[Kinda Book Report] Callirhoe

For Christmas, I received this ancient classic work of fiction. Two novels - as we would say today - in one book. This review will cover both since they are similar in theme and structure. And events...

Callirhoe is the tale of a beautiful girl who meets a beautiful boy. They fall in love. Get married. Then jealous eole make him jealous. He kicks her in the chest and she is knocked out for so long that they build her a tomb and have a funeral. Then she wakes u...

Yeah.

irates take her away. And then, she meets other men who fall in love with her in a series of ever unbelievable events. Even the king of ersia falls for her.&nbs;

Finally... they reunite and all is well.

This story is... not great overall. However, what ket me interested was the mode of storytelling. It is clear the writer told the story and wrote it down. As he soke. So we have a lot of side stories and "while that was going on..."

The other tale, An Ehesian Story, is retty much the same. The style of this second one is more direct with less embellishments.&nbs;

To me, the value of these stories lay not in the quality of their rose, but in exosing HOW the ancient Greeks relayed these stories. The action is constant and the characters have whirlwind travels through the Greek World. It is sometimes unbelievable but it's a work of fiction... better be entertained than bored.

So. What do I score this? It's a difficult one. The tales themselves are the equivalent of any modern soa oera. Of which I am not a huge fan of. And I don't think these will ever become bestsellers. Today.

However that I am able to read the words of a fellow man from over two millenia ago, and find the stories are still relevant today: boy and girl in love, have adventures. That tells me that the stories hold truths deeer and eternal.&nbs;

I will rate this a 2/5 for the casual reader, but a 3/5 for those with interest in ancient Greek literature.&nbs;

s: I could not sto giggling when I called her Cally-hoe... I'm still giggling right now. I am so easily entertained...

[Kinda Book Report] Marvel X-Factor Essential Vol 1

I first read this compilation back in 2019 (you can check out some of my thoughts in this classic post). However, in those days, I did not provide a more in-depth review.

The re-creation of X-Factor and the return of Jean Grey always fascinated me. I loved Phoenix as a character and her return prompted several questions. This tome answered them. It brought back the five original X-men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl under the guise of a group of mutant hunters.

Let's be honest, the idea sounded stupid to me as a child, and it still sounds dumb to me today...

Cyclops has a great storyline, with him leaving his wife and son for Jean. But for most of the issues, Angel, Beast, and Iceman are background characters who don't do much.

The highlight of this, beyond the return of Jean Grey, is the Mutant Massacre (of which I raved in this post). However, when I re-read the X-Factor-specific parts... I found it lacking and not as interesting as the X-Men. (X-Men vol 6 provided full context and was more exciting).

I liked it, but I think after going through an X-Men marathon... It wasn't as good. I waffled between a 3 and 4/5. I'll settle on a 3/5 mostly because I don't think it's as good as several other 4s out there.

[Kinda Book Report] Ayn Rand's Red Pawn

At a convention, I received a copy of the graphic novel version of Red Pawn. A book that leaves you with questions about the exact motivations of the three main characters: a devoted communist prison warden, a stoic prisoner, and a beautiful woman in the USSR.

To keep the Beast in its post on Stotsnoy Prison on an island off the coast of Russia, the Communist Party send him a beautiful woman, and a love affair. Her arrival upends the status quo at the prison.

I won't spoil the punch but we end up with a love triangle with Joan in the middle.

The art was not great, but I really enjoyed the story, it left me wondering exactly what each of the characters thought and when. Enjoyable. So, as a rating I will settle on a 3/5. Average overall

[Kinda Book Review] Essential Xmen 7

Continuing the run of my youth... with this new chapter.

Here we start after the Mutant Massacre and it's fallout. The XMen are on the run, with many wounded mutants and team members. It's a good follow up and has some decent emotional moments.

Here the team adds Psyloche before she becomes Asian with the psychic knife. She's a blind woman with cyber eyes given to her by MOJO. That is a crazy look ahead to reality TV and 24h cycle of TV. I remember reading that in the 80s and thinking how crazy and farfetched it seemed in 87 or 88...

And now...

This book concludes with the Fall of the Mutants, which kills the xmen and returns Storm's power to her (finally). But it left an ashen taste in my mouth... I remember reading then and thinking it was cool... having missed a lot of the buildup. But while binge reading it... it feels like a quick and forced cross title. Unlike the massacre, the titles had nothing to do with each other. It was... another story...

