Ratings and Rantings

It's that time everyone, for your weekly collection of comic content comments! I'm your host, confidante, and Grade "A" reviewer, Jason Todd. This week we've only got four comics to get through, but we should have some great reads. The always entertaining Deadpool, the Power Girl/Gen Lost crossover continues, The Joker meets face to face with Lex Luthor in Action Comics, and Captain Marvel returns in Shazam! So, let's get this party underway with our favorite Regeneratin' Degenerate!

Deadpool #32

This issue starts off with our Crimson Comedian, he's in bed watching the news while chomping down on some junk food when he finds out that he's the suspect in killing a man named Reginald Harris and his family with an explosion. Before Deadpool can figure out why they have him on tape for something he doesn't recall doing, his motel room is entered by someone only known as Macho Gomez. Macho Gomez says that was supposed to be his hit and Deadpool stole it. He tells DP that he may be hot stuff on Earth, but where Macho comes from, he ain't S***. He then tells Deadpool to go get all of his money and give it up. Deadpool stares him down, then happily obliges. He leads Macho Gomez to a great big pile of coins, that happens to have a claymore under it that blasts Gomez outta the room. Afterwards, Deadpool's inner thoughts tell him to finish off Macho but he says that's not what a hero would do, so he goes off to try to find out who's framing him. We then see the allegedly dead Reginald Harris and his family, and Reginald tells his wife they had to fake their deaths because he sabotaged some government project as well as had some tech stolen so they could manufacture things faster. We find out he hired Deadpool to steal it, as Deadpool walks into the room. Turns out the tape that showed Deadpool near their house was from two years ago when Deadpool was dropping off what he stole for Reginald. Reginald says everything was fine until the Pentagon sold him out, and he pointed the finger at Deadpool. Deadpool is pretty angry and pulls out a gun to the guys head, but his daughter runs in and cries for him not to shoot her daddy. I guess that touches Deadpool so he doesn't shoot him and tells them to stay dead. While walking away Reginald says he wants to hire Deadpool again, to kill Macho Gomez. Deadpool is shocked to hear Gomez is considered the best and calls him a clown, but DP doesn't know Gomez is behind him. He tells Deadpool he led them right to him and opens fire, but DP uses his body to shield the family, and tells Reginald he'll accept his offer, but doesn't want his money cause this one is on the house. Deadpool goes after Macho, who has went to get a bigger gun, and they have an average Deadpool fight, which of course is anything BUT average! This leads to a pretty awesome ending for the fight that I didn't expect, which shows us while Deadpool is the best at what he does, hey, even Wolverine admitted it. As for the decision to go back to being a Merc... I wish Deadpool was ust a full-fledged hero but I don't mind him staying as a Merc, either way I enjoyed this issue. Nothing amazing but it was far from bad or boring. I'll give this issue an 7/10.

Deadpool: I stopped being human a long time ago dude.

SHAZAM! #1

We start things off at the apartment of Billy and Mary Batson. Mary gives Freddy Freeman some eggnog while talking about how much she hates being normal now and her life has no purpose now that she has no powers. Fredyy tries to tell her she can still make a difference, but she says that's easy for him to say. (Wisdom of Solomon backfired eh buddy?) Billy then asks where Freddy has been, and he says he left after the events of Cry for Justice and has been trying to forget, but everywhere he went he helped people. Billy and Mary act like a couple of spoiled brats saying "we needed you too..." which really annoys me. They just want powers again, which they pretty much say, and Freddy is sad that he can't help. He then falls over, as his eggnog has been drugged by Mary (What a bitch....), which even surprises Billy. A black figure then appears and Mary refers to her as Blaze, saying she's done the deed. We then go back a week earlier to see Mary at a homeless shelter feeding people but one of the people surprisingly is Blaze. She makes everyone disappear so she can talk to Mary, and mentions how everyone her father (The Wizard that gave Freddy and the Batsons powers) gives powers to, he takes from them after deeming them unworthy. She mentions how Black Adam and Isis were turned into stone, Osiris was brought back and walks a dark path, and Billy and Mary lost their powers. She says she can make a deal with Mary and return her and Billy's powers, if she kills Freddy Freeman. Back in the present, Mary tells Blaze to cough up the powers, and Blaze says nah, I had my finger's crossed. Mary then pulls a trump card and Freddy sits up and says "Shazam!" It turns out Mary warned Freddy and was using this plan to get the jump on Blaze. Captain Marvel and Blaze have a huge fight that destroys buildings and cars of course, and when things seem grim, a little help from the Batsons help the tide change for Freddy. The issue ends soon after with Freddy vowing to help Billy and Mary get their powers back. This was a solid issue, but the stuff with Mary seemed unnecessary. I mean is Blaze that stupid? She can't tell when someone is faking death? She can't hear in hell when someone she's supposed to be watching tells the person she wants dead about their plan?! That annoyed me, and if the series is gonna be about Freddy getting them powers, that sounds pretty boring after the first arc. I am looking forward to his apparent throwdown with Osiris though. This issue was okay, but I wanted more than this issue delivered. I'll give this a 6/10.

Mary: Now Shut up, Blaze. I'm tired of hearing your voice. (Man...Mary grew a pair.)

Action Comics #897

Lex Luthor's Action Comics starts off with Lex Luthor and and his Lois Lane-bot pulling into Arkham Asylum. Lex is upset while he reads his paper to see that Bruce Wayne is now sponsoring Batman and Batman Inc. and says Wayne is letting down the human race. As Lex walks into Arkham, his assistant tries to tell him that most of the articles he's read about the Black Power seem to have been planted there, but his Lois-bot tells his number one that it'll have to wait, Lex needs full concentration to interrogate The Joker! Lex tries to ask Joker questions but the Clown Prince of Crime uses this to deliver some "A" material, even taking a shot at Lex himself and how he thinks killing Superman will save the world. That pisses Lex off, so he slugs the Joker, but Joker tells Lex to back off, and delivers the line of the issue. Lex then says if he killed Joker right now, everyone would be delighted, but Joker replies that Batman would come after Lex, to which Lex realizes is true, and backs away from The Joker. From there they have a deep conversation that only those two can have. I mean, I can't do it justice, so I'd recommend reading it just for their interaction. When it's finally revealed that Joker has a Black Sphere, Lex's assistant wants to sample it, but Joker won't let him anywhere near it. From there we see a deep, moment of humanity from The Joker, before he gets back to the yuk yuks. I'm gonna say right now, Paul Cornell is a damn genius. The guy writes Joker and Lex PERFECTLY. Anyway, after more talking, The Joker convinces Lex to make the sphere larger, which Lex does, and Joker runs into the sphere then right back out. Whatever Joker see's in the sphere scares the hell out of him and he decides he wants to stay where he is, and begs Lex's assistant to stop the sphere. Joker then tells Lex, as serious as can be, to make the RIGHT CHOICE when the time comes, or he'll crack the biggest joke of all time. Man, Cornell knows how to build suspense doesn't he? Lex leaves the room as Joker, Spalding and Lois stay to check our the sphere. When Spalding mentions the misleading documents, Lois pushes him into the sphere, and he screams and the sphere disappears. Lex comes back and asks what happens and Lois says Joker pushed him in, and Joker admits that he did, even though he clearly did not. The issue ends with a certain Orange Lantern looking for Lex Luthor. This was a very interesting issue. I loved the Joker/Lex interaction, and it built a bunch of suspense for the next few issues. I'm also curious to see what this Lois robot has planned. I'll give this issue an 8.5/10.

The Joker: I once boiled a baby in front of the father. And made him drink the soup. (That's so sick... and still so Joker.)

