Ratings and Rantings

Hey everybody, Jason Todd here welcoming you, once again, to my Red Hood. It's that time again where I read and review comics, give them what I think is an accurate rating and discuss them with any and everyone who'd like to talk comics. This week is a HUGE haul from DC Comics with a bunch of things I've been waiting for, including The Return of Bruce Wayne and Gail Simone's Birds of Prey, as well as the always entertaining Batgirl series. So with no time to waste let's get things started.

Batman #699

Nothing like seeing an ad for IronMan 2 in a DC Comic...anyway, this issue picks up after our last Batman/Riddler encounter. Riddler's been gassed by some Joker-Toxin rip off that keeps him laughing like he's watching Dave Chappelle stand up comedy. Before I go on, I wanna commend Tony Daniel, he keeps flipping and flopping with his writing but his art has been pretty good, I felt it was especially good in this issue so I just wanted to address that. The story on the other hand, confused the hell out of me. I felt like there was FAR too much going on. And to even think of the whole dual identity thing right after revealing that Arkham had a dual Identity as Black Mask just seemed stupid. I don't know where Tony gets these ideas but it just seemed like a very...unnecessary arc. I hope issue 700 isn't as confusing and forgetful as this one though, I just really wish the main Batman title kept me as interested as Streets of Gotham and Batgirl do. I'll give this issue a 4/10 and hope that someone else can tell me what the hell was accomplished in this comic book.

The Ridder: Paranoid much? I'm clean, Batman! I've been a hero to Gotham. You KNOW that!

The Flash #02

So heroes dressed as the Rogues from the 25th century are arresting Barry Allen because he'll apparently kill one in eighty days. All caught up? Sweet. So the fight scene with our Crimson Crimefighter and the um... Renegades was pretty awesome. During that, some collateral damage happened and The Flash took it upon himself to rebuild a freaking apartment building, better than new which was awesome. Being a comic fan for only about Two and a half years, I still mark out over seeing The Flash do stuff super quickly so that was an awesome moment in my eyes. Seeing the Rogues and Cap. Boomerang together was pretty interesting too, including the test they gave him to prove he's worthy of being a rogue. I'm hoping something interesting happens and his return wasn't pointless. The ending was pretty obvious but works for the story at hand. I'm really starting to like this Flash series, I may be a Wally and Bart fan first but I don't mind Barry being back as long as it's entertaining, and so far it has been. I wish we saw more of Wally but oh well, either way I liked this comic, I'll give it a 8/10.

Barry: At least pretend to give a damn about this job.

Singh: EXCUSE ME?!

Barry: Pretend that this job means more to you guys than a pension, a paycheck or a political favor!

Justice League Generation Lost #01

Dear God this is one ugly cover. Well mainly Booster and Fire, they look hideous. Maxwell, Ice and Cap look pretty good but Booster and Fire look horrendous. Anyway, Maxwell Lord is back, we know it after reading Blackest Night. So like myself I'm sure everyone is wondering, why doesn't Wonder Woman go and snap his neck again then go grab a cup of coffee? We find that out in this issue. But before we get to that, I gotta say I love that they treat Maxwell like the threat he is because I thought he may be ignored, but having the JLA, The JSA and everyone else on the streets looking for him is smart and I'm glad it was written that way because someone like Maxwell Lord is too dangerous to ignore. The run in with Booster and our Busty Bombshell Power Girl was also necessary because I've seen Booster as a hero and Time cop so long, I'd forgotten that everyone else looks at Booster Gold as a screw up. This ending was genius, it made so much sense and I loved the quote attributed it to it because it fit so well. This started off so strong, if it continues it will definitely be one of my favorite series. Some of it was slow, like the desert scenes with Fire, Ice and Captain Atom but I'll give it a 9/10.

The Greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing he world he doesn't exist. - Charles Baudelaire.

Birds of Prey #01

After months of waiting, Gail Simone and the true Gotham City Sirens return, with the new Birds of Prey series. As a fan of Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress I couldn't wait for this comic to drop, and rightfully so. I've never cared about Hawk and Dove but I LOVE the way Gail writes Hawk, he's such an asshole I can't help but to cheer for the big guy. Also the little banter and made up words between Oracle and Dinah that comes off funny, lets you know she knows these characters and she's glad to be writing for them again. I figured this would be a recruitment issue like many first issues but it was so much more, especially the debut of a new villain at he end that will keep me curious until the next issue. To say this was a great issue would be an understatement, I loved to see Gail return to the pages of Birds of Prey and this is another series that will quickly become one of my favorites if it stays this entertaining. I'm giving the first issue of Birds of Prey a solid 10/10 rating. Keep up the good work girls.

Hawk: And Molly, aside from the sex, I don't know a damn thing about you, either. Except one thing. You could do a hell of a lot better.

