Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, it's a little late in the week but it's that time once again for your weekly dose of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! This week we've only got six comics to run through, but being ever the optimist, I'm hoping they'll be mostly enjoyable. Also, next week is the return of the Top Five 5, so next week's Ratings and Rantings (Hopefully up by Thursday or Friday) will include the categories for the upcoming Top Five. So enough future planning, let's jump right in with the lovely ladies of Gotham, in Gotham City Sirens #17!

Gotham City Sirens #17

This issue starts off with Selina telling Bruce she loves him while they wear fancy rich people gowns and suits, and it turns out this is a hallucination and she's been dragged under the ground by something. Meanwhile the remaining Sirens, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, have teamed up with Talia Al Ghul and Zatanna, or as I call them, The Bruce Wayne Little-Black-Book club. The four women go after Catwoman, and as Harley and Ivy wonder why someone would want to kidnap Selina, alia and Zee exchange looks, showing that they at least know. They continue on after Selina and encounter the assassin known as Shrike. He mentions that he's in on the Catwoman kidnapping because he also wants to know "his" identity, and when he finds out Harley and Ivy don't know what he's talking about, he plans on telling them and Zatanna tries to silence him, but her magic won't work on him for some reason. Shrike tells them that Batman's identity will soon be discovered. Shrike brings the fight to the ladies, and Ivy and Zatanna take him on as Harley and Talia continue to go after Catwoman. Back in Catwoman's very weird hallucination, she runs everywhere with Bruce trying to escape some rock and fire monsters until they eventually kill him, and she yells out "Bruce!", just as Talia and Harley run in to see Catwoman knocked out in front of Senpai. (Whoever that is.) He then disappears for some random ass reason, as Catwoman is helped up by Harley. Later on a rooftop, Zatanna tells Talia they didn't appear to have stolen Bruce's identity and asks Talia who Senpai is. Talia says he's her Grandfather Sensai's greatest student and he wants revenge because apparently Bruce killed her Grandfather. When did this happen? Someone wanna fill me in on that info? Talia then says the safeguards se gave Selina wasn't good enough and they have to wipe Bruce from Selina's memory as the issue ends. Man this was bad. This comic was SO bad. "Oh no, someone kidnapped Catwoman, whose super capable of kicking major butt by herself, let's send four women that have barely interacted to save her. Oh, let's have Shrike beat up on Ivy AND Zee. Oh, and then the reveal of the mastermind won;t be someone like Deathstroke or Two-Face or Scarecrow or someone capable but Senpai, whoever HE is. Oh, and let's wipe Bruce from Selina's memory, because that's Talia's decision, we shouldn't see what Bruce thinks about it at all." Anyway, I'm done reading this crap. I figured taking Harley (who I love, but she's not even written like herself), Ivy (who can be a great Huntress type character for this team) and Catwoman as the leader would be great, but I've been pretty underwhelmed since the series debuted so I'm done with it. No more Sirens for me, if ya see me list it as something I'm picking up, remind me of this review. Because I'm done with the Sirens until they get a damn good writer. I'll give this a 3/10.

Harley: What do you know that we don't?

Talia: Oh, Harley... what you don't know staggers the imagination. If I was to start talking right now, we'd all die of old age before I finished.

Batman Beyond #6 of 6

The final issue of what may be the second best Mini-Series to come out of DC Comics this year, so I'm hoping it ends strong as well. Things get underway with Terry trying to go after the newest Hush, with Bruce telling him to stay back and reminding the current Batman that Hush almost killed him. Terry asks who will stop Hush is he doesn't, and Bruce looks towards a Batman suit, before being told that time is over for him by someone in the shadows, then Dick Grayson steps forward. Dick jumps right into the swing of things with a plan and goes for the Batman equipment. Terry says he's up for the fight and Grayson says he will be joining him. Bruce asks if Grayson needs a uniform as Grayson walks away with Batman. Grayson and Terry head toward the epicenter to catch up with Hush, and are joined by Catwoman as well after she hitches a ride with the current and former Dark Knight. They formulate a plan to try to subdue Hush and get ready to spring it into action. Back at Cadmus labs we see Amanda Waller as she's approached by Detective Nathan Bullock, he says they have warrants due to the allegations by Nora Reid. Amanda quickly pulls out some incriminating evidence of her own. Bullock says that shows she was expecting them, and incriminates herself. Waller denies it and sends the Detective/possible descendant of Harvey Bullock. We then see Hush, underground with his explosives, wondering if he actually has killed Batman and if that's why he's yet to show up. He goes to press the detonator when it's knocked out of his hand by a Batarang. Hush is shocked to be face to face with Dick Grayson, and Grayson shocks he still has it, but it's quickly knocked out of him by one of the big robotic Bat-Wraith. Grayson isn't alone for long with Batman and Catwoman appear to help him attack Hush. The three heroes take on Hush and his Bat-Wraiths as Bruce tries to override Hush's controls from the Batcave. Bruce successfully disables the robots and Grayson and Catwoman neutralize Hush's missiles. Hush tries to get rid of Batman but Batman mistakenly pushes him in front of a Bat-Wraith that explodes. Ah Hush, sucks for you buddy. Catwoman leaves after the fight, and Bruce pretty much bares his soul to Grayson, but Grayson leaves without saying a word, which was interesting to see how they've switched roles. The issue ends soon after with Terry in the Batcave with Bruce, discussing the future of Batman. This series started off really strong, but the final two or three issues were kinda slow. I didn't get into this like I did with the earlier issues, and it was just average. While I commend Adam Beechen for not making Hush be someone obvious, like my namesake, I couldn't really get into who Hush was because I don't think Hush's identity has that type of anger and jealousy. This would have been a better fit for Jason, but I'm glad it wasn't because he doesn't need to be a villain ALL the time, he shouldn't be one at all, but he would've fit perfectly here. Anyway, I'll give this issue a 6/10.

Bruce Wayne: This is my life, Terry. It doesn't have to be yours. You have family, friends... choices. If you wanted to give up being Batman, I'd understand.

Action Comics #895

Lex Luthor's hunt for the Black power source has led him to running into Mr. Mind, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Death, and now Vandal Savage. This issue of Action Comics starts in 1358 with Vandal Savage . He somehow prophesies something will happen with Vandal due to a certain man, and that man is Lex Luthor. He even has a picture of him. I'm not even gonna question who could predict to a tee what Lex will look like, over six-hundred years before he's born. Anyway, Vandal waits, century by century he encounters Lex Luthor. He even shows his daughter, Scandal Savage, a picture of Lex in the late 20th century, before continuing on his plan of killing Aquaman. Vandal later converses with Lex in a panel that happened in Flash #124 (shout out to Wally West!) and invites Lex to visit him in Czech, which Lex turns down with his holier than thou attitude. They then converse again, during Salvation Run (which I reviewed) and Lex suggests the two work together. Once again Vandal invites Lex to visit him when they return to Earth, so he can fulfill his prophecy of course, and Lex turns him down. Meanwhile, Lex wakes up from a dream and figures out to unleash the power of the Black Lantern spheres they have to change all ten, and so far he's already changed two. Let me guess, one is in Czech, right? Anyway, Lex says that four of the spheres are in space, the location of two others is problematic, and the final two should be easy to reach. Lex then finds his #2, and tells him to get a satellite ready so they can change the spheres that are in space. And of course we find out that Vandal Savage knows where two of the spheres are. Vandal then gets tired of waiting and confronts Luthor himself, he tells Lex that he's implanted bombs all over Luthorcorp and wants to know the location of the other spheres or he'll blow up Lex's building. The issue ends soon after with Lex summoning a little help to deal with Vandal, from a certain team of six. This was a surprising ending, I'm wondering how Vandal will deal with this team's interruption. As for the issue, it was fine but a bit slow. Nothing pivotal happened though, I'll give it a 6.5/10.

Lex: I don't associate with "Super-Villains" unless it's to lead them.