JL Generation Lost #18

Gen Lost shows us how things were years ago, as we see Captain Atom and Power Girl, both with "funky fresh" Haircuts. We see PG telling Captain Atom she doesn't need to go to dinner with the rest of the JLI, and she doesn't need to eat. He tells her to go and have fun, she doesn't have to stay with him. After a lot of back and forth she admits she's trying to be nice because their friends, and Captain Atom accepts her gesture, showing that the two are friends. Fast forward to the present day and we see Power Girl with her hand around Cap Atom's throat. Some friendship, eh? We see Captain Atom trying to explain how he didn't kill those people but Power Girl seems to be rambling on to herself, until we finally see that she thinks she's fighting Superman. I guess Max knew her mind would know something is up if she was fighting Cap Atom so he switched it to make it look like Supes had snapped and she had to take him down. Captain Atom shoots a burst of energy into the sky to signal to the JLI he needs help, and Fire, Ice, Booster, Skeets and Rocket Red head towards his location. Meanwhile, he gets decked by the busty bombshell known as Power Girl, and continues to get bashed until the JLI save him. Power Girl, still confused things that Cap, Fire, Ice, Rocket Red and Booster are Superman, Supergirl, Starfire, Green Lantern and Batman. From there we see Max Lord and Professor Ivo, experimenting on Blue Beetle and his suit, and Jaime starts to remember who Max is, and Max mentions the Mindwipe tens to slip when someone is in intense pain. Interesting, I'm sure that will come up later. Jaime tries to tell May they'll stop him, which causes Max to say all the cliche'd "Good will triumph over evil" lines, to which Max replies, "You all keep thinking I'm the bad guy." Back with the JLI, PG continues to dismantle the team, and this really puts Power Girl over as a heavy-hitter and a threat, which it should, because she's a hell of a hero. The JLI tries to think of a way to stop Peej but considering off her powers their efforts seem fruitless, until Booster remembers her super hearing. He has Rocket Red blast her with a high frequency sound, which causes Kara to break past the mind wipe, and immediately remember Max Lord. The issue ends with one more member joining the JLI on their hunt for Maxwell Lord. This was a great issue, as they built up Power Girl while not making the JLI look weak, we also got to see a hint that Max's evil deeds have a higher purpose as well. I really enjoyed this issue and I can't wait to see what happens now that our heroes are on the same page, I'll give this a 9/10.

Max Lord: But that's the thing Jaime... You keep thinking I'm the bad guy.

Well, that's it for this week's Ratings and Rantings guys. Thanks for reading as always, and comments are greatly appreciated. I know we had a short week on my end but hey, what can ya do? Below are the results of last weeks poll, and as always be sure to vote on the new weekly poll. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which superhero would you rather be?"
Last Place with 7.7% - A Speedster, why do the Speedster's always come in last on these polls?
Tie for Second Place with 23.1% - Kryptonian and a Green Lantern fall behind to...
Winner with 46.2% - A member of the Batfamily! Intelligence, Skills and Determination beats powers.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #2, Brightest Day #19. Gotham City Sirens #19, and Amazing Spider-Man #653.

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, I'm your host as always for this weekly cavalcade of comic content comments, Jason Todd! This week we've only got five comics to run through but hopefully we have as interesting a week as we did for the last edition of Ratings and Rantings. Last week nothing scored lower than an 8/10, so hopefully this week can replicate that awesomeness. But enough stalling, let's kick things off with the 2010 Red Hood award winner for Hero of the Year, Amazing Spider-Man!

Amazing Spider-Man #652

This issue starts off as we see Alistair Smythe, The Spider-Slayer, is back and plans on getting revenge on J. Jonah Jameson. We also see Alistair isn't alone, as he's brought an Insect Army (?) with him as well as the Scorpion-turned-Venom-turned-Scorpion, Mac Gargan. Talk about being demoted. We then see Peter, J. Jonah Sr. and Aunt May watching Pete's new girlfriend, Carlie, playing Roller Derby. Aunt May, although well into her mid-hundreds by now, is cheering for Carlie like a teenage Twilight fan meeting whoever the hell of the star of the Twilight movie is. We see some of Pete's other friends are there as well, including Mary Jane, Flash Gordon and Betty Brant. We see Pete is happy and tends to enjoy the moment, and surprisingly Mary Jane is jealous. She wishes she was in Carlie's spot, which I find weird since she kinda just turned down the Web-Slinging Genius. After Carlie lands in MJ's lap she changes her tune and realizes how childish she's being. She then delivers the classic "Go get em, Tiger" line to Carlie as she gets back in the game. Let that be a lesson folks, when a hot girl in skimpy shorts lands in your lap, you're gonna change your tune about them. From there we see the Insect Army staking out Mayor Jameson as he meets with his son, Astronaut John Jameson at the site where his newest rocket will be taking off in under 24 hours. When Jonah hears that this rocket is experimental he blows a gasket until creator Max Modell says he'll bring his top man to oversee it, someone Jonah is familiar with, Peter Parker. Pete finds out from his uncle Jay (man that sounds odd...) and is stoked about the news. Pete then decides to hang around with Carlie after her Roller Derby game and get some skating lessons, and of course, he's horrible. That's right, he can web-sling through Manhattan at break-neck speeds, yet he can't skate on eight wheels. Or at least that's what Pete wants Carlie to think, playing the spaz as always eh, Peter? Once Carlie hits the showers, Pete shows off with his Spidey moves, and is surprised that Mary Jane stuck around and caught his performance. She basically tells Pete to tell his new woman that he's Spider-Man. It's a secret identity MJ, he can't tell EVERYONE. If he did he'd have to make a deal with the devil so everyone would forget, and that would be stupid right? Oh..wait. Anyway, Carlie comes back and MJ takes off after telling Carlie they should chat. While talking, Carlie suggests that she and Peter should hook up his best friend, Mary Jane, with her best friend, Spider-Man. Peter is so surprised by this that he runs in to a door, and now has to deal with a broken nose on his big day. As time gets closer to the launch, Pete's Spider-Sense goes off full blast, and he runs off but asks Mr. Modell not to start the launch without him, and Modell complies, obviously he completely trusts Pete, and may be aware that he's Spider-Man. Sadly for them, the rocket takes off early due to an infiltration by the Insect Army. As the Insect Army gloats about their first prize being Colonel John Jameson, John recognizes Smythe's voice, and soon finds out his controls in the rocket are unresponsive. Smythe sens his insect goons to take out the elder Jameson's as well but Spidey shows up in the nick of time like always. Jonah runs over to Spidey and tells him that his men have this taken care of and to go save his son. Surprisingly Spidey agrees and goes to try to save John Jameson Spidey's confronted by a former enemy as this issue ends. I really enjoyed this issue, I don't care much for the insect army, and MJ being jealous seemed weird, but she IS a woman, so there's your logic. I still see this as a major downgrade for Mac Gargan, and in my opinion if he's going back to the Scorpion just make Brock Venom again. He's the best Venom and this Anti-Venom thing has gotten him nowhere. As for this issue I enjoyed it but it's not on par with the recent Hobgoblin stuff, I'll give it an 8/10.

Max Modell: Your honor I'm Max Modell, I'm sure your wife's mentioned...

J. Jonah Jameson: Yes,Yes. Big man at Horizon Labs. If your company's so great, why's my VCR keep blinking twelve?

Max Modell: We don't make VCR's.... (Does ANYONE still make VCR's?!)

