I gave myself a little break from Percy to let the story sink in. I also found the movie and checked it out... bottom line... I liked the book a lot better. But yeah, I wanted everything from the first book out of my system before going into the second one. Here's my Out on DVD review episode about the first movie....
And now that I have that out of the way, I returned to the book store to continue on with the second book. Sadly the same girl wasn't there from the first time, cause she really seemed to love the series and was curious about what I would think. I actually met someone where Paige works that absolutely LOVES the series and is eager for the next book of the spin-off series later this year. So now that I got 'The Sea of Monsters'.... here is my review.
The Story
After the first book, Percy, Annabeth and Grover went their ways. Percy went to live with his mom and went back to normal school where there hasn't been an incident for almost a year. Grover went off to search for Pan. Annabeth also returned to her family. All seems well.... until the final days of the school year.
Percy is attacked by giant cannibals in a deadly game of dodgeball. Luckily Annabeth has arrived to seek him out and helps out. Also his new friend Tyson turns out to be a cyclops and is a great help in the fight. After defeating the giants, Annabeth insists that Percy return to Camp Half-Blood since it's really gone to hell since he left.
When they return they find it under attack by giant metal bulls. The main problem is, the camp is supposed to have a forcefield that protects it from outsiders and monsters, but now the bulls are running causing damage like it was nothing. They find out that Thalia, the tree named after the daughter of Zeus is dying from a deadly poison, and when it goes, the camp will be vulnerable to monster attacks forever. Chiron was blamed for this and got expelled from the camp grounds. The only thing that can cure the tree is the legendary golden fleece. The only problem is that instead of Percy going on this quest... the duty of obtaining the golden fleece was given to Clarrisse, the camp bully, and also daughter of Ares that already hated Percy since day one.
Besides that, Percy finds out in dreams, that Grover never made it in finding Pan. Instead he was tricked by a giant cyclops that happens to have the fleece and uses it to lure Satyrs to their deaths. Grover is buying time, taking advantage of the fact that the cyclops is almost blind, but how long can he hold out? Percy, Annabeth and Tyson sneak off to take this quest, even if they risk clashing against Clarrisse. The fleece is located beyond the Sea of Monsters. Will they be able to find it in time, rescue Grover and Camp Half-Blood before the tree dies out? And what will they do when they run into Luke?
My Opinions
Wow, this series only gets better and better. Now that Percy knows that he's the god of Poseidon and all that, this book jumps right into the Greek Mythology. Lots of details and things introduced in the first book return here, like the story of Thalia the tree and Clarrisse having a bigger role. There's so many things to talk about, it's hard to know where to begin.
Grover is missing from most of the book, being held captive by the giant cyclops Polyphemus that loves to eat satyrs. It's kinda funny thinking of Grover in a wedding dress, pretending to be his bride so he can stay alive. I am glad that when he eventually does get rescued, there is still enough page-time left for him to hang with Percy and Annabeth like old times.
Tyson is basically Percy's new best friend in the story. He talks like he's not all that bright, but he has a heart of gold, and as a castaway son of Poseidon, he's basically Percy's brother. Also as a cyclops he's super strong, fire doesn't hurt him and he's very good at building and fixing things. Everyone is against cyclopes in general since they can't be trusted, so Percy has to assure everyone that Tyson is cool. Percy though feels embarrassed to be associated with him at times, but he eventually does win his favor. I liked seeing both of them interact throughout the book as Percy is constantly trying to keep Tyson out of causing trouble... and Tyson is usually saving Percy's life. Tyson was unwanted and abandoned before he met Percy so he cares a lot for his brother now that he has one.
Clarrisse got a bigger role for this story and she's her usual bully self. Despite everything, she still fights for the sake of defending the camp, so it's good to see she's not all that bad. Though I'm sure she likes fighting the bad guys for the sake of fighting. She gets her own pirate ship complete with skeleton pirates and actually helps Percy on getting past the Sea of Monsters. Even I feel sorry for her when Ares was chewing her out since he wanted her to succeed on this quest and get some fame away from Percy. She really is trying hard to please her father and wants him to be proud of her, so there is some goodness in there...somewhere.
Annabeth is pretty much the same. One of the most interesting chapters was when they were sailing close to the sirens and she wanted to hear their songs while Percy tied her up. The book did an amazing job describing how desperately she wanted to break free once she fell under the song's spell. When Percy touched her, he saw what she saw, which was the perfect image of the perfect family she wished she had, with Luke still as a good guy since she had a crush on him before he turned evil.
And yes, spoiler from the last book, Luke was the Lightning Thief and he did it to help revive the god Kronos that wants to destroy everything to get revenge on Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. He returns in this story a few times... and it always seems like it's gonna hit the fan when he does... I mean, damn, this book does a great job of keeping me in suspense! We also see his father Hermes, who gives Percy some items to help in his quest, and he hopes to one day regain Luke as a good guy again.
As for Percy himself, he's still the brave and heroic character from the first book. This time he's really going out there to save the camp and stop Luke's plans without any ulterior motives like in the first book. He's more of a nice guy and especially shows it near the end with Clarrisse. He has trouble dealing with Tyson, being embarrassed of him at first, and also not liking the fact that Poseidon just dumped a brother on him without warning. And he still feels some of the resentment of being abandoned by his father. He does eventually value Tyson's friendship and sees that Poseidon is watching over them, in his own way.
One theme this book kept from the first one, is the gods or goddesses disguising themselves as normal humans in some kind of store or shop to lure them into the trap. The first book had several, including the Las Vegas Casino trap where time literally stood still for everyone inside it. This book had Circe running some kind of spa and offers to give Percy and Annabeth make overs. While she made Annabeth look stunning, her idea of a make-over for Percy, or any men in general, was to turn him into a guinea pig. Another theme this book follows is all the snazzy titles for each chapter with crazy things like 'We meet the sheep of Doom' or 'Clarrisse blows up everything'. And we still get the 'Percy is the narrator' sense of humor.
The book is also full of action and they face all sorts of monster and creatures from sirens to giant metal bulls, to pirahna-ish sheep. And yes, Polyphemus the giant cyclops is probably the main monster they face in this story. I'm glad I got to see how Tyson and Polyphemus got to interact and actually fight it out. The characters are lovable and you care about what happens to them. Like I said, even the jerk characters like Clarrisse have things make you feel sorry for them so you can't hate them outright.
