5 Reasons: Why you should read Y The Last Man

Hello Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with something a little different. Some of you may recall one of my recent posts where I listed reasons "Why you should be reading Morning Glories". That post ended up going over pretty well, I got a few more people interested in Morning Glories, I got a nice amount of traffic, and I even was linked from artist Joe Eisma's twitter account which was pretty cool. So considering I've recently spent a TON of cashola on trades, I figured I could make this a regular staple of the blog, so "5 Reasons" was born. So below I'll list five reasons on why I think you should read Y The Last Man, and I'll elaborate on each topic, so let's get this thing started!

1.) The Concept - There are a lot of stories that have interesting premises, with "The Nail" we see what would've happened if the Kents never found Kal-El but as normal humans we can enjoy but not relate to that, but we can relate to Y. In Y the Last Man, Yorick Brown has the weight of the world on his shoulders after a plague kills everything with a Y Chromosome except for Yorick and his pet helper-monkey, Ampersand (yep, named after one of these &.) So every man, male animal and everything else is wiped off the face of the Earth, leaving it run by women. Yorick must deal with sex-crazed women, women who want to kill him because they think men are the root of all evil and having the task of solely repopulating the Earth. While doing all of this, Yorick is trying to make his way to Australia to meet his girlfriend to whom he proposed to right before the plague hit. So the drama of being the final man on the planet and trying to remain incognito to keep his life intact makes for a very interesting story. Couple that with numerous side stories involving a host of other characters as well as the mystery of what caused the plague and what made Yorick and Ampersand immune to the plague.


2.) The Supporting Cast - Yorick may be the Last Man, but he's far from the most interesting character in my opinion. Yorick and Ampersand are eventually accompanied by a secret member of the Culper Ring, Agent 355. Agent 355 is a highly trained, highly skilled woman (think the female James Bond) who is tasked with keeping Yorick alive until they can find a way to replicate what made him immune and then repopulate the planet. Over the course of the series we learn a lot about 355's past, and we see this hard, well-trained Agent develop and become a more likable character, I'd say she's definitely my favorite character not counting Yorick. Along with Yorick, Ampersand and 355 we meet a woman named Dr. Allison Mann, whose trying to perfect cloning. In efforts to repopulate the planet they eventually try to get Dr. Mann to clone Yorick, thus making their jobs a hell of a lot easier. So with the mysterious Dr. Mann working around the clock to try to clone Yorick, 355 trying to defend Yorick, Ampersand throwing poop at Yorick, and Yorick just trying to stay alive, the main characters of our book alone offer a lot of variety and entertainment as well as different backgrounds and views. Couple that in with a militant Israeli soldier named Alter, A holier than thou Cult Leader named Victoria that believes all men are rapists, abusive and murderers, as well as Yorick's sister, Hero Brown, a wildcard in the series if there ever was one.

3.) The Writing - Anyone whose read this blog knows that I really love a good mystery. I loved Batman: The Long Halloween, I loved Morning Glories due to the mystery of it, and I loved the show Lost. So of course, I love Y The Last Man, especially when you consider it's written by Brian K. Vaughn, who wrote for the critically acclaimed TV Show, Lost. Brian writes the hell out of Y The Last Man, often having many storylines go on at once, and some they all have a payoff, you also only get the most important parts of various storylines, not any filler just for the sake of filler. Also there's a ton of little things to catch in the series, especially when re-reading after finishing up everything. Small tidbits, and a lot of foreshadowing make this worth re-reading just to find those and see of you can catch any. Brian clearly put a lot of time, work and thought into crafting this series and it shows, you really get a feel for the characters and the women come off as women, not as what men think women would say, which is a hell of a compliment to the skills of Brian K. Vaughn.

4.) The Comedy - When you read something like Y, where by the end of the first issue every man is dead with the exception of one, you don't expect to laugh. But Brian's well written jokes and awesome timing break up the macabre of the series. Oftentimes I'd find myself laughing out loud at things Yorick said. He gives wonderful gems throughout the series such as "Um, I may not speak Hebrew, but it's pretty clear when you're talking about me. All I hear is, 'Gibberish Gibberish Yorick Gibberish." and Yorick getting his girlfriend to dress up like a magician then saying she'd be perfect if her hair was black instead of blonde, a obvious reference to DC's Zatanna. Add that in with comedy at the right moments to break up a tense conversation or mood and you've got one of the best aspects about this series.

5.) The Opposite Sex - You're gonna learn a ton from reading this book, because it gives you so much insight to so many different thoughts, opinions and backgrounds. Everyone's different and that's reflected here, and whether you're a male or a female you're going to learn a lot about how the opposite sex thinks and you'll be better for it. Women can see how men think, how we see ourselves, and some of our biggest insecurities. Men can see how women think, because there's so many different women in this series that very nail gets hit on the head. You learn about independent women, dependent women, women who hate men, women who love men, women who love women and so much more. What you get from this comic is a different view at different cultures, you see people who are easily swayed followers to people that will die for their beliefs, and that's one of the main things of Y. Not just how Y interacts with what most people think would be a female utopia but how that same female world interacts around him without a male influence.

And those are just five reasons why you should read Y The Last Man. Hopefully you all enjoyed this post, if so we'll see soon enough because you can vote for another 5 Reasons in this week's poll. To see what I mean, just vote on the poll on the upper right corner. But that's it for me everyone, here's hoping you enjoyed this post, and until next time, I'm your friendly blogger-man, Jason Todd.

Last week's poll asked "If a Speedster dies during Flashpoint, Who should it be?"

Last place with 16.7% - Wally West, See DC, Everyone wants Wally to live and star in a comic.
Third place with 22.2% - Jay Garrick, The Oldest Speedster apparently has a nice fanbase.
Second place with 27.8% - Bart Allen, Kid Flash falls in second on this race to death.
Winner with 33.3% - Barry Allen, someone resurrect the Black Flash and send him to meet Barry.

Ratings and Rantings

Hello everyone, once again it's time for your weekly dose of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings. As always I'm your dashing, enjoyable and just plain awesome host, Jason Todd.This week we get the start of the War of Green Lanterns arc, we slowly make our way to the end of Generation Lost, and some crazy comedy with our favorite Masked Merc, Deadpool. But before we jump into that, I got some comments on next week's Brightest Day cover.

Really? REALLY?! Okay, now when Brightest Day started I know a lot of people didn't have faith in it. I did, I thought it could be something as good as 52, but it's been almost as bad as Countdown to Final Crisis. I mean really, from people being told they accomplished their goals when they didn't (Firestorm, Martian Manhunter) to people who STILL haven't accomplished the most simple goals like Boomerang who had a WHOLE GODDAMN YEAR TO THROW ONE BOOMERANG AT ONE SPECIFIC PERSON, to the fact that most of the issues have been so stupid they made no sense and starred no one in particular that could be considered an A-Lister except maybe Aquaman. And that's a BIG maybe. But this farce REALLY pissed me off. I mean come on. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and what, Heart?! Is the goddamn White Lantern Champion Captain Planet?! I mean this has got to be one of the more annoying things I've read in a while just because we're being fed this paint by numbers lame ass story, and then we aren't gonna see how it even makes any ripples since we're jumping to Flashpoint. Which basically means over a two year span we go Blackest Night/Brightest Day/Flashpoint with NO gap in between. So yeah, I won't be following with any Flashpoint stuff because none of it interests me, I guess I'll be reading at IGN or um... probably somewhere reputable to see if anything significant happens. But whatever, enough of that, let's get to the reviews.

