James' Review -Batman The Animated Series & The New Batman Adventures

 

He is vengeance. He is the night. He is Batman.

For decades across many comics, the caped crusader has fought injustice in Gotham and mesmerized many readers. However, his comic roots are not the only area where to find Batman. In the 1960s, a campy version of the Dark Knight, played by Adam West, graced the small screen alongside Burt Ward's Robin at a time when comic book adventures of superheroes in DC were more goofy after a big scare in the 1950s. In the 1980s, Batman returned to his darker roots and in 1989, the world saw Michael Keaton's Batman. After the success of Tim Burton's movie, a sequel dropped in the early 90s.

And it was in the 90s when a new Batman arose, starting a new era for DC on TV. But even though the DC Animated Universe wasn't fully established until crossover events came up and the Justice League aired, this was the beginning of Batman the Animated Series, starring the late Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Starting in early September of 1992 all the way to September of 1995 before returning in September of 1997 as The New Batman Adventures and ending in January of 1999 with a total of 109 episodes, BTAS, developed by Bruce Timm, followed Batman as he battled iconic enemies such as The Joker and the now-iconic Harley Quinn, Penguin, Riddler, Red Claw, Killer Croc and Two-Face. The show, despite being family-friendly, carried a dark tone with some lighter stories and tackled deep, mature themes and was a fantasy superhero noir story. However, episodes like the two part Heart Of Steel were sci-fi based and were pretty akin to The Terminator or Blade Runner. In fact, I consider Heart Of Steel one of my favorite BTAS stories. 

Kevin Conroy, cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne, provides the character with two different voices to make them sound distinct when they interact with different people. Bruce talks in a soft, kind voice while Batman speaks in a deep, almost menacing voice, especially when talking to people who know Bruce Wayne. Alongside Kevin, other members of the cast include Mark Hamil of Star Wars fame as The Joker, Bob Hastings as Comissioner Jim Gordon, Robert Costanzo as Detective Bullock, and Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn. One episode features 1960s Batman actor Adam West as Simon Trent aka The Grey Ghost, the episode is called "Beware The Grey Ghost" and it's one of the best episodes ever.

My father and I spent a few years watching it and just recently finished seeing BTAS season three aka The New Batman Adventures with the episode "Mad Love", which adapts a comic story from a tie-in comic series, focusing on Harley Quinn and The Joker. Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures (which is technically seen as season three of the former) are impressive and incredibly well-animated by 1990s kids show standards and all three seasons are worth watching in their entirety. Full of action, thrilling stories full of plot and depth, Batman fans of future generations would enjoy seeing every moment of animated 90s Batman goodness. 9.9/10. 

RIP to Kevin Conroy, an incredible actor.

-James M

James Reviews -Knuckles (2024)

 

In 2020, after years of development hell, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie finally released, distributed by Paramount Pictures, and was a massive hit. With the success of the film, the Sonic franchise was rejuvenated, and the way was paved for the Sonic Cinematic Universe with 2022 seeing the release of Sonic 2. Nearly two years later, as we prepared for Sonic 3, the world saw Idris Elba's Knuckles get his own show, which guest starred Adam Pally as Green Hills policeman Wade Whipple (who is also the main star of this darn show).

So, I watched this whole series, and saw some videos about it on YouTube, what are my thoughts on this?

Honestly, KNUCKLES is fine. Its nothing too special or groundbreaking, its all about our favorite red echidna and Wade Whipple on a pretty wacky adventure. As someone who grew up watching wacky, childish stuff along with some pretty dark stuff, I like my cartoony over-the-top nonsense. KNUCKLES is a comedy through and through, and Adam Pally hits the comedic beats well, while throwing in plenty of seriousness when needed.

The show is six episodes long, with Ben Schwartz's Sonic appearing for a time in the first episode, even though he has a couple of lines with Tika Sumpter's Maddie having a mostly minor role. One of the top highlights in this series is Back To The Future's Christopher Lloyd, who voices the deceased Echidna warlord Pachacamac. Remember him from Sonic Adventure? Then, we get to the show's villains gallery.

First, we have The Buyer, played by Scottish actor Rory McCann, a former ally of Doctor Robotnik and the show's main antagonist, who hires G.U.N. Agents Mason and Willoughby to get that red echidna. We also have bounty hunter Jack Sinclar, who is an old friend of Wade from a bowling team, and finally Pistol Pete Whipple, Wade's father and a bowling legend. English actor and The Princess Bride legend Carey Elwes takes up the role and the character is lovable and scummy at the same time.

Now, I won't spoil the whole story, but the writing is interesting at best, and KNUCKLES offers a pretty alright soundtrack. If you like Sonic, go ahead and watch it. My overall ranking for this is 6 out of 7 Chaos Emeralds. It isn't perfect, but the show has some fun to it, even though it was kinda poorly received by most fans. Catch you next time, ya'll.

-James M

Mister Rogers Neighborhood -Be Yourself, That's The Best- episode review

 

Airing from 1968 to 2001, Mister Rogers Neighborhood was an fun educational and entertaining children's show hosting the wonderful Fred Rogers as the show covered a variety of topics from war to racism and almost everything else. I saw some episodes of Mister Rogers Neighborhood with my dad when I was young, if memory serves me right, we only saw ten or twenty episodes and that was that. As I got older, I didn't even go near Mister Rogers even though a few memories came back and dad tried to imitate the show's theme song a few times.

Then, not long ago as part of a school project, we saw Tom Hanks' A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood and I found a new appreciation for the show I didn't see much of. Afterwards, as part of a school assignment, my father and I sat down to watch an episode of the show. This one is perhaps my only favorite Mister Rogers' Episode yet, this is 1997's "Be Yourself, That's The Best" from Season 27 of the show near the tail end of Fred Roger's run, a good five years before his passing.

Airing on August 27th, 1997, "Be Yourself, That's The Best" sees Mister Rogers teaching the viewer about puzzle-solving and where the pieces go at the beginning, this leads to the first lesson of the episode. Look and listen, that's how you grow. We all have to listen to advice and look carefully, by doing that, you're able to grow and mature. After that lesson, we're taken to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe where King Friday the 13th's son Prince Tuesday thinks he can try to fly and hurts himself.

Remember, kids. You can't actually fly, but birds and bugs can, even airplanes. You can only fly in your dreams or in movies as superheroes. Then, the episode gets interesting when Mister Rogers takes us on a trip to a band hall to meet and hear the Uptown String Quartet, a group of women forming a band and playing violins. The women play a couple tunes, including a rendition of "You Are Special". This episode is beyond great, its fantastic and educational in every way.

I would give this episode a 9.5 out of 10, it was entertaining and taught some really good lessons, some of which we're already putting to use. For an entry in an old show, it has aged quite interestingly. Father and I saw this on YouTube, you can find the episode here for your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tkJduDu1JM

Mister Rogers, thank you for your valuable and memorable teachings you provided through this episode and the lessons we learned from you along the way. May you rest in peace, knowing there are people who will never forget you and will honor your show in more ways than one. 

Now, I say audieu.

-James M

James M's review of Doctor Who Series 13/Flux & Eve Of The Daleks (2021-2022)

 

Welcome back to the Whoniverse, after dealing with the Revolution of The Daleks, we're now diving into Jodie Whittaker's final season and the start of her final year as The Doctor with the multi-part storyline Flux and the New Year's special Eve Of The Daleks (no, not Evil of The Daleks, that's a different tale from the other story). So, lets begin, starting with Flux.

Flux is, of course, a multi-part story that makes up the entirety of Series 13 of New Who, it sees The Doctor, Yaz and a multitude of allies struggling to save the universe from The Flux, which is being engineered by The Division, which served the Time Lords and The Doctor served under well before she became the Time Lord known as The Doctor.

Airing from October 31st to December 5, Flux was a massive storyline that was just as ambitious as it could get with Chris Chibnall and his team throwing everything they had at the sink to make sure this storyline was the biggest one yet. Not only did you have The Flux event, but you had the Sontarans, villainous newcomer Grand Serpent, the Weeping Angels and so many others for The Doctor to deal with. And of course, we had Swarm (an old enemy The Doctor faced in a mysterious old life).

Series 13 sees the introduction of The Doctor's latest companion, a Scouse named Dan Lewis played by British comedian John Bishop. Dan joins The Doctor after he's seemingly kidnapped by a dog-like Lupari known as Karvanista, who is revealed to be an ally of humanity and formerly an ally of the Division (which of course worked for The Time Lords).

Plus, the Timeless Child plot point from the past few seasons is somewhat expanded on throughout the storyline as we learn more about the Fugitive Doctor/Ruth Clayton, who apparently ended the Dark Times and was the incarnation of The Doctor who defeated Swarm a long time ago. And during the episode "Village of The Angels", we discover that there were Weeping Angels who worked for the Division, a big shocking twist considering the Angels attack other beings when not being observed.