Booster Gold #32

Can Giffen & Dematteis reunite to bring the Bwahaha back to Booster Gold? Wouldn't that mean bringing back Ted Kord? Well...okay, anyway that's what their going with. The opening scene was hectic and pretty cool, I've never seen Booster's suit start to tear and seeing the mechanisms inside it was pretty cool. The line with Keith and J.M.'s intro was pretty awesome too and makes me think Booster will be pretty funny yet still taken seriously which is awesome. I really loved the way this story was written, everything shone through in one issue that you'd expect from an entire Booster Gold Arc. He made jokes, he played the cocky hero, he made sexual jokes, he made mistakes, he learned a lesson, and vowed to be safer. That's what makes Booster Gold a hero, he's not perfect, he's not always going to save everyone like Superman or Batman, but he's going to try his best, and that makes him a damn interesting character. Also the ending showed us Booster's reaction to a recent returned from the dead guy that seems to be EVERYWHERE this week. I can't be the only one who was confused. They argue about April 8th, then say the seventh when Booster should've went on the 5th...so why are they mentioning three different days?! Can Anyone explain that? I reread that page like seven times, and I wanted to give this a perfect score but that just bothered me, so I'll give it a 8.5/10.

Emerald Empress: What is that? A Legion Flight ring?

Booster Gold: This? It's not the real deal... Just a cheap knockoff that I bought from Wal-Mart.

Batgirl #10

Calculator's evil plan continues in this month's Batgirl. Nice drop of the Birds of Prey name, and seeing Oracle's shadow with Bat ears is cool since that's usually Bruce's thing. I like the little love triangle with Batgirl/Gage/Oracle, and the first official meeting between Stephanie Brown and Nick Gage. And Stephanie's um... girlish charm? Comes off pretty well, it's always fun to see how awkward she is around guys, especially saying her inner monologue out loud. I thought the story started off kinda slow but "Woo Baby!" (I owe you a coffee, X!) did this story pick up. The ending was epic, in a superhero zombie yet not like Blackest Night kinda way, and seeing Batgirl's last page in this issue leaves me wondering what out Blonde Bat Bombshell is gonna do in the next issue. Batgirl continues to be entertaining each month and is solidifying itself as one of my favorite series and Batgirl as one of my favorite characters. Batgirl #10 gets a 9/10.

Batgirl: So what you're saying is...

Oracle: We're about as screwed as you can get.

The Return of Bruce Wayne #1

Bruce Wayne, returns a year and a half after his "death", and I missed the bat loving maniac so let's get right to the good stuff. Some of the caveman talk comes across as more annoying than anything, it's hard to understand when you're used to English and coherent sentences. The appearance of "Robin" was pretty awesome though, I liked that pleasant surprise, as well as Batman pulling a Scorpion. Guess he learned that in MK vs. DC. Another was the appearance of three of my favorites as well as the bomb that was dropped on us by him, so now it's literally a race against time. The ending was random but that's what happens when you try to throw a full story into six issues. For what it was I guess I enjoyed the first issue, but Bruce barely spoke, I was interested in seeing what he was thinking. It was alright but I wanted more, and there was a lot I didn't care for, I could probably sum up the whole issue in two sentences. But at least Bruce is on his way back... ah well, I'll give this a 6.5/10.

Superman: You are joking, right? He can survive anywhere. Anytime. Surviving is what he does.

Titans: Villains for Hire Special

First things first, the art in this comic, especially the first page with Deathstroke, is phenomenal. Just had to say that, so great work Fabrizio Fiorentino. Man, I love seeing Ryan Choi in action, say what you want about Palmer but Choi is the Atom to me, and I loved to see him go all out, the action was perfect and seeing him grow and shrink during the fight to his advantage was pretty awesome. Also seeing Deathstroke allow Ryan a break while his girlfriend was at the door was really... humane of him, I like seeing other sides of Slade than just kill, kill, kill! By the way, Deathstroke may have the best damn team around by now, and Cinder is hot. (No pun intended.) That being said, what happened in this comic was to send a message, I get that, but I hate that it had to be at the expense of someone who doesn't fit in the so called "Modern age." X-Man75 has mentioned that guys like Palmer, Ollie, Hal and Barry have reclaimed their mantles from people who had taken them, and If that's gonna happen oh well I guess, I agree but what can you do? But if it's going to lead to this, and Wally, Kyle, Connor and others have this to look forward to then it's a real mistake. This really bothered me, hell, this is almost as absurd as what happened to Lian. That being said, outside of that travesty I liked this comic... I wanna give it a ten but after that I can't, I'll give it a 8/10.

Deathstroke: Think about it, kid. I fought Ray Palmer. Which means I know moves you haven't even though of.

So, that's it for this weeks Ratings and Rantings. I think out of eight comics this was a pretty good pull, most of them left me excited for the next issue, especially Batgirl, Titans, Birds of Prey, and Generation Lost. I'll be back probably Sunday since I'm going to see IronMan 2 tomorrow with the poll results, a new poll and the review Marc requested, Wolverine: Enemy of The State. So until then, You've just been Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Deadpool #23, Batman: Streets of Gotham #12, Brightest Day #2, and Superman/Batman #72.

