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!