Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with a your weekly collection of comic content comments. First things first, I saw that next week I'm only picking up two books, so I'm bumping Kick Ass 2 #3 and Superman Beyond #0 to next week so I at least have four books. Also,  this just so happens to be the final week of the DCU being the way we know it, because this Wednesday, Flashpoint ends and the DCU Changes. Babs becomes Batgirl again, Roy regains an arm, Dick loses the cowl, Superman loses his marriage and many more changes, so with this as the final week of the DCU until it's retconned or something, let;s take a look at the final DCU Comics in this timeline, starting off with the final issue of Gotham City Sirens!

Gotham City Sirens #26

We start things off with Harley and Ivy attacking Catwoman, who immediately goes on the offensive. Batman shows up and tells Gordon to let the girls fight this out for ten minutes, as it's between them and surprisingly Gordon allows it. Selina holds her own until she finds out it's hammer time, courtesy of Harley. Once they have Selina down, Ivy says Selina shouldn't be surprised since she betrayed two women that saved her, but Catwoman laughs and says she's the one who saved them. She basically says that Batman was pulling the strings and got them all together with a master plan that maybe they'd do good in Gotham. Harley says what Selina's saying makes sense but Ivy still thinks she's lying. Catwoman then says she basically kept then out of Arkham until they forced her hand, and that she helped them because she thinks their both better than that and can do more for Gotham outside of Arkham. Once finding out Batman was pulling the strings, Poison Ivy gets upset and starts destroying buildings and such, demanding Batman come face her. Bats shows up but Catwoman buys Harley and Ivy some time to escape, as the two go their own ways, setting up for their new roles in the DCnU. The issue ends soon after with Catwoman getting ready to take on Bats to give her friends a head start. Well this was... something. The ending just came off weird for me here, it wasn't bad and I'm sure it was rushed due to the situation DC has but it felt forced and odd, I just couldn't enjoy it like I wanted to, so I'll give it a 6/10.

Catwoman: I kept you free. Until you forced me to put you in Arkham.

Teen Titans #100

We start this issue with the Teen Titans and the former Teen Titans taking on Superboy Prime and his Terror Titans. After a few are taken care of like Indigo, Sun Girl and the Zookeeper, Cassie attacks Prime. While those two duke it out, Kid Flash grabs Inertia and runs around trying to kill him until he's stopped by Raven. This story was so rushed it shouldn't have even been done. Plus the fact that's not the real Inertia bothers me endlessly. Anyway, we cut over to Superboy taking on the clones, when he tells Ravager to go grab the box from his room we saw a few issues ago, and she grabs it to find a sharp piece of Kryptonite. She stabs one of the Superboy clones with it, then gives it to Robin who looks joyed to kill a Kryptonian with a piece of Kryptonite. After getting rid of everyone else, all of the Titans attack Prime at once, because, it's not like he killed a bunch of Titans and Outsiders and was stronger than Superman. Once he's been defeated, Conner decides there's only one place that can hold Prime, and he and Supergirl put Prime in the source wall, his own personal hell. Well, that's a let down, Prime was an A-Lister now he's beaten by a bunch of Teenagers. Afterwards, we see Conner and Ravager talking, and he tells her if he goes crazy he needs someone like her to put him down, and she has her feelings hurt because she thinks Conner see's her only as a murderer. Aww, poor murderous Rose. The issue ends soon after with Raven and Beast Boy kissing and the Teen Titans posing, well alright. This was a big let down in my opinion, as Prime was amde to look like a chump. Superboy beat up the Teen Titans by himself, there's no way four Superboy clones plus Prime AND a team of equally matched Titans should've been destroyed so easily. I'd give this issue a 3/10 rating.

Robin: You have no idea what cutting loose is, Red Robin. But I'd like to see that.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #5

We start things off with Batman taking it to The Architect, Dillon May. Meanwhile, under Kane bridge, Black Bat and Robin are trying to disarm the bomb that was planted there by The Architect. With a plan forged by Cassandra, she and Damian detonate the bombs safely away from the bridge, keeping everyone safe. After the bridge is safe, Batman subdued the Architect and explains that the Gates went made from the suit, and extended use caused extreme decompression sickness which pretty much drove the Gates insane. After proving this, Batman asks how long Dillon has been in the suit, which enrages Dillon causing him to break free of Batman's bind. He dives at Batman but Bats removes Dillon's Helmet before cracking him across the face with it. We later see Dick checking in with Bruce via satellite, and explaining "Dillon May" was an alias and the Architect was actually Zachary Gate. Bruce commends Dick on his work and says with enough time he'll be an even better Batman than Bruce. The issue ends soon after with Bruce announcing he's coming home to see Dick and Damian soon and to have a talk, and a quick flashback shows Nicolas Gate being sent to Arkham with Alan Wayne still trying to help his former friend. Well... another rushed issue, it was fine but the Dillon May reveal was pretty obvious, hell X-Man75 pointed it out like three issues ago. I'd give this issue a 6.5/10.