Red Robin/Batgirl - Collision Review (Spoiler Warning)

Hey, Hello, Hola, and Bienvenidos. Once again I'd like to welcome everyone to my Red Hood. So, if you're like me, last year's Battle For The Cowl started a bunch of interesting things you were looking forward to. Sure Jason turned "evil", and Damian became Robin, and Dick became Bats which we all predicted, but two more things happened. Tim Drake became the Red Robin, and Stephanie Brown became the new Batgirl. Batgirl, written by Bryan Q. Miller quickly became one of the best monthly comics, bringing seriousness and a fun tone, as well as making everyone, even Damian likable. Red Robin written by Christopher Yost quickly became one of the worst monthly comics in my opinion, even to the point some of my fellow bloggers decided to drop the series. So, what happens when you take one of the best and one of the worst series, with two characters who have history comparable to Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon? That's what we find out in Red Robin/Batgirl - Collision. (By the way I'm very happy with this opening paragraph.)

Collision takes place in Batgirl #8, and Red Robin #'s 10, 11, and 12, which is why he gets top billing of course. Our story starts with Batgirl and Red Robin running into one another in the recently abandoned by Batman but re-bandoned (?) by Oracle and Batgirl. Tim is upset to find Steph still "playing dress-up" as he calls it. After some bonding, if you can call it that, Tim lets it spill that Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins are after Bruce Wayne's friends and allies and Doctor Leslie. After kicking some assassin butt and saving the good Doctor, Tim and Steph share a romantic moment on a rooftop while in costume, intil the part is crashed by Prudence a.k.a. Pru, a former member of Ra's League of Assasins. Pru tells Tim that she was hired to kill Stephanie Brown, before pulling a gun out and pointing it right into Stephanie's face. Steph then proceeds to lay down an all-star Smackdown onto Pru that would make Bruce Wayne do a double take. After Steph is done beating Pru senseless, we find out the gun wasn't loaded and Pru came to help Tim, because she owed him one.

Meanwhile, we see that Ra's has come to Gotham, and he's looking for an audience, with Thomas Elliot. Ra's tells Hush, he want's everything Bruce Wayne has. We also see both Vickie Vale and Tamara Fox looking desperately for Timothy Drake/Wayne together, little do they know their being hunted by Ra's Al Ghul's assassins. At the same time, the power in the Batcave is disconnected and we see two more of Ra's assasins jumping down a rope to enter the Batcave and attack Barbara Gordon. After an dodging an explosion back at one of Tim's weapon cache's in Gotham, Red Robin, Batgirl, and Pru come face to face with Ra's best assassins, The Seven Men of Death, which is an odd name because one is a woman. Also, why the hell are the X-Men called that when they have women on the team? But I digress, after an amazing fight scene with the Seven Men of Death and Red Robin, Batgirl and Prudence, the heroes escape on Batgirl's "Ricochet" Motorcycle thing. Tim hooks one of the Seven and drags him away so he and Pru can beat some answers out of him. Steph leaves to make sure Oracle is okay. Right outside of Wayne Manor, Vicki Vale and Tam Fox are running after being shot at by the assassin sent by Ra's.

While Red Robin and Pru interrogate their hostage, Gotham's Finest, Batman and Robin arrive on the scene. Damian makes a hilarious joke about Red Robin having some decency and getting a longer skirt. Damian eventually recognizes Pru as one of his grandfather's assassin's and attacks her before Red Robin SLAMS him harder than necessary, which made this comic worth the price of purchase. Vicki and Tam pull one over on the assassin and Vicki clocks him with a shovel. Vale then grills Tam about Drake and asks what's his big secret? Tam quickly answers, covering for Tim who she knows is Red Robin, "We're engaged!" The assassin wakes up in time to grab Vale from behind and hold a knife to her neck, but she's luckily saved by Batgirl. Red Robin tells Batman to trust him and do as he asks, Batman agrees to do so and Red Robin tells him to wait for his call. Finally we see Ra's assassins ready to strike on each intended target. The targets are all unaware of the danger surrounding them. The targets include Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Stephanie Brown, Vicki Vale, Julie Madison, Selina Kyle, and Jim Gordon.

Our final book starts with Ra's wondering why no one can find Red Robin. Maybe that's because he's behind ya big guy. Ra's tells Tim his efforts are futile because even if one person survives the others will die. Red Robin takes a walkie talkie off of a guard he knocked out and says "Report." The Walkie Talkie answers "Hey, Ra's. How's it going?" We see that the intended targets have been saved by allies of Tim Drake, either former Teen Titan partners or other Gotham heroes. Superboy having saved Alfred Pennyworth, Kid Flash helping Catwoman, Mahunter and Jim Gordon, Batgirl who was still with Vale and Tam Fox, Huntress with Lucius Fox, Manbat saving a freaked out Julie Madison, Wonder Girl... attempting to save Oracle who saved herself and Batman and Robin who beat up the Ninjas that attacked them. Prompting Damian to chime in with "Really, Grandfather? Ninja? I'm insulted" as Batman swings off. Ra's is shocked that Red Robin was a step ahead of him, and Tim tells him "Did you think I was going to run all around the city, desperately trying to save everyone all by myself? I'm not Batman. I have friends." Tim shows that he's never trusted Ra's and has been gathering information for a while now. Ra's angrily attacks Tim, and Tim knows he can't beat Ra's. He mentions that Ra's can take Bruce to a stalemate and has been around forever and knows all types of fighting styles, so Tim just tries to survive. It's shown that Tim has been stalling to give Lucius time to prepare the paper work. He tales Ra's today he became an emancipated minor, and as of right now he is the controlling shareholder of Wayne Enterprises. He says Bruce knew that just in case something happened to him, that Hush could steal his Legacy, so left work to Lucius that if he started spending recklessly, to transfer his majority shares to Tim. He knew that Hush was going to transfer everything of Bruce's to Ra's after a simple threat, so he beat him to the punch. After finding this out, Ra's tells Tim, "Well done, Detective." before kicking him out of the building window. As Tim falls, satisfied in stopping Ra's Al Ghul, he is saved by Dick Grayson in mid-air.

