Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with more of those comic reviews you crave oh-so-much. This week we've got a nice haul of comics, more than I expected but first I want to mention Free Comic Boom Month.
For the last few years, a very nice comic fan has started Free Comic Boom Month, so if you email him and let him know some of your favorite comics, he'll mail you a comic he thinks you may enjoy from his personal stash for free, which is really awesome. So feel free to check out his FCBM post as well as his blog by clicking here.
So, I had a nice post typed up that I finished last night with reviews of everything except Amazing Spider-Man which I didn't pick up due to it being a FF comic (Isn't there already one of those?) and Morning Glories #9 since I let Lisha borrow it. So I woke up today before work and decided I'd post and suddenly my net craps out on me.. so I figure I'll post it from my phone, and I do but it leads to only posting the first two or three paragraphs. Needless to say that pissed me off, and after completing the post last night I copied over the copy I saved in Word, probably because I'm an idiot. Anyway, I'm very upset that this happened since I wasted my time typing up and completing a review, plus I'm upset you guys don't get to read it, that's what makes me the most angry. So, to make it up to you guys, next week I'll be posting 5 Reasons why you should read Invincible, What I Learned from Brightest Day, AND Ratings and Rantings featuring Morning Glories #9, Batman Beyond #5, and Deadpool Annual #1 which continues the Identity Wars story arc. See, I love the Todd Squad, Three posts in one week is a lot for my lazy ass, so enjoy it guys! Anyway some quick review scores that I recall
Action Comics #900 - N/A, horrible ending to one of the best Luthor stories ever. I couldn't even finish it as I only planned on reviewing the main story. See more on it here at Paul C's blog.
Emerald Warriors #9 - Great ending, very well writing and another good issue in War of the Green Lanterns, got a 7/10 Rating.
Brightest Day #24- Plain stupid, I'll speak on it more next week in my Brightest Day post but read about it here at X's blog. I gave it a 1/10 because it's finally over.
Venom #2 - Another great issue in what is making Flash Thompson become my favorite Venom besides Eddie Brock, I gave this a 9/10.
JL Generation Lost #24 - Great ending which will be spawning it's own JLI series which I love, I gave this a 8/10 rating.
Deadpool #36 - Amazing issue, great appearances from the Deadpool cast and just overall fun and funny, I gave this a 9.5/10.
So, that's it guys. As for the poll results of which GL you think is gonna lose their ring, John Stewart came in first place, Guy Gardner in second, Kyle in third (my pick) and lastly Hal Jordan. But that's all for me guys, I'm gonna go drown my sorrows in some Faygo Cola and get these posts ready for next week until next time, Stay Classy Todd Squad!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Ratings and Rantings
Woooo it's that time again everyone, time for your weekly cavalcade of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings. As always I'm your host JT, and we have a nice collection of comics this week. We've got the continuation of the War of the Green Lanterns, The fallout from The Return of The Joker in Gotham City Sirens as well as Hell's Angel, Azrael, testing Catwoman, as well as our favorite busty Kryptonian, Power Girl. So, with an all DC Comics edition of Ratings and Rantings, let's kick things off with The War of The Green Lanterns!
Here we are with part four of...something of the War of the Green Lanterns. We kick things off on Oa with everyone under Krona's control with the exception of a beaten but still defiant Kilowog. Krona taps into Kilowog's mind to see the reason he can deny falling under control is due to himself, Ganthet and the four Earth GL's having been exposed to Parallax before. Krona forces Kilowog's ring back on him and gains another member to his brainwashed Green Lantern Corps. Over on an non-inhabited world known as the Green House, Hal and Guy are wondering around looking for what's basically a Green Lantern Batcave which has a Green Lantern spaceship... Yep. They use the ship, which Hal calls the fastest in the universe, and plan to go find Kyle and John since it can track their rings. They arrive on Oa and Kilowog welcomes them by smashing up this ship, meaning it lasted all of five pages, bravo! Hal and Guy jump into an escape pod which takes them to Kyle and John. Once the four team up they realize they need rings or they'll certainly get caught or get killed, so Hal whips out the Color rings of the people who got sucked into the black book. They each pick a ring, Guy picking Red of course, Hal takes Sinestro's ring, Kyle takes Hope (looking more like Nighwting everyday Rayner.) and John wants Orange but Hal advises against it so gives him the purple ring for compassion. The issue ends with an awesome shot of everyone with their new colors, especially John who has a makeshift army uniform. This issue was more of a set up than anything but I really loved the last page where we got so see everyone with their new rings. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10 only because nothing else really happened.
And we continue with part five of this big War of the Green Lanterns. This issue starts with Ganthet trying to fight off hundreds if not thousands of Green Lanterns while we hear John Stewart compare this to a war with his own soldiers. We then see John, Kyle, Hal and Guy all sporting their new colors trying to decide what to do next. John cites that he knows the Indigo Lanterns can tap into other emotions and tries to tap into Guy's rage but can't because he's using Willpower to do it. He tells Kyle to charge his ring but Hal tells him that only works for Green Lanterns. They ask why Kyle picked Blue since there are no Green Lanterns to feed off of and Kyle says he though Ganthet gave him a hint when he said he had hope in him and now he hopes he isn't useless. Just pick another ring Kyle, don't whine about it. Kyle then starts to glow brighter when more GL's get close. They attack our four Earth Lanterns and Kyle's blue ring just supercharges all the Green Lantern rings. Damn, that's bad luck. John saves Kyle from a grim fate before they escape to go find Ganthet. They finally find Ganthet who pretty much unleashed a huge Green Lantern bomb to subdue all of his attackers when he see's the Crayola Cavalry as Guy calls them. Ganthet is upset to say the least, saying the rings shouldn't be on them as they are ill-suited (John), Not ready (Kyle) or condemning themselves to death (Guy). Ganthet tears into Hal for his idea but more attackers show up, as well as Mogo who BLASTS Ganthet. The issue ends with our four lanterns and Ganthet outnumbered by many to continue in Emerald Warriors #9. This was another fine issue, our guys basically ran around but I'm interested to see how this turns out, I'll give this issue a 7.5/10 as well because nothing really happened from the last issue.
Guy Gardner: The Crayola Cavalry has arrived!
We start things off with Catwoman recapping her decision to leave Ivy to deal with Harley trying to kill the Joker and how she now has to deal with a test by Azrael and the Crusader, who are on the way after Red Robin has failed his test. As Catwoman searches for the Angels of Death (cool name from the Red Robin issue) when they happen to find her sister who says she's Catwoman's test, and tonight she (her sister) will die. Meanwhile, Catwoman breaks into Azrael's Sister-In-Law's house and ties her up, then claims that his sister-in-law is for the lack of a better or funnier word, boning Azrael. She then ties her up for no reason and leaves. Catwoman finds the Crusader and kicks him to the ground. When he gets ready to attack he's interrupted by Red Robin, who even though he failed his test, sticks around to help Catwoman. They fight for a while until Azrael shows up and asks Catwoman to confess to her one biggest sin, the one she's never forgiven herself for. He stabs her with his fiery hail sin-telling sword which prompts her to have flashbacks about herself and her sister Maggie as a kid up to their fight in Sirens about ten issues ago.When Selina comes to, Maggie is there. Maggie and the Angels of Death tell Selina that Gotham will live on if she sacrifices her sister in the name of God. Catwoman grabs the blade given to her and tries to stab The Crusader, but his armor doesn't give and he decks her with a punch. Maggie begs Selina to do it, send her to God, cleanse her soul and save Gotham but Catwoman just can't bring herself to kill her baby sister. The issue ends with Ra's Al Ghul saying that Dick Grayson is the only one who can now save Gotham, as a defeated Selina is shunned by her sister. Well this was... something. Red Robin kinda had no point here, we got none of the Joker/Harley stuff that had me interested in the first place, everything was a bust for me. Plus that chick being tied up for no reason was dumb, I hope it leads to something in Batman, but I'll give this a 4/10.
Kryptonians visit Jurassic Park as this issue starts off with my two favorite Kryptonians, and Superman. Okay, I couldn't resist. But nah, really, my two favorite Kryptonians, Superman and Power Girl are taking on what can only be classified as Magical Dinosaurs. Some even have Machine Guns for arms or are wielding Axes, and I'm serious. They decide to call up my favorite Magician (Sorry Criss Angel, Penn and Teller) Zatanna, but sadly she's all tied up. Zee is literally all tied up by some dude in a hoody who has her subdued up with tape over her mouth. Luckily, Zee's message on her phone says if she hasn't picked up she's in trouble and tells the caller to track her G.P.S. to save her. Peej calls up Nicco and has him track the G.P.S. We then see Zatanna's captor, known as Siphon and find out that since he was a teenager he's been able to use magic, but he has to be in close proximity with another magician. If he's around a magician for three hours then he can use their powers permanently. He tells Zatanna he doesn't want to hurt her or steal her powers, he just wants to copy them. Would've been easier to just get a date with her, taker her to go see Avatar and go to dinner, boom, instant powers for life buddy. Anyway, Siphon only needs two more hours but Superman and Power Girl show up and free Zatanna. What ensues from there are some back and forth spell-throwing which includes Supes and Peej being attacked by magical Sasquatches, the trio being turned into giant rock people (Shout out to the Thing!) and more. When Siphon finally has Zee on the ropes, Power Girl shows up and whisks into the sky, which knocks him out due to the speed and lack of oxygen. After dealing with a now locked up Siphon, Power Girl tells Zatanna and Superman she has a press conference to get to, and tells Supes she intends on making Karen Starr a real person. As the issue ends we see Karen Starr at the Starrware conference sporting glasses and red hair! Somewhere Kello just said "Hubba, Hubba." Now THIS was a good issue, I loved the change to making Karen look less like Power Girl and giving Power Girl a life outside of the Cape. I also loved the duel with Zee and Siphon as well as Siphon as a character, he should be interesting. And lastly I loved how Superman was here but never made the women look second tier, everyone was on a nice equal playing field, so I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating. Keep it up Judd, you just made Power Girl my favorite female hero.
And that's it for me everyone. I Hope you enjoyed this short edition of Ratings and Rantings. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think. And of course the results from last week's poll are below so be sure to vote on this week's newest poll. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.
Last week's poll asked "Which comic couple would you like to see most?"
Last Place with 6.7% - Batman and Black Canary
Third Place with 20%- She Hulk and Deadpool
Second Place with 3.33% - Booster Gold and Power Girl
Winner with 40% -Huntress and Jason Todd - Make it happen DC!