Deadpool #29

THE RETURN OF DOCTOR BONG!!!!!! Oh yeah, the greatest Deadpool villain ever in only his second appearance. Things start off with Deadpool sitting between the Secret Avengers and their clones, all tied up. Deadpool starts with the obvious question and asks why there are two of them. We quickly find out that Deadpool's old shrink, Doctor Bong, has been making clones to have them steal from the government to fund his experiments, and that even the guys in the ski-masks about two issues back were clones. Also, all of Doc Bong's clones have regenerative powers. Deadpool then asks the other Steve Rogers what he has to say, and he says the first Steve was telling the truth, except that the first Steve is the clone, not him. Deadpool uses his genius reasoning to figure out which one is a clone and which one isn't (I can't do it justice by typing it.) and blows the clone to smithereens. DP unties Moon Knight and Black Widow, but not before asking Black Widow if she liked being bound and gagged, to which she replies she did a little, making Deadpool's heart melt. Moon Knight complains about Deadpool coming with them but Steve notes how Deadpool didn't read Bong's brief, and still managed to regain himself after the explosion, and subdue two teams of Secret Avangers, so he's more than capable of accompanying them. Take THAT Moon Knight... you Spoiler wanna-be! Yeah, I said it. Anyway, Deadpool and the Secret Avangers move out, but not before making a quick stop for the Merc with a Mouth. We don't see what DP gets but Steve says there's no room for it in the car. Deadpool says Black Widow can sit on his lap, and ever a gentleman, Steve says No... and begrudgingly says he'll sit on Deadpool's lap. That made me laugh so hard.... Captain America, in a tiny car, sitting on Deadpool's lap. Red Skull would LOVE this. Back with Doctor Bong at his new hideout, he has his men load his trucks with his weapons and experiments. He then has all of his masked clones put on Deadpool costumes, which shows how genius the Good Doctor is. When they arrive at Doctor Bong's base, the numerous Deadpool's attack Deadpool and the Secret Avengers, and of course, DP pulls the old switcheroo, and gets close enough to Doctor Bong to make Bong think he's one of his clones. While trying to escape with one of his clones (actually the real Deadpool), Black Widow snipes one of Bong's tires, and he drives off the edge of a highway, causing a huge explosion and killing Bong, or so the heroes think, until he resurfaces unharmed. We soon find out that Deadpool saved Bong, per Steve's request. The issue ends soon after, and had me laughing until I cried. I loved this issue, it had Deadpool evolve more as a hero, classic Deadpool humor, and more Doctor Bong! Deadpool is quickly becoming one of the highlights of my comic reading due to it's consistent humor, I can't wait for the next issue, and I can't wait for the return of Doctor Bong! I'll give this issue a solid 9/10, and recommend this and the last two issues to anyone and everyone, it's just a fun read.

Deadpool: *after slicing off Doctor Bong's hand* As a matter of fact, This guy's never gonna hit the bong again.

Justice League: Generation Lost #14

Gen Lost gets underway with Captain Atom, once again thrust into the future. Captain Atom doesn't have time to figure things out as he's quickly attacked by a gigantic OMAC, and he can't fight back until his body can metastasize the energy (absorb it?), but he's soon saved by a futuristic Batman, and a female Shazam that looks better than Billy Batson ever did. They recognize Cap due to the old Bat-computer files, and let Cap know he's been gone for one hundred and twelve years. We even see a futuristic Power Girl, with a black costume and the House of El symbol over where her cleavage usually is. She informs Cap. Atom of the changes in time and introduces him to the new Justice League. The new league consists of Batman (Damian Wayne...even though he's like 130), The Creeper who's now part cyborg, Shazam (Sahar Shaheen), Blue Scarab (a descendant of Blue Beetle), Plastic Man (a clone...who would clone Eel?), Red Hood (Thomas Grayson?), Black Canary (Descendant of Hawk and Dove) and Martian Manhunter (Old as hell.) We find out that Superman is on the other side of the universe fighting the Green Lantern War, by fighting the Green Lanterns, to keep them from invading Earth. Yep, Superman can beat ALL the Green Lanterns, so remember that. And it's verified that Damian is 131 and uses the Lazarus Pits... so that crazy little bastard can use them and be fine, but Jason goes in once and is "crazy" now? Alrighty then. Cap. Atom continues to try to get info from Kara about what set all of these things in motion as the JLA "boom tubes" into the still running base of the deceased Max Lord. As she explains, the base is flooded with airborne pathogens that turns Red Hood, Black Canary, and Blue Scarab into OMAC's. Kara tries to fight them but the OMAC's blast her with Kryptonite rays. Atom has to watch on, but his power finally kicks in and he joins the fray. He feels himself being thrown back into the time stream and desperately asks Kara what it was that set the future into motion. After a lot of yelling and prodding he finds out what sat everything underway, the person inconspicuous by their absence, Wonder Woman, was killed by Max Lord and that caused the Amazons to rise against humanity. The issue ends with Captain Atom being thrown back into the stream, wondering what he can do to make the future a better tomorrow. This was another great issue, and I'm really becoming a big fan of Captain Atom. I loved seeing the future team, even if it did include Damian :-P, I'll give this issue a 9/10.

Captain Atom: Was it all Max Lord? If I go back and kill him... will it stop?

Amazing Spider-Man #649

This issue of ASM starts off with us seeing the Hobgoblin in South America, taking assassination jobs to make money. After finding out that Osborn is in jail, he decides to head back to America to be top Goblin. We're then caught up to him joining with Kingpin, and getting a test target to make sure he has what it takes for what Kingpin wants done. Hobgoblin goes to get some supplies by stealing them from one of Norman Osborn's weapons cache. After poking around Osborn's man weapons, Hobgoblin finds a cup of freshly brewed coffee and demands whoever is there come out. He finds Phil Ulrich, who was there to steal some Goblin stuff to impress some girl he likes. Riveting. Hobgoblin decides to kill the former Green Goblin but Phil hits Kingsley with his Sonic Scream (sounds less odd when it's for Black Canary), Phil then picks up the Hobgoblins sword and decapitates Kingsley! Where the hell did THAT come from?! Only like nine pages in too...  From there we go over to Brooklyn and we see Norah undercover, trying to find out info about the Goblin loving White Supremacists. They find out and are about to attack the feisty reporter when she's saved by Spider-Man and Black Cat! We find out that Cat and Spidey will be teaming up for a while, in hopes that Spidey's Avengers cred will rub off on Black Cat. After dealing with the gang members and Black Cat giving Norah a quick interview, Spidey heads home to his high-priced hotel room. He changes from his work clothes to his casual clothes and soon after his girlfriend, Carlie Cooper arrives. Spidey, being the pig he is, has left all the chemicals he uses to make web fluid on the table, and also his Spider-Man glove on the floor by the door, but luckily Carlie doesn't see the glove and doesn't thoroughly question the chemicals due to getting a call on her cell from the Police Captain. Pete wakes up the next day to a bunch of knocking on his door as Aunt May rushes in and tells him to shave and shower so he won't be late for work. She then accompanies him to work on the subway while bragging about him to other people. And people wonder why Peter is a glorified baby at this age. A great part was seeing a flashback from an old issue of Spider-Man, complete with the older art of Peter quitting school and getting a job after Uncle Ben's death. We then see Mayor J. Jonah meeting with Steve Rogers. He even asks Steve if he'd like an autograph. Man... I love Jameson. Steve is there to request that Spidey gets the key to the city after saving the day last time, and Jameson hates that idea, but he gives into pressure after Steve and Jameson's son, John agree that Spidey should get to shine. We then see Mac Gargan being watched over and he's in a ton of pain since losing the Symbiote. Mach-5, a.k.a. the former Beetle, tells them that if he doesn't have his suit or the Symbiote to keep him alive, Mac Gargan will die. Back with Peter, he is introduced to his lab and work co-workers, and uses the whole day trying to come up with ideas but doesn't come up with any. His drought of a brainstorm is soon interrupted by the Hobgoblin, and Spidey springs into action and the issue ends soon after. This was a great issue, a little slow at times but definitely interesting. Especially the stuff with Kingsley and the Hobgoblin. Once again I'd say if you aren't reading ASM you should be, because it's getting better every month. I'll give this issue an 8/10.

Peter: *after Aunt May says she'll pick Peter's clothes* Stay out of my closet!

Aunt May: Oh, Dear. It's the pornography, isn't it?

Peter: Yes! It's porn!  MOUNTAINS OF PORN!

Aunt May: I'll be outside.

Well that's all for this week from me guys, hopefully due to my work schedule the Ratings and Rantings will appear more mid week instead of weekends now. Below are the results from last weeks poll and be sure to vote on this weeks newest poll. Until Next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!

Last week's poll asked "Which Series is in most need of Cancellation?"

