The Pull List: 31 May 2017, Part 2

Black Road comes to its inevitable, fatal conclusion: this 10-issue series, heralded as a "Magnus the Black mystery", has been a bloody and bleak journey through an early medieval Scandinavia overrun and transformed by Christianity. It has been rich in tone and character, and this final issue is no exception.

This is essentially more epilogue than climax. The main battle has been fought, and all that is left here is basically tidying up the loose ends and providing a full explanation for where Magnus has come from and what has led him to this point. He is a great character, and I really hope the "Magnus the Black mystery" tagline means we will get a sequel series before too long.

Garry Brown and Dave McCaig's artwork has effectively pressed the barren, frozen environs of the story. It's a wonderful shift in style from what the same creative team were doing on The Massive a year or two back.

There are no huge surprises here, because Black Road is not really intended as a surprise story. It is simply a good story, told in a strong and measured fashion. It ends on pretty much a perfect note. (5/5)

Black Road #10. Image. Written by Brian Wood. Art by Garry Brown. Colours by Dave McCaig.

Under the cut: a short end to the week with reviews of Hadrian's Wall and Star Trek: Waypoint.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 6 in review

After rewatching all 26 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation's sixth season, it is time to take stock and consider the season as a whole before moving on to the series' seventh and final year. I think there is a general arc to the quality of The Next Generation: a generally poor first year, incremental improvements through the second and third, and a series running at its creative height through the fourth, fifth and sixth years. While Season 4 generally seems to present the series at its best, in terms of average quality, Season 5 and 6 both coast along providing what is by-and-large now a well-rehearsed formula. Whenever the quality drops to something particularly poor, it generally seems to be because the production was simply out of time and shot with whatever half-developed script was lying around.

That race to get 26 episodes produced each year is not something that's widely appreciated. All too often things get produced that are not good, but simply 'good enough'. Contemporary television, where HBO or Netflix might commission eight to 13 episodes in a year, is generally better and should be better. They have the time to make quality television. That The Next Generation can make 26 episodes in a year, of which 17 are good or better, is pretty remarkable.

Yowamushi Pedal: "First Day of Camp!"

It is 23 December 2013, and time for episode 12 of Yowamushi Pedal.

The Sohoku team head to a special cycling facility for a four-day training camp. On the way Onoda gets sick and is left by the road to wait for the follow-up van to pick him up. While there he meets Manami, an enthused cyclist from another high school. Once at the camp the first years learn their training regimen is simply - and almost impossible: cycle 1,000 kilometres in four days with modified bicycles designed to remove their specific riding strengths.

Yowamushi Pedal appears to be produced on a relatively tight budget. I make this assumption because the quality of the animation is proving to be quite variable. Some episodes, usually the climactic racing-based ones, look rock-solid. Others, including this episode here, seem littered with shots that are comparatively substandard. The proportions feel wrong, and the perspective looks terrible. It is by no means a deal-breaker in terms of watching the show, but it does stand out.

The Pull List: 31 May 2017, Part 1

Saga re-commenced this past week, for its eighth story arc and its 43rd issue. As part of a marketing campaign to draw in new readers, this issue has been specially priced at just 25c, so if you have considered trying Saga before but never quite got around to it then this month gives you few excuses not to.

The story picks up in the provocatively named "Abortion Town", which is as good an indication as any of the sort of gleefully edgy and puerile touches that hang around the fringes of this title. It's funny, but also dramatic. It's wildly imaginative and absurd, yet always keeps a very relatable emotional core at its centre. Many of the character are adorable, and the plot has a tendency to shake itself up every few issues in unexpected ways.

As far as opening issues go this one is pretty great. New readers get a brief summary on what the general story is, and continuing readers get some nice moments with each member of the cast. I am not quite sure where the book is headed with this arc, but it has me solidly re-engaged. (4/5)

Saga #43. Image. Written by Brain K. Vaughn. Art by Fiona Staples.

Under the cut: reviews of Doctor Aphra, Doctor Strange and Ladycastle.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Descent"

It is 21 June 1993, and time for the Season 6 finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from an isolated colony, only to encounter the Borg there - individual Borg who act with emotion and no longer seek to assimilate others. While fighting one of the drone Data (Brent Spiner) experiences rage for the first time. While the Enterprise continues to patrol the area for further Borg incursions, Data questions whether or not his quest to experience human emotions should continue.

"Descent" presents Star Trek: The Next Generation's fourth annual season cliffhanger, following in the tradition of "The Best of Both Worlds", "Redemption" and "Time's Arrow". It brings back the Borg for their fourth appearance in the series and follows up directly from their third: "I, Borg". That saw one Borg drone isolated from the Collective before being returned with a computer virus intended to disrupt their collective consciousness. Based on their behaviour here it appears to have worked. Aggressive, emotional and in total disarray, the Borg appear here as the weakest threat they have ever presented.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Timescape"

It is 14 June 1993, and time for another episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

After returning from a three-day conference, Picard (Patrick Stewart), Data (Brent Spiner), La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Troi (Marina Sirtis) encounter a strange array of pockets in time that appear to slow down and even stop whatever is contained within them. They navigate their way to the Enterprise, only to discover the entire ship has been frozen in time while in battle with a similarly frozen Romulan warbird.

Brannon Braga is Star Trek's king of time travel and temporal paradoxes. He wrote "Cause and Effect" for Season 5, "Parallels" and "All Good Things..." in Season 7, and of course both Generations and First Contact played with time travel of one kind or another. From there he moved to write or co-write a veritable truckload of time travel/paradox episodes for Star Trek: Voyager. All things considered, "Timescape" is one of Braga's earlier efforts, but it still manages to play a lot with the potential of time slowing down, stopping or even reversing entirely.

P.K.14: City Weather Sailing (2008)

P.K.14 is a Nanjing-formed and Beijing-based post-punk rock band. Formed back in 1997, they have become a well-respected fixture in China's independent rock scene. Internationally their sound gets compared to the like of the Pixies and Sonic Youth, although based on this album I find the comparisons under-value P.K.14's own distinctive sound.

City Weather Sailing is the band's fourth studio album, released in 2008. I found the CD in a charity shop here in Melbourne, and purchased it purely on the basis of its intriguing and artful cover. It has wound up being one of the most unexpectedly great albums I have heard this year.

There is a general kind of indie Britpop feel to the album, which is dominated by rolling guitars that give it a sort of Manchester sound - to me, at any rate. I am hardly a musical authority, and just describe these things as I see them. I am very keen to track down the band's other work - not to mention their members' side projects - to see how they all compare.

The Angriest: May 2017 in review

With the long-awaiting return of Twin Peaks in May, I went back and reviewed the entire first season from 1990. The review of the series pilot was the most-read post on The Angriest this past month; you can check it out here. Most of the other popular posts in May were reviews of Twin Peaks episodes, although rather a lot of people read this Izetta: The Last Witch review as well.

Reviews of Doctor Who continued over at FilmInk, notably this one on "Thin Ice". Over at FictionMachine, where I now publish the bulk of my film reviews, readers seemed most interested in a long-form essay on Alien 3 (celebrating its 25th anniversary) and my review of Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Across all websites, in May 2017 I reviewed five new films, 14 older films, 22 TV episodes, 2 anime episodes, and 74 comic books. The month's FictionMachine essay was on Alien 3.

A full index of May 2017 posts is included below.