And, in the very next episode "Survivors Of The Flux", The Doctor is "recalled" to Division and reunites with her former adoptive mother Techteun, who has long since regenerated into a woman, whom The Doctor briefly encountered during the events of the third episode in the Flux arc. 

For a storyline that sees our show's heroes facing the end of the universe, Flux is as dark as it can get. The Flux tears apart the universe and hits Earth at the tail end of the first episode and things really get intense in Village Of The Angels (of course) when the Angels capture The Doctor while her friends Yaz, Dan and their new ally World War II veteran Professor Jericho from 1967 get sent back to the past. 

Even the events of the next episode Survivors Of The Flux become grim during its final minutes when Swarm arrives at Division (located outside The Doctor's universe) and kills Techteun while Grand Serpent makes his move on Earth within UNIT after decades of planning as the Sontarans prepare to attack and the final universe-destroying Flux event looms closer and closer.

But thankfully, in the next episode "The Vanquishers", The Doctor and her friends manage to defeat Swarm and save the rest of the universe from being annihilated by The Flux. However, in the aftermath of the battle, The Doctor is told by the embodiment of Time that her end is coming, reminding us that Jodie Whittaker's Doctor will soon be regenerating just like with David Tennant's 10th Doctor.

Doctor Who Flux is mind-blowing, any Whovian who hasn't seen it yet should see it. I give the entire season a strong 9/10, this was very good from start to finish, Chibnall and his team knew what they were doing and the characters were engaging as usual.

Now, let us tackle EVE OF THE DALEKS. (Again, we're not talking of 1967's Evil Of The Daleks.)

Airing on January 1st of this year, just weeks after The Vanquishers, EVE sees The Doctor and her friends in a warehouse facing off against a squad of Execution Daleks, who are out for vengeance after The Doctor helped devastate their race with The Flux during the events of the previous episode, while a malfunctioning TARDIS creates a time loop which goes into effect whenever the characters die.

Just like past episodes and Dalek stories, Eve of The Daleks is quite a ride from start to finish, Nicholas Briggs once again brings his A game to the table as the menacing voice of The Doctor's greatest enemies and it seems Whittaker had a ball when it came to confronting these monstrous mutants from the planet Skaro. Plus, dealing with Daleks during a time loop has never ever been done before.

Chibnall seems to enjoy writing The Daleks just as he's enjoyed writing the previous episodes not based around them, he knows how to make them menacing and the Daleks continue to stay true to their roots as evil menacing monsters out to exterminate those who are inferior to them while The Doctor works out a plan to stop them as the companions do what they can to help.

Despite being an intense and chilling story, for a New Year's special, Eve Of The Daleks somewhat serves as somewhat of a breather episode after the grim events of Flux despite having high-stakes as the clock approaches midnight with each time loop. But thankfully, The Doctor and her crew manage to destroy the Daleks and escape the warehouse they were trapped in for the duration of the story.

My score for this wild Doctor Who story is a very, very strong ten point five. May the fine folks at the BBC continue to make Whovians happy for many more decades, even if the show goes off the air and the only Doctor Who media we have to take in are books, comics and audio adventures. With that, I say farewell to you all for now, may we meet again as The Doctor's regeneration looms closer...

Peace out!

-James. M

James M's review of Star Wars The Mandalorian season two (2020)

 

Welcome back to that galaxy far, far away, friends. After much delay, we're finally delving into season two of STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN, which aired all the way back in 2020 from October to December. Its high time we do that, so lets not delay any longer...

Just like the first season, Mandalorian season two consists of over eight episodes. Also, season two continues from where season one left off with Din D'Jarin's quest to protect The Child and help him find The Jedi after defeating Moff Gideon in the season one finale. 

This season marks the live-action debut of characters such as Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars and Rebels alongside Bo-Katan as well as Cob Vanth from the Star Wars Aftermath trilogy of books.

Boba Fett finally makes his return in this, having survived the Sarlacc pit when we last saw him during the events of 1983's Return of The Jedi. He even lost his armor, which ended up in the hands of Cob Vanth himself, which he wore as a sheriff on Tatooine until Din helps him and a band of Tusken Raiders defeat a Krayt Dragon in the very first episode, the same episode in which Boba Fett shows up.

When we run into Ahsoka a couple episodes later, we also learn more about The Child, discovering that his name is Grogu and he is a Jedi youngling who survived the chaotic events of Order 66 and was hidden away for years until Din found him. 

We also discover that Ahsoka is still looking for Ezra Bridger, which will become a plot point in her upcoming show, and she is seeking out Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was last seen in Star Wars Rebels being defeated in the series finale. 

The finale to the show's second season gets very interesting, especially when Moff Gideon kidnaps Grogu for his own uses. Din teams up with Boba Fett, a surviving Fennic Shand, Cara Dune and Bo-Katan to find and storm Moff Gideon's Star Destroyer to rescue the young Yoda-like child. Din fights Dark Troopers (which make their canon debut) and then battles Moff Gideon, who has the Darksaber which we saw him with near the end of the season one finale.

But even after Gideon's defeat, Din and his crew still have to contend with the Dark Troopers, but help arrives in form of none other than Luke Skywalker (with Mark Hamill reprising his role). Luke cuts his way through the Dark Troopers in a sequence that made a lot of fans smile and saves Din's group, but he's here to pick up Grogu and help him get back on the Jedi path.

Din has a heartfelt goodbye with Grogu and we watch as Luke goes off with him as season two draws to an end. However, its not done yet. A post-credits scene shows Boba Fett and Fennic Shand return to Tatooine where they enter Jabba The Hutt's place and kill the still-alive Bib Fortuna, leading to Boba taking the throne to himself, setting up the events of The Book Of Boba Fett (2021).

Season two of The Mandalorian was very entertaining with some very good episodes that will never be forgotten, even Luke Skywalker's appearance was great to see and satisfying enough to those who were upset by how he was handled in the Sequel Trilogy (specifically The Last Jedi). With Grogu no longer a plot point in the show, we have to see where The Mandalorian goes from there in season three, which will be airing down the road in 2022. Pedro Pascal fills the role of The Mandalorian title character flawlessly, it is also rumored that Luke may make another appearance in season three.

My definitive final score for season two is a 9.8 out of 10, The Mandalorian's an excellent addition to the legacy of Star Wars and is worth rewatching again and again. Now, I say farewell, may the Force be with you, always.

-James. M

James M's review of Mega Man Fully Charged (2018-2019)

 

Hey guys, its been a while, but I'm here to review the MEGA MAN FULLY CHARGED animated series from Wildbrain Studios and Man Of Action Entertainment. Been quite a while since I last covered something related to Mega Man, last Mega Man-related content that I covered was the Archie comic and the first crossover between Sonic & Mega Man. 

Don't worry, I will review the Mega Man fan film and some of the Mega Man games (including Mega Man X) in the future. But for now, we're talking FULLY CHARGED.

This is perhaps one of my favorite shows and favorite video game-inspired mediums, its fun and engaging, and it started airing on my 19th birthday the year it started. That's right, one of my favorite birthday gifts is the TV show MEGA MAN FULLY CHARGED. Its too bad this show didn't get a season two, but at least I can re-watch this and reread the Fully Charged comic eventually.

So, what is so special about this show, you are asking.

While the show is somewhat faithful to the games (just like the Ruby Spears cartoon apparently), MEGA MAN FULLY CHARGED takes place in a different universe and has its own unique style. This is due to the fact Capcom actually gave the writers at MAN OF ACTION permission to do their own thing with Mega Man but do it in a way without taking away the spirit of Mega Man.

In this universe, instead of being named Rock and having a robot sister named Roll, Mega Man is named Aki and he has a human sister named Suna. Also, Doctor Wily is not the show's antagonist, the role of which falls to an extremist named Sergeant Night, who is unmasked by the heroes at the end of the show. However, Wily has a nephew named Bert Wily and the doctor himself appears in the comics.

On a related note, Mega Man has a little robot assistant named Mega Mini, who is basically a voice in Mega Man's head. Meanwhile, the backstory of the world the characters live in revolves around a period called the Hard Age where humans and robots fought each other. Sergeant Night, the show's villain, is fighting to bring back that old feud between humanity and robotkind.

Luckily, Mega Man is on the scene to save the day, opposing Sgt. Night and the rogue Robot Masters, many of which are either derived from the video games or are completely new characters. The writers put their time and effort into this show, even the animation is well-polished. CGI cartoons are just as good as 2D cartoons, at this point, Fully Charged is my number two favorite video game cartoon next to Sonic Boom. 

From August of 2018 all the way to May of 2019, this show ran for a total of 52 episodes that were eleven minutes, just like the Sonic Boom episodes. Funny how that animation studios behind video game cartoons are almost obsessed with shows that have eleven minute episodes, hopefully, there will be video game shows in the future that will have thirty minute episodes.

Now, did I read the MEGA MAN FULLY CHARGED comic by Boom Studios?

Yes, I did. What do I think of it?