It's a good book, again I enjoyed it cover to cover. I'm really enjoying this series and I know there's a movie out about this one too. I'll be renting and reviewing it soon. But man... THAT ENDING. It made me super eager to pick up book three and find out what happens next! It's a hell of a plot twist and it's based on something that was mentioned in the first book! I'm really anxious to see how Percy and company will deal with this!
The Shredder has had a lot of different henchmen, top men or second-in-commands throughout different versions of the franchise. He had Tatsu in the live-action movies. Hun and Karai in the 2003 series. Karai and Koya in the IDW comics. But we all know the most popular henchmen will always be Bebop and Rocksteady from the classic 80's cartoon show. That incompetent duo that Shredder still keeps around for some reason... back in the day where Shredder didn't punish failure with death. Here, he'd rather send them to their rooms, or even fire them if they failed enough times.
Well, the IDW comics has already shown us a more dangerous and threatening version of the classic duo. They were still dumb as rocks, but so powerful it hardly mattered. Well it seems we're getting Bebop and Rocksteady in the new cartoon too, though I'm surprised since interviews with the Nick cast had them say they already had the roles of mutant henchmen full when we got Dogpound and Fishface. Now we got a whole new version of them coming soon, and like Chris and Xever, we're gonna spend this episode with a guy that is clearly the human version of human Bebop and a guy that might be Rocksteady. And wow, wait til you see just how different they are this time around.
The episode opens with the return of Steranko, the arms dealer Shredder made a deal with in an earlier episode. He has a collection of several weapons and artifacts, but is missing one thing... Shredder's helmet, the legendary Kuro Kabuto. He sends the master thief, Anton Zeck to steal it, and if he succeeds, he'll forgive him for the time he accidentaly shot him in the eye. Anton is wearing a high tech suit that turn him invisible, and he's confident he can steal that helmet. And yes, Anton looks very familiar...
Leo watches as Splinter feels sad over his daughter, Miwa. The others are trying to eat pizza before Mikey gets it all, and Leo tells them they should go rescue Karai. Raph disagrees, and Leo says he'll go alone to Shredder's lair if he has to. The other follow him.
Shredder visits Kara in her cell and tells her she hopes she understands that he took her because he didn't want her to be raised by 'scum' like Splinter. As he leaves, Karai reveals a hidden blade that she's using to cut her way out of prison.
Anton sneaks in and manages to steal Shredder's helmet. Rahzar and some Robo-Foot enter the room, and the mutant wolf can smell the invisible thief. Rahzar smacks him against a wall. Anton quickly gets up and dances around as he tosses laser-boomerangs that look like his purple mohawk that take down the Robo-Foot. He also tosses glue at Rahzar, that sticks his feet to the floor. Anton blows up a window and gets away, but not before tossing his business card into Rahzar's face. Shredder steps in a while later and Rahzar tells him that his helmet was stolen. Shredder is angry and demands to get all his men together.
Meanwhile the Turtles are driving on the Shell Raiser and Don is confused when his heat sensors detect someone, but he can't actually see anyone. Don tells Leo to hit the brakes, but they hit Anton. The Turtles wonder what they hit, and Don tells them it was 'some kind of invisible guy'. Raph finds Anton's pouch and shows everyone Shredder's helmet. Just then they are completely surrounded by Robo-Foot...
The Turtles fight it out with some of the robots and then make a break for it. As they drive off in the Shell Raiser, Anton tosses a homing device at it so he can track it down.
Later on, Shredder gathers all his men and tells them to drop everything until the helmet is found. Fishface asks if he could just get another one, and gets smacked to the ground. Shredder explains that the Kuro Kabuto was forged by all the captured trophies by the most skilled ninja of Japan, and was a symbol for the Foot Clan for 1500 years. He then sends Fishface off with Baxter, and Tiger Claw off with Rahzar to find the helmet.
Fishface runs with Baxter, telling him they have to get the helmet back so they don't have to look at Shredder's face... that looks even worse than Baxter's. Tiger Claw picks up Anton's scent and tell he's using devices. Rahzar says Fishface once told him they wouldn't get along since they're a mutant cat and dog. Tiger Claw says that's ridiculous, but he admits he'd like to eat Xever since he's a fish. Rahzar would eat him just to shut him up.
Leo says they can use the helmet to trade for Karai. As Raph and Leo argue, Anton finds them and tosses another purple mohawk laser boomerang ting that knocks the Shell Raiser on its side. Tiger Claw and Rahzar jump in to attack, and the Turtles get away, only to run into Fishface and Baxter. Baxter chases after Leo, trying to nail him with his acid spit. Even though Leo dodges them all, the acid did affect a nearby billboard, and it falls over the other three Turtles.
Leo stops Xever from stabbing the Turtles, but Raph tells him to go and rescue Karai. As Leo runs, Tiger Claw and Rahzar give chase while Xever and Baxter stay to finish off the Turtles, but Raph helps them escape with a ninja smoke bomb. Leo runs from the bad guys and hides in a nearby dumpster... only to end up with dirty diapers on his head.
After the mutants run, Leo runs into invisible Anton. There's steam coming from the sewer vents which helps Leo see him just enough to kicks him down. Leo then gives Anton his pouch back and runs since now Shredder's crew is after him. Anton runs and says he just needs to lose the pouch and they'll never find him... but his suit's been damaged and won't turn invisible anymore. He gets smacked to the ground, but before the mutants could beat him down, Steranko arrives in a helicopter and helps him escape. Anton shows Steranko the pouch.... but it turns out to be full of dirty diapers.
Leo still has Shredder's helmet and heads off to his lair. Shredder finds him and Leo says he wants to trade it for Karai. One of the Robo-Foot brings her in with a bag over her head. Shredder and Leo fight it out, and the Turtle is no match for him. The other Turtles arrive and they all gang up on Shredder. Shredder is still too much for them all, but Mikey points out they were just keeping him busy long enough to be able to rescue Karai. Don tosses the helmet back at him. Shredder sees that it has a smoke bomb in it, which blows up in his face. After the smoke clears, he notices that the Turtles are gone. He puts the helmet back on and laughs evilly.
Leo thanks the others for coming to help out. When they take the sack off Karai's head, they see that she was a fake dummy with a bomb for a head. The Turtles just barely make it off the rooftop as the bomb explodes.
My Opinions
Wow. What a random episode. First off, most abrupt ending ever. Plus honestly, this would have almost been filler if they used some one-shot character as the master theif. I'm surprised they actually remembered Karai and were out to rescue her the very next episode. But yeah, they're lucky she's alive at all. I'd like to see the look on Raph's face if they found that Shredder killed her the moment Tiger Claw brought her back.