Tim wakes up surrounded bt Steph, Dick, Damian and Alfred. Tim tells Dick he knew he'd save him, because he's his brother. Stephanie then asks him if he forgot to tell her anything. Tim looks confused as Damian gives him a newspaper and says "Congratulations, you dog." Tim opens the newspaper to see the headline "Engaged: Teen Wayne Heir Tim Drake to wed older woman" by Vicki Vale. A confused Tim askes, how long was he out for. Tim is later shown swinging around Gotham, with some alterations made to the Red Robin costume, claiming he's redeemed the honor of it, and it's no longer a punishment. Next, we see Ra's talking to a woman with a hood on saying Tim Drake passed every one of his tests, and "He will produce a worthy heir." Lastly, we come across an angered Tim Drake from a year ago after being told Damian was replacing him as Robin. He breaks a portrait on the wall of "Mordecai Wayne" and recognizes him as Bruce. The last thing we see, is Tim saying, "He's Alive." As we finally know what sent him around the world looking for proof that Bruce was lost in time.


Damn that was a long review. You owe me X! But really, I enjoyed reading this crossover, and I thought it did a good job of showing Tim finally come into his own. We also got to see why Tim has been so adamant that Bruce was alive. Sadly, Yost couldn't keep this going since the beginning because I really enjoyed this crossover. Now that Red Robin is getting a new writer I can only hope that Tim continues to grow and show that he definitely belongs to stand side by side with Dick and Bruce.  I very much so enjoyed seeing the growth between Tim and Steph as well, and I hope they get back together and don't get the run-around like Babs and Dick. With that said, I'll give this entire crossover a solid 8/10 rating and I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Tim, Steph or just a good comic.

Also, below you can see the results of last week's poll. This weeks poll is going to be a little different, I had so may picks that I decided this week we'll have two polls so be sure to vote on them both. And below are the results of the last poll which was "Which character would you like to see star in their own Video game?"

Last place with 10% - Once again a Speedster falls behind, The Flash.
3rd Place with 20%  - The Cap falls back as well, Captain America.
2nd Place with 30%  - Our favorite Amazonian, Wonder Woman.
The Winner with 40% - The Emerald Archer, Green Arrow should get his own video game. No Boxing glove arrows!!!!

And that said, looks like I'm done for the day. I'll be back for a huge edition of Ratings and Rantings later this week, and a review of Wolverine: Enemy of The State as requested by Marc, as well as a new poll next weekend. Until then, you've just been Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd

Ratings and Rantings

Hola everyone, Welcome once again to my Red Hood. It's that time again for our weekly comic-fest known as Ratings and Rantings. Just wanna say, last week I said I'd be reviewing Titans: Villains for Hire but it looks like they pushed it back another week. So this week I'll be reviewing Batman & Robin #12, Brightest Day #1 and Red Robin #12. Speaking of that, this weekend I'll have a full review of the four-part Red Robin/Batgirl Crossover. And by full review that means spoilers, since my good buddy X-Man75 asked and I'm going to happily oblige. So if anyone else has any requests let me know and I'll be happy to do the same. So, lets get straight to it.

Batman & Robin #12

First things first I really hate this cover. It just comes off very ugly to me and kinda amateur for one of the main Batman titles. Secondly I hate that Slade is apparently just back to hating Grayson. I mean doesn't he have better things to do with his time than wanna kill Grayson for pretty much no reason. Hell he pushed Rose into the Titans purposely so this seems kinda counter-productive. Thirdly, Why do they need proof Bruce is stuck in the past?! I mean..you put his bones in the Lazarus pits and it wasn't him. He didn't really come back during Blackest Night, Tim Already knows he's lost in time and so does Rip Hunter. How many people do we have to watch find out?! Also... really? There's ANOTHER one of those little bastards? And when did Talia become more crazy than Ra's?! Everything about this comic makes hardly any damn sense. And for who Sexton was, I read back in issue 4 in someone's discussion on a site that it would be him. I thought, that'd make sense, and then I completely forgot about it. So... then we find out it's him. That bumped this comic up a bit in my eyes bit everything else about it I hated. So, final rating? 3/10, just for who Sexton is. Oh and did I mention Dick fighting a big Bat was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen?

Batman: We'll call that a trailer, Slade, for the main feature...

Red Robin #12

Here we are, with the last Yost written issue of Red Robin as well as the last issue of the Batgirl/Red Robin crossover. I loved that Tim relied on his friends because it shows how a Robin is different from Bruce Wayne as Batman. Whereas Bruce will hardly ever as for help someone like Tim or Dick Grayson will call in friends when he needs their help, so I loved that Tim did that. Even Damien's little retort was pretty funny. Tim's cleverness also shone through in this issue, and as a guy who's always been a fan or Jason then Dick then Tim, I really liked seeing Tim hold his own and be shown as a clever guy. That's what I expected when I picked up the first issue of Red Robin, just sucks it took a year for Yost to do that. Hell the man can even give Damien a funny one-liner from time to time, he even has two in this issue. We even see why Tim has believed Bruce to be alive for the past year. This was honestly a great read, and it exceeded my expectations, if Yost has written this well from the beginning I'd be a big fan. Ah well, I'll give Red Robin #12 a solid 9/10.