Next Time on Ratings and Rantings
Action Comics #900, Brightest Day #24, Generation Lost #24, Deadpool #36, Amazing Spider-Man #659, and Venom #2
Green Lantern #65
Here we are with part four of...something of the War of the Green Lanterns. We kick things off on Oa with everyone under Krona's control with the exception of a beaten but still defiant Kilowog. Krona taps into Kilowog's mind to see the reason he can deny falling under control is due to himself, Ganthet and the four Earth GL's having been exposed to Parallax before. Krona forces Kilowog's ring back on him and gains another member to his brainwashed Green Lantern Corps. Over on an non-inhabited world known as the Green House, Hal and Guy are wondering around looking for what's basically a Green Lantern Batcave which has a Green Lantern spaceship... Yep. They use the ship, which Hal calls the fastest in the universe, and plan to go find Kyle and John since it can track their rings. They arrive on Oa and Kilowog welcomes them by smashing up this ship, meaning it lasted all of five pages, bravo! Hal and Guy jump into an escape pod which takes them to Kyle and John. Once the four team up they realize they need rings or they'll certainly get caught or get killed, so Hal whips out the Color rings of the people who got sucked into the black book. They each pick a ring, Guy picking Red of course, Hal takes Sinestro's ring, Kyle takes Hope (looking more like Nighwting everyday Rayner.) and John wants Orange but Hal advises against it so gives him the purple ring for compassion. The issue ends with an awesome shot of everyone with their new colors, especially John who has a makeshift army uniform. This issue was more of a set up than anything but I really loved the last page where we got so see everyone with their new rings. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10 only because nothing else really happened.
Hal: That better be your belt buckle.
Guy: Don't flatter yourself. (I had this same conversation with X a week ago...)Green Lantern Corps #59
And we continue with part five of this big War of the Green Lanterns. This issue starts with Ganthet trying to fight off hundreds if not thousands of Green Lanterns while we hear John Stewart compare this to a war with his own soldiers. We then see John, Kyle, Hal and Guy all sporting their new colors trying to decide what to do next. John cites that he knows the Indigo Lanterns can tap into other emotions and tries to tap into Guy's rage but can't because he's using Willpower to do it. He tells Kyle to charge his ring but Hal tells him that only works for Green Lanterns. They ask why Kyle picked Blue since there are no Green Lanterns to feed off of and Kyle says he though Ganthet gave him a hint when he said he had hope in him and now he hopes he isn't useless. Just pick another ring Kyle, don't whine about it. Kyle then starts to glow brighter when more GL's get close. They attack our four Earth Lanterns and Kyle's blue ring just supercharges all the Green Lantern rings. Damn, that's bad luck. John saves Kyle from a grim fate before they escape to go find Ganthet. They finally find Ganthet who pretty much unleashed a huge Green Lantern bomb to subdue all of his attackers when he see's the Crayola Cavalry as Guy calls them. Ganthet is upset to say the least, saying the rings shouldn't be on them as they are ill-suited (John), Not ready (Kyle) or condemning themselves to death (Guy). Ganthet tears into Hal for his idea but more attackers show up, as well as Mogo who BLASTS Ganthet. The issue ends with our four lanterns and Ganthet outnumbered by many to continue in Emerald Warriors #9. This was another fine issue, our guys basically ran around but I'm interested to see how this turns out, I'll give this issue a 7.5/10 as well because nothing really happened from the last issue.
Gotham City Sirens #22
We start things off with Catwoman recapping her decision to leave Ivy to deal with Harley trying to kill the Joker and how she now has to deal with a test by Azrael and the Crusader, who are on the way after Red Robin has failed his test. As Catwoman searches for the Angels of Death (cool name from the Red Robin issue) when they happen to find her sister who says she's Catwoman's test, and tonight she (her sister) will die. Meanwhile, Catwoman breaks into Azrael's Sister-In-Law's house and ties her up, then claims that his sister-in-law is for the lack of a better or funnier word, boning Azrael. She then ties her up for no reason and leaves. Catwoman finds the Crusader and kicks him to the ground. When he gets ready to attack he's interrupted by Red Robin, who even though he failed his test, sticks around to help Catwoman. They fight for a while until Azrael shows up and asks Catwoman to confess to her one biggest sin, the one she's never forgiven herself for. He stabs her with his fiery hail sin-telling sword which prompts her to have flashbacks about herself and her sister Maggie as a kid up to their fight in Sirens about ten issues ago.When Selina comes to, Maggie is there. Maggie and the Angels of Death tell Selina that Gotham will live on if she sacrifices her sister in the name of God. Catwoman grabs the blade given to her and tries to stab The Crusader, but his armor doesn't give and he decks her with a punch. Maggie begs Selina to do it, send her to God, cleanse her soul and save Gotham but Catwoman just can't bring herself to kill her baby sister. The issue ends with Ra's Al Ghul saying that Dick Grayson is the only one who can now save Gotham, as a defeated Selina is shunned by her sister. Well this was... something. Red Robin kinda had no point here, we got none of the Joker/Harley stuff that had me interested in the first place, everything was a bust for me. Plus that chick being tied up for no reason was dumb, I hope it leads to something in Batman, but I'll give this a 4/10.
Catwoman: He's gone crazy.
Jenny Lane: Says the lady who broke into my house dressed in a skintight Cat costume.Power Girl #23
Kryptonians visit Jurassic Park as this issue starts off with my two favorite Kryptonians, and Superman. Okay, I couldn't resist. But nah, really, my two favorite Kryptonians, Superman and Power Girl are taking on what can only be classified as Magical Dinosaurs. Some even have Machine Guns for arms or are wielding Axes, and I'm serious. They decide to call up my favorite Magician (Sorry Criss Angel, Penn and Teller) Zatanna, but sadly she's all tied up. Zee is literally all tied up by some dude in a hoody who has her subdued up with tape over her mouth. Luckily, Zee's message on her phone says if she hasn't picked up she's in trouble and tells the caller to track her G.P.S. to save her. Peej calls up Nicco and has him track the G.P.S. We then see Zatanna's captor, known as Siphon and find out that since he was a teenager he's been able to use magic, but he has to be in close proximity with another magician. If he's around a magician for three hours then he can use their powers permanently. He tells Zatanna he doesn't want to hurt her or steal her powers, he just wants to copy them. Would've been easier to just get a date with her, taker her to go see Avatar and go to dinner, boom, instant powers for life buddy. Anyway, Siphon only needs two more hours but Superman and Power Girl show up and free Zatanna. What ensues from there are some back and forth spell-throwing which includes Supes and Peej being attacked by magical Sasquatches, the trio being turned into giant rock people (Shout out to the Thing!) and more. When Siphon finally has Zee on the ropes, Power Girl shows up and whisks into the sky, which knocks him out due to the speed and lack of oxygen. After dealing with a now locked up Siphon, Power Girl tells Zatanna and Superman she has a press conference to get to, and tells Supes she intends on making Karen Starr a real person. As the issue ends we see Karen Starr at the Starrware conference sporting glasses and red hair! Somewhere Kello just said "Hubba, Hubba." Now THIS was a good issue, I loved the change to making Karen look less like Power Girl and giving Power Girl a life outside of the Cape. I also loved the duel with Zee and Siphon as well as Siphon as a character, he should be interesting. And lastly I loved how Superman was here but never made the women look second tier, everyone was on a nice equal playing field, so I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating. Keep it up Judd, you just made Power Girl my favorite female hero.
Superman: She's got a Magic line?
Power Girl: She's a magician. She's got magic everything. Dinnerware, car, washing machine, bras, magic out the wazoo!And that's it for me everyone. I Hope you enjoyed this short edition of Ratings and Rantings. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think. And of course the results from last week's poll are below so be sure to vote on this week's newest poll. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.
Last week's poll asked "Which comic couple would you like to see most?"
Last Place with 6.7% - Batman and Black Canary
Third Place with 20%- She Hulk and Deadpool
Second Place with 3.33% - Booster Gold and Power Girl
Winner with 40% -Huntress and Jason Todd - Make it happen DC!
Next Time on Ratings and Rantings
Action Comics #900, Brightest Day #24, Generation Lost #24, Deadpool #36, Amazing Spider-Man #659, and Venom #2
Friday, April 15, 2011
Ratings and Rantings
Alright Todd Squad let's try this again, This is Jason Todd welcoming you once again to your weekly dose of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! Last week's post was derailed by the "Brightest Day Debacle", so this week's post is gonna be packed to the brim with comic reviews and rants. By the way, I skipped Deadpool last time and have yet to read it so I'm dropping the Deadpool review from this week, sorry DP fans.So, let's jump right into this with our first comic, Batgirl.
We start things off seeing a quick look into the past year of Slipstream, a college student that's pretty much lazy as hell and doesn't care about doing anything other than sitting around. We then see he was recruited to the Order of the Scythe and is now Slipstream. He complains about his suit having a kill-switch and the rest of the Order explain they all have a fail-safe in their suits. Once they finish up talking they all get ready to get back to work so they can get whatever payment they were promised. We then see Batgirl and Proxy at Bagirl's new base, playing around with the tons of new tech they have due to Batman Inc. including a car that Batgirl's calling "The Compact." From there Steph goes to see Babs and they discuss how the money that Slipstream tagged is going out to be replaced by new bills since those bills are now defunct, to which Slipstream will follow to find a vast fortune and then steal, which is pretty damn genius. After some encouraging words from Babs and an awkward moment between the two Batgirl's, Steph heads to class. While in class she happens to be sitting right next to Slipstream but she doesn't know it of course. Slipstream gets the call that the money is on the move, and right after he leaves the classroom Steph gets the same call from Proxy. Steph then looks over where the guy was sitting to see a sketched map of Gotham, which causes her to realize she was sitting right next to Slipstream. Steph heads out to The Compact and hops in to follow after Slipstream. While trying to beat Slipstream to the punch and save the armored cars, they open fire on Batgirl, thinking her to be a threat to them for some reason. While their distracted Slipstream comes through and knocks all the guards out, leaving only Slipstream vs. Batgirl. Batgirl uses her smarts to take the faux-Speedster down with some electro-magnetic-Gooparangs as she refers to them. Batgirl later explains to Detective Gage that she knew Slipstream would rush at her and not dodge because unlike Speedsters his brain isn't fast enough to keep up with his super speed so he had to think out routes beforehand and memorize them which makes perfect sense. When asked why he'd ever join with them, Gage comments they probably made him a great offer and says that he used to be a member of the Order of The Scythe himself, but he doesn't elaborate while Batgirl looks at him with a surprised face. The issue ends with the Order of the Scythe mentioning how the plan is going accordingly before introducing another Batgirl Baddie by the name of Harmony. This was a really good issue, I loved the reasoning for Batgirl being able to take down a super speed villain as well as the Batgirl charm that always flows from these pages so well, I'd give this issue a 8.5/10.
We start things off with Max Lord on his knees with blood pouring from his nose as he successfully turns millions of people into OMAC's. How someone who uses mind control on people can turn them into robots perplexes me, but whatever. The JLI along with Batman realize that Max is searching for them with the OMAC's to find Wonder Woman since only they remember her, and they try to fight off the OMAC's for as long as they can. The team is soon overrun and Wonder Woman, Booster, Beetle, Rocket Red, Fire and Ice are transported away via a teleporter, leaving Batman, Power Girl and Captain Atom behind as the OMAC's disperse. The teleported team of six arrive in L.A. as Max's Checkmate Rook ship arrives, and drops a big threat for our team, OMAC Prime. The gigantic OMAC can talk apparently and has Max's voice, but wastes no time in trying to kill Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman dhishes out some big shots and the team backs her up with multiple blasts but they do nothing against OMAC Prime. Booster then takes off to go confront Max while the team takes on Prime. Booster then blasts a hole in Max's ship and demands he shuts it down, which leads to our long awaited Booster/Max confrontation. We then check in with the team and see that they're being destroyed due to Prime having their powers and using them against them. The issue ends with our team being decimated, Bats, Cap Atom and Peej being taken outta the equation, and the showdown between Max and Booster coming full speed. I think was was a great issue for setting up the finale and that's what it did, so I'll give it a 7.5, a great issue but it didn't do much but set the stage for other things to happen. Also, I hated Jaime and Gavril just talking while the three women got kicked around by Prime... Chivalry IS dead.