I like how Shredder's helmet has its own backstory and is even considered a legend. In any other version... It was just his helmet. I guess when he decided to become Shredder adding one of the Foot's symbols that has been around for 1500 years is the finishing touch. It's also funny to see how he sometimes sends a few of the Foot after the Turtles in other episodes, but when it comes to his helmet he calls in ALL his minions.
Speaking of which, I like seeing Shredder surpass past versions and have more than two mutants on his side. There is no unwritten where he has to always send one or two guys after four turtles. I liked the short scenes between the bad guys. I mean they work together and I assume live in Shredder's lair together, we should see how they interact. It's noticeable that Baxter didn't talk in this episode, but he does have a few lines in a later episode so I guess Phil Lamar just wasn't available today. Though it's still weird and stands out, or maybe they could have cut his scene with Xever.
I also realize that Xever and Baxter are Shredder's B-team, mostly because Baxter was never a fighter to begin with, and for whatever reason Xever has become a joke and 'the idiot' of the gang in recent episodes. Why? Why do we need a 'funny incompetent one' among the bad guys, especially since Xever was no laughing matter before. Leave that crap in the 80s please.
Now for the main reason we saw this episode. Mr. Anton Zeck who looks like a human Bebop. Quite a big change from a big thug to a wisecrackin master theif. Just like Tiger Claw, there's no explanation for the high-tech Tron suit, he just has it. Paige and I were surprised by his antics, and she was quick to point out his Micheal Jackson/Prince-ish 'hee-hee' and 'hoo-hoo' and such similar sounds.
Honestly for some reason his dancing and other mannerisms reminded me of Fatal Fury's Duck King, if he wore a high-tech Tron suit that is.
Another thing is actually giving the character a name. I mean who names their kids Bebop and Rocksteady, right? While in the 80's cartoon we can only assume they're gang names, the IDW version actually states it. This version finally named them Anton and Steranko. Again, makes sense because those would be weird-ass normal names, though I'm curious how they'll name themselves as such. Or how Mikey comes up with their names. Will Anton throw a Tron-ish boom box at them and Mikey will say 'whoa they're playing cool bebop and rocksteady jams there'. I don't know.
One thing that stands out though is that Anton isn't much of a fighter and relies on the suit's gimmicks and tricks to do everything for him (Paige couldn't help but say 'aw geez' when he threw his laser Mohawk energy thing). I assume that'll change whenever he gets mutated... But who knows?
As for Rocksteady, it looks like Steranko will eventually become the mutant rhino. A lot of his gear matches the stuff Rocksteady is wearing in some photos that were released of the 2014 version of the infamous duo. Of course this means we're going to see a Russian Rocksteady but hey, if it worked for Spider-Man, why not here?
People wonder how they'll end up working for Shredder since they have a very different character dynamic this time.... But I'm thinking who says they'll work for Shredder? He already has his mutant crew and Tiger Claw alone is more than enough.
A great episode overall, but wow what a drastic change for a classic character. Anton is literally a whole new character modeled to look like a classic one.
Stay tuned as we continue with more episodes. Let's see what happens whenever he eventually mutates.
Karai is in the Shredder's hideout looking at a picture of her mother, while having flashbacks of the Turtles telling her that Splinter is her father. Shredder walks into the room and she demands to know the truth about Splinter and her mother. Just then Tiger Claw comes in, much to Karai's surprise as she saw him get eaten by an alien worm and trapped into the 80's TMNT world. Tiger Claw explains that he was able to escape the worm (and defeat the 80's TMNT) and fight his way through Dimension X for months until he could finally return home. Shredder sends Tiger Claw and Karai together to find the Turtles and Splinter, much to her disagreement.
Honestly, with how no-nonsense and downright brutal Tiger Claw can be, the OT TMNT are lucky to be alive. They're kinda... not equipped to handle someone that will skip the bad puns and get right down to actual fighting.... Kinda don't think they can trip up this guy by pulling the rug out from under him, or defeat him by hitting him in the face with a pizza.
The Turtles are hanging at Murakami's, where Don, Mike and Raph fight it out over who will catch one of the blind chef's pizza gyozas. Leo gets involved at the last second and wins the gyoza. Leo's happiness quickly fades as he still worries about Karai working for Shredder despite knowing Splinter is her father. Mikey feels it's not her fault she was raised by Shredder, and Raph just doesn't trust her.
Tiger Claw and Karai run across the rooftops, and he tells her Shredder chose her for this mission because she knows more about them. They soon go to Murakamis to ask him about the Turtles, but he doesn't know where they live. Karai refuses to attack a blind man, but Tiger Claw doesn't have that problem.
April, Casey and Irma walk out of the movies and April was super excited by how awesome it was. Casey was disappointed that Irma had to come along and be a third wheel on their 'date', though April never considered this a date. Suddenly, April feels they're being watched and they decide to split up, leaving Irma alone.
Mikey forgot his doggybag at Murakamis, so they have to go back. When they do so, they see the place has been attacked. Murakami says he was questioned by 'the girl' and 'the growly man', and sadly, he told them about April and Casey. The Turtles figure that Tiger Claw is back, and Raph insists 'the girl' just has to be Karai. Don calls April and receives no answer. Later on at April's apartment, her dad tells them she went to the movies recently.
Tiger Claw runs into Casey and starts to chase him down.Karai is chasing April, but when she catches up to her, she wants to talk rather than fight. Karai says she believes them about telling her that Splinter is her father and is having doubts on Shredder's honor (even April says the G-rated version of 'no shit Sherlock' to that one). Don and Leo find April, and she tells them Karai's story.
Eventually Casey runs out of tricks and unfunny oneliners and decides to fight it out. Tiger Claw easily defeats him and throws him off a roof. Before passing out, Casey manages to activate his T-Phone. Raph and Mike are hanging around the skating rink (not sure if waiting in case Casey showed up... they could have just left after seeing that he wasn't there and continued the search) and get Casey's distress signal. Raph and Mike find Casey and take him back to the lair.
Leo is happy to see Karai come around and is happy to take her back to the lair. Raph is pissed that they were crazy enough to bring Karai to the lair, especially after how Tiger Claw nearly killed Casey. As Leo and Raph argue, Karai activates a device that lets Tiger Claw home in on the lair. Splinter shows up and tells Karai to follow him.
