Ratings and Rantings

Hey there Todd Squad, yours truly, Jason Todd here again for another edition of your favorite comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! Before we get started I wanna thank everyone for stopping by last week and checking out 5 Reasons why you should read Invincible, What I Learned from Brightest Day, and for sending their picks in for the return of the Top Five 5! You guys have prompted e to make the Top Five a monthly thing, so expect more Top Five 5's in the future, but for now, we've got this weeks R&R. We've got four comics this week and all are DC related but none are Flashpoint related for obvious reasons. They are all Batman related for the most part but that's more of a coincidence than anything. Anyway, let's get things started with our first comic, Batman: Arkham City!

Batman: Arkham City #1

Arkham City is a comic that will bridge the gap between the amazing videogame Batman: Arkham Asylum and the upcoming sequel Batman Arkham City. We start things off where the game ended, with Batman hitting The Joker with an explosive Mike Tyson punch, only Bats literally had explosive jail on his glove as he tagged The Joker's jaw. From there we see Joker apprehended by the police and put in a straightjacket. Joker thinks of how he knows there won't be a next time because the Titan Formula is eating at his insides slowly, and how it's a cruel joke but he can't help but laugh. In a close cell, Harley hears the laughter of her puddin' and says to herself how much she misses him. She then overhears some guys saying how Joker won't last long due to him being sick and him not being the most liked guy around, so Harley vows that they won't get take Mistah J before his time. We then see Mayor Quincy Sharp getting ready to make an announcement but he's currently in his dressing room having a video chat on Skype (or so I assume) with a mysterious figure, obviously Hugo Strange. While making his announcement that Gotham will no longer tolerate any supervillians or vigilantes, Vicki Vale reminds him that often Batman and his allies are the people who save the day, with Batman saving Arkham Asylum while Sharp was incapacitated for most of then night. Sharp stands by his statement that anyone causing trouble will end up spending the rest of their life in Arkham Asylum. We then see Jim Gordon who tells Batman that Vale was right and Sharp is an idiot. He then tells Batman about a new brother and sister crime team, Terry and Tracy Trask, known as T&T (genius) who were low time crooks but are now Titan enhanced and a big threat. Batman gets info from Oracle that says the two are working for Two-Face which makes perfect sense so he heads to some of Two-Face's most obvious hide-outs, including the Two of Spades. Batman deals with his thugs and finds Two-Face waiting for him. Batman doesn't want to fight he just wants information. Two-Face tells Bats how he found a few crates of Titan during the Asylum events and had his thugs put them away. The Trasks had plans of their own and eventually turned on Two-Face and killed half of his men and how they wanted control of the whole city. Batman quickly realizes they plan to attack at a dedication ceremony at city hall and heads there. He also informs James Gordon but T&T have already started their plan, which apparently is a result of them teaming with Hugo Strange. They attack Warden/Mayor Sharp during the announcement and Batman swings into action, and takes them both out with tranqs after knocking them around. One of the T&T twins reports to Doc Strange saying their going down and he asks if their ready for what must be done, they say they are as Batman overhears and see's their body temperature spiking with his detective vision. So glad that was mentioned here. Anyway, Batman swings away as T&T explode, living up to their name. Batman escapes as do some the civilians who ran when gigantic freaks showed up, but the new City Hall has been completely wiped out and three hundred people died in the explosion. After that and billions in property damage, Mayor Sharp declares marital law in Gotham, during which he semi-phases out the GCPD and brings in a private military force to follow his orders. We see that Batman believes that Sharp is doing the work of someone else and Batman wonders how he'll stop that person as the issue ends. Now this is the Dini that I missed. This is a great way to build even more interest in Arkham City and seems to be a great tie-in to the game, I'll give this issue a 8.5/10, I'm also extremely curious to see where the Joker stuff goes from here.

The Joker: My night was over. Arkham secured, Gotham saved, and a the rest of that heartwarming crap.

