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.