Still no one gives a crap about Rachel...

I wondered about giving this a rating... it include the very good Fantastic Four vs Xmen where they save Shadowcat from becoming a ghost and vanish. A very good story all around...

With the highs and lows together, I will give it a 3/5.

[Kinda Book Review] X-men Essential Vol 4

Still going through the first ~250 issues of the X-men and now with volume 4.

So here we have the Brood (a storyline I did not enjoy), the Morlocks are introduced, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor's Wedding, Storm becomes the leader of the Morlocks, Kitty's almost-wedding, and the X-men vs Dracula.

While most of it is fine, this is not the best. A lot of the events here have payoff in the coming volumes, but on their own, it is as exciting as the previous (or followup) volume. The drawing is fine and the storytelling good.

The biggest piece is the brood (aka the aliens/xenomorphs) that story did not grip me.

I'll settle on a 3/5. It's fine, a bridge to greater storylines.

[Kinda Book Report] The Decameron Book/ TV show

It's not every day that you get to sit down and read a story set during the Black Plague of the 1340s. It's rarer to get to read a book written contemporaneously.

The Decameron is one such book, written by Boccaccio around 1350.

Now the story deals with a group of ten aristocrats (seven women, three men) who decide to retreat from the world while the worse of the plague ravages Florence. They head to an estate and spend their time in idle pursuits.

The main pursuit is that of telling each other stories about people and their actions. Tales of love, duplicity, joy, and lust.

Now I won't say these tales have a great complexity. Rather, they are presented in fairly simple language with a few metaphors to make sure you understand.

The easiest analogy would be to present would a Jerry Springer and Maury Pauvich episode from the 1300s. Cheating housewives, lecherous priests, horny nuns, homosexuality, gullible fools, everything is presented here. Boccaccio really gives us a portrait of humanity, with its warts and beauties all presented. Some of the stories are funny but most eligit a "meh".

The characters are simplified versions and I have not really found any of them to have any personality.

One fun fact, it was one of the first books banned by the Catholic Church for showing priest doing... parishioners... Yeah. I'll say that.

For the book, I'll give it a 3/5. I leaned towards a 2 but its forbidden draw AND it's historical significance increased my appreciation...

---

When I saw that Netflix was adapting the Decameron as I was in the middle of reading it, I added it to my list and waited.

Suffice to say that they are two completely different animals. Whereas the book presents people sitting down and talking, the series weaves everything into a narrative that happens to the character during their retreat. The names and character types are taken from the book but the similarities end there.

I wondered whether I liked it early on, but as the series continued, the characters grew on me, especially Tindaro and Liscica. Though I will say most are pretty reprehensible and discusting. Such characters make for good storytelling. Indeed Dioneo is the most boring of the characters in the series IMO.

Thinking about my appreciation, I leaned towards a 2/5 early on, but it finishes strong with well-built and merited emotional moments at the end, ending on a solid 4/5. So I will average it at a 3/5.

[Kinda Book Report] Rat Queen Vol1 Sass and Sorcery

I have been distantly involved with the folks at Lurking Fears who produce some really good gaming stuff, particularly with Call of Cthulhu. Recently, I saw a post from them asking for volunteers to play a streamed game of Rat Queens, with the PCs taking on the roles of the titular Queens.

Therefore, reading the first trade paperback was required for the game. It's been a long time since I did something with required reading. In fact, I think it was an interview... I did not get that job (thank God!)

So on to the story. The Rat Queens are one of many adventuring/ mercenary parties in the town of Palisade and well... like most young people with a lot of money and not much to spend it on, they get drunk, fight each other, and cause a lot of damage.

Yep, they are pretty much the typical D&D party. They talk trash. Curse. Sex. A lot. Then booze. And drugs. In short, they are the stereotypical 20-something college crowd with money and power!

Now the good points: I like the four Queens. They each have their personalities and the conflicts generated by these personalities are interesting and really sells the whole piece. I've a feeling you could put these four into whatever situation/ adventure and they would play out with similar hilarious results.

The main villain of the piece is also efficient (though I've a feeling he will suddenly become completely incompetent so the Queens can prevent him from doing his nefarious deeds).

