Ratings and Rantings featuring Schism #5

Hey Todd Squad, It's that time again for your favorite weekly comic content and comments. This week I've only got four comics (forgot to grab Animal Man from Lisha AND managed to leave my Deadpool over her house...) but one at least one should be a major game changer. So, I've waited long enough and I'm not gonna stall you guys with an intro, let's get to the finale of X-Men: Schism!

X-Men: Schism #5

We pick up where we left off, with Cyclops and Wolverine beating the holy hell out of each other while the sentinel attacks them both. While Wolverine and Cyclops beat each other to the point of near death, they realize that Idie, Hope and the rest of the students are all fighting the Sentinel, so they put their differences aside and help the kids. We also see that Rogue and the other X-Men are on their way back to Utopia, and Emma Frost has finally gotten her face slug removed. She heads outside just in time to see the sudents celebrating their victory after defeating the Sentinel. Looks like Scott was right after all Logan... Go Team Cyclops! After the fight, Wolverine and Idie talk and she says she's glad she killed those people at the museum and her friends didn't have to, because she can live with it, since she knows she's a monster and knows what it means to be an X-Men. Wolverine, obviously disappointed by Idie's outlook, walks away, and while walking through the corridors he see's a picture of himself, Beast, and the original X-Men with Xavier. Logan goes to find Scott, and they talk, and Scott says he was right, the kids beat the Sentinel and Logan owes him an apology. Wolverine says they beat one sentinel one time, and things could easily change next time. Wolverine says they failed those kids by teaching them the wrong things, and he's done, and he's leaving. Wolverine says that anyone who wants to leave with him is welcome, and he leaves with a few of the kids, Idie, and a tied up Quentin Quire. Meanwhile, Scott sends Gambit, Rogue and Warpath to find the Hellfire Gang, but instead they find their corpses. We also see the newer, younger, more compact version of the Hellfire Club, quite proud of what they've accomplished so far by selling thousands of their new and improved sentinels. The issue comes to a close soon after with Wolverine and his team heading back to the ruins of Xavier's school with the intent on making it their new home base. Well this issue was a lot of action and from that point we saw the split which was interesting. This wasn't the best issue but I enjoyed it for what it was, and that alone warrants this getting a 8.5/10.

Cyclops: You press that damn button, you're killing me too!

Wolverine: No.. you're killing yourself.

Detective Comics #2

Before we get started, let me say I'm not a fan of Tony Daniel. I didn't like his Batman run and I hated how weak he made Tim look in BFTC, as well as his decision to make Jason from a anti-hero to an insane villain, that aside I really enjoyed Detective Comics #1, which I got from my girlfriend, Falisha, and read. I didn't review it but if you need to know what happened in issue one then click here to see X-Man75's review. So this issue kicks off with Bruce having a meeting with a guy named Hugh that wants his business. From there we see Bruce meet with a woman who seems to grill him with questions but apparently just wants to make out with the playboy, so they make out. Well alright then, three pages in and Bruce is already sucking face. After doing the Bat-Tusi with this woman, he promises her they'll spend this weekend together so he can make time for her and she accepts. Next we see Bruce as Batman investigating the city as he's found out that The Joker has been helped to escape Arkham Asylum and all he left behind was his face. Well, find the guy with no face should be an easy mission, right? Then again Gotham has a guy with two faces... After finding no leads at Arkham, Commissioner Gordon steps outside and has a chat with Batman, and lets Batman know that a man named Ray Quimby had recently abducted a young girl, and his former partner was a cannibal that mutilated his victims, which ties in with a faceless Joker. Once Gordon gets an update on where Quimby may be, Batman heads to the location as Gordon follows not far behind. Batman heads inside and remarks that he see's no officer although a squad car was out front, and he also smells death in the air. Gordon arrives and calls dispatch, but discovers the squad car that's there belongs to someone that isn't even on duty today. Gordon hears a thumping in the trunk and opens it and is grabbed by someone. Inside, we see Batman find the bodies of both Ray Quimby and the missing officer when suddenly he's attacked by who people who look as if they've been stitched together by a bunch of different parts. They manage to take Batman down with a shot that destabilizes him and with the help of a woman in a nurse costume that hits B-Man with a sledgehammer. Batman is then confronted by a weird looking man with some more goons, the man calls himself the Dollmaker, and says that he'll use Batman to make his legacy. The issue ends as he shows Batman a sample of his work, as we see Commissioner Gordon with a face full of patches and stitches. Well that was a weird ending, Tony is just doing whatever the hell he wants, isn't he? Anyway, this was a cool issue, nothing amazing, although I would've preferred a little info on Joker's whereabouts and why he's faceless. Anyway, I'll give this a 7/10 rating.