Justice League: Generation Lost #22

We start out with a confused Blue Beetle as the JLI is ecstatic that he's fine. He doesn't even remember being dead apparently, because he never was. He explains some well thought out thing that I'll dumb down buy saying the bullet was blocked by the armor and Hai-Me was knocked out. We all good? Awesome. He then mentions that he hacked Max's files and he knows Max's plans. From there he explains how Max manipulated them to make Checkmate look bush league which led to him taking control of Checkmate, thanks to the JLI. When Hai-me mentions the other part of Max's plan, Batman (Bruce) and Power Girl show up at the JLI headquarters, ready to help the team. We then see Max putting on a headset to try to do something like what he did when he made everyone forget. It seems to go haywire but he demands Ivo not to shut it off. Back at the JLI they realize that Max is building a powerful Android to kill Wonder Woman. Just when everything seems to be going well, Power Girl doesn't remember who Wonder Woman is. Batman does remember though, since his brief time wearing the White Lantern ring restored all of his memories. They head to New York since someone has been killing Amazon's, and find Wonder Woman on a rooftop. They talk to Wonder Woman and warn her of danger but the headstrong Amazon won't back down from a fight. At that moment we see Max and his helmet and we see people around the world spaz out and of course turn into OMAC's. The issue ends with the OMAC's heading for Wonder Woman as the JLI gets ready to jump into battle. This was a fine issue, nothing wrong with it, although I wish Jaime's death meant something but hey, he never died, so those last two issues were kinda pointless eh? I wondered if they would explain the difference in WW's look considering her and Batman haven't seen each other since like Final Crisis but whatever. I'll give this a 7.5/10 rating.

Ice: You look like a taller Angelina Jolie.

Rocket Red: Da. In gold tube top and flag hot pants.

Green Lantern #64

Part one of the War of The Green Lanterns is finally here. We start off with a brief synopsis of Hal's life, him getting the ring from Abin Sur, the Parallax ordeal and how he now runs rogue with the other Color Corp Commanders. We then see that Salaak along with a crew of Green Lanterns have been tasked with arresting Hal Jordan. We then see the Color Corps on Krona looking into the giant book Krona left behind. They wonder why he's left it behind when the Book spits out Larfleeze's Lantern. Larfleeze grabs it and chains try to pull him into the book, proclaiming he now belongs to the book of the black, and it's story vampire, Lyssa Drak. So yeah, he has that going for him I guess. Back on Oa the Guardians discuss how the most prominent Lanterns have fallen from grace, mentioning The first Lantern whoever that may be, then Krona, Sinestro and Hal. As the Guardians talk bright colors explode everywhere and Krona appears with all seven Entities in tow. Sinestro demands she back down as a sworn member of the Sinestro Corps, but she reminds him she was imprisoned by the Black Book during Blackest Night and forgotten by the Corps, but was freed by Krona. The book manages to pull in Atrocitus, Saint Walker, and Indigo-1 as the rest of the Corps try to fight it. Over on Oa Krona makes his dominance established by killing a Guardian then telling the entities to pick their host. Over with the book Carol is about to be added to the pages when Sinestro says that Hal and he should combine their rings as it's the only way, Hal does as he's told and the two touch their rings which causes a huge Green and Yellow explosion. It causes the book to explode and drops the rings of Larfleeze, Sinestro, Carol, Walker, Indigo and Atrocitus to the ground. Hal reaches for their rings but is told to put his hands in the air by Salaak and his Lantern team. They tell him to remove his ring and come with them but he tries to plead with them. Some of them want to hear Hal out but at that moment we see Krona, he says that the Guardians are now infused with the six entities, and he then puts Parallax back in the Green Lantern battery. The Green Lanterns that confronted Hal immediately attack him due to Parallax's impurity. Hal, having seen a flash of Parallax when he jumps into the rings knows that Parallax has taken over the rings again. He quickly grabs the other color corp rings and flies off looking for help for anyone not infected by Parallax. Well this was a pretty good issue. The idea of giving the Guardians entities so they now have emotions was just genius, and makes for a good idea. I'm also wondering where the hell Sinestro went, I'll give this issue a 8/10.

Krona: I told you long ago. Beware my power.

Green Lantern Corps #58

We start this issue with a quick rundown on Kyle Rayner, how he got his ring, defeated Parallax, and how many people in the Corps thing he didn't earn his ring and was in the right place at the right time. He mentions that some people think of him as a skirt-chaser and how often his relationships were real and ended with death. After that we get one on John Stewart, about how John doesn't hide his identity as a Lantern, how he's an architecture since DC loves to mention that, and his past as a member of the armed forces. He notes how he and John are Ying and Yang but work well together because of their differences. After he snaps out of it, The Honor Guard step through a portal Ganthet made and end up in space for some reason. They see Boodikka and the Alpha-Lanterns are all deactivated for some reason, and suddenly the impurity of Parallax affects the Honor Guard. Sora and Hannu appear to be in the same trance Salaak and his crew were and head to Oa as Kyle, John and Ganthet follow hastily after them. John tells Kyle to slow down because this is obviously a trap, but Kyle can't hear him over the sound of Parallax which commands him to attack John. John tries to defend himself until Parallax kicks in for him and he attacks Kyle. While they fight, Parallax takes of Ganthet and he calls them both a disgrace to the Corps, and demands they turn in their rings, but he quickly realizes Parallax is controlling him. Ganthet tells John and Kyle to remove their rings but they refuse, Kyle because he wants to save Soranik and John because he doesn't wanna be left defenseless. He removes their rings which causes John and Kyle to drop from the sky, he then tries to crush their rings but it causes Ganthet's hand to explode, which looked AWESOME. The three fall to the ground but are apparently fine, and John starts to wrap Ganthet's ring with some fabric he tears off of Ganthet's robe. While he does so we can see the residual energy fade away from the Lanterns as they are now wearing street clothes. Ganthet explains how it took everything to fight back Parallax's influence, and how they were able to resist him at first because they'd been infected before, so everyone besides them, Guy, Hal and Kilowog would have fallen under his control immediately. Kyle and John try to get Ganthet to come with them to avoid Krona's search party but he notes they will be after him since he's a Guardian, and tells them to try to find help in Guy, Hal or even Sinestro. As the issue ends Jyle and John leave as the search party makes it's way to Ganthet. Damn this was good, two issues in and this is better than everything Brightest Day has had in the last year. I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating and I'll definitely be picking up part three in Emerald Warriors.

Kyle: Well I'm not letting another girlfriend die! Never again!! Do you even understand?!  Or did you forget what it felt like when your wife got murdered?!

I was going to review Deadpool but on Thursday I started to have trouble with my internet and it's still not been resolved. I'm actually typing THIS from Falisha's house right now letting you guys know so hopefully this is resolved soon, so I'll review DP another day, or not. But until next time this is your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Action Comics #899, Detective Comics #895, Gotham City Sirens #21, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8, Teen Titans #93, Amazing Spider-Man #657 and Kick-Ass 2 #2.

