Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, yours truly, Jason Todd, here again with your favorite weekly comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! We've got another short week ahead of us but it should be action-packed, considering the big Batman/Robin/Red Hood team up, the Titans taking on the JLA, and the last issue of the Batman/Powers showdown, so let's get this thing started.

Titans Annual 2011

 We start things off as Isis and Osiris make their presence felt in a Kahndaq war, heavily tipping the scales in favor of their country. Iris thinks to herself how different Osiris has been acting since he killed The Persuader back in 52, as Osiris kills a bunch of retreating soldiers. Meanwhile the other Titans run into the JLA who tell them their under arrest for murdering Ryan Choi, Deathstoke, with his eye back somehow tells the JLA the back off or he'll detonate a nuke he has aboard the ship which will take out China. Cheshire and Roy tell Slade to give it up because he won't blow up a country, but Slade mentions that the JLA will back down because they won't risk Roy's life, not after Choi or Star City, and that's the only reason he let Roy join the team in the first place, and this was his plan all along. Once the JLA realize they can't stop the explosion or contain it, Batman (Grayson) tells them to fall back. We then see Tattooed Man at Slade's base when he's met by Dr. Impossible and Sr. Sivana who show him that Slade's basically created the fountain of youth pretty much,and the Titans have helped him put it together with their plans over the past few months. They then give TM a transportation device that sends him to Slade and the Titans, as they are currently trying to re-recruit Osiris. Osiris see's Slade and attacks but Slade gets him to calm down when he mentions he still may be able to bring Black Adam back and after some smooth talking, things go according to plan. Soon after, we finally see the Titans and the JLA throwdown, and when Cinder blasts Congorilla, Starman blasts her back which causes her to blow up, but somehow she's able to pull herself back together, kind of like Clayface. Meanwhile, Slade and Palmer face off while Donna and Jade fight while discussing Roy, and Batman and Arsenal one one another. Tattooed Man joins the fight and is hesitant to fight the good guys but he has a debt with Slade so he does, and brings down Supergirl with his magic. Slade then pulls out a Sword coated with Kryptonite and attacks Supergirl, and we see this was a gift from Lex after saving his life back in the first Titans mission. As the two teams fight, Isis is fed up and causes a tornado to move both teams off her land, she then says outsiders are no longer welcome there and bans the J.L.A from Kahndaq. Batman wants to stay and fight and says they should've killed Slade years ago but Slade says they never will and that's why he'll keep winning. The JLA leaves while Arsenal thinks to himself maybe he does have hope again, hope that he can kill Slade. The issue ends with Slade using blood he got from Supergirl as the final stage of his "Fountain of Youth", as he plans on healing someone he cares about, and we see a flesh decaying Jericho as the issue ends. Damn this was better than I expected, and now I gotta get the last two issues of Titans... but I liked the big fight and seeing Roy and Dick throw down, as well as Donna and Jade. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10.

Donna Troy: You were always bad for Roy.

Cheshire: You're just jealous you couldn't keep him. Maybe you were a lousy lay? (Burn!)

 Batman Beyond #7

We get started with Batman being grabbed by Derek Powers a.k.a. Blight and he uses his phosphorus touch to grab Batman's head and literally melt away at his mask and onto his skin. Batman frees himself by using a Batarang to break part of Powers' containment suit, which will likely kill him. Powers' assistant, Mr. French calms him down long enough to explain that if he doesn't get this suit patched soon he'll die, and Batman uses that opportunity to escape. Batman arrives back at Wayne Manor to tell Bruce that Powers was behind everything, but Bruce is already aware. Bruce heads down to purchase his company anyway and uses that as a chance to lure out Blight, who takes the bait. Batman joins the frenzy and he and Blight face off once more. Batman manages to overpower the containment suit on Blight and makes it explode, which makes Blight turn into a gas and drift away or something. The issue ends soon after once Bruce Wayne makes it known to Terry that he intends to rename Wayne/Powers enterprises to Wayne Incorporated. Well this was a quick issue, there was some other stuff with Terry's friends and stuff that I didn't care to review, so yeah this flew by. It was okay, nothing special, I was kinda bored near the end but maybe that's because I know there may not be left in this Batman Beyond series come September, anyway I'll give this a 5/10.

JT: These subway stories are pissing me off....

Batman and Robin #25

Okay, so I bought this variant cover because A.) It's awesome as hell and the same price as the original, and B.) It didn't feature my namesake getting his face kicked into a brick wall. Anyway, we start off with Scarlet telling her captor that Jason Todd is coming to save her, and he's gonna kill the woman who kidnapped her. We then see Batman, Robin and Red Hood heading to save Scarlet, along the way, Jason won't shut up with the quips, which annoys Robin. The entire thing is hilarious, especially when Jason says maybe Damian will loosen up once he hits puberty. Before they arrive to save Scarlet, Jason blasts his way out of the Hovering Batmobile and gets a lead over Batman and Robin. Red Hood asks the kidnapper where she wants to meet him, and they decide to meet at Thomas Wayne Middle School. Once he gets there, they demand he drop his guns and strip and Jason does surprisingly, making ever female member of the Todd Squad blush. Anyway, they see Jason is unarmed and free Scarlet, and Batman and Robin spring into action, as they'd been hovering over in the camouflaged hover mobile. Bats goes to save Scarlet but some goons grab her first, and the first, second and fifth Robin's start to take out the goons, as Batman tells Jason no killing, and Jason acquiesces. We see some interesting thoughts on Dick from Jason as they fight side-by-side to take out all of the armed henchmen. Damian saves Scarlet but as he's repelling up to the Batmobile, Jason shoots his line and catches Scarlet, saving her himself. They then head to his Red Hoodcopter, because everyone knows he has one apparently. Batman and Robin pursue Jason as he and Scarlet escape but he detonates a bomb that he apparently planted months ago, and tells Batman and Robin they can save lives or come after him, and of course the Dynamic Duo have to go save civilians while Red Hood and Scarlet escape as this issue ends. Now this was a great issue, I loved all the banter between Red Hood, Batman and Robin. I loved seeing the snarky Jason one-up the Dynamic Duo. Sure a lot of questions weren't answered like who that chick was and why she wanted Jason, but who cares. This is my favorite of the three issues, and this is my blog, so I'll give this a solid 10/10.

Red Hood: Wow. This is one tight-assed sidekick. Not a lot of quips gonna be coming out of this Robin, huh, Dick?

And that's it for this week's R&R everyone! Next week should be a much bigger week as seen below, so feel free to check out the results of last week's poll below, no poll this week since Vizu is down though, so that's it for me guys and gals, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger Man, Jason Todd. And in the words of Conan O'Brien, Be cool my babies!

Last week's poll asked "Which DCnU series needed a reboot the most?"

Last place with 9.1% - Superman and Teen Titans, because walking around doesn't get boring. :P

Second Place with 27.3% - Wonder Woman, I've said it once, I'll say it again, she just got a reboot sadly.

Winner with 54.5% - Justice League of America, because no JLA team should have Congorilla... ever.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #23, Green Lantern #67, Green Lantern Corps #61, Red Robin #25, Amazing Spider-Man #665, Deadpool #40, and X-Men Schism #1! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!