Batman: Someone else hits me exactly where Joker knifed me. The sutures explode. (Excellent visual.)

Justice League International #2

We kick things off with the JLI's mission in deep doo-doo, as they take on a giant metal man. Damn you Hellfire Club...oh wait, wrong company. Anyway, Booster and the JLI learn that their fight is being televised live, as to win over some of the non-hero lovers of the world. The metal man takes down Rocket Red, Ice and a few of the other teammates, until Team Leader, Booster Gold, has the team evacuate so they can get help for Ice. A few of the teammates don't like this decision, but everyone backs down to Booster's decision, especially since he's backed up by Batman. Later on, Guy Gardner is at a bar when he see's footage of Ice getting blasted by the metal man on TV, and heads off to check on her and give Booster a piece of his mind. Back at their destroyed Hall of Justice, the JLI, their government leaders, and Guy Gardner all tear into one another, which leads to Booster getting ready to quit the team. That is until August General steps up and says that he's been to battle and he knows sometimes you must retreat for the good of your team, and he's honored to follow Booster. This sentiment is backed up by Batman as well as Godiva, but between you and me, I think it's because she wants to shine Booster's gold, if ya catch my drift. Booster says he'll lead, but their running out of time. He calls Skeets, who's hanging out in the Booster Cave (I'm not even kidding), and we find out there's at least four of these metal men. The issue ends as we see an intergalactic foe that's behind these giant metal men plans to destroy Earth! I really liked this issue, I enjoyed the dynamic of the team and how they aren't really a team but a bunch of individuals that need to learn how to work together. Batman also brings a good vibe, and it's weird to see him not as a leader, but still teaching Booster how to be one. I'll give this issue an 8/10 rating.

Batman: Learn from this, Booster. Follow your gut and make the team yours.

Invincible #83

We start things off with Cecil telling Invincible how he had all the dead Invincible's from other universes turned into reanimen. Surprisingly, Invincible is okay with this and tells Cecil if he needs him to give him a call. From there we see a few familiar Invincible villains meeting with Titan, trying to convince him to let them work for him again, but he decides to give them a  tryout to prove their worth. From there we see Mark and Samantha head to a superhero party. One of the biggest surprises to everyone is how Monster Girl has aged into a woman once again, and has a lot of jaws dropping at her... physique. Meanwhile, Robot a.k.a. Rex is watching as she flirts with other guys, and when Invincible asks if everything is okay between him and Monster Girl, Rex replies, not remotely. Turns out that Monster Girl isn't ready to hop into anything with anyone either, as she states it's "too soon", making me wonder even more what happened between the two. Next we see Tether Tyrant and Magmaniac attack Machine Head, trying to gain favor with Titan, when Magmaniac is seemingly killed by Machine Head's guard, Vault. A distraught Tether Tyrant tells his suit that he's ready to bond with it completely, since he has nothing left now that Magmaniac. He suddenly falls into darkness, and continually yells he doesn't want this, he wants control. He awakens in the midst of a fight with the Guardians of the Globe, who say that he's been rampaging for four hours (?!) and now just wants to give up? They cuff Tether Tyrant as Invincible shows up, and takes note that the Guardians of the Globe didn't need him, maybe this will help push him closer to his goal of hanging up his hero boots? We end the issue soon after, with Rex telling Amanda (Monster Girl) that they came back and left behind so much so he could forget what she did, why won't she let him forget? Well that was an odd ending, but this was a solid issue. It pushed Invincible closer to retiring seeing as how they have the Guardians and the Reanimen. Add that with the stuff between Rex and Monster Girl, and this was a perfectly acceptable comic as a friend of mine would say. I'll give this a 7/10.

Shapesmith: There are parts of your clothes where there are no clothes and we can see your skin instead.

And that's it for me everyone, thanks for reading and feel free to leave questions and or comments. Also, be sure to vote on this week's newest poll and check out the results from last week's poll below. But I'm outta here, I gotta get ready for the huge haul of comics I got in next week's R&R! Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Who was your favorite Batgirl?"

Last place with 22.2% - Tie between Cassandra Cain and the current Batgirl, Babs Gordon.
Winner with 55.6% - The former blonde bomber, my favorite Batgirl, Stephanie Brown!
 

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Deadpool #44, Batgirl #2, Batman & Robin #2, Deathstroke #2, Green Lantern #2, Grifter #2, Morning Glories #13, Amazing Spider-Man #671, X-Men: Regensis One-Shot, Ultimate Spider-Man #3, and Ultimate X-Men #2.... Damn.