Kevin Lau

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What to Read After Insomiac's Spider-Man

So you've just defeated the Sinister Six, maybe done a side mission here and there, or perhaps 100% completed what most are considering the best Spider-Man game ever made (and they're right). What now? Where do you go from here to learn more about the wisecracking wall-crawler? Besides Tom Holland's performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've never really seen Spider-Man portrayed so solidly like we have here. This, my friends, is where the fun part comes in: Entering the vast world of Spider-Man presented in comics and novels. Allow me to be your guide, providing recommendations for any requests you may be wishing for. "I just want more..." Well, you're in luck because Marvel has 2 options for you! Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is the official prequel novel to the game, taking place 6 months prior. It follows Spider-Man trying to find an imposter killing people, working with a newfound friend from the police force to take ...

Is Thanos the Best MCU Villain?

Spoilers ahead! Avengers: Infinity War set out to be a huge, climactic start to the final main wave that originated back with Iron Man in 2008. In this installment, audiences are finally getting a front row seat at the big bad Marvel has been teasing since the first Avengers film: Thanos. Infinity War takes a macguffin approach in this story, the main items the characters are fighting for being the six infinity stones. The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy team up to keep the stones from Thanos but, if you've seen the film, they fail to do so and half of the universe gets wiped out Left Behind style. The Avengers couldn't beat Thanos because he was much too powerful for them. This, in turn, should make him the best villain in this cinematic universe, correct? Well, not quite. Marvel has had a rocky track record when it came to good villains in their films for the past 10 years. There are great ones like Killmonger ( Black Panther ), Vulture ( Spid...

Titans Rebirth Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)

2/5 After being lost outside of time and space, Wally West (the original Kid Flash), finally returns home in the events of DC Rebirth thanks to the help of Barry Allen. However, a bigger power has taken away 10 years from their world and any memory of Wally. That doesn't stop Kid Flash from finding his friends, though, and through the magic of the speed force, Nightwing, Aqualad, Omen, Donna, and Arsenal are a team once again now called the Titans. That's the summary for the first issue in this volume and it's certainly a heartwarming read. It was this one-shot issue that really made me think that this was going to be a fun series to get into. I was wrong. After that solid 4-star issue, Dan Abnett decides to take the grand mystery of how Watchmen 's Dr. Manhattan is related to the Flashpoint event into his own hands by reviving the villain Kadabra. Abnett writes that it was Kadabra who sent Wally outside of time and space as an act of vengeance, leading t...

The Flash Rebirth Vol. 3: Rogues Reloaded (#14-#20)

4/5 The Flash's rogue gallery and his relationship with them has interested me ever since I started reading up on the character. They're in it for the score and make it a code to never kill. Then, sometimes, when Central City is under attack by, say, an army of gorillas, they don't hesitate to defend their turf and help the Flash. The first story in this volume plays around with the idea and really analyzes the rogues and what they stand for, bringing to the surface Joshua Williamson's talent for writing The Flash . The second story of this volume follows up with a plot point laid out in the previous one: Wally West is in search of Daniel West, a Reverse Flash, who turns out to be Wally's dad (which really begs the question: Who is Wally's mom?). It's secrets on top of secrets that Wally has to uncover, leading to Barry having to make a big choice, which was probably one of the best executed scenes in the series so far. As for the third story, we...

The Flash Rebirth Vol. 2: Speed of Darkness (#9-#13)

2/5 Talk about a serious downgrade from the first volume. Told mostly from Wally West's (a.k.a. Kid Flash) perspective, Speed of Darkness contains 3 stories. The first one is an issue where the Wally you see on the cover meets the Wally from the pre-New 52 era who had recently returned home due to the events in DC's Rebirth . The second story is Speed of Darkness itself and runs for 3 issues, where Wally tries to achieve the Flash's trust by going after a rogue called Shade by himself, leading to scenario that traps him, his aunt Iris, and the Flash himself. The third story, another single issue, has Kid Flash patrolling the streets as Barry and Iris go on a date. In volume 1, Lightning Strikes Twice, Joshua Williamson wrote an exciting and heartwarming story of Barry Allen training all the citizens who had gained access to the speed force, only to find out that a speedster known as Godspeed is killing them off and stealing their speed. Don't let the cover ...

"The Haunting of Barry Allen" (2016) by Clay and Susan Griffith

3.5/5 Ever since I've started reading Flash comics a couple years ago, I've pondered on the idea if DC has ever published a Flash novel (After all, they do so with Batman and Superman), but it wasn't until a month ago I found out that this book was already released. Of course, it ties into the show instead of the comic, but I decided to take what I could get. It's understandable that a Flash novel hasn't been published before now due to the stories and action heavily relying on visuals. However, I think Clay and Susan Griffith did great with what they had. Based on the show somewhere in the middle of season 2 (though technically never happened due to time travel in a later episode), The Haunting of Barry Allen revolves around the Flash as his connection to the speed force is going on the fritz. Not only is he temporarily losing his speed, but he's also having hallucinations of loved ones he couldn't save. As if that wasn't bad enough, a few of ...