Red Robin #23

We start things off with a quick synopsis of Tim being allowed to make renovations to the theater that Bruce and his parents went to the night of their deaths. Bruce seems to have a ton of faith in Tim, but their moment was cut short when a new Black Spider tries to assassinate Bruce Wayne. Not long after, Red Robin and Batman try to pursue him but he escapes. While following up on a tip Red Robin then encounters a familiar foe, Lynx. She tackles Red Robin through a window and plants a huge kiss on him as they plummet, he saves them with a line and swings to a building, all the while, Lynx is frenching the hell out of young Timothy. Playa playa! Turns out Lynx has to play along in front of her gang and attack Red Robin but once she's away the Lynx will play. Yeah, I AM clever, aren't I? After getting some information about one of her people's laptop being stolen and it being the same thing that caused Tim's suspicion, he heads to see James Gordon to convince him of his new plan. His plan will apparently endanger Lucius Fox but Red Robin is sure it will help save his life as well. From there Red Robin and Batman (Dick) put Tim's plan into action, unbeknownst to Lucius Fox. Red Robin and Batman pretty much have all the bases covered and are watching Fox meet with some clients and waiting for an attack on his life by the assassin. An hour later, the assassin outwits Red Robin and takes the shot from an airborne position. Batman pursues the assassin and places a tracer on him before he escapes, but he moves into orbit which freezes the tracer's signaling system. Soon the news stations report Lucius Fox as dead but we know he's not actually. Red Robin identifies the assassin to Batman as Scarab, but Scarab is currently in jail. He asks Batman to get her released into his custody, which Dick does, and Red Robin then takes Scarab to Cairo, all the while pestering her in a way that would make Dick Grayson proud. Once they arrive on a back alley street in Cairo, Scarab says "open sesame" (really?) which opens their secret hideout. Scarab leads Red Robin in and says a code which unleashes a bunch of traps for someone who's following one of the Scarab members. As Red Robin pursues he loses track of Scarab and gets a message from Lonnie. He tells him that Mikalek was shot, Dr. Light was attacked in her civilian guise and much more, but the issue ends when he discovers the Assassination Tournament has begun, and the new order is, Kill Red Robin. Now this was the Red Robin I enjoyed before the Unternet stuff.. I really like where this is going and this was a nice start to what looks to be an interesting arc, I'll give this issue a 7/10 rating.

Myself: Tim loves Asian women, who is he, Bobby Hill?

Batgirl # 21

We get things underway with Batgirl taking on one of her newest threats, a woman with a sonar shooting suit that's taking it to our favorite blonde Bat-babe. After taking care of her opponent momentarily, Batgirl heads off to try to help her non-official sidekick, The Grey Ghost. She finds him and asks what the hell, and he explains that he overheard Harmony (our sonic shooting senorita) saying she'd take out Batgirl and not end up like Slipstream. I already like this pitiful guy just for wanting to help Batgirl out. Batgirl notices Harmony is on the move but Grey Ghost wants to come. Steph decides to use some tough love to get the Grey Ghost to back off and tells him not to cross her path again but he vows to show her that she needs him. Meanwhile, our "B" story features Proxy a.k.a former Teen Titan member Wendy Harris seeing visions of her brother Marvin, telling her that she needs to find peace. She even meets with Dr. Thompkins who tells her that her spine isn't in as bad of a shape as Barbara Gordon's once was. And says that if Wendy needs peace she knows some where she could go. We then see Wendy meet up with Barbara to tell her that she needs to go to Nanda Parbat. Barbara is shocked at first but realizes it's what Wendy needs so she gives Wendy her blessing. Back with Batgirl we see her catch up with Harmony, who is collecting samples from graves for her bosses. Batgirl can't throw Batarangs without her zapping them with her Sonic Boom (Shout out to Guile!) and can't get close enough for hand-to-hand combat. Batgirl quickly thinks of a plan and drops a giant bell from the bell-tower near Harmony, which causes her sonic powers not to work due to the vibrations and sound from the bell. After taking down Harmony we see Steph and Babs on campus, with Steph explaining how Harmony was actually a music major that goes to her college, much like Slipstream. She mentions that there are three more Reapers on campus that could be anyone. After taht, Babs tells Steph about Wendy leaving for a while, and we see Batgirl in her new lair all alone, saying she likes her odds. The issue ends with The Grey Ghost meeting with the other three Reapers, saying he'll do his best to keep Batgirl away from them, if they try not to cross her path. Man I REALLY enjoyed this issue, Batgirl is always good for the most part and this was no exception. Even Wendy's B story with Marvin kept me interested, and now I'm wondering when she'll come back and how these other Reapers will come into play. Excellent work as usual by Bryan Q. Miller especially with taking characters like The Grey Ghost and Wendy and making me interested in them. I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating.

Batgirl: What the hell, Clancy?

Grey Ghost: Just watching your back, my... violet.. avenger.

