Sunday, September 26, 2010

Top Five 5!

Hey everyone, once again welcome to the Top Five 5's! My favorite, and only bi-weekly feature here at JTCS. So, of course we're gonna do things just like always, I'm going to list each category along with each person's picks. So let's get into it. And just to remind everyone, here's the color guideline:

Jason Todd

Marc 
Kello
Paul C.
X-Man
Falisha



Top Five Characters you wanna see as Amalgams


Jason Todd & Winter Soldier Bucky
Wolverine & Deathstroke
Dick Grayson & Daken
Power Girl & Rogue
Huntress & Black Cat

(I'm gonna pick the ones I've done already that I'd most like to see actually happen.)
John Constantine/Howard the Duck
Matter Eater Lad/Punisher
New Warriors/Legion of Superheroes
Vril Dox/Doctor Doom
Madam Fatal/Sub-Mariner


Batman/Daredevil
Damian Wayne/Daken
Black Canary/Mockingbird
Wonder Woman/Jean Grey
Kid Flash/Speed

Black Canary/Storm
Spider-Man/Nightwing
Daredevil/Batman
Capt. America/Capt. Marvel
Bullseye/Joker

The new amalgamated Fantastic Four!
Plastic Fantastic or Mr. Plastic- (Reed Richards + Plastic Man, aka Reed “Eel” O Brien, the wisecracking genius)
Geo-Torch- (Geo Force + Johnny Storm-Prince Brion Storm -Element based powers of earth and fire)
Invisible Princess– (Sue Storm + Terra from the Teen Titans -Princess Tara Storm, Geo-Torch’s sister and spy for Slade Castle, aka Deathstroke the Punisher)
Solomon Grimm- Solomon Grundy + the Thing (Dumb as a rock…and strong as one too!)
Black Doom- Black Adam + Doctor Doom- the dictator who gains the power of evil gods.

Iron Man/Superman
J. Jonah Jameson/Perry White
Wolverine/Green Arrow
Deadpool/Green Lantern
Gorilla Man/Gorilla Grodd (or is that too obvious?)


Top Five Characters you'd like to see turn evil/good

Gambit (Maybe he can be worth reading about then???)
Fantastic Four (I haven't read a story where they become evil yet)
Barry Allen (Return of Wally West!)
The Riddler (Turn him back good.)
Black Adam (Bring him back, make him good. I loved him in 52.)

Donna Troy (she could become an evil counterpart to Wonder Woman)
Katar Hol (he was sent to limbo and forgotten and now he's p*ssed off!)
Karate Kid (he was killed off twice and now he's p*ssed off! Also he's tougher than Batman!)
Linda Danvers/Matrix Supergirl (Would resent Kara Zor-El, who she would see as a pretender)
Superboy Prime (Superman wanted to redeem him in Legion of 3 Worlds, I'd like to see him succeed.)

Batman
Saint Barry Allen
Cyclops
Taskmaster
Emma Frost (It's Time...)

Wonder Woman - Evil
Spider-Man - Evil
Wonder Girl (Cassie) - Evil
Storm - Evil
Joker - Good

Evil Batman
Good Catwoman
Evil Martian Manhunter
Totally Evil Namor
Evil Black Panther

Dr. Doom (wouldn't mind seeing him try to do good for a little while before returning to his evil ways)
Galactus
Cyclops
Ben Reilly (I actually wouldn't mind if he came back...as a bad guy!)
Daredevil (and by this I mean I'd like to see him really turn to the dark side...not just get possessed by a demon!)


Top Five Characters you'll never be a fan of

Damian Wayne (When written by Grant Morrison)
Knight and Squire
Jamie "Blue Beetle" Reyes
Beast Boy
Hawkman

Spawn
Cable
Carnage
Psylocke
Donna Troy

X-23
Damian Wayne
Shadowcat
Saint Barry Allen
Penguin

Wonder Girl (Cassie)
Beast Boy
Damian Wayne
Mr. Freeze
Starfire


ummm…Jason Todd
Legion of Super Heroes
Raven (the one from Titans, not “That’s So Raven”)
Dr. Strange
Ghost Rider

X-23
Shatterstar
Mr. Zsasz
Stryfe
And last but certainly not least...Gambit! oh, how I despise him...




Top Five Characters that need their own Series

Jason Todd
Firestorm (I'd read it.)
Captain Marvel (DC)
Wally West
Kid Flash

Brother Power, The Geek
Madam Fatal
The Legion of Substitute Heroes
Wally West
Captain Marvel (Shazam not Marv-Ell)

X-Man!
Jason Todd!
Sinestro
Noh-Varr
Hush

Bullseye
Deathstroke
Capt. Atom
Aquaman (I know he's had one before but He needs a new one. Lol.)
Cheshire


Wally West
Sinestro / Sinsetro Corps
Captain Marvel (like Power of Shazam oh so many years back!)
Plastic Man
Kid Flash

Doctor Strange
Gravity
Ghost Rider (stop cancelling it, Marvel!!)
Cyclops
Stilt-Man

Top Five Characters you'd assemble for an all Female Team

Huntress
Big Barda
Ravager
Cheshire
Black Canary

Maxima
Power Girl
Supergirl
Wonder Woman
Mary Marvel

Huntress
Mockingbird
Wonder Woman
Meltdown
Jean Grey

She-Hulk
Black Widow
Black Canary
Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
Vixen

White Queen - The Evil version from the 80’s.
Mystique
Roxy Rocket
Enchantress (from Thor)
Lady Bullseye

Jessica Jones
Firestar
Elektra
Jean Grey
Night Nurse


Category Winners

Most Requested Amalgam: Batman/Daredevil
Most Wanted Turn to Evil/Good: Tie between Saint Barry Allen and Batman
Character You'll never be a fan of most: Damian Wayne
Character in Need of a series: Tie between Wally West and Captain Marvel
Most recruited Female Team Member: Tie Between Huntress, Black Canary, Jean Grey and Wonder Woman

Thanks everyone for voting, we had some great picks this week. I was surprised we had a winner in the Amalgam category since we had so many different ways of thinking, but I'd also like to see Batman and Daredevil meshed together, the Man with no Fear and the Man who instills fear? Get on that Paul! Haha. I figured we'd see Saint Barry win the turning evil award so he could fight Wally, but Batman turning evil surprised me, but I can't say I wouldn't enjoy that. Damian Wayne continues to win awards for not being liked here at JTCS, I don't mind Damian when written by Bryan Q. Miller, Paul Dini or Fabian Nicieza but for some reason he's super annoying under Grant's watch. I agree that Wally and Cap Marvel definitely need solo series, as much as I want a Jason one, I wouldn't mind seeing those two get series again. And the last Category had so many winners that their almost a team themselves, but Everyone had great pick for Hero and Villain teams.

Well that's all for this week everyone, below are the results for the last poll, and be sure to vote on the new poll on the right side of the page. I'll be back later this week with more Ratings and Rantings, until then, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!

Last week's poll asked "Which is your Favorite Green Lantern?"

Last Place with 0% - John Stewart, even being on the JLA Cartoon didn't get him any votes.
Third Place with 18.2% - Guy Gardner, First he was Second to Hal, now Kyle!
Second Place with 27.3% - Kyle Rayner, The Top GL ten years ago is now Second Best.
Winner with 54.5% - Hal Jordan, Only he can kill a ton of GL's and come back as a hero.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, Jason Todd here with your weekly dose of Comic Content Comments, that's right baby, Ratings and Rantings! We've got a nice pull this week so hopefully I'll be saying good things about these comics. I actually forgot to put up a new poll last weekend, so my apologies. I'll have a new poll this weekend as well as the Top Five 5. So near the end of the article you can see the five topics and hopefully you guys will participate. So, let's get this party started.