In his room, Karai sees that famous family portrait of Yoshi, Shen and baby Miwa and realizes that they were telling the truth. Karai realizes this out loud and Leo asks why she's 'just now' believing she was Miwa if before she was telling them that she did believe it. Karai regrets her treacherous actions and warns the Turtles that Tiger Claw is on his way. Splinter suspected this and says this was something she had to see with her own eyes. They leave quickly so they can lead him elsewhere, and Mikey knows just the place.
Tiger Claw finally homes in on the gang, but his search leads him to a meat locker. The Turtles fade in and out of the shadows and get some cheap shots in.... but they're still unable to take Tiger Claw down in actual fight (I again feel sorry for the OT Turtles and hoped for the life of them they chose to stay down). Tiger Claw aims his sword at Leo and asks if Karai wants to finish him off. Karai decides to regain her honor and starts to attack the tiger.
Unfortunately, she doesn't fare any better than anyone else did, and she is quickly knocked out. He holds Karai over a bunch of sharp machinery to keep the Turtles at bay and escapes with her. Leo is worried about her and Raph, in probably one of the dickiest things to say ever, says she's raised by Shredder and he's probably welcoming her now. Um... cause Shredder will be glad to welcome home a traitor and will just let bygones be bygone, right? Leo has no time to decide since Mikey is gravely injured and needs medical care (his shell was knocked loose... really?? How would they cure that???).
Karai is taken back to the Shredder, where Tiger Claw informs him of her betrayal. Karai demands to know if Splinter really is her father. Shredder finally admits that yes she is indeed the daughter of Hamato Yoshi... and then has her taken to a cell and locks her up.
My Opinions-
Well, let me get the good stuff out of the way. Tiger Claw is awesome and he is a completely unstoppable threat. He really is Shredder's second in command and it shows. Chris and Xever might be jokes now, but they were more dangerous in their first episodes.... and even then the Turtles defeated them. Even if just barely. Against Tiger Claw it really is a fluke if they win.... or they just have no choice but to escape. He really is a huge threat.
We do have minor plot holes in how Karai somehow knew about Casey Jones, even though they have never shared any screen time. Tiger Claw also seems to know April and Casey, even though he only saw them for half a second when the giant worm swallowed him hole.. and in that instant I assume you're attention is more focused on the giant-ass alien worm than the two random teenagers riding it. Also, Irma sure is incredibly lucky the bad guys didn't decide to chase her as well. Sure she's got nothing to do with anything... but it's not like the bad guys have used innocent friends as bait to capture the main characters before.
Irma is... pretty much useless at this point of the show still. She's just 'that friend' that suspects that April and Casey are into some kind of strange trouble, and also there to showcase that April has more than one friend. And well, also to bring back an 80's character. I wonder when she'll actually do something.
It was nice to see Karai finally see the truth. She was conflicted with honor back and forth throughout the episode. Having her see the famous portrait of the Hamato family. Paige did wonder why Karai (and possibly Shredder) has colored pics of Miwa while Splinter has a black and white one.
Now for my main complaint.... as this show continues to suffer the whole 'well the episode's almost over so let's wrap things up real quick and not care about the consequence' thing. Karai openly betrayed the Shredder's forces... is captured, and is taken back to Shredder. And Raph acts like she's fine. Dude. Shredder, for all you know, could have killed her as soon as he was told of her betrayal. And aside from Leo, zero damns were given. And yes, I know Mikey was in bad shape... but even Paige asked why they just didn't split up. I mean, had Tiger Claw captured April instead of Karai... or hell, one of the other Turtles, they still would have found time to go after him. Or have one of them stay with Mikey while the others followed. It's just sloppy 'who gives a damn' writing just because it's 11:57 and Spongebob is eager to start his ten hour marathon.
Overall, still a good episode, but that kind of rushed ending still bugs the hell out of me. It reminds me of the one where the Turtles had to get the Power Cell back from the Kraang so they wouldn't be able to use their portal to bring stuff from Dimension X... and then had to bail without stealing the crystal back or otherwise destroying the portal machine.... because reasons. Speaking of which, I am finding myself to be a little bored of the show... or at least any episode that isn't about Shredder and the Foot and doesn't further the Karai is Miwa storyline. It's just the best part of the show, and anything else is wasting time or padding out the series so it has X amount of episodes. The show can't be episodic and have long story arcs at the same time. Choose one and stick with it.
Oh and to end the article, here's the link to the trailer for the season finale of this season, and our thoughts about it. Also for more TMNT goodness, we're going to start reviewing all 4 TMNT theatrical releases before the new movie hits theaters.
If you've been keeping track of my blog posts, you've noticed I'm not one for reading actual books. Paige is more of the reader, and she has mentioned a few books here and there, and of course her love for the Pretty Little Liars book series, not just the TV series. I tried to find a good book to actually sit down and read and let my imagination soar, like when I was kid, but nothing really interested me. But then I saw Mark of Athena in the local Wal-Mart and read some of the back. It mentioned people facing creatures of Greek myths but in modern day, and that piqued my curiosity. But then I read the intro saying 'it continues the adventures of...' and I was like 'naw, I gotta read this from the beginning. Going to an actual book store this nice girl told me it was actually a sequel or spin-off of sorts of the Percy Jackson stories, a 5-book tale that I should really read first so that all the references to it would make sense. And so, I started off with the first book.... The Lightning Thief! Written by Rick Riordian.
The Story-
This story follows the life of Percy Jackson, a kid with dyslexia and having a knack for always getting into trouble and being shipped from school to school. On a school field trip to the museum he gets attacked by one of his teachers that was a demon in disguise! Another teacher tosses him a pen, that when the cap is removed, turns into a sword! Percy kills the fiend, and despite the commotion that would have caused, everyone outside acts like nothing happened, and act like that evil teacher never existed!! Shortly after this, Percy was booted out of this school too.
Our 12 year old hero soon returns to his home town in New York and sees his mother again. They decide to head for a trip to their favorite beach. But then in a dangerous rainstorm they are being chased by the Minotaur, from ancient myth!! The mighty beast kills Percy's mom, and the young boy somehow manages to avoid the beast and kill it with its own horn. To make things weirder, his old friend from school, Grover, turns out to be a Satyr, a human with the lower half of a goat!
More is explained as Percy and Grover make it to Half-Blood Hill where it is revealed that he is actually a demi-god, the son of a human and a god. It gets more complicated when it's discovered that he is the son of Poseidon, one of the three main gods that was forbidden from having any more human children! His teacher also turns out to be a centaur named Chiron, and he eventually explains the main quest that sets the story off.