The art is topnotch and really effective. The writing is competent. The characters are good. The story has some interesting twists. The world has some consistency in a gaming sort of way.

So why do I not like this? Why do I get the feeling this book is "not for me." The in-your-face, over-the-top rowdiness turns me off. Now I don't "hate-hate" it... But I don't think I would read much more of it either.

So... what do I rate this? If you like this sort of thing, you may go as high as 4/5. But I can't go that high. I thought about giving it a 2/5 but there are a lot of things here that I liked that don't warrant that. So, I have to settle on 3/5 but with severe warnings. This has an MA rating (or should).

[Kinda Book Report] Defenders Vol. 1

I finally got my hands on the first Defenders omnibus. I was looking forward to it.

The Defenders are the non-team superhero team, and it shows. Doctor Strange, Hulk, and Namor form the core of the group. Most of the stories lose time by bringing together these characters. Namor in particular provides very little that Hulk does not. When the Silver Surfer joins, it's even worse. Bunch of over powered characters who need Doctor Strange to solve what's happening while they punch stuff.

There are some highlights here.

First, the origin of the Valkyrie is given and her transformation over the issue is interesting. She starts off as a bad stereotype of a feminist, complete with predictable catchphrases. It took her a long time to grow into a full-on character (beyond this issue.)

Another highlight was the Defenders/Avengers cross-over where they deal with a plot from Dormammu and Loki. As the Defenders tried to free the Black Knight from being petrified. This was a six-issue plot. The worse part was the 6th "epilogue" when they travel in time to medieval Middle-East.

I think this one waffles between a low three and a high two. 2.5/5, which rounds out to 3/5.

[Kinda Book Review] Ulrich by James Walker

This book tells the tale of Ulrich, a germanic warrior in the 4th century. He lives near the border of the Roman Empire which lies beyond the Rhine.

We meet a variety of interesting characters with backgrounds that help the plot. Ulrich is a German prince whose throne is stolen by his covetous uncle. He escapes and is raised by a blacksmith, plotting to reclaim his kingdom.

One of the most interesting one Tau, a prince of Ghana, who ends up in Germania. His background makes it interesting. Another interesting non-main character is future Emperor Julian (the Apostate). Here, Julian is still junior emperor of the West.

The highlight is really in the relation and evolution of each character as their circumstances change. Their integration into the auxilia was an fun.

Now, this story is fine but not particularly unique. It follows the elements of history with the main battles. The crew does participate in the events but I never got a feel they had much agency. They felt, reactionary to everything that happened.

Another thing I disliked, though this one was minor: use of modern-day places and names.

Oh... And a map would've been nice. I'm not as up-to-date as I'd like with German geography.

[Kinda Book Review] Essential Spider-man vol3

Back to Marvel comic, with Essential Spider-man.

There is no surprise that Spider-man is the leading and best character from Marvel Comics. Not only is the main character, Peter Parker, relatable, but the cast of characters he has around him as interesting: Gwen, MJ, Harry, Flash, Aunt May, and even JJJ. The dynamics between them adds something to the stories.

Throughout this book, Peter is broke. He needs to find money for his rent or Aunt May. Being Spider-man is more of a hassle as it constantly makes him miss appointments and rendez-vous.

This book was definitely interesting. With major villains appearing, but especially Doc Ock and the Lizard.

I don't really have much to say about this one. It was enjoyable to read.

I'll settle for a score of 3/5. It was good but not great. There is nothing that really stands out, no major character changes or revelations.

[Kinda Book Report] Essential Thor Vol 7

I bought this last Essential during one of the Free Comic Book day sales. I haven't posted a Thor report in a while.

This book was odd, strange, and crazy with some sci-fi sotries. I mean one of the major plot going through most of the issues therein is the search for Odin who is somewhere in space. So they travel through space on a viking longship!

That may be the craziest thing... But at one point, they add weapons systems to the ship. Not like a balista, but laser canons and particle beams type thing. It look ridiculous.

One thing I love about these issues tho is the vibe of adventure. Everyone is up for adventure. Though sometimes, it seems the panels are a little too full of action, I won't fault it.

As a writer of adventure games, I felt quite inspired by a few of the arcs. Things I could adapt to various games or settings. Something that is quite surprising because usually the plots and stories do not adapt too well. So that was a pleasant bonus. A few of these stories had interesting twists I liked.