And just like that, that's it for this week's edition of Ratings and Rantings. Some of you may be wondering where the Birds of Prey was, but simply, I read the first five pages and couldn't even continues because the story did not interest me at ALL. Since this is apparently a two issue arc, I'll skip the next one and if the series doesn't get back to the way it was early last year, I'll probably drop it. Anyway, that's all for me, I'll be back very soon with another edition of Ratings and Rantings, so until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off. You stay Classy Todd Squad!

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batman & Robin #23 (Return of Jason Todd), Batman: Gates of Gotham #1, and Power Girl #24,

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.

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.

Booster Gold: I was hoping I'd have to beat you like a damn dog first.

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.

Deadshot: She's just a woman, Blake. There are a couple billion more out there, I'm told.

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.

Terry McGinnis: Maxine Gibson, Friend of Batman, Prepare to bear witness... as Nightwing flies again!

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.

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!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Gotham City Sirens #22, Green Lantern #65, Green Lantern Corps #59, Teen Titans #94, and Power Girl #23

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, I'm your host Jason Todd, here with another edition of the greatest weekly assortment or reviews, rants and ratings that you've never heard of, Ratings and Rantings! In the midst of a very busy week that included days off, 120 miles to and from seeing Falisha twice this week and both Dragon Age Origins II and Childish Gambino/Donald Glover's EP dropping this week (download here) as well as me turning twenty one on March 11th, this has been a pretty busy week, so instead of the generic intro I type, I decided to just borrow one from X-Man75. "Anyway, I'm now fully engrossed by Dragon Age 2(for my PS3, naturally), so I really don't feel like doing a long intro. All you really need to know is that there are reviews here and the longer the intro, the less time I have for my new game, so let's just get to the reviews!" (Edit: No Outsiders, I couldn't bring myself to buy that series, even if it did have the Reign of Doomsday story.)

Birds of Prey #10

I know I sound like a broken record but that is a beautiful cover, over ten people are on this cover and they all fit and each have their own space while no one is really overshadowed. Excellent work by Stanley Lau. We start things off with Helena "Huntress" Bertinelli, enraged at Calculator for apparently killing Oracle by blowing up her helicopter. Huntress rushes Calculator and attacks by scratching his face. This causes Calculator to whine like a bitch for lack of a better term, and he instantly loses the respect of all his henchmen. Huntress then uses her skills of intimidation to convince Calc that he made a major mistake by taking out the personal information broker of everyone from the Doom Patrol to the JLA. Calc tells his men to kill Huntress, Dove and Lady Blackhawk but Huntress says why won't he do it himself, which causes his men to doubt him even more. Calc calls her bluff and shoots at Huntress but Dove steps in and takes the bullet. Dove is laid out, but not hurt due to her tough skin when powered up. Calc threatens to shoot more of them when Mortis wakes up and tells him Canary found a way out and they need to run. Well... just shoot them and run.... Too late Mortis woke up about forty seconds late because now Canary is standing behind Calculator. Canary then plants a huge right hook across the face of our favorite evil Nerd, knocking one of his teeth out in the process. After she decks him he tells the henchmen to shoot him, instead of, ya know, before she got close enough to punch him, and they acquiesce to his request. Canary then flips around and fights crime "JLA style" as Huntress calls it, before getting caught by the giant Mammoth. She's quickly released when Hawk emerges from the shadows and takes down the big man with some help from Canary. We then see that Hawk was the one in the chopper and Oracle was flying it remotely. From there Calc and one of his men try to escape but Huntress relentlessly pursues them. She catches them and tells Calc that Oracle is dead but she has a thousand ghosts that will watch him relentlessly, and she lets him go for the plan to work, well alright. We then see Booster, Beetle and Manhunter each calling on Oracle but she ignores them all, causing Stephanie to question her. She announces to Batman (Bruce), Batman (Dick), Red Robin, Batgirl and Misfit (Woooo!) that Oracle is going back to operating in the shadows, and proxy can take over as the Superhero Info Hub. The issue ends with Oracle watching over everyone. Well, that was pretty lame. This arc had a lot of promise, I at least expected her to change names, but since we KNEW Babs wasn't dying it was super boring in that sense, the art appears amateurish throughout, especially after having the great Ed Benes work on this series, in some scenes Canary looks like a thirteen year old. Oh and it was never explained why the hell Misfit was there but Robin wasn't... This issue was alright but the predictability and the art gave it a big hit, I'll give this a 5/10.

