Once again it's that time of the week, Jason Todd here, once again welcoming you guys to my Red Hood. This week's Ratings and Rantings should be interesting as Marvel invades, I plan on reviewing Shadowland #2, Shadowland: Bullseye One Shot, Deadpool #1000 and this marks the beginning of me reviewing Amazing Spider-Man on a regular basis. So along with those Marvel Comics, I've also got some DC Comics to review as well as Green Arrow #2, which I'll review first since it didn't make the cut last week. But before that, I wanna remind everyone that this weekend I'll be doing the Top Five 5, so remember to send me your picks, and the topics will be at the bottom of this review.
And lastly, I wanna thank Falisha for pointing out if you Google Jason Todd, that my blog is the first thing on the second page. That's pretty cool to know and definitely makes me wanna keep running the blog and see if I can crack the first page. But enough of that, let's kick off this week's reviews!
Green Arrow #2
This month's Green Arrow picks starts with a mysterious man wondering around the Star City forest, filling up his canteen with water before the story jumps over to the best buddies since Cory and Shawn on Boy Meets World, Green Arrow and Green Lantern. We find out that electronics, as well as Hal's ring won't work in the forest for some reason. Hal and Oliver continue to talk about the forest and the White Lantern power, then Ollie tells Hal that he knows the forest better than anyone since it's his home now. Ollie uses his Lantern (hmmm) as he guides Hal deep into the forest to show him where he's living, he somehow has tables, a couch, a bookshelf filled with books and many places to write his memoirs I'd assume, "How to live in a forest, the Green Arrow Way!" After showing Hal around, the Oliver tries to show Hal the way out of the forest, while mercenaries drop into the forest, looking for Green Arrow. They find him and Green Lantern, and Hal proves he doesn't need a ring to fight, as he and Green Lantern lay out the would-be-attackers. But when more attackers come, Green Arrow and Lantern decide they need a new plan, and try to figure out a way to get Hal's ring working again. The plan works and with a power boost, Green Lantern helps Green Arrow clear the forest of the invaders. This issue ends with a very interesting cliffhanger, that keeps me interested to see how Ollie will get out of it. As for this issue, I enjoyed it a lot, not much happened but we saw a new conflict, and got introduced to someone else in the forest, I'd give this issue a
7.5/10.
Green Arrow: You have your sector Hal, I've got mine.
Brightest Day #7
This issue of Brightest Day has been called "The one where we find out why those who returned did" so hopefully we can finally get some answers. The issue starts off with Deadman and Dove getting a cheeseburger (who saw THAT coming?! *sarcasm*) because the ring told him to last issue. I wanna know why Dove is dressed all clean with hair flowing and no one can get Deadman a T-Shirt and some pants? He's just walking around in the costume he DIED in and a trench coat. They talk about why Deadman may be back, and then talk about Hank and Dawn's roles as Hawk and Dove. After eating his cheeseburger the ring says "I hope you enjoyed your meal." (really?) and magically sens Deadman, Hawk and Dove, in costume, to the site of the White Lantern. In the crowd watching is Jackson Hyde, the kid we were introduced to a few issues ago. When Boston inserts his ring into the Lantern, Jackson's arm glows as he states he doesn't feel well to his friend, Maria. Boston asks the Lantern why did it bring them back, it replies they need to embrace life and Boston's costume turns all white, with the White Lantern symbol on his chest, and his face returns to his usual Deadman face/mask. The Lantern's entity tells Boston that he has been watching over the earth since the beginning of existence and a replacement must be chosen. The returned Heroes and Villains are there to protect the world until the arrival of it's new champion. We jump to Martian Manhunter whose trying to revive Miss Martian, when a ring manifests on his finger and tells him he must burn down the Star City forest. The rings continue to show our returned heroes what they need to do, and even manages to switch who's in control of the Firestorm body. Some of these prophecies are extremely interesting, and make me care about some stories I didn't before, especially Hawk and Dove. I think this was what this series needed to inject a little life (no pun intended) back into it. I'll give this issue of Brightest Day an
8/10 rating.
Hank: The Jukebox is broken.
Dawn: It was just playing the Dixie Chicks.
Hank: That's why I broke it.
