is wild saying this but I feel sometimes Clive himself got caught up in the scope of it and he lost his way, at least to me. I also feel, what he attempted in Imajica, he has fully realized in his Abarat series, his series of novels designed for Younger readers because Abarat explores the scope of multiple worlds linked together so much better. However without a doubt, Imajica does have Clive at his best when it comes to sensuality tho, in that, Imajica is probably one of his best novels exploring that. Overall, a good book that lost its way but finished strong.

6. Heart Eyes: 8.5/10 - RAVE

Even though this film has been panned by some people I really enjoyed it and it almost cracked my top 5 favorite media for last month. I enjoyed everything about this movie, I love the storyline and the twists which even tho they seemed obvious to me, was still a nice surprise. I enjoyed the sometimes ironic but also well placed popular music used through-out it. I particular enjoyed the main cast, starting with Mason Gooding (Cuba Gooding Jr's son all grown up) as a likeable male lead and Olivia Holt who I really enjoyed as Dagger in Marvel TV's Cloak and Dagger, as the female lead.

Heart Eyes feels closely related to Scream movies where it almost feels like a parody of horror movies while still being a well filmed and a well scripted horror film. All I can really say is if you enjoyed a bit of comedy with your terror and don't mind a bit of blood (because it gets bloody, trust me) and even some romance with chemistry, you might enjoy this as much as I did. Also can we get Olivia Holt and her Cloak and Dagger co-star Aubrey Joseph in more media please? They are two bright stars who should get more shine.

5. Fantastic Four: First Steps: 8.5/10 - RAVE

After so many failed attempts by Fox to make a Fantastic Four movie, Marvel finally came along and showed them how to do it. The anti-thesis of the super dark Fantastic Four (2015) where Fox tried to turn Marvel's first family into a grim dark body horror film filled with dark corridors, Marvel's FF: First Steps brings back what made the Fantastic Four such great heroes in the first place, their sense of family and hope.

Using a retro future aesthetic fused with the soul of Jack Kirby (the often overlooked co-creator of a lot of Marvel's greatest heroes) Matt Shakman (showrunner of another retro futuristic Marvel property WandaVision) understood the assignment and he showcased the FF in ways we have no seen before. Never has someone understood the bond between the Storm siblings like he did, the brotherhood Reed and Ben shared, the love between Reed and Sue and the friendly rivalry between the Human Torch and The Thing. His Galactus? Perfect. Shakman and his team, made Galactus the threat he deserved to be. I think First Steps is in my top 5 because this is the Fantastic Four I grew up reading. The only people who did not enjoy this movie do not understand the source material and that sucks... for you. This and Superman showed that not all superhero films need to be dark and gritty to be good and for that I am thankful because after so many failed attempts, we finally got a movie deserving to be called 'Fantastic'.

4. Thunderbolts *: 8.5/10 - RAVE

It is funny that I started my month with Fantastic Four: First Steps and I ended the month with another Marvel film, however Thunderbolts * understood the assignment as well and I enjoyed it as much, if not even more then the Fantastic Four in some parts, hence the higher placement.

The anti-Avengers nature of Thunderbolts * is not lost on me. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine played to perfection by Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the Nick Fury of this phase of Marvel movies, slowly building a group of imperfect heroes but unlike Fury, de Fontaine did not have the best interest of the world in mind and she recruited a team of screw ups, hot heads and loners and aimed them at each other. Classic Marvel magic happens and they end up teaming up and saving the world from what maybe the most OP hero ever, The Sentry.

It is a shame Thunderbolts * did not do well because it captures so much of what made Marvel movies good for the last decade. The spectacle super powered fight scenes, the light hearted comedy and snappy dialogue (which people are now all of a sudden not a fan of anymore) and the perfect casting of the right people for the right roles. I am standing on business when I say Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova is up there with RDJ as Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers and Chris Hemsworth as Thor as a person who is perfectly casted and embodies their roles. Even the film tackling such a sensitive subjects like trauma, loss of family and mental health was done really well that did not come off as heavy handed or preachy.

