Graphic Novel Review - Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures Vol. 2

Name: Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Vol. 2

Published by: Dark Horse Comics

Writer: Haden Blackman, Welles Hartley 

Artists: The Fillbach Brothers, Welles Hartley 

Colorist: Wil Glass, Sno Cone Studios

Letterer: Michael David Thomas 

The second volume continues with the style established by the animated series and the first volume, focusing on specific characters in separate events of the ongoing war. 

'Skywalker' is the first story featuring Obi-Wan telling Luke a tell of the heroics of his father during the height of the clone wars. Anakin does some pretty cool force hijinks and it as a cool ending foreshadowing the future. 

'Hide in plain sight' follows the duo of Luminara and Bariss, as the attempt to stop an invading force of General Grievous's army while also trying to save the civilians. There are some interesting messages and a short little cameo by Grievous. 

The third story is 'Run Mace run', which is a story of the one and only Mace Windu and has another cameo, this time featuring Count Dooku. Windu's drop ship gets destroyed, and he is the only survivor and has to fight through an army of droids to destroy a powerful weapon. Nice little story with an interesting concept. 

This one might be slightly better than the first volume but gets 4 out of 5 stars from me like the first one. 

Graphic Novel Review - X-Men The Animated Series: The Further Adventures

Name: X-Men The Animated Series - The Further Adventures 

Published by: Marvel comics

Writters: Ralph Macchio, Nel Yomtov, Kelly Corvese, Robert Loren Fleming, Mike Pellowski, Joey Cavalieri, Mike Marts

Artists: Yancey Labat, Ben Herrera, Mike S. Miller, Andy Kuhn, Derec Aucoin, Alex Saviuk, Don Heck, Artie Ruiz etc. 

X-Men The Animated Series is definitely one of the best animated shows ever based on Marvel characters. So my expectations were quite high when I decided to check this omnibus which was supposedly a continuation of the story of the characters from the show. 

While there were definitely some high points in this collection, the varied nature of the stories seems to hold back some of the fun of this one. The drawing also seemed a bit too unorthodox and out of place at times. 

Some of the writing was quite good, specially stuff by Ralph Macchio. The Magneto and Apocalypse issues, the Cyclops centric issue, the Jubilee vs. Sabretooth issue, the guest appearance of Hulk etc. were some of the best issues and the ending also does an interesting thing trying to connect it to the Marvel-616 continuity. 

While this won't fill the whole left by the X-Men TAS on the fans, this collection is definitely worth the time and a great motivator for rewatching the show while we eagerly wait for X-Men '97.

This gets 3.5 out of 5 stars from me. 

Video Game Music Review - Street Fighter Compilation “RE:”MIX Chiptune

Album Name - Street Fighter Compilation “RE:”MIX Chiptune

Catalog Number - CPCA-10346

Released On - Oct 01, 2014

Composed By - Yoko Shimomura (01~10, 12), Isao Abe (11)

Arranged By - sasakure.UK, DJ'TEKINA//SOMETHING, Hige Driver, michitomo, Professor Sakamoto, HyperJuice, baker, arai tasuku, PellyColo, Carpainter, Aureole, K's

Published By - SULEPUTER

While I have been a fan of fighting games by SNK for most of my gaming life, I simply cannot deny the influence the music/soundtrack from Street Fighter 2 had on the enthusiasts of fighting games all over the world. And to hear the beloved music for the classic characters and stages with the new remix was a blast from the past I didn't know I needed in my life and enjoyed quite thoroughly. 

The album begins with the track for 'Chun-Li' and immediately grabs attention with its strong melody and continues through its almost flawless first 8 tracks. Things do lose a bit of focus on the last 4 tracks for the boss characters, but by then you already feel like starting from the beginning or returning to your favourite character tune. 

The incorporation of the vocal samples adds yet another dimension to the experience and makes any fan of fighting games nostalgic, wanting to once again start playing the game that started it all. This really was a fun and nostalgic experience for me.

So, overall score - 9 out of 10.

You can get the album at (among other sites) -

https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/CPCA-10346

Graphic Novel Review - Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Vol. 1

Name: Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Vol. 1

Published by: Dark Horse Comics

Writer: Haden Blackman

Artists: Ben Caldwell, The Fillbach Brothers

Colorist: Ben Caldwell, Sno Cone Studios, Ltd. 

Letterer: Michael David Thomas 

I started reading this just after watching the Volume One of the 'Clone Wars (2003)' series, maybe that's why I enjoyed reading this quite a lot. The simplistic nature of storytelling in short form with drawings similar to the show and enjoyable dialogue make this a fun read for any Star Wars fan. 

The first story is 'Blind Force' which features Obi-Wan and Anakin on the planet Nivek on a special mission. The story has enjoyable banter between the master and padawan duo, an interesting new species of alien enemies and some unique action sequences. 

The second story titled 'Heavy Metal Jedi' has Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin battling against the droid army in Iktotch. Both tries to establish the superiority of their own fighting style which creates an interesting scenario. 

'Fierce Currents' is the third story which despite featuring Kit Fisto is rather weaker compared to the other two. It tells of Fisto's encounter with an unorthodox enemy, but the ending was a bit too philosophical for my taste. 

This was a fun little graphic novel and gets 4 out of 5 stars from me for its nostalgic style.