The Fanboy Review

Author: Rachel Oliver

  • Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box 1 Review


     
    In 1999, Pioneer began releasing the edited TV version of the first two dub seasons of Dragon Ball Z on DVD. In 2000, FUNimation began releasing their own uncut, bilingual DVDs of the series, starting with the third dub season. In 2005, after the rest of the series was finished, FUNimation began releasing bilingual, uncut versions of the episodes that were previously sub-licensed to Pioneer (now known as Geneon). But those releases were quietly canceled before even the first dub season was finished, leaving a gap of forty episodes that were never released in this format. However, in 2007, FUNimation re-started their Dragon Ball Z DVD releases in a “remastered” format that was cropped to widescreen, and fully released every episode this way from beginning to end in boxed sets. Thus, there has only been one consistent release of all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z in North America, but at the cost of roughly one-sixth of the footage from every frame of every episode. (more…)

  • Siege #1 Review

     

    In the immediate aftermath of Dark Reign comes Marvel’s next big crossover event, Siege. This event is being hyped as perhaps the biggest, most important one in years for the Marvel Universe; a culmination of everything since Avengers Disassembled, and the end of an era. It’s an awful lot to live up to, and comic promotion by a publisher is naturally full of exaggeration. But is the series really going to be that grand? Looking at the first issue, it’s a little hard to tell. (more…)

  • Ministry #1-3 Review

     
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    We recently received a few issues of an independent comic series to look at called Ministry, by Lara Phillips. As a big departure from our usual Marvel or DC reviews, I definitely wasn’t sure what to expect going in. Let’s see how it turned out. (more…)

  • Blackest Night Part 1 Review

    After much build-up and hype, DC’s big Blackest Night event finally began this summer, and is roughly halfway over now. The Green Lanterns, as well as numerous other heroes, are put to the test by the appearance of Black Lanterns — fallen heroes revived to extinguish all light from the universe. One could call it a glorified zombie event, but is there more to it than that? Let’s look at all the material released thus far.
     
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    To clarify, this review will cover Blackest Night #0-4, Green Lantern #43-47, Green Lantern Corps #39-41, Blackest Night: Batman #1-3, Blackest Night: Superman #1-3, Blackest Night: Titans #1-3, and Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1-3.
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  • Chuck Season 1 and 2 Review

    Despite its very loud and supportive fanbase, Chuck is a series that managed to fly under my radar until very recently. I had assumed it was some kind of new sitcom, and while I do like sitcoms, I’ve seen more than my fair share of them, so what could the networks possibly offer of interest nowadays?
     
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    The answer: …Well, Chuck’s not really a sitcom, but it does have elements of it that have been thrown in a blender with action, drama, a little bit of sci-fi seasoning, and an eccentric cast of characters. (For those interested, the first episode of Chuck is embedded at the bottom of the article.) (more…)

  • Wolverine: Weapon X #1 and #2 Review

    Wolverine. Certainly one of the most popular and well-known comic heroes (or anti-heroes, I should probably say). Combined with the fact that he was the focus of a live-action movie that was released just a few weeks ago, it should come as a shock to no one that he has a new series related to his Weapon X days. But is it any good, or is it just a forgettable cash-in on the movie?
     
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  • Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1 Review

    Marvel Comics has begun a new miniseries that may just be one of the greatest ideas of all time: a series starring Lockjaw and other famous super animals from the Marvel universe. This includes Kitty Pryde’s Lockheed, Falcon’s Redwing, Speedball’s Niels (AKA “Hairball”), Aunt May’s Ms. Lion, and…a frog Thor? What?
     
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  • Power Girl #1 Review

    DC Comics has just launched a new Power Girl series, and going into this first issue, I only knew one thing about the character: boobs. While there certainly are plenty of those featured throughout the issue, the creative team does attempt to bring a little more to the table than that. But do they succeed?
     
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  • Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight #1 Review

    As part of the “Battle for the Cowl” event in their Batman-related books, DC has begun a few new miniseries to depict the on-goings of Batman’s friends and acquaintances in his absence. One of these new miniseries is Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight, and what’s it like? Well, without spoiling anything…
     
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  • Battlestar Galactica (Classic) Episode 1 Review w/ Episode

    Hey there. This is Rachel, a staff member with a wide variety of nerdy interests making my first post to the site, and in it what should be the first of many reviews from me…

    As a fan of classic television, science fiction, and Lorne Greene, I probably should have sought out the original Battlestar Galactica much sooner than this. But I didn’t know much about it until recently, other than that the timing of the original broadcast made it seem like a mere attempt to cash in on the Star Wars craze. However, while there are at least a few visual similarities to Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica’s story and execution are quite different.

    ~Marc- Small note from your favorite editor, this will FBR’s first review with the full episode embedded in the review, if you wish to watch the episode BEFORE reading the review, scroll to the bottom.~

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