Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 65! Nick Returns!

Nick returns! Dave is on his honeymoon, so Nick is back to help fill in. Billy and Nick blow way past $20 each in this week’s 20, talk about what they’re both reading right now, as well as the new iZombie TV series, their mutual love of Mike Allred, and Nick’s recent reread of the Starman omnibuses.  Who’s ready for some comic talk?

izombie comic

SHIELD #2 – Review

shield 2 cover

After reading SHIELD #1, I was very excited for more from Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco, especially from Pacheco, who was one of my favorite comic book artists in the late 1990s, but seems to have disappeared over the past decade. Sadly, Carlos Pacheco does not join Waid on SHIELD #2.

Humberto Ramos steps in on art, and a more perfect artist could have not have been picked for this issue. Issue #2 of SHIELD sees Simmons go undercover as a high school substitute teacher in Jersey City, NJ. What superhero highschooler happens to live in Jersey City? That’s right, Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. After reading this issue, Ramos is now my second favorite artist of Kamala, behind only Kamala Khan co-creator Adrian Alphona. Ramos’s style of exaggerated hands and feet is perfect for a shape-changing, often-stretchy character like Ms. Marvel.

Waid delivers another great script. He introduces us to Simmons’s father, who does not know his daughter is a secret agent for SHIELD. Waid uses Jemma’s need to lie to her parents about what she does for a living as a bonding moment between Simmons and Ms. Marvel. Kamala doesn’t like lying to her parents about her superheroing as much as Jemma doesn’t like lying to her parents about her secret agenting. I would love to see Kamala and Jemma meet again, as I can see Jemma being a great mentor for Kamala.

The plot centers around Simmons and Coulson trying to find a black marketer of stolen supervillain tech operating out of the Kamala’s school. The tech that shows up leads to Coulson and Ms. Marvel having an obscure villain trivia-off, noting the variations in the tech that villains used over the years. They both get the chance to one up each other in the trivia, and like Coulson’s scenes in issue #1, plays to Waid’s own strength in comic book trivia.

If the first two issues are any indication, SHIELD will be one of the best books that Marvel puts out this year.

Agents of SHIELD – S2E13 – One of Us – Recap

We start at dinner time…..someone in Coney Island is eating steak. She’s got robot hands. Hey, it’s Drea De Matteo! Her name is Karla Faye Gideon. We find that out when Kyle shows up and tells her he got her name off a Gifted Index. She asks if they’re with SHIELD. He says he’ll try not to be offended. Classic Kyle zinger!

kyles krew

Kyle’s with Levi and Francis. Levi has control over tech. Francis has the power of looking extra creepy. Drea closes the door in their face. Smart move. She reopens the door. Less smart move. Francis gets her metal gloves off her. She’s got metal razors for fingernails. Kyle wants her to join him. He’s creating his own Masters of Evil it seems.

razor hands

On the bus, Skye and Coulson are sharing a meal. Coulson is adding her to the Gifted Index. Whoa, Blair Underwood’s name just popped up in the opening credits! Sweet! Is he who Coulson is bringing in from the outside? May’s apparent ex? Oooo…

blair underwood

Bobbie and Simmons are in the lab. Simmons is having a hard time explaining Skye’s DNA. Fitz comes in. Simmons intentionally goes quiet when Fitz walks in. Aww, I miss FitzSimmons. Simmons does too it seems. Simmons tells Bobbie that a betrayl of trust like that changes everything. Just in time for Bobbie to field a call from Mac.

Mac is at the safehouse where he has locked up Hunter. Hunter has the great line of the episode when he tells Mac to tell Bobbie he takes it all back…when he said he wished she hadn’t died out there. Harsh, Hunter! Then again, he is handcuffed to the bathroom sink. Bobbie tells Mac to bring Hunter in. She’ll arrange an extraction. How big is this conspiracy?

Hey, it’s Blair Underwood! May is waiting for him at his university job. So it looks like Blair is Andrew, May’s ex. Nice. He doesn’t seem excited about SHIELD needing his help. He’s dismayed that May is back in the field. Interesting. Going through his criteria for helping Skye, he clearly distrusts SHIELD.

WHOA! WHAT? He’s MAY’s EX-HUSBAND!!! I thought he was maybe an ex-boyfriend!

Kyle shows up at an Brinmore Psychiatric Facility and Drea slashes the guard’s throat. Kyle is flagrant, waving at the security camera. We see Francis’s power. He’s super strong (besides just being super creepy).

