Boomb Tube, The Week in Comic Book Television: 8/21-8/27/2022

Welcome back to Boomb Tube! Here, we will be catching you up on the week in comics TV, both through micro-reviews, as well as links to our full-length TV reviews. We also tend to review series that are dropped all at once weekly so there are a few ‘older’ shows mixed in for good measure. Are we missing your favorite show? Let us know in the comments!

And since the summer is here, check out our 2022 Summer TV binges, where Multiversity staffers reach back in time to review comics/comics-adjacent/nerdy shows all summer long. (Here’s a handy list of what’s being covered too.)

Harley Quinn – “Another Sharkley Adventures” (S3E7, HBO Max)

Harley Quinn puts our heroes back in the driver’s seat as Harley attempts to kidnap Bruce Wayne for torture purposes. King Shark gets another underwater B-story as he travels back to his ancestral home to bury his father and pass along the title of king to his younger brother, Brother Prince Shark. Yes, his title is clunky.

We return to the life lesson formula as Harley wrestles with the idea of being friends with Batgirl. You see where this is going. Harley denies being friends with Barbra, mayhem ensues, and Harley realizes she has some affinity for Batgirl and rescues her. King Shark’s regicide storyline is entertaining in the brief moments we get with it, giving us another look at a great premise for a different show. Another connective tissue episode, nothing to write home about. – Carl Waldron

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – “Frozen Solid” (S3E2, NETFLIX)

In case anyone missed it, big spoiler for season 3.. Eldress is real! (or at least kind-of) Repeat this is not a drill, Eldress is not just a force ghost! When Teela and Eldress hug each other there is a cathartic moment of release between student and mentor. So Duncan says he has so many questions, I am right there with him. As a whole the series has done an excellent job of developing every character introduced from season 1.

One of the most gratifying storylines throughout the series has been between Prince Adam and King Rando. This journey of father and son has come a long way. In the beginning Prince Adam refused to even talk to his dad and bore a classic resentment from the feelings of abandonment, but as he got to know his father and see his true character he began to trust him. Then in season 2 King Randor had to learn to trust his young son as a superpowered leader and hero. Now that development of trust is being tested as they face a never-ending scourge of Lashers that are attempting to annihilate them. King Rando tries his best but knows that he is outmatched and is forced to trust his son to take care of him.

Finally the new Ram Ma’am aka Rampage faces off with He-Man and it’s heartbreaking. She is so consumed by her need to regain her own father she has joined the enemy. But it’s not a happy partnership as she is constantly pushing back on Skelator’s desire to murder. There is a great sequence of dialogue between He-Man, Rampage, and Skelator that smoothly passes back and forth between inner and outer dialogue for Rampage.

One thing that has been very fun overall for this series is their blatant (but dare I say tasteful) rip-offs from popular properties such as Star Wars, Marvel, and many video games. For instance in this episode He-Man does an epic Hulk jump/super clap with his hands to dispatch many enemies at once. And in the same episode, Duncan powers up into what can only be described as a Hulk-busting Iron Man suit to battle giant mechanical monsters from War of the Worlds. It’s all very fun stuff, really. – Henry Finn

Locke & Key – “Five Minutes Past” (S3E4, Netflix)

Read our full review by Alexander Manzo.

Paper Girls – “A New Period” (S1E5, Amazon Prime)

The Paper Girls’ trip through time immediately ends in disaster, as they run right into an ambush by an Old Watch robot. Larry dies quickly, while Adult Erin sacrifices herself to give the girls a chance to escape. When the Old Watch attempts to reset time, the girls are once again unaffected. Tiff recovers Larry’s logbook and insists on continuing the mission, but the girls quickly discover that they had landed in 1999, not their own time, suggesting that Larry had lied to them about taking them home. Erin experiences her first period, and the girls head to KJ’s house to stock up on supplies. KJ runs into her ’99 self (Delia Cunningham), discovering that she is a lesbian when she sees her older self kissing her classmate, Lauren (Maren Lord). Upset at the revelation, KJ punches Mac, spurring Tiff to angrily call her older self (Sekai Abenì) for help.