Brightest Day #18

We kick things off with one of my favorite rogues, Captain Cold, beating the hell out of Captain Boomerang. And here I thought you needed a boat or something to be Captain. Someone better tell Jack Sparrow. Anywho, Cold asks Boomer why the hell he released Thawne, to which Boomer replies that he's the only other Bad guy the white light brought back (Everyone's forgotten Max, remember?) and he's from the future so Boomer had questions. He then tells Cold that teh White Light told him to throw a boomerang at Dove, but he just doesn't know why. Um... because it said so. It brought your sorry ass back to life, gave you new powers, you like throwing Boomerangs, so throw one at her! What's complicated about that? From there we see Mera asking Aquagirl for her help, that's interesting. We then see Deadman call Dove because he's afraid since his ring is charging itself, and he's wondering what's wrong, and says it feels like the day he died except he doesn't think it's im that's gonna die. Hide ya kids, hide ya Wives, and hide ya Grandpa Deadman, cause they killing everybody out there! (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.) After that we see Deathstorm and the Black Lanterns he resurrected delivering the White Lantern to someone. Over on Zamaron, Carol Ferris tells the Love-Hawks that to get the entity out of Hawkmom then they'll have to get her to feel love. What? Hawkmom gets tired of Carol's nonsense, much like I did, and freezes her in pink carbonite for all you Star Wars geeks. Hawkman and Hawkmom fight as she pretty much dominates him, she asks why he's smiling since now if he dies he'll die for good due to Hath-Set's curse. He tells her because it's her last life too as Hawkgirl drives a sword through Hawkmom's back. The bones from the gate then come alive and take Hawkmom away into a bright pink light... well that was kinda lame. The White Light then grants them their life after following orders since Hawkgirl didn't let Hath-Set kill Hawkman, and Hawkman stopped Hawkmom. So that's Max, the Hawks, and Reverse Flash that have earned life. Jade may have, I don't read JLA. Carol then uses her power of love to transport the Hawks to anywhere on Earth they want to go to be alone. Um... okay then. Dove comes to meet Deadman as the ring charge equals 99% and he tells her when the Black Ring got to 100% Nekron came back (No...cause we all forgot that HUGE event happened less than a year ago.) so what happens when the White Ring charge hits 100? He's about to find out as it hits 100% and says "They have returned" before he's surrounded by a white light and whisked away in front of Dove's eyes. Back with the Hawks, they obviously wanted to be alone so they went home...duh. The Hawks make out and stuff and Hawkman says "I love you more than life itself" and the ring says "What a strange thing to say" as Deadman appears in their room. HA! I know where this is going. Deadman points his ring at the Hawks and tells them he's not in control of his actions. The White Light then says Carter and Shiera must live separately to live stronger. The Hawks protest saying they aren't splitting up and the ring says it's apart of the plan and the champion-to-be's needs outweigh everyone's. Hawkman says their not living life apart again ever and the ring says "So be it." A white light flashes as Carter and Shiera fade away and Deadman is standing there grasping at dust. What...just happened? Well I hated all the stuff with the Hawks, and if it ends with them dead it really was pointless, so I hope it just split them up so they forgot one another. Everything else was pretty quick, but I am loving how evil this ring is becoming, that's interesting. I'm also still wondering who the champion is and who Deathstorm gave the White Lantern to. As for this issue, it surprised me how much I was interested, it had it's faults but I'm more interested than I was, I'll give it a 6/10.

White Lantern Ring: So be it. (That one line was so awesome it raised the rating of this issue a full number. You are one cold blooded S.O.B., Ring.)

Power Girl #20

This issue of Power Girl starts with Karen Starr's lawyer and her Executive Assistant to Starrware talking as the lawyer repeatedly asks where Karen is. After saying she's busy with important stuff, the lawyer chews out the Exec. and says they aren't earning any favors with the judge by postponing so many times. We see why Karen is so busy, because she has her hands full as Power Girl fighting an Albino, Four-Armed King Kong and a Dragon. Nicco offers to call in the JLA, JSA or even the Doom Patrol to help out Peej but she says she's far from needing help while taking out her gigantic enemies. Professor Ivo watches and studies PG as she continues to take down each of his creations back to back, before Power Girl just flies through the wall of Cadmus labs to find answers herself. Nicco directs Peej to plug in a USB transmitter he gave her, and once she does he notes that none of the files are encrypted and he starts to download them all. Power Girl looks around and finds more of Ivo's creations, but she's also sucker punched by the gigantic four armed ape that Ivo has named Caspian much to Power Girl's delight. Power Girl is surprised when she's hit with heat vision and turns around to see she's being attacked by a clone of Krypto, or at least she was until he smells her and recognizes her. This causes a Power Girl/Cloneto team up, and as our heroes take on Ivo's creations, Nicco tries to ask PG something but she's too busy and tells him he's on his own. He decides he can't store it on their servers so he asks Batman, who obliges. I'm assuming it's Dick even though he has the yellow crest Bruce wears. Power Girl and her cloned dog continue to kick butt until he's zapped by something, and suddenly Power Girl can't move. We soon find out she's standing across from Max Lord. Max rips into Ivo for cloning Krypto after he told him not to since his physiology wouldn't work the way they wanted for cloning the human Kryptonians. Max then walks up to Power Girl and tells her she has a job, to get revenge on someone who murdered one of her teammates and killed thousands of people, and anyone who reads Gen Lost knows he means Captain Atom. This issue ends but will continue in Generation Lost #18! I loved this issue, I had no problems with it at all, besides the boring into but that only lasted two pages. I like that Karen may have her own Krypto, I like the way Max uses PG to attack the JLI, and I really like the way Batman is being included into this. So I'll give this issue of Power Girl a 9/10 rating. Great issue, but not something that's completely memorable.

Max Lord: Go take down the Justice League International.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #19

Streets of Gotham kicks things off with Hush, face wrapped and all, quoting Aristotle and threatening Dr. Death as Hush's associates hold him over a banister. After getting Death to cut off the toxic gas in his lair, Dr. Death and Judson Pierce speak as only men with a history can. They go somewhere to talk as Hush and his goons follow. Hush then talks to one of the goons who seems unnerved and he tells a story about how he worked with the Joker when Joker first started showing up. Really? This story about Hush is turning into a story about The Joker? Basically Joker and this goons Uncle Sal got into it, Sal called his nephew, who was no older than sixteen at the time to come get him and he drove to get his uncle Sal. He gets caught by Joker's henchmen and ends up face to face with the Joker, who bashes him on the head with a cane and tells him he must be "this tall" to ride the roller coaster. I'll admit I chuckled at that. The Joker threatens to kill the kid but says you can't build a rep if there's no one around to talk you up. He asks the kids name and he says "Anthony Marchetti, remember it." Joker leads Anthony into a tent where his Uncle Sal is tie up and naked as hyena nibble at his fingers. Joker then ejects a blade out the bottom of his cane and quickly slices Sal up from the bottom of his stomach to his chest. Anthony then blacks out, and when he wakes up he's in the car he drove there with, with his Uncle Sal's head propped up in the back of the car. Hush laughs and says he's suffered a similar fate with the Joker and promises to take out The Joker after the Wayne Family. He says he'll destroy the only thing that gives Joker's life meaning, Batman. He then mentions how Wayne has announced he's been funding Batman, while not letting them know that Bruce is Batman. He devises a plan to lure Bruce in trouble so Batman or his allies will come after him. Hush takes advantage of looking like Bruce Wayne to go visit someone named Carter, possibly planning on kidnapping the young man. From there we see Batman talking to someone in the shadows, more than likely Catwoman. He talks about a story with his parents Alfred told him, possibly the same story Hush read about except greatly differing, with Bruce's father not looking like a drunken idiot. This leads to Bruce and Selina talking then kissing and being watched by Bedbug.... What?! What the hell just happened. I thought this was about HUSH. Why the hell is he sharing valuable page time with Dr. Death, The Joker, and some loser named Bedbug. I really don't get HOW this is supposed to make Hush formidable, It's all been downhill since his debut. Someone call Jeph Loeb and have him save Hush, PLEASE. This gets a 4/10.

The Joker: I'm sorry big man, but you must be this tall to ride.