Booster Gold: I was hoping I'd have to beat you like a damn dog first.
Wooo Red Robin with no Unternet, sign me up baby! We get underway with Tim at the graves of his parents, thing back on their deaths and how he had stopped believing in God because he didn't thing a God would allow their deaths to happen the way they did. We then see that he's facing the Crusader who is basically a zealot who decided to team with Azrael and go all Sodom and Gomorrah as Tim states on Gotham. The only way to spare their wrath is for Red Robin, Batman and Catwoman to be judged worthy by them. Red Robin's test is he has one hour to save Mayor Hady from Azrael while dealing with physical and moral tests on the way. He manages to save a literal busload of civilians on his way and checks in with Batman who confirms that the two zealots are only testing them once at a time like they said they would and to play along. Red Robin then calls Lonnie and has him patch through some info on Azrael, and then has him call Azrael's wife I believe. He tells her that their going to fail these tests and it'll be up to her to stop Azrael and save Gotham. Damn Tim, that's a lot of pressure to put on one woman. Red Robin continues on, saving people everywhere that Crusader starts trouble including a church. As time dials down, Crazy ass Azrael is getting ready to slice and dice the Mayor, Red Robin shows up with two minutes to spare. Azrael then stabs Tim with his magical sword that makes people confess their sins, and Tim confesses nothing so Azrael proclaims him worthy. Suddenly the Crusader shows up and says that Red Robin has no faith as he didn't bow to God when he entered the Church and says he doesn't believe. Azrael asks Red Robin if this is true to which Tim admits it is, and Azrael says he feels sorry for Gotham but feels sorrier for Red Robin. They leave as Tim wonder is he should have lied, and states that he has no faith, he wants to but he doesn't. From there we see Ra's who gets word that Tim has failed, as Ra's says that Gotham lost their best hope, and with their fate on the shoulders of Catwoman and Grayson, they appear to be doomed. The issue ends as Ra's refers to Crusader and Azrael as the Angels of Death, and he proclaims that Gotham will be dead at Dawn. Now THIS is the Red Robin I love, I really enjoyed this issue and it made sense that Tim, a man of science would have lost faith, especially with all the deaths he's endured. Hell even the returns of Superboy, Steph and Bruce can all be explained by science... so this was great, I'd give this issue a 9/10, just because of the weird technicality Tim was caught with. I can't wait to see how this story progresses in Gotham City Sirens next week.
Azrael: I am sorry for Gotham... But I am sorrier for you.
Things start with the White Knight having a ton of civilians jump off of building, when Alfred interrupts the signal to incapacitate anyone with an earpiece that allows them to hear White Light's orders. Everyone already in the process of falling are saved by Batman and Robin, except for a select few that can't be saved by the Dynamic Duo. Back at the Bat Bunker, Dick and Damian discuss how White Knight went after everyone related to people in Arkham by blood or marriage and they then discuss nature vs. nurture. Dick says he doesn't believe in either as Damian recently turned his back on Talia and made a choice to leave the Al Ghul name. They then figure that the White Knight wants to kill all these relatives to stop the tainted blood that runs through them that's also in their Arkham inmate relatives. Alfred let's the Duo know that Arkham is lit up like a Christmas tree, which springs Batman and Robin into action. Once there they see a bunch of bright rods sticking out of the ground which emit a blinding light and has incapacitated Commissioner Gordon and his men. Batman and Robin head inside as we see the White Knight drowning all the inmates with his light or something, and most are freaking out except for The Joker, whose showering in the light. The White Knight then walks over to Dr. Phosphorous and reveals that as a kid he went to work with his father (who worked as a security guard at Arkham Asylum) and a riot broke out and his father was killed by the good Doc, who burned his palms into his back in the process and gave him "wings." Of course while this flashback is going on Batman and Robin show up and attack the White Knight. Zsasz is freed in the fray but Robin stops him as Batman pursues the White Knight. During their fight Batman shoots the ears off of his cowl into White Knights face when he gets too close, that's right, he SHOT THE EARS OFF OF HIS COWL... it was the most stupid yet most hilariously cool thing I've ever seen. Anyway, Batman manages to destroy his White Light gun thing which explodes and knocks out the White Knight. We later see him in Arkham and it's explained the blast fused his wings to his back, and Robin comments that the White Knight is now a White Angel. The issue ends with the White Angel (?) staring at two makeshift Batman and Robin logos as the lights go out. This was a fine issue, some small stuff in the background like with Joker and Zsasz were really good, but White Knight was never really made to be a threat so that made the end kinda lackluster, anyway I'd give this issue a 7/10.
Zsasz: Nobody gets to kill my family but me. (Oh Zsasz, you so crazy!)
It's a Huntress issue Ladies and Gents, as she goes on a date with Catman, which annoys me because Huntress + Jason = perfect Batfamily couple. Anyway we start things off with Huntress chasing after a jewel thief in the streets of Gotham. While following and fighting the thief, Oracle let's Huntress know that the thief's buddy has a hostage, a woman with asthma who lost her inhaler in the struggle. Huntress doesn't seem like she'll be able to help though since the thief has her at gunpoint, but Catman shows up and grabs the guy by the throat. He threatens to drop him off the edge of the building their on as Huntress notes to herself how much Catman has changed lately. After Catman scares the answers, and probably some other things out of the thief he knocks him out, and when Huntress asks what happened to Catman he pulls her close and kisses her. She then slaps the taste out of his mouth, because she may have had sex with Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, and Josh the Parking guy to name a few, but she's not easy! Huntress asks why Blake is in town and he simply says business and that he wanted to see her, so they decide to team up to free the asthmatic hostage. Meanwhile, Oracle has the flu so Dinah drops by to bring her some of her famous...er..infamous chili. Back with the new couple, Catman and Huntress find the guy's house thanks to Oracle and burst through the window. The criminal's woman tries to claw Catman's eyes out so he just punches her in the face, to Huntress's surprise and my joy. Huntress get's all bent outta shape because the woman was pregnant, and of course I sound like an ass for saying it but A.) she shouldn't have been attacking him if she's pregnant and B.) He hit her in the nose, he didn't slam her or anything... Anyway, after getting the information from that crook that his cousin Markie was with them and probably has the hostage so they head after him. While patching up Catman before they move to the next target, Huntress gives him her crucifix and tells him to pick a side, good or evil, and get out of the gray area in the middle like she's trying to. They then track down Markie and rush in to see he has the hostage tied up. Catman goes to check on the hostage since Huntress calls dibs on the big man known as Markie. After taking down Markie she turns her crossbow on Catman and lists off reasons how she figured out that he was one of the people behind the heist, which I didn't see coming. She tells him tyo leave and never cross her path again before slapping him. He then admits that he has a son by a very bad woman and that he was kidnapped and asks for Huntress's help. Surprisingly Huntress tells Catman that he lied to her and he can help himself, before walking away with the hostage. As she walks away, Deadshot steps out of the shadows and we see this was all a plan to make Huntress dislike Catman because he didn't want her to waste her time on him, which is pretty selfless, but I've seen Huntress so I'm gonna just say he's an idiot. Anyway, this issue was pretty good, not the date issue I expected but that's a good thing, I'll give this a 7/10.
Deadshot: She's just a woman, Blake. There are a couple billion more out there, I'm told.
Identity Wars part one of three starts here, that's right, a three issue story with Spidey, Deadpool and The Hulk?! Sign me up baby! (Yeah, that's my new catchphrase I guess.) We start things off with Spider-Man (sporting a snazzy cape) taking down Doctor Octopus and posing in front of the Spider-Man statue as J. Jonah Jameson is overheard telling Robbie to make the front page "The Amazing Spider saves the city...again!" We soon find out that these isn't the world we know and Spidey is playing Spidey in another universe. We go back to see how we got here and we see Peter Parker celebrating how happy he is to work at Horizon labs instead of taking pics for Jameson and barely making rent like he was not so long ago. After Peter and a co-worker leave the lab, Deadpool drops in and checks in with his people via an earpiece, and we find out that he's not using a walkie-talkie, they're just standing behind him. He comments how he had to do a ton of stuff to get in there like scale lectric fences and stuff and his cohorts mention they came in a back door after bribing a janitor. They then find an inter-dimensional transporter and explain how only someone with a special brain (example, Deadpool's regeneration) would be able to use the transporter, so they knock Deadpool out so they can use him as a guinea pig. They then find Dr. Bruce Banner hiding behind the machine so they decide to shoot him since they don't want hostages. This of course leads to him becoming the Hulk and breaking stuff which led to Spidey coming to check it out and one explosion later, Deadpool, Hulk and Spidey are in another world, and instead of Horizon labs the trio are in Parker Technologies. And also there are another Spider-Man that passes out due to pain and a green Deadpool, yet no alternate Hulk. Spidey takes Alternate-Spidey to his lair known as "The Web." Fast forward to now as our Spidey masquerades as The Amazing Spider and takes down The Rhino. After he does, The Rhino gets up and turns himself in because he's afraid of Spidey because he took down Thanos. Eventually our Spidey is ready to go back to his own world, but The Amazing Spider is still healing and there are no other heroes to help considering Reed Richards is just a Doctor in this world and Tony Stark is a lot..heavier than the athletic Tony of our world. While pretending to be their Peter Parker, Pete soon learns that in this world Gwen Stacey is still alive but before he can do anything like go see her he finds out that Deadpool and his Green alter-ego, Deathwish are causing havoc. Peter then goes to look on "new desk" and finds out that this Peter was aware of other Spider-Men including our Peter, but he then see's a picture on his desk of Uncle Ben and wastes no time going to see him. Uncle Ben knows that he's not his Peter because that universe's Pete already called him but he's still happy to see our Peter. It turns out this world's Ben Parker was shot too, but he lived and went on to train Peter to use his powers and become the Amazing Spider. While the bonding is fun it soon makes a turn for the worse as he's told by Uncle Ben that Aunt May is afraid of Peter because of his Spider-Powers for some reason. When Pete asks Ben who he thinks his alternate self will end up with, Gwen or MJ, Ben snaps and says they're both money-grubbing tramps. Peter then sips his tea and asks how The Amazing Spider got so powerful, and suddenly falls out, his tea obviously being drugged, as Ben says that he and his world's Peter are ready to show him. Peter awakens later and says that he understands what's happened, that he was brought there, why the Amazing Spider was hurt after the feedback from the machine, and that they are using multiple Spider-Men to steal their powers and put them into The Amazing Spider. Spidey tricks The Amazing Spider into punching him which knocks him free from his constraints, and Uncle Ben says that he's week and needs to feed, even though Spidey says he hits like a freight train. Spidey realizes he can't beat him so he starts to try to talk to him as only he can, trying to help him realize this isn't a heroes way. While Peter tries to talk down The Amazing Spider, Ben grabs the energy sucking things and rushes Spidey but The Amazing Spider pushes him out of the way and takes the hit, almost killing him. As the issue ends Peter walks away, trying to forget about that evil, bitter Ben Parker, continues to play the role of alternate Peter until he could find a way home and hired Bruce Banner to work on a new transporter, but Ben tells Peter he's not going back because in this world he can't turn into The Hulk for some reason. So it ends with Spidey living a life that's not his, ready to go back to his universe. Man, I LOVED this issue. I love Elseworld/What If stories so this is right up my alley, and I really really enjoyed this especially with the twists, and I can't wait to see what else is coming in the Deadpool and Hulk annuals. I'll give this a solid 10/10.