Currently the gods are at the brink of war. It seems Zeus is missing his bolt of lightning, a weapon of incredible destructive power, and he thinks Poseidon is responsible! Worse yet, even though Percy had just recently found out about being a Half-Blood, Zeus thinks Poseidon put him up to stealing it!!! Suspicion also falls on Hades, the god banished to the underworld, that would benefit greatly from a war between Zeus and Poseidon. And there lies the mission. By the summer solstice, Percy, Grover and Annabeth must set forth on their quest to confront Hades and retrieve the bolt of lightning before all hell literally breaks loose.
Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, and due to her mother's rivalry with Poseidon, doesn't get along too well with Percy at first. She trains hard and has lived in Half-Blood Camp most of her life and anxious to prove her skills in the real world. Grover strives for what all satyrs strive for, the chance to search and find the god Pan. To do so he must prove himself worthy by helping Percy on his mission and bringing him back alive. As for Percy, he thinks that maybe his mother is still alive and being held captive by Hades in the underworld. Will his desire to rescue his mother outweigh the importance of him saving the world?
As the heroes have 10 days remaining on their perilous quest, they face monsters, gods and other challenges. Things become more complicated when events cause Percy to believe that maybe Hades wasn't the Lighting Thief....
My Opinions
Wow!!!! Just wow!! This book is super amazing and literally kept my interest from cover to cover. It's always entertaining and the narrator, which is Percy, describes things with his own sense of humor that keeps it interesting. Even the titles on the table of contents are bizzare, funny and interesting that makes you wonder what's it going to be about. Right off the bat the first chapter is called 'I vaporized my teacher'. It already makes you think 'wtf???' and gets you into reading it.
While it takes almost half the book to get to the Lightning Thief part, the book takes its time in developing Percy and his friends, and slowly opening this whole new world he's suddenly entered into. He's a typical New York kid very much from 'our real world' and he's suddenly thrust into the fact that gods of myth do exist and have existed for all these years. We get to see him adapt at Half-Blood Camp, get better along with Annabeth, defeat his new rival Clarrisse and train with Luke. I do like the fact that the main reason there are so many demi-gods running around in modern day was because the gods were known for messing around with humans in tales of myth. They just never stuck around to raise them. LOL
Parts of his past come back to him to explain things he never understood. We find out things like how Percy and Annabeth aren't really dyslexic, they were born with the natural ability to read Greek, and have trouble reading English. Percy's mom never let him fly on a plane since it would involve taking to the skies, where an angry Zeus would strike the plane down. Little hints and clues keep coming back to Percy's mind as he pieces together his new reality.
Despite being a good old fashioned book, not a comic with pictures, this book does an amazing job describing everything. The gods nectar that tastes like whatever your favorite food is, the strange sense of hatred you get whenever you're near Ares, and the excitement of the fights. It's all so crystal clear in my mind, you can easily imagine everything that's going on. The action is pretty intense, especially later on when Percy gets better at using his water powers and his sword Riptide. I especially like the fight between Percy and Ares, and the fact that despite them fighting it out with classic mythical swords, the rest of us regular people saw them as two normal people fighting with shotguns.
And yes, I have to bring up the fact that for a while they were in Las Vegas. I like how they described the hotels without actually naming them... but yeah... I knew what they were. And that casino where kids can play forever, but lose the notion of time and could literally be there for years without knowing.... I think it's based on some trap in a myth story, but it's also a clever knock at how real casinos have no windows and no clocks so you can easily lose track of time and gamble the night away. And when our intrepid trio finally pulled themselves out of there, they realized what seemed like a few hours was actually 5 hours in real time, and they only had one day left to fulfill their quest!!!! When I read that part I was like 'holy crap, they really screwed themselves over!!!! Now what??!!'
I could go on and on, but the main deal is, I just love this book. I heard there are movies based on the first two books. I plan to rent the Lightning Thief and make an Out on DVD episode about it with my thoughts comparing it to the book. I am very happy with this book and I'm glad Percy and his gang has gotten me back into reading. And yes... I already bought Sea of Monsters. I'm gonna start reading it after seeing the first movie.
Doc Ock's final act before dying was switching bodies with Spider-Man, starting a whole new life as a young and energetic Peter Parker, while his foe died in his aging diseased body. Now as the Superior Spider-Man, Otto went out fighting crime his way, murdering people like Massacre and gravely injuring others like the Vulture and Boomerang, which affected his status as a member of the Avengers. He also earned a Doctorate, opened Parker Industries and has a new girlfriend named Anna Maria. But along came the Green Goblin, who's been amassing a massive army underground all along. Not only did he discover that Otto was Spider-Man, he also attacked all the people he cared about. With his beloved Anna Maria's life at stake, Otto admits that Parker was the better Spider-Man and erases his memories, bringing back the original Peter Parker. Now back in the classic red and blue, The Amazing Spider-Man has to save the day.... and also adjust to all the new changes in his life while he was 'away'.
Let's take a look at the end of the Superior Spider-Man series... and the first issue of the return of the Amazing Spider-Man, just in time for the movie!
Superior Spider-Man # 31 opens with Anna Maria being woken up by the Green Goblin, who shows off how he turned New York into his 'Goblin Nation'. Elsewhere, Peter finds out that Carlie was infected by the Goblin Formula, but as Otto managed to cure her. He leaves Sajani to make more while he talks to Carlie alone. Carlie Cooper had already figured out that Otto was in Peter's body and he convinces her that he's back to normal. She explains that was Otto was in control, he covered the city in spider robots to help him fight crime, but the Goblin hacked them to be blind to anything wearing a Goblin mask or logo.
As Spidey swings out throughout the city, he calls Aunt May to make sure that she, and everyone else is alright. Spider-Man arrives at the Empire State University and helps Spider-Man 2099 defeat the last of the Spider-Slayers. Unlike Otto, Pete does recognize Miguel O'Hara and enlists his help. They both arrive at mid-town and help the Avengers take down the Hobgoblin. Captain America appreciates the helps but says he thought Spider-Man quit the Avengers. Spidey considers it nonsense, and goes off with the future Spider-Man. They finally found the place the spider-robots' signal is coming from... Oscorp.
