Second Look - God of War (WildStorm/DC Comic)

Note: This review contains spoilers for God of War (WildStorm/DC), God of War (2005) and God of War II.

While 2010 would see the release of two God of War titles, including the much-anticipated God of War III and the prequel game Ghost of Sparta, this would not be the only God of War media released that year. Coinciding with the release of the former, a God of War comic book was published on a bi-monthly schedule and ran for six issues, filling in yet another unseen gap in Kratos’ life. Rather notably, while the comic was initially published by WildStorm, an imprint of DC Comics at the time, only five issues would be published before WildStorm was shut down, with the sixth issue and trade paperback collection being published by DC. While I would witness this happen in real time from buying the single issues as they came, including a copy of the first issue signed by writer Marv Wolfman and a less-documented variant cover of said issue, I was still dumb enough to also buy a copy of the trade when it came out, though it has made re-reads a lot easier. While revisiting the God of War series, I thought it fair to also take another look at this comic, not only due to its canon status, but also to hopefully make up for my more lackluster first review. Revisiting this comic again after so many years, I thought it still held up as both a good God of War comic and a decent book on its own merits, but it’s definitely not for people who aren’t already familiar with the games.

The Batman vs. Dracula

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Batman vs. Dracula.

Of all the Batman TV series out there, one that seems to fly under a lot of radars is The Batman (no relation to the 2022 film of the same name), which debuted on the Kids’ WB Saturday morning block in 2004 and ran for a total of five Seasons. I actually have some personal connection with this show, since it was the first Batman cartoon I ever watched as a kid, though admittedly I only ever watched the first three Seasons at the time. Perhaps lesser known is the one DTV movie based on the series, The Batman vs. Dracula, which came out in 2005 and escaped my notice even when it aired on TV. After finding out the movie existed while browsing HBO Max, I made the time to watch it and found something much more than I initially anticipated.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Before the DCEU, there was a point where Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy colored the filmgoing audience's perception of Batman, for better or worse. The success of these films also led to an animated film project, Batman: Gotham Knight, which saw DC collaborate with multiple Japanese animation studios. I had no knowledge of its contents going in, but the idea intrigued me, which led me to stream it through HBO Max (if only because my DVR didn't catch the Toonami broadcast through their DC FanDome tie-in). Though I have mixed feelings on the Christopher Nolan films as a whole, I walked away pleasantly surprised by Gotham Knight.

Batman Forever

Note: This review contains spoilers for Batman Forever.

Following Tim Burton’s acclaimed Batman (1989) and Batman Returns, Joel Schumacher was given the directorial reins for two follow-up films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, the latter of which is particularly infamous among Batman fans and general moviegoers alike. After having seen the other three films in the Burton/Schumacher tetralogy under different circumstances, I thought it only appropriate to complete the experience by watching Batman Forever, via HBO Max, starring Val Kilmer under the cowl and featuring Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones as the Riddler and Two-Face respectively. Considering the two Tim Burton films are highly regarded and the latter Schumacher film popular to pick apart, Batman Forever was surprisingly more lukewarm than I expected.