Arrow Season 3 Ep 5 (TV Show Review)

Goes without saying that last week’s Episode 4, “The Magician“, was a pretty big deal for the show since it finally debuted one of the true big bads of the DC universe, Ra’s al Ghul, the Demon himself. It was a bit of an anticlimactic reveal in terms of Matt Nable stepping on to the screen as the character, but the buildup has been pretty good I’d say and last week’s episode is definitely among my faovurites as well for quite a few reasons. With the big bad shown so soon, I have high hopes for how he is going to be portrayed on the show and I can only hope that we get lots and lots of moments with him this season.

But of course, this week’s “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak” is still easily one of the most talked-about episodes of the show this season since it is finally going to delve into Felicity’s history before she ever came to work for Queen Consolidated, and I have to say that almost every moment of this episode is glorious. Ray Palmer is back again as well, at a time when Felicity’s mother also makes her debut, and we get lots of stuff about family this week, which was pretty nice in that there was a great synergy about it all. Plus, that cliffhanger. Man, that cliffhanger!

Death of Wolverine: Life After Logan #1 (Comics Review)

In the wake of Marvel mainstay Wolverine’s recent death, the publisher has put out several new one-shots and mini-series that both celebrate the character’s long history and his legacy and also show the aftermath and what kind of an effect his death has had on the Marvel universe. Many characters are grieving while others are joyful and ecstatic. It has been a right mix of reactions, and I think that’s for the best since he was a character who had an impact on pretty much every corner of the 616 universe and who forged relationships with most of the superhero community.

Life After Logan is one of the new books to come out this week that ties into the whole Death of Wolverine event, and it is one that celebrates Logan’s long life and his work for mutants. We start off with a story featuring none other than Cyclops, who reflects on his long association with Logan and their many differences. Then we go off with Colossus and Nightcrawler as they journey to Misako’s tomb in Japan in Logan’s place. And finally we touch base with Hisako, a young member of the X-Men who seemingly has had a long association with Logan. Each story is a heartwarming tale that really brings out the best in the characters and the artwork is mostly excellent too.

John Carter: Warlord of Mars #1 (Comics Review)

Dynamite Entertainment’s adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter novels and the spinoff Dejah Thoris comics were among my first introductions to the world of comics when I got back into them in 2012. Since then, I’ve had a lot of fun in reading many of the different stories that have been put out in the last few years, and while some have been really good, some have been not quite as good. Fact remains that these comics have done much to expand the world of Burroughs’ characters and setting, and as we move to a new phase in the wake of the 100 year anniversary of the books, it looks like the awesome is going to continue.

Ron Marz and Abhishek Malsuni are at the helm of the Warlord of Mars series reboot, retitled as John Carter: Warlord of Mars and the action-packed first issue gets off to a great start as we are (re)introduced to the core cast and what the world of Barsoom aka Mars is really like. Ron presents a very interesting villain for the first arc of the new series, someone with ties to John Carter and he also gives a brief recap of things here, getting new and old readers alike on the same page before moving into the meat of the story. And Abhishek Malsuni’s artwork is pretty gorgeous when combined with Nanjan Jamberi’s colours, making this is a pretty awesome book.