Green Lantern Corps #57

This issue starts off awesome, as the entire Sinestro Corps meets at the big Yellow Battery on Korugar after being summoned by Sinestro himself. He asks the Corp what the punishment is for stealing from him and they all chant death! Sinestro shows them a construct of The Weaponer and tells them he's trying to take something sacred to him, his dignity, and tells his Corps to come down on him with the fury of a thousand suns!!!!! Nah, he didn't say that exactly, but I like my line better. We then see the Sinestro Corps descend upon Qward and tell the Weaponer to release the Green Lanterns due to the truce between the Corps. The Weaponer says to himself that Sinestro sent his lackeys to remind him that he's not worth Sinestro's time, and seems to be hurt by the realization. He returns the Honor Guards rings and tells them to save his people. Ganthet quickly reminds the Lanterns they can't fight the the Sinestro Corps. The Sinestro Corps attack the Qwardians, whiletrying to provoke the Green lanterns to break the truce. The Green Lanterns construct shields to try to protect the Qwardians without having to return fire on their yellow nemeses. The Weaponer tells the GL's to protect the Thunderers as they get to his castle which is reinforced and has tons of deadly weapons, and the two teams agree. Once they get to the Weaponer's weapons, the Thunderer's start to take out the Sinestro Corps. Kyle then remembers that when he and Sinestro fought without rings it didn't violate the truce. Of course Hannu is all for this since he doesn't use a ring and attacks the Sinestro Corps members. Kyle tells Boodikka to sit things out since she's basically a Green Ring of her own. And Kyle is attacked by the gigantic Sinestro Corp member Bur'Gunza who says he likes Kyle's new rules of engagement, prompting Sinestro to appear and say they're his rules. He commands his Corpsmen to go after the Qwardians and ignore the Lanterns. The Weaponer is surprised Sinestro has showed up, but Sinestro said he did what any good general would and sent his troops first. Good thinking Sinestro. Sinestro says the Weaponer is his, but the Weaponer uses his shield to configure a weapon and tries to blast Sinestro, but the wielder of the yellow ring has come prepared and blocks his attack. The Weaponer uses his next weapon on Sinestro but it hits him and breaks upon impact. Damn, he beat four Lanterns and a Guardian but his weapon can't even touch Sinestro? I'm starting to think Sinestro may have "Triple H syndrome." Sinestro then destroys the Weaponer and is about to kill him, Soranik and Kyle try to save him but one of his Sinestro Corps members stops them in their tracks. This issue ends as some unexpected reinforcements show up to try to save the Weaponer. This was a GREAT issue. Sinestro is one of my favorite characters and he was utilized greatly here, as was the rest of the Sinestro Corps. I didn't like how easily Sinestro beat the Weaponer after they built him up for three issues, but it did make Sinestro look larger than life, which he should. I'll give this issue a 10/10, it captivated me from beginning to ending, and more Sinestro is always better.

Sinestro: Impressive. I can see how you got the drop on these Green Lanterns. But now you face Sinestro.

So this was a surprisingly good week. I'm kinda shocked that Streets of Gotham got a lower score than Brightest Day this week. As always Power Girl, GLC and Spidey were awesome. But that's it for this week. Below are last week's poll results, and as always a new poll is up and waiting for your votes. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last Week's poll asked "Which upcoming DC Crossover are you looking forward to the most?"

Last place with 16.7% - Titans/Captain Marvel, even Freddy Freeman can't make Titans bearable?
Second place with 33.3% - Power Girl/Gen Lost, the reformation of the JLI comes in second to...
Winner with 50% - Red Robin/Teen Titans, the fans have spoken DC, put Red Robin back with his team!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Lex Luthor's Action Comics #897 featuring The Joker!, JL Generation Lost #18, Deadpool #32 and SHAZAM!

Ratings and Rantings

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it's that time once again for your weekly comic content comments from yours truly. That's right, it's time for Ratings and Rantings, I'm Jason Todd and this is my comic spot. We've got six comics on tap for today. But I gotta warn you guys, my reviews may be a little crappier than usual since due to my new schedule I work Thursdays and Fridays from 2-10:30 and don't get home until about 11:30 p.m. That also means my reviews will now be pushed back to Saturday or Sunday instead up popping up on Thursdays or Fridays. Now that we're all caught up let's get things started with our Merc with a Mouth and a 2010 Red Hood Award winner, Deadpool!

Deadpool #31

We kick things off with Deadpool and his hot doctor sneaking around the hospital, trying to avoid Draculas. That is, until the hot doc screams and runs away from our favorite Mercenary trying to get help, and runs smack-dab into Draculas! After a battle of wits between Deadpool and one of those damn Draculas, Deadpool ends up "dead" at their hands. Silly Dracula's, don't you know death is for...other people...who aren't...Deadpool? Oh Yeah! While incapacitated, Deadpool dreams of Twilight, with some hot chick slapping the sparkly face of a fem-pire as I refer to them, and jumping ship tp Team Deadpool. Deadpool then awakes from his dream and heads off in search of the evil Draculas. From there we see the Hot Doc stall as Deadpool goes through with his plan which involves him pulling the fire alarm and saying "Yoink" a few times, which the Simpsons fan in me loves. It turns out earlier Deadpool had a priest bless a reservoir tank of water, making it Holy Water, and the Holy Water then fell from the sprinklers when the Merc with a Mouth pulled the fire alarm, which apparently just pissed the Draculas off. Deadpool grabs the Hot Doc and takes off, and even loses the Draculas, but stops and yells to them where he is so they can continue to follow him. They of course run into an awesome trap that's far too genius for me to explain properly, but take my word for it, it was damn genius. Deadpool then asks the hot Doc if she wants to go grab some drinks but she says no since she has a gunshot wound, so he suggests Ice Cream and she says yes. That's a lesson kids, shoot a chick in the leg, kill some vampires and ya get the girl. Or maybe not? The issue ends soon after and it's on to the next arc! This was a very fun issue, as always you can expect to laugh when you read a Deadpool comic, especially when it's written by Daniel Way. This was no exception as I laughed all the way through, as well as Deadpool shown being more than capable as a hero. I'll give this a 9/10, only because the ending bummed me out a bit.

Deadpool: Yoink! (Snake would be so proud)

Red Robin #17

Red Robin #17 starts with a few familiar faces, as we see the super campy Batman, Robin and Riddler inside the Unternet. We also see Tim tied up by binary and rocking a much cooler Red Robin costume that I hope he decides to keep. After being saved from "The Firewall", by Batman and Robin, Red Robin looks around the Unternet and soon finds his friend/possible-girlfriend Tamara Fox, except she's a cute chubby faced three year old. After talking to Tam and figuring that this must be the way they see themselves, Tim and Tam decide to look around together, along with The Riddler, who Tim figures is his subconscious mind trying to figure out what's going on. The expedition is cut short when Harley Quinn attacks our heroes and says no one leaves without Mayor Mr. J saying it's okay. Tim makes short work of the digital Harley but turns around and is shocked to see the Joker, in what I'd assume is Jason Todd's robin costume, still stained with his blood, a crossbar hooked onto the belt and even a "J" drawn on top of the Robin "R." The digital Joker is then killed by Anarky, and that happens to be the form that Lonnie has taken in the Unternet. After heading to Metropolis in the Unternet to find Mikalek, Red Robin, Tam and Lonnie figure out that this Unternet is making them angry, violent and more ruthless, due to Sivana and Darkseid's plans for it. The gang is then confronted by Metallo, but his link is quickly severed by Promise, who now looks fifteen years older according to Tim, as she cites she's been there a very long time. She explains how she's fought Mikalek's forces for years there and watched the many heroes fall, and she's soon shot in the back by Deathstroke, who's accompanied by Cheshire, Captain Boomerang and Firewall. We see Promise wake up back in the real world so we know she's not dead, and we then see Tim take down Deathstroke which even surprises him. He realizes he can control that world too, and Tam makes herself into an adult with an afro. Well...okay then. She calls herself Foxy Lady and decks Cheshire into next week. From there we see Mikalek's statue explode and a bunch of heroes fly out, including the adult Supergirl, as well as adult versions of Blue Beetle, Superboy, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, a female Batman (Steph?) and Bart Allen as The Flash. They need someone to stay and make sure that world doesn't go back to hell, and Lonnie volunteers, but Red Robin starts to have second thoughts as he awakes from the Unternet. The issue ends soon after with someone taking out a bounty on on Tim and Tam, in the form of Catman. We also see that this will start the Red Robin/Teen Titans crossover. This should be interesting, I enjoyed this issue but it seemed to drag on.A lot of it almost lost my interest but pulled me back in, but it was a fine comic, I'll give it an 8/10.