Coulson and Andrew seem to be on good terms. Coulson briefs Bobbie on the break-in at Brynmore. He also notes that Hunter didn’t show up today, in what seem like a way of judging Bobbie’s reaction.

Skye isn’t excited about meeting with a psychiatrist until she finds out he was married to May. She peppers him with questions. To get Skye to open up, Andrew reveals details about his marriage to May. Nothing big, just enough to get Skye to like him.

Kyle and company tore through the facility. Only two people were stored in the subbasement – John Bruno, a military assassin and a guy who immediately attacks them. This dude looks like Killer Croc. but less reptilian. He’s big, but just being big isn’t an auto-win against Bobbie, who takes him down with ease. Kyle left Coulson a note spray painted on the wall, FIGHT ON.

The second guy is David A. Angar…aka Angar the Screamer. Hahahaha, are you serious?!? Angar the Screamer! Who’s next? D-Man? Not sure why Kyle left Killer Croc but took Angar the Screamer. I’m trying to think of a Marvel villain lamer than Angar. Let me get back to you on that. For those of you who can’t tell why I’m laughing, here’s Angar the Screamer from Marvel Comics:

angar the screamer

While talking to Andrew about Skye, May gets the second best line of the night when she says, “I taught her how to fire an automatic. Of course she likes me.” Andrew and May get snippy about each other’s love life. They’re totally going to sleep together. As I think this, he tells her, “You looks good.” Keep it in your pants, Blair Underwood!

Fitz walks in on them joking around. He’s freaked out. He’s clearly not used to May smiling. Gossiping about May and Andrew reunites FitzSimmons. Yes! Their reunion is cut short when Skye gets a case of the shakes. She’s shaking the entire Bus. Whoa, this is just from Skye having a bad dream? May and Andrew take the good cop bad cop approach to get Skye to calm down. Amazingly, it works.

Bobbie and Coulson are hunting Kyle’s RV on traffic cams. Coulson notes that sometimes ignorance is bliss. Oh, like Bobbie potentially betraying you?

Kyle and company are reenacting Diner…if everyone in Diner were crazy. Razor Fingers is the most normal person in this crew.

Coulson confronts Bobbie about Hunter. He figured out that Hunter didn’t bolt because of Coulson’s job offer, but wrongly thinks it’s because something happened between Bobbie and Hunter personally, because they’re sleeping together. Bobbie blames Hunter bolting on his fear of commitment.

Bobbie gets a hit on the license plate. Coulson figures out what FIGHT ON meant. Kyle and co are heading to Coulson’s hometown in Wyoming.

Skye and Andrew are meeting again in Skye’s room/cell on the Bus. As they talk about the index, Skye gets agitated and the room shakes…except it’s not Skye. The Bus is taking off. Andrew is not happy. He confronts May, who basically says she had no choice.

Kyle and Drea release Angar from his muzzle. He’s about to scream, but Kyle tells him to make it count. Angar walks out onto the 50 yard line and screams. Everyone on the field either passes out or dies, I’m not really sure. Birds fall from the sky. Ruh-roh.

angar the dufus

Mac brings Hunter a pizza. He tells Hunter he wants to keep Hunter alive. He reminsices about how they first met. When Hunter calls his BS, Mac leaves Hunter with the pizza.

Skye wants to head to the field to help Coulson, but May and Andrew think it’s a bad idea. They don’t want her near her dad. It turns out Coulson never went to this high school, but his dad did coach football and taught history. Coulson’s dad died when Coulson was 9.

Kyle gets on the loudspeaker. He calls his group The Slicing Talons. Maybe work on that name, Kyle. Kyle is pissed that Coulson killed Daniel Whitehall. That’s what this is all about? I have to say, I really like Kyle McLaughin as a completely crazy bonkers person. Phil wants to wait for May, but when Kyle threatens to kill the highschoolers, Phil comes out of the shadows. Kyle’s people are on the field. Angar takes Coulson’s gun. Kyle gives him a speech about stopping Coulson before Coulson has a chance to hurt his daughter. That’s when May walks out of the shadows with a gun dug into Skye’s neck. Even Coulson is surprised.

Kyle advances on May, and May tells him to tell his people to stand down on his daughter dies. He’s convinced May won’t kill her, but that Coulson would. He give Angar the microphone and tells him to tell the whole town. Someone shoot Angar already.

