Judging the New 52 #10: Aquaman

I have always loved Aquaman - indeed, I have always loved him unironically. He was a childhood favourite, alongside Batman and the Incredible Hulk. I thought his costume looked cool, I loved that he had underwater adventures. I even loved that he could talk to fish. He's not the easiest character in DC Comics to write for, but I think he's pretty damn cool. As a character he's always struggled, however. He went okay at first: a solid run from 1962 (that's right, he's 50 this year - pity DC forgot to celebrate it) to 1978, but then had to endure an eight-year hiatus before getting two miniseries in 1986 and 1989. An attempt at a second regular book got cancelled in 1992 after 13 issues, then a soft reboot by Peter David in 1994 (including cutting off Aquaman's hand) gave him his longest run ever: 77 issues up to 2001. Then the character was killed off, brought back, given a new hand made of water in 2003, vanished in 2006 and was replaced by a pseudo-fantasy replacement before getting the axe again in 2007. After another hiatus (four years this time), Aquaman came back with a splash (ha!) as one of the flagship titles of the New 52: written by Geoff Johns with art by Ivan Reis, the new run restored Aquaman's original look and powers while making him a much meaner, less openly friendly type of character.

There's a lot to recommend about the Johns/Reis run on Aquaman. The art is vivid and clean, and a lot of the scripts have been engaging and enjoyable. But - and this should really be a bold-type, underlined, italicised BUT - Johns seems to have this bee in his bonnet that need to be swatted dead.

Babble On #15: "Signs and Portents"

Each season of Babylon 5 has its own title, sort of like The Lord of the Rings is divided into The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I didn't know this when the series originally aired, but they wound up using the season titles on the DVD sets. Season 1 is officially titled Signs and Portents, which is by no coincidence also the title of the season's 13th episode.

The raiders subplot that has been troubled the station since the season began reaches a crisis point. Sinclair confides in Garibaldi about his experience during the Battle of the Line. A mysterious smiling stranger arrives on the station, with only one question for each of the ambassadors: 'What do you want?'

Free Enterprise #8: "Civilization"

"Civilization" is a refreshing and well-produced episode. One of the key tenets of the Star Trek universe has always been the Prime Directive, which essentially bars high technology space-faring civilizations from contacting or interfering with civilizations with lower levels of cultural sophistication and technology. Enterprise is set before this important (occassionaly tedious) rule was established, which means Archer and the gang get to find a pre-industrial world, put on some rudimentary disguises, and head down for a quick look around. What they find is that they aren't the first space-faring civilization to visit the planet, and the rest of the episode goes to show - in a typically action-adventure fashion - why the Prime Directive is probably a very good idea.

Comic Shop Book Club #2: National Comics: Eternity #1

For week two of the Comic Shop Book Club I selected DC's first one-shot from their new National Comics label: Eternity #1. It's written by Jeff Lemire, has art by Cully Hamner, and re-envisages old DC character Kid Eternity - most famously reworked by Grant Morrison and Duncan Fegredo back in the day.

If you've read it, leave a comment: what worked? What didn't? Would you read a monthly Kid Eternity comic based on this premise? Let me know your thoughts!

Babble On #14: "By Any Means Necessary"

A deadly accident in one of Babylon 5's docking bays leads the station's overworked maintenance and docking crews to go on strike, putting pressure onto an already overloaded station. Meanwhile G'Kar is on the hunt for an Eth plant, and the only person on the station who has one is his arch-enemy Londo Mollari.

You read that correctly: a major plot thread of this episode is G'Kar and Mollari arguing over a flower. Actually they kept referring to needing an "Eth plant", which I spent the first 15 minutes mishearing as "eggplant", which was even more ridiculous.

Blog Space Nine #7: "Second Sight"

On the fourth anniversary of his wife's death, Commander Sisko unexpectedly meets an enchanting and beautiful woman. Meanwhile, a famous scientist comes to the station in preparation to re-ignite a nearby dying star.

The awesome run of Deep Space Nine episodes had to end sooner or later, and it ends with a clunk. I'm straining to think of a decent romantic episode produced in any of the Star Treks, and I can only come up with "Lessons", the Next Generation episode where Picard bonds with a visiting astronomer over a mutual love of music. "Second Sight" doesn't join it. It's an all-round weak episode, eminently missable and regularly just that little bit irritating.

Babble On #13: "Survivors"

Earth's President Luis Santiago is about to make a major policy address on Babylon 5. His security team arrives on the station to make preparations as a sudden explosion rocks one of the station's fighter bays. Garibaldi finds himself falsely accused of sabotage, and goes on the run from Presidential security - and his own past.

"Survivors" is a nice episode: it advances the overall narrative of the series, it showcases Michael Garibaldi and fills in quite a bit of his backstory. He's revealed as a recovering alcoholic for one thing. It's not the greatest portrayal of alcoholism committed to screen (that would be John Spencer's Leo McGarry in The West Wing), but it's not embarrassingly bad either. Part of what lets Garibaldi's arc down a little is Jerry Doyle's performance. He brings a lot of charisma to the role, but not a huge amount of talent. As far as I'm aware he doesn't act at all these days, and instead works as a talk radio host.

Free Enterprise #7: "Breaking the Ice"

The Enterprise encounters a comet in deep space containing a rare mineral that may be worth mining. While the crew investigates, the Enterprise continues to be trailed by a Vulcan starship whose captain seems more than a little interested in the humans' activities.

I've written before about how the Vulcans of Enterprise seem a rather unlikeable bunch, and "Breaking the Ice" continues to explore this trend. In "Broken Bow" we discovered that the Vulcans had limited human space travel as much as they could for several decades. Here we discover that, even after allowing the Enterprise to roam freely through the galaxy, the Vulcans are still keeping a slightly paranoid eye on the humans. It works here, because they use the growing tension as an opportunity to develop T'Pol's character arc, and lead her to make a significant choice in whether her primary loyalty lies as a Vulcan or as the first officer of the Enterprise.