Batman: I'll deal with the cunning calculations of the capricious calculator, old chum, while you help our captured companion! (Fabian, you rule.)

Birds of Prey #8

This is a beautiful cover by the way. Okay, so Birds of Prey kicks things off where we left off last time with the Birds being confronted by a woman in a veil with two henchmen asking which of them is Oracle. The Birds keep egging the woman on to bring the fight after she explains how her touch makes people go insane due to their past demons, but Dinah says nothing, probably because she has enough demons in her past to open her very own hell. We switch over to see Oracle, nervous about her plan considering Calculator has moved hastily and put together a team of dangerous people, especially considering she has no intel on the woman. Batman offers his assistance but Oracle tells him her team is more than capable. The mysterious woman is about to touch one of the Birds when Dove speaks up and says she's Oracle. We then see The Calculator on the ground cringing in pain, saying how he's been having horrible headaches lately. He believes Oracle has somehow planted a virus in his brain and wants his last thoughts to be her death rattle. Oracle tries to call in Hawk but she can't find him and his communicator is off, and before she knows it, Batman has already left to go help the Birds. We then see Penguin make a fool of himself then threaten a woman before being interrupted by Hawk. From there we see Oracle ask Batman if he'll back off, and surprisingly he says he'll trust her judgment. She then asks the Batman to take a dive, to which he surprisingly agrees to do. Man... this new Batman is gonna be hard to get used to for a while. Meanwhile, Oracle gives the word to the Birds to attack and they do just that. We then see that Oracle erased Calculator's memories of her, as seen in Batgirl #12, and how she withheld this information from Bruce. Batman finally arrives on the scene to lend a hand to the Birds of Prey. After dealing with the bad guys, Bats lets Mammoth plant him with a giant left hook, and Dinah is about to help Bats when she's touched by our mysterious mademoiselle. After Dinah is pretty much taken as bait, our friend Dove has to power down and give in to the villains demands. This issue ends with Dinah caught in the memories of every decision she's ever faced, including Ollie, Ra's Al Ghul, Sin, The Ray, Doctor Light and even more. This was a great issue, almost everything was perfect, except I'm wondering where Batman taking a fall was supposed to lead to... and why the hell did I have to see the Penguin curtsy? That was just freaky. I'll give this issue an 8.5/10 as I eagerly await the next one.

Lady Blackhawk: I swear, the way you people get all dreamy over an ass kickin', I'll never understand.

Justice League: Generation Lost #17

This issue starts out with Jaime Reyes' father calling him stupid. I'm serious. It's hilarious out of context, so I'll just keep it that way. We then see Blue Beetle strapped to a table that's rendered his armor useless as he lies there, trying not to panic and to figure out a way to escape. We then jump back to see the guys of the JLI, Booster, Atom, Rocket Red and Skeets (Yes, I count him as a guy.) taking on the Creature Commando's still, at least until they realize they shouldn't be there for some reason. We then see that Checkmate has been pretty much disbanded by the government due to the Magog fiasco. Back with the JLI, Booster is livid at the idea that Max just walked in and took Jaime. Booster comments how their no closer to knowing what Max wants than they were when they first started, and Rocket Red interrupts to tell them he knows where Max and Jaime have gone. From there we see the Black and White Kings of Checkmate, and the Black king soon finds out that Checkmate has been under the control of Max Lord this whole time, and after doing that, Max turns the Black King into an OMAC. Well that was just uncalled for... Max then starts what can only be described as torturing Blue Beetle. Back with the JLI, Gavril's led them to Tokyo in search of Blue Beetle, but can't get a more specific reading on him. While the gang starts to plan what to do, Captain Atom is whisked away at top speed by an unknown force then punched back down towards the planet. When he climbs out of the rubble he sees he's been attacked by Power Girl?! So this is where the PG/Gen Lost Crossover starts, my mistake guys and gals! This looks to be very interesting, and seeing Judd's two current series interact should be fun. This was a great issue, nothing amazing but far from bad. I'll give this issue an 8/10 and hopefully the next issue can top that as we see the JLI and Power Girl team up...or throwdown!

Jaime's Dad: You can be stupid, Jaime. And you can panic. But you don't get to do both.

Batgirl #17

Batgirl surprisingly starts off with Damian Wayne and Alfred, which may be the best equation for comedy when it comes to a Bat comic and a writer with a talented funny bone. Alfred brings Damian breakfast but finds the pint-sized Robin has only had two hours of sleep at most before training, citing if his father can do it so can he. When Alfred remarks that he's only a child and will stunt his growth, Damian responds by saying his size and height are perfect for keeping his enemies off balance. Awesome...just plain awesome. We then see that just like Batman with his Black Casebook, Damian is keeping a Red Casebook of his own. We then see Steph who's overslept again, she hops up and grabs some waffles her mom made, munches on them while getting ready and takes off while her mom tells her to stop and smell the roses and all that jazz. Next we see Robin string up a crossing guard because he wants the kids to get to school on time and that's suspicious. Haha, really? Well... that is a good point. Anyway he's interrupted by Batgirl, who questions him with things like laffy taffy wrappers, if he knows what laffy taffy is, and where he pulled a sword from on his costume. You know, just normal things I guess. After telling Damian that she needs to question that crossing guard about missing kids as apart of her first Batman Inc. mission, Damian seems to be shocked he had no idea of the mission. Damian decides this is his mission too and tells Batgirl to try to keep up as he goes after someone he believes is a target. The kids they track are going on a field trip, so Batgirl sends Damian inside so he can, as he put it "blend in with a gaggle of runny nosed half-breeds." We then see Damian in his own Mini-Matches Malone undercover gear of his own. When a little girl named Nell introduced himself to Damian, he introduces himself as Bruce, showing how much respect he has for his father. (Even though it's really Jason! Okay rant over.) Damian goes around, being forced to play with the girl Batgirl refers to as his "girlfriend." Batgirl discovers that the bus driver has been incapacitated and they soon find out that the entire bus of kids is being kidnapped. Batgirl and Robin go after the bus and Robin even stabs his sword through the roof of the bus and tells Batgirl he's "almost fifty percent sure he didn't hit a child." You gotta be kidding me. Fabian, Krul, and Miller should ALWAYS write Damian Wayne. After taking care of the two criminals, Batgirl and Robin get the kids to safety and sit back with a good old cup of coffee, which according to Robin tastes like Battery Acid. The issue ends with Steph trying to teach Damian how to have fun, which itself was a fun moment. Nothing really came from this story, it was just a solid story that you could not read and not miss anything. But I'm glad I did read it because it's increased the fact that Damian has been growing on me, and it's probably the only comic that makes me laugh as much as Deadpool. There's a reason Batgirl won best Ongoing Series here at JTCS and if this continues it may do it again in 2011. I'll give this issue a 9/10. It was funny, and I enjoyed it, but it was missing that one thing to make it memorable enough for a 10.