Spidey is confused that Oscorp is now Alchemax, and Spidey 2099 reminds him that it's the evil corporation that runs Nuevo York in his era. Just then another goblin attacks the Spiders. Menace seems sure that Spidey will abandon Spidey 2099 to find the Goblin King, but is surprised when our classic hero sticks around.. and sticks him with the antidote to the Goblin formula. They hear laughter from the other side of a door and check out the room.
They see Normie, looking evil and admiring that the city will be his someday. Liz and Stone are there and Spider-Man tells her not to trust him. Stone activates a jammer that knocks Spider-Man down, and Spidey 2099 socks Stone out. Liz tells them that the building is wired for explosives and that the Goblin is on top of the building. Pete leaves Miguel to watch the others while he goes to save the day.
The Green Goblin arrives and taunts 'Otto' for pretending to be a hero and asks him what he'll have left after he dies trying to save the girl. Spidey says at least he'll have the dignity of never having use a man-purse. With a wisecrack like that, Goblin knows the real Spider-Man is back and flies off, but our hero won't let him get away that easily. Goblin says he would never leave Anna Maria to die, but Spidey points out that she can take care of herself, as she's already using one of the Goblin's blades to cut herself free.
Spidey tries to inject Goblin with the antidote, but the villain slaps his hand away. Spidey yanks off the mask.. and doesn't recognize the guy. Norman Osborn says it IS him, but he had to change his face since he is so well recognized already. He wants to make Alchemax a legacy for his grandson. Spidey asks why he's bombing it, and he says it can't be the only building not attacked by the Goblins, so it will be collateral damage. Spidey points out that without the Goblin mask on, now all the Spider-bots he brought with him are attacking and biting Osborn. Each spider bite is loaded with Goblin cure.
Anna Maria leaps off the building and Spidey manages to catch her in time. He also catches the Goblin who now falls off the glider since he lost his strength. Spidey hands walks back to Liza with 'Mason Banks' on hand, and she 'accidentaly' pressed the spider-jammer again that affects Spider-Man long enough for Norman to get away. Spidey 2099 accuses her, but Spidey knows she's an old friend and didn't mean it... though he will keep an eye on her and her weird kid.
As Norman escapes, he feels his mind clearer than it's been in years. The madness of the Goblin is gone and he can think clearly. He swears to return with a new face and with a new plan, and they'll never see him coming.
Spider-Man makes sure that Anna Maria is alright, and she was very concerned about Peter. Spidey swears Peter is safe and she is so relieved. Spidey sees that she really did love Otto... and feels bad that he had to die for him to come back.
The next story 'Actions have Consequences' deals with the aftermath of the series. Peter hugs his Aunt May and is glad she's alright. He also apologizes for how he treated her (as Otto he yelled at her after she acted awkward around Anna Maria being a little person) and says he quit working for Spider-Man and will devote himself to Parker Industries. MJ tells him she has to live her own life without him, since she's always being dragged into whatever evil plans the villains have for him. Peter sees Jameson on TV and remembers that Otto was blackmailing him, so he goes to set things right.
Carlie overheard the convo with MJ and shows her the Goblin eyes left behind from when she was a Goblin. She's moving out of town while her body fully recovers. MJ says she wants to live her own life, but Carlie reminds her that even if she's seeing Pete or not, the bad guys will still come after her.
The only problem is, despite everything, the bad guys will still come to you to get to Spidey. Live your live if you want... but please stay the hell away from bridges and other high areas....
Spidey tells Jameson he shouldn't have to take the rap for Goblin hacking the Spider-Slayers and using them against the police. He also tells him he won't blackmail him anymore and wasn't going to follow through on his threat anyway. After he leaves, Jameson reveals he had just resigned as Mayor a half hour ago, so he couldn't stay even if he wanted.
Now that Spidey defeated the Goblin and ended the Goblin Nation storyline... let's continue with The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 and see Pete's first official day back on the job as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
The comic starts with..... one of the stupid retcon things that comics always use.... Remember how that radioactive spider bit Peter and died shortly afterwards.... Well it looks like a split second after it bit Pete, it also crawled on some girl's ankle and bit her too... and then it died. It's like 'I'm radioactive and dying anyway, might as well take as many of these humans with me that I can before I go!'. Douchey spider. But also stupid retcon.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm taking you with me!!!"
Present day and we see some rookie villains, the White Rabbit with a Panda and Hippo themed villain as they run through the crowds of people. She bumps into a guy carrying a baby and he's about to fall over and land on his baby... but Spider-Man catches him with a web. Rabbit girl is surprised that Spider-Man is still after them, and he webs her up. The Hippo tries to throw a car at Spidey, while the web-slinger tosses wisecracks. The crowd is happy to see Spider-Man back to his jokey self, but are also surprised that he's basically naked, only wearing his mask and webs around his privates.
Four hours before all of this happened, we see Pete holding a press conference explaining that he will stop all connections with Spider-Man and will focus more on running Parker Industries. Aunt May and her husband are proud, and Pete is happy to see Aunt May walking again due to Otto's technology. Elsewhere, Anna Maria arrives at the apartment, looking for Pete and finds an engagement ring that Otto was planning to surprise her with.
Jameson watches TV as he sees headlines of Electro destroying a prison and the Avengers talking down the last of the Goblin followers and Spider-Slayers. Jameson feels bad after watching himself resign from his position as mayor... and decides he can always return to the Daily Bugle and run it again.
At Parker Industries, Sajani is showing Pete all the specs of 'his' latest creations, and he feels completely lost since Otto was the cybernetics genius... not him. He considers accessing Otto's memories... but stops himself not wanting to risk another mind-swap. Sajani shows him all the Spider-Man costumes that were also being made and she says it all has to go. Pete is also surprised that the Living Brain is his robot butler... and that it keeps calling him 'Doctor'. He tells him to stop that until he sees his Doctorate on the wall and realizes he IS a doctor now.
Probably my favorite line/sceme in this issue.
Pete swings through the city, happy to be Spider-Man again... and notices the citizens hate him now. He's sure he can regain their favor after Otto tarnished his image. He then hears an alarm go off, as the White Rabbit leads Hippo, Pandamania and Gypsy Moth on a crime spree. Spider-Man shows off and Gypsy Moth uses her powers to control threads and fabrics to unravel his costume. Spidey manages to sock her out before he could lose his mask.... but now the crowds are taking pics of him and tweeting it.
The Avengers watch this on TV and Spider-Woman tells the Cap that Parker is back to normal cause stuff like this only happens to him. Spidey tries to cover up for the cameras telling them he doesn't need his friends and family to see this, especially the Human Torch. Too late Pete, Johnny is already laughing his ass off. Mary Jane also watches this on her laptop and calls him an idiot.
