Fantastic Universes

Article by Steve J. Ray The  Justice League  movie is almost upon us, and the WB media machine is running on full throttle. This morning sees the online release for all “Justice League Members” of an exclusive Funko Pops video, featuring three new limited edition figures. These Funko collectibles form part of the Legion Of Collectors range, and are very limited in availability. If you’ve joined the  Justice League  initiative , you can see the entire video on their website. Funk Pops To The Rescue The story sees Batman and Wonder Woman slowly sinking, in chains, to the bottom of the ocean floor. All seems lost until a fast moving blur, swimming at incredible speed, reveals itself as Aquaman. The King of the Seven Seas uses his trident to free his friends, who return to the surface, wet, weary… but safe. As we have all come to expect, these Funko Pops figures are super cute. The best part is that they are totally di...

Review by Steve J. Ray Neil Gaiman is a living legend. Now to some this may be seen as a bold statement, to me it is a plain and simple fact. He has written some of my all-time favourite comics, novels, and TV shows. Please, dear reader, let me present my case. "American Gods" adapted from his novel of the same name, has had a successful first season, and a second series is on its way. "Sandman" is one of the greatest examples of writing in comics' history, Neil has written episodes of Doctor Who, his own short stories have been adapted for TV, and his classic collaboration with the late great Terry Pratchett (also a Legend) "Good Omens" is a book I have read about a dozen times. This novel is currently being adapted into a television series starring David Tennant and Martin Sheen. So what would any self respecting journalist, reviewer, and self respecting mega-geek do when offered a free copy of Mr. Gaiman's "Norse Mythology...

“A Lonely Place Of Living” Part two Writer: James Tynion IV Artists: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas and Sal Cipriano Review by Steve J. Ray Red Robin Lives! In  Detective Comics  #966 we move from re-living Tim Drakes past, and take a look into one of his possible futures. Part two of “A Lonely Place Of Living” is a freight train of a story, and I’m loving the ride! At the end of the previous issue, we left Tim Drake just after escaping incarceration by Mr. Oz. The cliffhanger ending saw him and Batman on the run from Doomsday. As if this wasn’t enough, the Batman he was fighting alongside wasn’t Bruce Wayne, but an adult version of himself! It’s fairly common knowledge amongst die-hard Batman fans, that for many years Bruce has seen Tim as his eventual successor. I’ve often said that Red Robin is arguably the most capable and well rounded crime-fighter out of all of Batman’s protegees. Dick Grayson is his own man, Jason Todd has always been a h...

Interview by Steve J. Ray Konnan, is a world famous professional wrestler and musician. He is currently performing on television worldwide with Anthem Wrestling Exhibition's (AWE) Global Force Wrestling/Impact (formerly TNA) where he is the manager and leader of LAX (The Latin American Xchange). Readers in the U.S. can watch the show on POP, and U.K. fans can catch it on Spike. During his 29 year career, he has wrestled for independent and national promotions worldwide, and held fifteen championships with nine companies, including the largest Mexican Lucha Libre institution Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). He has had success in WCW, WWE and with TNA. After the company's rebranding to GFW/Impact Wrestling and a 9 year gap, Konnan returned to Impact Wrestling in early 2017, as the manager of The Latin American Xchange (Low-Ki, Homicide, Ortiz, Santana and Diamante). He has always been a vocal ad...

"A Lonely Place Of Living" - Part One Writer: James Tynion IV Artists: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas and Sal Cipriano Review by Steve J. Ray I’ve been looking forward to this story arc for a few months, since Tim Drake’s apparent death, and the appearance of the mysterious Mr. Oz. “A Lonely Place Of Living” is not only a fitting tribute to Red Robin, it’s also a loving tip of the hat to his origin story. Tim Drake originally made a cameo appearance in Marv Wolfman and George Perez’  Batman: Year Three , but his first full story was  Batman: A Lonely Place Of Dying . These 1989 classics introduced us to the Dark Knight’s third, and arguably most capable, sidekick. Unlike his predecessors, Tim Drake wasn’t discovered or saved by Batman, he broke the mold by being the one who did the saving. This Robin saw a Dark Knight rapidly losing control after the death of Jason Todd, and sought out Dick Grayson. Tim didn’t set out to become a hero, but he tur...