Not that bad honestly, its nice to see a Mega Man comic and that Fully Charged got a continuation in some capacity. Cancellation is just sad, it would be even greater if the show's universe received a further continuation in the future if there is enough fan demand from passionate fans. Capcom, you gotta continue Fully Charged. Don't leave it in the dust, find a way to give it a proper conclusion.

Small nitpicks aside, if there are Mega Man fans out there who want to see a good show like this, watch Fully Charged. You're not gonna find anything better than this one, Fully Charged may as well be the king of Mega Man extended media and video game TV shows if it got to be.

MEGA MAN FULLY CHARGED gets an 8.5 out of ten. Fun, action-packed, engaging and never soulless or bland, this show cannot be forgotten and its legacy will continue on for years to come.

Have a good day, Mega-fans.

-CVGWJames

James M's Review of ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (1993)

 

Welcome back, Sonic squad. Its time for us to review the very first Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon that ever aired, the one that was wacky and memorable next to many others. We're looking at... ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!

The year was 1993 and it hadn't been that long since the first Sonic game had released for the SEGA Genesis with Sonic 2 releasing over a year later. Sonic was popular and merch was flying off the shelf, even a comic book by Archie was about to happen while other comics and manga were happening. And in the midst of all that, two animated shows were about to air and one of them was none other than Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Starring many talented voice actors, Adventures took place in a cartoonish take on Sonic's world and focused on Sonic and Tails as they engaged in many wacky adventures and fought the evil Doctor Robotnik and his lackeys Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts to stop the villainous scientist from taking over the planet Mobius.

Assembled by the crew at DiC Productions (now known as Wildbrain, which still owns the rights to this show) and supervised by SEGA of America, Adventures ran for a total of 65 episodes from September to December of 1993 before it was given one more episode three years later with 1996's Sonic Christmas Blast.

In the years since it aired, the show, known as AoSTH, has earned itself a memorable legacy in the fandom and spawned a couple memes such as the well-known Robotnik "Pingas" meme, which was derived from a line in the episode Boogey Mania said by the doctor himself; 'Snoo-ping as usual, I see.' Yeah, I know, its almost hilarious on so many dang levels.

I, myself, watched this show and spent two years watching the whole show from 2011 to 2013. Having seen Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog, I can see why so many fans love it (even though SatAM almost appears to be the most talked about Sonic show thanks to Archie). AoSTH was popular for its time and was perhaps how some fans got into Sonic in the first place.

The show has countless memorable characters adding to the universe of AoSTH, ranging from (of course) Robotnik's S6 Squad consisting of Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, Breezie the Hedgehog, Wes Weasely and Sergeant Doberman with countless voice actors providing their best talent. Even SatAM/Archie's Sally Acorn makes an appearance in the show's final episode.

So, what are my thoughts? 

AoSTH is pretty good for a Sonic show despite not being very faithful to the source material and Sonic Team's lack of involvement in it. It has so much charm, providing a fun and goofy Sonic experience that nobody, not even young kids, will ever forget. Even Robotnik himself can have his funny moments too, Long John Baldry sold it well as the doctor's voice and may he be long remembered as the man who gave the evil Doctor Eggman a voice before the games did.

Plus, as almost everyone knows, this show next to SatAM and the first two games served as the basis for Archie Sonic and the comic included many familiar faces from the cartoon such as the Super Special Sonic Search And Smash Squad and eventually included Breezie in the comic before the plug was pulled.

However, out of every AoSTH character that made it into the comic, AoSTH Robotnik's mother Mama Robotnik was left out due to very specific reasons with SEGA themselves. That's right, this show was one of the first pieces of Sonic media to give Robotnik a family and we got to see an interpretation of Eggman's mother. And boy, Mama Robotnik is quite terrifying if you let her be terrifying.

Most importantly, this show did get a game tie-in at one point in the form of Doctor Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, a re-skin of Puyo-Puyo featuring the AoSTH version of Robotnik and some of his Badniks from the cartoon. Despite AoSTH's lasting legacy, it is almost rarely referenced by current Sonic media due to policies at SEGA, but it was referenced in 2021's Sonic Encyclospeedia.

My score for this show, which was so good to see, gets a fine 8.5/10 for cartoon-y cheese and hilarity. Now, I will see you later for another review...

-CVGWJames 

James M's review of Doctor Who: Revolution Of The Daleks (2021)

Welcome back, Doctor Who fans, its time for another review...

After the universe-shattering revelations and events of "THE TIMELESS CHILDREN" at the end of 2020's Season 12 of New Who, there was the question of what awaited in the next episode of the sci-fi phenomenon. After months of waiting, we got our answer in the New Year's 2021 special known as REVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS.

That's right, the Daleks were back and this episode seemed to follow up from 2019's Resolution which dealt with a Recon Scout Dalek. So, what's the story with this one?

Story:

Well, the episode takes place ten months (from the perspective of The Doctor's friends Ryan, Graham and Yaz) after the events of THE TIMELESS CHILDREN and the trio discover that businessman Jack Robertson, whom they met in the series 11 episode ARACHNIDS IN THE UK, is working with the Daleks after seeing footage of a Dalek drone in action.

The companions try to confront Robertson about the Dalek, but the are dismissed. Not long after, Robertson meets with his scientist Leo, who informs him that he discovered traces of organic cells inside the "drone" that inspired their drones and used them to create a clone of the creature inside i.e the Dalek Scout mutant. 

Robertson is disgusted by this and tells Leo to destroy the creature, the scientist tries to dispose of the Dalek, only for the mutant to take control of his mind and they head to a secret lab in Osaka where Daleks are being created.

Meanwhile, The Doctor is still in prison after being arrested at the end of the previous episode and reunites with old friend Captain Jack Harkness (with John Barrowman reprising the role), who breaks her out and they head back to Earth where the fam informs The Doctor of the situation. 

Following this, Team TARDIS splits up in two groups with Captain Jack and Yaz looking into the lab in Osaka while The Doctor, Ryan and Graham confront Robertson, who shows them the Dalek factories before he's informed of a secret facility in Osaka. They head there and come face to face with the Scout Dalek controlling Leo, who reveals what it has been up to along with its plan to conquer the Earth.

And following this, its all downhill for everyone as The Daleks take over the Dalek drones and begin attacking everyone. Thinking up a solution to the problem, The Doctor sends out a message through time and space to a Dalek Death Squad, which arrives on Earth and takes care of the "impure" Daleks before wiping out the Recon Scout despite its claim that it is still a Dalek.

Robertson betrays The Doctor and joins the Daleks, offering an alliance with them. But this doesn't last long as The Doctor formulates a way to defeat The Daleks and tricks them into entering a spare TARDIS, thinking that its hers. Robertson lies to The Doctor, saying he was offering himself up as a decoy and is then celebrated as a hero by the world.

Captain Jack says goodbye to The Doctor and leaves with Ryan and Graham deciding to leave her too so they can continue with their normal lives while Yaz stays with The Doctor. The episode ends with Graham teaching Ryan to ride a bike, just like in their debut episode.

Final Thoughts:

I give this story a 9/10, Doctor Who never ceases to boggle the minds of Whovians and knows how to tell a fantastic story in every way. When the Daleks show up, you know there's bound to be fun storytelling in whatever episode of Doctor Who they appear in. I'll never forget this episode, it is so memorable just like many of the recent Doctor Who episodes that have come out over the last couple years despite some road bumps in this journey. Now, I bid you farewell. Next time, we're covering FLUX and EVE OF THE DALEKS!

-CVGWJames

 

James Reviews: Spider-Man (1967)

 

Welcome back, dear true believers and Marvel nerds.  Time for us to wind back the clock to a decade that seems to be popular for pure cheese at its finest when it comes to TV shows and movies. But out of all the cheesy things to come from the 60s, we're looking at something amazing, something that is so iconic it will never be forgotten. 

I'll clue you in, who has radioactive blood and spins a web?

The answer: SPIDER-MAN!

Oh yes, we're talking about the 1967 animated series based off the Marvel comic and superhero known as Spider-Man, starring the late Paul Soles as the voice of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man.

Right off the bat, each episode kicks off with an amazing theme tune that has gone on to become very iconic with Spider-Man history to this day and is considered Spider-Man's theme now and then. C'mon, who doesn't love the lyrics; /Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can, spins a web any size. Catches thieves, just like flies. Look out, here comes the Spider-Man./

If you want to hear the full song, the link is here in this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8N9TTvKeQ

Airing from, of course, 1967 to the year 1970, SPIDER-MAN ran for three seasons and each episode saw the web-slinger battling a variety of foes who originated from the comics or were created for the show . And often depicted Peter working for the Daily Bugle ran by none other than lovable, near-unlikable Hitler-mustached loudmouth J. Jonah Jameson.

My father saw this show years ago and we eventually sat down together to see some episodes during our days together in 2021, and, for a TV series with a decades-long legacy, Spider-Man 1967 is quite decent. The animation is smooth and the voice actors put a lot of effort into this one. My first episode of the show just happened to be the one where Spider-Man ended up in a jail hospital and tricks a band of criminals in order to get out of the hands of the police. 