 I only have a one big misgiving with it. Like a lot of people *SPOILERS I do not understand the need to include Taskmaster and then to kill her off so quickly * Other than that, Thunderbolts * was a great time and I am happy to place it in my top 5 media I have watched this month.

3. On Writing by Stephen King: 9/10 - RAVE

As anyone who regularly follows this blog knows I am writing a trilogy of novels centered around my fictional town of Cloudale. The recent lack of updates on this blog is actually because of said novels. To help me with this novel, I have started consuming a lot of media, be it, movies, books, tv series and graphic novels. This consumption actually gave birth to the LIST you are reading right now.

To help me with this task, I am not only reading novels but I also reading novels about writing novels, so who better to help then Stephen King himself. One of my favorite authors, I always heard his book about writing, On Writing was one of the best to help you learn how to write so I bought it off Amazon and consumed it in record time.

The book is a mixture of autobiography and style manual and I can say it helped me a lot. Mr. King is a great encourager and his section which shows you how to write is packed with gems that still resonate in my brain as I explore the streets of Cloudale. I have rated it so high and it is listed so high on this LIST because of the impact it has on me. I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you want to write a book, On Writing is essential reading.

2. Absolute Batman Vol. 1: The Zoo: 9/10 - RAVE

With this month, I have expanded my LIST to include novels as well as graphic novels. It is funny because after expanding it I realized I did it because I wanted to draw attention to my top 3 favorite pieces of media for the month of August. At # 2, we have arguably a surprise but in a way, not a surprise. Absolute Batman.

Like everyone else who follows comics, I heard about Absolute Batman, a Batman re-imagined for a much darker universe with a different but familiar origin story, a much more brutal Bruce who is drawn with massive muscles and a weird bat logo on his chest which turns into a Battle-ax (yes, you heard that correctly). A Batman without sidekicks with Alfred playing a completely different role and new, reimagined villains to go with the reimagined dark knight. This book turns Martha Wayne from a woman in a refrigerator into an agent of change and volition. I was thrown by the concept but it intrigued me so when I got the chance to read the first volume, which collects issues 1 to 6, I was hooked. Despite all I said above or perhaps because of it, this is the most excited I have been to read a Batman comic in forever. It low-key does not surprise me tho. I have frequently enjoyed Scott Snyder's work, calling him (for me at least) DC's Jonathan Hickman in the way he has such unique ideas and his follow through. Snyder's dialogue is always on-point too and he just understand these characters. Combine that with the always striking art of Nick Dragotta of East of West fame (aka one of my favorite comic book series of ALL TIME) and I knew I would enjoy it but enjoy it this much? Even I could not predict how much and it is # 2 on this very large list of a reason. I am actually looking forward to a ongoing DC series, my brother Larry (Rest in Peace) would be so happy because I normally don't enjoy DC books but Absolute Batman has me hooked.

1. Wolverine Revenge: 9.5/10 - RAVE

Despite singing its praises above; Absolute Batman did not obtain the top spot for the month of August, no, that honor belongs to Wolverine Revenge. Never have I read a trade that after I finished it I wanted to read the whole thing again. As I read Wolverine Revenge, I have a look of glee on my face as I consumed all five issues within one sitting. Wolverine Revenge has the top spot on this LIST simply because nothing I have watched or read this month can compare to it.

Of course I am biased. My favorite comic book author of all time Jonathan Hickman wrote it to perfection. Greg Capullo, one of Marvel's biggest artists whom they lost to Image (specifically Spawn) came back to draw it. Not just covers too, he drew the interiors as well and he was firing on all cylinders. I always enjoyed Capullo's run on X-Force in the early 90's but he has just got better over time and he flexes that in Wolverine Revenge. Every slash from Wolvie's adamantium claws have bite and no expense was spared, this is Wolverine at his most savage and I love it.

Two masters of their craft, one clear purpose: revenge and a awesome twist which I will not spoil. I have to give it my highest recommendation, it simply deserves it.