Superman/Batman #76

Superman/Batman #76 is written by Judd Winnick, and as some of you know I'm a big fan of Judd due to his fantastic work with Jason Todd. We start things off with Lois Lane, awaiting Clark after the battle that we know as Final Crisis. Superman arrives home so quickly and silently that Lois doesn't realize it first, but she sees the Man of Steel, obviously sad and starts to try to comfort him. On the next page we see Superman tell Lois that Bruce is dead. From there we see Robin and Nightwing, that's right, Tim Drake and Dick Grayson trying to keep things stable while awaiting Bruce's return when we see Superman and Wonder Woman show up, with Supes holding what we believed to be Bruce's bones in his arms. We see Dick break down, and demand to see the body, which we would later find out isn't Bruce's body and Dick was right. Meanwhile, Tim didn't say a word which I found odd considering he's been the advocate for believing Bruce is alive for the last year. We then see Doctor Mid-Nite explaining how it's Bruce's body and the Omega Beam killed him... WRONG. Man, he thought that was Ollie's corpse that one time, now he's wrong about Bruce's corpse... someone revoke that man's license. From there we see Superman staring at the body and thinking back to the funeral of his own adoptive Father, Johnathan Kent. After the autopsy Grayson says he wants to take the body home for a funeral as Tim cries in the background, still not saying a word. We then see Clark dressing for the funeral, telling Lois that hes going to Bruce's funeral, and that it's core members of the league only, and no uniforms because that's what Dick wanted. One of my favorite parts was when Clark went to leave he left his glasses behind, and Lois reminded him, and he said he didn't leave forget them, it's no uniforms. That was a great moment because we often forget that Superman is who he is and Clark is his facade. At the funeral we see the speech Dick made originally about letting the legacy of Batman and the fear he's instilled live on. We also see Superman think about how things went when he met Batman for the first time. As the funeral ends we fast forward to seeing Superman in space, listening to all the news reports of the world with his super-hearing, and catching wins that Scarecrow was caught in Gotham by Batman. Next we see Superman with Wonder Woman, she guesses that Batman is Dick, which Supes confirms. When he looks uneasy she asks what's wrong and Superman replies "All of it. All of it is wrong." Next we see Superman confront Dick, basically telling him to honor his legacy but not as Batman, to which Dick says he doesn't want to be Batman but the world needs a Batman. Superman gets REALLY upset at Batman and gives the line of the issue which you can read below the review for it's full impact. The rest of this issue was great, It was nice to see the other side of what happens, and Judd wrote Superman fantastically. Every decision, everything about it made sense for Superman. I can honestly say that if Judd Winnick wrote Superman I'd be on board. As for this issue, this is definitely one of my favorites. I'd say it may be my second favorite issue of Superman/Batman right behind issue #26 which was dedicated to Sam Loeb and Starred Superboy and Robin. But I'm getting off track, this issue deserves a 10/10, outside of Tim not saying anything after Bruce died this comic was perfect, and it wasn't about Tim so I can't fault them for that. Also I'd recommend this issue to anyone, whether they love the series or not.

Superman: You knew him. Better than anyone. Better than me. And you know... his disguise was Bruce Wayne. He was Batman. You're parading around in his skin. You're going to take it off.


Power Girl #16

Our issue starts with our heroine Power Girl being beaten up by a gloved figure. PG tells us about all ther powers she has a a Kryptonian and how she's STACKED (No pun intended...well okay, pun intended) with Super Powers. She then wonders why she keeps getting her butt kicked, which is a damn good question. PG keeps fighting the scuba suit wearing foe, but can't seem to shift the tide of the fight in her favor. She eventually goes from Power to Pissed Girl and just starts beating the hell of the guy. She eventually pulls the guy's mask off but we don't get to see his face before we switch over to seeing Karen Starr, PG's alter ego. We see her employee Nicco accusing her of being Power Girl, well hell she's either PG or Pamela Anderson is... Karen laughs in his face and tries to play it off, but Nicco pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot on three. He gets the "Thr" out before Karen changes into her PG costume and takes the gun away from him at lightning speed. She takes the gun and he reveals it's a Vacuum Cleaner for the most part, and he pulled a fast on on Peej. They argue and judge one another, Nicco for saying PG was a fraud and PG bringing up Nicco's past as a cyber thief. He eventually walks away, and when Peej calls out to him as Nicco he says it's Nicholas, seemingly saying they're no longer friends. Next we see PG and Batman (Dick Grayson) as he tries to find the woman that embezzled from Karen's company. Due to Dick's technical expertise due to all his years learning from Bruce, he quickly helps put Power Girl on the trail of her embezzler, Donna Anderson. Donna is found on the floor in her bra (who could give Peej a run for her money, okay I'm done.) and has overdosed on drugs. Power Girl realizes that Donna didn't do it because the facts don't add up, and she expects foul play. She asks Nicholas for help, and after some hesitation he agrees. She takes him to a new lab she had made, and tells him it's his. He asks why can't Batman help, and she says who do you think built the place, then replies that he's busy and she needs someone full-time. The issue soon ends after that, giving us a hint that we may find out who scuba suit man is next issue. This was another solid issue of Power Girl. and helped further some storylines, It was a good read, nothing amazing but far from bad, I'll give it an 8/10.

Batman: Did you have any indication that she might try to pull something like this?
Power Girl: Of course, Dick. She kept going on and on about her plans to embezzle millions of dollars from my company but I never put it together.


Titans #27

This cover is very simple but very well done, and Cheshire has some damn sharp nails... Anyway, the issue starts with the team that took care of the Titans in the last issue being introduced by their boss. Deathstroke goes after the biggest guy first but can't take him down as easily as he planned. Next we see Roy Harper as he thinks to himself how Speedy, Arsenal, and Red Arrow are just names and masks he used and they all covered the same lying face, and the biggest lie was him being a hero. He even says he's a Titan again, something he swore he'd never do, all because of Cheshire, because he owes her for what happened to Lian, even though we all know it's not his fault. He then thinks about how much he's gonna enjoy helping Cheshire murder Slade. Roy then finds the place where kids are being harvested in pods for energy like something out of The Matrix. He tries to break one out but the kid gets zapped and cooked or something. Ever the drug addict, Roy then wonders what the drug the kids are being made into tastes like. Oh Roy, you love your drugs don't you! Anyway, Roy is attacked from behind by a furry villain, imagine a gray version of Beast from the X-Men. Meanwhile, Orisis sees a vision of his sister since one of the villains shot him up with Bliss in the last issue. In his vision he learns he has to do things to bring back his sister, which we already knew due to Brightest Day. They alluded the rest of the Marvels and Black Adam family may have to as well, so that's cool. Then his sister turned into a blackened evil version of herself, and Osiris attacks it, not knowing it was Slade. Slade then passes the buck onto one of the enemies and Osiris kills him, since he's an idiot and stuff. Back with Roy, Gray Beast is kicking the crap out of him, Roy says he's moving in slow motion because he needs a fix but he can't allow another child to die. Roy subdues Gray Beast and knocks him into a power generator, which knocks off the power, allowing him to save the kids. About time you got priorities Roy. Meanwhile the rest of the Titans kill the other enemies, as Roy comes out with the kids. They leave and Roy is visibly shaking due to his addiction, Jade is surprised that Slade wanted to save kids until she sees him carrying out a body and realizes it was all about him getting what he came for. Osiris later sees that Isis' statue has more cracks and realizes that he has to kill people to bring her back, he doesn't want to but he seems to be thinking about it. We then see some guy and his son sitting on the couch, I'd guess that's one of the kids Deathstroke and the Titans saved or something but to be honest I don't know. We then see Roy looking for his drugs which are gone, we see Cheshire walk in holding them and tells Roy don't let the drugs control him. Roy replies they don't and she says she has something to satisfy his hunger and drops the sheet wrapped around her body. So... the issue ends on the next page, and we see Slade has a plan as well. Well this was pretty crappy, Roy wants drugs, Jade obviously wants another kid by Roy, and Slade has plans to control Roy. Big whoop, the only interesting thing was Osiris having to kill people and that's not all that interesting. This was a pretty lackluster issue so I may drop this series if the next arc isn't good, I'll give it a 4/10.

Cheshire: It's really killing you, isn't it? The hunger? Something's gotta satisfy it. I've got something... far more addictive. (She means SEX, Roy... well she means something else but I'll just say sex...)