It was dad who suggested that we see it, even though I didn't hold any interest in it then. But after that, the seeds for us watching the show were planted and we watched almost every single episode of it on Dailymotion and on YouTube. Having seen Spider-Man 1967, I can see why countless Marvel fans like this so much and why the internet makes memes out of this.

Paul Soles brought a wonderful Spider-Man/Peter Parker voice to the table and this man is unforgettable. He's almost like the Adam West of Spider-Man actors, except he's a voice actor for an animated Spider-Man and Adam West was the second live-action Batman after the 40s show.

My overall thoughts on Spider-Man 1967?

Its one of the best pieces of media to come from the 1960s and is a part of superhero media history, Spider-Man is worth watching and people should know about this cheesy part of Spider Man's long history in the multiverse of media. My score for this is a 9/10, cheesiness is so yummy. Thank you all for tuning in and have a great day, be safe out there, true believers...

-James. M

Guest Post -James M's review of Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 7 + The Siege of Mandalore

Greetings Star Wars fans, the time has come... to review the seventh and final season of Star Wars The Clone Wars, which aired on Disney Plus and finally brought closure to an epic TV show after a decade long run, wrapping up twelve years worth of crazy cool stories.

Now, I hear you say, "Clone Wars season seven? I thought the show was cancelled after seasons five and six." Yes, production stopped, but the show went on a seemingly indefinite hiatus until Disney and Lucasfilm decided to continue the show and give the fans what they wanted.

So, whats in season seven. Three story arcs, of course. We have The Bad Batch arc, Ahsoka's Walkabout and The Siege of Mandalore, the latter of three happening to be the series finale. Boy they're really good, likable at best. Why don't we get started eh...

The Bad Batch Arc
What is Clone Force 99 aka the Bad Batch? They're a group of mutated clones who basically make up an elite clone squad named in honor of a deformed and mutated clone soldier named 99 who died during the Battle of Kamino in an earlier season of the Clone Wars.

The plot of the arc?
As the Battle for Annaxes goes wrong for the Republic and the Seperatists defeat them, Captain Rex and Anakin team up with the Bad Batch to go on a mission to learn how the enemy is able to come up with successful attacks and counterattacks. During the mission, they learn that Clone Trooper Echo survived the Citadel Arc and is held captive by the enemy.
They rescue Echo and they turn the tide of the battle in favor of the Republic, aftewards, Echo joins the bad batch due to the fact he's different now because of his cybernetics he recieved after seemingly being blown up during the arc he perished in.

Ahsoka's Walkabout
After leaving the Jedi Order, Ahsoka goes to level 1313 where she meets the Martez sisters and does her best to avoid revealing herself as a Jedi after the sisters express their dislike for the Jedi due to their involvement in the Clone Wars.
Ahsoka tags along with the sisters on a spice run and they end up in a troublesome situation with the Pikes but they manage to get out, however, the sisters learn that Ahsoka is a Jedi but they accept her as a good friend nonetheless.
After escaping the Pikes, Ahsoka meets with Bo Katan and a group of Mandalorians looking for help in taking down Darth Maul, who is ruling Mandalore. Side Note: After his defeat in season five, Maul was captured by Sidious but he escaped and returned to Mandalore after failing to defeat Darth Sidious who destroyed the Great Talzin of the night sisters.


The Siege of Mandalore
This is it, series finale, we're in Revenge of the Sith territory now. No turning back.
As the Outer Rim sieges take place, Anakin and Obi Wan reunite with Ahsoka, who's come to them for assistance in taking Mandalore and taking down Maul. However, just as Ahsoka gets her lightsabers back and receives a clone battalion of her own, Anakin and Obi Wan are called away to take part in the Battle of Coruscant to save the Chancellor, paving the way for Revenge of the Sith.
Ahsoka, Bo Katan and their forces attack Mandalore and engage Maul's forces. Ahsoka encounters Maul in the sewers and the former Sith is not pleased to see her.

"I was hoping for Kenobi," Maul says, "Why are you here?"

We learn throughout most of the episode/movie that Maul knows of whats to come and desires to defeat Sidious and save the galaxy, even though he, Maul, is still evil. Eventually, it call comes down to a confrontation between Ahsoka and Maul in the throne room in the Mandalorian Palace (instead of a plaza like in the Ahsoka novel) while a battle rages outside between Ahsoka's troops and Maul's loyalists, which is kinda fitting as the Clone War nears its end and the Republic begins to crumble.
In the end, Ahsoka defeats Maul and he's captured while screaming, "LET ME GO, YOU'RE GOING TO BURN, YOU'RE ALL GOING TO FALL, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

With the battle over and Maul in custody, things are looking up, Ahsoka and her forces begin the journey back to Coruscant while Bo Katan becomes leader of Mandalore. However, things really go south once Darth Sidious contacts the clones aboard the ship...

Sidious: Execute Order 66.
Rex: Yes Lord Sidious.

From there, everything is downhill as the clones turn on Ahsoka, Rex does too for a while before Ahsoka manages to remove the inhibitor chip inside Rex, allowing him to continue being her ally. However, Ahsoka frees Maul to use him as a diversion while she was trying to find a way to save Rex. Maul wrecks havoc and takes down many clones aboard the Star Destroyer, even devestating the engine room and the hyperdrive.

As a result of Maul's rampage, the ship drops out of Hyperspace and heads towards a moon, fated to crash. Ahsoka and Rex fight their way through the ship, trying to get off. During an encounter with Clone Trooper Jessie, who is under the spell of Order 66, Rex is demoted from commander back to the rank of captain while Maul steals a shuttle he (Rex) and Ahsoka were trying to get to.
After fighting through more clones, the two heroes manage to steal a Y-Wing and escape just as the cruiser crashes. Later, Ahsoka buries the clones, who perished in the crash,  while leaving behind her lightsabers, the star destroyer crash and the clone graves all symbolize the end of the Republic, the Jedi Order and the Clone Wars itself.

Some time later, probably a couple months or maybe a year, Darth Vader visits the site and finds one of Ahsoka's lightsabers, covered in snow, before looking up to see an owl flying overhead. Side note: thats a convor, probably Moraii, the Daughter's spirit guide form.
Afterwards, the episodes and the series ends with Vader aka Anakin walking away and his reflection being seen in a fallen Clone Trooper helmet.

Final thoughts
This season was incredible, Dave Filoni did an amazing job rounding off 12 years worth of Clone Wars stories and The Siege of Mandalore arc was phenomenal, very phenomenal. I enjoyed it all and many people sure did as well, we deserved this ending and should have gotten it back in either 2014 or 2015. But ah well, we've waited a long time and it was worth it.
See you all next time, reviewer out.
-JMM

Guest Post -James M's review of Doctor Who Series 12/Season 38

Hullo Whovians. With the twelfth season of New Who behind us, it's time to take a look at the season as a whole including the season finale, the story arc of the Timeless Child and a bit more. So let's get started.

After Series 11 finished in December 2018 and the Dalek episode "Resolution" aired on New Year's Day in 2019, it would be a long time before we heard from The Doctor in  January 2020 with the two part episode Spyfall,  a James Bond parody. The two-parter saw the return of The Doctor's rival Time Lord The Master while the 13th Doctor and her companions Graham, Ryan and Yaz work to solve a mystery involving strange beings made of energy, working with The Master and a madman who wants humanity destroyed. By the end of the episode, the rest of the season was set up with the Timeless Child being mentioned again, having not been mentioned since the episode "Ghost Monument". Also, The Master destroyed Gallifrey and The Doctor's now the last Time Lord once again.

The next episode Orphan 55 saw Team Tardis visit a spa on an unknown orphan planet where they dealt with creatures known as Dregs and discovered that Orphan 55 is actually Earth in a possible future following a thermo-nuclear war. The episode was intense and it ended with The Doctor saying that we have to protect the planet, otherwise, we'll destroy it with our fighting among each other. Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror saw The Doctor meet Nikola Tesla and good old James Edison, history's most brilliant inventors in the United States of America, and them teaming up to deal with aliens who want to use Mr. Tesla for his intelligence.

Fugitive of the Judoon was a big one as it saw the return of the Judoon, who had not been seen in ages, and Captain Jack Harkness, who was last seen in The End of Time Part 2 as well as a couple episodes of the spin-off Torchwood, with John Barrowman reprising his role. Not only that, we ended up meeting Ruth Clayton who turned out to be... The Doctor. Where does she fit in The Doctor's regenerations? Who knows, we'll leave that for later when we tackle the finale.

Skipping past the weird episode Praxeus, we come to the episode Can You Hear Me which continues the Timeless Child arc and sees The Doctor face off against two immortal gods who are stirring up trouble and have to be stopped. Following this episode, we come to the episode The Haunting of Villa Diodati where Team Tardis meets the writer of Frankenstein, Mary Shelly, and encounter the Lone Cyberman known as Ashad, who is a partially converted Cyberman with a visible human face and seeks to restore Cyberman supremacy. During the encounter, The Doctor gives Ashad the Cyberium, an unknown Cyberman substance that can allow you to create Cyberman.