AV

The Road to Cloudale: Closer and Closer.

 The Road to Cloudale in an ongoing blog as I speak about my experience writing and hopefully going through all the steps to releasing my first full length novel.

Mockup cover for Cloudale Book 1 (Not Final Cover Art)

    On June 14th, I put out a blog called Look How Far We Have Come. At that time I have been planning and started writing a book I have frequently called my 'dream' book. It was a book series I always wanted to write and for many years I placed it on the backburner and said I would write it one day. Well I was tired of saying, one day, one day so I decided to start writing it.

    Along the way I found a rhythm and a flow state that when I wrote it almost became second nature. I address how I reached this flow state in the follow up blog Consistency and Tracking is Key.

    Now as we draw closer to the final chapters of my first rough draft I think about what a journey it was to get here. I need you reader, to understand, how long it took to go from concept to the place we are now. As I am preparing to write an exciting conclusion to the first book in which I hope to be a 3 book saga of love, loss and learning to live, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I am so excited to share this with everyone.

    I always dreamt of being a writer you see, growing up people would ask me what I wanted to be and I talked about the things that interested me. Journalism excited me for awhile, being an anthropologist seem like a something I could be good at and what I hold my degree in. Heck, at one stage in my life I wanted to live the simple life and either run or help run a book store or be a librarian. All of these dream careers spoke to me at various stages of my life. There was, however, one thing that they all had in common, all of them had some connection to writing, putting words to paper or to word processor as we now do. As time went on I realized that my biggest passion, where my heart truly lay was in the world of writing. It is funny talking about it now because we are more than 3/4 into this year but one of my resolutions for 2025 was to stop procrastinating and to write my novel and now, here we are.

    Now I know this is just the beginning, writing the first draft is one thing but I still need to edit it, I still need to get it out to my beta readers, I need to figure out the legalities to publish it and I need to market it and get it out there but here is the thing. I already did the hardest part. I took something that was previously a mish mash of ideas and transformed it into a story that I am proud to call my own. Characters that I have had full-on conversations with and have live rent-free in my head for years. Soon I'll be able to unlock the door and let people into this world I created, filled with brave, believable protagonists, conflicted antagonists and everything in-between. Soon Cloudale will go from a dream to a reality and I can not wait to show you it.

AV

LIST: July's Rants & Raves

     So as I focused more on my writing these days and less on gaming, I have fallen into a pattern of writing during the day and watching films and TV shows in the evening. Anyone who follows this blog knows I like to do something called Rants & Raves: Quickies which collects all my reviews and normally after I see it; I leave a quick review. Like Snap chat tho, none of these reviews are archived after I update it... until now. I will repost all my thoughts about all the media I have watched this month and I'll use my LIST blog format to rate them from my least to my favorite. I also give them my typical rating of RAVE, Rave, OKAY, Okay, RANT which goes from the highest to the lowest rating. Without more to say.

8. The Predator - 6.5/10 - Okay

    On certain days; my bottom 2 are actually inter-changeable. I, however remembered how much I disliked how much of the key Predator lore was changed with this film and the whole scene when the kid was wearing the Predator helmet took it over the top as my least favorite. The supporting cast was not needed and while Sterling K Brown is an amazing actor (more on him later) he was really working with what he had with this film and it was not much. The ending was weird and obvious sequel bait which it did not need.

    Shane Black is a good director, unlike some people I like his approach to Iron Man 3 and the fact he was part of the original film and he made the film like this? Nope. Not only this is the bottom of my list,  this film gets the second lowest possible rating from me and my least favorite Predator film in the entire franchise and yes that includes both Alien vs Predator movies. Move over AvP: Requiem, we have a new stinker to occupy your spot. Thank goodness for the course correction by Prey because if The Predator was where the franchise was heading, it would have been only downhill from here.