Really Spidey.... the Marvel Universe is laughing with you.... not at you.... right?
Spidey ties up Pandamania, and with that wraps up this caper. The audience is far from pleased. One lady asks if kids should be watching 'a half-naked man in a mask trying up a woman in a fuzzy animal suit' and another old lady says he's acting as indecent as Miley Cyrus. Spidey wants to leave a 'courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man' notes but the people just want him to cover up and leave already.
Spidey returns to the apartment and is surprised to see Anna Maria there... since she has a key. She asks him why he never told her he was Spider-Man. Pete says it could be anybody since the guy on the video still has a mask on. Anna Maria recognizes his body and Peter realizes that as Otto, they've seen each other naked. He finds himself at a loss and Anna Maria asks him again.
Totally busted... though this opens a whole line of questions....
The rest of the issue has smaller stories, the main ones are one about Electro and the Black Cat... it seems Otto experimented on him to mess with his powers... and when he tried to free people from a prison, he accidentaly blew it up and killed everyone inside. This ruins his reputation since people would think he killed everyone ruthlessly due to his super villain stature... and he now wants revenge on Spider-Man.
Geez, even his teeth are electric???? The funny thing is, Spidey faces Electro in 'The Amazing Spider-Man # 2.
As for Black Cat, she manages to escape during Electro's attack, and reminds the readers about her little run in with the Superior Spider-Man, which if you read the last article basically had Otto just sock her out and arrest her like a bitch since he was completely unaware of the little Catwoman/Batman thing she has going on with Spidey. Now she wants revenge on him as well... but after she plays with his heart a little....
There was also a more cartoonish and cutesy story about Spidey explaining how his web-shooters and powers work. And we also have a short story about Miguel Morales, now trapped in present day, so yeah, pick up his new series. LOL.
My Opinions: Superior Spider-Man # 31-
Not much to say about this issue except it's good to see Spidey back and clean house. There were a few funny moments, like Pete's family thinking he's a scizo due to the sudden mood swing... and the extra story with Spidey having a talk with Jameson... after he already resigned.... and I love when Miguel grabbed Peter and said 'you left me to fight the Slayers along just so you could change costumes???'
In the end, the Doc's biggest fault was his supreme arrogance in everything he did. He became so obsessed with ending all crime, and making sure that HE took all the credit for it, he almost became Batman. One person he never mistreated was Anna Maria. I guess I kinda see what's going on... he never grew up with Aunt May the way Pete, he's just not as attached to her. She was part of Peter's life not his.... But Anna Maria is someone new he met during his college studies and he loved her so much more because it was someone he on his own and she did not in love with him only because he was Parker or Spider-Man.
This issue was fun, but the real thrills come next issue as Spidey adjusts to his life after Otto tinkered with it.
The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 2014-
It was fun yo see good ol Peter Parker back in the saddle and taking down the bad guys. The White Rabbit and her cheesey goons were perfect for this one. I did like how 'Gypsy Moth wanted to change her name to Skien' and the Rabbit refused because it would ruin the animal theme they want to go for.
Besides everything else that was evident... I want to bring up two major points in this issue. First off we have the case of Anna Maria, in love with Otto... not knowing that he was using the body of Peter Parker and now he's back again. was discussing this with one of the Bent Wookie guys and we agreed that now the shoe is on the other foot. Back when Superior Spider-Man # 2 came out, it was all about Otto trying to seduce MJ. The fans raged hard due to the fact that had MJ slept with Otto-Pete it would count as a form of rape since she was tricked and only consented into doing so because she thought she was sleeping with Peter Parker... not Dr. Octopus. Soooo now that Anna Maria doesn't know that the man she really loved as Doc Ock and he's gone.... Peter can't touch her because it would also count as a form of rape. What's going to happen? Anna Maria is a great supporting character, it would be a shame to see her go, but how long can Pete keep this up before he has to tell the truth?
The second thing is the kind of stupid 'was always there since day one, but we never knew about it' retcon. This like TMNT New Mutation saying there were always 5 Turtles in the Ooze all along... they just lost one.... or the 80's cartoon saying there was a gecko mutating along with them all along. Or saying that Dick Grayson was hand-picked to be a Talon since he was a kid, and that his grandfather was always one. Now we have this comic saying that on that fateful day, the same radioactive spider that bit Pete also bit someone else before it died. So now we have a mysterious female Spider-Man (not Jessica Drew, I do believe her powers work differently despite being called Spider-Woman). Of course the mystery lies in asking who was this woman he bit, and how will this effect present day? It is intriguing but grrr... I still hate those tacked-on day-one retcons that went and made what you saw before untrue.
Anyways...we'll see what happens. Oh and hey, for more Spider-Fun, here's our review of the Amazing Spider-Man 2. guest starring Fatima, a fellow Yotuber I collabed with before. The movie's been out for a while but I still wanr you it will be long and might compare spoilers.
The Turtles are always eating pizza, but now the pizza bites back. The Turtles, or rather, Mikey face yet another re-imagining of a classic 80's character. Though to be fair, this guy was never actually in the classic cartoon, but the action figure is infamous. Let's see ho Mikey does against Pizza Face!
The episode opens with April and Irma walking together and deciding to check out a movie. April's tPhone goes off and says she has to leave for her date with Casey. Irma's not buying it and is sure she's off to see her secret friends. Just then the pizzaboy runs into Irma (on his bike no less... and Irma is uninjured... she's made of strong stuff). The pizzaboy is freaking out saying something is after him and drives off, dropping a pizza box. April says now she has free pizza... for Casey's date. Irma doesn't think it's a good idea but April walks off. She gets a funny feeling from the pizza and tosses it. The pizza starts talking to April, telling her to eat it. When she goes to check on it, it jumps out of the box and attacks her.
The Turtles are watching that Voltronzinger Z anime again as their Megazord thing attacks a 3 headed monster with a double-sided flame sword. Donnie is worried that he can't contact April. Mikey is even more worried that he can't seem to contact any pizzeria in town. Leo says if he's so serious about it then he should just make his own pizza. Mikey goes into the kitchen and makes a pizza.... with super hot sauce... sardines... worms... marshmallows and so forth... and hey Ice Cream Kitty throws some cheese pops into it too.
