Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everybody, Jason Todd welcoming all my comic loving friends back to my Red Hood with this weeks edition of Ratings and Rantings! I'm looking forward to this week because we finally get issue two of Birds of Prey, as well as my first ever review of Marvel's Dark Wolverine starring the son of Wolverine, Daken. Batman Beyond #1 got pushed back two weeks so I can't review it which sucks, but ah well. So enough stalling from me, let's see what I thought.

Brightest Day #4

Brightest Day picks up with The Hawks having a discussion about whether to go after Hath-set or not, for the record I agree with Shayera or whatever her name is now that they should've destroyed the gate and moved on but that's me. It was cool getting a glimpse at all the times they died during their long lives, as well as seeing their Black Lantern bones. Dove happens to look much better out of costume than in it... I find that odd. Anyway after socking Deadman in the face they talk until he gets his ass kicked again by a big Angry Hawk. Man did someone decide to make Hawk into The Hulk because he was freaking HUGE here. Anyway The Deadman story is actually getting interesting for once with Hawk and Dove. We also got introduced to Jackson, some of you may know who he is from the DCU blog, if you don't, I won't spoil it for ya. From there we jumped to a sea and some poor guys get attacked by someone... I don't know who it was but she looked kinda like Mera. Either way I'm interested in finding out. The most interesting story so far in my opinion, Ronnie and Jason got even more interesting when Ronnie was visited by a surprise guest and it seems Jason may have inadvertantly had something to do with it. I really liked this comic, instead of focusing on EVERYONE, it focused on The Hawks, Deadman, Hawk and Dove and the Firestorm boys. We got glimpses with the sea chick and Jackson but everyone else got time to establish a story, and with the exception of the Hawks I enjoyed it all, hopefully Brightest Day will stay more on this path. I'll give it a 7/10 rating.


Dove: I'm not in trouble.That's Deadman!
Hawk: This...is...Deadman? What the hell's he doing in your bedroom at three in the morning?

The Joker's Asylum: Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter gets one but not Two-Face, Mr. Freeze or Hush? Not even Zsasz? Weird... anyway man did I hate the artwork in this comic. I mean I may be in the minority but I didn't enjoy the artwork at all, and I'm not an artist or anything but I mean... really? Moving on, the story is about Jervis Tetch aka The Mad Hatter writing a story that's basically about the same thing he's ALWAYS about. Stalking someone named Alice and being a creepy ugly little pervert with enormous teeth. Anyway he tried to avoid Tea and Hats for the whole book because he's weak and if he has a hat he can control minds or something stupid. It's really a waste of my time reviewing this and your time reading it so I'll get right to the rating. Story sucked, writing sucked, art sucked, and Joker rhyming sucked, 0/10. I hated it, no Line of The Issue. NEXT Comic!!!


The Joker's Asylum: Harley Quinn

This comic starts off MUCH better than the last, better art and The Joker says things that seems like he'd actually say them. Harley even has her trademark huge hips and whatnot. You'd think Falisha Ann drew her or something. The idea of Harley breaking out of Arkham JUST to spend Valentine's Day with The Joker is awesome because that's so in her nature. I'm a big Harley Quinn fan so seeing her get a storyline that makes sense is a bonus. And I loved the idea of the raffle as well, It's probably one of Falcone's smartest ideas to be honest. The best part was everyone underestimating Harley Quinn, it was great seeing her go all out and showing that she is a threat because she is one of the most dangerous people in Gotham, she's also a damn genius. Remember, she was a Psychiatrist so she's gotta have something up there. The mandatory Batman appearance was even done well and helped Harley keep her momentum as a dangerous person, I loved every bit of that and the final monologue with Joker made it even better. This was an excellent one shot, the art was much better than the Mad Hatter one but it still came off a little amateurish because sometimes Harley looked great and other times she looked horrible, but other than that this was a great issue, I'll give it a 8/10 rating.

Carmine Falcone: Harley Quinn. If I'd known you were coming I'd have made sure we had Kool-Aid and Coloring Books.

Deadpool #24

The House and Wildcard (Weasel and Deadpool) are getting praised by the Casino owner dude and they say Wildcard came off looking better then The House and ask who he is. Weasel denies but Deadpool blurts out who he is, which leads to him threatening them into letting him stay as Wildcard so he can rake in the big bucks. Weasel then gets chewed out for bringing in Deadpool so DP comes up with the idea of switching, so Weasel can be Wildcard and the Merc with a Mouth can be The House. Just in time for a fight with The Grizzly who attacks again. This time our boys have switched costumes and Deadpool plays around while Weasel does all the work, as Wildcard. This comic was pretty good, it wasn't one of the best and the Deadpool comedy didn't shine through much but we got to see his genius idea which he's had a lot of lately. Anyway I thought this was good but nothing special, I'll give it a 6.5/10 rating.