Ratings and Rantings

Hello everyone, once again it's time for your weekly dose of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings. As always I'm your dashing, enjoyable and just plain awesome host, Jason Todd. This week's post includes another issue of one of my favorite series, Morning Glories, as well as Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man and a few DC mainstays. One thing I didn't pick up was Red Robin, I enjoy the series but the Unternet stuff hasn't been all that interesting to me so I'll pick it up after they stop dealing with that, hopefully next month. But with that out of the way, I shan't keep you waiting any longer, let's hop into the swing of things with one of the last few (Thank God..) issues of Brightest Day!

Brightest Day #22

We start things off with Ronnie and Jason united as Firestorm flying around space looking for Jason's dad, The Professor, The White Lantern and Deathstorm. We then find out bthe person who wanted the White Lantern all this time was none other than The Anti-Monitor. See, what's why people should care when one of the biggest baddies ever comes back to life. Idiots... Firestorm then arrives and the Lantern realizes it so it attacks the Anti-Monitor, and they join in as well. They attack the Anti-Monitor and manage to hurt him, then grab the White Lantern to free Mr. Rusch and Prof. Stein but their blasted by the Anti-Monitor which causes them to split back to their original bodies. Lucky for them that planet apparently has oxygen... Deathstorm then takes turns taking shots at Jason and Ronnie but the Anti-Monitor pretty much tells him to shut up until he discovers what the White Lantern took from him when it zapped him. Deathstorm gets bored so unleashes a gnarly ray (I couldn't resist.) at the Firestorm Boys but it's taken by Prof. Stein who sacrifices himself. Stein starts to turn into Salt, much like Jason's girlfriend did. The two boys turn into Firestorm and try to save him, even making him hold the White Lantern but it doesn't work. As Stein dies he tells Ronnie that he and Jason have the potential to be one of the greatest because he knows how well they are individually, he then tells Ronnie he wasn't like a son to him, he was a son to him before he turns into salt and explodes. The White Lantern then tells Ronnie he completed his mission... somehow even though it was "Ronald Raymond: You need to study..." Also, it gave a mission to Jason who was never dead... yet he still hasn't completed his... what?! Anyway, Firestorm lights up white and immediately disintegrates all the Black Lantern zombies including Deathstorm. It then magically transports him and Jason to the Starwood Forest on Earth with the Lantern. The Lantern tells them they had no chance against the Anti-Monitor so it transferred them back to Earth, and it also sent Jason's dad home safe and sound. The issue ends with Deadman confronting Firestorm, telling him to hand over the White Lantern. This issue had it's fair share of inconsistencies but I am wondering who the White Light Champion is so that's keeping me reading, I also hate how no ones gives a damn about the Anti-Monitor being back, and we also haven't seen Hawk or Boomerang do their White Lantern mission yet. I'll give this issue a 5/10.

Black Lanterns: Aaaiieeeee!!! (Because when all Black Lanterns die, they make that sound apparently.)

Amazing Spider-Man #656

We start things off with the new super-villain, Massacre, telling the cops his demands. They say they can't agree if he keeps killing hostages, which was the wrong answer. Massacre sets off a bomb that destroys the west wing of the bank and kills seven more hostages. Spidey is slinging across the city and hears the explosion and heads that way. Spidey swings in to ask the cops whats going on and his webbing hits plaster and not part of the building that can support his weight which causes Spidey who fly back first into a police car windshield, probably as a result of his loss of Spider-Sense. Spidey tries to approach the building to reason with Massacre but he says if Spider-Man and the cops don't leave the perimeter he'll blow up the remaining hostages. He then starts to shoot at Spidey who dodges them by luck, and then shoots a Spider-tracer onto the new bad guy. Surprisingly Spider-Man is then shot right through the stomach. Police Captain Yuri Watanabe runs up to Spidey and asking what happened, noting he never gets shot. He tells her he placed a Spider-tracker on Massacre and to let him go so they can pursue him later. After letting him go they remove the bomb vests from the hostages and track Massacre to the sewers. They see he's left a ton of explosives and had the chance to either go right, left or down a center tunnel, so they ask Spidey what the sensor says. He then remembers that he tracks them with his Spider-Sense and forgot in the heat of the moment. From there we see Spider-Man being patches up by Night Nurse, as she notes how he never gets shot as well. He then offers to pay her for helping now that he's making money, which shocks her as Spidey's always been Pro Bono for her. While Spidey's leaving, Paladin is in the waiting room watching the news blames him for the eight dead hostages and for letting Jameson's wife die. Spidey snaps and grabs Paladin by the throat and slams him against a wall, and Paladin apologizes and tells Spidey he needs to grow thicker skin, to which Spidey see's his armor and says maybe he does. We then see J. Jonah Jameson, he calls Robbie to tell him he's found more stuff on another story for Marla in the paper but Robbie tells him that the new big story is Massacre killing all those hostages. Jonah then goes to do a press conference on the murders. afterward he meets Liam, a little boy whose mother was killed by Massacre in the hostage situation. Jonah tells Liam he's decided that massacre is dead, as is Alistair Smythe, he then tells his employees he wants to bring back the Death Penalty for murderers, and there will be zero tolerance for them. Next we see Spidey talking about building a new Spider suit, and how he needs this in case someone else gets off a lucky shot, and also mentions making a new web fluid formula. Peter then leaves his lab and is coerced into meeting with his fellow nerds and co-workers who talk about a youtube video with a gerbil and a foosball table. Peter wastes no time snapping on them as he notes the recently dead hostages, but it blows up in his face when one of his co-workers respond asking him if he gets upset by every dead person around the world in Somalia and Haiti, or just the mostly white New Yorkers that just died. Peter walks off with Uatu (named after the Watcher) who mentions that they've been working on something already. He takes Peter into a room with Chief Watanabe and Max Modell and they introduce S.I.S. which is a new Suspect Identification System, which allows you to show it a picture and get a back story on pretty much anyone. We then see a case file from Massacre's time in an asylum. We find out he was a normal, happily married man who worked at a wall-street firm with his wife and when a car-bomb that was left for him by an upset customer killed his wife. A piece of shrapnel also pierced his skull which destroyed the part of his brain which houses values, ethics and morality. As they finish seeing a recap of his life, Captain Watanabe gets a call saying that Massacre was recently spotted on Wall Street, so she leaves, as does Peter. As Massacre stands there his hostages ask him why, and he says that Spider-Man needs to pay, he broke the rules he set as he holds the Spider-tracker that Spider-Man threw on him. As he waits for Spider-Man to arrive we then see J. Jonah Jameson as he once again repeats that Massacre is not to leave here alive. Spider-Man then arrives on the scene with a brand new armored black and yellow suit (Go Steelers?) and webs the bombs that are tied to the hostages. Massacre presses the detonator but Spidey says he webbed them in magnetic webbing which blocks all radio frequencies. Massacre then asks if it's bullet proof and opens fire on the hostages but Spidey stands in front of them and states that he is. Massacre then blows up the entire floor their on, but Spidey manages to save all the hostages. When Massacre pulls out a second detonator that will kill nine other hostages a block away, Spidey webs the detonator, which blocks the signal. Spidey then kicks Massacre square in the jaw and he stumbles near a blown out wall, the cops note that he is unarmed but they're told to take the shot anyway, and shockingly Spider-Man snatches him up and takes the shots. He then says he said no one dies, not even Massacre. Afterward, Jameson rips into Spidey and tells him how stupid he is to save him because he'll get right back out. Spider-Man says they are good guys, they don't get to play God and decides who dies, and if he gets out Spidey will be waiting because no one dies when he's around. The issue ends with Spidey vowing to do this, not for the people he's failed, but the people still living. Now THIS was a great issue, there's nothing I didn't like. Spidey's ups and downs, Spidey's determination, the great backstory for Massacre, this issue had everything. This issues gets a definite 10/10.