Last Place with 9.1% - Outsiders, Batman's team lives another day.
Third Place with 18.2% - Azrael, I'm shocked this isn't printed on toilet paper.
Second Place with 27.3% - Titans, Deathstroke's team is wearing out their welcome.
Winner with 45.5% -  Teen Titans, New Squad and Writer and should STILL be cancelled. Sad.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Brightest Day #15, Batman 80-Page Giant 2010, and Shadowland #5.

Ratings and Rantings

Welcome everyone, to another edition of Jason Todd's weekly dose of comic content, Ratings and Rantings! I'm a little late this week due to not having internet access and work kicking my butt, but I'm back with a slew of reviews to brighten up your weekend. But before we do, I have a little news, courtesy of Judd Winick, "Yes, we're going to do more Jason Todd/Red Hood. And yes, I'll be writing it. I can't tell you in what manner. Or what we're doing exactly, but we'll be announcing it soon. There will be some Jason Todd stuff coming out." Man, I couldn't be happier about reading that! So, we've got nine issues to jump into (Batman Inc sold out) and four include Batman, so we're gonna get things started off with Brightest Day!

Brightest Day #14

Brightest Day # 14 starts off with Dove and Deadman on the rooftops of Gotham City, the ring whisks Deadman away and tells him "A Replacement has been chosen." Deadman jumps off of a building and uses his acrobatic skills to end up right in the middle of a crew of villains that must be working for Mr. Freeze. They attack Deadman, and Geoff Johns even has one utter the hilarious line (sarcasm), "You're Dead, Man." Deadman makes sure to note that the ring brought back the White Lantern's at the physical peak of their lives, I guess to shut up all of the Captain Boomerang questions. Deadman takes care of the henchmen, but when Freeze gets the drop on him it seems like Brightest Day will end early, until Batman makes the save. From there, Deadman and Batman catch up, and Dove arrives to the party as well. Deadman tries to give Batman the ring, but it stays on his finger, until he yells at it to go to Batman. From there the ring jumps onto Bruce's finger, turns his costume white and names all of the twelve resurrected heroes and villains. The ring takes over Bruce and makes him extremely out of character, and he starts talking about how life is connected and other hippie crap. The ring, through Batman, then tells Boston that wearing the ring should be an honor and Boston saw it as a chore. After he finishes his sentence, one of the Freeze thugs wakes up and shoots Boston Brand through the chest. Sucks to be you eh? Deadman then see's a point of his life when he was a child talking to his Grandpa who gives Boston great advice about growing old, but he brushes him off like a kid would to go watch TV. He then see's that he's been a jerk to other people as well and relives those moments, up until when he's shot and killed while performing at the circus. Boston then has a "What a wonderful life" moment and wishes he wasn't dead, so the Ring brings him back again. The ring flies off of Batman's hand, hits the shooting thug in the head, knocking him out, then flies onto Boston's finger. The issue ends soon after with a moment between Dove and Deadman and
with Batman wanting to talk to someone about Max Lord. This issue was kinda bleh, as usual. I like that it focused on one story and we knew Batman wasn't the White Lantern due to it being WAY too obvious. Also, who the hell killed Deadman, Claw from Inspector Gadget?! Anyway, the only thing this issue really did was make Bruce aware of Max Lord, which I've been calling for a while, so I'm happy that'll work out. Anyway, I'll give this issue a 3/10.

Batman: It's Batman. We need to talk about Maxwell Lord.

Streets of Gotham #17

Streets of Gotham starts off with Harley Quinn, with a little blood trickling from her head, driving home, repeating "It's only a dream..." over and over. She grabs a bazooka or something, and when Selina tries to stop her she knocks her out. From there, She gets ready to blast a door or something but Batman swoops in and catches her. Selina tries to tell Dick she doesn't know why Harley is acting like a Zombie, and Bruce tells her it's him and they kiss. Really? She can't tell the difference between the man she supposedly loves and his "son" when they have completely different costumes as well? Really? From there we find out that Harley was being controlled due to bug bites from bugs sent by a villain named Bedbug. REALLY?! Like...really? Did Dini write this or did Grant Morrison?! Bruce explains the way Harley was controlled and Selina asks how long he's been back as himself and not The Insider. Bruce replies by saying a few of days, they then talk about what he's done since being back and their relationship. Bruce also tells Selina that Hush has escaped, and that he'll do his best to find him. Meanwhile, Hush awakens with blood dripping down his face from the bullet grazing him in the last issue. When his shooter, Judson Pierce, enters the room, Hush decides to play dumb and see what Pierce wants with Bruce Wayne. We soon find out that Pierce swindled Bruce's mother, Martha Kane, and her family out of the Kane family fortune. Pierce continues and even manages to insult Hush's mom too, which was inadvertently funny. We then see an interesting scene with a young Thomas Wayne, Martha Kane, Leslie Thompson and Alfred (hook those two up!) all at Leslie's clinic. Meanwhile, Pierce sent in his goons to kill them all and ruin Leslie's clinic, but Alfred saves the day and defeats his thugs. Hush continues to try to stall, and when they get ready to kill the faux-billionaire, Hush uses that opportunity to fight back. Hush kicks ass in a manner that shows he should definitely be higher on the villain totem pole, I wouldn't mind Hush becoming the new Prometheus. Hush holds Pierce at gunpoint and pulls him close, telling him to note the stitch marks on his face, and his green eyes, making Pierce realize that he isn't Bruce Wayne. The issue ends soon after with Hush making some demands of his own. This was a fine issue but the art is always annoying me. Harley, Selina and other people really don't look like themselves and that annoys me. The fact that Selina didn't recognize her man also annoyed the hell out of me, and of course the ultimate annoyance, why the hell did this issue start with nothing from the last issue being handled?! I thought I skipped an issue by mistake, also, Bedbug is a horrible villain. Anyway, moving on, besides those, this was an alright issue. I'll give it a 6/10.

Pierce: I figured your ma could just spread her legs for some wealthy sap and be in the green again. That worked out for her pal, Marla What's-her-name. (Elliot, Marla Elliot.)

Power Girl #18

Cover of the year for four reasons.... okay, I'm joking. So this issue of PG starts off with Maxwell Lord and the evil Dr. Sivana meeting up at a secret location. After some talking and a failed mind control attempt due to Sivana having planned for it, Max tells the good doctor that he wants to replicate a Kryptoinian, leading us to Divine, a black haired, leather clad, Power Girl clone. Divine tries to hit Power Girl with her heat vision, but instead of a beam, it's the size of one of Cyclops' optic blasts. When Nicco asks what's going on because he has two readings of PG on his monitors, he asks if she has any weaknesses they can use against her, but PG won't say since Divine can hear the conversation due to super hearing. The busty hero and busty villain fly at one another at mach speed and cause a huge sonic boom when they collide. Peej realizes she can't have a straight up fight with herself so she grabs Divine around the waist and flies into the air, hoping Divine doesn't know how to use her powers too well. Sadly, Divine copes with them just fine and knocks PG deep underground, but luckily right into the lair she was searching for. Peej is shocked when she looks around and see's more clones of her in tanks, but this is cut short when Divine prolongs her attack. The two Kryptonians slug it out before the fight is stopped by Max Lord using a "high-intensity red solar energy blast." Divine is pulled out of it by our big Purple Hulk wanna-be from a few issues ago, Crash, as Max Lord explains why having Divine will help them replicate the powers of more metahumans. Power Girl see's Max's face but can't remember who he is or why his name is so important. Max decides to leave Power Girl there, and when Crash asks why they are leaving the equipment behind, Max says they don't need it. Power Girl looks over at the equipment and reads "Kord Industries" and immediately remembers Ted Kord, thinking he shot himself in the head, but when Max teleports away with Divine and Crash, she remembers that Max Lord killed Ted, but as she stands up she notices that the room is powering up, and it soon explodes. The issue ends on the page after that with Power Girl remembering who Max Lord is. I loved this issue, it was great, we continue to see Power Girl get her on Rogues Gallery, now adding Crash and Divine to the mix. We also got to see another hero remember Max, now with Bruce, possibly Dick, and the rest of the Gen Lost crew, we can add Power Girl to the group as well. I found nothing wrong with this issue at all, and really enjoy Judd's writing on it so far, I'll give this issue a solid 9/10.

Power Girl: His name is Max Lord. And I remember.