As Angar is about to scream, the blind teleporter from last week ports in, grabs Kyle and ports out. Drea yells, “End this!” Coulson rushes Angar, punches him in the larynx and drops him. May fights the super strong Francis, but even with her fighting skills is losing out to his brute strength. Drea climbs down from the bleachers and is ambushed by Bobbie. She manages to escape into the locker room. Bobbie pursues. Carla (Drea) isn’t being taken alive. I have a bad feeling that Bobbie is going to die because Hunter says he wishes she was dead. But Bobbie wins. I’m very happy about that.

Skye sees Coulson whip that tech dude in the face, and freaks out a bit. She starts shaking, but gets it under control. Unfortunately, controlling it causes her to break out in bruises all over her arms and she passes out. Coulson and May run to her. She wakes on The Bus. Whoa, she shattered her own arms. She wasn’t stopping her powers, she was directing them inward. Now Skye’s a danger to her friends, and herself. Skye is worried, but May reassures here.

Simmons wants to categorize superhumans into different subcategories. Deathlok and David Angar she calls “Enhanced,” because their gifts were man-made. But Skye and Raina, this is something that was inside them. For now, Simmons is calling them “Other.” Could “Inhuman” be far behind?

Now that they’re back at the base, Andrew is leaving. He recommends that Skye leaves SHIELD. May thinks she’s safest with them. May offers Blair Underwood a recurring role on the show, but he turns it down. He does say he can recommend someone else though. Please let it be Doctor Seaver from Growing Pains!

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Mac grabs Hunter and takes him to a secret facility. Mac tells Hunter who he’s working for…SHIELD, the real SHIELD, and steps away to reveal the real SHIELD’s new logo.

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Kyle has wrecked the room the blind teleporter left him in. The teleporter asks if he’s done. Kyle is pissed that he didn’t grab Daisy/Skye too. But the reason the teleporter grabbed him is that Kyle “is making too much noise.” He says that Kyle isn’t one of them, that Kyle is a science experiment. Kyle steps out of the room to meet with the teleporter’s boss (or bosses) as the episode fades to black.

Agents of SHIELD – S2 E12 – Who You Really Are – Recap

The episode starts in Portugal. Some dude is explaining s’mores to another dude on the beach when Lady Sif emerges from the water. She’s looking for someone named Carver. The people on the beach, one who looks like Josh Jackson, don’t know who Carver is. One of the guys tries to hit on Sif. Big mistake. She punches him across the beach. She also has amnesia. Now that’s how you start an episode!

