At the end of issue #5, we saw Raymond Moore, someone we’ve seen in the other 4 issues, get beaten to death by a few local police officers. Up until that point the writer, Peter Milligan, has been leading the readers on by making it seem that Raymond would be the new Red Lantern but on the last page of issue #5 we see the red ring fly down out of the sky and see his brother, Jack Moore, put the ring on. this was slightly unexpected but not completely. A big trend these days in movies and books is to have 2 characters that are total opposites and then add a prophecy or something like that stating that someone would be a leader or a great warrior or even a great villain. Then the more predictable character who fits the prophecy gets killed or something along those lines and the person we’d never expect takes over the role. This concept was great at first and it’s not that it’s bad now, but after a while you can just see it coming. In the case of Red Lanterns, Raymond Moore has been full of rage from the beginning after hearing about the death of his grandfather whereas Jack has been calm. It wasn’t hard to see what they were planning. Either way I was just happy to see a human Red Lantern. Onto issue #6, we get to see this new Red Lantern, Rankorr, in action. The issue mainly focuses on Jack trying to maintain control of himself by fighting off the rage but he is soon attacking the police officers who killed his brother and even going after the man who killed his grandfather. At the end of the issue when Jack is just about to kill the man responsible for his grandfathers death, we see a pale green light (that most of us can recognize) encase the man about to be killed. We then see Green Lantern Guy Gardner standing over Rankorr. Although I primarily love this series, there are still a couple of things I have a problem with.

First off, in the section above I did not mention a part of this issue where there is a conversation between Atrocitus and basically the rest of his corps. during this conversation, Bleez points out that Atrocitus is basically losing his rage and that it’s time to step down as the leader of the corps. That isn’t what bothers me. What bothers me is that Atrocitus basically considers it. That’s not how Atrocitus is as a character. I do understand that Krona was the main cause of his rage and that Krona’s death would effect Atrocitus, but if anything the fact that he wasn’t the one to kill him should make him more enraged, not less. The other thing I did not like about this issue was that they named the the earth Red Lantern Rankorr. If Hal Jordan gets to be called Green Lantern and there’s 4 of them in his sector, then I’m pretty sure Dex-Starr won’t mind if they call Jack just straight up Red Lantern. This isn’t a huge problem I know, but it still bothers me. No matter what, I can’t wait for the next few issues to see where things are going.

The first and final issues of Hawk and Dove have been packed with action of all sorts, from the beginning fights with scientifically altered zombies, to the most previous issue containing a team-up with Batman and Robin, but they also have a good yet slightly poorly written story. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the comics, but I am not ignorant enough to say that they are perfect and it hurts me to say that this imperfection lies in the story telling aspect. All the aspects of a great story were there, it has just been poorly executed. The characters have not been represented at their full potential, especially after the events of Blackest Night, and more prominently Brightest Day, which left these characters with so many possible storylines. Though even with these flaws, some great ideas were still used. The idea that Hawk and Dove are not the only ones that have been granted the ability to become avatars of war and peace was something that definitely could have been expanded upon over time. Granted, this idea isn’t completely original and we’ve seen it done with the Flash and his speed force, Green Lantern and the large emotional spectrum, and even in the more recent fan favorites Animal Man and Swamp Thing with the red, the green, and the rot, but that does not mean the overall idea wasn’t a good one. The idea of multiple people being able to control this power worked relatively well for all those other comics so I completely support Hawk and Dove’s creative team for thinking it would have the same effect when they did it with this series. Another amazing aspect that could have been expanded on (but wasn’t) was dove’s origin and her relationship with the original dove which we got a taste of in issue #1. It’s those kinds of relationships that have made past stories as great as they were and this case was no exception to that amazing potential. Some of the reasons I’ve heard from those that I’ve talked to about why they don’t like the series (one person in particular) have been things like the artwork or that certain things weren’t answered. I haven’t read much from the 90′s but someone pointed out to me that the artwork of Hawk and Dove is a throwback to that era. for one, I don”t consider this a bad thing. Besides that, if you’re picking up and buying comics for the soul purpose of looking at the artwork, then you probably don’t need to be reading this review and I suggest a visit to Google images. The emphasis of a comic-book is, has, and will always be on the story and at the end of the day, Hawk and Dove delivers a good story that got a bad rap for not having the best writing. For example, I am not a huge fan of Animal Man or Frankenstein’s artwork but the story is amazing so that is what keeps me interested. As for the reason of unanswered questions, all the questions that were necessary to answer to continue were answered. By the end of issue 5, we had discovered the new villains, Condor and Swan, intention which answered any questions that NEEDED to be answered. Such things as Dove’s origin not being explained right off the bat was just another way for them to keep the readers interested (which clearly did not work). Issue six . . . I apologize for this issue  and honestly have nothing to say about that except this issue really was dreadful and, as it has been pointed out already, was probably just an attempt to rake in as much money as possible by featuring Batman.