The Flash #5

I was gonna drop Flash from my comic list but after the last issue I changed my mind, so I'm hoping this issue wasn't a mistake in picking up. Things start off with Flash and Top discussing what they have to do to save Flash's wife and Top's teammate of the Renegades by stopping the Rogues from breaking the "In case of Flash Return, Break Glass" glass. Back at the glass, the Rogues our facing their Renegade counterparts, all except Captain Boomerang who has no counterpart considering how lame a Boomerang is as a weapon. Meanwhile, Mirror Master is about to break the glass and unleash the Mirror Lords, one of which will possess Isis and make her one of Barry's biggest enemies, when Flash swoops up and and punches him. Mirror Master breaks into a bunch of tiny pieces of glass then shows up on Flash's wingtips which he apparently keeps nice and shiny... okay then. Trickster uses his remote thing to turn up the police scanner Flash apparently has built into the wingtips to try to subdue Flash, who rips them out. He's then thrown around by Wind and tornadoes thanks to Weather Wizard. Top reverse the tornado to stop it and help Flash out, then falls to the ground. The Renegades move in to try to arrest Top and Flash, and on the other side toe Rogues move in to try to kill Top and The Flash. Captain Boomerang tries to walk up and do something but the White Lantern symbol shines on his chest and causes a bright flash. Digger's pupil turns into the white Lantern symbol and says if he wants to stay alive he has to throw the Boomerang at Dove, which we see, and it looks like it takes place in Green Arrow's Star-wood forest, then we see his pupil turn into the Black Lantern symbol. Interesting. Boomer then starts throwing Boomerangs everywhere as the Rogues and Renegades duck for cover. One of the Boomerangs causes a crack in the mirror, which shows something has changed since originally Mirror Master broke the mirror. Top tells Flash that Flash has the power to stop the Mirror Masters and to do so, while Top tries to hide Iris and keep her safe. Flash tries to hold hip but Top spins, and knocks Barry through the giant mirror. While in the mirror, Barry see's is mother but realizes it's all just reflections that aren't real and breaks away. He then sees that the Mirror Masters have gotten free and disappeared while he's been caught by the Renegades. The end of this issue was a nice swerve that I didn't expect. The issue was also pretty action packed and left me wondering how Flash will try to get away from the Renegades in the next issue. This was another solid issue although nothing really happened until the end, but it wasn't bad at all. I'd give this issue a 8/10.

Captain Cold: So you're The Top from the 25th century, huh? I killed The Top from this era. I can kill another.


Green Lantern Corps #52

Aww the tagline on this issue is Immortal Combat, isn't that cute. Things start off with Boodikka commenting about how there are no better comrades she's rather have at her funeral, referring to Hannu, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and Soranik Natu. She returns the three Lanterns that wear their rings powers and Soranik tells the others that Boodikka is dying and she can't do anything to help since Boodikka's all machine at this point. John steps up, since he's an architect he rigs up something to hold her together. There was a funny like where Hannu said he doesn't wear his ring but when he sees what John can do with his he thinks maybe he should. Meanwhile, Ganthet is trying to reverse the Alpha Lantern procedure of Horoq Nnot since he's being made to by Cyborg-Superman, aka Cyberman as I call him. The procedure works, she's still got a robot like shell but apparently she's back to her original state of mind. Cyberman is happy, but that angry happy that only a crazed Cyborg can have, and demands that Ganthet do the procedure on him next. A huge earthquake then occurs, and Cyberman tries to check in with Alpha Lantern Boodikka, when she doesn't reply he sends the rest of the Alpha Lanterns to find her. They soon see that One Billion Grendans are attacking, loyal to fellow Grendan and Green Lantern Stel, and the attack is being led by Hannu, Kyle, John and Soranik. Cyberman uses his influence and powers to stop all Billion of the Grendans since their robotic life forms, but it's taking a strain on his mind. Soranik heads on to find Stel and Ganthet as Hannu goes after the Alpha Lanterns. Soranik finds Ganthet, he's charging his ring and trying to reassemble Stel. Back outside Kyle and John attack Cyberman, but are fought off easily, until Stel, Ganthet and Soranik show up to help them out. They destroy Cyberman's body, and he tries to take another one, that of Boodikka. I loved this scene, and seeing Boodikka again, and not her robotic form. The ending of this issue was interesting, I'm wondering what happens to Hank Henshaw from here, as well as the rest of the Corps. This was a really great issue, probably the best since Tony Bedard has taken over. I'll give this issue a 10/10, it was great and I can't wait to see what's next for the Green Lantern Corps.

Boodikka: On the way here, John Stewart ordered him not to kill any Alpha's. Hannu just laughed. I, too, would laugh--If I still had a diaphragm.


Batman: Streets of Gotham #16

House of Hush starts with this issue and I couldn't be happier, I'm a big fan of Hush, Hush Vol. 1 and 2 are some of my favorite comics ever. We see Hush as Bruce Wayne, pleading Jane Doe's case to the Arkham Asylum board trying to get her freed from the asylum. Turns out the board denied his request, and Manhunter tells him he's lucky because if they had released Jane, she would have killed both Hush and Jane on the spot. We see that the Tweeds, Humpty Dumpty, and Lock-Up have all been freed thanks to Hush's actions while masquerading as Bruce Wayne. Hush realizes that he has to come up with a better plan now that he's failed in releasing Jane Doe from Arkham. We then see Jane and a guard that apparently connects with Jane, so this may translate to something later in the issue. We then see Mr. Pierce, the man from two issues ago that vowed to kill Bruce Wayne, eating at some restaurant. His goons ask him why he wants to kill Bruce, and we find out he wants to as revenge against his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. We see that he used to work with Martha's dad, after he died, Mr. Pierce tried to bribe Martha with sixty thousand dollars to walk away from the Thompkins Medical Clinic. She refuses, and he calls her out on being turned down by the Elliot's, and says maybe Thomas Wayne will by her sob story if he's sober long enough to listen. Martha then takes the money as a donation for the clinic, and gives Pierce a receipt before waking away. I liked this because Martha showed that Lois Lane-like personality of not being pushed around, even daring to take the money from the gangster, but as a donation and not a bribe, keeping her convictions. Meanwhile, Hush is made to appear at a party as Bruce Wayne, and this time he's being watched over by Zatanna who will act as his date. We got a very interesting back story on Bruce, Zatanna and Thomas Elliot since they all knew each other as kids. There was another scene where Hush pretty much mockingly professed his love as Bruce for Zatanna in an interview, just to bother Zatanna who we all know has a crush on Bruce. While passing a TV, Zee and Hush see that Jane Doe has caused a riot at Arkham while attempting to break out while wearing the guard she talked to earlier in the comic's skin. Alfred assures Zee that Dick and Damian are on their way to Arkham to stop the riot. Zee decides to go to help while Alfred drives Thomas home, but their limo is soon knocked into a light pole by another car. The issue ends soon after that but I'm sure you can guess who was in the other car if you think hard. Anyway, this issue was cool, but the art really hurt it. I couldn't tell what the hell the mobster guys were eating, I didn't even know who Zatanna was until they said her name, and from afar Jane Doe's head looks like an apple. Those are things that hurt the story for me, but besides that the issue was good. I'd give it a 7/10 rating.

Hush: We both know the only way for you and your pals to stop me for good is to kill me, and a big part of me wishes you would. I'd die happy knowing my murder was on your snow-white consciences.