Uncle Ben: They're both money-grubbing TRAMPS!!! (There's the Uncle Ben we all know and love!)
We start things out with Maxine Gibson, the best friend of Batman a.k.a. Terry McGinnis who also knows his secret Identity. I've never heard of this chica so if someone can tell me if she's from one of the past Batman Beyond series or a episode of the show I never saw, please let me know. Anyway, Maxine is kind of his Oracle in a sense, so she's shocked when she turns around to see Nightwing. Well actually it's the current Batman and just as talented Terry McGinnis rocking the Nightwing costume. It seems that Nightwing's Secret Identity of Dick Grayson was leaked by a reporter so Terry plans on pulling the old same place, same time scenario, with Grayson not knowing beforehand because he thinks he'd be against it. Later we see Max trying to cover for Terry in class and with his girlfriend, which comes with the sidekick schtick. So Nightwing (Terry) goes to grab the reporter that leaked the story and takes him where Grayson is but stops some criminals on the way. Meanwhile, Max heads home to see her computer's being hacked by someone, so she tracks them down and heads to confront them. On the monorail thing that clearly shows this is the future, because when I think future, I think Monorails... Max is attacked by a group of Jokerz but holds her own and escapes. Back with Nightwing, he tries to convince the reporter he's the real Nightwing and Grayson is innocent but this cover is blown when an annoyed Grayson jumps from a building and lands flawlessly, then admits that he was the first Nightwing. He says he never saw Batman unmask and he was paid for his services in what would become Batman Inc., and was carefully choreographed when he joined the Teen Titans, Outsiders and etc. and his announcement shocks Terry and Bruce. When asked by a reporter if he fears reprisal from his former enemies, he states that he was trained to be the best and toughest and he hasn't forgotten a thing. Over with Maxine, she tracks down the hacker and fins a computer with a camera on her, who basically knows she knows something but doesn't know she knows who Batman is. The issue ends with the Hacker asking Max to join them and blackmailing her, so Max decides not to tell Terry. This was a weird issue, I'd never heard of Max but I loved the stuff with Terry as Nightwing (I missed that costume...) and Grayson admitting but changing the facts on his past. But the Max stuff was kinda meh when compared to that, I'll give this issue a 7/10.
Terry McGinnis: Maxine Gibson, Friend of Batman, Prepare to bear witness... as Nightwing flies again!
I bought Spider-Man and got a Future Foundation story instead, let's see how it turns out shall we? We start off with Peter Parker and his girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, about to go ALL the way when he see's the FF signal, and luckily she's called away for work so he has an excuse. Peter then has to catch a taxi to his job where he keeps his Spidey gear since he can't keep it in his apartment due to him dating someone that happens to be a member of the C.S.I. Spidey finally arrives at the Baxter Building, decked out in a Blue and Black suit with a number "4" in the middle of his Spider logo, insignia, whatever you wanna call it, I won't get angry. Anyway, Ben gets pissed because they retired that number and those colors, and tells Spidey he can make him black and blue. Reed, the person who has manners, gives Spidey his new costume (he's got about 7 in the last ten issues of this series...) Spidey then puts on the costume and says that he looks like Anti-Venom (lmao, he DOES) and he pretty much feels like he looks like a villain. Anyway, Spidey ignores the suit long enough to go defeat some baddies with his new team and enjoy some ice cream when a mean Mime comes over and makes fun of Ben, making The Blue-Eyed Ever Lovin' Thing run off in a huff. Oh Thing, you have skin like a boulder but you weep easily, kinda like Supergirl. This leads to Sue trapping the mime in an invisible box which scares him, which I LOVED. Man, Dan Slott is making Sue one hell of a laugh riot. The issue continues on with Spidey and the FF fighting people, learning and bonding. The issue ends with Carlie Cooper going to Pete's job and finding out he lied about having to do something for work while he's actually with the FF. Now I enjoyed this issue but not as much as the last few issues, I don't know If I would rather not read about the FF or if I'm just tired from so many other comics or what the deal is, but I couldn't get into this like the last few issues, so I'll give this a 6/10 rating, a rare low for Spidey comics.
The Thing: We retired the number an' the colors outta respect for Johnny and what he done! But if you wanna be covered in Black n' Blue I can make that happen!
Okay, quick rant. Halfway through this Spidey comic there was a solicit for Daredevil number one which pisses me off. Matt hasn't been gone for a YEAR and there's already a damn Daredevil series? Why start it over again yet give Black Panther DD's series? That makes NO goddamn sense... but whatever. Anyway that's all for me guys and gals, be sure to vote on the new weekly poll (Thanks to Falisha Ann of Gotham City Girls Corner for the pictures.) and comment with your thoughts or discrepancies. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off and sign me up baby!
Gotham City Sirens #22, Green Lantern #65, Green Lantern Corps #59, Teen Titans #94, and Power Girl #23
Batgirl #20
We start things off seeing a quick look into the past year of Slipstream, a college student that's pretty much lazy as hell and doesn't care about doing anything other than sitting around. We then see he was recruited to the Order of the Scythe and is now Slipstream. He complains about his suit having a kill-switch and the rest of the Order explain they all have a fail-safe in their suits. Once they finish up talking they all get ready to get back to work so they can get whatever payment they were promised. We then see Batgirl and Proxy at Bagirl's new base, playing around with the tons of new tech they have due to Batman Inc. including a car that Batgirl's calling "The Compact." From there Steph goes to see Babs and they discuss how the money that Slipstream tagged is going out to be replaced by new bills since those bills are now defunct, to which Slipstream will follow to find a vast fortune and then steal, which is pretty damn genius. After some encouraging words from Babs and an awkward moment between the two Batgirl's, Steph heads to class. While in class she happens to be sitting right next to Slipstream but she doesn't know it of course. Slipstream gets the call that the money is on the move, and right after he leaves the classroom Steph gets the same call from Proxy. Steph then looks over where the guy was sitting to see a sketched map of Gotham, which causes her to realize she was sitting right next to Slipstream. Steph heads out to The Compact and hops in to follow after Slipstream. While trying to beat Slipstream to the punch and save the armored cars, they open fire on Batgirl, thinking her to be a threat to them for some reason. While their distracted Slipstream comes through and knocks all the guards out, leaving only Slipstream vs. Batgirl. Batgirl uses her smarts to take the faux-Speedster down with some electro-magnetic-Gooparangs as she refers to them. Batgirl later explains to Detective Gage that she knew Slipstream would rush at her and not dodge because unlike Speedsters his brain isn't fast enough to keep up with his super speed so he had to think out routes beforehand and memorize them which makes perfect sense. When asked why he'd ever join with them, Gage comments they probably made him a great offer and says that he used to be a member of the Order of The Scythe himself, but he doesn't elaborate while Batgirl looks at him with a surprised face. The issue ends with the Order of the Scythe mentioning how the plan is going accordingly before introducing another Batgirl Baddie by the name of Harmony. This was a really good issue, I loved the reasoning for Batgirl being able to take down a super speed villain as well as the Batgirl charm that always flows from these pages so well, I'd give this issue a 8.5/10.
Stephanie: I am dealing with the matter at hand... by using the most bad assingest not-tortilla press batarang-maker that ever was! And I can combine cartridges?!
JL Generation Lost #23
We start things off with Max Lord on his knees with blood pouring from his nose as he successfully turns millions of people into OMAC's. How someone who uses mind control on people can turn them into robots perplexes me, but whatever. The JLI along with Batman realize that Max is searching for them with the OMAC's to find Wonder Woman since only they remember her, and they try to fight off the OMAC's for as long as they can. The team is soon overrun and Wonder Woman, Booster, Beetle, Rocket Red, Fire and Ice are transported away via a teleporter, leaving Batman, Power Girl and Captain Atom behind as the OMAC's disperse. The teleported team of six arrive in L.A. as Max's Checkmate Rook ship arrives, and drops a big threat for our team, OMAC Prime. The gigantic OMAC can talk apparently and has Max's voice, but wastes no time in trying to kill Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman dhishes out some big shots and the team backs her up with multiple blasts but they do nothing against OMAC Prime. Booster then takes off to go confront Max while the team takes on Prime. Booster then blasts a hole in Max's ship and demands he shuts it down, which leads to our long awaited Booster/Max confrontation. We then check in with the team and see that they're being destroyed due to Prime having their powers and using them against them. The issue ends with our team being decimated, Bats, Cap Atom and Peej being taken outta the equation, and the showdown between Max and Booster coming full speed. I think was was a great issue for setting up the finale and that's what it did, so I'll give it a 7.5, a great issue but it didn't do much but set the stage for other things to happen. Also, I hated Jaime and Gavril just talking while the three women got kicked around by Prime... Chivalry IS dead.
Red Robin #22
Wooo Red Robin with no Unternet, sign me up baby! We get underway with Tim at the graves of his parents, thing back on their deaths and how he had stopped believing in God because he didn't thing a God would allow their deaths to happen the way they did. We then see that he's facing the Crusader who is basically a zealot who decided to team with Azrael and go all Sodom and Gomorrah as Tim states on Gotham. The only way to spare their wrath is for Red Robin, Batman and Catwoman to be judged worthy by them. Red Robin's test is he has one hour to save Mayor Hady from Azrael while dealing with physical and moral tests on the way. He manages to save a literal busload of civilians on his way and checks in with Batman who confirms that the two zealots are only testing them once at a time like they said they would and to play along. Red Robin then calls Lonnie and has him patch through some info on Azrael, and then has him call Azrael's wife I believe. He tells her that their going to fail these tests and it'll be up to her to stop Azrael and save Gotham. Damn Tim, that's a lot of pressure to put on one woman. Red Robin continues on, saving people everywhere that Crusader starts trouble including a church. As time dials down, Crazy ass Azrael is getting ready to slice and dice the Mayor, Red Robin shows up with two minutes to spare. Azrael then stabs Tim with his magical sword that makes people confess their sins, and Tim confesses nothing so Azrael proclaims him worthy. Suddenly the Crusader shows up and says that Red Robin has no faith as he didn't bow to God when he entered the Church and says he doesn't believe. Azrael asks Red Robin if this is true to which Tim admits it is, and Azrael says he feels sorry for Gotham but feels sorrier for Red Robin. They leave as Tim wonder is he should have lied, and states that he has no faith, he wants to but he doesn't. From there we see Ra's who gets word that Tim has failed, as Ra's says that Gotham lost their best hope, and with their fate on the shoulders of Catwoman and Grayson, they appear to be doomed. The issue ends as Ra's refers to Crusader and Azrael as the Angels of Death, and he proclaims that Gotham will be dead at Dawn. Now THIS is the Red Robin I love, I really enjoyed this issue and it made sense that Tim, a man of science would have lost faith, especially with all the deaths he's endured. Hell even the returns of Superboy, Steph and Bruce can all be explained by science... so this was great, I'd give this issue a 9/10, just because of the weird technicality Tim was caught with. I can't wait to see how this story progresses in Gotham City Sirens next week.