The Flash #6

Flash gets things off to a start with Barry Allen in future court with the Renegades, with Barry on trial for murdering the Mirror Monarch. Flash tells the Renegades that he was fooled by The Top, and that they need to catch him before it leads to bad things, especially for Flash's wife, Iris. We then see Top trying to take the box of evidence from Iris, so he can keep his reputation as a police officer in the future. Alrighty then. Back in the court, the Renegades realize that Flash may be right, and the information they got from Top could in fact be fabricated. Flash gets tired of waiting some he breaks out of the cuffs and tries to escape, which he succeeds in doing, and stops Top before he can suck the air out of Iris' lungs with his spinning top powers or whatever. Top flees but Flash follows after him, asking why he killed the Mirror Monarch, and Top tells him he's only dead for now, and that everything will reset and history will change when he's done. We find out that Top did this because if your ancestors were arrested then you can't be a police officer in the 25th century, so he doesn't want Flash to reopen that case because it would convict a family ancestor. Really? When Flash tells Top he's a criminal and had blood on his hands, Top snaps and tries to take down Barry, but fails when Barry uses his speed to go inside of Top and reverse the spinning and stop his speed....um....okay. After Top is knocked down and defeated, the Renegades show up to arrest him and then they leave. Cool, I guess. From there Barry gets the real criminal arrested, free's the kid who was mistakenly arrested, and we see the Rogues say that whatever happened with the Mirror they broke instill doubt in The Flash. Back with the Renegades, they note the multiple paradoxes with the 21's century, including Wonder Woman's classic and new look, Deadman and his White Ring, Batman back in time, and Luthor talking to Death. The issue soon ends after with someone on a motorcycle saying they hope Barry finds Flashpoint soon. So, with this issue I constantly found myself wondering what the hell was going on. I'm, thinking this may be my last issue of Flash, I'll see how I feel next month, but don't be surprised if this get's dropped relatively soon. Anyway, I'll give this issue a 4.5/10.

Renegade guy: Something's wrong with history. (Well when ya fix it, give Wondy her old costume, Roy his arm back, and make Wally West important again.)

Superman/Batman #78

Okay, so a Joe Kelly issue of Superman/Batman, with everyone from Mongul to the Scarecrow on the cover plus the promise of a Power Girl/Huntress team up? Excellent. The issue starts with Batman and Superman having a brutal fight as Batman thrusts a Kryptonite sword into Superman's chest, immediately making me think this is a game or something between two kids or nerds. So the nerds make rules about how they can't use Kryptonite, No killing, and a reason for Superman and Batman to fight. Yep, it's kids. They also add the rules of no Bat-Mite and Mxyzptlk, and no magic. They then try to decide what Superman and Batman would fight about, ruling out girls (Wonder Woman), a dead Robin (lmao), and membership in the league. They skip a reason and have Batman and Superman argue, leading into a big fight, and Superman punches Baman and takes his utility belt. Batman utters the code, Damocles, causing the belt to explode, blasting Superman away. The explosion temporarily blinds Superman so Batman can escape, but Superman listens to his heartbeat and tracks down the Dark Knight. The two then fight everywhere, even in space, with Batman and Superman constantly one-upping one another and leading to some great comedic moments, especially when Batman attacks Superman with the big Superman/Batman composite robot. Superman destroys the robot but it releases a giant Bat Shadow that blocks out the sun causing Superman to lose his powers as he and Batman fall to the earth, inevitably going to die because neither of them would give up. The two kids realize how the game is stupid because they'd never fight one another because their friends, and we see that Batman and Superman were above them, listening in. Superman enjoyed it but Batman feels like he wasted five minutes of his time, before telling Superman he could beat him, even without Kryptonite. The story ends with Batman telling Supes that the kid was right about a lot of Bruce's techniques, and when Supeman asks which ones, Batman stays silent and Superman wonders confused. I loved this, I mean LOVED it. It was a bunch of fun, a great story, and the humor that only Kelly can bring. If this was in the 75th issue of Superman/Batman I would've rated it MUCH higher, because this story was one of my favorites. The Huntress/Power Girl story was just okay, but the main story definitely picked up the slack. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves comics, humor, and is a big fan of Batman and Superman. I'll give this issue a 10/10. Also, this issue was so good it has TWO lines of the issue.

Narrator: Of Course! I mean... they wouldn't fight over a chick-- 

*Supes, Bats and Wonder Woman are shown*

Batman: So long as there is crime in the streets, I have no time for nooky. 

Batman: I work better alone... If you don't count Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman, Azrael, The other Robins, Nightwing, Oracle, and The Outsiders.

Batman: The Return - One-Shot

We start off with a lesson on Bats, and see the travel of a wounded bat, the same bat that would make his way into Bruce Wayne's study, and inspire Bruce Wayne to become Batman. From there we see Bruce Wayne, in his new Batman costume, as he saves a kid, thwarts a criminal, and tells another criminal that he's next, after returning his son. From there we see an awesome page with the Batcave, as Bruce has assembled Batman, Robin, Oracle, Batgirl and Red Robin. Bruce tells his team that due to his recent experiences he has big plans and they start with them, and has given them envelopes with special assignments. Bruce tells Babs that next spring Waynetech will start Internet 3.0, and he wants her to be his ghost in the machine, giving her access to cheat codes, vehicles and weapons no one else has. Is this a video game or something? He also wants Steph to enroll in finishing school in England for some reason. That should be easy to explain to Mrs. Brown, right? hen Damian asks what about Batman and Robin, referring to himself and Dick, but we don't get an answer. From there we see Bruce, with Damian and Lucius Fox go on a spending spree of equipment for Batman, including some Jet suits that increase strength, endurance and have short-range flight. Bruce tells Lucius to fix two and make them look like Batman and Robin. From there, he and Damian go on a mission that's so absurd I can't even try to explain it, basically a bunch of mutated things that failed are there, and Batman is attacked by some freaky looking big baddie. He keeps calling for Robin who doesn't come for some reason, and Robin stumbles onto some mysterious guy that flies away.... yeah. I read that part four times and I'm still confused. Bruce finally finds Robin and yells at him, and back at the Batcave, Damian tells Bruce to find himself a new Robin, and quits. Bruce tells Damian that the chances of them working together as Batman and Robin are zero. When Dick tries to talk to Bruce about how he didn't follow orders much as Robin, he tells them that Damian will be Robin, just the Robin to Dick's Batman. We then see Bruce and Alfred talking, and Bruce tells Alfred they need more Batcave's across the world, to which Alfred tells him not to worry. They bond, and afterwards, Bruce calls Selina and asks her to steal him a weapon from a criminal mastermind.... um...okay. The issue ends soon after with some more confusing Grant Morrison stuff that makes me wanna not read Batman Inc., I'll give this a 2/10.

Batman: Selina! I just got back from the dead and thought of you.

Deadpool MAX #2

Deadpool MAX gets things started with the Crimson Comedian in therapy, with his psychiatrist, Inez. We know her as Outlaw, or if you have the guts to call her that, Crazy Inez. Deadpool keeps hearing things the way he wants to, and most of them involve Inez saying how much she wants to do certain things with DP. When she asks about Deadpool's childhood, we see his Dad beating him with a bat while his mother nonchalantly irons, and replies that his father was a big Baseball fan. The session is interrupted when Bob bursts into the room, and tells Deadpool that a white Supremacist named Zemo is in Wisconsin, vowing to kill almost every person of every race, except using a bunch of racial slurs. Deadpool tells Bob he can't go because he has to go away do to being schizotypal, paranoid, antisocial and more. She pulls Deadpool away as Bob grabs his gun to go after them and finds out that all Inez has been writing for the entire session is "Inez loves Deadpool!" Bob tries to chase after them but Deadpool trips him and he falls face first into a cactus. We see another Deadpool flashback after he leaves with Inez, this time with him trying to get an orange, but having his hand smacked away by his mother. She then tells him if he wants an orange he'll have to do something for her, but we then cut-away to see the nursing home where Inez has taken Wade. He takes off his mask and tells her he won't mind if she runs off screaming, but she tells him he's gorgeous, before having a quick flashback of her own and remembering being attacked by her dad, who apparently looks like/may be Cable. She then tackles Deadpool and plants a huge kiss on him, and we find out that this whole time she actually WAS saying the stuff that Deadpool thought he was imagining, which was pretty funny. And from the bra we see fly off in the panel, we can only imagine what happens next. We then see Bob trying to get to Wade but he can't get into the building unless he offers sex to the very old woman working the door at the building, which he thankfully refuses. Next we see another Deadpool Flashback, with his father calling his mother a whore, and implying that to get the orange she made Deadpool have sex with her... man, no wonder he's so screwed up. Deadpool's dad gets upset and takes a boiling teapot and either beats him with it or pours the scalding hot tea all over Wade's face. From there we find out Inez is actually a patient at the hospital, and that she's told in nurses that the Doctor in charge can have Deqadpool's organs after DP's scratched the itch Inez has. DP then finds out how infatuated Inez is with him and that Dr. Harry has been making her lure people back so they could sell their organs on the black market. From there we see another flashback, now in the hospital, and that Wade's Mom actually slept with a man named Jakub, and Wade covered for her, which led to him being beaten by his father. She thanks Wade and tells him she's leaving forever, and gives Wade a box of oranges before leaving. When Dr. Harry finds Inez and DP he pulls out a gun, but unlucky for him, due to Deadpool's revelations, he was no longer insane, he'd become sane due to remembering his past, and proceeded to beat the holy hell out of Dr. Harry before killing him. He then has the orderlies put Inez in a straight jacket, because he can't be with her insane ass now that he's sane. This was a great issue, I loved the flashbacks and how Inez was written. I was wondering what to think of this series after the first issue but after really enjoying this one I know I'll continue to read it. I liked how Inez was written and hope she returns soon, also I'm interested to see how Zemo is written since they've made Zemo into a woman in this universe. But this was a solid issue in a new series that cemented Deadpool as a real threat, I'll give it an 8.5/10.