Justice League: Generation Lost #10

This issue starts off with a view of the future courtesy of the White Lantern light, we see Magog as he hunts down an unwilling to fight Parasite. Magog is with a team known as the Magog's Justice Brigade, featuring Judomaster, a new Captain Atom I believe and some other very aggressive heroes. Magog continually bullies and pushes around Parasite until he attacks him back. Parasite attacks the Captain Atom and causes him to explode, killing millions in seconds. This then causes the war we know as Kingdom Come. We see that the White Lantern Light wants Max Lord to kill Magog, stopping the war that will one day start. From there we see Magog with Max, as Max is apparently giving Magog's lance an upgrade. Max has brought on Magog to try to kill Captain Atom, which confuses me because it seems like that would jump start the war, but maybe that's what Max wants. From there we see the JLI learning from Skeets that the day he returned Max relaunched four dormant Checkmate cells, so the gang thinks to check those. Skeets also reveals that he downloaded all of Checkmate's files, way to go Skeets! Later on, Fire confronts Ice about leaving the team. We see that Ice changed her mind because she wants to be around to help Fire since she can't live with herself if anything happened to Beatrice. I loved this because it was a nice moment between the only two that are friends outside of the team. Next up we see a fantastic scene with Batman, showing Alfred a picture of Max Lord's neck being snapped by Wonder Woman, Alfred only sees a bunch of pictures of people named Max Lord that aren't our Max, and that's what Batman sees too, although he doesn't believe that's what he should be seeing. Leave it to Batman to be a true genius. Power Girl surprisingly shows up and tells Batman that she saw a man named Max when she fought C.R.A.S.H. in the last Power Girl arc. (Not this weeks.) PG says that maybe Booster is telling the truth about Maxwell Lord, and Batman agrees. Batman goes to call in Martian Manhunter, The Green Lanterns, Superman and Flash but immediately forgets what he was doing, thanks to Max of course. PG then says she needs help finding one of her ex-employees (See Power Girl review above.) That was a fun moment because I found myself happy that the JLI had some help, then they lost all hope in a matter of seconds. We then see the team has split up with Fire, Ice and Rocket Red checking an "active" hideout in China, and Booster, Captain Atom and Beetle are in Chicago. Red feels through his Mecha Empathy that there are computers below the floor, so he lifts up a hatch and Red, Fire ad Ice head below.The end of the issue had a team pop up I did not expect, not the biggest threat but they can be if used right. I thought this was another well done issue of JL Gen Lost and I'll give it a 9/10 rating. Great issue, great appearances by PG and Batman and of course, the always needed continuity!

Max Lord: Batman is a lightning rod for psychotics. He's like a naked broad walking into a room full of rapists.
Magog: So you're not a fan.
Max Lord: Batman tries to contribute to the greater good, but his methods in the end cause much more harm.

Well that's all for today folks, but luckily we had a pretty good pull this week. I'm hoping you guys enjoyed my reviews as much as I enjoyed typing them up. For those that want to participate in the Top Five 5 this weekend, be sure to send me your top five picks for each category at KevinKavalier@gmail.com so send those in as soon as possible. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger man, Jason Todd!

Top Five Characters you wish would be Amalgam'd (for Paul)
Top Five Characters you'd like to see turn evil/good
Top Five Characters you'll never be a fan of
Top Five Characters that need their own Series
Top Five Characters you'd assemble for an all Female Team

 Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Action Comics #893, Gotham City Sirens #16, Green Arrow #4, Teen Titans #87, Time Masters: Vanishing Point #3,

Friday, September 17, 2010

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, time for your weekly dosage of Ratings and Rantings! JT here, welcoming you back to my Red Hood for another volume of my comic content comments. Yes, I am pretty awesome aren't I? Before we start off I wanna thank everyone who did for participating in the Top 5 Five, I always have fun seeing what my readers and fellow bloggers thing about certain things. Anyway, we've only got a few comics this week so we're gonna kick things off with DC's Brightest Day.


Brightest Day #10

Things start off in this week's Brightest Day with Ronnie and Jason as Firestorm, being asked by the Professor to transmute a football into a globe for a test he's running. Jason knows how to do it but can't because Ronnie doesn't know because he doesn't know the molecular structure of plastic. Prof. Stein mentions that the Firestorm Matrix was drawn to Ronnie and Jason and they're going through a metamorphosis and will be more powerful than ever but very unstable. Firestorm removes his glove and finds that his whole arm is made of fire, then Ronnie starts freaking out and telling Jason to split with him. Prof. Stein tells the boys they can't argue or they'll upset the matrix, which is basically a piece of the Big Bang and started the universe, making them the most dangerous person in the universe. From there we see Aquaman and Mera, Aquaman is obviously a little upset at being the last to know about Mera's people, her original goal and the kid he's looking for. He tells Mera he'll find the kid by himself, and he needs some time alone. We then cut over to Jackson, he and his dad are going to a cottage. Jackson's dad gives him a chest that a woman gave him and his wife fifteen years ago and then tells Jackson that he's not their son, much to Jackson's surprise.We see the woman, who clearly looks like Mera, and that she rose from the sea and gave Jackson to his adoptive parents, saying his true parents weren't fit to raise them. For the record, since Blackest Night, Falisha and I have been discussing how we think Mera and Black Manta had a kid, so I would assume we're right. Anyway, Jackson's dad continues saying the woman said Jackson would save the world from a battle between land and sea, and that one day she'd come back for him. They knew they couldn't give him up because they loved him so they ran away from the sea, hence them living in Arizona. Jackson asks if Jackson even his real name, and who he is and if it's all locked away in the chest. Jackson's dad says the woman said only Jackson could open it, meanwhile while they talk if you look in the mirror on the car you can see Black Manta's glowing red eyes. When Jackson's arm starts glowing, Manta steps up and says his powers have been activated because he's being tracked, by him. Manta shoots a Scorpion-like "Get Over Here!" string with an arrow and snatching the chest away. They jump into the car and Jackson's dad drives them towards the water, Jackson says it's suicide and Jackson's father replies "Not for you.", he then tells Jackson to tell Jackson's mother he loves her. Manta follows them in the water but Jackson strikes back with a huge water blast while he holds his dad in his arm. When Jackson and his Dad finally get to land, Mera's sister, Siren, shows up and assists Manta. When Jackson tells them to get away from his father, Manta replies with the line of the issue (see below), before shooting an arrow at Jackson's father's face, which is then caught by Aquaman. Back with The Firestorm boys, Prof. Stein tells them that every time they argue they risk causing another Big Bang, and there's a one in a million, maybe even one in a thousand chance, and it would destroy everything except the two of them...and the newest part of the Firestorm duo...well trio. The ending of this issue was so kick ass I'm tempted to post a picture of it but I'll stay with my non-spoiler ways. This issue was amazing. Instead of jumping around and giving us five stories we got two very well written stories, a ton of new info on Jackson as well as the inclusion of the Aquaman storyline, and a big revelation for the Firestorm crew. The stuff with Jackson was amazingly well done, and I already feel attached to the character more than other characters that have been around longer. This is definitely the best issue of Brightest Day in my opinion, I'll give it a 9/10 rating. It was great but it didn't have that special something to make it a solid ten.

Jackson: Stay away! Leave my dad alone!
Black Manta: He is NOT your father. He is nothing but another man I've killed.

Batman Beyond #4 of 6

We start things off in Neo-Gotham with Hush and choking the futuristic Catwoman. He proclaims that Gotham will always need a Batman but it doesn't need anyone like Catwoman or anyone else, and they should be dead, no asylum's or jails. Starting to think I know who this Hush is, I've narrowed it down to two people and we're only one page in. Hush continues to talk trash until Batman shows up to help Catwoman, but we find out that it's actually a robot sent by Bruce. Hush continues to talk trash, now at Bruce, who's robot jams in the middle of an attack. But we see Catwoman spring into action, who can apparently clone herself into nine people, hence the Cat name. From there we see Batman Beyond talking to Richard Grayson, who like I mentioned last issue has a patch on one eye. He tells Richard he wasn't sent by Bruce and they aren't on the same page right now. Grayson tells him he's learning faster than he did by blowing Bruce off. While they talk we find out that Grayson is now teaching acrobatics, when Terry asks why Dick didn't keep a memento, Dick replies he kept one, and shows Terry a tattered and bloody Nightwing costume. Back with Batman-robot and Catwomen, Hush takes care of Catwoman until Bruce finally gets the robot back on track and attacks Hush. Hush quickly dissects the robot with ease, knowing how Bruce thinks before Bruce causes the robot to self destruct before Hush can take it away and study it. We then see a Nightwing flashback telling us how the suit got shredded, and also dropped a hint that mentioned that Widening Gyre may be canon since it was mentioned in this issue. The flashback was very dark, and showed us how distant Batman could be, and made a ton of sense in the way Bruce is written in the Batman Beyond series, both comics and the cartoon. Anyway, Dick tells Terry the only people Bruce ever loved were his parents and he doesn't care about anyone else. From there we see Hush holding something he's stolen from the failed Batman robot saying he can use it. Next we see Terry try to lure Hush in by pretending to be Mad Stan, whoever the hell that is. Hush comes but not before telling Batman that's the worst disguise he's ever seen. The two hold nothing back and fight, and Hush says as much as he loves being called Hush, there's no reason to hide anymore. He presumably kills Batman Beyond, then unmasks himself as someone I did NOT see coming. I won't ruin it but if you want to know who just highlight here ---> Dick Grayson!!! Anyway, that surprise caught me off guard, and this was a nice issue but it wasn't up to par with the others, nothing really amazed me besides the Dick Grayson story and the reveal of Hush. Also the reveal didn't make sense but maybe they'll explain it better next issue. I'd give this issue a 6.5/10.