In short, I think that this series had great potential and was just another victim of being poorly executed. I wish it wasn’t being cancelled so that it had a chance to redeem itself with a second story arc, possibly one capable of captivating even those who have already brushed it off their comic pull. I hope that what I’ve written has given those reading this another perspective to at least ponder and possibly helped to reconsider their decision about the series. If anyone has any other reasons why they think this series is bad, feel free to comment. I really would honestly like to hear your perspectives.

David Orefice

-AvryOtt (Comments are appreciated)

Styles Infinity Note: I caught a lot of flack this week for not posting a pipebomb, it did not go unnoticed and the pipebomb will be back soon, and it will be biblical.

Yu-Gi-Oh News of the Week

-          The biggest news of the Week from Konami is:

Product Title:

Battle Pack: Epic Dawn

Product Type:

Battle Pack

Set Size:

220

Launch Date:

05/28/12

Konami Tournament Legal Date:

05/28/12

MSRP:

$1.99 per pack

The first 10 years were just practice!

After a Decade of Duels, enough Monsters, Spells, and Traps have finally been created to make the greatest Dueling test ever.

Battle Pack: Epic Dawn is the first Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG booster set designed specifically for the ultimate challenge of your skills and abilities: sealed pack play.

What is Sealed Pack Play?

Sealed pack play is how you take booster packs, and make them into a game unto themselves.

Just get together with your friends (or rivals!) and split up an even number of packs. Open your packs, make brand new Decks just from those cards you got, and start Dueling!

Everyone starts off clean. The only thing that matters is what you can do with the hand that’s dealt ya.

Of course, after you’re done playing, you’re still left with the cards from your packs. So you can walk away with some awesome cards for your regular Deck and collection, like Gem-Knight Pearl, Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon, Tour Guide From the Underworld, Fabled Raven, Doomcaliber Knight, Forbidden Lance, and Backup Warrior. Think of sealed pack play as a way to open up booster packs like you always do, and get a ton of bonus fun while you’re at it! With 220 cards in Battle Pack: Epic Dawn, no two Dueling experiences will ever be the same.

Sealed pack ideas:

• Get 3 friends and split 1 box of Battle Pack: Epic Dawn (that’s 9 packs each). Construct your Decks and duke it out round-robin style. The Duelist with the most wins at the end of the day is the winner!
• Keep it going by making an internal league with your friends. Each time you get together, split up some more Battle Packs and add the cards you get to your league card pool. Everyone agrees beforehand to ONLY use the cards from their league Battle Packs. But you can change up your Deck from day to day, as long as you stick to using just those cards.

Besides Dueling with your friends, there will be a ton of special Battle Pack sealed pack events at local stores and major competitions. Dueling sealed style with your friends is the best way to practice and sharpen your skills for sealed pack competition!

Engineering the Perfect Pack

Duelists have enjoyed sealed pack play for years, using normal booster packs. What makes Battle Packs so different is that they’re the first set specifically designed for sealed pack play.

Harken back to a time when a single Summon or a well-timed Trap Card could decide the course of a Duel. Without the mass summoning and mass destruction tricks that players rely on in normal duels, you will have to hone your tactical skills to a razor-sharp point.

Each Battle Pack contains 5 carefully selected cards:
One Rare Card, with a special glossy black or glossy white card name (similar to Duelist League colored card names).  These Rare Cards are your game-changers, the cards that can turn a Duel around the moment they hit the table. Your most powerful Spells, Traps, and Monsters (including Xyz Monsters) will be from these cards.

Three commons, each designed to do something different:

• One will be a high-ATK monster, to bust some heads.
• Another will be a low-ATK monster that’s in there for its powerful effects.
• Finally, you’ll get a third common (usually a Spell or Trap) that will either take out an opponent’s card, or change the course of battle.