Nearing the end, we come to Ascension Of The Cybermen where The Doctor and her companions team up with a group of humans to fend off and survive against Ashad and his Cybermen forces. The team splits up as they try to escape. The Doctor and Ryan end up at The Boundry at the edge of space while Graham and Yaz end up on a Cyberman troop carrier where they find thousands of Cybermen and end up cornered by Ashad.

On The Doctor's side, as if things could not get any worse, a portal appears and shows the ruins of her home planet before The Master himself pops through, leading into the big finale of the season where The Master takes The Doctor to Gallifrey and they tour the ruins of the citadel, even going into The Matrix where we finally learn about how the Time Lords came to be and who was The Timeless Child.

Spoiler warning, The Timeless Child is The Doctor and she's had numerous lives well before the William Hartnell incarnation. Lore breaking? Not really. She's still a Time Lord.

Anyways, as The Doctor tries to recover from the big shocker, The Master takes out Ashad and uses the Cyberium to turn the remains of dead Time Lords into hybrids known as CyberMasters. What makes these new Cybermen special? They can regenerate. Also, as The Master taunts The Doctor, we get a reference to the Russel T Davies era episode The End of Time Part 1. What is it?

The Master: For Gallifrey!
CyberMasters: For Gallifrey!

The Master: For the Time Lords!
Cybermasters: For the Time Lords!

The Master: For the end of the Universe itself...!
CyberMasters: FOR THE END OF THE UNIVERSE ITSELF!

Yup, its the famous speech Rassilon did towards the end of the Last Great Time War as he prepared to unleash the Ultimate Sanction which was thankfully stopped by the Tenth Doctor. What was the speech like in the episode compared to this.

R: For Gallifrey!

Time Lords: FOR GALLIFREY!

Rassilon: FOR VICTORY! (spit flies from his mouth)

Time Lords: FOR VICTORY!

Rassilon: FOR THE END OF TIME ITSELF!

Time Lords: FOR THE END... OF TIME... ITSELF!

Well, isn't that something?

Anyway, despite the odds, The Doctor is able to come to terms with the Timeless Child revelation and the Cybermen (including The Master) are defeated. But just as we're about to get a sweet, happy but bittersweet ending (with The Doctor's companions and most of the surviving Cyber-War refugees going to 21st Century Earth while The Doctor is in the Tardis coping), things hit the fan when the Judoon show up and throw The Doctor in jail, ending the season and setting up the Christmas Special.

Final thoughts:

This season was pretty good, not a lot of road bumps like with season 11. The only road bump was the freaking Praxeus episode, which I feel is not worth talking about as its a bit gross with creepy stuff appearing on people's skins.

This series/season gets an 8/10. It would've gotten a ten if Praxeus wasn't made or if The Judoon had not arrested The Doctor.

Anyways, can't wait to see whats is in store for The Doctor.
Later!

-JMM

Guest Post -James M's review of Star Wars The Clone Wars animated series

Salutations Star Wars fans, today we will be taking a look at the most popular animated TV show of all time, the Star Wars The Clone Wars TV Show. With the seventh and final season finally upon us after 6-7 years of waiting following the last known air-date of the series, I thought it would be stupendous to review The Clone Wars and give my thoughts on the whole thing.

So, whats the set up of The Clone Wars?
Well, it takes place during the prequel trilogy between the events of 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith, and follows characters such as Anakin, Obi-Wan, the Clones and the rest of the Jedi Order as they take part in the Clone War between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance led by Count Dooku all while the Sith Lord Darth Sidious masterminds the whole conflict behind the scenes, preparing for the inevitable Order 66, which will see the end of the Jedi and the beginning of a new era for the galaxy at large.



This however, is NOT the first Star Wars TV show to portray the Clone Wars conflict between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III. Back in 2003, well after Attack of the Clones was released, the world received Star Wars Clone Wars, directed by Genny Tartakosky and produced by Lucasfilm, which also gave us a look at the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists while expanding upon the Star Wars universe and introduced new characters such as fallen Jedi Assaj Ventress, who'd later go on to be an important character in Star Wars canon.
While Clone Wars ended in 2005 with its last episode leading into the events of Episode III, it set the stage for what we would get a few years later with the kinda not-so well-received The Clone Wars movie which was followed up by the mega popular The Clone Wars TV show we are talking about.



Before we go further with talking about the show, lets talk about the movie that served as the pilot for it. Star Wars The Clone Wars the movie is technically the tenth Star Wars movie in the franchise over all, well seventh if you leave out the Holiday Special and the Ewok movies. When I first learned about this movie, I was fascinated. Some time after its release, I asked mum if I could. Admittedly, my mother was... hesitant. But after some persuasion, my mom got me the movie one day while we were at a video store and we watched it the next day, it was actually quite good.
So, whats the story of the film? Its simple, Anakin and new character Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano have to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son Ratta the Hutt from the clutches of Count Dooku. The movie has some stupendous action scenes, incredible animation and good voice acting, the best Star Wars movie the franchise has to offer, right up there with the prequels themselves.

Now, lets talk about the TV show itself. The Clone Wars' first season kicked off in 2008, just weeks after the movie hit theaters, and had its season finale in 2009. The show was well received, earning some positive reviews. Like I said before, TCW revolved around the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists, but there were times where the Jedi dealt with other threats such as Bounty Hunters and other rogues such as Darth Maul's brother Savage Oppress and, major spoilers, Darth Maul himself.

"WHAT?" I hear you say, "I thought Darth Maul was vanquished at the end of The Phantom Menace, how the heck is he in the show, whats going on?" Let me explain, yes Maul was defeated at the end of Episode I but he actually survived getting cut in half thanks to his hatred of Obi Wan and spent ten years in hiding on the junkyard planet of Lotho Minor before being tracked down and recovered by his brother, who took him back to Dathomir where the witch Talzin gave Maul new legs. What did Maul do once he got his new legs? Simple, he sought revenge against Obi-Wan for trying to destroy him, leading to the fallen Sith and his brother to take over Mandalore, attracting the attention of Darth Sidious, who beat Maul in battle and destroyed Savage.

The Clone Wars lasted 5-6 seasons and a good half a decade before it was taken off the air following the 2012 Disney buyout of Lucasfilm and Star Wars in 2013-2014, leaving some story lines unfinished much to the disappointment of many fans... until now.
Yes, after a 6-7 year hiatus, the show is returning for one last season which fans have waited for and demanded for years since the end of the series. We're getting the Siege Of Mandalore, more Ahsoka adventures and Order 66 as well as a bit of the aftermath.

My thoughts on the series?
Its fun and entertaining, has its charm and moments and enjoyable as long as you can handle the gritty and super mega violent parts of it. However, the final season of the series will not be airing on TV like all shows traditionally do, it will be on Disney Plus just like The Mandalorian.

Well, thats it for my review of The Clone Wars, sorry I didn't have a lot to say its just that there's so many episodes and some things I can't cover them all in one review otherwise we would be here all day without any rest or sleep.
So, uh, see you next time folks. Yes, I will review the final episodes of the show when the drop.
Bye!

-James M.

Guest Post -James M's review of The Mandalorian Episode 8

Salutations people, James M here and today we will be reviewing the 8th and final episode of the first season of The Mandalorian which is the epic Star Wars TV show on Disney Plus. So, lets skip the recap if you want and jump right into the plot...

Plot:
The episode picks up where the last episode left off with the Mando and his friends confronting Moff Gideon and his army of Imperial Remnant stormtroopers on the planet Nevarro in order to defeat the imperials and protect Baby Yoda aka The Child, which was captured by a group of scout troopers at the end of the last episode.

  On the way back to the town where the face off is happening, the scout troopers stop and, as they wait for their next orders, they chat and complain about Moff Gideon all while actually hitting the baby which proves to be a death sentence for them as IG-11 shows up and takes them out, retrieving the Child as part of his programming to keep the little one safe.

Inside the city, Moff Gideon and his squad of Stormtroopers and Death Troopers have the Mando, who's real name is revealed to be Din Djarrin, Cara Dune and Greef Karga cornered and almost outgunned. But things start to turn around when the heroes find a way to escape via a sewer grate, the only issue is the imperial forces. IG-11 shows up and guns the bad guys down while protecting Baby Yoda, even though its not a wise idea to bring a young child to a big huge violent battle.
During the chaos of it all, Din gets shot up and injured and the heroes struggle to open the grate inside the building they were in when Moff Gideon's forces attacked in the last episode. A flametrooper enters the fray and the heroes nearly get fried but Baby Yoda uses the force to stop the flames and burn the stormtrooper, completely roasting him.