One thing that REALLY annoyed me was that the text was extremely dense AND it went all the way to the spine of the book, forcing me to force the book open. I did not like that. And it was not only in one place but through the 20+ issues.

In the end, despite some high points, this was a good effort. I can settle on a 3/5.

[Kinda Book Report] Essential Hulk Vol 5

Having read the previous volumes, check out my review of Vol 3 and Vol 4, which led my to volume 5.

The writing crew got into a rhythm and the stories go beyond Hulk smashing and walking away. Even if there is still a LOT of that going on.

The most interesting part of this story deals with the supporting cast around him and THEIR subplots. Major Talbot having lost his mind. The destruction and reconstruction of Hulkbuster base. General Ross acting like a genuine human being. Doc Samson trying to save Hulk/Banner.

As for villains, it's a little light: Abomination, the Gremlin, and a bunch of one-shotters.

Thinking back on it, it was a high 3/5 but not on par with any 4s, I'm good with that.

[Kinda Book Review] Secret Wars by Marvel Comics

When I got into secondary school (roughly middle school), I met a guy named Clint-G and we hit it off. He was big into comics and got me back into the hobby. He would tell me about some really awesome storylines I'd miss in the years between my switching between the French comics and the English version (about 10 years difference). I was hooked. One of the stories he told me about was that of Marvel's Secret Wars. From listening to him, this was just crazy-awesome and that idea stayed with me for years.

I bought myself a copy of the Marvel Super Heroes adventure/campaign for the Secret Wars and the scope was just crazy. Of course, I never got to PLAY that. And looking at that adventure book today, I find that it is extremely bad. I mean, the only "plot" is to replay what the comic did. You know... super-railroading the players... There is just no chance it would turn out remotely well.

Last year, I managed to find a really cheap copy of the mini-series on Amazon and nabbed it. I placed it on my stash of things to read with great interest. I placed it under my copy of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earth to savor later. I am a big fan of Jim Shooter's work and could not wait to delve into it.

Well... the actual story did not match the decades of anticipation. Thinking back to 1984, it may have been absolutely great and fantastic, but I kept finding the holes in the plot: distances and locations unclear, no one caring that blocks of Denver came to Battleworld, no one worries about why and how some aliens live on the planet. It is just... bad. I mean the plot crawls forward as the heroes try to understand what the Beyonder means and how they can get out of their current predicament. Add to this the mutant/racist subplot that was big in the 80s.

Everything feels shoehorned into the plot. They need a healer? Oh there's an alien! The villains find themselves fewer than the heroes? Look we pick up randos from "Denver". The story is completely resolved and explained in the final issue rather than doing so gradually where we are just unsure of whatever is going on.

So I'm left with a clear disappointment. I wanted for it to be great, and all I got was good. Trying to think back to the original release, this would have been pretty important. From the Secret Wars, we got Spider-man's black costume. She-Hulk in the Fantastic Four. And Magneto in a truce with the X-men. So the outcome was more important than the story itself.

The art is good, the writing is "fine", so my rating will land on a 3/5. I expected to rate this well above Crisis on Infinite Earth but DC's book was just leaps and bounds better.

[Kinda Book Review] Port of Shadows by Glen Cook

So early this year, I completed the final book of the Black Company, Soldiers Live, which I really enjoyed. Around that time, I found a copy of the latest book, "Port of Shadows", which was a story set between The first and second book of the series... A long time ago.

Now if you are interested in reading the books, I recommend you read them in publication order. This book includes many reference to names and characters that were not known at the time, and you would be extremely confused. Heck, having read the full story, I was still very confused in parts.

Now, this book has many things that drove me nuts, and made its reading difficult, chief of which are the many names used for the many characters: Baku, Blessed Baku, Firefly, for one. For most of the story you keep reading wondering where this whole thing is going and how it will end.

Now, without going into spoilers, this book gives me the clear impression that it should be part of another cycle, with a few book to complete or expand the story. Most of the books of the Black Company (and indeed most of Cook's other material), then to have an end where you can either decide to continue or stop reading. In the end, the final twist left me... unsatisfied. I expected something... better/ more exciting/ less vague and I refuse to set my mind on time travel as a way to tie everything together.