The pizza smells disgusting and looks even worse and only Mikey is able to eat it. Just then there's an ad for Antonio's Pizzeria on tv, saying it's the only one in town, and everyone in the commercial looks brainwashed. Leo thinks it's weird, but after seeing Mikey's pizza, he decides to order out anyway. Raph sends Mikey to get the pizza and warns him not to eat it.
The pizza guy arrives, acting brainwashed and tells Mikey that 'with Antonio's the first one is free'. As the other Turtles train, Mikey fights the urge to eat the pizza. He then hears the pizza calling out to him, wanting him to eat it. The pizza is alive and flies all over the place, trying to get Mikey to eat it. Mikey breaks out the nunchucks and keeps smacking it away. By the times the others arrive, they just see Mikey rolling around on the floor with the pizza.... Naturally the pizza won't talk in front of the others, so they just walk off disappointed. The pizza tells Mikey that they'll never believe him, so he dies happily. Mikey decides to go to Antonio's and 'get his money back'. Yes, we know he got it for free...
Mikey arrives at the pizzeria and sees the usual stock people walking around, acting like zombies... and April is among them. Mikey takes some pics with his tPhone.. but all he gets are pics of his eyeballs. More people come at Mikey, but they have pizza on their faces. He tries to avoid them and he gets smacked around by notVic, (yes they re-used Spider Byte's fatass human model with pizza on his face) and tossed onto a building. Mikey uses a smokebomb to vanish before he gets captured by the zombie pizza people.
At home Mikey tries to tell the others, but they all just finished eating pizza and are acting like zombies. Even Splinter! More pizza boxes are lying around and all the pizzas start flying around and attacking him. Mikey defeats all of the evil pizza but notices that the other Turtles and Splinter are now gone.
Later on, one of the pizzas wakes up and finds itself being strapped to a chair. Mikey shows up with shades on and interrogates him, demanding to know who's in charge of all this. The pizza won't talk, so Mikey threatens to bake it in the furnace. The pizza talk and tells him the flashback that Antonio saw the Mutagen Rain and decides to use it as a new topping.... (dude... wtf?). When he got exposed to it, he mutated into a giant pizza, and all the other pizzas came to life. Mikey asks if his face looks like pizza, and when told it does, he decides to name this new guy Pizza Face. Mikey asks what Pizza Face will do with the zombie people and the pizza tells him he'll wrap them up in a giant calzone and eat them. Mikey will go stop him, and pops the talking pizza in the freezer... where a hungry Ice Cream Kitty awaits...
Mikey pretends to be a zombie to get past the people and sneaks into the restaurant. The people wrap April in giant calzone and they hang her upside down along with all the other calzone people as Antonio prepares for a big feast. When asked what to do with the 'green ones', Antonio says they must have also have gotten the 'secret ingredient' and spits pizza on their faces, making them his soldiers. Mikey jumps into the scene and calls the guy Pizza Face, and he likes the name. He then sends the Turtles and Splinter after Mikey.
Mikey somehow gets past the Turtles and Splinter, but Pizza Face spits a meatball that pins Mikey up against a wall. Mikey then gets hungry and knows what he has to do. He eats his way out the meatball trap and dives into Pizza Face. Pizza Face swallows him but Mikey eats him from the inside out. After devouring his nemesis, Mikey lets out a power belch. Everyone turns around and walks off, and Pizza Face, nor reduced to just a regular pizza slice explains that they'll all just go back home and forget everything that happened in the morning. The pizza slice then knocks out Mikey.
Mikey wakes up in his bed and the Turtles and April tell him he was just having a weird dream. Mikey goes back to sleep thinking maybe all of this was just a dream. The Pizza Face slice is hiding in a pizza box in the room and says 'dream? I don't think so!'.
My Opinions:
Another filler episode... but a funny filler episode nonetheless. I still wish Mikey wasn't that huge of an idiot... I'm sure 80's Mikey would never ask for his money back from a pizza he got for free.... and after explain how a modern day iPhone works since those didn't exist in the 80's I'm sure he wouldn't take pictures of his eyeballs....
But still, a funny episode, especially for the whole interrogation scene, that was just my favorite part, an ending it with an exorcist-style Ice Cream Kitty was just perfect. I know the poor kitty is reduced to freezer cameos... but this was his best one ever.
Not much to say about the episode other than that. We see all the stock people we've been seeing in the other episodes show up, most notably the re-use of Vic's model. And it's weird to know that Antonio, the guy who's face has been on every single pizza box in this series is no Pizza Face. I wonder if they'll bother to redesign the boxes after this.
As for Pizza Face himself, he was just a bunch of goofy Italian pizza chef stereotype cheesy goodness. Love the voice, and the whole Italian song scene as he sang about the eating the people as Calzones. And he actually liked the new name 'because I have a face and it looks like-a pizza!'.
Now the classic 80's Pizza Face was actually a crazy pizza chef that baked himself in a Retromutagen oven.... (....dafuq???) and the Turtles pulled him out before he was fully backed... so now he's even more insane... and works for Shredder. He was never on the show, which stood out since he was one of the few of that particular wave that didn't make it (even Ace Duck had a cameo)... but then I guess even the Fred Wolf show wasn't silly enough that they would have Shredder sic a crazy chef on the Turtles. And honestly for someone 'half pizza, half pizza chef', he didn't really look like a mutant... just a slob with a pegleg stuck on a pizza tray... I know nowadays he ranks as one of the weirdest, grossest and just plain wtf-est TMNT action figure of the classic line alongside Muckman and Mutagen Man... I do wonder how well he sold back in the day.
While I first had my doubts when I heard they were going to literally make Pizza Face into a giant pizza monster..... I think it kinda works and really drives the 'mutant' idea home, instead of just some sloppy chef saying he is. And it's also funny to see all his flying and crazy pizza minions, who seem to have personalities of their own. The bit with the zombie people with the pizza on their faces also gave me a Resident Evil vibe as well. Reminded me of Los Plagas from RE4 for whatever reason.
Oh yeah. Irma as in it too. I guess to remind us she's still in the show. I did feel bad for her when April just cut out on her. Sure you and I know why April left, but as far as Irma is concerned, April really is a crappy friend.
Overall a filler episode that was just good plain fun. It's just too bad the others would never know Mikey saved the day.... again.
Also thought I should mention this, for those with a good ear (for someone that only got a handful of lines in this episode) Leo was voiced by someone else. He did a good job imitating Jason Biggs. Maybe he was busy? Time will tell if this was just for this one episode or not.
