The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies Review

Last night, Sean and I went to see The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies. Well, Peter Jackson has done it again. He took another book of J. R. R. Tolkien's and painted a vivid image for us. The scenery was breathtaking, as the combat was flawlessly executed. We almost feel it ended too quickly! It's sad to see a series come to an end, but then the journey isn't always quite over. Though Jackson deviated slightly from the book, he still kept true to the story that Tolkien created. The love triangle between Tauriel, Legolas, and Kili finally wraps up in the Battle of the Five Armies, but it seemed a bit rushed. We only really get to see the romance between Tauriel and Kili emerge in the Desolation of Smaug when Tauriel tends to Kili who is injured. We won't spoil the story for you, but you may just shed a tear or two!

Our favorite scenes were of course the battle, but also the elf army. Their movement was elegant and deadly. We also loved the death of Smaug, and the very end. When we heard the music from the original Fellowship of the Ring we almost cried. Our overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

TimeZone Gaming: Spider-Woman #1 Spider-Verse Review

This year Marvel has taken a rather unique approach to Spider-Man and the hole Spider-Verse. They've introduced several spider characters that we've come to love in past Spider-Man comics. About a month ago they gave us a sneak peek into Spider-Gwen aka Gwen Stacy, as well as brought back Spider-Woman and Silk.

Tomorrow debuts Spider-Woman #1, tied into the Spider-Verse comics and we give it a 5 out 5 stars! It's been quite some time since Jessica Drew has had her own comic, and I have to say it's exciting and refreshing. It's jam packed with action, and the plot keeps moving forward. Did I also mention time travel? It's done in a way that just flows the right way. Spider-Woman is protecting Silk from the villainous family called the Inheritors, who continue to follow them through time. It's a page turner to say the least. Highly recommended to anyone who loves Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Silk, and Gwen Stacy. All these characters make an appearance in Spider-Woman #1, which make it all the more interesting. If you don't pick up this comic tomorrow you're seriously missing out!

Review of Female Thor Comic

    The new Thor comic picks up where the Thor we know and drool over, has lost his ability to grasp his hammer from when The Watcher whispered something in Original Sin story arc. Don't get your hopes up though because the new Thor doesn't appear until the end. Don't you just hate when comics do that? Wait until the very end to reveal anything. Yet, this comic doesn't do much revealing...at all.

    There's a short fight between Thor and Malekith, since the elf is up to no good once again. Malekith is searching for something, but we don't know what. The last page is when a woman dressed as Thor, makes her entrance. It's definitely intriguing. I'm not sure where the story will go, but we won't get any other answers on who the new Thor is until issue 2. You can find Thor #001 at TimeZone Gaming tomorrow on New Comic Day.

Review of George Perez's Sirens

    If you've been following this blog then you know I've been a fan of a lot of new comic titles. I'm actually not fond of George Perez's Sirens published by Boom Studios. I know he's popular for his writing and art, but this is one comic that did not impress me. I was initially excited to read it since George Perez has a lot of hype. So there was that factor, plus this story is supposed to be about women who kick ass.

    From page 1 the plot jumps all over space and time. There's no consistency, nor does it make any sense. There's too much dialogue that's scientific, and for what reason? I like comics to get to the point, and this one doesn't do that until the very end. I was left confused, and didn't see any of the butt kicking action at all. Is it just me, or did this comic leave anyone else feeling like they don't know what they read? I think I'm just as confused as the characters in the comic. What do you think? Out for release tomorrow at TimeZone Gaming in Fords, NJ.

TimeZone: DC Comics 3D Covers Review

It's no surprise that DC Comics is releasing 3D covers this month. Last year they did villain covers for select comics from the New 52, but this year they turned the New 52 Future's End into 3D variants. So we're going to review them as they come out. Strictly looking at the cover, since that's what everyone loves so much, we'll rate them as they release. Anyone who saw the villain covers last year knows that they had more three dimension depth, than actual shifting of the image. Well, now we get both the depth and image shift.