The heroes flee into the sewers and make their way into the hideout of Din's foster family only to learn that the Imperials decimated most of the Mandalorians while a few escaped and left only one survivor. The survivor in question is none other than The Armorer, who has been an important character for most of the season and uses material to make pieces of armor for Mandalorians. The Armorer sees Baby Yoda and learns that Din had help in defeating the Mudhorn in season two, allowing Din to get his Mandalorian signet while the Armorer declares him to be the baby's adopted papa, entrusting The Child in his care.

Imperials soon arrive and the heroes escape while the Armorer keeps the stormtroopers busy and takes out a whole ton of them. Din, Cara, IG-11 and Greef make their way to a river of lava upon which they take a boat ride. At the end of the tunnel, stormtroopers await for them and IG-11 uses his self destruct mechanism to destroy the Imperials that were going to ambush the heroes.

Moff Gideon shows up in his TIE Fighter and Din uses his newly acquired Jet Pack to fly and go after the moff's tie fighter. After a struggle, the Mando takes down the Tie Fighter and seemingly ends the Moff's reign of terror. Din reclaims Baby Yoda and parts ways with Greef and Cara before taking off in his ship. As the episode ends, it turns out Moff Gideon is still alive and he breaks out of the ruins of his crashed ship using none other than the Darksaber from The Clone Wars and Rebels, ending Season One of the show.

Thoughts:
The episode was pretty action packed and ended the show's first season with a bang. The Mandalorian has been a huge success and fans love it. Season Two will be coming out way later in the fall of 2020. Episode 8 titled Redemption gets a ten out of ten.

With that, I close out my review.
See you all next time people!
-James M

Guest Post -James M's review of Star Wars The Mandalorian

Salutations Star Wars fans and today we will be discussing the very first live-action Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian by Jon Faveru, which airs on Disney Plus.

Let us begin!

So what is Disney Plus first of all, its a streaming service where you can watch movies and TV shows straight from Disney, from movies that had theatrical releases to TV shows that have aired before on TV to shows made for the streaming service.

As for the subject of today, what is The Mandalorian aside for the fact its a TV show?
Allow me to explain and summarize...

Set 3 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, following the end of the Galactic Civil War and set long before the events of The Force Awakens, The Mandalorian follows a Bounty Hunter who was adopted by a Mandalorian clan as he travels the galaxy in search for his next job. So far, as of this review, there have been 7 episodes and the show is reaching the tail end of its first season.
In the first episode, after capturing a guy, the Mando is assigned by the Imperial Remnant and the Guild to track down a 50 year old target. After reaching the planet where the target is located (and getting a ride), the bounty hunter teams up with an IG assassin droid to take out multiple mercenaries before finally getting his hands on the target which is actually a baby of Yoda's species.

In the next episode, after getting his hands on Baby Yoda, our hero has to fix his ship after a group of Jawas tear it apart. How does he convince them? By slaying a mudhorn and taking its egg. In episode three, The Mando delivers the baby to the Empire and fixes his armor with help from his clan. Before he leaves, he realizes that he made a mistake and liberates Baby Yoda from the Imperials before ending up in a standoff with a town full of Bounty Hunters and manages to get away with help from his adopted family.

Side note: The Mandalorian bounty hunter was orphaned thanks to a droid attack in the Clone Wars and was adopted by the Mandalorian tribe he lives with nowadays.

In episode four, the Mandalorian teams up with an ex-rebel soldier named Cara Dune in order to help a farming community fend off a pack of raiders who happen to have an Imperial walker on their side. Afterwards, the Mando and Baby Yoda leave due to the fact the Guild is still tracking the young one, which leads into the fifth episode. In episode five, our hero drops by Tatooine after his ship is damaged in order to repair it. While he does so, he helps a junior bounty hunter hunt down a mercenary while narrowly avoiding Tusken Raiders.

However, things nearly go south for The Mando when the junior hunter turns on him and attempts to capture Baby Yoda. In the end, the bounty hunter is defeated and The Mando's ship is repaired but not before he learns about how to take care of kids. In the next episode, The Mando teams up with a group of old Bounty Hunter buddies to bust out somebody from a New Republic dungeon ship. Things take a turn when the team betrays the Mando, leading to some epic action scenes including one sequence that would feel right at home in an Alien(s) movie with the bounty hunter stalking one of the rogues in a corridor while lights flash.
Oh and Dave Filoni makes a cameo as a New Republic pilot at the end of the episode.

Finally, we reach Episode 7, the penultimate episode of the season, where The Mando teams up with the Guild and some old allies to take on the Imperial Remnant faction that has been after The Child/Baby Yoda ever since the start of the show. The episode ended on one heck of a cliffhanger with the Moff of the remnant arriving and his Death Troopers firing on the cantina while a group of speeder bike stormtroopers capture the child.

Overall, The Mandalorian is a really fun show that deserves a watch assuming you have a Disney Plus account be it on TV or on your mobile device. This show has great moments, excellent acting choices, amazing special effects and a way past cool soundtrack. This show has become one of my favorites right up there with Star Wars Rebels and Resistance as well as The Clone Wars 2008 show and the 2003 Clone Wars micro series.

Anyways, time to sign off for now. See you all next time!
-James M

Side note: I will review the 8th episode of the show very soon, do not fear.

Guest Post -James M's review of The Legend of Zelda 1980s cartoon

The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo's most cherished video game franchise that has been going strong since 1986-1987. But we're not here to talk about any of the games or do a retrospective of it, yet. We're talking about the cartoon. Salutations, people, this is James M here and let us begin this one.



"Hey, excuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!"
-Link

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the success of video games, cartoons based on video games were pretty popular and, given the success of The Legend of Zelda, it was a matter of time before a cartoon happened and it did happen. So what is the Zelda cartoon all about?
In the fantasy world of Hyrule, Link and Princess Zelda fight to protect the Triforce from the king of darkness Ganon himself. Ganon is still a major threat and the main villain, but he is a bit goofy. What do you expect? This is a family-friendly show and Zelda is partially meant to be family-friendly. The series ran for 13 episodes and one season before being canceled. Was it popular among many? Yes, it was. Is it enjoyable? Of course, it's worth watching.



When it comes to the voice acting, hearing Link talk isn't all too bad, as long as you can not worry about the whole "hey excuse me princess" line that has become a bit infamous over the years. When it comes to Zelda's design? It's actually pretty decent, who wants to see her constantly be the damsel in distress all the time and be your typical princess. Heck, at one point in the show, we actually see her in a swimsuit. Even though it's not a two-piece, she still looks great. The episode we see Zelda in a swimsuit? It's a water park episode and we see her in a swimsuit twice. Once at the beginning and again at the end of the episode where she and Link are having fun in the water park.
Either way, the show knows how to impress people and deliver some quality fan service.

Speaking of Link and Zelda, Link is in love with her and a running gag throughout the series involves him trying to get her to kiss him only for everything to always go south for them afterwards. Technically, the kiss does happen at one point. Except for the Zelda that Link gets to kiss is not the real Zelda, but a doppelganger created by Ganon himself. Yup, we have the bad guy gal doppelganger episode that most shows are famous for. Link and Zelda's relationship throughout the Legend of Zelda franchise's history has changed a bit over the year, most of the time there has always been a bit of a romance between them, leading to Zelink shippers coming up with their own stories.

My thoughts on the cartoon?
Its really good and, of course, worth your time if you are a Zelda fan.
Sorry, my review was short, but I tend to do that sometimes.
See you all later, my friends.
-James M

Guest Post -James M's Sonic Underground Review & Retrospective

Salutations friends, James M here and we shall be going over another Sonic cartoon, the one, the only... SONIC UNDERGROUND!

"Game over, Robuttnik."
-Sonic in "Virtual Danger"

In 1998-1999, as the release of Sonic Adventure (which saw SEGA's beloved mascot make the jump to 3D) got closer, the world saw the airing of a 3rd Sonic cartoon. The cartoon in question? Sonic Underground. The show lasted about one season and forty episodes before being cancelled without it getting a proper ending to the show's main plot, leaving fans disappointed and upset. Despite its abrupt ending, Underground has left behind a lasting legacy and is well respected by fans, even though a handful of people hate the show for various reasons.

So what is the show about?

Its very simple, Sonic the Hedgehog is a prince and has siblings, a brother named Manic (who is a green hedgehog) and a sister named Sonia (who is freaking gorgeous and pink just like Amy). Together they tour Mobius, fighting off the influence of the evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik and helping the resistance as they seek out their mum Queen Aleena. That's right, Sonic has family and is royalty. Remember, this well before SEGA established the whole "SEGA-Sonic characters cannot have family relatives" mandate some time after the Archie Sonic comics rebooted, so of course those who made Sonic comics and cartoons had creative freedom and could give the SEGA cast a family. Also, it wouldn't be Sonic without his nemesis Doctor Ivo Eggman Robotnik himself.

