Smallville - S6E9

Subterranean

Illegal immigrants working on a farm in Smallville are disappearing, but one is able to get away. He finds refuge with Clark.

On a farm in Smallville, two Mexican men toil in the fields, talking about how they came to American to be with the one boys mother. As a worker collapses near them, the vow to leave that night, though no one ever supposedly makes it. When they are escaping that evening, a creature underground takes one of the young men, but the other gets away. The next day, Clark finds him in his barn and finds out the story of what happened to him. Clark goes to check on the farm and, distracting the owner, asks the workers about the boys missing friend. He learns later that the ground swallowed him up. Clark uses his X-Ray vision and sees the skeletal remains of many bodies. Chloe researches and finds out that the farm was funded by Luther Corp after the second meteor shower, so Clark goes to confront Lex, who is not too pleased to hear these accusations. Clark alerts the police and they find the bodies. When taking the farm owner into custody, though, he is able to escape by burrowing underground. Clark goes first to find the boy, who has escaped from under Chloe's watchful eye. He is tipped off by a police scanner at the Planet and saves the boy before the police show up. As Clark tells the boy about the death of his friend, he asks Clark to pull over. Getting out the car, this leaves the two open to attack by the farmer owner. Clark is able to go underground with the man, though, and knock him out. Chloe and Jimmy meanwhile had found the boys mother and reunited them at the Kent residence, where Martha vows to do what she can to keep the two together. The next day, Lana shows up to offer her support to Martha in helping house and employ the illegal immigrants from the farm. Clark ends up ticking her off when he mentions it just seems like a way for Lex to clean up his mess. The episode ends with Lex supervising the arrival of the farmer at the new 33.1 facility.

I found this to be a sub-par episode. I understand the political commentary angle of the episode and the creature was interesting, but it felt like a slow moving episode. Also, I felt it was stupid how the farmer ultimately got to Clark and the boy and how Clark did next to nothing to defeat him. Jimmy provided a few laughs, not some of it was just cringe worthy. Overall, just a bump in the otherwise decent seasons so far.

Score: 2 / 5

Smallville - S6E5

Reunion
First Aired: Thursday October 26, 2006

Lex attends a reunion at the Excelsior Board School and, along with Oliver, is confronted with a dark secret. Chloe begins to research the other Zoners who came to Earth with Clark.

The episode begins with a flashback of Lex and his time at the Excelsior school, where he was classmates with the bully Oliver Queen and his gang. Lex's sole friend, Duncan, is also the object of ridicule because his family is poor and he is there on scholarship. In the present, Lex and Lana are attending the school's reunion for business socialization and meets up with his tormentors. During a "freak accident", one of them is impaled with a sword. Another flashback shows Lex and Duncan talking about helping the poor when they notice Oliver and his friends stealing some mid-term answer keys. Back in the present, Chloe tells Clark about sightings of possible Zoners (creatures that escaped from the Phantom Zone) and how she would like to use Oliver's satellites to see if she can find out where they all landed. Oliver and Lois start to leave after identifing their dead friend, but Oliver's other friend is blown up. Clark visits Oliver to request the satellite information and Oliver agrees as long as he tries to find out how Lex is killing off his friends. Lex and Lana are the next victims, however, but they both survive with Lana having a concussion. Talking with Lois in the hospital, Clark learns about Duncan and confronts Oliver about the boy. Oliver reveals that Duncan was going to turn the boys in, but Lex wanted to use the information for blackmail so Oliver's group would accept them. When Duncan refuses, Lex beats him up severely and when Duncan tries to get away, he gets hit by a car. He apparently dies, though Lionel Luthor tried his best to save the boy. Clark goes to Lionel and finds out that Duncan actually is not dead. Lionel had paid off his mother in order to use Duncan as a guinea pig. It turns out the treatments have begun to work and it is involves meteor rock. As Clark and Lois, who is on the trail of a story for the Inquisitor, go to Duncan's hospital room, Lex goes to Olivers and they get into a fight. It turns out Duncan is astral projecting himself and he tries to take out Lex and Oliver, using arrows on the the latter. Clark shows up just in time to stop an arrow from killing Oliver, but it is an EMP one that somehow ends up killing Duncan. In the end, Lex tells Lana everything and Oliver gives Chloe the information she wants. Chloe tells Clark she found handfuls of craters so far and shows Clark the picture of one. Clark recognizes it as Raya.

