Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard but given depth and bredth by show creater Graham Yost, Justified takes place in a little-used location for American Television - deeply rural Kentucky. 

Excellent performances from all the leads, tight and bright dialogue, and memorable supporting actors in every episode make for an enjoyable show. 

Taunting an amnesiac character for their lack of knowledge is a common trope, but when the audience is also in the dark it's quite annoying.

Several years have passed since I read the first volume so some of the continuity points are fuzzy, but the story holds up on its own well. Most distracting is the artwork which is a bit to stylized and choppy for my taste.

An improvement over the previous installment, Cussler and his newest co-author seem to be meshing better than they did on their first attempt.  The story is solid, the locations new and interesting, and the McGuffin is one that I haven't seen used before. The only major distraction is that to many of the facts and details are shoehorned in and not really organic to the story - i.e. any reference to food or drink is a bald recitation of name brands without flair or passion, and interesting historic points are rushed past - i.e. the Anabaptist rebellion. Still, I'm looking forward to the next volume - hopefully the third time is a charm.

The first complete season after debuting as a mid-season replacement, and the start of an unprecedented and unparallelled run of four consecutive Emmy wins for John Larroquette. Notable for its refusal to kowtow to social taboos, the reminder of a world before smoking was a crime, and the travesty that was 1980's fashion sense.  Enjoy the forgotten running gags, the memorable supporting cast, and the one-off appearances of many famous actors before they were famous.

It's not terrible, but everything MM is going through feels like a rehash of a Peter Parker storyline that was done better the first time around. Combine that with no real super-villains or crime-fighting and half the volume focusing on his uncle rather than Miles and you have an underwhelming read.

The pair of one-shots included in the volume are good stories, but the ongoing adventures of Batman and Bane are just dreck. Trying much to hard to create an artificial parallel between their lives and leaving huge gaps in the story that are presumably contained in other titles or in uncollected issues are only two of the worst sins committed. 

Self published, and it shows. Similar in content and style to the 'Images of America' and other series by Arcadia Publishing, this is not history, its more like watching one of you're uncles slideshows after Thanksgiving dinner. The photos are random, the facts claimed are inconsistent and unverified, half the people are unidentified, and the captions contain much...let's generously call it dubious information. (Like the claim to a radio audience of 200 million people in 1928. When the population of the entire United States was 128 million. Flawed as it is though, it's interesting to see younger version of famous stars, and any portrayal of forgooten performers.  

Tougher to read than previous volumes. While the battle scenes in the final 50 pages are the most gut wrenching and poignant that I've yet encountered from Cornwell, the middle third of political intrigue drags on forever and tarnishes the overall experience. There are also several uncharacteristic conversations between Sharpe and his men about this battle 'not being their fight' that border on forbidden current political commentary in historical fiction. I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt...this time.

Eight years between installments didn't help. I actually read the first few pages a couple times because the characters only felt passingly familiar and  I worried I couldn't follow the story, but powering through the first chapter brought the memories back and kept me from putting it down till I finished. Just as gonzo, gung-ho, over the top ridiculous as all of the other entries in the series, with the expected thin veneer of history that adds depth and shading to the tale.  Plus it sets up two if not three more entries. But hopefully with a less GRR Martin-esque delay between their publications.

Inconsistent art is the least of the problems. Attempting to turn what was once an interesting character - the administrator who formed an unlikely team of misfits - into a badass fighter in her own right both disrespects the work of preceding authors and undermines the uniqueness of the figure. Cap it off by being a series of one-shot comics rather than an ongoing storyline and the result is a waste of time and money for the reader.  

The interesting stylizations from the first volume are still present, but that's all that is present - Style. No substance, no story, nothing to tie together random pictures into a coherent tale. 

Heavily concentrated on Center and South Philadelphia, but this is to be expected when dealing with long established businesses. Also heavily focused on restaurant and food supply, but again the subject mater dictates the content. A few surprises like the piano company and the violin shop are new to me, most of the entries will be at least passingly familiar to long-time Philadelphia residents. Favorite entries are for the competing Kielbasa companies in Port Richmond and it was surprisingly nice to see the Grey Lodge Pub mentioned. Also remarkable is that so many of the businesses are still 'cash only'  - a sound financial base built on cash rather than credit is an easy lesson far to many businesses today never learned. 

Two separate stories jammed together, the first of which is so generic it doesn't matter if it's Old Man Logan or any of the other incarnations of the character; and the second jumps back and forth in its storyline and storytelling trying to build tension but it just comes off as incoherent. 

An interesting concept, but far to much is left unexplained  at the beginning and at the end for it to be really enjoyable. 

The author has a demonstrable interest in the subject, but far to many of the captions are merely lists of opponents, interesting details are mentioned in passing and never discussed again (the poisoned orange incident?), and unsupported quotes and booster-y superlatives abound.

Stronger world-building early on or an introductory essay would have improved the book and made for an easier read. 

Another schizophrenic clunker. Again alternating issue numbers; no real villains; and WW disappears from her own comic for dozens of pages at a time.  

Many cast changes plagued the first season, but the foundations upon which a classic series would be built are visible.

Well defined characters, a great cast, smart and humorous writing - this is everything 'The Big Bang Theory' strives to be and isn't. Similar to'The League' in that it takes a very insular setting and makes it accesible and relatable to both industry insiders and the public at large without compromising or sacrificing any of it's wit. Unusual among modern comedies in that repeated viewings are rewarded with the discovery of subtle reactions and in-jokes that slip past on first exposure.