Casino Owner: Do you honestly think we're going to allow you to roam our casinos in a super-powered armored suit?
Deadpool: Do you honestly think you have a choice?
Casino Owner: You have a point.


Dark Wolverine #87


So this is my first ever review for Dark Wolverine but after reading the entire series of this and Wolverine Origins I've decided to start reviewing them in the Ratings and Rantings. If anyone is curious on what happened in the last issues of Dark Wolverine you can check X-Man75's site by clicking his name and it'll take you to his reviews of the Dark Wolverine issues up to this one. Daken is walking around Italy, sulking because he lost the "game" with Wolverine and says he should've known from the beginning because that's what Romulus wanted. Then some chick tries to pickpocket him, which doesn't bode well for her. The rest of the issue involves Daken conning a conman who tried to rob him. This was more than a transitional comic than anything, just something to show us Daken's state of mind following the stuff with his Father and Romulus. Other than that nothing happened, it was a good read though, so I'll give it a 7/10 rating. I don't know how I feel about picking up the next few issues seeing as how it's a crossover with Frankencastle which seems like it's outrageously stupid but Daken killed Frank in the first place so I kinda wanna see it... I'll have to think about it. If anyone has suggestions let me know.

Daken: Wolverine cut out my Muramasa claws. The only things that can take his life. He holds the key to the kingdom but he'll never use them.


Birds of Prey #2

The first thing I said when I opened this comic was "Damn the art in this comic is good." Because it is, it looks AMAZING, especially compared to those Joker Asylum's this week. Anyway damn this started off great. The HUGE fight, watching Hawk get owned, the air of mystery around White Canary. Everything works, two issues in and this is already a top contender for my favorite comic along with Batgirl. This story has action, drama, and a ton of suspense, Gail Simone knows how to write a hell of a comic. Don't know what the deal is with Penguin getting all Pervy with Dove but that came off pretty funny too. I know I mentioned the inclusion of Hawk and Dove seemed random but I gotta say I like what they bring to the team, especially Hawk being so Male Chauvinist and on a team of women. We saw "Two-Face is God/The Devil" Spray-painted on a wall, It seemed too random to be there for no reason so I'd keep an eye out for our Double Faced Fiend. The last few pages made this comic even better with Dinah's problems, and Oracle's revelation. The fact we still don't know who White Canary is (I have my guesses) and everything else makes this one of the best comics out today. Gail Simone wrote a damn good story and the art by Ed Benes was a joy to look at. Definitely a 10/10 for Birds of Prey #2, I can't wait for next month's issue.

Black Canary: Truth is, I never much liked him. (Hawk) He thought he was God's gift before he was resurrected from the dead... Imagine what he'll be like now.

Well, that's it for me everyone. An average pull this week with a surprisingly good Brightest Day and a phenomenal issue of Birds of Prey. Before I take off I wanna ask everyone to vote on the poll below to settle a debate myself and X were having, I'll announce the WINNER next week, haha. So anyway vote on that, let me know what you guys though and I'll be back with a new weekly poll this weekend. Until then, this is your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger-man, Jason Todd.


Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman: Streets of Gotham #13, Detective Comics #866, Green Arrow #1, Green Lantern Corps #49, The Joker's Asylum: Killer Croc, Justice League: Generation Lost #4, Rise and Fall of Arsenal #4, Power Girl #13 and  Superman/Batman #73, and Wolverine Origins #49 Big week baby!

26 comments:

  1. Nice ranting and rating sir!! Always look forward to your reveiws and this was a well anticipated one, lol couldn't wait to see what you thought of Harley's run in Joker's Asylum.

    Anyways, as for brightest day, you know how I feel about that damn piece of bologna comic, but you've managed to persuade me to go get it. I'll have to pick it up after work, let me borrow five bucks to get it. So if I don't like it sir, I will be knocking on your door to give you a piece of my mind.

    Joker's Asylum featuring the Harley sounds like a damn good read. And thanks for the blog plug, you always know how to make my day! I was sitting in class today thinking about picking up comics. Lol, so didn't concentrate. I'll be hitting up Sinestr-X for some math help, lol.

    As for BOP #2, aww can't wait to read this issue. Just two issues in and it's one of the best comics this year in my opinion. I haven't been THIS excited to get my hands on a comic since hell, I picked up Amazon's Attack and Blackest Night.