Dick: How'd you know? How did you know I'd be there to save you?

Tim: You're my brother, Dick. You'll always be there for me.

Brightest Day #1

We start off with Sinestro, Carol and Hal trying to lift the White Lantern although no one can, and it seems the only who can may be Boston Brand. Man, their really putting their stock into Deadman eh? We see Aquaman in action for the first time since returning and see there are some strange side effects to his powers. We also see a guy I can only assume is Black Manta. I for one am also loving this heated relation ship between Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond as well, I love the potential these two have as being complete opposites. Martian Manhunter's (Damn that dude is strong!) visions make me think we may be seeing a little of Miss Martian as well. I know they can't fit everything into the first issue but I was disappointed not to read about Maxwell Lord, as well as a few other of the returning people. But for what it was, this was a very solid issue, it raised questions and it's keeping me wanting more, so I'll give it a 7/10 rating. I'm just glad this is bi-weekly and not monthly like Blackest Night.

Aquaman: It's a giant squid. I could hear it deep below the surface, but it's...

Mera: It's Dead!

And that's it. Well that was really fast, but I promise next week won't be. I'm trying a new thing near the bottom of the columns so let me know what you guys think. Anyway after this short haul which was pretty average besides the let down by Grant Morrison. (Let's see how you explain this one Marc :P) That being said I'll be back this weekend with the Red Robin/Batgirl crossover as well as another weekly poll, so keep up the voting. So until next time, You've just been Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #10, Batman #699, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1, Birds of Prey #1, Booster Gold #32, The Flash #2, Justice League: Generation Lost #1, and Titans: Villains for Hire. *Whew* It's gonna be a LONG column.

Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face

Once again, I, Jason Todd, welcome you to my Red Hood. This time our favorite arachnid is swinging through again as I tackle Spider-Man Noir: Eyes without a Face. After finding out there was more to the story after last weeks review of Spider-Man Noir (seen here), I decided to seek out this continuation to my new favorite Noir hero. So at the request of Marc and X-Man75 I decided to review this compilation of issues. Like it's predecessor it's a four issue arc, so without any more of my rambling on let's get to it.

Spider-Man Noir: Eyes without a Face takes place after the original Spider-Man: Noir. With Peter Parker already being the web-slinging super hero, the crime rate in New York City has definitely taken a big hit. But it's not all daisies and roses. The true threat lies with a man known as The Crime Master. The Crime Master has been causing trouble left and right, and he's not alone. He has a big muscular powerhouse, known only as The Sandman. The Sandman, seemingly impervious to pain has been called on when The Crime Master needs to "put someone to sleep." Just when things couldn't get any worse, our hero finds out someone has been kidnapping African-American's and conducting experiments to make them into the perfect slaves. Yes, you read that right, The perfect slaves. And also with special appearances by Robbie Robertson, Felicia Hardy, Otto Octavius and more Spider-Man alumni.

Now I thought this was a pretty good comic. The storyline was well done and I thought it was very enjoyable and the characters were very well written. I will say I didn't enjoy this as much as the first for some reason. There was something about it I couldn't really get into it as well as I did with the first arc. I will say if Marvel continued the Spider-Man Noir series I would be a frequent reader, I enjoy how they've made the characters adapt to the times and have made me really sympathize with them. That being said, You won't NEED Eyes without a Face but it doesn't hurt to check it out. I'll give it a 7/10.

I wish I had more to say about this but without ruining Spider-Man Noir I can't discuss it as clearly as I'd like. That being said If anyone is thinking about picking them up, or teetering the fence, I'd definitely recommend you get Spider-Man: Noir and if you like it, I'd recommend Eyes without A Face. So, that's all for me today, quick review but I've been watching Lost from the beginning (NO SPOILERS), already near the end of Season 2 and it's calling my name haha. And of course we have a new weekly poll that everyone can vote on, so feel free to do that. As for last weeks results.

"Which dead DC Character are you disappointed didn't return for Brightest Day?"

Last Place with 0% - Inertia, The Speedster falls into last place.
Fourth Place with 11.1% - Vic Sage, Why didn't he win, That is The Question. (Lmao I love that.)
Tied for Second with 22.2% - Tempest and Prometheus play second string
And The Winner with 44.4%, The True Blue Beetle, Ted Kord!

Thanks again everyone who voted, looking forward to next weeks results as well, now it you'll excuse me, It's time for Lost, because you've just bee Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd

Ratings and Rantings

Come one, come all, step right up and enjoy the show, I proudly present to you, this weeks edition of Ratings and Rantings, with your host, Jason Todd!!! *Crickets* Alright, enough of that, Welcome back again to my Red Hood, for another week of my Ratings and Rantings. Today I'll take a look at some of the DC Comics I picked up today, as well as Marvel's Deadpool #22 being one of the few Marvel comics that I do review. Before we get started I wanted to let those curious know that Batman: Under The Red Hood finally has a release date. It was announced that it'll be released July 27, 2010. So a mere three months from now (TORTURE!!!) those interested can check it out, by the way the box art looks pretty damn awesome. Those interested can see it after watching the teaser trailer posted below.