Azrael: I am sorry for Gotham... But I am sorrier for you.
Batman & Robin #22
Things start with the White Knight having a ton of civilians jump off of building, when Alfred interrupts the signal to incapacitate anyone with an earpiece that allows them to hear White Light's orders. Everyone already in the process of falling are saved by Batman and Robin, except for a select few that can't be saved by the Dynamic Duo. Back at the Bat Bunker, Dick and Damian discuss how White Knight went after everyone related to people in Arkham by blood or marriage and they then discuss nature vs. nurture. Dick says he doesn't believe in either as Damian recently turned his back on Talia and made a choice to leave the Al Ghul name. They then figure that the White Knight wants to kill all these relatives to stop the tainted blood that runs through them that's also in their Arkham inmate relatives. Alfred let's the Duo know that Arkham is lit up like a Christmas tree, which springs Batman and Robin into action. Once there they see a bunch of bright rods sticking out of the ground which emit a blinding light and has incapacitated Commissioner Gordon and his men. Batman and Robin head inside as we see the White Knight drowning all the inmates with his light or something, and most are freaking out except for The Joker, whose showering in the light. The White Knight then walks over to Dr. Phosphorous and reveals that as a kid he went to work with his father (who worked as a security guard at Arkham Asylum) and a riot broke out and his father was killed by the good Doc, who burned his palms into his back in the process and gave him "wings." Of course while this flashback is going on Batman and Robin show up and attack the White Knight. Zsasz is freed in the fray but Robin stops him as Batman pursues the White Knight. During their fight Batman shoots the ears off of his cowl into White Knights face when he gets too close, that's right, he SHOT THE EARS OFF OF HIS COWL... it was the most stupid yet most hilariously cool thing I've ever seen. Anyway, Batman manages to destroy his White Light gun thing which explodes and knocks out the White Knight. We later see him in Arkham and it's explained the blast fused his wings to his back, and Robin comments that the White Knight is now a White Angel. The issue ends with the White Angel (?) staring at two makeshift Batman and Robin logos as the lights go out. This was a fine issue, some small stuff in the background like with Joker and Zsasz were really good, but White Knight was never really made to be a threat so that made the end kinda lackluster, anyway I'd give this issue a 7/10.
Zsasz: Nobody gets to kill my family but me. (Oh Zsasz, you so crazy!)
Birds of Prey #11
It's a Huntress issue Ladies and Gents, as she goes on a date with Catman, which annoys me because Huntress + Jason = perfect Batfamily couple. Anyway we start things off with Huntress chasing after a jewel thief in the streets of Gotham. While following and fighting the thief, Oracle let's Huntress know that the thief's buddy has a hostage, a woman with asthma who lost her inhaler in the struggle. Huntress doesn't seem like she'll be able to help though since the thief has her at gunpoint, but Catman shows up and grabs the guy by the throat. He threatens to drop him off the edge of the building their on as Huntress notes to herself how much Catman has changed lately. After Catman scares the answers, and probably some other things out of the thief he knocks him out, and when Huntress asks what happened to Catman he pulls her close and kisses her. She then slaps the taste out of his mouth, because she may have had sex with Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, and Josh the Parking guy to name a few, but she's not easy! Huntress asks why Blake is in town and he simply says business and that he wanted to see her, so they decide to team up to free the asthmatic hostage. Meanwhile, Oracle has the flu so Dinah drops by to bring her some of her famous...er..infamous chili. Back with the new couple, Catman and Huntress find the guy's house thanks to Oracle and burst through the window. The criminal's woman tries to claw Catman's eyes out so he just punches her in the face, to Huntress's surprise and my joy. Huntress get's all bent outta shape because the woman was pregnant, and of course I sound like an ass for saying it but A.) she shouldn't have been attacking him if she's pregnant and B.) He hit her in the nose, he didn't slam her or anything... Anyway, after getting the information from that crook that his cousin Markie was with them and probably has the hostage so they head after him. While patching up Catman before they move to the next target, Huntress gives him her crucifix and tells him to pick a side, good or evil, and get out of the gray area in the middle like she's trying to. They then track down Markie and rush in to see he has the hostage tied up. Catman goes to check on the hostage since Huntress calls dibs on the big man known as Markie. After taking down Markie she turns her crossbow on Catman and lists off reasons how she figured out that he was one of the people behind the heist, which I didn't see coming. She tells him tyo leave and never cross her path again before slapping him. He then admits that he has a son by a very bad woman and that he was kidnapped and asks for Huntress's help. Surprisingly Huntress tells Catman that he lied to her and he can help himself, before walking away with the hostage. As she walks away, Deadshot steps out of the shadows and we see this was all a plan to make Huntress dislike Catman because he didn't want her to waste her time on him, which is pretty selfless, but I've seen Huntress so I'm gonna just say he's an idiot. Anyway, this issue was pretty good, not the date issue I expected but that's a good thing, I'll give this a 7/10.
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38
Identity Wars part one of three starts here, that's right, a three issue story with Spidey, Deadpool and The Hulk?! Sign me up baby! (Yeah, that's my new catchphrase I guess.) We start things off with Spider-Man (sporting a snazzy cape) taking down Doctor Octopus and posing in front of the Spider-Man statue as J. Jonah Jameson is overheard telling Robbie to make the front page "The Amazing Spider saves the city...again!" We soon find out that these isn't the world we know and Spidey is playing Spidey in another universe. We go back to see how we got here and we see Peter Parker celebrating how happy he is to work at Horizon labs instead of taking pics for Jameson and barely making rent like he was not so long ago. After Peter and a co-worker leave the lab, Deadpool drops in and checks in with his people via an earpiece, and we find out that he's not using a walkie-talkie, they're just standing behind him. He comments how he had to do a ton of stuff to get in there like scale lectric fences and stuff and his cohorts mention they came in a back door after bribing a janitor. They then find an inter-dimensional transporter and explain how only someone with a special brain (example, Deadpool's regeneration) would be able to use the transporter, so they knock Deadpool out so they can use him as a guinea pig. They then find Dr. Bruce Banner hiding behind the machine so they decide to shoot him since they don't want hostages. This of course leads to him becoming the Hulk and breaking stuff which led to Spidey coming to check it out and one explosion later, Deadpool, Hulk and Spidey are in another world, and instead of Horizon labs the trio are in Parker Technologies. And also there are another Spider-Man that passes out due to pain and a green Deadpool, yet no alternate Hulk. Spidey takes Alternate-Spidey to his lair known as "The Web." Fast forward to now as our Spidey masquerades as The Amazing Spider and takes down The Rhino. After he does, The Rhino gets up and turns himself in because he's afraid of Spidey because he took down Thanos. Eventually our Spidey is ready to go back to his own world, but The Amazing Spider is still healing and there are no other heroes to help considering Reed Richards is just a Doctor in this world and Tony Stark is a lot..heavier than the athletic Tony of our world. While pretending to be their Peter Parker, Pete soon learns that in this world Gwen Stacey is still alive but before he can do anything like go see her he finds out that Deadpool and his Green alter-ego, Deathwish are causing havoc. Peter then goes to look on "new desk" and finds out that this Peter was aware of other Spider-Men including our Peter, but he then see's a picture on his desk of Uncle Ben and wastes no time going to see him. Uncle Ben knows that he's not his Peter because that universe's Pete already called him but he's still happy to see our Peter. It turns out this world's Ben Parker was shot too, but he lived and went on to train Peter to use his powers and become the Amazing Spider. While the bonding is fun it soon makes a turn for the worse as he's told by Uncle Ben that Aunt May is afraid of Peter because of his Spider-Powers for some reason. When Pete asks Ben who he thinks his alternate self will end up with, Gwen or MJ, Ben snaps and says they're both money-grubbing tramps. Peter then sips his tea and asks how The Amazing Spider got so powerful, and suddenly falls out, his tea obviously being drugged, as Ben says that he and his world's Peter are ready to show him. Peter awakens later and says that he understands what's happened, that he was brought there, why the Amazing Spider was hurt after the feedback from the machine, and that they are using multiple Spider-Men to steal their powers and put them into The Amazing Spider. Spidey tricks The Amazing Spider into punching him which knocks him free from his constraints, and Uncle Ben says that he's week and needs to feed, even though Spidey says he hits like a freight train. Spidey realizes he can't beat him so he starts to try to talk to him as only he can, trying to help him realize this isn't a heroes way. While Peter tries to talk down The Amazing Spider, Ben grabs the energy sucking things and rushes Spidey but The Amazing Spider pushes him out of the way and takes the hit, almost killing him. As the issue ends Peter walks away, trying to forget about that evil, bitter Ben Parker, continues to play the role of alternate Peter until he could find a way home and hired Bruce Banner to work on a new transporter, but Ben tells Peter he's not going back because in this world he can't turn into The Hulk for some reason. So it ends with Spidey living a life that's not his, ready to go back to his universe. Man, I LOVED this issue. I love Elseworld/What If stories so this is right up my alley, and I really really enjoyed this especially with the twists, and I can't wait to see what else is coming in the Deadpool and Hulk annuals. I'll give this a solid 10/10.
Uncle Ben: They're both money-grubbing TRAMPS!!! (There's the Uncle Ben we all know and love!)
Batman Beyond #4
We start things out with Maxine Gibson, the best friend of Batman a.k.a. Terry McGinnis who also knows his secret Identity. I've never heard of this chica so if someone can tell me if she's from one of the past Batman Beyond series or a episode of the show I never saw, please let me know. Anyway, Maxine is kind of his Oracle in a sense, so she's shocked when she turns around to see Nightwing. Well actually it's the current Batman and just as talented Terry McGinnis rocking the Nightwing costume. It seems that Nightwing's Secret Identity of Dick Grayson was leaked by a reporter so Terry plans on pulling the old same place, same time scenario, with Grayson not knowing beforehand because he thinks he'd be against it. Later we see Max trying to cover for Terry in class and with his girlfriend, which comes with the sidekick schtick. So Nightwing (Terry) goes to grab the reporter that leaked the story and takes him where Grayson is but stops some criminals on the way. Meanwhile, Max heads home to see her computer's being hacked by someone, so she tracks them down and heads to confront them. On the monorail thing that clearly shows this is the future, because when I think future, I think Monorails... Max is attacked by a group of Jokerz but holds her own and escapes. Back with Nightwing, he tries to convince the reporter he's the real Nightwing and Grayson is innocent but this cover is blown when an annoyed Grayson jumps from a building and lands flawlessly, then admits that he was the first Nightwing. He says he never saw Batman unmask and he was paid for his services in what would become Batman Inc., and was carefully choreographed when he joined the Teen Titans, Outsiders and etc. and his announcement shocks Terry and Bruce. When asked by a reporter if he fears reprisal from his former enemies, he states that he was trained to be the best and toughest and he hasn't forgotten a thing. Over with Maxine, she tracks down the hacker and fins a computer with a camera on her, who basically knows she knows something but doesn't know she knows who Batman is. The issue ends with the Hacker asking Max to join them and blackmailing her, so Max decides not to tell Terry. This was a weird issue, I'd never heard of Max but I loved the stuff with Terry as Nightwing (I missed that costume...) and Grayson admitting but changing the facts on his past. But the Max stuff was kinda meh when compared to that, I'll give this issue a 7/10.