    So once again very good reviewing sir. Sorry the mad hatter issue sucked so bad. Lol.

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  2. Thanks for the kind words :D Um.. nah just read mine lol I'm not giving you five bucks to buy a comic I already have :P It was cool though, I liked it.

    My pleasure plugging your blog, and yeah Harley went all out in that comic, it was like Harley on Steroids the way she was acting.

    I definitely agree there BOP is definitely one of my favorites, it's battling with Batgirl and a few others already after only two issues. And it was so good I forgot about that Crappy Hatter story... I'm predicting X saying I told you so.

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  3. Jeez, who drew that Mad Hatter issue? Sounds terrible...although as always, you make something terrible also sound hilarious.

    And sorry JT, but I have to go with Team X-Man for the poll. In fact, I think Cable, Nate Grey and Jean Grey could probably take out Team JT without the others' help!

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  4. Lol well thanks buddy, glad my torture could bring ya joy. And it was drawn by BILL SIENKIEWICZ, copied it from DCU because that name is FAR too hard to spell.

    Lol that's fine Marc. I feel like if Max can make the entire WORLD forget who he is he can get inside at least one of their heads and cause some trouble, along with Martian Manhunter. Plus Supes could throw them into the sun before they can blink! Lol then again I could be wrong.

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  5. JT, amigo, WHAT possessed you to pick up a comic on the MAD HATTER?!? Even if they were giving it away from free I'd have said no thanks! :P

    Glad to see BoP was perfect again, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this issue of Brightest Day was an improvement. I'd have hoped for a bit better from Dark Wolvie, but 7 isn't that bad.

    And I see you actually went and did it... Poor JT... Oh well, I hope you can take a loss well my friend! :P

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  6. Lmao dude... I swear to you I wasn't going to. But part of me was like, hey you like the Riddler one, I flipped through the Harley one and liked it so I said sure... I know from this day forward I will never touch a Hatter comic again.

    Yeah bro, BOP was awesome as usual, Brightest Day was better than I expected but Dark Wolverine was more transitional than anything. I couldn't rate it higher because nothing happened... how do you feel about the upcoming Frankencastle Crossover?

    Lmao I'm fine with that, I hope YOU can handle a loss... we should have made a wager or something. :P

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  7. The Riddler is one thing, but dude, it's the MAD HATTER!!! His whole thing is that he's a perverted midget with tooth problems! :D

    Hmm, yeah, I can totally understand that Dark Wolvie is transitional, with what happened in the last Origins. As for the Frankencastle x-over, all I have to say is one words, UGH!

    JT, mi amigo, trust me, I WON'T lose... >;-)

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  8. I'm actually a fan of Bill Sienkiewicz, but there's a time and a place for his extremely weird and abstract style of artwork. When they try and put him on a book that doesn't require that sort of feeling, it's enough to kill the entire comic. It doesn't sound like he was a good fit for Mad Hatter, which is too bad...hopefully they'll put him on something more suited to his style next time.

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  9. Lmao I know X, I tried to look past that, Penguin is in Birds of Prey but it was still good. It's a mistake I shan't make again!!!!

    Haha, I knew you would hate that, so are you just gonna read the Dark Wolvie issues or you gonna get the Frankencastle ones as well?

    Loser has to write a blog about why the other's blog is so great :P Lmao deal? And by loser I mean YOU :D

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  10. Weird thing is Marc I loved the cover and he did that, but the artwork in the story was just...yeah and the writing itself. I just hated that story bro, everything about it.

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  11. I looked it up, and it says the Mad Hatter issue was actually drawn by Keith Giffen with Sienkiewicz doing inks. That might explain part of the problem...Sienkiewicz is best when he's working alone.

    I've actually heard the Frankencastle stuff is decent, although my sources could be wrong. I think it looks kind of interesting, personally. It's not like the change is going to be permanent for the Punisher character, so why not just roll with it and have fun with the concept?

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  12. Joker's Asylum: Mad Hatter, 0/10. Have to respect a man who speaks his mind. LOL Also, for the record, I voted for more animated movie reviews- though I guess I'm far from impartial.

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  13. Ah, maybe that's it. Maybe Keith should keep to writing or something instead because this wasn't the best art.

    I haven't read any of it so I won't comment but It just seems kinda... weird to take a character who's known for being one of the few Normal Humans in a world of Mutants and super powered heroes and kill him then bring him back as the Frankenstein monster.

    Lmao thanks Reel, I hate giving scores that low but that one deserved it. Haha you should've seen my review for Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #2. Thanks for voting too, looks like that may be the winner too.