But enough of Jason Todd, well for right now any, time what you guys came here to see, what I think about the comics that were released this week, so we're gonna do just that.

Green Lantern Corps #47

This issue of Green Lantern Corps is a Blackest Night Epilogue. After fixing the GLC battery, Guy and Kyle talk about all the close calls the Corps have had as of late, including the Sinestro Corps Wars, Blackest Night and everything else. From there we see the Corps pay respect to their dead with a big ass tree that has one of the dead's face on each leaf, which is pretty awesome to be honest. The artwork in this issue is pretty good, especially seeing Kilowog up close, I think I'll have nightmares about that, Poozer's. Vath and um...the Thanagarian guy have really grown on me, especially since reading Recharge, and the interaction they had here was really strong and quickly changed the tone of the comic. Seeing The Guardians confronted also made this a great read and a great send off with Tomasi and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps creative crew. So, good comic for what it was but it could've been better, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Guy Gardner: Helluva right hook you got there, Arisia. You do realize you're my new favorite Lantern?

Gotham City Sirens #11

This issue of Gotham City Sirens stars Harley Quinn's well-toned ass apparently... Or that's what I'd think from looking at the cover since it's there, center stage. Anyway, Selina's joke about her being a Cat...Woman was very lame and forced, I hate stuff like that. Poison Ivy comes across like a real bee-yatch, but her line about the Legion of Doom was pretty awesome, it almost made up for the corny line Catwoman said earlier. All in all, the B story with Selina and Harley seemed pretty useless, and for the second time we gotta see Ivy get saved. Seems like there's only been eleven issues and their already running out of stories! I mean think about it, when was the last time you read Sirens where they weren't trying to save Harley or Ivy, hell when they appeared in Blackest Night Catwoman they had to save HER! I just hate that three of Batman's most capable female villains can't even stay outta trouble without needing to rescue one another. It's getting really old, really fast. I'll give this a 6/10 and I hope Dini can make this interesting like he did Streets of Gotham, but after a year I won't hold my breath.

Poison Ivy: I'll have to thank him for the tip at the next Legion of Doom meeting, if we ever have one.

Teen Titans #82

I wouldn't have noticed if Nagash hadn't pointed it out but every Teen Titan is on this cover except for Aquagirl, and I have no idea why, and Beastboy is even taking up two spots... Anyway, We start off with three former Teen Titans and current saviors, because the entire team can't beat one dude up. Well at least our saviors have crappy banter because that's always a plus right? Gotta love that Sarcasm. Oh dear God the dialogue in this is bad. It's like one big horrible pun. "I like my superheroes crispy." ""Cancel that order!" Oh God the dialogue during the fight is SO bad. Anyway there was like 30 things that made no sense. What the hell did Beast Boy do for the save, I mean that made NO sense. Also..that was the worst cliffhanger ever. I'm seriously thinking about dropping Teen Titans. And since you feel the need to bring back people, why the hell not Ravager? Get rid of Beetle, get rid of Beast Boy and Raven because they bore me, and bring back Ravager ASAP. 3/10, Just for the returning Titans aka The Saviors. (X has Saint Barry, I have the Saviors.)

Holocaust: Barbecued Titans, Dakota's newest delicacy. Man, I love my job.

Deadpool #22

We pick up with our boy Deadpool continuing his journey to become a Hero. We've seen him kill Skrulls, try to join the X-Men, fight a Hit-Monkey and team up with New York's finest. Now we see him face to face with the Mighty Thor, telling him that he has girl hair, calling him a doofus and slitting his neck, then he woke up. A lot of people wonder why I like Deadpool. To be honest, he's so different it's hard not to, I'm a wiseguy/smart ass like him and I like to joke and laugh so reading his comics, I'm usually entertained. This was a very entertaining comic. I laughed, out loud, quit a lot and not a lot of comics can make me do that. Where else can you read the sentence "Ah gots t'git nekkid, unka Dale! It's mah only hope!" Ah, but I digress, This was a nice fun comic. Nothing got furthered storyline-wise but for what it was I was very happy with this issue of Deadpool and I'm eagerly awaiting the next. I'll give Deadpool #22 an 8/10.

Thor: I wieldeth Mjolnir! What art thou working with?! (Epic, just because Thor asked what someone's working with.)

Detective Comics #864

Oh Detective Comics, how I've longed for Greg Rucka to leave so I could read thee! This is the beginning of a two-part arc that will feature an explanation of Black Mask's secret identity and why. It's also going to further the Arkham Asylum three issue series that came out late last year. So, let's jump into the review. This story was...very hard to describe. While we didn't learn much we did learn that Arkham is schizophrenic. The cliffhanger was awesome and I hate I have to wait a month to find out what happened. The issue itself was very interesting, and kept my attention the whole time. It completely sold me on the transformation Arkham has made and shows there may be something good coming out of him being Black Mask. I really enjoyed this, and the questions it raised and I'm looking forward to the answers. I'll give this issue a 9/10. I hate co-features so I didn't care enough to review The Question's few pages.