sif on the beach who you really are

At Coulson HQ, May and Skye are training. It’s intense. Do they do their own stunts? Skye flips May and pins her. May tells her that she should have gone for a finishing blow. Skye makes a Mortal Kombat joke. Skye is worried about letting loose, and hurting her friends if she does. Fitz interrupts training to get May to back off Skye. May doesn’t like training being interrupted and offers for Fitz to come back and train one on one with her if he wants to interrupt training so badly. Unsurprisingly, Fitz declines.
Bobbie and Hunter are post-coitus. It was either really energetic sex or they’re both secretly in terrible shape. Hunter tells Bobbie that Coulson offered him a permanent position. She seems hesitant for him to take it. It seems like Hunter is doing this for Bobbie, but I wonder if Bobbie wants him there with what she and Mac have planned.
bobbie and hunter who you really are
Speaking of Mac, he’s meeting with Coulson. They’re doing inventory. Coulson wants to upgrade Mac to field agent status. Mac’s hesitant about it. He passes himself off here as a bit of a pacifist. May coomes in to tell Coulson about Portugal. The Portugal authories have Sif in custody. Coulson and company make a beeline for Portugal and Sif, who asks if Coulson is Carver. Coulson tells her that he’s not Carver, but rather Son of Coul. Ha. He shows her a still from the last time she was on  he show to show her that they’ve worked together before. It turns out Twitter is the answer to the mystery of what happened to Sif. Someone posted a video of her in a sword fight with some dude. She doesn’t remember this. The team theorizes that this mystery man is a rouge Asgardian.
The rouge Asgardian seems at first glance to maybe be an Absorbing Man-like guy. It’s not the Absorbing Man from previously in the series, but he seems to have the same powers. He shows up at a hospital holding what looks like a large metal screw and is changing colors to match the screw.
Coulson deduces that Sif was undercover. Sif doesn’t remember anything, but when May mentions Thor, Sif smiles, but doesn’t remember him.
Hunter, Mac and Fitz are checking the pier. Bobbie and Skye check the hospital. The rouge Asgardian beats up Bobbie. Skye draws her gun on him, and then loses it and shakes the place, knocking down shelves. In the confusion, the rouge Asgardian escapes. Skye fills Coulson in on the rouge. He might not be Asgardian at all. He was using Nitrogen to turn his blue skin pink. Skye things he’s a Kree. I’m now on the same page as Skye, as the Kree are the resident blue skinned aliens of the Marvel Universe. Sif notes Carver isn’t just a name, it’s the Kree work for keys.
the kree
Hunter walks in on Skye and Fitz talking about Skye’s secret. He doesn’t hear anything. Speaking of secrets, after Simmons finishes checking on Bobbie, Mac meets with Bobbie. Mac wants Bobbie to convince Hunter to leave. He says, “I don’t want him here in case he takes their side.” Just who are these two really working for? Mac wants Hunter gone to preserve their friendship with Hunter when they betray Coulson. Aww, Mac is the traitor with the heart of gold.
Skye doesn’t want to be on the Kree mission. She’s worried about hurting her friends, and them finding out her secret.
The Kree dude pulls out a Kree inscribed lock box. Coulson’s crew ambushes him. Coulson shoots him with an electified net. The Kree’s name is Vintac. He sounds like he was named after a floppy disk company. Also, the Kree have these V-shaped brow ridges.
Hunter stops by Bobbie. She gives him the cold shoulder and tells him she needs time to figure them out. She wants to slow things down. Awww man, she’s totally Call of the Wilding him. Don’t believe her Hunter. She loves you!
Sif wants to know how the truncheon works. FYI…the truncheon is that large screw thing the Kree guy is carrying around. The Kree says it only works when its in his hand. To prove this, he kicks the truncheon out of Coulson’s hand, grabs it and hits Sif with it. He then immediately backs down. He just wanted to prove a point. Being hit with the truncheon restores Sif’s memories. Sif immediately punches Vintac in the face. Apparently the Asgardians and Kree have a longstanding feud.
The Kree mentions terrigenesis. Terrigenesis! For those of you not familiar with the comics, terrigenesis is how the Inhumans get their powers. The Inhumans are an offshoot of humanity who were experimented on long ago by the Kree. When an Inhuman is exposed to the terrigan mists, he or she goes from baseline human to Inhuman, gaining random superpowers. It’s kind of like mist activated X-Men. While the mutants in the X-Men have their x-gene activated when they hit puberty, the Inhumans need to be exposed to the terrigan mists to gain their superpowers. While Sif and the Kree explain terrigenesis, FitzSimmons are examining a crate taken out of the pit. In the crate are spots for 6 diviners…but no actual diviners. Who has them? Hydra?
Back at base, Fitz stupidly leaves his analysis of Skye’s DNA on his iPad right where Simmons can pick it up. She’s impressed by the work and the results and wants to know whose DNA it is. He flounders.  He says it’s a simulation. Simmons is amazed at how real it looks.
The Kree and Sif both want to take out anyone affected by terrigenesis permanently. This gets Skye a bit worked up. The whole base starts to quake. May is the first one to realize that it’s Skye doing this. Sif wants to take Skye to Asgard. The Kree thinks she’s too dangerous to live. Coulson throws himself between Skye and the Kree as May runs with Skye. Coulson tries bringing Sif on his side, but she sides with the Kree. Mac and Bobbie intercept the Kree. Mac gets a punch in before being flung across the room. Hunter doesn’t do much better. It’s Bobbie’s turn. She’s a much better fighter than the two of them. She might not last long, but it might be long enough…long enough for Fitz to blast him with a gun borrowed from Cable. It’s huge. Bobbie zaps the Kree with his own truncheon.
skye shakes who you really are
May tries to talk Skye down. They’ve locked themselves in Ward’s old cell. Sif cuts through the energy wall with her sword. That’s not helping calm Skye down. Skye shoots herself with the knockout gun. This convinces Sif that Skye wants to get better. She agrees to leave Skye with Coulson, though she still doesn’t think it’s the best move. Since being hit with the truncheon, the Kree guy doesn’t remember anything other than that he’s Kree. Sif is going to return him to Hala, the Kree home world.
May has the best line of the night when Sif leaves. “Not a lot of laughs that one. And when I say that…”
Simmons is getting on Fitz’s case for not telling her about Skye. Fitz didn’t want people to treat Skye differently, like they did him. Mac ironcialy says that secrets don’t help anybody. Bobbie joins in. The irony continues.  Skye walks in just as Mac yells that they’re the ones who need protection from Skye. Fitz is the only one on Team Skye right now. Skye’s bag is already packed. She doesn’t bolt, but she does confine herself to her bunk? a cell? That was a heavy door, so i’m guessing cell.
In the final scene, Mac is working on the Bus. Hunter marches up the ramp and confronts him. He wants to know what’s up with Mac and Bobbie. Mac responds to his questions might knocking him out. So much for staying friends…