Hush: A robot...nice... Finally found a sidekick who wouldn't talk back...


Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2

The Guy Gardner focused comic known as Emerald Warriors starts off with Guy in the Hall of Lanterns looking up Hal, John, Kyle and himself. He talks about how in the history of Earth, and the universe, he's one of the four earthlings chosen to ever wear a Green power ring. Guy wonders what everyone will think of him after he does what he's setting out to do, and he hopes Hal, John and Kyle will understand. From there we see Arisia, she's awaken by Sodam Yat. They talk as Sodam slowly starts to burn, before his skin melts off and he blames Arisia for letting him burn in the sun of Daxam. She tells Sodam she knows she can save her as he sets her on fire and her skin explodes off of her bones...yes, that just happened. Arisia wakes up from an obvious dream and yells out Sodam's name. She says that she knows Sodam is out there and she will save him. Next we jump over to the Kilowog, not to be confused with my buddy the Poozer, Kellowog. A new Lantern rookie tells Kilowog how disappointed he is that he won't get to learn from the tough but fair S.O.B. that he's heard so much about. The eager recruit is soon told off by Kilowog, and basically told to pay attention or die, which is of course due to Kilowog just going through the events of Blackest Night. Some stuff happens with a guy with three eyes and Snakes coming out of his mouth.. it confused the hell out of me and I don't really know how to explain it to you guys so I'll just move on. Anyway, Gardner is about to leave for the Unknown Sectors when he's joined by Kilowog and Arisia who convinced the Guardians to let them tag along. On the way, Arisia asks Guy if they can make a pit stop at Daxam, he figures so she can go looking for Sodam. He says they'll make that their second stop, and says the first is the Blue Lantern planet, Odym. When Kilowog asks why, they argue until Guy admits that he's been having some residual effects due to his Red Lantern ring so he's going to the Blue Lanterns to get help since they can help purge the effects. The ending of this issue came outta nowhere, and instead of making me want to read the next issue it just left me annoyed since I doubt this is a big hindrance. I mean, if you read the comic, just look at the nonchalant look on the Blue Lantern's face. Anyway, this comic severely dropped in quality from the last one, the first issue had action and set the ground for things, this one didn't do much in terms of entertaining me. I'll give it a 5/10.

Arisia: He's not dead, Guy!
Guy: That a gut feeling or a fact-- cause the file I read was pretty clear that Sodam's--
Arisia: It's a gut feeling, and if it were Ice or Kyle we were talking about, would you even be asking me that question?!?


Deadpool #27

We kick things off with our villain-turned-Anti hero-Trying-to-turn-hero in a small town known as Littlefork, Wisconsin. (Shout out to Marc!) Deadpool's upset because the convenience store owner won't take his Gold as a form of payment for his Burrito. Deadpool argues with the guy, then unwittingly becomes apart of a robbery, that's run by a bunch of other guys with masks and guns. Deadpool's burrito causes the distraction, and irritation he needs to start filling the robbers with lead. The Crimson Comedian soon finds out that the robbers can also regenerate, much like himself. Deadpool jams a grenade in one of the guys' mouth and uses the distraction to find the shop keeper that wouldn't take his gold. Deadpool gets outwitted again, then the Regenerating Robbers show up and another fight scene happens offscreen until Deadpool stops it since their getting nowere. The head robber tells Deadpool his team are after the owner's weapon cache and that the guy is a terrorist and their patriots. The Owner says he's not a terrorist and he got the weapons from the CIA to sell in his country but would rather sell them in America.... sound rather Terrorist-y to me. Before Deadpool can get the facts straight, Steve Rogers (former Captain America), Black Widow and Moon Knight (really?!) show up, and Steve proclaims that Deadpool, the robbers and the owners are ALL terrorists. Upon realizing that Steve isn't dead, DP goes to give the former Cap a hug and gets punched in the face for his troubles. The sad part was seeing a flashback of Deadpool as a kid, who was a huge Captain America fan, saying he wants to be just like Cap when he grows up, only to have his dreams shot down by his jerk-ass dad. Steve, Widow and Moon Knight take care of everyone before going after the owner who has a huge power suit and proclaims he IS a terrorist...then gets shot in the middle of the head by Deadpool who says he knew it the whole time. Deadpool checks on our heroes, and surprisingly gets an invitation to the team bu none-other than Steve Rogers. The issue ends before we really get an answer and that's it... I try not to spoil anything but that's the whole issue.. so if I ruined it for ya, I apologize. Anyway, this was a cool issue, I'm wondering what the deal is with Steve asking DP to join, I don't think it's genuine. It was a cool issue though, nothing amazing, but solid. I'd give this issue a 7/10 rating.

Deadpool: Holy Crap you're an Arab living in America and you're a terrorist?! That's so disappointingly stereotypical and racist!

Birds of Prey #5

Beautiful cover, I love when characters look real like Alex Ross draws them, so seeing Lady Blackhawk and Huntress look like avid cosplayers is pretty cool. The issue starts off with Oracle, Savant and Creote on top of the bridge where Savant tried to commit suicide. Oracle promises to help Savant and he finally becomes aware that Creote loves him in a great scene between those two. From there Oracle checks in with Black Canary who tells her she has White Canary but needs to get to Bangkok fast, courtesy of Zinda "Lady Blackhawk" Blake. Huntress chimes in that Zinda is hurt and her and Hawk are going to the hospital. When Huntress asks what to do with Penguin, Oracle says let him go because they have no evidence or proof and their the outlaws now because of attacking the cops. Huntress says she's fine with that and puts the bolt of her crossbow right in Penguin's face, threatening to kill him, but Oracle promises to ruin his life her way, before Huntress grudgingly agrees and drops Penguin before walking away. After that Black Canary announces she has to quit the team and won't be coming back, well that was fast. A confused Oracle tells Creote to take them to Kord Tower, while wondering to herself what would Batman do? White Canary tells Black Canary if she comes with them her friends and Sin will be safe, but she can never return. Black Canary agrees and gets in the car with White Canary leaving Gotham behind. From there we see Huntress, clearly upset that Dinah left the team, dispatching of some thugs trying to rob a woman. Huntress acts tough before admitting to herself wherever Dinah's going, she's going too. Back with Oracle, she's moved her base of operations to Kord Towers, of the late great Blue Beetle Ted Kord. She tells Savant and Creote she wants to bring them in as her Bodyguard and Tech/Data Expert. We then see White and Black Canary getting on a plane, which has been White Canary's plan all along as they head to Bangkok looking for Shiva. Next up we cut over to Hawk and Dove...wait, his Brother Dove?! Ah, Hawk's dreaming, after a meaningful talk with his brother, Hawk wakes up in the hospital while Dove (the female one) sits next to him. In another room Zinda wakes up as Helena sits next to her, and in true Zinda fashion she requests eight beers. When she hears about Canary quitting the team she hops up from her bed and says "I don't remember giving her permission to quit. Let's go get that dizzy blonde." Haha, man I love this team. Next we see Dinah and Helena in Bangkok, they get into a cab and are ambushed. Our two Birds fight back but come upon a huge twist by the end of the issue. I really liked this issue, I'm wondering what will happen with Creote and Savant now that their back with the Birds, as well as Hawk and Dove and Zinda and Helena. I really like everyone in this team so that explains why I love this comic, but the art was odd in this issue. In some scenes everything looks really good, in other scenes they look really generic and if they didn't name characters I wouldn't know who the characters are. All in all this was a great issue for a great series so far, I'd give it a 9/10 rating.