This was a pretty uninteresting episode that showed exactly what happened between Oliver and Lex. I figured it out from the beginning that it was Duncan, though I thought it was his ghost first. It is amusing to see the writers/directors trying to hide secret identities, such as when Lex conveniently gets knocked out before Duncan opens Olivers Green Arrow cache. I started to like Oliver a little bit more with this episode because you can see he is trying to atone for his mistake.

Score: 2 / 5

Doktor Sleepless 1

Issue 1
Written by Warren Ellis

John Reinhardt has returned to Heavenside ... a bit different. He hasn't slept in a year and his angst has reached a peak. He has become the "character" Doktor Sleepless and he wishes to bring salvation to those he feel jipped of a future. DJ Amun is confronted by a former lover who has kept his aborted child/fetus with her in a vial around her neck. He freaks out, Sleepless takes his Pronoia, and he ends up killing himself. His friend, Sing, finds out the next morning while Sleepless begins to size up Heavenside with his nurse. At Sing's bookstore, a shipment shows up unsolicited from Reinhardt and Sing wonders it Johnny is back in town when she sees his address, but Doktor Sleepless' name. Sleepless pays visit to a local grinder bar where he revives a man everyone thinks is gone for good. Doing so, he proclaims him self the "Future Science Jesus". Back at Sing's bookstore, she and her friends enjoy a drink in DJ Amun's honor, putting on his radio show hoping a pre-taped show would be playing. Instead, Sleepless has taken over the airwaves, proclaiming what is on everyone's minds: "Where is our future? The one we deserve."

I wasn't really sure about this comic at the start. I started to read it and stopped after the first couple pages, thinking I was completely lost or missing something, an inside look. Today, I read some preview stuff on the internet about what this is "suppose to be" and, reading it right now, I came to a better understanding. If nothing else, this is a primer for things to come. A quick read through again before reviewing, I started to see things coming together, especially how Sing is somehow connected to Sleepless/Reinhardt. To me, this first issue was intriguing, but nothing spectacular. I will, however, read the next issue or two to see where this might be going and then decide if I will continue to get/read it.

Score: 2 / 5 first impression, 3 / 5 second read through

J2 #1

Call the Kid ... J2! / Decisions, Decisions! / Rocked by Rollerblast!
October 1998
Written by Tom DeFalco

Call the Kid ... J2!
This first issue is about the origin of Juggernaut's son, Zana Yama. It begins with Zane having the nightmare he has had since he was young, which is being chased by a "big, mean unstoppable" monster. The next morning, his mother, Assistant District Attorney Sachi Zama, reassures her son that his father, Cain Marko, won't be coming back to Earth anytime soon. Zane narrates that his mother had met Cain before he became the Juggernaut, but afterwards reverted back to her maiden name of Yama. He tries to impress the beautiful girl Talia Zamora, but strikes out when he thinks their math homework would be a good topic of conversation. The jocks Curtis and Miller make fun of Zane, but the enigmatic tomboyish Montana yells at them about how Zane is going to surpass them by so much once high school is over. Upset by her intrusion, Miller later threatens Zane and follows him all day in the school. When the final bell rings, Miller hunts down Zane like a cat and mouse. Zane unexpectedly gets a wicked headache though and is somehow transformed into a hulking man that is a shadow of his former body. Visibly upset, Zane stampedes (naked) through and out of the school, stopping momentarily only to smash Miller's motorcycle. The story ends up Zane huddled in an alley corner, calming down. When he does so, he reverts to his normal state for reasons he doesn't understand.

Decisions, Decisions!
This second story is short and sweet. It shows Zane going through the motions of trying to find a suitable costume to wear when he is transformed. He first tries to sew something, like Spider-Man did, but fails. He then goes to the local costume shop, but all they have is the more popular heroes and nothing on the original Juggernaut. He even tries a big and tall store, but doesn't find what he is looking for. In the basement of his house, however, he finds some memento's that his mother kept from his father. Using silver spray paint on select pieces of Juggernaut armor and tying a flannel shirt around his waist, Zane official gives himself the name J2.