Inex: Come, Mr. Wilson. I need to get you into bed and screw your brains out before my head explodes.

Green Lantern Corps #54

Beautiful cover, Sinestro vs. Rayner. Those two have so much history, sometimes it seems like they have more than Sinestro and Jordan. Anyway, the issue starts off with Sinestro's ring construct choking Kyle, asking him if he's trying to shatter the truce after punching Sinestro. Kyle says he just wanted Sinestro's attention, to which Sinestro replies "Mission accomplished, alley rat!" before slamming Kyle into the ground. Sinestro removes his ring, as to not violate the truce, and fights Kyle one on one. By the way, when he removed it, the ring said "Fisticuffs enabled" which made me laugh so damn hard. Kyle and Sinestro duke it out, and after knocking Kyle down three times, Sinestro invokes the Mercy rule. After the fight ends, Kyle asks Sinestro to help him save Soranik again, and Sinestro tells him to do it himself. Kyle tells him that if Sinestro doesn't go, The Weaponer will kill Soranik, and Sinestro tells him he'd better figure out a new plan then. We then see Soranik, she wakes up on a couch and see's the Weaponer who is working not far from her. She tries to arrest him but he's already confiscated her ring. He tells her that he doesn't want to hurt her, she is merely bait for Sinestro. We soon see that the people of Qward were once the seat of power to the Anti-Monitor, and he had people who fought for him, and the people who made their weapons, were called the weaponers. He then talks about how Sinestro came to him to make a replacement power ring after losing his Green Lantern ring, and how he expected a Hero's reward for helping Sinestro. But Sinestro just brought war to the anti-monitor and the people of Qward. Years later Sinestro returned to Qward and enslaved it's people to make him more Yellow Rings for the Sinestro Corps. Since someone had to bear the blame and the Weaponer made the first ever yellow ring, he was exiled from his people. He finally was able to bring the fight to Sinestro after finding a mysterious white Net, the same recently created by Deadman with his White lantern ring, the net allows him to conjure any weapon he can imagine. Back with Kyle, he goes to Oa to recruit help from fellow Lanterns to save Soranik. Back with Soranik she tells The Weaponer she doubts Sinestro will come but he's adamant that he will. When his machines announce someone is coming, Soranik tries to grab her ring from where it's being kept but takes a huge shock for her troubles, knocking her unconscious. The Weaponer runs out to fight expecting to see Sinestro but is greeted by Kyle, John Stewart. Ganthet, Boodikka and Hannu. The issue ends as The Weaponer gets ready to take on the five Green Lanterns. This was another solid issue, I'm sure Sinestro will show up but I'm wondering if it will lead to a team up with him and Kyle or what will happen. As always the story was cool and the art was beautiful, but not much happened between this issue and the last. I'll give this issue an 8/10.

Sinestro's Ring: Fisticuffs Engaged. (Why...is that even a setting?)

Green Lantern #59

Green Lantern, featuring The Flash. Somewhere in the world, X-Man75 just got heartburn. Anyway, GL starts off with with two injured men being tended two by two paramedics in the back of an ambulance, the ambulance crashes and as one paramedics tries to climb out of the wreckage, he's met by the Indigo Tribe and Black Hand, who speaks on their behalf. The paramedic, Shane Thompson, is then chosen by the Indigo Entity, Proselyte. Over in Livonia, Michigan, Hal tells Barry he has everything under control, and Barry disagrees since a young teenage girl has been possessed by an Alien entity. Barry complains that Hal has been running with Sinestro and not him, I guess he's jealous. When Hal plays the Parallax card and tells Barry he wasn't there to see him when Parallax took over and made him kill his fellow Lanterns and friends, and that this is his responsibility. Over on Oa, Salaak is snitching on Hal because he believes he's up to something, and he may be possessed by Parallax again. The Guardians tell him to send the Alpha-Lanterns to Earth to investigate what Hal Jordan has been up to. Salaak tells them that the Alpha-Lanterns are still recovering from their run-in with Cyborg-Superman in Green lantern Corps' last arc, so Salaak recommends sending someone from outside of the Corps to track Hal. Back on Earth, Barry keeps acting like Hal's wife and nagging him, until Hal brings up Green Arrow. Barry says that's the last person he should look for approval from since he's a murderer. From there he says he didn't like Ollie because he changed Hal, so yeah, in other words he was jealous. Flash then says he's not the only one that thinks Hal is making a mistake, he's just the first on there cause he's the fastest. Saint Walker tells Barry that he should wear the Blue Ring again so he can understand where their coming from. Soon after that, the Indigo Tribe shows up with their entity in their new host, and also have Black Hand, who they claim to have reformed by giving him compassion. Barry interrupts and tells Hal to stop teaming with Villains and team with him, Batman and Superman, and that they're on the way. Oh no, the heroes are on the way, you're in trouble now Hal! Hal ignores Barry and asks if the rings make them feel compassion, if they were all murderers before they put on the rings. The entity Adara looks inside and notices the Indigo rings make them feel emotions and they don't have their own. The Indigo Lanterns get upset and threaten to take all the entities themselves if they won't team up with them. Their interrupted by the mysterious figure and Parallax, who takes control of one of the bystanders, I won't say who, but the next issue should be interesting. This was an alright issue, I really only cared for the ending and that's about it. I'll give this issue a 6/10 rating, here's hoping the next issue goes all out and has a hell of a fight.

The Flash: Once again Hal, stop digging yourself into this hole. It's going to turn into a grave.

Well everyone one, that's it for me. Hopefully next week's Ratings and Rantings will be done before the weekend. I work this week from 7-3, including Thanksgiving so if it's late, that's my excuse haha. But I'll try my best, also an early Happy Thanksgiving from me to you guys. And lastly, don't forget to vote on the new weekly poll. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Next Time on Ratings and Ratings

Action Comics #893, Batman Beyond #6, Gotham City Sirens #17, Generation Lost #14, Amazing Spider-Man #649 and Deadpool #29.

Ratings and Rantings

Come one come all, step right up and see the amazing 101st post! Hey everyone, as always I'm your host, your confidante, your comic reviewing machine, Jason Todd. And THIS, is the weekly phenomenon that's not really taking the internet by storm, but more like a very light drizzle, the hub of comic content, Jason Todd's Comic Spot! Oh yes, After a mere 100 posts I've finally gotten into the swing of things. This week is a big week, in between Call of Duty: Black Ops and starting training at my new job, I've also got a great collection of comics to read. So, let's jump into this while I still have the energy, shall we?