Huntress: Now we're Birds. And he's our prey. (Really Gail..... really? I expect this from Devin Grayson, not you. You're better than that Gail.)

Batman & Robin #21

We get things underway with the Langstrom family, minus Kirk, jumping off of a building because they heard voices in their head. Alrighty, ever heard of Randy Orton? Anyway, Batman and Robin make the timely save and tell Kick's wife that he attacked them, also due to the voices. Batman and Robin try to get to the bottom of it when a bright shining guy with a white aura I guess who claims to be Gotham's White Knight is introduced. Sure, cause introducing the White Knight in an arc about him in the third of three issues makes perfect sense. Bats and Robin try to pursue the new "hero" but he shoots a hole in the Gotham Water source or something. Batman and Robin finally get on stable ground but lose track of the mysterious White Knight. From there we see Damian, Dick and Alfred in the Bat Bunker using some good old fashioned Detective Skills to try to find a lead on the White Knight. I enjoyed this, as we don't see a ton of detective work, especially from Dick since that's more of Bruce and Tim's forte. We then find out the first Fallen Angel victim was Douglas Zsasz, the brother of Victor Zsasz, whom I always swore didn't have family but I could be wrong. Batman notes that their attacking relatives of people who are in Arkham. Someone hide Gilda Dent... Oh wait. The Batsignal then shines through the sky and Batman and Robin go meet with Gordon at the scene of another murder, this time the Tetches, Mad Hatter's parents and brother and sister. The issue ends with Batman and Robin trying to save the relatives of more Arkham Inmates. This was an odd issue, the story was pretty weird but I'm somewhat curious to see why these people are being attacked and who the White Knight is, I'll give this a 6.5/10.

Batman: Falcons are EPA protected. That's why we're not infested with pigeons like London and Paris.

Robin: That's soooo incredibly interesting, I can't wait to tweet it. (Sarcasm strikes again!)

JL Generation Lost #21

We start off with Booster recapping all the lives that have been taken so far in the series due to Maxwell Lord. We then see Booster sitting next to the lifeless body of Blue Beetle, saying that he can't get his suit off. When Skeets asks if he wants to contact the Reyes family, a grief stricken Booster cries that he's not calling them to tell them their son died, he's taking his body to them, but not in that armor. We then see Captain Atom watching the news and hearing about all the people who died when he confronted Magog, and how he's still believed to be responsible for their deaths. Ice comes to talk to him about it but a angry Captain Atom wants to hear her say I told you so, since she wanted to stay home and not chase after Max. He continues to lay into her until she swings on him. She apologizes but Nate states that he's not human anymore and all he's bringing is death, as he seems to wonder what his purpose is. We then check in with Rocket Red and Fire as they discuss how young Beetle was, as Gavril had no idea he was only seventeen. From there they talk about emotions which leads to Bea kissing Gavril. It's about time, hope that wasn't a metaphorical kiss of death for Gavril though. Back with Tora and Captain Atom, he mentions how he doesn't eat, sleep, feel heat or cold, and how he doesn't think he can die. He asks if it's fair that he causes so much death and doesn't have to pay for it, and Tora siad he makes himself pay with his own guilt. She then says she likes that he can't die because she can always trust they'll be someone to save the world ven after their gone. Back with Booster and Skeets, Booster says he knows this isn't his faul but he feels like he helped Max along the way. Booster talks about how it was his idea to continue after Max and how he got Beetle killed because he wants to stop Max and prove he's a hero, and if he keeps leading everyone will be dead, but the JLI who have overheard tell him he's wrong and they tell him to lead them. The issue ends with a pretty expected thing happening and the team ready to go after Max one last time. This was a good issue, I enjoyed seeing the one on one conversations between all the teammates and seeing Booster show his emotions and how hard he tries. The ending was obvious due to solicitations, but I still enjoyed this issue, I'd give it an 7/10.

Booster Gold: I devote everything I have to trying to help. But... I'm vain. I know that. I want people to know what I do. How hard I try. That... I'm a hero.