Damian: Feel free to leave whenever you like. Preferably, now. (Even BRUCE doesn't speak to Alfred like that!)

Amazing Spider-Man #651

We start off this issue of our Amazing Arachnid with Hobgoblin heading to see Kingpin, knowling with Spidey and Black Cat hot on his trail. He tells Kingpin that he knows Spider-Man and Black Cat are there to steal the reverbium back, and when Kingpin checks with his men he loses the video fed, courtesy of Black Cat. It doesn't take long for some Hand lackey's to attack her (makes me think of the Foot clan from Ninja Turtles...) but the Amazing Invisible Spider-Man lays the Smackdown on them. Back with Hobgoblin, he continues to try to make himself look good to Kingpin at Montana's expense and heads after our heroes. Spidey seems to be by himself though as Black Cat pulls one of her famous double-crosses and heads to look Kingpin's penthouse, leaving our itsy-bitsy-invisible Spider-Man all alone. He's soon attacked by The Hand, but since they can't see him he deals with them, until Hobgoblin turns up the frequency on his sonic screech (He can do that?!) and shorts out Spider-Man's suit, making him visible. Over in the Penthouse, Black Cat tries to steal right in front of Kingpin and Montana and gets caught by the Southern Second in Command. Poor kitty, between you and Catwoman I don't know who does dumber thieving. She tries to contact Spider-Man for help but Spidey can't hear her, due to switching over to the suit's secondary mode. This new mode allows him to block out all sonic frequencies, so Hobgoblin's sonic screech can't affect him. While Spidey takes on Hobgoblin, Cat takes down Montana but is then caught by Kingpin. Hobgoblin realizes he may be in trouble so he uses his screech to set off the Reverbium, and everything starts to come crashing down. Hobgoblin leaves as Spidey turns off his sonic safeguard and finally realizes that Black Cat needs help, so he heads up to help her out. The building falls and Hobgoblin pops up to save Kingpin but of course lets Montana fall to his doom. Spider-Man of course saves Cat in time and tells her they won't be teaming up again if she's only looking out for herself. We then see Kingpin make Hobgoblin his new right hand man, and that Hobgoblin has taken over as his number two. From there we see Pete talking about how his life is getting better, how his job is working and we even see his new apartment. The issue ends with Pete and his new girlfriend Carlie, taking Aunt May and Jay Jameson out for a dinner that Peter is picking up the check on. This was another fine issue of ASM, we saw Spidey deal with Hobgoblin but we know it's far from over, more evolution for Hobgoblin, possibly the end of Montana which I doubt, and a little rift in the Black Cat/Spider-Man team-up. This issue was action packed and it definitely deserves it's 10/10.

Spider-Man: How do I look?

Black Cat: Honestly? Like an ad for the new Tron movie.

And just like that, that's all for this week! I forgot to pick up Booster Gold due to the amnesia I get from the crippling old age of being twenty so we may see a review for that next week. Besides that I hope you all enjoyed this week's Ratings and Rantings, I'll be back next week with more reviews and hopefully more great scores. Below are the results of last week's poll and don't forget to vote on the new weekly poll as well. Until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which story arc are you looking forward to most in 2011?"
Last Place with 14.3% - More Brightest Day! Hm... take note DC!
Third Place with 21.4% - Batman Inc. may have Batmen everywhere but not fans.
Second Place with 28.6% - Reign of Doomsday falls short to our winner...
Winner with 35.7% - Flashpoint ran away with the vote and seems to be the most wanted arc!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Streets of Gotham #19, Brightest Day #18, Green Lantern Corps #56, Power Girl #20, and Amazing Spider-Man #652

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, welcome once again to Jason Todd's Comic Spot for your weekly dose of comic content comments. This is the first edition of Ratings and Rantings for 2011, and surprisingly this year hasn't started out with a bang as I only have three comics to review this week. But I'm sure that's not a problem since you're all probably just getting back to your normal selves after the huge first annual Red Hood Awards. Before we get started, I do wanna thank everyone that followed my blog in 2010, whether you were a frequent commenter or didn't comment at all, here's hoping you continue to read my ratings, rantings and everything in between in the upcoming years. That said, since we've only got three comics I'm gonna jump right in with the comic I've been looking forward to the most, Steel #1.

Reign of Doomsday: Steel #1

This issue starts things off right at the battle, as we see a beaten Steel on his knees in front of a raging Doomsday that's screaming "STEEL!!!!" at the top of his lungs. We then get a quick flashback to Steel, trying to be a hero as John Henry Irons and ending up in the hospital after trying to help Superman with Doomsday, and how he'd first heard that the Man of Steel had been killed. From there we go back fifteen minutes prior to Steel being in front of Doomsday, and we see Steel and his niece Natasha. Natahsa's trying to talk John out of fighting Doomsday but he tells her how Superman nor the JLA are around so he's taking it upon himself. He tells her he knew what he signed up for, that's what he, Superboy, the Eradicator and Cyborg-Superman signed up for when they took over after Superman's death. Natasha continues to try to talk John out of it but it doesn't work obviously, as he heads to take on Doomsday. Steel heads over to save the civilians from Doomsday and launches his hammer at him, knocking the behemoth monster down. It's then that John notices that Doomsday is changing, as he starts to grow armor out of his body. Doomsday then flies (Good call X.) and grabs Steel, showing that Doomsday can now fly, leaving Steel wondering how. Steel continues to try to take on Doomsday but his efforts seem to do little against the monster. Steel finally manages to chip Doomsday's armor and releases nanobytes into Doomsday, stopping him in his tracks. Natasha then runs up like a rookie talking about how her uncle defeated Doomsday, and she helps Steel walk away but Steel notices that his attack has worn off. He tells Natasha to run while he heads for round two with Doomsday. Doomsday goes after Nat to lure Steel in which works, and Doomsday continues to decimate Steel. Steel continues to fight until he no longer can, and knows he won't be able to get up to keep the fight going, and he finally passes out. I'm not sure if he's actually dead or just unconscious as the issue ends, but man this was a great comic. They took Steel, who I'd say has been a C-Lister at best since 52 and made him relevant, he fought his ass off against the man that killed Superman, and even though you knew he couldn't beat him, it keeps your attention. If the rest of this story is anything like this first issue, I'll love it. I'm curious as to how Doomsday returned, why he can now fly, and what other tricks he has up his sleeves, and we'll find out next month in Outsiders, where I assume the Kryptonian Killing Machine will set his sights on The Eradicator. The only thing I don't like is not being 100% sure if Steel is dead or not, but everything else was great, I'll give this issue a 9/10.

Natasha Irons: Superman came back. He was dead,and came back. But uncle John... we can't all be Superman.

Brightest Day #17

The universe blew up. There, you're all caught up on the last issue. Oh wait no, apparently the Firestorm boys are just in another universe, the anti-matter universe, and their just surrounded by an army of Shadow Demons. That's...pretty lame. After dispatching of that, the Firestorm boys hear the White Light tell them to protect him because Boston Brand/Deadman has yet to find the White Light's Champion. They sense life on the nearest planet, Planet Qward, and head there. We then see Deadman cooking cheeseburgers for breakfast in Dove's house, and they make playful banter that suggests that they had sex the night before. Oh yeah Boston, you eat cheeseburgers and sex up Dove, that's exactly how the White Lantern wanted you to embrace life. From there we find out that Boston called Oracle (I guess she's easily accessible now.) and found out that his Grandfather is still alive at the age of 98 and Boston plans on going to see him after a little chat with Dove. Over on Zamaron, the Hawks watch helplessly as Shiera's mother tries to take over Zamaron for some reason as Carol Ferris fights her and her hawk-people off. She saves Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and the Star Sapphire entity recognizes them because of their ancient hearts. Oh God... really?! Please don't make Hawkman a Star Sapphire. From there we see Boston go visit his Grandpa, then they hug and cry. After that, they talk about everything that's happened and his Grandpa tells him he should be happy he has Dawn because she'll make life worth living. Back on Zamaron, the Hawks, powered up by love, attack the Hawk-Woman and her Manhawks. Then the Predator takes it upon himself to jump into Hawk-Woman, so now she's powerful and and the Hawks and Carol are back to being overwhelmed again. The issue ends with Deadman and his Grandpa flying around on a White Lantern motorcycle as Deadman's power ring start's to die and then recharge itself. Okay, well that was all over the place. I don't know what to make of the Firestorm's, Deadman's story was okay until the weird ending, and I hate everything the Hawks have done since they died during Blackest Night. I'll give this issue a 3/10.