Shadowland: Bulleye One-Shot
We start things off with everyone mourning and crying at Bullseye's funeral...wait...what?! Everyone's saying nice words and how great he was when someone yells out that he was an evil man and this funeral is a farce. The old man runs away but doesn't get far before he's presumably killed by one of the other participants. We find out that this funeral is more of a hostage situation as everyone is being made to show their "respects" to Bullseye. Someone who I don't know named Denny (I'm new to Daredevil so I apologize) sees Bullseye's ghost and says if he were alive than the old man with the shurikens in his back wouldn't be. The sixth sense kid tells Ben Urich (Hey, someone I know!) that the man isn't dead yet and they should help him, but they can't due to the armed guards that are running the fake funeral. We find out that eight hours earlier, Urich was abducted for this "funeral" for Bullseye. Mayor Jameson's announcement that no money would be spent on a horrible vigilante like Bullseye's funeral, so a bunch of Bikers who owe it to Bullseye decide to give him one. Denny Deaver, the kid from earlier, is doing this so he can get Bullseye out of his head, since he can see and hear dead people. They continue to make the rounds and kidnap people for the funeral until finally, thanks to a top off from Urich, Daredevil and his crew find our what's going on. I'll stop here as not to spoil things for anyone. The ending really made this story, but all the back tracking kind of killed the pacing in my opinion. It was still a good one-short but far from the best I've read, I'd give it a
5/10.
J. Jonah Jameson: As far as I'm concerned, toss Bullseye into the incinerator, then flush the ashes into the sewer... which is still better than Bullseye deserves.
Shadowland #2
Shadowland #2 starts off with an opening monologue by Moon Knight, while we see a Cab Driver swallow what I'd assume to be a balloon of something, so I'd assume the Cabbie was Moon Knight. He smashes up the taxi with a baseball bat until The Hand descends down, ready to attack, as he tells them to bring it on. We then see Luke Cage and Iron Fist (as Danny) at the Soup Kitchen, discussing Daredevil murdering Bullseye. Danny brings up a good point that they've all killed nameless Hand ninjas and HYDRA members over the years, and if anyone deserved it, than it was Bullseye. They have to cut their discussion short because two men get into a fight, Luke breaks it up, and in walks Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin. After discussing how the people in the city are turning on each other due to the Shadowland events, Kingpin states that they're going to have to take down Daredevil. Jumping inside his lair, we see Daredevil, who feels no remorse or guilt after killing Bullseye. He tells Tarantula that he needs better trained warriors for expanding their territory. He states that any costumed heroes are now invited to join him and The Hand, and if they're not with him, they're against him. Luke Cage, Iron Fist and some other heroes go to meet with Daredevil, only saying they'd join so they can talk to him. They tell Matt that he's going crazy for the most part, bringing up his recent murder, he replies by saying he put down Bullseye for the greater good. In the midst of this, Spider-Man joins the intervention, via the rooftop windows. Moon Knight, now with the captured cops and other people "arrested" by The Hand, heaves up the balloon from earlier, revealing Lockpicks. He goes to escape and runs into the last person I expected to see. When hearing of this infiltration, Daredevil blames his former allies, saying they caused this distraction and attacks. This was a great issue, the first issue was amazing and this one was almost as good. I don't know why this one seems a little smaller, maybe because this focused on more dialogue and the last one had the big Bullseye murder. But so far Shadowland has been great, I can't wait for issue three. I'd rate this issue a
9/10.
Spider-Man: And hey, can I just add on a personal note.. that whole Black Costume thing? Never ends well. Trust me on this.
