Relativism strikes another blow to pop culture in "Countdown To Mystery" from DC comics. I love the Spectre. One of my favorite character concepts. The Wrath of God bonded to a human soul. John Ostrander's run with Tom Mandrake doing artwork was a critical success, but since they stepped down, the character has gone downhill. First with the J.M. Dematteis "Spectre the Friendly Ghost" series, where the character suddenly became the "Spirit of Redemption", going on all sorts of touchy feely journeys with people who "really aren't so bad after all." Now don't get me wrong. I'm all about redemption. I know my own heart, and I'm certainly deserving of some wrath. But there are people in this world who are completely given over to evil and they will never seek redemption. Granted, we don't want to be judgmental and pretend we know who those people are, but history has demonstrated that plenty of peo...

If you like fantasy that's dark and gripping, but is more than just a hack-fest of blood and gore, I'd highly recommend investigating Terry Goodkind. A few years ago, I picked up a cheap promotion-priced copy of "Wizard's First Rule", the first book in this epic series. It wasn't blazing with wonder and fantasy from the first page, but there was something about the writing style that interested me. After a few chapters in, I was very interested, and by the end of the first book, I was hooked. The series revolves around two main characters: Richard and Kahlan. Richard is a man from a quiet "medieval-type" town devoid of magic or wonder, who discovers another world full of danger and plenty of the mystical. Kahlan is the last living "Confessor", women with the power to turn anyone into a mindless babbling fool that will forever-more think only of pleasing her. Over the course of the series, Richard learns mor...

After the mediocre offering provided by "Terminator: Rise Of The Machines", I wondered what the future held for this franchise. Luckily, the future seems potentially bright. The series stars Lena Headey ("300") as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker (Claire's friend from season 1 of "Heroes") as John Connor and Summer Glau ("Firefly", "The 4400") as the Terminator programmed to protect John and Sarah. It's clear almost immediately that "Terminator 3" has gone the way of "Highlander 2", "Highlander 3" and... well, various parts of the first Highlander movie. In other words, it's being ignored and considered no longer a part of continuity. I almost thought that maybe the timeline of "Terminator 3" was changed by the presence of Glau's Terminator, but the Pilot starts out in 1999, while Sarah Connor's grave in "Terminator 3" clearly indicates that she died in 1997. Oh...