J. Jonah Jameson: I-I always thought you were a threat. A menace. But I was wrong about you. YOU'RE A @#%* IDIOT!

Power Girl #22

Superman + Power Girl + Dinosaurs = This issue. We get underway with our two Kryptonian Cousins taking on many different types of dinosaurs. During the fight the two can barely hear one another, they note that the Dinos are stronger that they should be, and even notice during the fight that Power Girl and Superman start bleeding, which is not something you see often from a Kryptonian. We then get a quick flashback to two weeks earlier where we see Power Girl's alter-ego, Karen Starr, and her employees at the Starrware re-opening. When Nicco questions Karen's happy mood she notes that all is fine and Max Lord has been named as the embezzler. Guess we haven't gotten to that part yet but ah well. Nicco then mentions his experiments were taken during the raid and Karen says she's already in the process of getting them back, which we see the government do, by taking back all of Nicco's experiments from Dr. Day, who vows that this isn't over. We then fast forward to earlier today and see Power Girl and Superman on top of the Daily Planet. She tells Superman how she's making Starrware a company that'll be releasing products and she's decided to be the face of the company. Superman notes that she isn't very good with keeping a secret identity so she pretty much asks him for help. Superman notes that if Kara gets up on TV with her figure, which makes me laugh because I know he means she'll be downloaded on every dude's computer in the universe, that it'll be harder for her to stay incognito. He tells her that unless she makes Karen Starr a real person, people will be able to tell very soon that Karen Starr and Power Girl are one in the same. Then we see some mysterious man in a hoody out on the streets of Metropolis, he thinks and is able to make numerous dinosaurs appear and attack the city. That brings us up to now, and we see Superman get eaten by a dinosaur, but he then punches his way out, which is awesome. He quickly realizes that these dinosaurs are magic, which is what caused him and Power Girl to bleed. The issue ends with our new mysterious villain revealing that he has his abilities and also has a certain superhero tied up and under his command. This was a fun issue of Power Girl, It didn't offer much but it can't really without spoiling too much of Generation Lost I'd assume, which is why the story takes place two weeks later. Either way, I'll give this issue a 8/10.

Superman: If you start getting up in front of cameras, making yourself a public figure... especially with your figure...

Power Girl:  Are you and me really going to have a conversation about my...

Morning Glories #8

We start out issue eight of Morning Glories with Hunter, our relatable nerd boy as a young kid, running home. He's about to cross the street without looking when he's stopped by what I assume to be a neighbor. He tells Hunter he needs to watch where he's going but a frantic Hunter mentions that he needs to be where his dad is gonna pick him up at, but he lost track of time. The helpful neighbor gives Hunter a nice gold watch and tells Hunter to keep it, but makes him promise to always look where he's going. We then jump forward to see Hunter in the library with Casey, watching her as she studies. Hunter, still wearing the Gold watch, takes this time to tell Casey he thinks they should go on a date. Casey tries to use a diplomatic approach to turning him down but Hunter catches wind and tries to act like he was joking, which creates more tension between the two. Casey then asks him if they did go on a date, where would they go, and Hunter pitches the idea of a picnic. After thinking, Casey agrees to the date which surprises both Hunter and myself. They make a plan to meet bu the apple tree at five for the picnic and she tells Hunter not to be late. From there we see Hunter in the halls listening to his iPod and singing loudly when he mistakenly bumps into another student named Chad. Hunter helps Chad pick up his things before heading to his room. Back at their bunks, Hunter tells Jun that Casey agreed to the date and he asks Jun to tell him when it's a quarter to five. Jun points out that Hunter's wearing a watch but he says neither watches or alarms due him much good. We then get a flashback to seeing Hunter being late to school and a former job, both at 8:13, so there may be something to that number. We then see Hunter missed his own mother's funeral and once again the time was 8:13, making it the fourth time 8:13 was mentioned in this issue. Back in the present we see Hunter trying different styles for his date when Jun tells him it's time. As soon as Hunter walks out of his room he encounter Chad from earlier with a friend and a completely different attitude. He seems pissed about earlier even though he was more than fine when Hunter mistakenly ran into him. The two friends are about to lay into Hunter when Jun walks by and Hunter calls him over. Jun walks over and asks what Hunter just called him, and when he repeats Jun's name, he decks him outta nowhere. We then get a flashback and see that Hunter saw a "professional" because every time he see's a clock when there's something he doesn't want to be late for it says 8:13, even when it's clearly not 8:13. He says he also can't hear alarms even though other people who are around can hear them just fine. We then find out this professional is just Hunter's health/gym teacher who can't really help Hunter, but gives him the number of someone who may be able to. He goes to see a specialist and gets a CAT Scan, and his doctor marvels at the results. She then has a gun pressed against the back of her head and is told to tell Hunter his test results are normal and to send him to a therapist. While seeing a therapist he looks at a clock that reads 8:13 which actually says 5:30. Back in the present, Chad, his friend, and Jun put a bag over Hunter's head and take him to the yard, as one of them refers to Jun as "The Captain". While Hunter's tied up he hears that the bully's plan on probably killing him, and that "one of the new girls" is upstairs. When told to grab her too we hear sounds of a fight and what I'd assume is someone being stabbed by something, we then see Hunter still tied up with a bag over his head in the greenhouse, as Casey is shown waiting by the apple tree. Casey is shown waiting for what seems like hours as Hunter tries to struggle free to no avail. Eventually it's night and Hunter is still tied up when Jun finds him, Hunter tries to explain what's happened to Jun with the three guys but Hunter's mask is removed to see Chad and his friend strung up with their stomachs cut open and "All will be free" written in their blood. Hunter tries to tell Jun about his doppleganger when Jun replies that he knows, it's his brother. Man, this was another GREAT issue. I mean, it started slow but the trauma and mystery of Hunter's 8:13 problem, the mystery of who killed the two boys, and or course the drama around Jun's brother. This remains as one of my favorite, if not my favorite ongoing series. I'll give this a 9/10 if only for the slow start and my disappointment at Hunter not getting his date.


Mr. Mackey: But Hunter, See, thing is I'm not a medical professional. I'm your heath teacher. Actually I'm your gym teacher, I just do the heath class so I can qualify for full-time salary.

And just like that we're all done! Thanks for joining me for this week's Ratings and Rantings, and I'll be back next week with more of my cavalcade of comic comments. As always the poll results from last week are below, so until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "How do you feel about Flashpoint?"

Last Place with 0% - "I'll just read the main issues." Surprising...
Third Place with 10% - "I'm reading all of it."
Second Place with 40% - "I hate it already and it hasn't even started."
Winner with 50% - "I'll buy a few tie-ins."

