Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, the incomparable Jason Todd is here for this week's edition of Ratings and Rantings. Once again this week I'll be reviewing only DC Comics (which most of my readers read anyway) because there was no Deadpool to review so no Marvel comics this week. I could review the Deadpool Corps but sadly my comic shop didn't have it on my Wednesday run so I'll have to pick it up this weekend. But fear not, we have The Flash: Secret Files and Origins, Red Robin, Batman & Robin and the super spaced out Superman Secret Origins. So let's hop to it, with Batman & Robin.

Batman & Robin #11

Batman and Robin #10 left us with with Damian seemingly lashing out against his will at Dick Grayson. Also he's attacked by a group of "thugs" and saved at the last minute at the resurgence of Detective Oberon Sexton. That's a truly horrible name for the record. Reminds me of WWE Superstar Edge's old name, Sexton Hardcastle. Anyway, back to the comic. So in this issue Grayson continues in the catacombs of Wayne Manor and keeps finding clues that Bruce Wayne has been traveling through time, some even suggest that Bruce is already back. This is taken even further when Damian asks Oberon is he is in fact Bruce Wayne. Also in this issue we learn more about Damian Wayne's mother Talia's plan. Did Pink Flamingo shoot Damian in the spine on purpose? Odds are he did after reading this issue. Also a certain white haired person shows up near the end of this issue. Now in my honest opinion, I kinda liked this comic. I won't lie, A LOT of it seemed useless and I'll admit that. It wasn't the greatest comic but it did keep me entertained. The stuff with Talia seemed unnecessary as with her mystery man even though she dropped the biggest hints ever. Also, I could care less about Hurt, and I'm eagerly waiting to see who Oberon is, I'm gonna vote now that it's either Jason Todd (doubt it), Joker (doubt it) or Jason Bard (doubt it). Why one of these three? Because I'm hoping it's someone who makes sense  and isn't just someone they pulled out of nowhere. Jason would make the most although he's in jail and crazy, Joker just because he hasn't been seen sense Batman RIP and Jason Bard just because I can't think of anyone else. Anyway I'm really anxious for the next issue, but this one gets a 7/10.

Damian: Are you Bruce Wayne?

Red Robin #11

Red Robin reviewed for the second month in a row. Didn't think I'd say THAT while Chris Yost was writing this series. Well since he's on his way out I won't lie, the guy has been writing his ass off. Or maybe Bryan Q. Miller wrote the whole thing and just gave Yost credit as a Damon/Affleck thing. Anyway this is the third of the four issue crossover arc with Batgirl and Red Robin.Tim, Prudence and Steph are taking on the 7 deadly assassins sent by Ra's Al Ghul. We also learn the targets that are being attacked by Ra's assassins. Some are obvious like Dick, James Gordon and so, some are more surprising like Vicki Vale and a certain leather clad Cat burglar. It was cool seeing Batman and Robin make their entrance, as well as seeing the three of them stand next to each other (without Zombies all around them.) Also Damian's reaction to Pru was pretty entertaining. Once again Yost surprised me and made an issue I really enjoyed, and I can't wait to read the conclusion in Batgirl next week. I'll give this a 8/10. Also this cover is one of my favorite and my new background.

Red Robin: Even after everything I've been through in my life, after everything I've seen... this is still surreal.

The Flash: Secret Files and Origins

This is the issue 0 of the upcoming Flash series. There's not much to say here as this is more of a warm up for next weeks debut issue. So yeah, basically Barry can't sleep and has a discussion with the other Flash's. That's about it. I will say there was some awesome writing to show how fast The Flash is and that's pretty awesome. I also liked seeing the bio pages with everyone from Iris Allen to Max Mercury. It's hard to rate this as it's more of a preview than anything so any rating isn't really going to be all that accurate. But for what it was I liked it, would I say it's necessary? To a long term Flash fan no, but to someone who doesn't know alot about Iris, Max, Jay and anyone not named Bart or Wally like myself it'd be worth checking out, and that's All I've got to say about that. Rating: N/A

Superman: Secret Origins #5

Superman Secret Origins 5, where have you been all my life? You wanna know when I reviewed issue four? January 30th. That's right, a three month wait for issue 5. Now that's a long time for a comic, what is this, Captain America Reborn?! Yeah I took a shot at Marvel but I could've easily said Flash Rebirth :P Anywho, Secret Origins goes on to introduce John Corben as well as General Lane. I loved that Corben and Lois went out on one date years ago and he still thinks their Ex's. Man that dude is touched in the head. The whole way Lex discovers the Man of Steel's weakness was very dumb, just made no sense in my opinion but whatever. Long story short I really liked this comic, and I don't know what to expect from issue six but Geoff hasn't let me down this far with Secret Origins. Just for the record Issue 6 is listed as coming out next month so let's hope it does. But for issue five I'll give it a 9/10, great story, but left a little something to be desired.

Lex Luthor: Not only can I stop him, General Lane, I believe I can kill him if necessary.

So, not a bad haul this week for comics. I enjoyed pretty much all my comics and I wasn't let down. As always comments and thoughts are appreciated, next week's haul should be pretty huge, as I'll be picking up Batgirl #9, Batman #698, Booster Gold #31, Brightest Day #0, The Flash 1, and Green Arrow #32. So there's six comics for next week's review, until then just remember, There's Life, Love and JT and all of them are awesome. Until then, you've just been gobsmacked.

- Jason Todd