7. The Old Guard 2 - 6.5/10 - Okay

    I will happily admit I enjoyed The Old Guard. It is a solid 8/10 film with interesting world-building, likeable characters and a strong female lead in Charlize Theron. I remembered how excited I was when the sequel was finally announced and given a release date. I told my wife we were so going to watch it opening weekend on Netflix. Unlike The Predator which I knew wasn't a great film after I watched it, my dis-like for The Old Guard 2 has increased over time. I initially gave it a 7.5 after I first viewed it and the score kept dropping.

    What is wrong with this film? One of the people we thought was going to be the major antagonist (and rightfully so) was pushed aside for a big name and Uma's performance just felt phoned in. She truly was not a threat and all the time building up her up ended with a decent fight at the end and more sequel baiting again. What has happened to the art of telling a complete story? Much like The Predator, the supporting cast felt bloated and even the addition of an actor I like in Henry Golding, seemed to added just to be an exposition guy. The fight scenes which was a highlight of the first one seemed bare-boned in this one and the only real good fight was the un-armed between Andy (Charlize's character) and person who should have been the villain for this one, Quynh. On top of that, it seemed they filmed it as cliffhanger and from all the promotion press I have seen, a third one has not even been greenlit. It reminds me of a TV show purposely ending on a cliffhanger but it has not been renewed yet so they try to fish for interest and hope people change their minds and then renew it. I hate that. If you know the writing is on the wall for a project, just write with a finale in mind.

6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - 7.5/10 - Rave

    Aquaman 2 was good. Very paint by the numbers and some cool scenes but it was not anything else. By MCU standards I would call it the 'Thor: The Dark World' type of film which itself is a very serviceable film but also pretty forgettable. Also funny is how much it shared with The Dark World, a powerful God-like hero but acts like a everyday man, a villain who never really exuded any real menace, a basic plot of waking a bigger evil and even the Thor and Loki half-brother dynamic revisited by Aquaman and own half-brother Orm.

    On the rating scale, it was much better than the two movies above it and the actors all did a great job but you could tell this movie felt like it was filmed to fill a quota and some moments really slowed down the pace of it. It is sad to say, this was the film which ended the original DC film universe and it was a whimper not a bang.

5. The Hobbit (The Trilogy) - 8/10 - RAVE

    This is a review for all three films of the Hobbit trilogy which I watched in one night. Yes, I was crazy to watch almost 9 hours of Middle-Earth but you can blame Amazon Prime because they are going to remove it from their service and I wanted to see it before it was too late.

    I come to The Hobbit sharing a lot of thoughts that the fandom have, why 3 movies when the source is a short children's novel? Why the over-use of CGI when the original trilogy had much better creature design especially the Orcs. Why Legolas and his endless aura farming and taking time away from the actual characters from the novel?

    I love the Lord of the Ring movies, they have a spot in my top 10 movies of all time. The Hobbit however was just... good. Almost great at times especially in the scenes with Smaug but this film just reeks of studio influence and now knowing now how Warner Bros. operates; greed. At time I lost interest with these films while I was still watching it which I have never done in any other Tolkein adaptions. I can't even blame the fact they got a different director because Peter Jackson came back and he still does a good job but I felt with a bit of restraint and sticking closer to the source material, these movies could have been another classic. As it stands, it was a good distraction for one night.

4. Alien Romulus - 8/10 - RAVE

    Okay, now we actually get to the good stuff. Alien Romulus was really good. As a mild Alien fan (I have always preferred Predator more) I enjoyed the back to basics approach Romulus had. It functioned as a sci-fi film, it functioned as horror film and it functioned as a Alien film. Like Prey for Predator, Romulus understood the assignment and after stripping away all the excess of Prometheus and Covenant lore, we actually had a thrilling story with great co-leads in Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. There is a scene in the film which maybe one of the best Alien-related scenes I have ever seen and is worth the price of admission alone. Some of the callbacks felt un-necessary and cheesy and I am happy they cleared the legalities behind a certain actor's appearance.

    Based on this film, I am actually excited for Alien Earth and will actually give it a try now because I want more stories told in this world especially if they are done this well.