I waffled between a 3/5 and a 4/5 for this one. For most of the book, I was really invested and wanted more. I devoured the book, burning through its pages. Then the ending... So I'll average it to a 3.5/5 which rounds out to a 4/5. I'm not fully satisfied with this but it will do. It's an easy 3/5 for anyone picking this up without having read a few other novels of the Black Company.

[Kinda Book Review] Essential Avengers vol 4

Again back to Marvel Comics with another Essential-series book. This time, it was the Avengers vol 4. As a child, I found the Avengers stories to be highly uneven, and this book did not change my opinion.

Quite frankly, the book was "fine." And that means that there is very little that is memorable here. The art is fine. The stories are fine. The characters are fine. But nothing that really jumped out and got me very excited, it was... (as you guessed it) fine.

Perhaps the best part of the story is the crossover with Hulk, serving as a touchpoint with Essential Hulk vol 4. Whereas the Hulk's plot continues into the micro-world, the Avengers go on to deal with a different problem.

Fine rates an easy 3/5 and there is fairly little more to say about it.

Played Kanabo RPG - Mini Review

This past Saturday (Nov 12), I went on Warhorn and joined a random game that was announce to be "Bushido." I was interested and wanted to play that game forever but never got the opportunity (or when I did get the opportunity, there were other things I wanted to do more).

So the adventure was called "Kwaidan" - the same as the movie of the same name and that loosely translates to "Ghost Story". The movie is awesome and beautiful at the same time, presenting us with four tales of ghost. Many of them fairly well known today. One of the things I love about these old Japanese horror movies for their aesthetics.

But enough about the movies, on to the gaming!

Well... the game turned out NOT to be Bushido but a rules-light system called Kanabo by Monkey's Paw Games. Very story game.

Background of the setting (as presented) was a non-descript Japan where a major war ended about five years ago. The specifics were not important. Cool. Still in.

How rules light? You have 4 stats Earth (discipline, durability), Fire (aggressivity, speed), Water (inquisitivity, tranquility), and Wind (grace, intuition). D100 system (I have Ea22 Fi39 Wa26 Wi33), so someone who is aggressive and agile but without much consistency or insistence. Background generated through character generation elements. I was born in a castle and an artist by trade.

So I came up with a quick story: I worked as a painter in a village with my family. A drunk samurai set the house on fire while I was away. I plot revenge against him but am too much of a coward to actually do anything about it. So, in an effort to steel my (crappy) resolve, I became an adventurer/ investigator for hire.

One unique element of the game: if you die (and the system is pretty deadly), you make a new character the party encounters shortly afterwards. "Poor Hiro, he was a good friend... But hey there Tatsu the villager" We had one death that could easily have been more than that.

Okay already, I liked it. It was simple, quick and highly versatile. Setting and rules easy to grasp. I won't give you all the details of the adventure but it were confronted with some ghosts that gave us little chance. A great little story game.

My rating? It was a 3/5. I don't see this game as something I would like to run a campaign with. But it is a nice system, perfect for a one-shot: quick, simple, and fun.

[Review] Power of the Doctor

The 13th Doctor's finale has come and gone and after viewing it (once), I feel I have to go over the predictions I posted in a Previous Post and see where this one hit and where it failed.

And where I hit and where I failed.

Let me start by repeating my two main predictions:
- A lot of character, too many for the run time
- A great premise
- An over-convoluted plot
- The Shipper's paradise.

Well... there were a characters. Yup. There were A LOT of them. Both on the good and bad sides. Now... This one played around this, by doing some clever things. First, Dan was pretty much written off right at the start. I was not happy seeing the most interesting character of the crew getting kicked out early. Frown #1. But from that point on, it was great to see old companions, each of them adding to the story and its resolution. Even the final cameos added to the story in a positive way. The appearance of old Doctors was favorite part of it. Their use was clever and added to the plot.

I really think Chibnall was helped by having established characters to use rather than having to build them up (though having seen what he did with Captain Jack, this argument does not really stand). Perhaps it was Tegan, Ace, and Kate who refused to a plot that was pretty lame. I guess I'll never know but whoever edited the script finally said "no" to the worse ideas.

Now if I have a criticism, the daleks had nothing to do here, just over-crowding. They could've been skipped or replaced by the cybermasters without affecting the plot. I would have removed them.