Bruce: I never doubted it Dick. Given enough time I'm sure you'd make an even better Batman than me.

Batman: Arkham City #5

The final issue of the comic mini that bridged the gap between Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. We start things off with Batman finding more info on Hugo Strange, and we also see the biggest damn Robin I've ever seen in my life. I swear this Robin looks like Captain Atom in a Robin costume. Batman realizes he can't go after Hugo since he's hiding in plain sight, so he decides to confront him as Billionaire Bruce Wayne instead. At a press conference, Bruce makes it known that four years ago Hugo Strange vanished from Arkham Asylum, and now he's supposed to be in charge of Arkham City. But Huge plays it like a politician and says inept doctors made mistakes, but more importantly why does a rich playboy care about a Doctor he's never met? Bruce quickly replies that he doesn't think the criminals of Arkham City will stay in Arkham City for very long, especially with Strange in charge of things. Hugo stands by his guns and says that Arkham City has no weaknesses, and unless Wayne wants to expose any secrets, he has nothing else to say to him. After Arkham City opens, Zsasz is allowed to escape only to be caught, as to kill any fears of the people of Gotham. As the issue comes to a close we see Catwoman, as well as many villains in their new environments, carving a niche in Gotham and Arkham City, including Two-Face, Penguin, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Harley Quinn and of course The Joker, as Strange thinks to himself how he's aware that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one in the same and how he's eagerly awaiting his return to Arkham City. Now this was a fun issue, it really set the tone for the game, which I can't wait to play. The art was great, especially for Poison Ivy and Two Face, and the story was simple but well written, I'll give this an 8/10.

Hugo Strange: I eagerly await your return to Arkham City.

Deadpool #42

We start things off with Deadpool arguing with Death, as she calls him lazy and says she's leaving him. Deadpool doesn't care that Death is leaving him, as he's content sitting around and being "disabled." Turns out Deadpool is dreaming, as the Foolkiller stands over him shouting for Deadpool to wake up and fight him. After not getting a reply Foolkiller knocks Deadpool down and reaches for his mask, when Pool reaches up and grabs Foolkiller by the neck. We then see Deadpool's dream and how he's changed and wants to find his dear old Death again, and how that's pretty much revitalized Deadpool to his old self as he wakes up and beats the hell out of Foolkiller and the rest of the inmates, until DP gets distracted which allows the Foolkiller to hit him with a stun baton, which leads to a dogpile on Deadpool. We then find out that Foolkiller is in love with Doc Whitby, and that's why he's jealous and angry of Deadpool. Also, she signed off on FK's parole, and he doesn't want to leave, so he plans on killing Deadpool and getting a permanent stay. Deadpool has a plan, and we later see that he and The Foolkiller switched masks and FK stays in place of Deadpool while the Merc with a Mouth is a free man. Actually, I was reading this comic and reviewed as I read, and guessed that before finishing because it was obvious, and I was right, because I'm obviously "The Man". The issue ends soon after with Deadpool leaving dressed as the Foolkiller, but not before Doctor Whitby tells Wade she loves him and now that he's free they can be together, as Deadpool realizes he's now the object of affection but someone who's crazy, and not crazy sexy, but scary ugly. Well this was a fine issue as well, nothing amazing but it was far from bad, albeit predictable. I'd give this issue a 7/10.

Deadpool: I'm killin' everyone!

And that's it for this week's Ratings and Rantings everyone. This was a pretty lackluster week, and not the best way for the current DCU to end but what can you do, this was clearly a rushed plan. But next week should be interesting as we finally get a look at the DCnU. That's it for me though, I'll see you guys next week, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger-man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's weekly poll asked "Which Comic Movie did you like more/or want to see more if you haven't seen any?"

Last place with 8.3% - Green Lantern, It's DC's Blackest Night so far...
Second place with 25.0% - Tie between Thor and Captain America, maybe Avengers will do better?
Winner with 41.7% - X-Men: First Class, I almost voted for this as well, man this was a great movie.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Justice League of America #1, Amazing Spider-Man #668, Superman Beyond #0 and Kick-Ass 2 #3