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Green Lantern #64, Green Lantern Corps # 58, Justice League of America #54 (Maybe due to Doomsday) JL Generation Lost #22, and Deadpool #34

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, I'm your host Jason Todd, here with another edition of the greatest weekly assortment or reviews, rants and ratings that you've never heard of, Ratings and Rantings! In the midst of a very busy week that included days off, 120 miles to and from seeing Falisha twice this week and both Dragon Age Origins II and Childish Gambino/Donald Glover's EP dropping this week (download here) as well as me turning twenty one on March 11th, this has been a pretty busy week, so instead of the generic intro I type, I decided to just borrow one from X-Man75. "Anyway, I'm now fully engrossed by Dragon Age 2(for my PS3, naturally), so I really don't feel like doing a long intro. All you really need to know is that there are reviews here and the longer the intro, the less time I have for my new game, so let's just get to the reviews!" (Edit: No Outsiders, I couldn't bring myself to buy that series, even if it did have the Reign of Doomsday story.)

Birds of Prey #10

I know I sound like a broken record but that is a beautiful cover, over ten people are on this cover and they all fit and each have their own space while no one is really overshadowed. Excellent work by Stanley Lau. We start things off with Helena "Huntress" Bertinelli, enraged at Calculator for apparently killing Oracle by blowing up her helicopter. Huntress rushes Calculator and attacks by scratching his face. This causes Calculator to whine like a bitch for lack of a better term, and he instantly loses the respect of all his henchmen. Huntress then uses her skills of intimidation to convince Calc that he made a major mistake by taking out the personal information broker of everyone from the Doom Patrol to the JLA. Calc tells his men to kill Huntress, Dove and Lady Blackhawk but Huntress says why won't he do it himself, which causes his men to doubt him even more. Calc calls her bluff and shoots at Huntress but Dove steps in and takes the bullet. Dove is laid out, but not hurt due to her tough skin when powered up. Calc threatens to shoot more of them when Mortis wakes up and tells him Canary found a way out and they need to run. Well... just shoot them and run.... Too late Mortis woke up about forty seconds late because now Canary is standing behind Calculator. Canary then plants a huge right hook across the face of our favorite evil Nerd, knocking one of his teeth out in the process. After she decks him he tells the henchmen to shoot him, instead of, ya know, before she got close enough to punch him, and they acquiesce to his request. Canary then flips around and fights crime "JLA style" as Huntress calls it, before getting caught by the giant Mammoth. She's quickly released when Hawk emerges from the shadows and takes down the big man with some help from Canary. We then see that Hawk was the one in the chopper and Oracle was flying it remotely. From there Calc and one of his men try to escape but Huntress relentlessly pursues them. She catches them and tells Calc that Oracle is dead but she has a thousand ghosts that will watch him relentlessly, and she lets him go for the plan to work, well alright. We then see Booster, Beetle and Manhunter each calling on Oracle but she ignores them all, causing Stephanie to question her. She announces to Batman (Bruce), Batman (Dick), Red Robin, Batgirl and Misfit (Woooo!) that Oracle is going back to operating in the shadows, and proxy can take over as the Superhero Info Hub. The issue ends with Oracle watching over everyone. Well, that was pretty lame. This arc had a lot of promise, I at least expected her to change names, but since we KNEW Babs wasn't dying it was super boring in that sense, the art appears amateurish throughout, especially after having the great Ed Benes work on this series, in some scenes Canary looks like a thirteen year old. Oh and it was never explained why the hell Misfit was there but Robin wasn't... This issue was alright but the predictability and the art gave it a big hit, I'll give this a 5/10.

Huntress: Now we're Birds. And he's our prey. (Really Gail..... really? I expect this from Devin Grayson, not you. You're better than that Gail.)

Batman & Robin #21

We get things underway with the Langstrom family, minus Kirk, jumping off of a building because they heard voices in their head. Alrighty, ever heard of Randy Orton? Anyway, Batman and Robin make the timely save and tell Kick's wife that he attacked them, also due to the voices. Batman and Robin try to get to the bottom of it when a bright shining guy with a white aura I guess who claims to be Gotham's White Knight is introduced. Sure, cause introducing the White Knight in an arc about him in the third of three issues makes perfect sense. Bats and Robin try to pursue the new "hero" but he shoots a hole in the Gotham Water source or something. Batman and Robin finally get on stable ground but lose track of the mysterious White Knight. From there we see Damian, Dick and Alfred in the Bat Bunker using some good old fashioned Detective Skills to try to find a lead on the White Knight. I enjoyed this, as we don't see a ton of detective work, especially from Dick since that's more of Bruce and Tim's forte. We then find out the first Fallen Angel victim was Douglas Zsasz, the brother of Victor Zsasz, whom I always swore didn't have family but I could be wrong. Batman notes that their attacking relatives of people who are in Arkham. Someone hide Gilda Dent... Oh wait. The Batsignal then shines through the sky and Batman and Robin go meet with Gordon at the scene of another murder, this time the Tetches, Mad Hatter's parents and brother and sister. The issue ends with Batman and Robin trying to save the relatives of more Arkham Inmates. This was an odd issue, the story was pretty weird but I'm somewhat curious to see why these people are being attacked and who the White Knight is, I'll give this a 6.5/10.

Batman: Falcons are EPA protected. That's why we're not infested with pigeons like London and Paris.

Robin: That's soooo incredibly interesting, I can't wait to tweet it. (Sarcasm strikes again!)

JL Generation Lost #21

We start off with Booster recapping all the lives that have been taken so far in the series due to Maxwell Lord. We then see Booster sitting next to the lifeless body of Blue Beetle, saying that he can't get his suit off. When Skeets asks if he wants to contact the Reyes family, a grief stricken Booster cries that he's not calling them to tell them their son died, he's taking his body to them, but not in that armor. We then see Captain Atom watching the news and hearing about all the people who died when he confronted Magog, and how he's still believed to be responsible for their deaths. Ice comes to talk to him about it but a angry Captain Atom wants to hear her say I told you so, since she wanted to stay home and not chase after Max. He continues to lay into her until she swings on him. She apologizes but Nate states that he's not human anymore and all he's bringing is death, as he seems to wonder what his purpose is. We then check in with Rocket Red and Fire as they discuss how young Beetle was, as Gavril had no idea he was only seventeen. From there they talk about emotions which leads to Bea kissing Gavril. It's about time, hope that wasn't a metaphorical kiss of death for Gavril though. Back with Tora and Captain Atom, he mentions how he doesn't eat, sleep, feel heat or cold, and how he doesn't think he can die. He asks if it's fair that he causes so much death and doesn't have to pay for it, and Tora siad he makes himself pay with his own guilt. She then says she likes that he can't die because she can always trust they'll be someone to save the world ven after their gone. Back with Booster and Skeets, Booster says he knows this isn't his faul but he feels like he helped Max along the way. Booster talks about how it was his idea to continue after Max and how he got Beetle killed because he wants to stop Max and prove he's a hero, and if he keeps leading everyone will be dead, but the JLI who have overheard tell him he's wrong and they tell him to lead them. The issue ends with a pretty expected thing happening and the team ready to go after Max one last time. This was a good issue, I enjoyed seeing the one on one conversations between all the teammates and seeing Booster show his emotions and how hard he tries. The ending was obvious due to solicitations, but I still enjoyed this issue, I'd give it an 7/10.

Booster Gold: I devote everything I have to trying to help. But... I'm vain. I know that. I want people to know what I do. How hard I try. That... I'm a hero.