Here's the breakdown:

Batwing: Pretty amazing if you ask me. His arms are folded and bats are flying out from behind him. When the image "moves" Batwing spreads his arms and looks as if he's flying with the bats.

Trinity of Sin The Phantom Stranger: I like it merely for the fact that both images are completely different in background and face. Phantom Stranger is seen in his costume with a swirling sky behind him, while his alternate image is him de-masked and a valley behind him. His hands are thrown up as if shocked. You'll have to read the comic to find out why.

Batman Detective Comics: One word to describe it...AWESOME! Why? Sure Batman looks good no matter what dimension you put him in, but here he's featured by himself on a rooftop in the rain. Shift the comic and the Riddler appears next to him. Do I sense a team up in Future's End? Who gets the last riddle? The end will surprise you, but be just as rewarding.

Earth 2: Not as exciting. Red Tornado (the female version) appears as a cyborg and as a red tornado. No shocker there. Perhaps fans of the Red Tornado will be happy with this cover.

Aquaman: My favorite thus far. Queen Mera is on the throne of Atlantis with Aquaman kneeling at her feet. When you move the comic the image turns into Mera giving a thumbs down with a chained up Aquaman at her feet. Trouble in paradise? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! The end of this comic picks up in Aquaman and the Others Future's End #1, so make sure you grab that for the whole story arc!

Swamp Thing: Now I don't read Swamp Thing, but it's pretty neat to look at how he turns from Swamp Thing into...an Android.

Green Arrow: Quite the morbid cover, but unique. A tombstone with Oliver Queen's name appears, but then as you move the comic the tombstone is cut in half with an arrow stuck in it. A green cloaked figure kneels behind it, but no face is visible. I won't give away any spoilers, but Slade makes an appearance.

Green Lantern: We see Green Lantern soaring among space, but in the other image he looks as though he's been turned into rock. You'll have to read it to find out what happens.

Superman Action Comics: Superman is standing ready to fight, but then turns into dust, or possibly sand. It's not as impressive as I was hoping for, but you can be the judge of that.

Grayson: Less impressive than Superman. Grayson's stance is the same. Only difference is his costume changes and the location behind him moves from NY to Morocco. At least that's all I managed to get out of it.

So what do you think of this weeks 3D Covers from DC Comics? Disagree with my take on the covers? By all means, open the debate up below and let's chat about the pro's and cons of this weeks 3D covers! You can find all these comics and more at TimeZone Gaming in Fords, NJ.

TimeZone Comic Book Challenge & Reviews This Week

    First off, I gotta say I love off kilter comics that aren't your average Marvel or DC comics. They're refreshing and offer a new storyline. Not to say that the regular old Batman isn't cool, it is, but sometimes it's nice to change it up a bit. So if you've never tried something outside your Marvel or DC Comics safety net, then try it to this week.

    With challenges of every kind happening lately, I challenge all my readers to pick a new comic from a comic book publisher that isn't by Marvel or DC. Just this once! I can promise you won't regret it. Branch out your reading, and pick something from another company and give it a shot. The very least pick up one of the comics I'm reviewing. You never know, you may like them!

    Image's Wayward #1 has been boasted as a Buffy-esque comic, which I can see. Here's what I like about it: the main character Rori Lane (half Irish, half Japanese) moves to Japan and is thrown into a whirlwind situation on her first day. She thinks the monsters she saw, and the strange girl that came to her rescue were all part of her jet lag. Or is it? Without giving too much away, you have to check this book out if only for the mere fact that it immediately catches your attention. Rori also possesses a special power that she's unaware of. All stories begin with either someone returning from a journey, or start with someone going on a journey. I know I can't wait to go on this journey with Rori Lane, and see what kind of world is really existing in Japan.