Amazing Spider-Man #639
I remember issue #600, man time is flying. So as most people know, this is the thing that fills in the blank after One More Day, and in the last issue we discovered (Highlight for Spoilers)
that the reason Peter and MJ didn't wed is because Spider-Man got knocked out and missed his own wedding. (Spoilers over) In this issue, Pete and MJ continue to discuss the past. We see Spidey, in his black suit, listening in as his friends and relatives talk about how awful he is for leaving Mary-Jane at the alter. Spidey tries calling her but gets the voicemail, he swings to MJ's home as fast as he can so he can explain how he missed their wedding day. When he finds that she isn't home, he swings around the city, frantically yelling "MJ!!!!" at the top of his lungs, trying to find his almost-bride. He finally heads to his own home, and finds Mary-Jane waiting on the couch. She tears into him, having heard about what he said about having cold feet to Flash and Harry in the last issue. She demands for him to take his mask off, and when he does, and she sees his bruised and battered face, she tells him it's not about cold feet, it's about how Spider-Man will always come between them. She's about to ask Pete to stop being Spidey but he cuts her off, saying he can't. She leaves Peter, and tells him she never wants to see him again, but with a talk from her Aunt Anna of all people, she realizes that she still cares about Peter. MJ goes and apologizes through the door before Pete lets her in, they talk and she tells him, she wants kids. After a deep conversation, MJ says she can stay with Pete, but doesn't wanna get married or have kids, unless he puts the mask and costume up for soon, and he agrees. I summed it up, but it was a very touching and well written moment. This issue ends like something you've seen before but with a BIG twist, if you think Spidey never un-masked in public, you'd be wrong. I won't ruin it for you, but It's definitely got me ready for the next issue. I'll give this issue a
8.5/10. I liked most of the comic but the left at the alter thing seems kind of over-played, so I'm glad that wasn't the main factor of the break up.
Mary-Jane: Because, I've come to realize that I would never bring a child into a life like ours.
Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1
What would happen if instead of sending Kal-El to the planet Earth alone, his parents, Jor-El and Lara joined him on the rocket sent to earth? This is what we will find out in the three part Elseworld story, Superman: Last Family of Krypton. We see the traditional voyage to earth for Kal to start things off, except he crashes on the way to Earth, then we find out it's a dream by Jor-El. We find out that the House of El members are already on Earth, having left Krypton. We jump back eighty-seven days to see their arrival on Earth, where they actually say "We come in peace." and someone mentions the cliche'd line, which made me smile a bit. An energy anomaly causes the authorities to mistakenly attack the ship, but the weapons do nothing but ricochet, causing one of their helicopters to fall from the sky. The inhabitants are saved by Jor-El, as Lara uses her super breath to blow the helicopter into the water, meanwhile Kal is floating, giggling and speaking Kryptonian...um...okay then. The planet Earth quickly accepts the El's as a part of their society, and the El's go around saving countless lives due to their super powers. Pretty soon everyone wants the El's, and they let Kal pick where they'll live for some...reason, and he picks Metropolis by shooting his heat ray onto a gigantic globe. Anyway, the would-be Brainiac constructs a huge mansion in the middle of Metropolis for the El's to live in. Back in present time, Lara is talking to the house about Jor-El's recent dreams, before finding Sanctum that Jor-El has to himself in the building. She questions Brainiac (referred to as B) about it and also finds out that Jor-El is starting a company called JorCorp. Um....what in the hell is happening here? Meanwhile, Lara is looking for Earth couples that could take care of Kal-El for some reason, people on the list include Perry and Alice White, and even Thomas and Martha Wayne. So they give Kal to the Kents for some stupid reason, so he can choose if he wants to live as an Earthling or a Krypytonian. Meanwhile, Lara writes a book and goes on TV to talk about it... I'm not making this up. Some other boring stuff happens, Lex as a kid becomes friends with Jor-El, and Lara has two more kids. Okay, I'm done with this series. This seemed like a really interesting story, but instead it's just a weird mix of the regular story and a bunch of unnecessary events. I don't plan on finishing it, and I could care less about The El's on Earth now,
2/10.
Pa Kent: I sure didn't see this coming.
Clark Kent: I've got X-Ray vision and I didn't see it.
Red Robin #15
Oh hell yes, this issue starts off with something I've been waiting for since he returned, Tim Drake, face to face with Digger "Captain Boomerang" Harkness. Tim's in leg braces and on crutches for some reason, he lets Boomer know that he hopes he rots in prison. Tim, is then shown as Red Robin, breaking into Vicki Vale's apartment and seeing that she does in fact know the identities of most members of the Bat-Family. He tells Dick and Alfred about the problem, before Damian interrupts with his well-documented hate of Tim. They decide they need a long-term plan to convince Vicki that she's wrong, and Tim seems to have an idea. Another surprise appearance in this issue, in the form of Tim's Ex-Girlfriend, Stephanie "Batgirl" Brown. He enlists her to help him catch Scarab, who's now in town thanks to Tim's recent crime-fighting. In his Tim Drake alter-ego, Tim, along with the Fox sisters, requests a meeting with Commissioner Gordon, and set up an appearance at a press conference. By the way, I loved Tim's explanation of if his last name is Drake or Wayne, because it makes more sense than him just taking the Wayne name because Bruce asked him. At the press conference, Tim's plan goes into action, when Scarab attacks. The ending, although I should've expected it still surprised me, and was a great plot twist by Mr. Fabian Nicieza. And the big reveal of another villain was great as well, Red Robin is quickly moving up the ranks to becoming one of my favorite series each month, I'd give this issue a
9/10 rating. I love that Tim is continually being shown as the best planned of the Bat-Family because he is the best Detective of them all, even Bruce has said Tim may be better than him, so I love the psychology involved as of late. Also, the cover actually had something to DO with the issue, that's so rare these days...