Batgirl #15

Dustin Nguyen takes over art duties in Batgirl starting now, I could care less since I'm such a fan of Bryan Q. Miller's wonderful work on Batgirl in the last year. I will say that I wasn't sure what to expect from Dustin, but I like his work of Streets of Gotham most of the time. Three pages in I was no longer worried, Dustin is going to do awesome. We start out this issue with a Cartoon-ish quick rundown over Batman's history including Dick Grayson, Babs Gordon, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Steph Brown and surprisingly they even mentioned Jason Todd, all the way from Bruce's parents death up to his "return from the dead." We see that this was Stephanie explaining everything to Wendy "Proxy" Harris. We then see Steph in a class with her friends that also signed up, when Steph forgets the packet she was supposed to bring all hell breaks loose with her and Francisco's (her crush) girlfriend, Jordanna. When someone runs by screaming for help, Steph excuses herself to the bathroom and goes after the guy. Batgirl arrives on the scene as some cloaked guys are about to attack the fleeing classmate. When Batgirl gets some unexpected help from a crazed bomber from a few arcs ago, now calling himself The Grey Ghost. Batgirl turns down his help and The Grey Ghost says she won't for long, before magically disappearing, causing Steph to make a funny joke asking is that why everyone hated Spoiler. Meanwhile, the guy Batgirl was helping was cornered by the cloaked figures and committed suicide, or so the police think. Detective Nick Gage isn't so sure so decides to look into it, but not before he talks to Barbara Gordon. They both notice that the deceased student is missing a Flash Drive that he wore before the murder, and when Babs mentions guys in Robes were chasing him, Nick runs off as if remembering something. Steph also has a heartfelt conversation with her mother when Steph's Mom suggests moving away from Gotham. The issue ends soon after with an ending wondering how Batgirl will clear her name of some new found implications. This was a nice solid issue, nothing amazing but nothing at all was wrong with it. I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Stephanie: Then Jason became Robin, then blew up, then came back, then went crazy. (Damn you Tony Daniel for adding the crazy to Jason's character.)

Titans #29

Beautiful art, even on an ugly character like the Mad Hatter. Anywho, this issue naturally picks off where the last left off, with Batman face to face with Deathstroke. Batman is trying to get to Allegra Garcia, but Deathstroke is too. Deathstroke notes his primary goal was freeing Mad Hatter, but Garcia is also apart of the deal for the client. Slade weighs his options, and decides Garcia is worth fighting for, and attacks the Dark Knight. We then see a flashback from two weeks ago with Ray Palmer searching of Ryan Choi's house. After finding nothing he shrinks down and see's blood corpuscles floating around the air. From there we see Osiris confronting who he thinks is Sobek, but it's actually Killer Croc. Croc tries to tell him he's not Sobek but Osiris "isn't hearing none of that" (heard that on Maury once...it works here.) The two break out fighting with Croc saying Osiris is the real monster. You go girl! Next we see a really, really bad scene with Roy getting owned by Clayface, Jane Doe offering sex to Ink (Tattooed Man) and Zsasz implying he's had sex with her....what?! Then... we get "Class A" Zingers like "At least I got hair" from Ink to Zsasz and the always priceless "Crazy witch" from Ink to Jane Doe.... okay, one more stupid thing and this gets a N/A. Scarecrow hits Ink with some good old Scarecrow toxin which is in powder for some reason.... causing Ink to see his dead son. While that distracts him he gets beat up by Doctor Phosphorus of all people as Jane Doe continues to lust for his skin. Alright, I'm done. This comic was horrible, I love jokes but these were horrible, and the dialogue was bad for everyone who wasn't Deathstroke and Batman. Also, why the hell would Croc EVER try to talk his way out of a fight?! The guy eats PEOPLE. You telling me a teenager with tights and a lightning bolt scares him more than Batman? Also, remember when Roy was actually worth something? Remember when Roy was ready for anything, even as Arsenal? Remember Roy was actually equal to Dick Grayson? Now look at him, the guy can barely fight CLAYFACE. Use Water or freeze him, it's not rocket science. Anyway, I have better stuff to read than Titans, period. Change writers and we'll talk, until then, consider this my last issue. N/A

Red Robin #17

This issue of Red Robin starts off pretty familiar, with a man and woman leaving what I assume is the theater or opera and a robber running up on them, grabbing her pearls and brandishing a gun, only this time the criminal's hand is impaled by a Batarang. But the criminal isn't attacked by Batman, this vigilante is none other than Cassandra Cain?! Freaking awesome, big fan of Cassie, especially when her entire face isn't covered. After subduing the criminal, Cass is confronted by Red Robin. We find out Tim asked Cass to get him information on Lynx, and she asked him to get info on a dangerous Chinese Assassin, The Cricket. Doesn't sound that menacing, but neither does Cass Cain. They both come up short with their info. Tim then offers Cass her Batsuit back, which annoys me since Steph is doing such a great job. Cassandra turns it down, reminding him that Steph is Batgirl now. Tim tells her to call herself Bat-chick, Knightbat or Black Robin, just don't forget she has a family. Cassandra tells him thanks, but replies that family isn't always a home, before leaving with the suit. From there Tim heads back to Gotham City, and we see that he's bought the theatre in Crime Alley. He then does a few more errands, including dinner with his friend Ives, and we find out Tim is about 17 or 18 years old. From there he meets with Lonnie from a few issues ago, recruiting him as his own personal Oracle, because if Steph can have one, and Power Girl can have one, why not Tim? Still conflicted on to believe Lynx or not from prior issues, Tim decides that he'll go help her. I really like the idea of Lynx being Tim's Catwoman, although I'm sure he'll end up with Steph in the end, since they're the updated Dick and Babs. Tim saves Lynx from being transported away, and when she unzips her prison jumpsuit down to her waist and hugs Tim, he gets flustered. Hey, he's a 17 year old virgin that's been fighting crime forever, I'd be flustered too! She gives Tim a kiss, which he enjoys, before telling him he has to continue to pursue her so she can keep up her charade. And just like that, Tim has a younger, sleeker, Catwoman. As Lynx leaves, Tim is joined by the original, Batman. Bruce and Tim talk about how they have everything in place for Batman Incorporated, and Bruce says with everything they forgot something, before hugging his adopted son. Bruce asks Tim a few questions, and even compares Lynx to Catwoman as well, before telling Tim they were gonna go have some fun. The issue ends right after with Tim and Bruce heading off, as Tim discusses Batman Inc. This was another great issue, since Judd took over I don't think there's been one issue of Red Robin I've disliked and this was another great one. I love the Lynx/Catwoman comparisons, the fact Tim gets his time to shine, and is more of an equal with Bruce than a sidekick now. I also loved seeing Cass Cain and I wonder how she'll be included. I'll give this issue a 9/10.

Bruce: So...Damian?

Tim: Dick's done a great job with him.

Bruce: I know that. What about you and the boy?

Tim: Did I mention Dick has done a great job with him?

Justice League: Generation Lost #13

Generation Lost #13 dropped this week, it's hard to believe this series has been going for 26 weeks already. That's insane. Anyway, this issue starts off with a quick flashback of a young Magog, somewhere between the ages of eight and eleven I'd assume, listening to his Grandfather tell war stories as he talks about how you always have to obey orders when in combat. From there we jump to the present with Magog attacking Captain Atom. Captain Atom tells Magog he won't fight back around a bunch of civilians as they fight in the middle of the street, and Magog says he doesn't care if Captain Atom surrenders, before raising his attack staff (?) over Captain Atom. We then rewind eighteen minutes back to when Magog first confronts Captain Atom, Jamie Reyes and Booster Gold. He announces that by orders of Checkmate and the United Nations Security Council, he's been told to execute Captain Atom. Booster and Beetle try to talk him out of it but Cap warns them to run, and that Magog's Lance (ah, that's what that is!) is different. Magog attacks the two and Booster mentions his force fields can't handle the Lance's new found power, as Beetle, like the chump he is, says the Scarab is telling them to get out of there. Cap Atom tells the guys that Magog's Lance is shooting radiation and other unstable energy, and tells the guys to leave. Beetle agrees but Booster refuses to leave a man behind. Cap Atom tells Beetle to take Booster away, and he does. I liked this because ut really shows how much Booster has grown as a hero in the last few years, hell ten years ago Booster would've been the first one out of the door. Magog and Cap have a huge radiation war with Magog getting the better of Cap many times over until Captain Atom asserts himself, and yells at Magog to tell him who gave him the orders. After a lot of yelling and Magog's quick flashback, he admits Max Lord did. He then falls to his knees saying he remembers it all, and how Max made everyone forget and was going to make him kill Captain Atom. This is soon interrupted by Max Lord, who walks up to the two men, tells Cap he's sorry for what he's about to do, then uses his mind powers to make Magog point his Lance at his head and blast it, causing it to explode, killing him instantly. The White Light then tells Max mission accomplished for stopping the war before it started, referring to Kingdom Come. Cap tries to get up to go after Max but realizes everyone around him is whispering and pointing camera phones. It seems Max made them all think that Captain Atom murdered Magog, and then the lance explodes, killing many people as Captain Atom tries to pull in the radiation, the issue ends. This was a wonderful issue. Magog being killed so early surprised me but Max using his powers to make everyone think Cap did it was the icing on the cake. The only thing I didn't like was so much jumping around, it just seemed unnecessary when it was done after the first two times. I'll give this issue a 9.5/10.