The Amazing Spider-Man #658
I bought Spider-Man and got a Future Foundation story instead, let's see how it turns out shall we? We start off with Peter Parker and his girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, about to go ALL the way when he see's the FF signal, and luckily she's called away for work so he has an excuse. Peter then has to catch a taxi to his job where he keeps his Spidey gear since he can't keep it in his apartment due to him dating someone that happens to be a member of the C.S.I. Spidey finally arrives at the Baxter Building, decked out in a Blue and Black suit with a number "4" in the middle of his Spider logo, insignia, whatever you wanna call it, I won't get angry. Anyway, Ben gets pissed because they retired that number and those colors, and tells Spidey he can make him black and blue. Reed, the person who has manners, gives Spidey his new costume (he's got about 7 in the last ten issues of this series...) Spidey then puts on the costume and says that he looks like Anti-Venom (lmao, he DOES) and he pretty much feels like he looks like a villain. Anyway, Spidey ignores the suit long enough to go defeat some baddies with his new team and enjoy some ice cream when a mean Mime comes over and makes fun of Ben, making The Blue-Eyed Ever Lovin' Thing run off in a huff. Oh Thing, you have skin like a boulder but you weep easily, kinda like Supergirl. This leads to Sue trapping the mime in an invisible box which scares him, which I LOVED. Man, Dan Slott is making Sue one hell of a laugh riot. The issue continues on with Spidey and the FF fighting people, learning and bonding. The issue ends with Carlie Cooper going to Pete's job and finding out he lied about having to do something for work while he's actually with the FF. Now I enjoyed this issue but not as much as the last few issues, I don't know If I would rather not read about the FF or if I'm just tired from so many other comics or what the deal is, but I couldn't get into this like the last few issues, so I'll give this a 6/10 rating, a rare low for Spidey comics.
Okay, quick rant. Halfway through this Spidey comic there was a solicit for Daredevil number one which pisses me off. Matt hasn't been gone for a YEAR and there's already a damn Daredevil series? Why start it over again yet give Black Panther DD's series? That makes NO goddamn sense... but whatever. Anyway that's all for me guys and gals, be sure to vote on the new weekly poll (Thanks to Falisha Ann of Gotham City Girls Corner for the pictures.) and comment with your thoughts or discrepancies. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off and sign me up baby!
Next Time on Ratings and Rantings
Gotham City Sirens #22, Green Lantern #65, Green Lantern Corps #59, Teen Titans #94, and Power Girl #23
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Brightest Day #23 Review
So this was the Ratings and Rantings post, but I reviewed Brightest Day #23.... and that put me in the most foul mood I've ever been in after reading a comic, so instead of taint the other reviews with my rage, I made this it's own post. So.... expect Ratings and Rantings later this week, but this is for Brightest Day's fury. By the way, there are MAJOR Spoilers...
We start things off with Deadman explaining what it's like to die, all the while we see various heroes saving people from natural disasters and stuff as they claim the Earth is turning against them. From there we see Deadman confronting Firestorm and asking for the Lantern. Firestorm asks where they are and Deadman tells them the only place where the world is still safe and only the chosen ones can enter, as we see people running for the safety of the forest are blocked by a barrier while Ollie screams at the forest to let them in and it says no, or the White Lantern Ring does or something. After figuring out the Lantern brought them there, it tells Ronnie that it needed information only The Anti-Monitor had and he needed to see Stein die to really embrace being Firestorm because he needs to embrace it now, since the Dark Avatar is on its way. We then see Hawk and Dove are headed towards Star City to find Deadman, FINALLY!!!! Now Boomer can throw this damn Boomerang, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The White Lantern teleports Hawk and Dove to right in front of Firestorm and Deadman, we then see Boomer arrive at the forest and he's told to throw the Boomerang at Dove. After that a giant Black Lantern sprouts up and starts breaking stuff, just.. you know... because. The Lantern won't let the heroes leave the forest so the Dark Avatar just strolls right in. Everywhere the Avatar walks it brings death, and it walks past Boomer which turns his hands black... so the White Lantern tells him to throw the Boomerangs. Meanwhile the ring makes Deadman blast Firestorm which ends up turning him into Fire. Then Fire, Water, Earth and Wind aka Firestorm, Aquaman, MARTIAN Manhunter (yet Earth...) and the Hawks come back to form Captain Planet like I predicted about two weeks ago. The four elements then go somewhere, and the White Lantern tells Dove, Hawk and Deadman to protect the White Lantern tree. Where's Green Arrow? Don't ask cause apparently no one cares. The issue ends with Earth's protector rising.... and it's Alec Holland, Swamp Thing. YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. Are you SERIOUS?! Okay, a year ago Brightest Day started after Blackest Night ended. At the time I didn't care that Reverse-Flash was brought back even though he was alive. I didn't mind that The Hawks came back even though they ALWAYS come back. I didn't mind that Ted Kord, Vic Sage, The Dibneys or anyone I really enjoyed was ignored over bringing back The Hawks, Osiris that's done nothing, Old Captain Boomerang instead of his younger, better son. But as a year goes by DC Comics slowly turns into The Power Rangers with a bunch of color-coded heroes flying around and then just completely ripped off Captain Planet, but after a YEAR of a hero being hyped up as the SAVIOR OF THE PLANET EARTH, the SAVIOR of a planet that is the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, FOUR GREEN LANTERNS, THREE FLASHES and countless teams, and you give me fucking SWAMP THING?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That's it, I'm officially done, I made jokes about X-Man because he stopped reading stuff with Geoff Johns but honestly I don't blame him because this is ridiculous. I already wasn't reading Flashpoint but I see I'm not going to be able to read anything Johns writes until he goes back to how he was a few years ago, because if Grant Morrison wrote this I'd be about to explode, so I'm not playing favorites. I'm done with Johns, I'm done with Green Lantern and everything he writes from this moment forward. I'll finish the last issue of Brightest Day and the rest of War of Green Lanterns but unless he writes something that's critically acclaimed and shakes the foundation of the earth, I won't be reading it. This is probably the first comic Ive ever reviewed where the rant is longer than the review, and let's make another first. The first comic I've ever finished that I'm giving a N/A rating. Congrats Brightest Day you piece of Garbage.
P.S. - Captain Boomerang STILL has yet to throw the goddamn Boomerang.... so yeah., get ready for issue 24 because THAT'S on the way!!!! (SMELL THE SARCASM!!!!!)
Brightest Day #23
We start things off with Deadman explaining what it's like to die, all the while we see various heroes saving people from natural disasters and stuff as they claim the Earth is turning against them. From there we see Deadman confronting Firestorm and asking for the Lantern. Firestorm asks where they are and Deadman tells them the only place where the world is still safe and only the chosen ones can enter, as we see people running for the safety of the forest are blocked by a barrier while Ollie screams at the forest to let them in and it says no, or the White Lantern Ring does or something. After figuring out the Lantern brought them there, it tells Ronnie that it needed information only The Anti-Monitor had and he needed to see Stein die to really embrace being Firestorm because he needs to embrace it now, since the Dark Avatar is on its way. We then see Hawk and Dove are headed towards Star City to find Deadman, FINALLY!!!! Now Boomer can throw this damn Boomerang, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The White Lantern teleports Hawk and Dove to right in front of Firestorm and Deadman, we then see Boomer arrive at the forest and he's told to throw the Boomerang at Dove. After that a giant Black Lantern sprouts up and starts breaking stuff, just.. you know... because. The Lantern won't let the heroes leave the forest so the Dark Avatar just strolls right in. Everywhere the Avatar walks it brings death, and it walks past Boomer which turns his hands black... so the White Lantern tells him to throw the Boomerangs. Meanwhile the ring makes Deadman blast Firestorm which ends up turning him into Fire. Then Fire, Water, Earth and Wind aka Firestorm, Aquaman, MARTIAN Manhunter (yet Earth...) and the Hawks come back to form Captain Planet like I predicted about two weeks ago. The four elements then go somewhere, and the White Lantern tells Dove, Hawk and Deadman to protect the White Lantern tree. Where's Green Arrow? Don't ask cause apparently no one cares. The issue ends with Earth's protector rising.... and it's Alec Holland, Swamp Thing. YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. Are you SERIOUS?! Okay, a year ago Brightest Day started after Blackest Night ended. At the time I didn't care that Reverse-Flash was brought back even though he was alive. I didn't mind that The Hawks came back even though they ALWAYS come back. I didn't mind that Ted Kord, Vic Sage, The Dibneys or anyone I really enjoyed was ignored over bringing back The Hawks, Osiris that's done nothing, Old Captain Boomerang instead of his younger, better son. But as a year goes by DC Comics slowly turns into The Power Rangers with a bunch of color-coded heroes flying around and then just completely ripped off Captain Planet, but after a YEAR of a hero being hyped up as the SAVIOR OF THE PLANET EARTH, the SAVIOR of a planet that is the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, FOUR GREEN LANTERNS, THREE FLASHES and countless teams, and you give me fucking SWAMP THING?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That's it, I'm officially done, I made jokes about X-Man because he stopped reading stuff with Geoff Johns but honestly I don't blame him because this is ridiculous. I already wasn't reading Flashpoint but I see I'm not going to be able to read anything Johns writes until he goes back to how he was a few years ago, because if Grant Morrison wrote this I'd be about to explode, so I'm not playing favorites. I'm done with Johns, I'm done with Green Lantern and everything he writes from this moment forward. I'll finish the last issue of Brightest Day and the rest of War of Green Lanterns but unless he writes something that's critically acclaimed and shakes the foundation of the earth, I won't be reading it. This is probably the first comic Ive ever reviewed where the rant is longer than the review, and let's make another first. The first comic I've ever finished that I'm giving a N/A rating. Congrats Brightest Day you piece of Garbage.
P.S. - Captain Boomerang STILL has yet to throw the goddamn Boomerang.... so yeah., get ready for issue 24 because THAT'S on the way!!!! (SMELL THE SARCASM!!!!!)