Only Vinder added nothing to the story. His inclusion did not add anything. I still don't know what he was doing in the story.

I am sad that Sacha Dewan is also stepping down as the Master, a bigger loss than Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. I really liked him as he overshadowed the Doctor throughout his tenure. I am hoping he comes back later, similar to when John Simms returned. I thought he was very convincing as Rasputin. And the Master and Rasputin are a match made in heaven.

The great premise... This one I don't think I hit the mark. I can't quite say the premise was particularly great. That said, the premise and the hook are not the same. The hook (or hooks) were actually pretty good and had me wondering where the story was headed from the get-go, but in a good way. It proceeded forward at a good pace, with the plot advancing and characters helping and doing something.

Over-convoluted plot... Yeah I called this one. The plot was pretty convoluted, trying to be overly clever. This is where the story loses points. The whole "Forced Regeneration" thing is unclear... What did it hope to achieve? What was the goal? If the Master became the Doctor, okay... That whole thing made no sense. I just don't see what the end point was. What was up with the two random planets fighting each other? I thought it was Earth and Mondas (home of the Cybermen). Just another random element

The story was filled with winks and nods to classic Who - references that mostly lead nowhere, but that Who-nerds thought was pretty cool. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but it would have been more interesting had such nods happened throughout the season. Also, there is no explanation for the Flux, why half the universe was gone. I guess this whole season is something that will never be mentioned again.

Shipper's paradise. I got this one COMPLETELY wrong. They nodded to it, but did not do much with it. So a big plus.

So in the end, I am not sad that Jodie vanished. I'm not sad the Chibnall era is over. This was without a doubt, the BEST episode of her tenure.

What's your score, JP? I would give this one a solid 3.25/5, which rounds out to a 3/5. I can live with that. The episode was entertaining and most of the plot was good. As much as I wanted to hate it, I found the story was very enjoyable. But with a little time, it is only "fine". I don't hate it that's for sure and think was one of Jodie's best, despite the plot hooks. I expect there is little-to-nothing that will be referenced the era of the 13th Doctor. It will just be ignored and forgotten.

[Kinda Book Report] Essential Hulk 4

You know that feeling you have when you read something and go "this is very familiar." And as you keep reading you keep that sense of déjà vu. A series of simple, threadbare plots where Hulk goes and seeks to be left alone but he also continues going around the same people over and over.

Well... This feeling was well-deserved because I had already read it. Yup. One of the cool things about posting to this blog is that I can then go back and see what I read and thought about things, in the moment versus what I think about it right now. That previous time, in 2019, I did not rate the books at the time.

On a second reading, this is a forgettable book with a decent array of villains that each try to take on Hulk and beat him up. One thing that annoyed me is that Hulk's breathing ability goes from him flying around the Sun to being unable to stay in the depths of the ocean.

So where does this book stand rating-wise? I would rate it as a 3/5. It is "fine". The art is solid and decent but the plots are... well you are reading Hulk, so the situations and their resolutions are not very complicated.

It's Hulk.

[Kinda Book Report] Essential Iron Man 4

This one is MONTHS late. So late that I had to go back and skim the book to remind myself what it was about.

The story of IronMan continues. It is rather "run of the mill" without too many stand-outs.

The one standout is the introduction of Firebrand as a villain.

One thing that I do find pretty interesting is that we deal with social issues. Comics have always touched on those with a fairly simplistic way. The unique take is that Tony Stark, unlike say Peter Parker or the Avengers, is someone with power to act. He is often caught between what he must do and care for his employees. While it is not clearly labelled as such, Tony must balance that. He does pivot his company away from his initial weapon manufacturing.

In all, this is unmemorable either for good or bad. I will rate this a 3/5. It was "okay."

[Kinda Book Report] Essential Hulk Vol 3

I've been binging a number of comics, many of which I bought at last year's Free Comic Book day. This is one of those.

I will say this one was better than the previous Essential Volume 1, but mostly because it was significantly more consistent. It does not trigger the nostalgia factor as much and I must say few stories really stood out. It was "fine". This feel very much like a story on cruise control as there is little that really stuck. Hulk's powers were much more like those we know today.

Even the stories where the Avengers co-star, do not feel like they have significant impact. It could easily laugh that this was like the TV show with Hulk wandering in to a situation or a situation.

This is a simple 3/5 rating. It was "fine".