3. Superman - 8.5/10 - RAVE

    Anyone who knows me knows I am a dedicated Marvel stan. 85% of the comics I read are Marvel. I love Marvel games, I love Marvel movies and I love Marvel characters. True story, I only watched this film because it was a part of a church outing. So I am saying all this to say, I really enjoyed this film. Like really, really. I loved how we basically skipped the origin story we have been told numerous times and we were dropped into the action of a already established Superman. He was already dating Lois and he had already revealed his identity to her. He has already made enemies and friends and we finally brought in elements we have never seen before. Here is Krypto! Here is the Engineer! Here is Mister Terrific and he was... Terrific. Mr. T stole the show and I know a lot of people agree with me. All the actors did a great job with one of the best portrayals of Lois, Jonathan and Ma Kent and Clark I have seen in awhile and Nicholas Hoult killing it as Lex especially after the last dismal attempt from the Social Network kid. This is the Lex we all signed up for.

    The message was timely about acceptance and how all of us despite being called aliens by others are deep down, human. I love how anti-MAGA crowd this film was and not so subtle nods to other issues in the real world. James Gunn is going to be a core piece of the new DC film universe like how Kevin Feige was for Marvel and if this is what he has planned for us, I am impressed. Now lets hope DC keeps up the momentum and continued to put out good films like this one. Supergirl for example looks... interesting. Also it is ironic that I watched the end of the old DC universe and the birth of the new one in the same month.

2. The Sandman Season 2 - 8.5/10 - RAVE

    So remember I said everything above about being a Marvel fan? Yes? So why is Sandman, a DC property my favorite comic book show outside of maybe Invincible. Well it is because it is really damn good. The first season of The Sandman was art and the second season kept the pace, mostly. It introduced the remaining cast of The Endless, Dream's eclectic family and each person was perfectly casted like Dream, Death and Desire. For once, a massive ensemble cast did not hurt a show, it helped it.

    My only gripe is the first half of Season 2 felt much stronger to me compared to the second half. The second half did drag a bit for me and the final showdown with the Furies (don't call them that- watch the show and you'll get it) was rather anti-climatic. Also *SPOILERS* they went with the K-drama ending where the story ended just when it really picked up with the new Dream meeting his new/old family, something that was teased endlessly (pun intended) through out the episode and we just get a glimpse of it. Ugh. *SPOILERS*

    However despite the drama surrounding the creator, I am happy Netflix was able to still release this masterpiece for all of us and gave us a good ending. I feel The Sandman TV series as a whole makes a great defense for TV as a medium to tell better stories compared to the source because I enjoy the Sandman books but I LOVE the TV series. I also have an unhealthy obsession with Death in this show and I think Kirby Howell-Baptiste may one of the best people ever casted for a character since Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. I think I have never watched a Marvel TV show that has reached the heights of The Sandman for me so kudos DC, you win this one. However, despite all this high praise, this is still not my favorite content for the month of July.

1. Paradise Season 1 - 9/10 - RAVE

    So me and my wife are big fans of the TV show This is Us. My wife calls it one of her favorite shows of all time and I definitely put it in my Top 5. One of the best parts of This is Us is the how well Dan Fogelman, the creator of the show understood Sterling K. Brown's strengths and he played to it. So when me and my wife heard that the two will be re-uniting for Paradise, we were hyped. Then the trailer dropped and we were even more hyped. We do not have Hulu tho so we had to wait for Disney Plus to air as part of their relationship with Hulu. Needless to say, when it became available, we devoured all the episodes in a couple nights and we were not disappointed.

    Part thriller, part cautionary tale, part murder mystery and filled with some incredible acting , this is the best TV show I have watched this year. I do not want to spoil it because it is still a relatively new show so people are still getting into it but when I say 2 episodes of this show top my favorite episodes of a TV of all time, I am not lying. If you watched you will know what one of the episodes is because everyone has said the same thing. I will not say much more because I want people to enjoy with the same fresh eyes I did, however, have no doubt, this is my favorite show for July and possibly the year so far.

AV