Black Canary: Guess there's no point in leaving the cuffs on...
White Canary: If I want them off I'll remove them myself.

Well this was a pretty quick week everyone. Only five comics this week and pretty average for the most part. I'll be back this weekend with the poll results as well as a new one, if I can come up with a topic. As always ideas are appreciated, and until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man JT!


Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman: Streets of Gotham #16, Flash #5, Green Lantern Corps #52, JL Generation Lost #11, Power Girl #16, Superman/Batman #76, and Titans #27.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Top Five 5

Hey everyone, once again welcome to the Top Five 5's! My favorite, and only bi-weekly feature here at JTCS. So, of course we're gonna do things just like always, I'm going to list each category along with each person's picks. So let's get into it. And just to remind everyone, here's the color guideline:

Jason Todd
Marc 
Kello
Paul C.
X-Man
Falisha



Top Five Powers You Wish You Had

Super Strength
Teleportation (like Misfit)
Flight
Mind Reading
Invulnerability

Telepathy
Magnetism Manipulation
Super-Speed
Healing Factor (why not?)
Invisibility

Super Intelligence
Invisibility
Invulnerability
Super Speed
Honestly I think that's all I need to protect the world... or take it over!

Super Speed
Super Strechiness
Ability to Pause Time and Space
Mind Reading
Immortality (not to be confused with immorality, a power I already possess)

Immortality
Time Travel
Flight
Super Speed
The ability to consume all matter :)

X-Ray Vision
Flight
Impeccable Fighting skills (WW & BC Combined!)
Invisibility
Accelerated Healing



Top Five Supporting Characters

Alfred (The guy rules)
Skeets
Black Cat
J. Jonah Jameson
Commissioner Gordon

Max Mercury (to Impulse)
Alfred (to Batman)
Spoiler (to Robin)
Chris Bradley (to Maverick)
Dr. Doom (to the Fantastic Four... What, he pretty much is!)

Aunt May
Mary Jane Watson
Harry Osborn
J. Jonah Jameson
Ben Urich

Sinestro
Alfred "worth every penny" Pennyworth (I like that one Kello.)
Commissioner Gordon
Iris Allen (She's annoying, but Barry would suck without her)
Falcon from Captain America

J. Jonah Jameson (Best supporting character EVER!)
Lois Lane
Jimmy Olsen
Alfred Pennyworth
Commissioner Gordon

Lois Lane
Alfred
Commissioner Gordon
Black Cat
Skeets




Top Five Characters You Hated And Now Like

Batman
Superman
The Flash
Daredevil
Guy Gardner (I was Young and Naive!!!)

Superman
Wolverine (I hated him as a kid!)
Supergirl
Wonder Girl
Romulus


(I don't know if I really hated any of these characters, but they're ones I went from being indifferent toward to caring about.)
Panther
Hawkeye
Flash Thompson
Emma Frost
Deadpool

Saint Walker
Supergirl
Conan The Barbarian
Wonder Woman
Superboy


Damien Wayne
Kyle Rayner
Dream/Morpheus/Sandman
Doctor Hurt
Guy Gardner

Green Arrow
Martian Manhunter
Superman
Black Widow
Booster Gold


Top Five Characters You'd Hang Out With

Dick Grayson
Deadpool
Spider-Man
Booster Gold
Stephanie Brown

Captain America
Deadpool
Magneto
Lex Luthor
Grant Morrison :P

Gravity
Spider-Man
Booster Gold
Human Torch
Wolverine

Tim Drake Wayne
Stephanie Brown
Peter Parker
Jimmy Olsen
Ben Grimm

Peter Parker
Lex Luthor (I'd be his Otis)
She-Hulk
The Thing
Superman

Zatanna
Dick Grayson
Babs
Power Girl (Oh Yeah!)
Wonder Woman



Top Five Former Robins from Favorite to Least Favorite

Jason Todd
Dick Grayson
Stephanie Brown
Tim Drake
Damian Wayne

Tim Drake
Dick Grayson
Jason Todd
Stephanie Brown
Damian "Little Bastard" Wayne

Sorry, I don't know enough about Robin to even be able to name five, much less rank them, lol. My favorite is Dick Grayson though.

Tim Drake Wayne
Richard Grayson
Damian Wayne
Jason Todd
Stephanie Brown (The story felt way too forced.)

Dick Grayson (The original and best)
Damian Wayne
Tim Drake
Jason Todd
Stephanie Brown

Jason Todd
Dick Grayson
Tim Drake
Stephanie Brown
Damian "The Douche" Wayne





Category Winners

Top Wanted Power: Super-Speed
Top Supporting Character: Alfred "Worth Every Penny" Pennyworth! (Thanks Kello)
Top Hated-Then-Loved Character: Superman
Top Character to Hang out with: Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Most Favorite Former Robin: Tie Between Jason Todd and Tim Drake
Least Favorite Former Robin: Damian "Insert insult here" Wayne

Now this was a very interesting Top Five 5! Firstly, thanks to all five of you, not counting myself, for participating. Secondly, some of these choices were shocking. Who knew that the Speed Force had so many people who wanted to put in applications?! I can't say I'm shocked that Alfred won, that was basically his category, I thought of it while seeing Alfred in a comic actually. I'm pretty shocked everyone hated Big Blue, maybe Lex got to you guys or something. Peter Parker, the most down to earth hero being picked to hang out with is pretty awesome, I'm sure he wishes he had friends like you in Highschool, it's hard for nerds... trust me. :P The big shocker for me was Tim and Jason both coming in first place, I expected the current Batman to win that category. I can't say I'm shocked Damian lost, as he rubs some of us the wrong way and he hasn't been around that long compared to the other four. But this was a great way to get a little insight into everyone's minds. As always if you have some category choices feel free to submit them, because I'm running low on creativeness. Don't forget to vote on the new poll as well, and last week's results are below. So until next time, I'm your neighborhood Blogger-Man, JT!

Last week's poll asked "Which of the following huge comic events has been your favorite so far?"

Last place with 0.0% - Brightest Day... I don't even have a bad joke for this...that's just sad...
Second Place with 27.3% - Blackest Night, Better than Brightest Day did!
Winners with 36.4% each - Tie between Shadowland and None of the above... I'm interested in what you guys would've chosen.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, it's once again that time of the week for some Ratings and Rantings, Jason Todd here to welcome you to my Red Hood again. Today we've got a huge haul of comics to jump into, so we're gonna get things started off quickly. Few notes first though, No Booster Gold review because I wasn't enjoying the last few issues of this arc so I'll pick it up starting with the new one, and no Atom because I got tired of wasting money on half a comic. And just to remind everyone, there will be a new poll this weekend, as well as another Top 5 Five, and the categories will be below. Now, let's get things underway with Batman #703!