Venom #1

The Venom series gets underway with some people in Eastern Europe being attacked by what looks like flying hellfire and brimstone. When all hope seems to be gone, the U.N. sends in their peace keepers, who look like an Iron Man/Iron Giant hybrid. They last a mere seconds when we see who the villain is, I'd have to describe him as Pumpkin head plus the Green Goblin. Pumpkin head then communicates with one of his cohorts, discussing how they need to find some genius their looking for that helped invent the same weapon their using to cause all this havoc. Play time soon ends when the new Venom, Flash Thompson drops from a helicopter and takes down quite a few baddies before he even lands. Venom has been sent to guard the target, Dr. Ekmecic, but he decides to save civilians first. While saving them a live grenade is thrown, and considering Flash has had his legs blown off twice, he quickly pins the grenade with his symbiote and saves it inside the suit for now. Venom saves the innocents then finds the "good" Doctor and even manages to say a cheesy one-liner, Spidey would be SO proud. Venom doesn't get a chance to enjoy the glory when our Harlequin of Halloween attacks him outta nowhere. The Doctor is then snatched up and we finally get a name, our villain is Jack O'Lantern, which is not bad all things considered. Venom, angered by the attack almost snaps and let's the symbiote take over but he's able to calm himself. He then decides to take the civilians to safety first before pursuing The Doctor and Jack, to the annoyance of his verbal handler. Jack then hits Venom with another suckerpunch which causes Venom to fall to the ground and almost kills the civilians in his protection. Venom continues to get enraged and starts to grow a little in size and build. The symbiote claims to be in control but Flash keeps it from killing Jack O'Lantern. When Jack gets the upper hand, the grenade from earlier comes back into play as Flash puts it into Jack's pumpkin head and it explodes, but of course doesn't kill Jack. Jack tries to fly off and takes the Doc with him but Venom, still a bit hulked out for lack of a better term, webs the Doctor's face and snaps his neck, so his secrets can't get out and help anyone else that's evil and deranged. Venom starts to calm down as Katherine tells him the mission is a bust, but he notes that the civilians he saved think otherwise. Back at the base, the suit is removed from Flash, and he's questioned about his decisions. The General tells Flash he was seconds away from hitting the killswitch when Flash wigged out, and how he needs to bury that highschool jock and bring out Corporal Thompson. Um... he did save the civilians but whatever. Flash then goes to see Betty, who he forgot he had a date with and stood her up, she says that Flash is keeping secrets and suspects him of drinking again before slamming the door in his face. The issue ends with Flash, seemingly trapped between secrets, Venom, and being an alcoholic. This was a very good start to this series, I loved seeing them address Flash letting the Venom run wild right off the bat, as well as showing a bit more of his wanting to be Spider-Man, even with him making a crappy joke. This series has a lot of potential and It seems to have started out on the right foot, I'll give this an 8/10.

Dr. Ekmecic: Erik! Respond! What has gotten into you?!

Venom: He caught a dose of Venom, Doctor Eckmecic.

Venom Inner Monologue: I'm embarrassed as soon as it comes out of my mouth. (Spidey 101.)

Batgirl #19

Batgirl, my favorite female superhero not named Power Girl, starts off with Steph and her mother at the breakfast table, as Steph eats some waffles as her mom mentions another bank robbery from the night before. This prompts Steph to throw on her Batgirl costume and head to the bank to investigate. While there Batgirl talks to Detective Nick Gage and we find out that some type of Speedster is responsible for the crime, but he's only taking a couple thousand but leaving the millions in the safe untouched. As they talk, Steph discovers that Gage has a very high dislike for the Reapers, but he won't say why. The two decide to split so Batgirl can get to her "day job", but it's overheard by the Grey Ghost, who appears to be stalking our Blonde Bat. We then see the first and the present Batgirl's, Babs and Stephanie. Steph mentions that Babs has "quit" and Babs notes that Oracle is dead, and Bruce has her building a new internet, whatever the hell that means. Stephanie tells Babs she should shoot Proxy a visit and make sure she feels like a team member, since she already has abandonment issues and is now pretty much the new Oracle and Babs says she'll see what she can do. Babs does in fact go visit Wendy, and tells her in no uncertain terms that she needs to decide if she wants to use that anger to become a better hero before leaving Wendy there to think. We then see The Grey Ghost looking for Batgirl on the rooftops of Gotham, and she pops up behind him. She tells him he needs help and she knows he's been following her, but she does it with the grace and concern that only she can, instead of just breaking his jaw, a la Huntress. During the conversation, Proxy chimes in and warns Batgirl that some type of speedster just robbed a bank then ran nineteen red lights in succession within five seconds. What Batgirl doesn't know is Grey Ghost also intercepts the frequency on his phone I guess, and disappears before Batgirl turns around. The Grey Ghost confronts our evil speedster and gets thrown out of a window for his trouble, nice job buddy. Batgirl confronts our villain and we find out his name is Slipstream, and that Batgirl can't touch him, physically or with gadgets due to his speed. Slipstream claims that he's about to kill Batgirl when his suit is overridden and he's electrocuted, he then leaves the scene as Batgirl, Grey Ghost and Proxy are confused about what actually happened. Batgirl then heads to meet Wendy and discovers her base has had a HUGE upgrade thanks to a donation by Bruce Wayne due to Batgirl's involvement in Batman Inc. The issue ends with Batgirl and Proxy ready to strike back at Slipstream. This was a great issue, the classic Batgirl humor, more villains joining Batgirl's Rogues galllery, what can you not like about this issue? I'll give it a solid 9/10.

Slipstream: The name's Slipstream. Remember that for your tombstone.

Batgirl: Okay, First things first, You really think your name is the one they'll put on my tombstone?


Thanks for reading everyone, now I gotta get back to Dragon Age II, so this'll be brief. Feel free to comment and vote on this weeks new poll, the results to last week's poll are below. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which of the following would win in a four-way throwdown?"

Last place with 10.5% - Daken, I can honestly say I did not expect that.
Third place with 15.8% - Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier took more than a mother from Daken.
Second Place with 21.1% - Wolverine, He gains a measure of revenge over Bucky
Winner with 52.6% - Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth prevails over all.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Power Girl #22, Red Robin #21, Morning Glories #8, Amazing Spider-Man #656 and Brightest Day #22 where Firestorm dies, I'm guessing...

Booster Gold - The Golden Road

(Hey Todd Squad, JT here with a post about one of my favorite heroes, Booster Gold. I did this post over at the L.O.L. blog and I figured since my site is getting a little more traffic due to recent events, I may as well throw it up over here too, so without further adieu, I present Booster Gold - The Golden Road.)


Hey L.O.L., I'm Jason Todd also known as J.T. and I'm glad to be apart of this lovable Legion of Losers. I didn't know what I wanted my first post here to be about, since Kello's spur of the moment invitation hit my email inbox. I'm usually more of a read then review guy, so when wondering what to write about I remembered my post "Can Jason Todd Regain Glory?" over at my blog. So I thought for a few minutes and I decided to write about another of my favorite characters, one that's really been taking the DCU by storm lately, Booster Gold.