Venom #1

The Venom series gets underway with some people in Eastern Europe being attacked by what looks like flying hellfire and brimstone. When all hope seems to be gone, the U.N. sends in their peace keepers, who look like an Iron Man/Iron Giant hybrid. They last a mere seconds when we see who the villain is, I'd have to describe him as Pumpkin head plus the Green Goblin. Pumpkin head then communicates with one of his cohorts, discussing how they need to find some genius their looking for that helped invent the same weapon their using to cause all this havoc. Play time soon ends when the new Venom, Flash Thompson drops from a helicopter and takes down quite a few baddies before he even lands. Venom has been sent to guard the target, Dr. Ekmecic, but he decides to save civilians first. While saving them a live grenade is thrown, and considering Flash has had his legs blown off twice, he quickly pins the grenade with his symbiote and saves it inside the suit for now. Venom saves the innocents then finds the "good" Doctor and even manages to say a cheesy one-liner, Spidey would be SO proud. Venom doesn't get a chance to enjoy the glory when our Harlequin of Halloween attacks him outta nowhere. The Doctor is then snatched up and we finally get a name, our villain is Jack O'Lantern, which is not bad all things considered. Venom, angered by the attack almost snaps and let's the symbiote take over but he's able to calm himself. He then decides to take the civilians to safety first before pursuing The Doctor and Jack, to the annoyance of his verbal handler. Jack then hits Venom with another suckerpunch which causes Venom to fall to the ground and almost kills the civilians in his protection. Venom continues to get enraged and starts to grow a little in size and build. The symbiote claims to be in control but Flash keeps it from killing Jack O'Lantern. When Jack gets the upper hand, the grenade from earlier comes back into play as Flash puts it into Jack's pumpkin head and it explodes, but of course doesn't kill Jack. Jack tries to fly off and takes the Doc with him but Venom, still a bit hulked out for lack of a better term, webs the Doctor's face and snaps his neck, so his secrets can't get out and help anyone else that's evil and deranged. Venom starts to calm down as Katherine tells him the mission is a bust, but he notes that the civilians he saved think otherwise. Back at the base, the suit is removed from Flash, and he's questioned about his decisions. The General tells Flash he was seconds away from hitting the killswitch when Flash wigged out, and how he needs to bury that highschool jock and bring out Corporal Thompson. Um... he did save the civilians but whatever. Flash then goes to see Betty, who he forgot he had a date with and stood her up, she says that Flash is keeping secrets and suspects him of drinking again before slamming the door in his face. The issue ends with Flash, seemingly trapped between secrets, Venom, and being an alcoholic. This was a very good start to this series, I loved seeing them address Flash letting the Venom run wild right off the bat, as well as showing a bit more of his wanting to be Spider-Man, even with him making a crappy joke. This series has a lot of potential and It seems to have started out on the right foot, I'll give this an 8/10.

Dr. Ekmecic: Erik! Respond! What has gotten into you?!

Venom: He caught a dose of Venom, Doctor Eckmecic.

Venom Inner Monologue: I'm embarrassed as soon as it comes out of my mouth. (Spidey 101.)

Batgirl #19

Batgirl, my favorite female superhero not named Power Girl, starts off with Steph and her mother at the breakfast table, as Steph eats some waffles as her mom mentions another bank robbery from the night before. This prompts Steph to throw on her Batgirl costume and head to the bank to investigate. While there Batgirl talks to Detective Nick Gage and we find out that some type of Speedster is responsible for the crime, but he's only taking a couple thousand but leaving the millions in the safe untouched. As they talk, Steph discovers that Gage has a very high dislike for the Reapers, but he won't say why. The two decide to split so Batgirl can get to her "day job", but it's overheard by the Grey Ghost, who appears to be stalking our Blonde Bat. We then see the first and the present Batgirl's, Babs and Stephanie. Steph mentions that Babs has "quit" and Babs notes that Oracle is dead, and Bruce has her building a new internet, whatever the hell that means. Stephanie tells Babs she should shoot Proxy a visit and make sure she feels like a team member, since she already has abandonment issues and is now pretty much the new Oracle and Babs says she'll see what she can do. Babs does in fact go visit Wendy, and tells her in no uncertain terms that she needs to decide if she wants to use that anger to become a better hero before leaving Wendy there to think. We then see The Grey Ghost looking for Batgirl on the rooftops of Gotham, and she pops up behind him. She tells him he needs help and she knows he's been following her, but she does it with the grace and concern that only she can, instead of just breaking his jaw, a la Huntress. During the conversation, Proxy chimes in and warns Batgirl that some type of speedster just robbed a bank then ran nineteen red lights in succession within five seconds. What Batgirl doesn't know is Grey Ghost also intercepts the frequency on his phone I guess, and disappears before Batgirl turns around. The Grey Ghost confronts our evil speedster and gets thrown out of a window for his trouble, nice job buddy. Batgirl confronts our villain and we find out his name is Slipstream, and that Batgirl can't touch him, physically or with gadgets due to his speed. Slipstream claims that he's about to kill Batgirl when his suit is overridden and he's electrocuted, he then leaves the scene as Batgirl, Grey Ghost and Proxy are confused about what actually happened. Batgirl then heads to meet Wendy and discovers her base has had a HUGE upgrade thanks to a donation by Bruce Wayne due to Batgirl's involvement in Batman Inc. The issue ends with Batgirl and Proxy ready to strike back at Slipstream. This was a great issue, the classic Batgirl humor, more villains joining Batgirl's Rogues galllery, what can you not like about this issue? I'll give it a solid 9/10.