Friday, April 1, 2011
Ratings and Rantings
Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with more of that comic goodness that you eagerly crave week in and week out. I'm here with another edition of weekly comic content comments, that's right it's time for another edition of Ratings and Rantings. This week we've got a nice little pile of comics to get to and I'm expecting most of them to be pretty good. I didn't pick up Detective Comics because I'm weary about a new arc surrounding a whale or whatever, and they didn't have Kick-Ass #2 there, but everything else is ready to go! So let's get all these pleasantries out of the way and start the reviewing.
We start things off with the Teen Titans, Superboy, Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Raven, Ravager and Beast Boy all meeting outside Titans Tower. The gang then head out to an archaeological dig to meet Cassie's mom, and all the while Red Robin thinks to himself how much tension there is on the team. He thinks about the (sexual) tension between Superboy and Wonder Girl, Raven and Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Kid Flash, Superboy and Red Robin.. okay I made those last two up. Once they arrive we see they were called there to help Solstice look for her parents. Raven apparently can't be near her due to Solstice giving off such a bright and cheery attitude because she risks feeling the emotions and making herself vulnerable for yet another Trigon attack. Kid Flash on the other hand is apparently in love with Solstice right off the bat and is made to look like an idiot trying to impress her, thanks to Ravager. He uses his super speed to run off with a picture Solstice had of her missing parents and runs all over looking for them and finds no results so the team decides to split up. While Red Robin and Superboy explore, Connor mentions that Red Robin should defer to Cass since she's leader and he mentions Cassie told Tim to take over as Leader as she needed a break. The conversation is cut short when the two are attacked by a very ugly demon woman or something. She takes down Superboy which sends Kid Flash and Ravager to help Red Robin. She quickly takes down Kid Flash and Ravager as well as Beast Boy. Solstice shows up and blasts the chick which hurts her, and theoretically makes Solstice stronger than the previously mentioned heroes, but whatever. The Demon woman retreats and grabs Cassie's mom, and takes her and Wonder Girl with her to cross over to another dimension. The issue ends with Wonder Girl and her Mom in another dimension trapped with Demons. Well this was an okay comic, nothing amazing but nothing really bad besides the Demon squashing most of the Teen Titans. I'll give this issue a 6/10.
Lex Luthor's Action Comics #899 gets underway with Lex finding the final Black Orbs, as he lists everyone who stood in his way like Groilla Grodd, Larfleeze and The Joker he's confronted once again, this time by Braniac. Braniac describes his GENIUS plan that shows he's been watching Lex through the Lo-bot which was made by his technology, he then had this Robo-Lois introduce nanobytes to Lex's bloodstream that rushed to his head when he was hung upside down back wih this run in with Mr. Mind, which would make him dream that he had to pursue the orbs, rather than just study them. A Shocked Lex looks hurt, then proclaims that he's a terrible actor, he then says he expected all of this because of a concealer he noticed when Vandal Savage bisected (yep, he said that.) the robot. Brainiac then notes how Lex betrayed him the last time they met, yet Lex carries on as if he was the one wronged. Lex and Brainiac talk for a bit longer before Lex mentions that he's made sure Superman will be too busy to stop the fight before attacking Braniac. Lex and Brainiac fight one another, quickly countering each others attacked until Lex gets the drop on Brainiac, then delivers a Wonder Woman-like neck snap to Branaic. After ridding himself of Brainiac, Lex forgives Lois then combines the black spheres which causes a giant black demon to come from it which apparently came from the Phantom Zone. Lex then decides to break Lois' face and reach inside to let the nanites that Brainiac mentioned earlier join him. He controls them to take the fight on a mental plane and fights the Phantom Zone demon. The issue ends with a huge fight between the two that only leaves one standing. Well, I was kinda lost once Lex started talking about mental planes and whatnot, just because so much went on over the span of like six pages, but I will say the ending makes me curious on what will happen in the next issue now that Superman is returning. I'll give this issue a 7/10.
Lex: When I encountered Death, I wondered if there was judgement, If there was a God, There is now!
God I love the nonchalant look on Guy's face as he just casually strangles the life out of Hal Jordan. We start off with the Mod Squad of the Green Lanterns, Guy, Kilowog and Arisia flying back towards Oa so they can update the Guardians about their recent run-in with Zardor. As they fly back the impurity strikes once again, and Arisia flys towards Oa at breakneck speeds while Guy and Kilowog comment on how Parallax must be back in the battery. They turn around and see Hundreds upon Hundreds of Green Lanterns flying towards them on their way to Oa. While they fly by the Lanterns attack, and Guy mentions if he and Kilowog are okay some other Lanterns must have been able to right it too. Kilowog agrees and sends Guy to get help while letting himself be captured by the Lanterns. Guy almost rushes in headfirst but holds back and tries to call for helpand finally gets an answer from Hal. They can barely hear one another but agree to meet at the Green House and Guy flies off as fast as he can and a few hours later he lands at the green house, which just so happens to be in Antarctica or something. Hal confronts him and they talk about where they were when they got the flash vision of Parallax. Guy explains that he and Kilowog were fine though, and they soon figure that the people who had been in contact with Parallax before were able to fight off his control. They then start to explain what they've been doing and their respective missions, which of course upsets Hal because he didn't know about the Atrocitus/Guy/Ganthet pact. They argue more and pull no punches with Guy even mentioning Hal's past mistakes before the two start fighting one another. They have a knockdown drag out fight that includes Guy making a ton of constructs that look like he has over the years and having them all attack Hal. As the two fight they realize whats happening, and take off their rings to stop the fighting. The two then realize they have to figure out a way to stop Krona and do it without their rings. Well this was a great issue, I love seeing the Hal/Guy rivalry come to a head so this was great, and I don't know what to expect, maybe Red Lantern Guy saves the day? I'll give this issue a 9/10.
Guy: Heh... is that what we've got between us, a rivalry? I always looked at it as purely a difference of opinion.
GCS #21 or as I refer to it, Harley's Day Out starts off with Harley wondering about what people will say when she's studied in psych classes years from now, and if she'll be known as The Joker's love-sick sidekick or for what she plans on doing, and that's killing Mistah J. She's then standing in front of Aaron Cash who says he knows she's behind everything that's happened at Arkham tonight just to get to The Joker. He mentions that he remembers meeting Harley when she first got hired at Arkham, which causes us to see a flashback. He says he can't let Harley free Joker but Harley says she doesn't want him free, she wants him dead. She tells Aaron to move out of her way but he refuses, and she thinks to herself how sad she is she has to do this to Cash. She tells him his infant son who passed away died because of a nail she has in her hand. We then see The Joker threatening Cash upon hearing his wife is pregnant which caused Cash to beat the Joker senseless. Later on while out with his son and wife, a clown offers Cash's son a balloon which Cash refuses, and while Cash and his wife talk, the clown (The Joker in disguise) drags the nail across the baby's arm unbeknownst to his parents, which later killed Cash's son due tetanus. The tetanus caused the face muscles to be pulled down over the child's jaw which made a makeshift smile. Cash, shocked at this revelation that it was the Joker, unlocks his cell and even gives Harley a gun to use on The Joker before walking away. Harley walks into Joker's cell, pointing the gun at him and he tells her he's missed her, which causes her to think about her times with Joker, even him letting her fall off a roof before dropping the gun and hugging The Joker. I did NOT see that one coming, although I should have. Meanwhile, Selina and Ivy have come to save Harley but when Catwoman notices the police are heading to Devil's square she decides to investigate that instead, leaving Ivy to go get Harley alone, and Ivy tells Selina she'll never forgive her for turning her back on them as the issue ends. Man this was a great issue, this series was so bad not long ago but Harley's being competent, there's tension within the Sirens and now we see what happens with Harley back with The Joker, I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating just because I don't see how Cash could NOT know Joker killed his kid, if my kid died with a smile after The Joker said he'd give him a smile, I'd go straight in to work and kill him, proof or not.
We start things off with Spidey meeting up with Sue, Ben and Reed, as they all share memories about Johnny. We see the Fantastic Four and Spidey take down Krakatoom, and Spidey is about to take off but is asked to help and stay monitor the area and have a camping trip with the Fantastic Four, to which Spidey quickly agrees to. Ben mentions how he thought having Spidey and Torch would be more annoying than anything but he ended up having fun because Torch and Spidey were like brothers the way they joked around. Reminds me of a certain blogger I know and myself. Over the course of the trip Spidey and Torch played a ton of pranks including Torch tanning the words Flame On! onto Spidey's back and Spidey webbing up the toilet paper so it stuck to Johnny's butt. Ben enjoyed it the most because with Torch preoccupied, he wasn't bothering the ever lovin' Blue Eyed Thing, which allowed him to tan and... get his rocks off. Okay, I contemplated not typing that but I couldn't resist, my blog, my rules. Anyway, Ben was able to relax, until Spidey and Torch teamed up and made a makeshift Krakatoom which they tricked Thing into attacking. After reminiscing they tell Spidey he doesn't need to be related to be family and Ben tells him if he needs a brother, he's always there for him and Sue says the same, which leads Spidey to say he already does except for the time they had to take her home. Now it's Sue's time to spill the beans and she mentions how she and Johnny were out on patrol when Johnny stopped to sign autographs. Spidey shows up and decides to humble the Torch and yanks his pants down in front of the girls, causing Torch to chase after him, which leads to the heroes being caught with their pants down (I made a funny!) by three fourths of the Frightful Four. This leads to Johnny complaining about not being able to fight without pants, so Sue makes the enemies pants go invisible so they get shy about covering their undies, which leads to them getting their clocks cleaned. Afterwards, Sue is arrested with the three villains because she pantsed three men in public, so she's arrested for indecent exposure. Okay, that made me legit laugh out loud. After that we see a story from Reed's description where he, Johnny and Peter are going into space, but of course first Johnny has to paint flames on the side of the ship so it can go faster. While in space the ship stops working due to the boys encountering a gigantic Green Star, and they have Torch try to absorb the energy from the star so they don't burn to crisps. Pete and Reed then try to look all over to see what the problem is and talk over Johnny whenever he tries to add something. They finally listen and Johnny let's them know it sounds like their carburetor is flooded, which it turns out he's right. As Johnny goes to burn off the energy he held in, Spidey admits to Reed that for all the stuff he says about Johnny, he's actually a bright guy. Back in the present Peter says he wish he'd got to tell Johnny that and Reed plays a special hologram Johnny left for Peter. He tells Peter that he knows how he feels about losing family but he's leaving him something, his spot on the team with the best sister, two brothers, niece and nephew a guy could ever ask for. The issue ends with Spidey agreeing to take Johnny's spot on the team for his fallen brother. Now this was a great issue, I loved seeing Spidey and Torch's exploits and the rest of the Fantastic Four being in on it was even better, especially the stuff with Sue. I had no problem with this and it showed the great friendship bond between Peter and Johnny that we needed to see, no I take that back it showed the bond between two brothers. I'll give this a solid 10/10 rating.
Spider-Man: Now, with great power comes great responsibility. And just because you can make men's clothes disappear doesn't mean that you should.
And that's all for me folks. We had a decent haul this week, and as of right now the weekly poll hasn't ended but it looked fairly obvious that Invincible wins, so expect a 5 Reasons: Why you should read Invincible within the next few days. Until next time that's all for me, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!