Dr. Arkham: I WILL NOT BE MOCKED!!!! (FYI: Don't mock that man....ever.)

The Rise and Fall of Arsenal #2

Rise and Fall of Arsenal 2 starts off with Roy and Lian enjoying a fun day on the town until things go crazy in Star City. This opening scene was very interesting and graphic, especially seeing Roy lose his arm. Once again I can't help but say how good the artwork is here compared to that dreadful art in Green Arrow's books, it's so bad it doesn't make sense. Also, why the hell is Ollie allowed to wear his Green Arrow costume in jail? What the hell kind of jail lets you wear your costume?! I also loved seeing Roy and Ollie's first confrontation, and seeing Roy go off on him. Man Ollie's having a bad year.  I hate the fact that I read an article in January on IGN.com where Robinson said Roy wouldn't get a robotic arm yet he just did. Either he's a blatant liar or someone's not talking to other people in the company. A surprise appearance by one of my favorite female characters definitely made this better, and if anyone could talk to Roy about both Lian and drug abuse it's her. As for Roy going off on his friends, DAYUM! Man...he snapped and I loved it. Especially what he said about Donna, that was epic. I'm waiting for X to say "Wooo Baby!" in his review. But really, that was epic. I hated the ending because we don't know if Roy got shot or what the hell happened, and I really hate to see his character move backwards with the drugs but after everything he's lost it made sense. I think this issue is much better than the first and I'm eager to see where it goes from here. I'll give this issue an 8.5/10.

Roy: You don't know jack, Donna. I was there for Lian, always. You ABANDONED your family. While they were dying in a car accident,you were whoring through space with Kyle Rayner! Robbie died because you were a bad mother, Lian died because I was stupid.

So that's all for this week's Ratings and Rantings. I think it was an okay week, some could have been better but for the most part I enjoyed this week's releases. I'll be back this weekend, probably Sunday with a review for Spider-man Noir: Eyes Without a Face since I was asked so graciously by Marc and X-Man75. I'll also have a new poll up, the current one ends tomorrow so get your votes in if ya haven't. And next week's Ratings and Rantings will feature, Batman & Robin #12, Brightest Day #1, Red Robin #12, Titans for Hire and I may pick up War of the Superman if someone wants to give me a synopsis that'll get me caught up by then. So thanks for reading guys, and until next time, You've just been Gobsmacked!

 

- Jason Todd

Spider-Man Noir Review

Hey everyone, welcome back to my Red Hood, this time for a review of Spider-Man Noir. I've been talking about reviewing this all week and I don't wanna prolong this review any longer so let's get to it. And for those who haven't please go check out Nagash's Spider-Man Noir interpretation over at his super sweet blog that you can get to by clicking this.

Spider-Man Noir takes place in 1933, during the Great Depression. Our story starts with the editor of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson found murdered, standing over him holding a gun is... Spider-Man? And that's how we start off with the roller coaster of twists and turns. Long time Spidey fans will appreciate seeing the way their favorite characters were tweaked to fit into this era. Whether it's May Parker, the soapbox preaching Liberal, Felicia Hardy, the owner of The Black Cat lounge, or Norman "The Goblin" Osborn, a big time mob boss, a lot of classic Spider-Man characters find their niche in Spider-Man Noir.

The scene where Peter inevitably gets bit by the spider is amazing. No other word can describe it. I'm gonna post a scan of it at the bottom of the review (X-Man Style!) so you can see, because that was a truly awesome scene. I really loved the allure of mystery that was shown during this comic as well. Never knowing who you can and can't trust is always something that I love when I'm reading a comic and this was one of those comics, the second you let your guard down you get surprised by someone's actions, to me that's the mark of an exciting comic. Little things were important as well, as whenever Peter got his Spider Sense set off, instead of the little squiggly lines by his head, he had the outline of a red spider, which was a very awesome visual.

The explanation of Spider-Man's rogue gallery was well done as well. The Goblin, aka Norman Osborn has a bunch of guys working for him, namely Kraven, The Vulture and some more of Spidey's well known villains. The explanation is that they were mostly circus folk, which explains Kraven's abilities and strength, The Vulture's sharp teeth and predator like behavior. Just the fact they were able to make these guys work in a real setting is a commendable effort. The artwork is very gritty, I didn't like it when I first started but by the time I finished the first issue it'd grown on me and it truly does fit the Noir tone of the comic.

As for what I thought? I loved this comic, I can honestly say it was one of the best Spider-Man stories I've ever read, and I'd recommend it to anyone to check it out. It easily gets a 10/10 from me, and I'm definitely hoping they continue this some day and have more Spider-Man Noir stories. There's nothing else I can say about it so I'll leave you with the previously mentioned scan. (You should be able to click it and give it a read.)

Also, it's that time of the week so don't forget to vote on the new Weekly poll on the right. The weeks question is, which dead DC Character do you wish had been resurrected in Brightest Day? Your choices are the former Aqualad and Tempest, Garth, Bart Allen's arch-rival, Inertia, The Former Question, Vic Sage, The recently deceased Prometheus, and former Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. Also, for those curious of last week's results to the question "Who would you like to see become the main character of their Legacy?"