Max Lord: I'm sorry. It was for the best. I'm saving the world.

Amazing Spider-man #648

Big Time starts things off with our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man leading The Avengers into battle against Dr. Octopus and some giant Octopi robots. Yeah... cause those are WAY more menacing than say... almost anything else? Spidey manages to lead the Avengers in a great way, take out a giant octopus by himself, and save a guy who then accuses the Airborne Arachnid of stealing his wallet. We then see J. Jonah Jameson trying to get an air-strike on Manhattan because it's overrun by giant mechanical spiders. I love that character so damn much. Meanwhile, Spidey goes to find another robot to take down and get the glory since the Fantastic Four won't let him help... bullies. Spidey then finds himself with a little help from The Black Cat, who tries to get her to recommend him for the Avengers, she also hints that she'd like to Assemble with him as well (HIYOOOO, man I'm good at wordplay.) Spidey leaves before he has to take up the spandex-clad cutie on her offer. Next up we see that Doc Ock is working with Chameleon, Sandman, Electro, and Rhino on a plan, and he announces to Spider-Man that soon all of the Robots will explode. Spidey hangs back to let Reed and Tony try to figure it out but when Human Torch talks to him about how he should be over there helping, after a little self doubt he  realizes something and rushes to the rescue. Afterwards we see Peter at the Front Line, and he soon discovers there are people who have Green Goblin tattoos and that their big with white supremacists. Who ever knew Norman was a racist? Or just racists like him anyway. Not long after that, J. Jonah Jameson walks in and with the encouraging of Marla, he gives Robbie and Ben Urich the rights to the Daily Planet name. Peter doesn't stick around though, and when he heads home he notices that Michelle is moving out, leaving him now homeless. So that leaves Pete looking for a new roommate, after being turned down by Randy Robertson, and his phone dying while calling Betty Brant, and turned down by his girlfriend Carlie, he even asks Flash Thompson, but gets turned down. On the other side of town, John J. Jameson Jr. meets with his grandfather J. Jonah Jameson Sr., and Marla talks with Aunt May. When Marla tries to help get Peter a job due to him losing his last because of Jonah, she makes some calls after discovering how genius Peter actually is. Back with Pete, he asks MJ to live with her, which results in them both crying tears from laughing so hard, which i really loved. Peter then finally heads home ashamed to ask Aunt May to live there again even though he despises himself for it. He surprisingly is only there for a few before being whisked away by Marla Jameson, but Peter senses someone watching him. I don't know who but they show interest in Mac Gargan as well. We then see Mac having the Venom symbiote forcibly removed by him for some reason by the army. Next up we see Peter as he's introduced to "The Johnny Depp of Einsteins", Max Modell. After a huge mishap, Peter saves the day, answers some lightning round questions and then is offered a job in Modell's think tank, as well as a HUGE paycheck. The issue ends soon after with the return of a big villain. Man this was a LONG, action packed, well written, great issue. I don't think there's anything I didn't enjoy, and I was caught up the whole issue. Plus everyone from Cap to MJ, Black Cat, Flash Thompson, the Fantastic Four, Four Jamesons and the Avengers! I'll give this a well-deserved 10/10.

Iron Man: You've dealth with Doctor Octopus' technology before. What are it's weaknesses?

Spider-Man: Wow! Iron Man is asking ME for tech support? Pinch me.

Birds of Prey #6

One of my favorite series continues on with issue six as Huntress and Lady Blackhawk stand face to face with Black Canary whose dressed like White Canary for some reason. Dinah has Helena and Zinda get into the taxi they came in and commandeers it. When Huntress asks what the deal is, Canary says they'll be leaving tomorrow, but it won't matter then. She explains that White Canary has Sin, and she'll kill her unless Dinah challenges Shiva in a fight to the death. When Helena asks if Canary can win, Dinah says she can't, especially with a broken wrist. Back in Gotham, Hawk finally gets out of his hospital bed with help from Dove. Hank wants to retaliate at White Canary, but Oracle lets him know that the girls are handling that, and Hank surprisingly listens to her orders. Savant lets Babs know he doesn't like Hank so far, and when Creote asks if Babs believes Hank, she replies that she doesn't. Back with the three birds in Bangkok, they are at a big meal before the showdown between Shiva and Dinah, that White Canary has thrown. Only Zinda eats, as the tension is too high for the other women. A slightly crying Dinah asks Huntress to be her second and issue the challenge to Shiva on her behalf, and also to tell Babs and Ollie she loves them. Helena gets up and heads to Shiva, who says she doesn't find having to fight Dinah any more pleasant than Helena does. Helena then throws her drink in Shiva's face. She tells her to listen for once, and challenges Shiva to the fight, with her replacing Dinah. Shiva accepts with White Canary's blessing, and Helena goes to put on her work clothes. Dinah tries to talk her out of it but Helena says she has no one depending on her, and Dinah does. She tells them to leave so she can be alone, before kissing on her crucifix and praying. Dinah tries to challenge Shiva but she has to deny since she's already accepted Helena's request. Shiva and Huntress prepare to fight and Black Canary tells Shiva if she does this she will kill Shiva, and Shiva replies by saying "That would be just."As Dinah is helf back by one of White Canary's protege's, the protege tells her she knows where the child is. The fight starts, with the rule being no weapons as the only rule. Huntress attacks but can't even land a punch on Shiva. Shiva then administers a hell of a beating on Huntress, but Huntress has the Homer Simpson gene, patent pending, and won't stay down. We then see Canary reunited with Sin, and she gives Sin to White Canary's protege and tells her to take her to her foster parents and get them to safety, before rushing back to help Huntress. Huntress uses her street fighting ways to finally knock Shiva off of her feet. Dinah rushes on the scene and stops the fight, and Shiva says the fight will continue, but Dinah said they never specified when it would end, so they can do the fight forty years from now. Loopholes for the win baby! Dinah tells White Canary it's over, unless she wants to fight Huntress, Black Canary, Shiva and Lady Blackhawk. White Canary walks away defeated, vowing revenge. Shiva then gives Huntress the name "Iron Owl", and wonders if she can give her the honor of helping her stand as the issue ends. This was a fine issue, it was pretty predictable though. You knew no one would die or anything bad would happen, and I hate Sin was barely seen. I'll give it a 7/10.

Black Canary: I'm to issue a formal challenge to Lady Shiva if I want Sin to live. To the death.

Well that's it for me everyone. I'm all done for this week, and luckily for the most part I had great issues this week. As always, comments are appreciated. I'll be back next week for more Ratings and Rantings, and until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Inc. #1, Streets of Gotham #17, Brightest Day #14, Green Lantern #59, Green Lantern Corps #54, Power Girl #18, Superman/Batman #78 (Written by Joe Kelly!), and Deadpool MAX #2.

My 100th Post featuring The Top Five 5!

Hey everyone, welcome back to Jason Todd's Comic Spot for my 100th post. I wanna thank all my readers, the commenters and non-commenters, the followers and the readers that just come back every once in a while, and the readers that have followed from the first post all the way to this one. It's because of you guys I continue to blog and I enjoy doing it. I love seeing what you guys think, whether you agree or disagree and why, and this has made comics an even bigger part of my life, so I thank you for that.

A lot of people ask me things about my blog, and instead of saying a bunch of things in one big boring post, I figured I'd cut them up into a nice Q&A of my frequently asked questions. If anyone has any other questions that I don't answer here, feel free to ask them in the comments.

Q: Why is your screen name Jason Todd?
A: I'm a big Jason Todd fan, but that's not why I chose the screen name. Back when Batman Arkham Asylum was going to come out I joined the message boards as Jason Todd. After being there for a while a buddy from the boards by the name of Amputechture came up with the idea of us starting a comic review blog. Long story short, Batmania Reviews was born, and after a great three months, closed due to lack of posts. Also, Poison Quinn a.k.a. Falisha did posts there as well, so I'd recommend checking it out if you're ever bored.