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  14. It's weird, yeah, but I don't see the harm in giving it a try this one time. After all, this is why they started a non-MAX Punisher title again -- to get him more involved in the Marvel Universe and its "silliness" again, if you will. He still has his mature readers series going on (written by Jason Aaron, of Get Mystique and Adamantium Men fame) for the more down-to-earth kind of stories he's best known for.

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  15. I see what ya mean, I may pick up an issue one day and give it a read but it's not high on my list or anything. I AM interested in reading the Jason Aaron stuff though...

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  16. TEAM JT!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

    X, Marc you're going down!!! lol :)

    Oh by the way, why does DC even still bother trying to write Mad Hatter in anything? Because in DCU he's F*cking lame, but in the Alice in Wonderland by Zenescope Mad Hatter is so freaking awesome. Why can't they make DC's version similar to him, an actual threat. Lol.

    I want opinions...GO! lol.

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  17. Lol Woooooooooo!!! Just for the record she picked my team yterday before I even told her it was my team :D

    I agree, the Mad Hatter in Zenescope comics is amazing, DC's Mad Hatter sucks so much it isn't even funny. I mean is anyone a Mad Hatter fan? Because I'd really like to hear why.

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  18. Lmao... You win Marc. You win.

    Okay is anyone a DC Comics Mad Hatter Fan?! ;-)

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  19. Lmao, aww I totally forgot he played Mad Hatter.

    I need to see that movie. Lol.

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  20. "I mean is anyone a Mad Hatter fan? Because I'd really like to hear why."

    Well... I am. But I wrote the comic in question. So y'know... bias and all that.

    Sounds like I owe you a refund. :/

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  21. You know what dude.... I swear to you... when I wrote that review I had a feeling that somehow you'd find my blog and comment, I kid ya not.

    That aside, I just didn't enjoy it. That's my opinion though and I respect you not blowing up at me for my harsh review either haha.

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  22. Well here's the thing. I write comics. So you must already I was that nerdy kid in the back of the class with no friends. Now the internet has given me the power to see what anyone is saying about me anytime. That's a power I find impossible to not to abuse.

    It was your take on the book. If anything I feel a bit guilty for letting you down as a reader. And to be honest, in some ways it was so harsh that it didn't hurt that much. Does that make sense?

    But yeah... we're good. You write a fun rant.

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  23. Lol, I can see what you'd mean about abusing that power. I'd do the same. My question is, if you don't mind answering it after my transgressions above is how'd you get into writing because it seems like a pretty complicated thing to get into.

    I don't think you let me down, I just didn't enjoy it but I'm sure other people did. Just wasn't my cup of tea. (no pun intended) I'm not a Mad Hatter fan anyway as previously mentioned so yeah, to a Hatter fan it probably made more sense.

    Thanks, means a lot when it comes from someone you criticized lol.

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  24. I took a very twisted path for my work, and it would take along time to recount properly. Long story short-ish: I wanted to do DC work. But had no experience or contacts. I looked at what was the easiest entry level sort of work in comics. In the early 90's this meant autobio slice of life type stuff.

    Did that for a few years. You think the Hatter was bad... man. That stuff. Anyway, in 1999 switched to doing an all-ages monster comic called Little Gloomy. Inadvertently put that into the hands of a Disney editor, worked on Disney Adventures comics for about 7 years and then approached DC when Disney Adventures folded.

    From that, I got my own mini-series (Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures)out the gate, which was amazing luck. The book was very well received and other opportunities grew out of that, including this Hatter story, which is my first foray into mainstream DCU.

    Mainstream DCU was always my goal, and it has been a very long road with absurd amounts of sacrifice. I worked a day (well, night) job managing a pizza place for most of that time, living in the corner of a kitchen so I could afford to help pay the bills of the artist (Eric Jones) I have done most of my work with. His job is more time consuming which made him having a day job more difficult, so it was both necessary and also a win/win scenario. I just got married to my long distance girlfriend of 17 years last October, but we haven't been able to afford to move in together yet. Close though with the last years worth of jobs that have been coming at me.

    Comics=Hard road. But you know what? Absolutely worth it. Love my job. But let this be a lesson - Never ask a writer to write about himself. You get waaaaay more info than you need.

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  25. Hell that may have been the most interesting thing I read all day to be honest. I'm always looking to pick someone's brain if I can so thanks for the opportunity. The fact you stayed with it and never gave up makes it a hell of a story so that gives me hope. I've been trying to get into writing (Comics, Television, etc.) so seeing your determination pay off is definitely worth checking out. And congrats on getting married as well. 17 years, that's a hell of a relationship.

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