Batman Beyond #4, Brightest Day #23, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38
Teen Titans #93
We start things off with the Teen Titans, Superboy, Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Raven, Ravager and Beast Boy all meeting outside Titans Tower. The gang then head out to an archaeological dig to meet Cassie's mom, and all the while Red Robin thinks to himself how much tension there is on the team. He thinks about the (sexual) tension between Superboy and Wonder Girl, Raven and Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Kid Flash, Superboy and Red Robin.. okay I made those last two up. Once they arrive we see they were called there to help Solstice look for her parents. Raven apparently can't be near her due to Solstice giving off such a bright and cheery attitude because she risks feeling the emotions and making herself vulnerable for yet another Trigon attack. Kid Flash on the other hand is apparently in love with Solstice right off the bat and is made to look like an idiot trying to impress her, thanks to Ravager. He uses his super speed to run off with a picture Solstice had of her missing parents and runs all over looking for them and finds no results so the team decides to split up. While Red Robin and Superboy explore, Connor mentions that Red Robin should defer to Cass since she's leader and he mentions Cassie told Tim to take over as Leader as she needed a break. The conversation is cut short when the two are attacked by a very ugly demon woman or something. She takes down Superboy which sends Kid Flash and Ravager to help Red Robin. She quickly takes down Kid Flash and Ravager as well as Beast Boy. Solstice shows up and blasts the chick which hurts her, and theoretically makes Solstice stronger than the previously mentioned heroes, but whatever. The Demon woman retreats and grabs Cassie's mom, and takes her and Wonder Girl with her to cross over to another dimension. The issue ends with Wonder Girl and her Mom in another dimension trapped with Demons. Well this was an okay comic, nothing amazing but nothing really bad besides the Demon squashing most of the Teen Titans. I'll give this issue a 6/10.
Red Robin: But I go by Red Robin now.
Beast Boy: You must get that a lot. I put out a press release when I changed my name.Action Comics #899
Lex Luthor's Action Comics #899 gets underway with Lex finding the final Black Orbs, as he lists everyone who stood in his way like Groilla Grodd, Larfleeze and The Joker he's confronted once again, this time by Braniac. Braniac describes his GENIUS plan that shows he's been watching Lex through the Lo-bot which was made by his technology, he then had this Robo-Lois introduce nanobytes to Lex's bloodstream that rushed to his head when he was hung upside down back wih this run in with Mr. Mind, which would make him dream that he had to pursue the orbs, rather than just study them. A Shocked Lex looks hurt, then proclaims that he's a terrible actor, he then says he expected all of this because of a concealer he noticed when Vandal Savage bisected (yep, he said that.) the robot. Brainiac then notes how Lex betrayed him the last time they met, yet Lex carries on as if he was the one wronged. Lex and Brainiac talk for a bit longer before Lex mentions that he's made sure Superman will be too busy to stop the fight before attacking Braniac. Lex and Brainiac fight one another, quickly countering each others attacked until Lex gets the drop on Brainiac, then delivers a Wonder Woman-like neck snap to Branaic. After ridding himself of Brainiac, Lex forgives Lois then combines the black spheres which causes a giant black demon to come from it which apparently came from the Phantom Zone. Lex then decides to break Lois' face and reach inside to let the nanites that Brainiac mentioned earlier join him. He controls them to take the fight on a mental plane and fights the Phantom Zone demon. The issue ends with a huge fight between the two that only leaves one standing. Well, I was kinda lost once Lex started talking about mental planes and whatnot, just because so much went on over the span of like six pages, but I will say the ending makes me curious on what will happen in the next issue now that Superman is returning. I'll give this issue a 7/10.
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8
God I love the nonchalant look on Guy's face as he just casually strangles the life out of Hal Jordan. We start off with the Mod Squad of the Green Lanterns, Guy, Kilowog and Arisia flying back towards Oa so they can update the Guardians about their recent run-in with Zardor. As they fly back the impurity strikes once again, and Arisia flys towards Oa at breakneck speeds while Guy and Kilowog comment on how Parallax must be back in the battery. They turn around and see Hundreds upon Hundreds of Green Lanterns flying towards them on their way to Oa. While they fly by the Lanterns attack, and Guy mentions if he and Kilowog are okay some other Lanterns must have been able to right it too. Kilowog agrees and sends Guy to get help while letting himself be captured by the Lanterns. Guy almost rushes in headfirst but holds back and tries to call for helpand finally gets an answer from Hal. They can barely hear one another but agree to meet at the Green House and Guy flies off as fast as he can and a few hours later he lands at the green house, which just so happens to be in Antarctica or something. Hal confronts him and they talk about where they were when they got the flash vision of Parallax. Guy explains that he and Kilowog were fine though, and they soon figure that the people who had been in contact with Parallax before were able to fight off his control. They then start to explain what they've been doing and their respective missions, which of course upsets Hal because he didn't know about the Atrocitus/Guy/Ganthet pact. They argue more and pull no punches with Guy even mentioning Hal's past mistakes before the two start fighting one another. They have a knockdown drag out fight that includes Guy making a ton of constructs that look like he has over the years and having them all attack Hal. As the two fight they realize whats happening, and take off their rings to stop the fighting. The two then realize they have to figure out a way to stop Krona and do it without their rings. Well this was a great issue, I love seeing the Hal/Guy rivalry come to a head so this was great, and I don't know what to expect, maybe Red Lantern Guy saves the day? I'll give this issue a 9/10.
Gotham City Sirens #21
GCS #21 or as I refer to it, Harley's Day Out starts off with Harley wondering about what people will say when she's studied in psych classes years from now, and if she'll be known as The Joker's love-sick sidekick or for what she plans on doing, and that's killing Mistah J. She's then standing in front of Aaron Cash who says he knows she's behind everything that's happened at Arkham tonight just to get to The Joker. He mentions that he remembers meeting Harley when she first got hired at Arkham, which causes us to see a flashback. He says he can't let Harley free Joker but Harley says she doesn't want him free, she wants him dead. She tells Aaron to move out of her way but he refuses, and she thinks to herself how sad she is she has to do this to Cash. She tells him his infant son who passed away died because of a nail she has in her hand. We then see The Joker threatening Cash upon hearing his wife is pregnant which caused Cash to beat the Joker senseless. Later on while out with his son and wife, a clown offers Cash's son a balloon which Cash refuses, and while Cash and his wife talk, the clown (The Joker in disguise) drags the nail across the baby's arm unbeknownst to his parents, which later killed Cash's son due tetanus. The tetanus caused the face muscles to be pulled down over the child's jaw which made a makeshift smile. Cash, shocked at this revelation that it was the Joker, unlocks his cell and even gives Harley a gun to use on The Joker before walking away. Harley walks into Joker's cell, pointing the gun at him and he tells her he's missed her, which causes her to think about her times with Joker, even him letting her fall off a roof before dropping the gun and hugging The Joker. I did NOT see that one coming, although I should have. Meanwhile, Selina and Ivy have come to save Harley but when Catwoman notices the police are heading to Devil's square she decides to investigate that instead, leaving Ivy to go get Harley alone, and Ivy tells Selina she'll never forgive her for turning her back on them as the issue ends. Man this was a great issue, this series was so bad not long ago but Harley's being competent, there's tension within the Sirens and now we see what happens with Harley back with The Joker, I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating just because I don't see how Cash could NOT know Joker killed his kid, if my kid died with a smile after The Joker said he'd give him a smile, I'd go straight in to work and kill him, proof or not.
The Joker: I hope it doesn't have your smile.
Aaron Cash: I said shut up.
The Joker: Don't Worry, if it does I'll give him mine.Amazing Spider-Man #657
We start things off with Spidey meeting up with Sue, Ben and Reed, as they all share memories about Johnny. We see the Fantastic Four and Spidey take down Krakatoom, and Spidey is about to take off but is asked to help and stay monitor the area and have a camping trip with the Fantastic Four, to which Spidey quickly agrees to. Ben mentions how he thought having Spidey and Torch would be more annoying than anything but he ended up having fun because Torch and Spidey were like brothers the way they joked around. Reminds me of a certain blogger I know and myself. Over the course of the trip Spidey and Torch played a ton of pranks including Torch tanning the words Flame On! onto Spidey's back and Spidey webbing up the toilet paper so it stuck to Johnny's butt. Ben enjoyed it the most because with Torch preoccupied, he wasn't bothering the ever lovin' Blue Eyed Thing, which allowed him to tan and... get his rocks off. Okay, I contemplated not typing that but I couldn't resist, my blog, my rules. Anyway, Ben was able to relax, until Spidey and Torch teamed up and made a makeshift Krakatoom which they tricked Thing into attacking. After reminiscing they tell Spidey he doesn't need to be related to be family and Ben tells him if he needs a brother, he's always there for him and Sue says the same, which leads Spidey to say he already does except for the time they had to take her home. Now it's Sue's time to spill the beans and she mentions how she and Johnny were out on patrol when Johnny stopped to sign autographs. Spidey shows up and decides to humble the Torch and yanks his pants down in front of the girls, causing Torch to chase after him, which leads to the heroes being caught with their pants down (I made a funny!) by three fourths of the Frightful Four. This leads to Johnny complaining about not being able to fight without pants, so Sue makes the enemies pants go invisible so they get shy about covering their undies, which leads to them getting their clocks cleaned. Afterwards, Sue is arrested with the three villains because she pantsed three men in public, so she's arrested for indecent exposure. Okay, that made me legit laugh out loud. After that we see a story from Reed's description where he, Johnny and Peter are going into space, but of course first Johnny has to paint flames on the side of the ship so it can go faster. While in space the ship stops working due to the boys encountering a gigantic Green Star, and they have Torch try to absorb the energy from the star so they don't burn to crisps. Pete and Reed then try to look all over to see what the problem is and talk over Johnny whenever he tries to add something. They finally listen and Johnny let's them know it sounds like their carburetor is flooded, which it turns out he's right. As Johnny goes to burn off the energy he held in, Spidey admits to Reed that for all the stuff he says about Johnny, he's actually a bright guy. Back in the present Peter says he wish he'd got to tell Johnny that and Reed plays a special hologram Johnny left for Peter. He tells Peter that he knows how he feels about losing family but he's leaving him something, his spot on the team with the best sister, two brothers, niece and nephew a guy could ever ask for. The issue ends with Spidey agreeing to take Johnny's spot on the team for his fallen brother. Now this was a great issue, I loved seeing Spidey and Torch's exploits and the rest of the Fantastic Four being in on it was even better, especially the stuff with Sue. I had no problem with this and it showed the great friendship bond between Peter and Johnny that we needed to see, no I take that back it showed the bond between two brothers. I'll give this a solid 10/10 rating.
And that's all for me folks. We had a decent haul this week, and as of right now the weekly poll hasn't ended but it looked fairly obvious that Invincible wins, so expect a 5 Reasons: Why you should read Invincible within the next few days. Until next time that's all for me, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!
Next Week on Ratings and Rantings
Batman Beyond #4, Brightest Day #23, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38
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