However, Sonic, his siblings, their mum and Doctor Robotnik aren't the only characters in the show. Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic 3 & Knuckles makes his appearance a few times throughout the series, his grandpa Athair from Archie does show up as well. Sonic's Uncle Chuck from SatAM and Archie does show up for in the first episode and he does adopt a younger Sonic, who loses his foster parents to Robotnik's forces. There's also Cyrus, who actually very briefly works for Robotnik due to being blackmailed until he really does join the resistance. As for Doctor Robotnik? He deploys Swatbots and roboticized Mobians to do his bidding. He also uses two bounty hunters named Sleet and Dingo to try and take out or capture the hedgehogs.

Now Sleet and Dingo are Robotnik lackeys and are considered the Scratch and Grounder of Sonic Underground, so expect the two of them to be comedic relief. As for the backstory of the show's plot? Its simple... Mobius was once peaceful until Robotnik took over, turned the city of Mobotroplis into Robotroplis and began roboticizing most of the population just like in SatAM. Sonic, Manic and Sonia were babies when that happened and their mum was soon visited by the Oracle of Delphius who spoke of a prophecy that one day the hedgehog royal family would become the Council of Four and overthrow Robotnik's regime. Until then, the queen must separate her babies and go into hiding.

Sonia is brought up by Madame Windmire, an aristocrat, and is athletic/acrobatic, great at the piano and has quite a personality. Manic ends up being raised by a thief named Ferrel. As for Sonic? You already know he was raised by a couple before being adopted by Uncle Chuck after said couple was captured. When both siblings are old enough, they reunite and join up with the resistance before setting out to find their mum and save Mobius from Robotnik, while getting into some crazy adventures along the way, not to mention doing some musical numbers here and there. In the final episode of the show, Virtual Danger, they thwart Robotnik's plot involving virtual reality and, after that one, the show is over. Robotnik's defeated, but will the triplets reunite with their mama?



In the years following the show's cancellation, fans have clamored to see a proper conclusion, to see what will happen next. In 2012, at Comic-Con, people were in for a surprise when Archie announced that the TV series would be concluded in the pages of Sonic Universe Issue 50. However, things changed. Due to behind the scenes complications and the upcoming crossover between Sonic & Mega Man, the Sonic Underground story was scrapped and replaced with a Metal Sonic story. Not long after, the Archie Sonic reboot happened and hopes for a Sonic Underground Epilogue seemed to fade when SEGA increased their mandates and labeled material from that show and others such as Sonic X off-limits. Even worse, there was the "Sonic can't have family" mandate.
A few years later, the Archie Sonic era ended and it seemed the possibility of Sonic Underground getting any proper conclusion are null and void. However, there is still hope. Many fans have taken it upon themselves VIA fanfiction to give the cartoon the conclusion it deserves. As for the comic-style epilogue to Underground, the folks at Archie Sonic Online have taken matters into their own hands and we are soon to get the long-awaited ending to Sonic Underground. As for the solicitation?

In 1999, the world was introduced to a very different version of our heroic, blue blur. As prince to the kingdom, and armed with the power of music, Sonic and his sister Sonia and brother Manic sought to find their mother, Queen Aleena, and defeat the evil dictator, Dr. Robotnik. Now, 20 years later, the story concludes in “Swan Song”! Robotnik has the royal siblings right where he wants them, with roboticizion a foregone conclusion. Who can save the young resistance leaders? It’s our first issue of Sonic Universe Online, and the milestone no Sonic Underground fan can miss! Featuring cover art by Riggo!

This is super promising and I cannot wait to read it as well as review it.
As for Sonic Underground's legacy? It is an honorable one, even though the show is long gone, at least we can all see it on DVD. As for the characters, their legacies will live on in reruns, fan art and many fan-made Sonic works such as fan fiction, fan comics and fan videos. As a Sonic fan, I intend to honor that legacy too and happily include anything related to Sonic Underground in some of my fan art and my fanfics as long as I continue to do any of that stuff until the day I decide I'm done.

I started watching Sonic Underground in 2012 and after watching the "Wedding Blue Bells" episode, I went on a Sonic Underground hiatus for almost a year before I dove back into the show and finished it. The show is still enjoyable and I often watch some of its episodes from time to time, I actually took it upon myself to write a little Sonic Underground Epilogue fanfic of my own in 2015-2016, but I also made it tie into another story I've yet to fully finish (as of this) known as Percy Jackson And The Legend of Zelda 2: Worlds Unite, which involves Sonia from Sonic Underground. Given that I have changed a bit as a writer, I need to edit my Sonic Underground epilogue a little bit, get rid of some... questionable stuff.

Anyways, I happily close out this review and I say thank you to Sonic Underground for being awesome. Bye guys...

-James M the CrazyGamerHistorian1999

Guest Post -James M's Doctor Who 56th Anniversary Review + Retrospective

Salutations my friends, I'm here to discuss the popular British Sci-Fi show of all time, the wonderful, the well-acclaimed and incredible DOCTOR WHO.

"Allons-y!"
-Tenth Doctor, David Tennant
(Various episodes) 2005 to 2009-2010



I am so honored to be a fan of this amazing franchise and it has a special place in my heart as it had from the moment I started watching this show back in 2015 after a few years of reluctance about the show. Back when I was young, my only exposure to Doctor Who was through the Daleks, who appeared in stop-motion videos I watched on the internet, and a brief appearance by The Doctor himself in a LEGO Harry Potter video. However, in 2013, when I was 13 years old, my pop showed me a montage of Daleks shouting "Exterminate" and I freaked out. I decided, "No, I'm not gonna watch Doctor Who."



A few years later, with pop bugging me about Doctor Who, I was like "Fine I'll give it a shot" and I recorded the episode "Lets Kill Hitler", given my interest in Nazis then, and I soon fell in love with the show. Over time, I immersed myself in the lore of Doctor Who and the show's history, understanding everything about The Doctor, the Time Lords, The Doctor's friends and foes, the universe and everything else including the infamous event known as The Last Great Time War where it originally ended with The Doctor wiping out all the Time Lords and almost all The Daleks. Looking at when the show first aired that fateful day in 1963, I am amazed that it became more than what it was intended to be and survived beyond the sixties, despite cancellation in the 80s.

Who could've thought back in November of 1963, the day An Unearthly Child  first aired, that Doctor Who would become a sci-fi mainstay? Who could've foreseen The Doctor's first regeneration and the changing/recasting of actors?? Who else could've expected our first glimpse at the Doctor's arch enemies, the pepper pot-looking humanoid-turned mutant robot race known as The Daleks? Almost nobody. But if you went back in time to the night Doctor Who first aired and you told somebody in England "Hey, you know about that cool show that just aired? Well guess what, Doctor Who's gonna be a sci-fi staple and become the longest-running TV show fifty years from now." nobody would believe you and would think that you're some sort of madman.

But fifty six years later, those who saw Doctor Who back in 1963 and still alive today would believe you now. This show has had a long history of success with highs and lows, incredible stories and being a bit weird... in a good way. When Doctor Who went off the air in 1989 and experienced a 16 year hiatus, with the show briefly returning in 1996 with a movie for one night, nobody could've anticipated its return thanks to Russel T Davies and the incredible Christopher Eccleston and the lovely Billie Piper. But hey, Doctor Who is still with us and always will be, long after we've kicked the can and the show has long moved on a thousand years from now.



Also, back when the show returned in 2005, who expected The Doctor to be played by a female by the name of Jodie Whitaker. I mean, thats crazy weird, the main character played by men for decades becomes a female played by a woman. The whole idea has been in discussion as far back as 1983 when Peter Davidson was about to leave the show. But Colin Baker came in, the discussion continued, even after Sylvester McCoy came and went and after the show was cancelled. 2017 came along and BOOM, Female Doctor. I had expectations for the Twelfth Doctor's final episode Twice Upon a Time and how The Doctor would react to becoming a woman. I actually expected the Doctor to check herself, look in the mirror and be in absolute shock and be like, "You gotta be kidding me."

But instead, all we got was The Doctor smiling and saying "Oh brilliant" happily before The TARDIS went haywire and started to blow up. *Facepalm* Nobody likes it when expectations are subverted! Either way, Doctor Who has proven to be the best, even when its off the air. In its decades long history, there have been more than just the show. We've gotten comics, novels and video games to name a whole ton. Yes, I've actually collected some Doctor Who comics and I've just about read a few novels. Video games? Thats a different story but I will play one of them soon. I have a few Doctor Who favorites, I have my least favorites like that two parter where The Doctor encountered a creature who claimed to be "The Demon" himself which was interesting but absurd at the same time.

Doctor Who has a legacy, one that will be respected forever. As of this review, series 12 of the revival series has not aired so its best to wait patiently by watching old Doctor Who episodes, writing Dr Who stories (if you're a writer and fanfics are your thing), read Doctor Who stories, play some video games and, yes, listen to some audio adventures. This is CrazyGamerHistorian1999 signing off and I shall leave you all be.