Q: What made you start JTCS?
A: X-Man75. Simple as that, I stumbled onto his blog while googling Nightwing comics trying to find some good arcs. Since X, like the OCD-freak he is, reviewed the entire Nightwing run, i found his blog and started reading for a while. I eventually commented and we quickly became like brothers. When Batmania came up, X convinced me to give blogging another go almost a year ago, and now here I am with my 100th post. So X helped me start it, and great commenters like Falisha, Kello, Marc, Paul, Benicio, Landry Walker, and even Nagash and Jozeph have helped keep this comic blog afloat.
 
Q: What are some of your more memorable posts?
A: I'd say... the Mad Hatter review only due to the surprise reply by Landry. The huge post on Jason Todd because it was the longest post I've ever done. The review of Deadpool: Suicide Kings since it really reignited my fandom for Deadpool. Of course the Animated Film reviews and the Green Blogger Corps. Also reviewing Spider-Man Noir, because since that Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions game came out, whenever people look up Spider-Man Noir they find my blog.

Q: What are your favorite and least favorite Reviews?
A: Favorite would probably be What I Learned From Blackest Night/Cry For Justice because they were so fun due to the absurdity of things when spelled out. I can guarantee there will be one for Brightest Day. Least favorite would be Wonder Woman: Hiketeia, which is one of my least favorite comics ever.

But that's all I really wanted to say guys, once again thanks for helping me get to 100 posts, I appreciate you guys reading my half-assed reviews, and I'll continue to type them as loing as you guys are willing to read them. So, one more time, Thanks. Now, enough of that mushy stuff, it's time for the Top Five 5! 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

X-Man

Falisha

Top Five Mutants

Daken

Wolverine

Gambit (due to Cartoons)

Magneto

Juggernaut

Wolverine
Cyclops
Storm
Gambit
Psylocke

Colossus

Magneto

Wolverine…remember when he was only in X-Men titles?

Mystique

Namor

Nate Grey

Daken

Madrox

Vulcan

Magneto

Namor (since I guess Marvel is intent on him being a mutant now...)

Banshee

Cyclops

Wolverine

Magneto

Top Five Memories/Posts/Favorite Things about Jason Todd's Comic Spot

The Mad Hatter Review

Reviewing The Red Hood Animated Film

Green Blogger Corps

The First Ever Top Five

Can Jason Todd Regain Glory post

Your first post, I remember how excited you were about it.
Meeting X and the crew through your blog. :)
The invention of Top 5.
The Posting of Green Blogger Corps, lol, best story ever.
Celebrating of your 100th post!!! Woo congrats!!!

I originally thought Jason Todd was a personality made up by X-Man because they were so similar (No joke. Like in Fight Club). (Lmao... that would explain SO much.)

That I got quoted at the top of the page. I enjoy that every time I visit. Thanks!

Two letters: N/A. He doesn’t just review the material, he determines whether it has the right to exist within the realm of things that can be reviewed.

Top 5’s!

The amazingness of the Green Blogger Corps one-shot. Poozers.

The Infamous Mad Hatter post

The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 review

The sweet logo

Seeing my comments :P

Umm, everything? Can I just say that? (I would've accepted your sixth choice X, but you wanted to be nice, haha.)

JT watching Batman: Under the Red Hood approximately 500 times and then telling us about it :D

The Green Blogger Corps

JT getting more into Marvel with Wolverine: Enemy of the State and The Adamantium Men

The "Mad Hatter" Incident

And, more generally, just getting to know JT and all of the other fine bloggers who post here over the last year, which has been fantastic! (Awww that's nice. And I watched Red Hood THREE times :P)

Top Five Batman Villains

The Joker

Hush

Clayface

Harley Quinn

Black Mask (Roman)

Catwoman
Two Face
Joker
Hush
Scarecrow

Joker

Two-Face

Penguin (Screw all y’all!) (PLEASE tell us why Kello.)

Does Roxy Rocket count? (Yes...yes she does)

Firefly

Joker

Hush

Ra's Al Ghul

Scarecrow

Two-Face

Two-Face

Deadshot

Riddler

Ra's Al Ghul

Joker

Top Five Speedsters in Order of Most Favorite to Least

Bart Allen

Wally West

Inertia

Zoom
Jay Garrick

Bart Allen
Inertia
Wally West
Barry Allen (All hail St. Barry Allen)
Jay Garrick (He's soooo old!)

Wally West

Barry Allen

Jay Garrick

Reverse Flash

Bart Allen

Bart Allen

Wally West

Inertia/Kid Zoom

Quicksilver

Speed

Barry Allen

Jay Garrick

Wally West

Bart Allen

Quicksilver :D

Top Five Comic Characters You'd Punch in the Face if you could

Tony Stark

Damian Wayne (I know he's a kid)

Beast Boy

Norman "Gobby" Osborn

Hush for what he did to Catwoman

Green Arrow
Damian Wayne
Lex Luthor
Grant Morrison
Booster Gold. Lol.(BLASPHEMY!!! Lol)

Darkseid

Norman Osborn

Magog

Larfleeze

Batman (Just to say I did) (That's an excellent choice...)

Jimmy Olsen

Saint Barry Allen (yeah I know, blasphemy!)

Plastic Man (sorry, Kello!)

Cyclops

Wasp (hey, it worked for Pym!) (Lmao...)

I would use all five punches on just one character -- Gambit! (And I'd probably kick him too.) (Marc wins, Flawless Victory.)

Category Winners

Most Favorite Mutant(s): Wolverine and Magneto
Top JTCS Memory: The Green Blogger Corps
Most Favorite Batman Villain: The Joker
Most Favorite Speedster: Bart Allen
Character(s) most deserving a punch to the face: Norman Osborn and Damian Wayne

So, I'm not shocked at all Wolvie won but I was shocked to see more Magneto votes than I expected. Glad he could shake things up a bit. I'm also glad you guys liked the Green Blogger Corps so much, I promise I'll do a part two one day... I just need some inspiration.  The Joker winning as the favorite Batman Villain was pretty obvious, I should've excluded him in hindsight. I was surprised that Bart was the first Speedster picked on three outta five lists with Wally and Barry each getting one top vote. And lastly Damian Wayne and Stormin' Norman deserve a punch in the face. Maybe it's time to market them as attack dummies? So that's it for my 100th post, thanks for reading and being apart of this big post, you guys are the best. Don't forget to vote on the newest poll as well. So that's it for me, until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.

Just Ratings, No Rantings?

Hey everyone, it's that time of the week again for the best weekly dose of comic content comics! This week's R&R is my last one before I start my job, so in other words, if the Ratings and Rantings get pushed to the weekend in the upcoming weeks, you'll know why. But I'll try my best to make it a Weds-Fri. posting.

Anyway, that was my lead in for the post. From there I spent about a good hour and a half reading and reviewing these comics, which I enjoyed for the most part. When I finished I added my pics and everything, only for blogger to tell me that I wasn't logged in. When I logged it in refreshed my page and now my entire review is gone. Needless to say that upset me since I wanted to give you guys a nice read, as I always try to whenever you stop by JTCS. But after that, It's kinda hard to even want to do it over again. So instead of calling it a bust I'm gonna give you the scores, go get my stuff for work tomorrow ready, and hope you all understand how frustrated I am about this, especially since I was done. So my scores for the following comics were:

Batman And Robin #16 - 3/10
Brightest Day #13 - 5/10
Amazing Spider-Man #647 - 10/10
Red Hood Lost Days #6 - 10/10

I would explain why but I'm pretty pissed at Blogger, and myself for making such a rookie mistake, but what can you do? But thanks for reading as always, and comments are appreciated, and mandatory. Nah, I'm kidding...or am I? Also, for this weekends massive post 100, you guys voted for another Top Five 5, which is interesting since half the people that participate didn't vote for that. I love that since it's less work for me! As for you mystery voters, join in on the fun and send your picks in too! But, as always, please try to send your picks in as soon as possible to KevinKavalier@gmail.com so we can make sure they make this weekends post. I'd say try to have everything in by Saturday night, since that's when the post will go up. The topics are below, so until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.

Top Five Mutants
Top Five Memories/Posts/Favorite Things about Jason Todd's Comic Spot
Top Five Batman Villains
Top Five Speedsters in Order of Most Favorite to Least
Top Five Comic Characters You'd Punch in the Face if you could

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #15, Birds of Prey #6, Booster Gold #38, JL Gen Lost #13, Red Robin #17, Titans #29, Amazing Spider-Man 648