Booster Gold was created by Dan Jurgens and made his comic book debut in 1986, making him four years older than yours truly. The story of Booster Gold is that Michael Jon Carter, a young man born in Gotham City in the 25th Century with a twin sister named Michelle Carter. Michael and Michelle were raised by their mother after their father left, but not before gambling away their money. Luckily, Michael was a great athlete and ended up getting a football scholarship to Gotham University. Michael's father soon returns to his life, and convinces Michael to bet on games and then throw them. It's not long before the College Star gets caught and banned from playing. Michael then takes a job at the Metropolis Space Museum and starts to study heroes and villains from the past. Thanks to a little help from a Museum security robot, Michael steals Brainiac-5's force-field belt, a Legion Flight ring, and Rip Hunter's Time Machine to go back to the 20th Century.

While in the 20th Century, The Golden Hero saves the life of then-President Ronald Reagan, when asked what his name is, Michael, who wants to use the name Goldstar, mistakenly mixes it with his College Football nickname, Booster. This causes President Reagan to introduce him to the world as Booster Gold, a name that soon stuck to him. Booster Gold was mostly used as a comedy character, and one of the few superheroes that had sponsors. Whereas Superman was a hero for good and justice, and Batman was a hero to clean up his city, Booster was a hero just for money. The irony of it is pretty funny considering Booster's football career was ruined over money, then his entire Superhero Career revolved around it. At one point Booster even married a very old woman just to get his hands on her money.

Booster would soon evolve into a more serious character, but before that could happen, he would embrace his inner comedy character. Booster Gold was soon teamed up with the former Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle became one of the greatest Duo's in comic books, and always brought the laughs. When you saw Booster Gold and Blue Beetle together, you could be sure the "Bwa-Ha-Ha" wouldn't be far behind, for you or them. Some classic Blue and Gold jokes included Blue Beetle always mentioning he had a heart condition, Booster's marriage to the old, rich woman by the name of Gladys, and many more great moments with the two.

As most comic readers know, Ted Kord would later be killed at the hands of Maxwell Lord, former friend of both Ted and Michael. While this death was pretty uneventful for the most part, it did one thing, and that's push Booster Gold. Without joking around with Ted, Booster was forced to grow up, and become a real hero. It's almost as if he took part of Ted's personality when Ted was killed off. This is when I started to become a fan of Booster Gold. He grew up, stopped the merchandising, and became a true hero.

So what's the point of all this? Booster Gold is the perfect example of a character who was made and became nothing more than a joke, not Booster Gold has three comic books a month. Now Booster appears every two weeks in Justice League Generation Lost, He also appears in his own comic, Booster Gold, and lastly he's shoulder to shoulder with two of the biggest names in DC Comics, Superman and Green Lantern, all why searching for fellow Gothamite, Batman. Booster didn't have a comic at all six years ago, now he's in three a month. If Booster Gold can become a huge character due to excellent writing, than anyone can. Booster Gold is what inspires me to think that maybe someone can redeem a character like Arsenal, or use a character with potential like Connor Hawke. I remember the exact moment I became a true Booster Gold character, and the issue for anyone interested. Booster Gold #5, entitled "No Joke". In this issue Booster Gold tries to go back in time to save Barbara Gordon from being shot and paralyzed by The Joker. Every time he does back, he fails. Booster's always one second too late, or something always goes wrong, and even when he's beaten, battered and bloody, he never gives up. He always tries, and when Batman discovers this, he gains a ton of respect for Booster, he even offers to get him into the Justice League. But Booster graciously denies, claiming as long as no one sees Booster as a threat, and thinks he's a knucklehead and a joke, they'll never expect him to be the true hero that he is. That's the moment I knew I'd always be a Booster Gold fan, because he's evolved from a guy who just wants money and fun, to a true hero that always tries to do what's right. And to me, that's better than being a Hero all your life because he's learned from his mistakes and tries his best, making him human. He's almost like the DC version of Spider-Man in that sense. So even though his past is tarnished, Booster Gold always shines bright.

- Jason Todd

Ratings and Rantings

Hello Todd Squad, yours truly, Jason Todd, welcoming you to another edition of Ratings and Rantings! This week's Ratings and Rantings should be an interesting one with the prelude to War of the Green Lanterns, one of the last few issues of Brightest Day plus Batman Beyond and Deadpool.

For those of you looking forward to a Streets of Gotham review, all one-to-none of you, there won't be one because of my decision to drop that comic.When I mentioned that to my buddy X-Man75, he informed me there were only two issues left of the series since it's currently cancelled, and I still decided not to pick up the final two issues. Streets of Gotham had a lot of potential with the great use of Zsasz, the debut of Gotham vigilante ABUSE and the chance to have a storyline that could take Hush from the D-Lister he is now to the A-Lister he should've stayed after the wonderfully written Hush storyline. Instead we get the debut of Bedbug, which is something a five-year old would probably come up with, a horrible story that focuses less on Hush and more on John Zatara, The Elliots and The Waynes, yes, more on five dead people than on Hush who had endless potential as a great villain. But yeah, that's my short rant on that series, which I'm glad is ending, now let's get to the reviews.

Green Lantern #53

First things first, I really like this cover, but I'm wondering why all the entities are based off of animals... Anyway, we start things off with Ganthet talking to Krona, if you've read at least one DC comic in the last week or two, you already know what happens in this scene. Basically, an unusually tall Krona basically can't become a Guardian because he's not able to get rid of his emotions, he still wants to feel love and rage and fear and things that make life worth living and he's currently close to unlocking the secrets of the emotional spectrum. We then see that Ganthet has turned him in and Krona vows to make Ganthet pay. From there we see the Color Corps leaders, with the exception of Sinestro and Carol Ferris, in deep space after Hal's talk with Batman, Flash and Superman. Hal admits that maybe the Guardians are right and emotions should be controlled because they are dangerous. Well okay then Hal... the Color Corps then decide to go find Carol Ferris since the Star Sapphire entity, The Predator, is the only one not currently in Krona's possession. Indigo-1 tries to transport everyone to Zamaron but can't due to interference, then somehow Sinestro and Carol suddenly appear. Carol makes it known that Krona took her entity as well which happened in Brightest Day about two issues ago, and Sinestro mentions he was running an errand, which refers to his appearances in Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro hears that they have lost all the entities so says if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Meanwhile The Guardians have found Hal's signal at the behest of Salaak, so they send him and a squad of Green Lanterns to ambush Jordan and bring him back so he can face charges of treason. While Hal and the other color corp leaders travel to Ryut, the homeworld of Atrocitus, to confront Krona they discover seven pillars, each with a lantern symbol as well as The Book of The Black in the center. Hal, being an idiot, doesn't know what that is so Sinestro explains that it contains the secret chapters that had been ripped from the book of Oa. The book then realizes the New Guardians are there and opens itself, scaring everyone. Yep, they got scared by a book, that really hurts the rep of Atrocitus and Sinestro. It tells them about the history of Krona, and we see that he defeated Manhunters then reversed their programming which caused the slaughter of an entire sector, just to prove that even an emotionless police force has flaws. The issue ends with the book accessing a new Chapter called "There will be only three" as we see Hal, Guy, Kyle and John reaching for one of three Green Lantern rings. This issue was just building up the War of the Green Lanterns and gave us a few peeks at Krona's past. It wasn't bad but it was far from mandatory to read, it was more of a filler than anything. I'll give it a 5/10 rating.