Batman #703

This issue is titled, "Prelude to Bruce Wayne: The Road Home", and is written by Fabian Nicieza, the only man besides Bryan Q. Miller to make me like their portrayal of Damian Wayne.  The issue starts off with Damian busting Dick's chops about not catching a criminal. When the criminal escapes, Damian starts to rip into Grayson, but Grayson remembers when he ripped into Batman for the same problem. They discover that the criminal was possibly "The Getaway Genius", just as Red Robin shows up with a newspaper that has Batman and Robin on the cover and says "Batman & Robin fail to stop Museum Thief", by Vicki Vale. After discussing that Vale may be involved, Dick decides to go meet with her, as Dick Grayson of course. Dick and Vicki argue, all the while she insinuates that Tim is Red Robin and other members of Wayne's entourage may be Bat-family members. Before leaving Dick places a huge tracker on her bag, which I found funny considering it's as big as a freaking quarter, so how she doesn't see it just blows my mind. We see a quick look at the Getaway Genius, and find out she's a woman, but not one I recognize. We then see Damian working out and talking to Alfred, as Damian basically shows an attitude at his father even being bothered with the Getaway Genius. Alfred tells Damian to stop making decisions on what he thinks Bruce "was...is" and started to learn the truth. From there we see Vicki Vale taking pictures for the society page and sees a crime, as someone snatches a woman's necklace. Batman and Robin arrive on the scene, have some banter, then Batman decks a guy who turns out to be our criminal using a holographic projector. The nice swerve of the Getaway Genius was a great view at showing us who Batman was, and what he may be upon his return. I like seeing different sides of Bruce and that's what this allowed us, and even made me connect with Damian a little. I'd give this issue an 8/10, it was a solid issue, with a self contained story that was well-written and built hype for "The Road Home", so you can't ask for more.

Batman: We've talked about about being overconfident.
Robin: Yes. You said it had been your most endearing trait as Robin.
Batman: And it was, but it works better with a smile than a scowl...


The Amazing Spider-Man #641

This is the finale to the four-part mini series known as "One Moment in Time" which I've been thoroughly enjoying. We start off with Mary Jane and Peter discussing the events that led to this moment like they have been for the last few issues. We see Doctor Strange conversing with Tony Stark and Reed Richards about making everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Strange mentions that when he was offered a chance at anonymity he jumped at the opportunity, as did Tony Stark, and that Peter deserves the same chance. Tony acts like a tool and says it's Pete's fault for leaving the Avengers and breaking the law that his family now faces these problems, but Strange retorts that Tony is just upset because Peter stopped believing in him the way he used to. After Tony decides that Peter should have privacy, and everyone should forget, Reed interjects that everyone except he, Tony and Strange should forget, in case something happens. Tony says nothing good could come from them knowing. After some deliberation, everyone agrees to make it so only Peter remembers everything that's happened. While this is going on we see Peter standing over an unconscious Mary Jane, telling her that everything will be back to normal soon. There's an awesome panel where we see Spidey's HUGE rogue gallery. Strange snaps out of his trance and tells Peter to enter the bubble that will basically keep him from forgetting his past, Peter enters and cries as he leaves MJ behind, and suddenly runs out and grabs MJ, bringing her in while telling Strange he can't live a life without her knowing the truth. When the dust clears everyone has forgotten and Strange is knocked out as Peter, holding MJ in his arms walks away. She awakens later and Peter tells her a quick version of what happened and how only they know the truth, before telling her to get some rest and that he's explain in the morning. Pete wakes up and sees MJ is gone, but before he can go to far he finds out she's in the bathroom crying. She tells Peter not to touch her, and she asks him questions and then asks if he did what he did for them, or for him. She asks Peter why he couldn't just let her forget too. MJ cries and tells Peter it's not her family that suffers because Peter is Spider-Man, they suffer because she's Spider-Man's girl, and if someone rips off his mask the cycle will start over. The two kiss as MJ tells Peter to stop ignoring the phone or pager or something and go see Aunt May at the hospital. They talk and as Aunt May asks about MJ we see her putting her bags in a taxi and leaving New York. We all know what happened after that so I won't elaborate, but the final part with MJ and Peter talking was great. This whole Mini was pretty good, and the think tank with Reed, Strange and Tony was some fantastic writing, I can't stress how much I enjoyed that. I gotta give this issue a perfect 10/10 and a very high recommendation for the One Moment in Time story.

Peter: Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot. How you, feeling, gorgeous?
Aunt May: Like I was hit by something a tad bigger than a jackpot.


Batgirl #14

Batgirl and Supergirl, the first real team-up between the blond bombshells of the World's Finest takes place in this issue! Things start off with our two crime-fighting teens being held by the neck by a black and white Dracula. But hey, we're getting ahead of ourselves, so we take a jump back to about ten hours ago. We see a super bored Stephanie Brown with her mother playing Scrabble on "Family game night!" We see that Babs is off with the Birds, Wendy is updating firewall equipment and surprisingly there's not any crime going on in Gotham tonight. The doorbell rings and Steph jets to it and sees Supergirl,  who uses her super speed to put on some civilian clothes (or Civvy Skivies as I call them...) before Steph's mom can see her. The two girls decide to head out, and talk about how life is going for them lately. After a little talking, Supergirl runs around like a child while saying how much she envies Batgirl for being in college. Supergirl asks Steph if they can go to Keg Parties and have pillow fights... now that sounds like a comic worth reading! Kidding, kidding. Kara talks Steph into going to see a 3-D movie, meanwhile some nerd doesn't wanna go back to being a teaching assistant so he does something that causes the Vampires in the 3-D movie to come to life. Yes, it's as corny as it sounds. It takes Kara a minute to realize because growing up on a farm for a few years obviously makes you stupid. Anyway, the two femme fatales decide to team-up and take care of the blood-sucking movie stars. There was a funny scene where Kara rips her shirt off and has her costume underneath, and waits for Steph to do the same until she replies "Not unless you wanna see my bra." They find out that there's 24 of these pesky Dracula's around that they have to stop. We see a montage like scene before there's only one Dracula left and that's where things started in this issue. From there you can pretty much guess what happened. This was another fun issue, pretty corny but hey, what can ya say? We saw Dracula's crying in black and white 3-D, but it was STILL better than Twilight :P I'll give it a 7/10 rating.


Supergirl: Aren't you gonna... you know...
Batgirl: Not unless you wanna see my bra.
Supergirl: Does it have a bat on it?
Batgirl: I assure you it does not.


Green Lantern #57


First things first, this is a really nice cover. I don't know who the big man is in the middle but the way they used the colors to accentuate over having to draw everyone's faces is a pretty cool idea. So as we start off things, Larfleeze and Hal are avoiding attacks by Hector "The Great Pumpkin" Hammond, who looks positively creepy. After trying to eat Larfleeze, the Orange Entity'd Bobblehead flies off trying to find Carol Ferris. Hal and Larfleeze decide to head to Vegas to find Carol before Hector does. We jump over to Zamaron, the home world of the Star Sapphires and see that their power battery is rebuilt but not as strong that it was, and also for some reason it was powered by the remains of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Alrighty, well that's pretty awkward. They talk about how the Lantern will die out soon unless they find the Predator, but Carol is already in Vegas on the case. Carol runs into some jerks and disposes of them, and is then contacted by the head of the Star Sapphires telling her to pick up the speed basically. Meanwhile, some dude with a camera is snapping pics from afar of some chick he likes then takes them back to develop them. Suddenly the Star Sapphire entity appears and pretty much merges with him so he can go talk to the woman he's been stalking. Tough love I guess. While looking for The Predator, Carol stumbles upon Larfleeze who is loving Vegas and it's all you can eat buffets. Predator and his new host attack Carol and Larfleeze but Hal shows up to join the fight. After a bunch of conversation, Carol realizes that there's more to it than the entity just being evil. She confronts the host and the entity, and tells it that he doesn't love the woman he's watched, it was just infatuation. She kisses the guy which somehow allows her to catch the entity... which was odd. But that's not the end of the comic, because I wouldn't ruin that for you guys. But I was pretty surprised by the ending of the issue. This story wasn't one of the best in recent memory but it was far from bad, I'm wondering how the ending will affect everything though, and the tag for the next issue leaves me even more excited. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10.

Larfleeze: "ALL YOU CAN EAT"?! I HAVE ARRIVED!!!!