The fifth card in your pack is the real wild card, because it could be any of the 220 cards in the set! It’s also guaranteed to be a shiny, sparkly card like you’ve never seen before – a brand new style of special cards!

Razzle Dazzle

These special cards included in Battle Packs have a sparkling, shiny pattern on top of the card. (You may have seen these types of cards before from Duel Terminal machines.) But Battle Packs introduce a brand new type of shine that you haven’t seen before, and it’s out of this world! If you don’t live near a store with a Duel Terminal arcade machine, don’t worry! Now you can get a similar sparkle and shine for your Deck from Battle Packs.

The 5th card in every pack (the wild card) is always one of these special cards. And every card in this 220-card set is available as a shiny card. That means you can get sparkly versions of anything in the set, like Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Pot of Avarice, or Monarchs like Caius, Raiza, and Mobius!

So, are you up to the challenge? Because Battle Packs are a whole new way to play.

Each Battle Pack: Epic Dawn pack contains 5 cards:
1 Rare Card (with glossy white or glossy black title)
1 special, shiny card
3 Common Cards

The Battle Pack: Epic Dawn set contains 220 cards:
55 Rare Cards
165 Common Cards
(Plus, all 220 cards are also available as special shiny cards)

-          In case you missed it, a release of Gem-Knight Pearl

• Oh and a Tour Guide from the Underworld REPRINT

-          Konami also Announced that the North American World Qualifier aka Nationals will be held in Columbus Ohio on June 29- July 1^st

-          The Dragon’s Collide Structure Deck comes out Tuesday, February 7^th

-          The Countdown to YCS 100 continues this weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico, this week will mark this first YCS with Order of Chaos card legal for tournament play

• It will be interesting to see how well Wind-Ups, Inzektors, and Ninjas do against the Current Crop of top Decks.

Comic Kings News

-          The Sunday Tournaments have been on fire, Maxx “C”, Glow-Up Bulb, a Photon Shockwave Box, and Effect Veiler as prizes, what’s next?

-          Remember to buy packs, Tour Bus and Zemaity only $4

-          I personally have pulled an Inzektor Hornet, an Ultimate Zemaity and and M. X-Saber Invoker all from packs.

-          Speaking of, What should the next Comic Kings Sunday Tournament prize card be, voice your opinion here.

-          Mike Federali’s New Album needs your support. Click Here

-          Be Sure to Check out: iTzGaR0n and Styles Infinity’s past articles, your Yu-Gi-Oh writers are doing an excellent job of writing, and there is plenty of information out to help players of all skill levels.

-          Comic Kings reached over a 1000 Likes on Facebook making it the most liked store in Hampton Roads.

-          Send emails to Garon1337@gmail.com and StylesInfinity@gmail.comto suggest articles, strategy, deck help/fixes, and send questions. Reader supported.

-          Do you Remember Tytannial, Princess of Camellias? It remembers you.

Deck tip of the Week: Evoltile Najasho + Evo-Force = 2 strong monsters great for XYZ or just attacking.

Styles Infinity’s Dueling Network Deck List: Wind-Ups

1 Dark Armed Dragon                        2 Effect Veiler                        3 Genex Ally Birdman

2 Maxx “C”                                         1 Sangan                     2 Spell Striker

3 Tour Guide from the Underworld   3 Wind-Up Hunter      1 Wind-Up Hunter

3 Wind-Up Rat                                   2 Wind-Up Shark

1 Dark Hole                                        1 Foolish Burial           1 Heavy Storm

1 Mind Control                                   1 Monster Reborn       3 Monster Slots

1 Pot of Avarice                                  1 Wind-Up Factory     1 Reinforcement of the Army

2 Dimensional Prison                          1 Solemn Judgment    2 Solemn Warning

1 Torrential Tribute

Top 10 Most Popular Cards this Week

1)      Maxx “C” – $50

2)      Tour Guide of the Underworld – $150+

3)      Rescue Rabbit – $80

4)      Wind-Up Zenmaines – $60

5)      Solemn Warning – $5+

6)      Thunder King Rai-Oh – $10+

7)      Wind-Up Hunter – $16

8)      Effect Veiler  – $15+

9)      Wind-Up Zenmaity – $28

10)   Inzektor Hornet – $28

Pics, Links, Etc

- FUN on FACEBOOK : This is the Facebook post/thread of the YEAR!!!