Larfleeze: Krona! He has all of our entities! Where is his HUGE HEAD going?!

Brightest Day #21

Oh God, it's a Martian Manhunter issue. The last one had everyone on the JLA dying including Wonder Woman being hung with her own Lasso. This issue starts off with The Atom at The Hawks house, investigating their ashes, meanwhile I'm wondering who the hell noticed they were missing and even CALLED him to do it. He also says he doesn't know where Aquaman is, and we see his hand lying on the beach, which I could hilarious. From there we see the beach Aquaman got vaporized on and an overabundance of heroes helping civilians including Superman, Superboy, Batman, Cyborg, Metamorpho..., Hawk, Dove, Jade, Congrorilla, Flash, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Star Girl, Alan Scott, Mister Terrific, Doctor Mid-Nite and Atom Smasher. Mera explains how Deadman blasted Aquaman into aqua-dust and Hawk wonders if Deadman is coming after them next. Hawk says they should strike first, but JAde recommends checking on the other White Light returnees, and since Osiris, Max, Boomer and Reverse Flash are Bad guys, that leaves them with the missing Firestorm and Martian Manhunter. Their interrupted by Cyborg saying that h recently intercepted thousands of distress calls for earthquakes and volcanoes erupting and Wildcat notices there are Black clouds in the sky. We then jump over to see Martian Manhunter fighting D'Kay. During the fight D'Kay mentions she's pregnant... due to them sleeping together when she confused J'onn... he then looks inside of her and says the baby is a lie and she's barren. Are you KIDDING ME?! Did I REALLY just read someone playing the pregnancy card in the middle of a fight? YOU HAVE GOT to be kidding me. I defend Geoff a lot, but that's probably one of the single most dumb things I've ever read. I'm done with this review, I'm not finishing this comic, I may pick up the next one if I don't have to deal with this dumbass Martian story. This issue gets a N/A.

Me: Next time I'll save myself time and just light the money on fire instead.

Deadpool #33.1

Okay, something that will hopefully be good, Dan Way, don't let me down buddy! We start off with a recap page that only Deadpool could do, before jumping into the main story. We see Deadpool in a Godfather-like office, petting a cat and surprisingly not wearing a hoody and talking to someone who wants him to do his job. After the man lists all of Deadpool's accomplishments we discover the man wants to hire Deadpool to evict a tenant from his apartment building. Deadpool seems angry until he see's how much he'll be getting paid and proclaims that "The Price is Right"! We then see that the person the owners want evicted is The Wrecker, and as a supplemental note points out, he once faught the Avengers to a standstill, all of them vs. him at once. Deadpool goes to confront The Wrecker and the next day goes back to the owners in a wheel chair, a cast, holding a crutch and still smoking from a hellacious butt-kicking that was so violent we didn't even see it. He demands more money for this job and after proving that if the landlord doesn't comply he'll be legally screwed he tells them he now wants triple for the job. After receiving his cash and removing his leg cast with a chainsaw, Deadpool calls up The Wrecker to let him know that now that his leg's all better he's gonna use it to kick his ass. From there we see an awesome splash-page that can only be described by saying Deadpool, Wrecker, fire, chaos and billions upon billions of bullets. Deadpool and The Wrecker's fight then collides into the building, much to the chagrin of the owners. Deadpool then realizes his arm is broken in two places and he has a broken rib stabbing him in the lung, so he decides to hide out in an old ladies apartment and let his body heal. Deadpool takes advantage of the old lady's hospitality and eats her food and whatnot, then asks how long she thinks she'll live since she's so old. He mentions how he's taking out The Wrecker to help her and the other tenants, when she mentions that the Wrecker living there is the only thing stopping the owners from selling the building and ut being knocked down to make condominiums. She then mentions The Wrecker was hired by the owners to intimidate everyone into signing papers to terminate their leases. Deadpool is shocked at this realization and even more shocked with The Wrecker shows up to eat Flaki soup with Deadpool and the old woman, which is apparently a weekly tradition between the two. We then see that this was actually a flashback to the first time the two fought. Damn, fooled me. Back in the present, Deadpool and The Wrecker take a break and get some water before continuing their earth-shattering fight. During the fight the owners get a call from the buyer who says he's definitely not interested after seeing a super-human fight outside of and in the building. The fight ends soon after as we see that Deadpool took the money the people paid him and gave it to the old woman who then bought the deed to the apartment on discount, all because Deadpool had a change of heart. She then gives Deadpool two gallons of Flaki as agreed on and he does one last thing for the old woman as this issue ends. Man, this was great Deadpool fun. I loved the swerve and seeing Deadpool still has his hero ways as well as a good heart. The fight with Wrecker was awesome and put over both him and Deadpool, and the stuff with the old woman was classically hilarious, I'll give this issue a 8.5/10.

Deadpool: You're a nice Old Lady.

Old Lady: Is not nice to call lady "old".

Deadpool: Even if they are old?

Old Lady: Especially if they are old.

Deadpool: Oh. Are you this wise because you're so old?

Old Lady: Yes.

Batman Beyond #3

This issue of Batman Beyond starts off with Terry, shocked to see that his mother and little bro have been turned into metal by the Matter Master. He's more relaxed when he finds out from Bruce via comm link that they aren't dead, as they are transmuted to, but not encased in metal. Bruce tells Terry to worry about the hostages instead of rushing Matter Master like the rest of the JLA. Matter Master then lays the smackdown on the JLA one by one while Batman gets the hostages away to safety. While Terry's trying to save the hostages, Bruce overhears that Richard Grayson is being pursued for the Hush killings in a throwback to the Batman Beyond Mini of last year, which distracts Bruce momentarily. Matter Master finished up the JLA when Batman jumps back into the fray. He attacks the dastardly villain and he starts to explode with energy. We then see Terry's girlfriend Dana at home, upset that she was stood up by Terry, but she seems to have a look of concern when her mother tells Dana that her brother is getting out next week. Meanwhile, Batman with the help of Bruce uses the JLA to his advantage like chess pieces and successfully contains a nuclear explosion that was going to be caused by a malfunctioning Matter Master. As he's defeated he transmutes into copper or something, as Batman tells him he could have used his powers for good and helped people, he replies with a faint, "look who's talking." Oh Snap! You tell him Matter Master. After defeating Matter Master, The league once again asks Batman to join, and after some consideration and a few conditions he names, Batman agrees to join the Justice League of America as this issue ends. This was another good issue of Batman Beyond, and I loved seeing him coached by Bruce so well yet making his own decisions since he is his own man. I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Batman: One, if you need me for something, it better be big, because for me this city is job one. Two, if you're going on a mission and I say I'm busy, I'm busy, three, Gotham's off-limits unless I ask for your help.

Bruce: Actually, those are pretty good conditions.

And that's all I have for this week guys and gals. Thanks for reading and be sure to comment and vote on this week's poll. The results from last week's poll are below as always, and until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which of these characters do you currently like the most?"

Last place with 17.6% - Arsenal, one arm, a heel turn and no daughter makes for dislike, DC!
Second Place with 23.5% - Black Cat, Bad luck keeps Felicia Hardy in second place.
Winner with 29.4% - Tie between Booster Gold and the new Venom, Flash Thompson!

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #19, Batman & Robin #21, Birds of Prey #10, JL Generation Lost #21, The Outsiders #37,  and Venom #1