Daken Dark Wolverine #1

Just when you thought it was safe to not get killed by Wolverine's murderous Mohawk having son, Daken has a new series that starts only two weeks after his past one ended. This one is also written by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Way who's now going by Dan Way. So in other words... awesome. We start things off with a flashback from fifty years ago, seeing a drunken Wolverine stumble out of a bar. A crying woman runs out behind him, and says that the man Wolverine just gutted was done fighting, and Wolverine did it for nothing, implying he'd just killed her husband or boyfriend or something. All the while we can see someone has Wolverine in a Sniper Scope, but at the last second Daken tells them not to take the shot because "They have time." We jump forward to Present Day, which I love because even if you read this comic eighty years from now it's still present day. Anyway, at a Modeling show we see a blond woman looking for a model, and she finally finds her in the back room, making out with Daken. After the model leaves, Daken apologizes to the blond woman who blows him off and says she's used to dealing with Jackasses. Daken then flirts with a few people, then gets a call from Johnny Storm, which is weird, sure they could've kept in touch after meeting a while back but it just seemed odd. Anyway, he tells Johnny he has to call him back because someone's about to kill him. Daken hangs up, sips his champagne out of his tiny glass, then opens a 64 oz can of whoop ass on his attackers. Daken then goes to meet with the person who sent the attackers, telling them he's done his part of the deal. The mystery man replies that Mystique betrayed them, to which Daken sarcastically replies while acting shocked considering her track record. When the man wonders how she knows of the plan, Daken says he told her, because he wants everything, and the only way to get it is to make sure no one else has anything. The issue ends while we see things wrap up and Daken in his new costume. I thought this was a well written introductory issue, it raised a lot of questions as it should, yet set the ground as well. I'd give this issue an 7/10 rating.

Daken: I'm going to have to hang up now. Someone's about to kill me.


Daredevil #510

This issue gets underway with Foggy and Dakota in a hotel room, Foggy is standing by the window like an idiot after Dakota warns him not to, so some ninjas come in through the window to attack, but Dakota is ready for them. She makes them regret ever attacking as she handles them all, but Foggy manages to get held hostage. He isn't for long because some unlikely help comes in the form of Tarantula. He warns them that Matt is losing his mind and now it's not just The Hand to worry about, but the whole city is turning on itself. We jump over to Detective Alex Kurtz, commenting on how the city is going crazy. While in a convenience store, he overhears a robbery and tries to stop it before The Hand can come and deliver their harsh version of justice. When The Hand attacks, one of the robbers shoots and runs before realizing he just shot a teenager, and that the two "Hand" members were teenagers playing crime-fighter. We then see Iron Fist and Luke Cage talking about if they want to kill the thing inside of Matt, they have to kill Matt. At just that moment, Dakota and Foggy walk into the room, catching Iron Fist off guard. After deliberation, the heroes agree that they must kill Matt, but Foggy says this is all The Kingpin's idea, which prompts The Kingpin to walk into the room. Like the genius he is, Kingpin says just the right things to convince everyone they need to act now before the city rips itself apart. We then see Tarantula confronting Daredevil, who has Elektra and Typhoid Mary with him,  telling him he doesn't approve of his recent decisions. Daredevil seems to agree with Tarantula before quickly changing his stance and telling Tarantula to get back on the streets and remind everyone who their lord is. The ending of this issue was great, (which I won't ruin, you're welcome.) I'm looking forward to the next issue of Shadowland and Daredevil just based on the last three pages of this issue. I'm wondering what will happen with Tarantula and everyone else, and that we may have a bit of Matt left to fight back is interesting. Anyway, I'll give this issue a 9/10 and recommend it to anyone who's loving the Shadowland story as much as I am.

Me: That is the worst Kurt Angle I've ever seen in my life... (Upon seeing an add for some TNA action figure things.)


Justice League Generation Lost #9

We start things off for this issue of Gen Lost with Booster Gold, Master of the monologue, filling us in on what's been going on so far for the team formerly known as the JLI. Unbeknown to the Golden One, He's a mere one room away from Max Lord, the man he and the rest of the JLI have been searching for. Meanwhile, Max has Fire at gunpoint, but our Brazilian Babe powers up and tries to engulf Max in flames, but lucky for him he has a force field. Max uses his super mind powers and makes Fire sit down and shut up. Fire tries to yell for help but the room their in allows no sound out, so Max once again tells her to pipe down while he works, before he puts a bullet in her knee. Back with the rest of the JLI, Ice says she's not happy and wants to quit the team. Captain Atom retorts that he doesn't wanna chase Max over the world either, but he's doing it for the good of the world. We then see Skeets and Rocket Red, as the injured Russian tells Skeets he's fine and wants to "up suit." Skeets announces he's found something to Gavril, and we see Max press a button that electrocutes Skeets. As Gavril tries to help, Max uses his control over Fire to make her go attack our Russian Comrade. Still able to talk, Fire warns Gavril that Max is controlling her. Gavril gets to his hand gear and rocket boots and tries to fight back, which attracts the JLA. Fire warns them that Max is there, and Atom tries to subdue her while telling Ice to help Rocket Red and Beetle to help Skeets. Booster has already found and attacked Max Lord, while Captain Atom overcharges Fire so she runs out of power. Meanwhile, Booster and Max are face to face as their force fields hold one another back, they argue as Max pulls out a gun, but drops it as his nose starts to bleed. Booster gets ready to attack but Max binds Booster using his powers somehow and leaves via teleportation, but as he leaves he tells Booster he's sorry, cause the gloves are coming off. The issue ends with Max Lord calling in a certain someone, (if you follow Brightest Day it shouldn't be hard to figure out) and asking them to kill Captain Atom. This was a really good issue, It held my interest the entire time and teased the big Booster vs. Max showdown very well. I'd give this issue a 10/10 rating, it deserves it in my eyes.

Captain Atom: It's not because we want to Ice! IT'S BECAUSE WE HAVE TO!


Red Robin #16

This issue starts with a web chat, we see that someone has been killing possible Robin's and Red Robin's based on age, body type and wealth to find the real hero. We see that this man is Tim Drake's former nemesis, Anarky. The man who as Tim put it, "Thinks of himself as my own Joker." Tim finds out about the murders that were caused somewhat because of him, and plans to put a stop to Anarky. From there we get quick updates on Lynx, Prudence, the search for Bruce Wayne, and Captain Boomerang since they all tie into Tim Drake, which I thought was pretty cool. From there we see Tim handle the running of Wayne Enterprises, as well as dealing with Vicki Vale. From there Tim and Tam Fox had lunch, and it was funny seeing how awkward Tim is with girls, guess the Wayne charm only rubbed off on Grayson... anyway the meal gets cut short when Tim gets a text message from an ally that Anarky may be striking again soon. We find out soon that Anarky is using Lonnie, the former Anarky, and that Lonnie is Tim's texting ally. Red Robin arrived on the scene just in time to stop Anarky from killing another innocent victim. While being subdued by Red Robin, Anarky activates a protocol that will blow up his apartment, killing the paralyzed comatose Lonnie and he has sixty seconds to get to him while he's fourteen blocks away. Tim hits Anarky in the vagus nerve, paralyzing him for at least twenty minutes as he heads to save Lonnie from a grim fate. The end of this issue was great, and it didn't end with the Lonnie stuff but with even more great writing from Fabian as we saw Tim stand face to face with one of his biggest enemies. Along with the hype for the next issue of Red Robin in two months I can easily say this has become one of my top five series since Fabian took over. I'll give this issue a perfect 10/10 score as well, there wasn't one thing I didn't enjoy.

Tim: They don't care about any of this. Vicki Vale or any of them. Will the first question be about my "injury" or my "engagement"?
Vicki Vale: Tim, How has your injury affected your engagement?
 Tim: That's why she's the best...

So that's all for this week's Ratings and Rantings. Thanks for reading and as always comments are appreciated from my loyal readers as well as my new ones. Also, it's that time again for the Top 5 Five! So if you wanna participate, send me your five picks for each category to KevinKavalier@gmail.com. The choices are below, so don't forget to send those in by this Sunday. Until then, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!

Top Five Powers you wish you had
Top Five Supporting characters (ex. Lois Lane)
Top Five Characters you hated now you like
Top Five Characters you'd hang out with if they were real
Top Five Former Robin characters in Order of your Favorite to Least Favorite (only canon, no Carrie Kelly)


Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #4, Birds of Prey #5, Brightest Day #10, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2, and Deadpool #27