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 64 – New Comic Book Previews for 3/25/15, The Wake Reviewed, Our Take On The Batgirl Cover Controversy!

It’s a new episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast and we’re here with our picks for what new comic books you should not miss at the comic book store this Wednesday!

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We’ve also got some new reviews for you, including The Wake by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy.

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We also talk about the new Avengers: Age of Ultron TV spot and give our takes on the Batgirl cover controversy that has been ripping through comic book sites this week. Do you agree with us? Disagree with us? Let us know in the comments below.
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Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 63 – Our Picks For New Comics Coming Out 3/18/15! Fantastic Four The Martian Manhunter-Cabaret Connection!

It’s time for another episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast, where Dave and Billy give their picks on what new comics to buy on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 if you only had $20 to spend.

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Then, we reach back in time and talk about Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-Man #1-16, reach back further to talk about Kevin Smith and Terry Dodson’s Spider-Man and Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, and then reach even further back to talk in-depth about Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee’s Inhumans.

In our final segment, we go where no other comic book podcast has gone before and talk about the connection between Martian Manhunter and the Emcee from Cabaret.

alan cummings cabaret 2martian manhunter arms crossed

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 62 – New Comics for 3/11/15! Spider-Gwen #1 and All-New Hawkeye #1 Reviewed! Hobgoblin Explained!

In this episode, Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out Wednesday, March 11, and review Spider-Gwen #1, AXIS: Hobgoblin and Carnage, All-New Hawkeye #1, Lady Killer #3, Descender #1, Neverboy #1 and more!

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Plus, Billy and Dave give their thoughts on the new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, and the recent casting announcements for Supergirl and DC’s team-based live action show.
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Oh, and if you’ve ever wondered about the convoluted history of the Hobgoblin, have we go the episode for you!
hobgoblin

Agents of SHIELD – S2E11 – Aftershocks – Recap

aftershocks poster

And we’re back! Man, the hiatus since the last episode of Agents of SHIELD seemed longer than it actually was. Having Agent Carter around helped, but that show just didn’t have the same intensity that Agents of SHIELD has had since the middle of last season. In case you’ve forgotten what’s what and were we are, this episode starts with a previously, and I want it just be rocks floating around Skye. Seriously,nothing else matters. That said, I’m still sad about Trip’s death. RIP Trip. 🙁

We start in the past. There’s a boy who’s like Nightcrawler in X2. He’s in a room, just porting around the place uncontrollably. It’s 1982. The weird thing isn’t his porting. And it’s not even that he can’t port out of the room. It’s that he has no eyes. Skye’s mom walks in with an old dude. They let you know immediately that this is not Nightcrawler, for this is no mutant, “he passed through the mists,” *cough* Inhumans *cough* (besides, Nightcrawler has eyes…and is blue). Skye’s mom tries to talk some calm into Gordon, the eyeless wonder. Hmm, it’s interesting that they didn’t go with more established Inhumans like Gorgon, Blackbolt, Triton or Medusa. I wonder when we’ll see them?