- Random PIC of the week: Major reality check, way to burst my bubble. L

- BONUS Random VIDEO of the week: No explanation needed. I think even “non-basketball” fans understand what just happened here. OUCH.

- BONUS Random ARTICLE of the week: Sometimes I forget how crazy of a world we live in.

- Random LINK of the week: Cool stuff.

- BONUS Random GIF of the week: Step your Parkour game up people!!

- BONUS Random GIF of the week PART 2: That is going to leave a mark.

- BONUS Random GIF of the week PART 3: I don’t think she is going to qualify for the Olympics.

Yu-Gi-Oh News of the Week

-          Did I miss when Konami wanted us to stop attacking?

• Gagaga Gardna
  • When an opponent’s monster declares a direct attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is targeted for an attack: You can discard 1 card; this card cannot be destroyed by that battle.
• Tasuke Knight
  • When a monster declares an attack, if this card is in your Graveyard and you have no cards in your hand: You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard and end the Battle Phase. Each player can only use the effect of “Tasuke Knight” once per Duel.
• ESPer Star Sparrow
  • When your opponent’s monster declares a direct attack, if this card is in your Graveyard: Special Summon this card in face-up Defense Position. If this card is Special Summoned this way, when it leaves the field, banish it. While this card is face-up on the field, other cards you control cannot be targeted by your opponent’s cards and cannot be targeted for an attack. You can only control 1 face-up “ESPer Star Sparrow”.
• Snow Plow Engine Hustle Russel
  • Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. When an opponent’s monster declares a direct attack: You can destroy all cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; Special Summon this card from your hand, then inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each card destroyed.

-          These cards in addition  to Gorz, Tragoedia, Battle Fader are extreme hindrance to attacking which is the backbone of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Comic Kings News

-          The Sunday Tournaments have been on fire, Maxx “C”, Glow-Up Bulb, a Photon Shockwave Box, and Effect Veiler as prizes, what’s next?

-          Remember to buy packs, Tour Bus and Zemaity only $4

-          Speaking of, What should the next Comic Kings Sunday Tournament prize card be, voice your opinion here.

-          Mike Federali’s New Album needs your support. Click Here

-          Be Sure to Check out: iTzGaR0n and Styles Infinity’s past articles, your Yu-Gi-Oh writers are doing an excellent job of writing, and there is plenty of information out to help players of all skill levels.

-          Send emails to Garon1337@gmail.com and StylesInfinity@gmail.comto suggest articles, strategy, deck help/fixes, and send questions. Reader supported.

-          Do you Remember Penguin Soldier? He remembers you.

Deck tip of the Week: White Dragon Ninja + Safe Zone

Styles Infinity’s Dueling Network Deck List: Laggia Heroes

1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy          2 Chaos Sorceror                     3 Neos Alius

1 Stratos                                              1 Doppelwarrior                      3 Jurrac Guaiba

2 Junk Synchron                                 2 Thunder King Rai-Oh          2 Maxx “C”

1 Reinforcement of Army                   1 Fossil Dig                             1 Tuning

1 E-Emergency Call                            2 Pot of Duality                      1 Pot of Avarice

2 Gemini Spark                                   1 Dark Hole                            1 Monster Reborn

1 Heavy Storm                                    2 Enemy Controller                 2 Miracle Fusion

1 Scapegoats

2 Solemn Warning                              1 Solemn Judgment                2 Dimensional Prison

1 Torrential Tribute

Top 10 Most Popular Cards this Week

1)      Maxx “C” – $50

2)      Tour Guide of the Underworld – $150+

3)      Rescue Rabbit – $80

4)      Wind-Up Zenmaines – $60

5)      Solemn Warning – $5+

6)      Thunder King Rai-Oh – $10+

7)      Wind-Up Hunter – $16

8)      Effect Veiler  – $15+

9)      Wind-Up Zenmaity – $30+

10)   Inzektor Hornet – $30

Pics, Links, Etc

- BONUS Random VIDEO of the week: Zebras Bite

- BONUS Random VIDEO of the week PART 2: The Old Lady’s reaction was the best

- FUN on FACEBOOK : Owned.

- BONUS FUN on FACEBOOK : Trolling for idiots!!! NSFW

- BONUS FUN on FACEBOOK PART 3: REALLY?!?

- BONUS Random LINK of the week: WWMWD!!!

- BONUS Random GIF of the week: Step your game up.

- Academy Award Nominee Jonah Hill? Really? Maybe the Mayans were right?