Rocked by Rollerblast
Zane is at the amusement park with Montana, hoping to be able to talk to Talia. Miller is also there and becomes agitated when Curtis tries to convince him Zane was talking with Talia. Before Miller can do anything, the purple costumed thief Rollerblast and his cohorts announce that they are robbing the park and everyone inside. Changing into J2, Zane defends Montana, who was being accosted by the men. He and Rollerblast face off until Rollerblast starts to try to make a break for it. It is then that Zane throws something in his path that he can't avoid and goes flying. When Zane reverts back, he is bewildered to see everyone is congratulating Miller for helping J2 take down Rollerblast. The story and issue ends with the X-People, lead by Jubilee, forming in order to investigate rumors that the Juggernaut had returned.

Well, it is sad to say, but this is my least liked comic I have read recently. I think perhaps this one perhaps more than Spider-Girl 1 and A-Next 1 felt totally geared towards a younger readership. I understand that was the whole point of the MC2/Earth-982 universe, but this comic seems to have embraced this concept the most. I generally enjoy only one story per issue. Perhaps since this one was the first and showed J2's origin, it was meant to be broken up. Overall, I hope they make this a one story comic. Otherwise, as with the other two books, the art work is top notch, and the transformed Zane skates the ice of almost looking like the Hulk, but still pulls it off. I think I can like Zane more in the future, but right now, I think there is something right on the surface that is stopping me from enjoying him totally. I am not sure what made Marvel choose this character over other possible ones in the universe, such as the Fantastic Five, but I hope later issues show why they did by making this a more complete book.

Score: 2 / 5

Monte Cook's Ptolus - City by the Spire 5 of 6

Issue 5
February 2007
Written by Monte Cook

The Iron Mage is a legendary figure in the realm of Ptolus, an enigmatic character who works for his own interests and sides with whomever he likes. This concerns Sheva Callister, who has temporarily allied herself with him as she continues her unwinding quest to recover a brooch and to extract revenge on the mysterious figure who set her up and killed her ghostly partner. But is the Iron Mage truly on her side. or does he have some hidden agenda?

The issue beings with the Iron Mage still asking for the book from Sheva (man, does he look different) while the Hound runs amok in the compound below. The Iron Mage states that he believes the Hound is there for the book. He explains to Sheva that the Book of Whispering Souls, which she hopes can help her ghost friend Parnell, is actually also a Hound that has been trapped into book form. They watch as Kervis Killraven charges at the creature on horseback. The Iron Mage joins her after warning Sheva he will be back for the book. Not wishing to give it over, Sheva begins to sneak away and instead finds Gattara Vladaam doing the same. Sheva confronts her and states she knows the Vladaam's wish for her hungersword. Because she does not want his help, Killraven leaves the Hound to the Iron Mage and returns inside where she encounters a dazed Sheva who had been fighting Gattara. With ease, Killraven is able to subdue Sheva and take the Book. She then contemplates killing the Iron Mage while he is distracted fighting the Hound.

Acting on this impulse, Killraven knocks the Iron Mage down and gloats a bit before going for the killing blow. Sheva, however, steps in and strikes at Killraven long enough for Iron Mage to recover some senses. He uses a spell and Killraven and her stallion disappear. While the two contemplate what to do, the Hound seems to slink off, as does Gattara. She doesn't leave empty-handed, though, since she was able to swipe Sheva's hungersword when Killraven had Sheva winded. The issue ends with Gattara gloating over the sword.

Curious. Apparenly, Caanan White returned for the issue and one can easily tell from the first page that a different artist was working on this title. The Iron Mage looked NOTHING like he did in the previous issue (say, perhaps an hour before hand) and neither did Killraven. Sheva and Gattara stayed the same. Now, I could care less about Killraven, but when the Iron Mage was introduced, I really liked his look and demeanor. It seemed like both of those were thrown out for the fifth issue. The change was jarring to say the least. As for the rest of the issue, a couple of other small things. The Hound, who seemed unabashedly evil and headstrong (which I figured) became a puppy when Killraven apparently knocked out Iron Mage. It also made no moves to take back the book while Iron Mage and Sheva contemplated what to do with it at the end. Another quick drastic change I found not good. Finally, Gattara made off with the hungersword way too easily. I think the most interesting part of the issue was when Iron Mage revealed that the Book of Whispering Souls was actually another Hound bound to the book. Otherwise, art withstanding, I found the issue below average. A steady decline in the book is frightening and I can only hope the finally issue will go out with a bang and not a whimper.

Score: 2 / 5