Skye wakes up…with an iPhone armband strapped to her. I love running and I don’t sleep with my armband on. Coulson is there when wakes. Skye confirms Trip is dead. Man… 🙁
skye iphone armband
Skye and Coulson are in quarantine. Everyone else is going about their own business, trying to work through the grief of losing Trip. Simmons is documenting what’s in the tunnells with a team. Everyone on the team is wearing hazmat suits.
How much os this episode is going to be Coulson and Skye talking, Diner style? Skye is depressed. Coulson is angry. Cut to a meeting of what appears to be the heads of Hydra. One of them really, really looks andn sounds like Hilary Clinton. That can’t be not on purpose, right?
Something is in the tunnels, and it attacked one of Simmons’s men. Oh, that hand looks like Raina’s, all porcupine like. Simmons meets with her team in the catacombs. When she leaves, Raina attacks the team members, killing them. Raina is all claws and craziness. Simmons shoots her. She’s still able to run away, and gets to an elevator.
Bobbie meets with Skye. She tries to keep Skye’s spirits up. When Skye says she feels like a leper, Bobbie points out everything that happened to Skye and says Skye’s a rock star.
The Fitz and Mac show is still a thing. Anyone feel that The Rock was the first choice to play Mac? Mac and Fitz are going through similar issues. Mac was controlled by that gas and Fitz’s brain isn’t’ what it used to be. Both felt trapped in their own bodies.
Simmons gets in touch with Coulson and May. They’re hunting down Raina, not realizing she’s the porcupine monster.
Coulson calls a team meeting. Everyone starts arguing, stressing Skye out. The stress causes her to involuntarily shake the place. Amazingly, no one else notices. Seriously, I’ve been in arguments, but I think I’d notice the start of an earthquake happening at the same time.
Bakshi is in Coulson’s custody. Coulson facetimes with Talbot. They arrange a trade for Bakshi. Coulson and May are ambushed while transporting Bakshi. But abushed by whom? Hydra? Talbot with the double cross? In the ensuing firefight, May counts four hostiles left. She asks Coulson if he know what that means. He doens’t. It means May is going into BEAST MODE. While she’s taking out everyone, someone shoots her, and then Coulson. There is A LOT of blood. W. T. F. Still, Coulson yells “They’ll never take us alive,” which seems fishy. The masked shooter tells Bakshi to get in the SUV. Why do I think this is an elaborate Coulson ploy? Also, that masked guy…sounds like Talbot.
Bakshi’s masked savior is revealed. WHAT?!  It’s not Talbot! it’s Hunter. For a second, I think to myself that this isn’t a Coulson ploy and Hunter has gone over to Hydra. But I’m wrong. It is a Coulson plot. May makes fun of Coulson for saying they’ll never take us alive. Man, I love this show!
Hunter gets in Bakshi’s good graces by holding a gun to Bakshi’shead, and then allowing himself to get bought off by Bakshi.
As it turns out, Simmons did realize that porcupine lady was Raina. But they don’t realize Skye is a superhuman too. How is that possible? They analyzed Raina’s DNA without Raina being in custody, but not Skye’s?
Raina attacks Kyle MacLachlan. On a side note, it really bothers me that we don’t have a character name for Kyle MacLachlan other than Skye’s Dad or The Doctor. I’m going to keep referring to him as Kyle. Raina wants to know what the hell she has become. Me too. Is that even the same actress?! She wants to be normal again, “not some gnarled freak of nature covered in thorns.” Wow, she really is gnarled. How many hours does Ruth Negga need to spend in the makeup chair each shooting day for this? It is crazy that Skye just looks like Skye. Er, I mean Daisy. Sorry, Kyle. Totally meant Daisy. Back to Raina…whoa, Raina is seriously crazy. She blames Skye for what happened to her. Kyle and Raina are like in a competition for who can be crazier. It’s a dead heat. Wow, Raina unhooded looks like 0% Raina. She’s all bald and spikey. Seriously, this could be a different actress if it wasn’t for her voice. On another side note, when Kyle talks to himself, he sounds like a Batman 66 villain.
Hunter wants to find out Bobbie and Mac’s mutual secret. It turns out they’re in a support group for people who used to be in SHIELD, but were betrayed by Hydra. Wait, this wasn’t’ an excuse? It’s real? Huh, I thought Bobbie was being evasive at first.
Fitz meets with Skye. He’s the only one who realizes she survived the destruction only because she caused it. Why would you bring that up to the that person, Fitz?? Come on, Fitz! Skye makes the room shake. Things start exploding. Fitz runs. How did he not see that one coming?
skye explosion
Coulson delivers the news to Trip’s mom that Trip is dead. The audience gets to see a cool photo of the Howling Commandos hanging on the wall.
Bakshi and another guy in the head Hydra group set off an alert. The other Hydra heads are wearing watches that light up. They seem excited. What’s up? Bakshi decides to turn on Hunter. He has his men shoot the crap out of Hunter’s jeep. Unfortunately for those men, the jeep is bulletproof and has pop-out guns.  Not a standard feature, but totally worth the expense in this case.
Hilary Clinton is poisoned, and turns to ash, like so many others this season. Another Hydra dude meets the same fate. Pretty much everyone but Bakshi dies. Baskshi betrayed the group. Hunter and Bobbie take out Bakshi’s co-conspirator and take Bakshi in. This was all Coulson’s plan, to get the Hydra heads to betray each other so that his team wouldn’t have to go after them.
Skye is bleeding. May and Simmons want to know what’s up.Fitz takes the blame and seems to have doctored Skye’s DNA. He replaced it with a sample of her old DNA. Um…why? Seriously why. Fitz is afraid that Simmons will judge Skye too harshly. Fitz is the only one who knows the truth about Skye. That’s nice of you, Fitz, but how is Skye going to get the help she needs?
A SHIELD team finds Raina. They tell her she’s not there to hurt her, just take her in. Raina wants them to kill her. The blind teleporter ports in He’s all grown up and in control of his powers. He grabs Raina and ports out.
shield raina and elliot
In the final scene, a model of Lola activates something in Coulson’s desk. The team is meeting downstairs, drinking beer, reminiscing about Trip. Off to the side, Mac tells Bobbie he has visual confirmation, Fury’s blueprints are in Coulson’s office. Oh right, Mac made that little model. Oh wait, they’re not in any support group. What’s going on with these two, and who is Bobbie going to make contact with? Man, don’t be evil, Bobbie. You too, Mac…
No sign of Ward this episode. I wonder when we’ll see him again. Looking at the Art of Level 7 poster by Marcos Martin for next week’s episode, it looks like Sif will be returning to Agents of SHIELD. I can’t wait.
marcos martin shield sif
I am so happy Agents of SHIELD is back!