    The second comic I had the liberty of reading was Hero Cats of Stellar City by Action Lab. I cannot tell you how adorable this comic is. It's title is pretty accurate. This is a story about cats that are superheroes, but no one knows it. The comic is told through the eyes of Cassiopeia, the main cat, and all her friends: Midnight, Belle, Rocket, Rocco, & Ace. It's not your average super hero comic book, but who wants average when you can dream up the impossible? I do think it's cute how Rocket thinks he's an alien cat, Belle can read minds, Midnight the Paws of Justice, Rocco is simply just a cuddly cat, and Ace is the leader. The art is just as compelling as the story. I'm definitely sticking with this comic to see where it goes.

     So I challenge all readers to pick up a comic this week from another publisher you normally don't read. Then I want you to come back here, or visit us on Facebook and tell us about it. Be sure to challenge all your friends who read comics to try something new, or get the ones who don't read comics to try at least 1. You can find all your comic book needs at Timezone Gaming in Fords, NJ. Don't forget to mention you read the blog, too!

New Comics Review: Robyn Hood, The Fade Out, Little Nemo

This is an interesting week for comic books. Three new titles hit the shelves, and are quite interesting to say the least. From Zenescope we have Grimm Fairy Tales Robyn Hood #1, IDW's Little Nemo Return to Slumberland, and Image's The Fade Out.

Grimm Fairy Tales Robyn Hood has gotten it's ongoing series after it had a 5 issue comic book set that took off well. The story so far is that Robyn Locksley, a New York native, was brought to the realm of Myst to save Nottingham from evil. Now in her ongoing series, Robyn has teamed up with a witch, Marian Quin, and returns to her hometown. (If you haven't caught on already, Robyn Hood is a woman in these stories.) Okay, here's what makes this an awesome comic: Robyn is sarcastic and witty, she's best friends with Marian, Marian possesses magical powers being a witch and all, there's humor, and lots of butt kicking. This is definitely a story you can sink right into. Robyn and Marian run an investigation service for "unusual emergencies," and when a wiccan named Sam comes to them for help, the girls are thrust into a magical crime scheme. There's a drug being sold on the streets, that's not your ordinary drug. It's clearly magical, and it sucks the soul out of the user. Someone called The Priest is making sure it's sold on the streets because he's harvesting souls for something, but what? Read it and find out!

Now everyone remembers the old movie Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland. Well, he's got his own comic book now. Princess of Slumberland wants a playmate, so her servants try to bring Nemo back to Slumberland. One problem: he doesn't want to go. He doesn't even remember Slumberland or the Princess. He begrudgingly goes, but every time they try to bring him back, he wakes up. Will Nemo ever reach Slumberland? We'll know in issue #2.

Finally there's The Fade Out. I have to admit, at first the story is a bit confusing, which could be because the main character starts out hungover and confused about the previous night. Although, what makes this a great read is that it's done as a film noir. It has that old Hollywood feel. You know, the classics like Casablanca...that's the sort of style this has, which is great. It's a breath of fresh air. The story is about a group of people that work on a film: Charlie the screenwriter, Earl the movie star and womanizer, Val the starlet, Gil, a drunk writer, Dotty who's a publicist, and Phil the head of the studio security. The story opens up with Charlie, suffering from an intense hangover and unsure of what happened the previous night. He tries to remember the party he went to, but he can only remember a fight between two other people, and helping Gil who was drunk and in the back alley. When Charlie finds Val's dead body, he quickly wipes away all traces of himself and hightails it out of there. At this point it's safe to assume it was Val's house. Much of Charlie's memory is like a thousand pieces to a puzzle. He's told by Phil to deny that Val was at the party that he can't even remember. So now the studio is covering up what happened. Charlie reads the police report that claims Val committed suicide, which is not how he found the body. Charlie clearly has found himself involved in a murder, which is being covered up. Why? He even finds women's underwear in his pocket, but he has no idea how, or who's they are. One guess is that they belonged to Val. It's like a classic Whodunnit, but when you can't remember the night before and wake up next to a dead body, the odds don't look good. It's worth a read, so check it out!

You can find all these comics and others at Timezone Gaming in Fords, NJ.