Batman Beyond #1

From mini-series to ongoing comic, someone at DC loves Terry McGinnis! Things get underway with Terry taking on a group of villains that have decided to model themselves after Tweedledee and Tweeldledum of all people, which gives Batman a big laugh while he makes short work of those chuckleheads. Bruce tells Terry via communicator not to waste time with those guys because the untrained ones are the most dangerous, and Terry obliges because he wants to go meet his girlfriend and hang out with his family. Next wee see a mysterious man named Carson Jatts, he's been diagnosed with a fatal, inoperable disease, and he blames metahumans. He also works at the JLA watchtower, which seems pretty backwards of him. He walks into the confidential areas of the watchtower and finds what he's looking for, a wand that allows him to change people's physical make up, and turns one of his co-workers into lead. From there, we catch up with Terry who meets with his girlfriend Dana, and after a quick talk with her and one with his mom, he promises he'll be at his little brother's graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, Jatts is trying to escape from the JLA and he's attacked by Warhawk but he turns his wings into helium which causes the hero to fall from the sky, but he's caught by the current JLA Green Lantern. Jatts also falls from the sky on his hover-bike and falls through the ceiling of the mall. Terry see's the smoke from the building and checks in with Bruce, and Bruce tells him that it's the mall, the same one Terry's mother and brother are currently in. Terry makes a lame excuse that his girlfriend gladly takes and he runs off towards the Mall to save the day. Jatts has apparently made the entire outside of the mall into polyritanium which is a fancy word for super hard metal. Comissioner Gordon is about to send in her officers but jthe Justice League shows up, now consisting of Warhawk, a young Green Lantern, (Not Big) Barda, Aquagirl and Micron. The issue ends soon after as Batman joins the fray and is face to face with the new JLA. This was an okay issue, not bad to start things off but if you're someone who didn't watch the Justice League unlimited or Batman Beyond cartoons, I can imagine you'd be pretty confused. But this was an alright way to start things off but not amazing, I'll give this issue a 6/10.

Bruce Wayne: It's the ones that don't know what they're doing you have to watch out for. Bozos like those can still do a lot of damage, McGinnis.

Well, that was quick eh? That's if for me this week everyone, thanks for reading and feel free to ask and questions or make any comments you want. Be sure to vote on the newest weekly poll as well and the results for last week's are below. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which former Teen Titan should have their own show instead of Raven?"
Last Place with 6.3% - Tie between former lovebirds, Arsenal and Donna Troy
Second Place with 31.3% - Timothy Drake, the former Robin and current Red Robin.
Winner with 56.3% - Nightwing, so cancel Raven and give us a Nightwing series!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #17, Birds of Prey #8, Booster Gold #40, Generation Lost #17, Red Robin #19, Amazing Spider-Man #651, and Deadpool #31

The 2010 Red Hood Awards!

Welcome everyone, friends, enemies, and troglodytes to the first annual "Red Hood Awards!" Tonight, we see which of our nominees will walk away with a coveted Hoody award. We've got a slew of categories with a ton of nominees. I should note I am only counting comics for awards that I've read at least half the issues, excluding Outsiders for example since I've only read like four issues of the current series. Also, I'm only counting things that happened in 2010, so if a Mini-series came out in 2009, I'd only count it if at least three of it's issues came out in 2010. So, the ground rules are set, the readers are reading, and the host is AMAZING as always, let's take a look at the best and worst of 2010! (Disclaimer: The following are the opinions of myself and only myself, if you disagree, please feel free to write your congressman or congresswoman and let them know what an idiot, you truly are.)

Hero of the Year - Spider-Man

2010 was the year of Spider-Man. I know that seems odd but honestly, in a year with Bruce Wayne trying to return back to his current time, Superman walking around the world, Wonder Woman being retconned and turned into a legging-wearing-teenager (?) and so many more weird things, I think it's obvious why I chose Spidey. Spider-Man had an amazing year, no pun intended. Don't believe me? Go read "Shed", "Grim Hunt", "One Moment In Time", and the current story arc "Big Time." In a year where Spider-Man faces his greatest threats, hits rock bottom, and ends the year with one big comeback after another, how can one deny that Peter Parker owned 2010? Oh, also he's hooked up with his new girlfriend Carlie Parker, Black Cat, and his former roommate's sister, Michele Gonzales. So that's why Peter Parker is the hero of 2010, this year alone he's been promoted from living with his aunt to having an awesome job as a scientist, he's actually enjoying life, and his comics have been some of the best of the year. 2010 is the year of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Runner-Ups: Batman (Grayson), Batgirl, and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Villain of The Year - Maxwell Lord

Has anyone hit 2010 as hard as Max Lord? Lex Luthor had a hell of a year, but has he really done anything? Deathstroke had a hell of a year but his biggest accomplishment was killing Ryan Choi with the help of five other people. But Maxwell Lord, a man who didn't return from the dead until March of this year has already made this a year to remember. Maxwell Lord, mainly remembered for brutally murdering Ted Kord and getting his neck snapped by Wonder Woman, is now barely remembered. This year Max Lord has beaten his former buddy, Booster Gold, almost to death with a pipe. He's made everyone except for choice individuals forget he's ever existed, he's made an evil clone of Power Girl by the name of Divine, and of course, he's brutally killed Magog as well as thousands of innocents, then made everyone believe it was Captain Atom. No one has shown more evil while showing such level-headedness and ability to plan as well as Max Lord. Max has clearly become this year's version of 2009's Norman Osborn. Like they said in the first issue of Generation Lost, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he doesn't exist", and that's exactly what Max Lord has done.

Runner-Ups: Daken, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke

Best Mini-Series of 2010 - Red Hood: The Lost Days

Say what you want, call me biased, but I honestly think this was the best Mini of the year. It had a set story, we already knew how it had to end, we knew how it started, but the middle was filled in. Over the course of six issues we saw Jason mature, grow, and go through a ton of emotions. We saw a ton of character development, not just from Jason, but from Talia Al Ghul as well. We saw the heartbreak in Jason upon finding that Bruce hadn't killed Joker, finding out he'd been replaced as a Robin, and we also got confirmation of why he does what he does. In a time where Jason has recently been shown as a cold-hearted, red headed villain, we saw Jason Todd, the Black-haired, cocky yet funny anti-hero. We also go to see Talia and Jason's relationship evolve and even give more ammo to my "Jason is Damian's father" theory that I've been mentioning for the last year. Red Hood: Lost Days showed a lot of people a different side of Jason Todd, and hopefully stopped the plans of making him "Dick Grayson's Joker." Plus, it's a very well written story of course.