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 61

It’s episode 61 of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast! What can you expect inside? Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out the week of Wednesday, March 4, 2015 and give you their top picks.

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We got a lot of Supergirl TV news this week and we break it down for you. Plus, Robert Downey Junior is sponsoring a very very cool contest for charity. We talk about it on the podcast, and if you’re interested in entering, you can find the contest here.
kids love me

The guys both review Spider-Man: Family Business by Mark Waid, James Robinson and Gabrielle Dell-Otto. Billy continues his Scott Snyder marathon with a review of Snyder and Jim Lee’s Superman Unchained HC, and Dave reviews Harley Quinn (New52) #0-13 and James Robinson’s run on All-New Invaders.
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Welcome to Tuesday Night!

About Time – Review

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I had the choice between About Time or Thor: The Dark World. Some of us were going to see one and some of us were going to see the other. Walking out after Thor: The Dark World, I thought I made the right choice. Thor: The Dark World exceeded my expectations and now I’d be ready for the Agents of SHIELD episode that was advertised as tying into the movie. Besides, wasn’t Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler’s Wife? That movie stunk (the book is so good!).

Well, now that I’ve finally seen About Time, I’m wondering if I made the wrong choice that weekend. Yes, I am a bit obsessed with Agents of SHIELD, which is part of the reason I needed to see Thor: The Dark World on opening weekend, but I would have understood that episode even if I hadn’t seen the movie. It didn’t tie in as much as Captain America: The Winter Soldier did. Now that was a game changer for Agents of SHIELD.

About Time

 

About Time is fantastic! It is a terrific romantic comedy about a time traveler who can only travel pack in time along his own life. Sure, that’s a limited form of time travel, but think of the possibilities if you had that power! All the things you could go back and not say, or go back and say! About Time uses the time travel power to its fullest, using it to comment on the relationships between lovers, friends, parents and children, and siblings. I defy you to watch this movie and not want to call your dad afterwards and tell him that you love him.

Bill Nighy steals this movie. He is amazingly charming as the father of main character and time traveler Tim. He wins at being a dad, but he does have the unfair advantage of countless do overs.

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The relationship between Tim (Domhall Gleeson) and Mary (Rachel McAdams) makes good use of Tim’s time travelling powers to tell the story. This movie is what I wanted the movie adaptation of  The Time Traveller’s Wife to be.

Seriously, go watch About Time. It is one of those movies that you can throw on at any time and just feel better about the day after watching it. It’s super cute without being saccharine.

Am I glad I saw Thor: The Dark World in the theater? Yes. Do I think the people who saw About Time that day saw the better movie? Also yes.