-James M

Guest Post -James M's Review of Hogan's Heroes + Retrospective

Salutations fellow historians and fans of anything related to the Second World War, CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and we will be taking a look at the 1960s-1970s American WWII-themed sitcom, the campy and sometimes serious Hogan's Heroes.
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   By the time the 1960s rolled about, World War II was partially a distant memory, yet movies and television shows set during the time of the war were very common, shows such as Rat Patrol and movies like Great Escape and The Longest Day are prime examples.
   But one show stood out in particular, Hogan's Heroes. Set during World War II from 1942 to sometime in early 1945, the show focused on Colonel Robert Hogan and his crew -consisting of Staff Sergeant James Kinchloe (later replaced by Ken Washington's character Sgt Baker), French Corp Louis LeBeau (played by holocaust survivor Robert Clary), English Corporal Peter Newkirk and Sgt Andrew Carter- as they engage in hit and run surgical strike sabotage missions against the Nazi regime of the Third Reich.

 Hogan and his crew's main base of operations is the seemingly inescapable Stalag 13, which is run by Kommandant Wilhelm Klink (played by Werner Klemperer), who is a strict and tough, yet bumbling, loyal German Luftwaffe-Wehrmacht officer and a veteran of World War I and accompanied by Sgt. Hans Schultz (played by John Banner), also a WWI veteran and the main sergeant of Stalag 13. Schultz loves chocolate and can be an idiot too, he also looks a bit like Goring.
    Being a bit incompetent and bumbling as well as fearful of being shot or sent to the Russian front, Schultz provides a bit of comic relief. Whenever he learns about Hogan's plans or sees something like the emergency tunnel, he freaks out and says, "I know nothing, nothing. I see nothing, I hear nothing!" One time, when he saw the tunnel and it was open, he chuckled and told Hogan, "You better fix that hole in the floor or somebody might fall in."

However, while most of the Germans are incompetent and not as dangerous as they usually should be, providing for some great comedy, there are still times where things really get serious whenever Klink's boss General Burkhalter (played by Leon Askins) and the SS/Gestapo, lead by Major Hochstetter (played by the great Howard Caine) get involved. Burkhalter, like Schultz, is fat and almost looks like Herman Goring, except he has a scar on his face. In some episodes, whenever he shows up, Burkhalter will attempt to get Klink to hook up with his sister Gertruda. As for the SS, their involvement can provide some major complications for Hogan's plans.

Despite Hogan and his crew's best efforts not to be caught, they did almost got exposed numerous times, Hogan's had a few spies infiltrate his group and then there was that time where the Germans got their hands on a device that could detect radio frequencies. While German dictator Adolf Hitler does not appear in the show, despite being mentioned numerous times and the fact Klink and somebody else has photos of the fuehrer, his influence and his presence can be felt throughout, even when the SS get involved. When you think about it, Hitler's probably off-screen somewhere either giving a speech, hosting a meeting or sitting down to drink his tea. Whenever the German war machine is sabotaged or there's a successful Allied air raid and it reaches Hitler's ears, he probably gets mad, throws a temper tantrum and likely orders somebody shot.

In a few episodes, however, Carter has dressed up as Hitler a few times, so Hitler does show up but its either somebody mimicking his voice or impersonating him in general. In the episode "Will The Real Adolf Please Stand Up", in order to get a film out of Stalag 13, Hogan had Carter dress up as the crazed dictator to hilarious results. Schults gave Carter/Hitler the Nazi salute and Klink acted like a Hitler fanboy, excited that Germany's "great leader" was visiting Stalag 13. In another episode, Carter did dress up as Hitler again and Klink's office did get turned into "Hitler's office". Either way, the show, running for 6 seasons and 6 years (just like WWII) from 1965 to 1971, is awesome.

Hogan's Heroes has a legacy, a legacy that will never be forgotten, and has been referenced in other media off and on throughout the years. Shortly before his passing many years after the show ended, Werner Klemperer reprised his role as Colonel Klink, whose ghost made an appearance in an episode of the Simpsons. In his brief appearance, Klink finally learned about the secret tunnel under Stalag 13 as well as the coffee pot radio from Homer, who was a big fan of Hogan's Heroes....

Retrospective/Thoughts:

In the Summer of 2014, my pop and I were discussing WWII when he brought up the show and he told me a little bit about it, even telling me about the episode where Carter dressed up as Hitler. It took a while, but I was eventually interested.  Months later, in November/December of 2014, pop and I watched the pilot episode on TV, (a rerun) and after that, we started watching more episodes (including the one where there was a Colonel Hoffman who wanted to defect from the Third Reich). I was into the show so much, mum got me the first two seasons for Christmas and we were soon watching almost all the episodes.

During Christmas season 2016, my pop and I did get our hands on Seasons three and four, they also took a while to get through. Afterwards, especially after we got our hands on the last two seasons, I became disconnected from the show and it was a while before we got back into it, again. Then in 2018, we got back into the show and, yes, it did take a while to get through season five. Finally, in 2019 (this year as of this review), we finally finished the show. Was it a fun ride? Yes. Did I have fun? Yes. Is it worth a watch? Go ahead, buy the whole series and watch it.

See you next time, people.
-James M

Guest Post -James Review of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 Saturday Morning Cartoon)

Good day, people. James M the Crazy Video Game Wizard here, and today, we will be looking at something different, a cartoon based on a video game. The cartoon in question?
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG aka Sonic Saturday Morning or, most accurately, Sonic SatAM.

In 1991, SEGA released Sonic the Hedgehog for the SEGA Genesis and, within a few years, the Sonic video game franchise was a huge success, so successful, it spawned more than video games, it brought about merchandising such as toys along with a few comic books (which included Archie) and even cartoons.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was a prime example of a Sonic cartoon, starring Jaleel White voicing the blue hedgehog.
But around that same time as AoSTH (which was an action-adventure comedy), there was another popular Sonic cartoon, one that would leave a lasting legacy felt to this very day.
The cartoon in question? Sonic SatAM!

SatAM was more unique and different from its AoSTH counterpart, despite having Jaleel White's involvement as well. How different? Well, unlike the goofy and lighthearted Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Saturday Morning was more dark and serious and action-packed. Don't worry, it was still family-friendly and allowed kids to see it.

The overall plot?
In the distant future, specifically the 33rd Century, Doctor Robotnik (and his associate/nephew Snively) has conquered Mobius, the world is all his. Yes, the main villain has already triumphed and taken over the world.
So its up to Sonic, Tails and their friends, the Freedom Fighters (consisting of Princess Sally Acorn, Antoine, Bunnie and Rotor) to overthrow Robotnik and take back what was once theirs. Sonic and his friends reside in Knothole, hidden in the Great Forest, where they strike out at Robotnik, who's seat of power is in Robotroplis (formerly Mobotroplis), which was once the main city of the Kingdom of Acorn before Robotnik came in and exiled the King, Sally's pop.
The show went on for two seasons and twenty six episodes before it came to a halt with the episode The Doomsday Machine where Sonic and the Freedom Fighters trashed Robotnik's Doomsday Machine and overthrew the fat man's rule, but not before the show ended on a cliffhanger with Snively assuming command and bringing along another villain by the name of Naugus, who debuted earlier in season two).

Originally/Initially, had the show not been cancelled, we would've gotten season three, where Sonic and his friends would have to contend with Snively and Naugus while dealing with Robotnik, who survived the events of The Doomsday Machine. Also, we would've dived into both the backstory of Mobius, Robotnik and Snively as well as Nicole. The backstory for Mobius? Its a post-apocalyptic Earth. Robotnik and Snively? They were space adventurers and time travelers. Nicole, Sally's computer? She was originally a normal Mobian girl before being converted into a computer by Doctor Robotnik (who once went by the name Julian).

Sonic SatAM is a product of the 1990s and is a great show. Is it worth your time? Of course it is. The writers of the show like Ben Hurst are legends and their legacy lives on to this day. After the show got cancelled, many of its viewers treated the Archie Sonic comics (which were going on at the time SatAM was canned) as a continuation of the cartoon. Fascinatingly, the Archie Sonic comics not only drew inspiration from the video games, it also drew inspiration from SatAM alongside AoSTH. Sonic SatAM has a respectable legacy as it brought forth many memorable characters like Sally Acorn or Sir Charles Hedgehog, who was Sonic's uncle.

As for the unfinished and unseen stories fans of SatAM wish to see, in the years since the end of the show, many fans have brought it upon themselves to revive SatAM in any way shape or form and bring to life the concepts for Season Three. One group in particular has actually been super successful in bringing about their own continuation of the show in the form of a fan comic which, as of this report, is being brought to life in animated format. The fan project in question? Sonic Sea3on. it has promise and the fans even brought together veterans who worked on SatAM to help.

I happily give Sonic SatAM a 9/10 (it would've gotten a ten had it gotten a proper conclusion) for its great voice acting, solid animation, great action scenes, compelling and fun characters, overall tone and for the lasting legacy and impression it has left on the fans.

See you later Sonic fans

http://www.sonicsatam.com/sea3on/