Runner-Ups: Superman: Secret Origin, Batman: Widening Gyre

Worst Mini-Series of 2010 - Time Master's: Vanishing Point

Best believe If I'd read more than two issues of that UNBEARABLE Return of Bruce Wayne than that would win, but I didn't. I would give it to Brightest Day but I'd say a comic with 27 issues is far from a Mini-Series. And Rise and Fall of Arsenal and Shadowland both ended very crappy but I liked some of the issues too much to trash the whole mini. What does win is Time Master's Vanishing Point. Why, you ask? Well shut up, I'm about to tell you. I was so happy when I heard of Vanishing Point. Hal Jordan and Superman are gonna team with Booster Gold to look for Batman. That just sounds awesome, right? Sadly, this series was not living up to the hype. You'd think this would be a chance to elevate Booster, instead he's the butt of constant jokes by Hal Jordan. "Maybe you should wait until the camera crews show up to help, Booster!" I would've told Hal to shut the hell up considering he went crazy and killed thousands of people and Lanterns, but hey, that's just me. Also, it's STILL GOING. Why the hell is a comic where the three main characters are looking for Bruce Wayne still going when he's already been back for almost three months? When did Superman, Green Lantern, Booster and Rip Hunter become so incompetent? The series was so lackluster and dumb (It included another woman named Starfire but not the one from the Teen Titans and a caveman with a weird arm named Claw) that I dropped it before it ended, even though it's only six issues. So that's my reasoning for giving Time Masters: Vanishing Point the worst Mini of 2010, by a technicality.

Runner-Ups: The Rise and Fall of Arsenal, Shadowland, Return of Bruce Wayne (lucky)

Best Ongoing Series of 2010 - Batgirl

Batgirl is the most consistently good comic of the year. I don't believe I've ever rated Batgirl lower than a 7/10 and that means a lot. Stephanie Brown's trials and tribulations this year have been amazing, and led to some memorable moments like her teaming up with Supergirl, her taking on tech-zombies, and we've seen her stand up to Bruce Wayne himself. (Not in her series, but gimme a break.) The point being that Batgirl will always give you two things, a great story, and a laugh or two. There's few series that will be able to make you connect with a character as well as Batgirl does. Batgirl is written great as well as her cast with everyone from Oracle to Detective Nick Gage to Steph's classmates. I wish I had more to say about Batgirl but all I can really say is it's one of the best series I've read in a long time, and if you aren't reading Batgirl you're missing out. Also, Batgirl is the first comic to actually make me enjoy some of Damian Wayne's exploits, so it's GOTTA be great.

Runner-Ups: Generation Lost, Birds of Prey, Amazing Spider-Man

Worst Ongoing Series of 2010 - Brightest Day

So man choices, so little time. Batman and Robin, Titans, Gotham City Sirens, all subpar comics. None of them are as bad as Brightest Day. The sad thing is, I liked some issues of Brightest Day. The issue where they find out their White Lantern missions, the Brightest Day Special issue where we saw everyone since they'd first come back, I even like Jackson Hyde. But it's been bad as well. The most interesting person to return was Max and he's not in the main comic. The Firestorm story has a ton of potential, yet in the latest issue they really decided to go the route of having them argue and "blow up the universe." Martian Manhunter's little dream about being a Green Lantern (why?!) and then subsequently killing the JLA was one of the worst things I've read all year. And let's not get me started on Batman being hyped as the White Lantern, wearing the ring for like two pages, then leaving, no questions asked.  Brightest Day's inconsistencies are what make it one of the worst series out right now. That and the fact that Reverse Flash came back from the dead even though he apparently was never dead since he was already back by the end of Flash: Rebirth which came out BEFORE the last issue of Blackest Night. So... that said, congrats Brightest Day, you're the worse series of 2010.

Runner-Ups: Teen Titans, Batman, Justice League of America

Most Underused Character of 2010 (The Jason Todd Award) - Wally West

The Jason Todd award stands for the character that wasn't used to their full potential, that was ignored and could have easily been a big part of the year. That award goes to Wally West. For over twenty years Wally West has been The Flash, yet after Barry Allen's return which not only garnered a Mini-Series but an ongoing comic as well, Wally West has been super demoted. He hasn't even been added to the current lame JLA incarnation. Wally has pretty much fallen off the face of the earth, as well as his daughter who was the new Impulse for maybe two hours? Furthermore, upon Barry's return Wally even had to change his suit. Because the guy who's been gone for 20 years should get his suit back but the guy that's been saving the world in his absence should have to change, that makes a TON of sense, right? So a guy that just came back and became The Flash after Bart Allen's brief Flash Run in 2007 has already been demoted to secondary Flash in 2010. So, here's hoping Wally West is used in some capacity in 2011, all without ending up dead.

Runner-Ups: Bart Allen, Connor Hawke, Owen Mercer (Tons of potential, wasted)

Writer of the Year - Judd Winick

This was a busy year for Judd Winick. He's been writing Generation Lost, which would've won best ongoing if it weren't for Batgirl being so good. He's also been writing Power Girl, which has been consistently good as well, plus he wrote the winner of Best Mini-Series, Red Hood: Lost Days. All while seeing one of his creations, Batman: Under The Red Hood, come to life in an animated movie. Not too many writers can connect to a character and make them one of their own. Gail Simone did this with the Birds of Prey, Bryan Q. Miller seems to have done it with Batgirl, Dan Way has done ith with Deadpool, Daken and Wolverine, and Judd Winick has done it with Jason Todd, although he seems to want to add Booster Gold, Power Girl and the rest of the JLI to the list. This year Judd has proved that he's one of the best writers out there, and if you don't believe me go read one of the many comics he's written. In a category with a hell of a lot of competition, the former Real World cast-mate has really stood out above the rest, making 2010 his year. Here's hoping he does the same in 2011, hopefully with a Jason Todd ongoing series.

Runner-Ups: Bryan Q. Miller, Daniel Way, Gail Simone

Character to Watch in 2011 - Booster Gold

I think 2011 is going to be Booster Gold's year. With a impending confrontation between Booster and Maxwell Lord coming up, I can only imagine how that will turn out. I see 2011 as the year Booster becomes one of The Greatest Heroes you HAVE heard of. Tie that in with his upcoming appearance on the Final season of Smallville and I think this may be one of the best years Booster Gold has. Here's hoping the Golden One continues to evolve into a great character. Booster's slowly evolved over the years from a comedy character to a guy with a great head on his shoulders, a hell of a leader and one of the most interesting characters around when he's written properly. Also, I needed to give Booster an award and I don't think anyone's more deserving of this than the current leader of the JLI, I mean the guy was in like four comics this year alone.

Runner-Ups: Daken, Jackson Hyde, Jason Todd ;-)

Most Kick-Ass Character of the Year - Wolverine? Well Maybe not...

When it comes to kicking ass, this was a year that had guys two Batmen, Two Captain America's, a plethora of Hulk's, and Daken, Wolverine and Romulus, who combines have more claws than a bunch of mean highschool girls. But I gotta, and I mean GOTTA give the Kick-Ass award to Wolver- "Hold up... Now I'mma let you finish... well actually I'm not. Because that award belongs to me baby! No one kicked more ass in 2010 than the Merc with a Mouth, I mean, have you seen my shoe bill? I haven't been able to find one of my boots since I broke it off in one of Doc Bong's henchman's butts. I have to get my shoes tied by a freaking proctologist! So I'll accept this award for 'Wolvereen' on behalf of myself, you know how us Weapon X guys are, one big happy family! As for my victory speech, I'd like to thank myself, also I'd like to thank Deadpool, that one guy from Deadpool Corps that's the leader, That one guy Wade Wilson, and Bea Arthur, the hottest angel in heaven! So, if you'll excuse me chief, I've got a date with this award, some tacos, and a Taiwanese call-girl!" Um.... well alright then. Most Kick-Ass Character of the year... Deadpool?

Well that's it for the first annual Red Hood awards everyone. Thanks for reading, feel free to agree or disagree in the comment section as well as suggest anything you'd like to see change or return for next year's edition of the Red Hood awards. Thanks for reading and thanks for helping Jason Todd's Comic Spot make it a full year. You guys are the greatest, and Happy New Year to you all. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd.