TV Review: Gotham Season 2, Episode 1 "Damned If You Do"

Last season, I watched every episode of Gotham. I didn't quite watch it as it aired, especially after the first couple episodes, and I finished a few weeks after the season ended, but I mostly kept up with the show. It was okay, trying to do a lot of things and only sometimes succeeding, with a lot of elements that seemed ill-advised or problematic. Probably the worst thing I can say is that I don't remember a lot of the first season, which is never a good sign.

Still, I was cautiously optimistic and watched "Damned If You Do", the first episode of this season, and I still have no idea if my optimism was misplaced. I wouldn't call it good, but I wouldn't call it bad either. At the very least, they appear to be trying to go in a different direction.

Comic Review: Over the Garden Wall #2

• Created and Written by Pat McHale
• Illustrated by Jim Campbell
• Additional Colors by Danielle Burgos
• Letters by Warren Montgomery
• Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Despite never having watched the TV series it comes from, I loved the first issue of Over the Garden Wall. It felt like such a weird and inventive comic, and don't hold the All-Ages audience against it. Without knowing the TV series, it's a bit hard to follow the jumps in time that it takes, but it makes up for that with continuing how fun and off the wall it is throughout.

Comic Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 #19

• Script by Christos Gage and Nicholas Brendon
• Art by Rebekah Isaacs
• Colors by Dan Jackson
• Letters by Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
• Published by Dark Horse Comics

This is a particularly weird issue of Buffy. It has gotten a lot of positive reception, which I understand and don't completely disagree with, but it is also a weirdly flawed story that doesn't work for nearly the entire issue. Somehow, the ending pulls it together, even though the rest of the issue doesn't really work.

Comic Review: Danger Girl: Renegade #1

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Written by Andy Hartnell
• Art by Stephen Molnar
• Colors by John Rauch
• Letters by Neil Uyetake
• Edits by Scott Dunbier
• Published by IDW Publishing

Before reading this issue, I didn't know that Danger Girl had an established history in comics. As it turns out, that is a very good thing. Danger Girl: Renegade #1 makes me want to read more, and its back catalogue means I don't have to wait for a new issue to get more.

Comic Review: Drive #1

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Written by Michael Benedetto
• Pencils by Antonio Fuso
• Inks by Emilio Lecce
• Colors by Jason Lewis
• Letters by Frank Cvetkovic
• Publisher: IDW Publishing

Drive started its life as a novel, then was adapted to a movie, and with Drive #1, IDW is now adapting the novel to comics. While the novel is considered a classic and the movie has a lot of critical acclaim, the comic is unfortunately not up to those standards.

Interesting Comics This Week (9-23-15)

Mentioning a comic here doesn't necessarily mean I will be reviewing it, and not being here doesn't necessarily mean I won't. Instead, this is meant as a simple look at what sticks out about what is coming out this week.
 
Action Lab:

Princeless Be Yourself #4
Despite having only read the Raven: The Pirate Princess spinoff, just about everything in the Princeless series jumps out at me as something to pay attention to right away. This one is the final issue in a miniseries, so while I can't speak to it out of experience, it's still worth looking at, or noting down to keep an eye out for the trade.
 

Comic Review: Over the Garden Wall #1

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications. 

• Creator: Pat McHale
• Writer: Pat McHale
• Illustrator: Jim Campbell
• Colors: Danielle Burgos
• Letters: Warren Montgomery
• Publisher: Boom! Studios

I had trouble at first figuring out exactly what I thought about Over the Garden Wall #1, based off the Cartoon Network miniseries. A lot of that comes down to it looking like a kids' comic, which has a lot of negative connotations in the industry now. That term isn't meant as a negative here, since it doesn't have the unintelligent sense of humor that you might suspect out of a kids' comic, but instead is just in a style that appeals to kids, without sacrificing any wit or intelligence in the humor.