Damian: I am on record as recommending we simply terminate the reporter.
Dick: Let's call that plan B for now...
Deadpool #1000
It's time for Deadpool #1000! Is it really Deadpool's thousandth issue? Probably not, but with all these comics he's got floating around, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. Anywho, this is cut into multiple stories, not unlike the Superman and Batman #700 issues a few months ago. The first story follows Deadpool, in Reno, Nevada, The biggest little city in the world, scoping out some babe to take back to the Merc Cave...or whatever he calls his base. It's filled with classic bad Deadpool jokes, gambling, and a TON of sexual innuendo. The story is much better than it sounds, completely switching gears and showing you not to read books by their cover, when Deadpool and the woman he's with start discussing other gamblers at his table. I won't ruin it but the first story was one of my favorites. The rest of this comic features appearances by Deadpool-faithfuls like Outlaw, Hydra Bob, Weasel, and Blind Al. Not eeverything is good though, there's one story where Deadpool goes looking for some kid who was sent to Fat Camp, and becomes overweight himself due to being fed and then fights the villains with his farts...yeah, that was horrible. The Blackest Night spoof was pretty funny as well, only because of the sheer absurdity of it all, with six more stories that I haven't even mentioned, this is pretty packed with Deadpool. So mix a few good Deadpool stories, some bad ones, and a Ryan Reynolds reference and you get this issue of Deadpool #1000, and I'd rate it a solid
6/10.
Deadpool: (Depends) How hot it's making you.
Desire: Human Torch hot.
Deadpool: My "Thing" likes to hear that.
Red Hood: Lost Days #3
Lost Days #3 kicks things off with Jason, training, learning how to increase his skills for his inevitable meeting with Batman. He states that Bruce taught him how to fight, defend, battle and disable, but never how to maim and kill. We see he's continuing his training with a skilled murderer named Egon. (Not the one from Ghostbusters.) We find out Jason has been training for months now, spending five weeks with a sniper and a chemist each, becoming proficient with guns and toxins. We also learn that although Talia loves Bruce, she's not exactly saving herself for him. Jason eventually discovers the men who have been training him in fighting, maiming and killing are running a slave trade, with over forty Asian children, all under the age of ten. Jason, being the ANTI-HERO he is (sorry about that.) decides to save the kids, something I doubt a villain would do. The showdown between Jason and Egon was handled well, and this issue showed Jason isn't heartless, nor is he a a hothead that rushes into battle without a plan. We also see where Jason's future Red Hood mentality starts and why he makes the choices he does. This was another great issue but it wasn't as mind-blowing as the other two, I'd rate this issue an
8.5/10.
Egon: You get Angry to easily. Zhen you become an idiot.
Jason Todd: Duly noted. (He still hasn't learned his lesson...)
Alright guys, thanks for reading, don't forget I'll be back this weekend with the Top Five 5. For those who don't remember or are new, I'll name five topics, you pick your top five answers for each topic and send them to me at
KevinKavalier@gmail.com, I'll post everyone's answers this weekend and we'll see how they compare. So the topics are below, and make sure you send me your picks before Sunday, as I'll post everyone's picks then. So, until then, I'm your neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!
Top Five Characters you want back from the Dead
Top Five Characters with untapped potential (Ex: Ravager)
Top Five One-Shots
Top Five Worst Comic Series
Top Five Male/Female Team-Ups
Next Week on Ratings and Rantings
Adventure Comics #517 (Atom Story), Batgirl #13, Birds of Prey #4, Booster Gold #35, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1, JL Generation Lost #7, Superman #702, Titans #26 and Daredevil #509.