4th Place with 0% - Connor Hawke/Queen, looks like you aren't eveyone's favorite Emerald Archer.
Tied for 2nd Place with 27.3% each - Kyle Rayner and Bart Allen, even the fastest man alive couldn't out run the former Ion.
And your winner with 45.5% of the vote - Dick Grayson. Looks like he does deserve the Cowl after all.

Well thanks for voting everyone, I look forward to seeing how this week's poll turns out. Until next time, Stay Classy, because You've just been Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, welcome back to my Red Hood. (Yeah, it's a regular thing now, get used to it.) So I'm back with more ratings, more rantings and more jokes littered between them. This week was a very low pull as I've mentioned, picking up only Blackest Night: Director's Cut, Green Lantern #53 and I was pleasantly surprised to see Streets Of Gotham #11 which I didn't even know came out this week. So I'll jump into these and tell you guys and gal(s) what I thought, so let's do it.

Blackest Night: Director's Cut

Okay, so I picked this up, for a grand total of six bucks and I feel like I over paid by five, I was pretty disappointed because I expected some new info, and some hints for Brightest Day and you know, special stuff. Instead we get running commentary from Geoff, Ivan and a few other people. And maybe four of five tidbits worth mentioning. If you don't want to know what they are, I'd suggest moving on to the next topic in the review. If you do want to know so you can save your money or put it towards something else, please continue to read on. I was disappointed because the ONLY thing we learned from this was the following. Kilowog was going to be one of the Black Lanterns who had died before, ala Superman and Green Arrow, so I guess he would have subsequently become a White Lantern with the rest. Another tidbit is they didn't know who would be the honorary Green Lantern until someone suggested Ganthet, I still think it should have been Dick Grayson because he has a lot of Will plus it would've been epic to finally see Batman use a Green Lantern ring. They also almost gave a ring to The Joker but decided to give Scarecrow the spotlight instead. Also before they were killed by Sue and Ralph Dibny, Hawkman and Hawkgirl were originally going to be killed by their past bodies as Black Lanterns which would've been pretty cool to see. Also the only time in the entire series that Flash isn't moving so fast he's blurry is in issue one when he finds out how many people have died and he sits down to take it all in. That's it. Also we see some art work, covers, Blackest Night action figures or statues or whatever, and bios on everyone included during Blackest Night. All cool stuff to see but nothing inspiring to drop five bucks on. So, instead of rating I'll just say, "Save your Money."

Streets of Gotham #11

Streets of Gotham snuck up on me, and I'd been eagerly waiting to check this issue out and see what would happen with Damian and Abuse. This issue was pretty damn good in my opinion. I loved the way this guy has been used so far and he's quickly becoming one of my favorite new characters. His sense of right and wrong and child like innocence is one of his greatest assets in my opinion and I hope to see more of him in the future. While I'm not a big Damian Wayne fan even he was likable this time around. I love how Zsasz was reinvented and I'd love to see more of Zsasz, I don't know in what capacity but the ending was great too. I could even see him and Damian becoming enemies, much like Dick and Two-Face. Here's hoping Abuse is featured even more, and gets the Batman and Robin team up he's been hoping for. Even thought Batman didn't do anything, the kids took over in this issue and made a huge impact and stole the show. Solid 10/10, I hope the next arc continues the trend.

Zsasz (on Abuse): The best kill of my career. Five hatch marks for him alone.

Green Lantern #53

Our post Blackest Night, um.. I guess current Brightest Day story starts with Hector Hammond having an intergalactic brain conversation with a mystery man that claims to have invented the Green Lantern Corps oath and much more, and from the look of things, plans to capture every entity of every Corp, and has already done so with Parallax. Anyway, Sinestro made me laugh extremely hard when he showed up, and that's always awesome, it's great to see him get some good lines and have more dimensions to him than just hating the Guardians and spreading fear. I loved the interactions with Lex and Larfleeze, as well as Lex continuing to want things, most notably a BL ring. And lastly, this was more of a filler between storylines but it really jump-started things, I mean it pushed me into wanting three issues with just one page so that's gotta be a new record. While not much happened and not alot was answered, for what it was I really liked this comic and I'm still very eager to see what comes of Brightest Day. I'll give this issue a 8.5/10.


Guy Gardner: You know as well as I do Ganthet, If we go through with this-- Jordan and I are done bein' friends. For Good.


So, three reviews, that was fast. Nice pull, maybe if I get less issues that's less disappointment. Well, that's all for this review, but I'll have Spider-Man Noir up this weekend, along with a new poll. What that is, I have no idea what it'll be on though, so if anyone has one please let me know. Next week's Ratings and Rantings will feature my thoughts on Detective Comics #864, Gotham City Sirens #11, Green Lantern Corps #47, Rise and Fall of Arsenal #2, and Teen Titans #82. Lastly I wanna ask everyone to check out Falisha's newest post at her blog, it's a review on Wonder Woman: God's of Gotham #1 of 4. You can check that out by clicking this ---> Wonder Woman: Gods of Gotham #1.
Thanks for that, until next time, You've been Gobsmacked!

- Jason Todd