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Paper Girls is at its best when it’s using the time travel conceit to unpack the complex emotions of its characters, but it struggles when it must fold in the world-building of the time-spanning conspiracy; as a result, “A New Period” is a mixed bag. The opening fight sequence is effective, doing away with two likeable and well-drawn characters – farewell to Ali Wong and Nate Corddry, two excellent actors who brought the show to life when they entered it – while letting the impact on the girls register. The following stretch where the girls discuss their next steps, however, grinds the show to a halt. It’s a troubling problem for the show to have as it heads towards the end of its first season, where the time war will surely play more and more of a prominent role.

There are some great beats in the back half of “A New Period,” however, particularly from Fina Strazza’s KJ. Strazza plays the reveal of her sexual orientation perfectly; after an initial reaction of shock and fear, we see the dawning recognition of the dozens of small moments in her life that must now make perfect sense to her. This episode also does an interesting shift with Mac, flipping her previously cruel demeanor and positioning her as the group’s quasi voice of reason. She helps Erin process the death of her older self, and diffuses the girl’s bubbling resentments – it’s ironic that when she finally gets punched in the face this episode, it’s one of the only times in the series where she did nothing to deserve it. The lead-in to the next episode is also a promising one – Tiff has had the least to do so far of the main cast, and it’s encouraging that she will finally get some time in the spotlight. – Reid Carter

Resident Alien – “The Weight” (S2E11, Syfy)

Read our full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.

The Sandman – “A Hope in Hell” (S1E4, Netflix)

Read our full review by august (in the wake of) dawn.

She-Hulk – “Superhuman Law” (S1E2, Disney+)

She-Hulk’s second episode delivers on the promise of a legal comedy about Jennifer Walters. While the result is a pretty average (though very fun and charming) comedy, there’s something to be said about the fact that this episode pulls that off while feeling very much connected to the wider MCU. Where last week was a funny version of an origin story, “Superhuman Law” has genuinely 0 superheroics or even superhero intrigue (other than that tease of Hulk going to Sakaar). This is very firmly a show about a messy, ambitious woman trying to make it in her field while dealing with her newfound powers. A series like this has to strike a unique balance, succeeding as what it is while feeling at least somewhat in tune with the biggest franchise in history. Once you take that into account, being a very good but not quite great comedy is actually something of a feat.

The story this week is beautifully straightforward – Jennifer really needs a job. The episode takes some time following Jennifer in the dumps before digging into the meaty stuff. We see her languishing on the couch and getting family dinner where she people can’t help but pry. The introduction to Jennifer’s family is sweet, even if it is full of the most generic overbearing types ever put to screen. They get some extra depth through Jen’s conversation with her father (portrayed by a rock solid Mark Linn-Baker) about resilience, which is pretty strong material material, but overall they mostly serve to give a little more texture to Jennifer’s life.

The rest of the episode follows Jennifer’s introduction to GLK&H, where she’s just become Partner in charge of the Superhuman Law practice. It’s a pretty great safety net she falls into, even if she has to go to work and court as She-Hulk, subjecting us to more of the weird CGI than necessary. She gets to bring along Nikki as her paralegal and we’re introduced to Pug (played by the inimitable Josh Seggara) who gives Jen a map of where she should and shouldn’t poop in the office. Hopefully we get to spend a lot of time with this crew because it seems like it’ll be a blast. Of course, there is the snag of having to represent Emil Blonsky (aka Abomination aka the guy who leveled Harlem fighting the Hulk, Jen’s cousin) in his parole hearings.

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Tim Roth is visibly having a blast with his return as a zen version of the character with seven soulmates he’s met via mail and a haiku apology written for every victim of his crimes. There’s a certain quality to Roth’s performance reminiscent of Ben Kingsley’s in Shang-Chi and it’s extremely welcome. Jennifer and Blonsky are genuinely very funny together and they’re sure to be an enjoyable duo over the course of this show. There’s sure to be even more conflict now that footage has leaked from the fight club where Abomination fought Wong in Shang-Chi. All of this is anchored by a characteristically great Tatiana Maslany, who is quickly becoming one of the stronger leads in the MCU.-Quinn Tassin