Slipstream: The name's Slipstream. Remember that for your tombstone.

Batgirl: Okay, First things first, You really think your name is the one they'll put on my tombstone?


Thanks for reading everyone, now I gotta get back to Dragon Age II, so this'll be brief. Feel free to comment and vote on this weeks new poll, the results to last week's poll are below. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which of the following would win in a four-way throwdown?"

Last place with 10.5% - Daken, I can honestly say I did not expect that.
Third place with 15.8% - Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier took more than a mother from Daken.
Second Place with 21.1% - Wolverine, He gains a measure of revenge over Bucky
Winner with 52.6% - Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth prevails over all.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Power Girl #22, Red Robin #21, Morning Glories #8, Amazing Spider-Man #656 and Brightest Day #22 where Firestorm dies, I'm guessing...

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with another edition your that weekly sensation known as Ratings and Rantings. This week we've got a whopping six reviews compared to the last few smaller installments. Before I jump right in, I wanna plug my most recent post, which is called "Why you should be reading Morning Glories", so please swing by there and check that out if you haven't already. So, since we've got more reviews, that's less stalling and prattling I have to do, so let's get things underway with one of my favorite series, Generation Lost!

JL Generation Lost #19

We start things off getting a brief history lesson as we see a flashback of Jaime Reyes explains to his friend how he got the scarab, and when it's mentioned that the two previous Blue Beetles, Dan Garret and Ted Kord are dead,his friends say maybe he should take up a mantle where the namesake doesn't die. Um... Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow.... that might be kind of hard. Jaime tries to explain that the scarab chose him and he didn't choose it. We then jump to present day to see Max is still pretty much torturing Beetle for the sake of Science. When Ivo tells Max Lord he thinks he's found the suit's nervous system, he heads over to see what Ivo has found. While Max is gone, Beetle's suit goes into emergency mode and plugs itself into a machine to send an emergency distress signal to the JLI. Back with the JLI, they decide to send Power Girl to warn the JLA and JSA, and she claims that she won't be forgetting about Max again, well I hope so Peej, you've only done it like four times by now. After she takes off to get reinforcements, Skeets tells Booster that he's just picked up a distress signal from The Blue Beetle. Back with Bettle, his armor finally reboots and he blasts Max Lord through a wall. Max claims he has home court advantage and fires a ton of lasers at Beetle, but Beetle fights back and causes Max to have to retreat the entire base. Just as the base starts to move, still with Max, Ivo and Beetle inside it, the JLI show up ready to save Blue Beetle. A clearly enraged Beetle keeps taunting Max as the JLI arrive and Max seems to be all out of escape plans when suddenly Max hits a button and Beetle is zapped and falls to the floor. Max tells him that while studying his suit he's learned all of his strengths and weaknesses, and the JLI arrive just in time to see history repeat itself as this issue ends. This was a great issue, it seemed like it flew by because it was so action packed. I'm waiting for confirmation on the end of the issue but I will say they made Jaime seem like a very capable hero in this issue. Anyway, I really, REALLY enjoyed this issue, I'll give it a solid 9/10.

Booster Gold: JAIME!

Batman and Robin #20

We get underway in this issue of Batman and Robin with Tim, Dick and Damian in the kitchen with Alfred, making smoothies and popcorn as they talk about how rare it is for them all to be together and not in costume. We then see Bruce join them, and that the five Bat-family members are getting ready to watch The Mark of Zorro, the movie that Bruce saw with his parents the night they were murdered, to symbolize a new beginning of sorts. From there we see Dick attend a fancy opera performance after fighting crime as Batman alongside Robin. Alfred picks up the Dynamic Duo and drives them there as Dick changes in the car, and before he can enter the building, a man just wearing a towel and white wings falls to the ground and splatters all over the red carpet, as Dick, Damian, Alfred and the other guests watch in awe. This leads to an autopsy as we see Batman, Robin and Commissioner Gordon discussing the autopsy. The always brash Robin refers to the victim as Mr. Potato head, joking about his death, which draws the ire of Gordon, who threatens to never let Robin "tag along" again, to which Robin brushes off and replies that he doesn't tag along. During the autopsy we discover that this suicide victim has burned off his finger and footprints and his face is unrecognizable due to the trauma of falling eighty stories. From there, Batman and Robin go to look for clues, and find a very odd suicide note, but Batman is then randomly attacked by Man-Bat, who rants about being able to hear screams. The issue ends with a very confused Batman and Robin taking down Man-Bat. Well this was interesting, this issue was basically used to build questions, but I loved seeing Bruce and Tim appear, as well as them watching Zorro together because it shows more Bruce Wayne evolution after his "death". This was a fun issue though, and I'm looking forward to the next one, although this issue was perfectly fine. I'll give this issue a 7/10.

Bruce Wayne: It may have been the worst night of my life, Dick, but up until Chill stepped out of the shadows, it was one of the best days of my life.

Birds of Prey #9

Black Canaries! Well that's what we see when this issue kicks off, Dinah and her mom face to face, as Dinah's mom asks her why everything she loves dies. From there we see her confronted by ghosts of her past in the form of her father, Arsenal, Green Arrow and Sin. Batman and Oracle try to help Dinah as she deals with her visions and Oracle tells Batman to take Canary to Savant and Creote so they can watch over her since Savant has medical training and Bruce complies. We then see the other members of the Birds of Prey, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and Dove are being transported to the Calculator via a school bus... I guess times are tough for everyone in the Board of Education. After almost being frisked by a bunch of goons and delivering a knee to the groin for their troubles, Lady Blackhawk is slapped by one of Calculator's henchmen. She delivers an awesome line that makes him back off (line of the issue) as they arrive to the drop off point. Back at Oracle's new headquarters, Hawk shows up and asks where Dove is. Oracle asks him how he managed to be off the grid for fifteen minutes and why he went to see Penguin, but he ignores her and asks where Dove is. Oracle tries to find out but see's the team's signals are blocked. Soon after that, Batman shows up with the still incapacitated Black Canary. When Hawk starts to say he needs to save Dawn and tells Oracle to shove this team, Batman tells him to relax, causing Hawk to start swinging on the Caped Crusader. Babs calms Hank down and tells him she has a plan to save the other Birds. As they leave she tells Savant to watch over Dinah and he promises he will. We then see Mortis in Dinah's mind, asking her if she wants to see Lian again, and Dinah of course cries no. She then turns around to see herself, when she was kidnapped and beaten to near death during Longbow Hunters. Canary then starts to regain her mind by stating Mortis pulled the wrong trigger because she knows her friends are on the way to save her. Dinah fighting back reverse Mortis' powers I guess and causes Mortis to start convulsing. The rest of the Birds are being watched over by Calculator who plans on killing Lady Blackhawk, but due to a diversion by Dove and a timely save by Oracle, but the issue ends with Calculator having the upper hand. I really enjoyed this issue, it wasn't bad but it was better than last months. I'm wondering what Batman will do and how Oracle plans to help her team. I'll give this a 8/10.

Lady Blackhawk: Hittin a handcuffed woman. Guess somebody found his lil' berries, huh? You look like you're fixin to try that again, Mister. Let me just say this friendly thing, all right? It ain't smart to hit a Blackhawk once.

Batgirl #18

 Batgirl featuring Klarion....Bum...Bum...Bum... The Witch Boy! And yes, those were for dramatic emphasis, just like the Witch Boy has demanded. Things get started with Batgirl talking about how she just wants some quiet time as she spends Valentine's Night on patrol. She soon comes across a murdered man on the streets and follows the bloody footprints that lead to a very shocked looking Klarion as he writes in the blood of the recently murdered man. Batgirl confronts him and makes the mistake of calling him a blue pilgrim which causes Klarion, Bum Bum Bum... The Witch Boy to shrink our heroine and place her into a tiny magic ball. We then find out that Klarion is looking for his beloved cat, and agrees to turn Batgirl back to her normal size if she helps. We then find out his cat wanted to get it on with another cat and Klarion got jealous and kept them apart, so now his cat is out stealing hearts. Well, I've heard worse Valentine's Day related crimes. When Batgirl and Klarion hear screams, they head in that direction and find Klarion's cat, only he's six feet tall and has claws that would make Sabretooth look like a kitten with clipped nails. Batgirl uses a few gadgets from her utility belt to subdue Klarion's cat, Teekl and Klarion puts him into a magical orb, much like he did to Batgirl. Klarion explains how Teekl will keep murdering until he finds a mate, and Batgirl convinces Flarion that if their as good as friends as he says they are, then he should trust Teekl will come back to him. From there they go on a hunt for a mate, which takes Klarion and Batgirl to Klarion's home land, which makes Batgirl stick out like a sore thumb since she isn't blue. So is Klarion an Avatar or a Smurf? Anyway, after a plot that goes hilariously wrong, Steph and Klarion find Teekl a mate. Back in Gotham, Klarion is amazed at how much the humans want to find someone to be with, much like Teekl. And when Steph's arch-rival Jordanna shows up and almost incites the wrath of a certain Witch Boy, Steph plants a kiss on Klarion to calm his engines. The issue ends with Klarion and Stephanie spending Valentine's Day together. Well this was a cool issue, nothing amazing but it wasn't bad. The story was pretty odd but it included a Witch Boy and a Were-Cat so what can you expect? I'll give this issue a 7.5/10... BUM BUM BUM!!!!!

Klarion: My name is Klarion! And I'm a Witch-Boy! (You tell her Klarion!)

Red Robin #20

We start off with a quick rundown of what happened since Tim got back from Russia, and how after someone tripped an alarm in Lonnie's room, he knows someone is on to him and his friends jumping into the Unternet, and how this all leads to him being confronted by someone he doesn't want to fight as much as Doomsday and the Anti-Monitor, Catman. Okay, right off the bat, what?! I get that they wanna put Catman over as a threat but really?! In the same league as the Anti-Monitor and Doomsday?! This same guy that's in a group with Ragdoll, Deadshot and Scandal Savage? I mean... not Darkseid, Bizarro, Solomon Grundy or Deathstroke... but CATMAN?! Come on... Anyway, Red Robin and Catman fight as Catman tries to get away with the Unternet Firewall code he stole from Lonnie. When Catman get's trapped he pulls out a pink phone and tries to access the Unternet from it, so it'll draw the attention of Calculator (since he created the Unternet), and Tim realizes that it's Tam Fox's phone. He rushes over to find Tam, leaving Catman to escape. As he heads to save Tam he calls Stephanie to make sure Calculator isn't attacking Batgirl or Proxy and warns them. Red Robin arrives just as someone with an RPG (rocket, not video game) blasts Tam's dorm room to smithereens. Way to be late Tim, you could have just called Bart or Connor and had them get there in time. Luckily for Tam and her roommate, they appear to have been out studying and missed a near death. Back at his makeshift lab, Red Robin checks security camera's and gets a view of the rocket man (And I think it's gonna beeee, a long long time...) and recognizes him as the Calculator. When he runs a facial scan on him, he doesn't get a 100% confirmation so he searches the world for people with 94% facial matches of Calculator and finds 147 matches, so Tim determines he needs help and calls on his former team, the Teen Titans, and is surprised to see Damian is now a member. With Red Robin and the newest Teen Titan team all caught up, he tells them about the Calculator robots and how he'll need their help. Tim realizes that Calculator will recognize the team without their uniforms so they send the one person he doesn't know, Damian, to infiltrate. Things end soon after with the Teen Titans and Red Robin getting ready for one heck of a battle. This was another fun issue, I loved seeing the Teen Titans and Red Robin meet up together, as well as Damian's smart mouth. The only thing I didn't like is how dumb Red Robin came off here, shocked that Catman had a pink phone. I mean really? It takes that long to realize when a guy like Catman has a pink phone that it's not HIS phone? Also, overrating Catman doesn't make Catman look like a threat, it just makes Tim look like an idiot. That aside, this was another well done issue of Red Robin, I'll give it an 8/10.

Damian: Perhaps it's time to retire then... since the Titans have been more than satisfied with the energy brought to their dynamic by... The real Robin!

Amazing Spider-Man #654

We jump right into the fray of things with Col. Jameson arriving at the space station. He tells them to send him back asap so he can help his dad but they tell him they need to work on it due to the damage caused by the fight between Scorpion and Spider-Man. While they talk we see a tiny robotic bug climbs off of the ship, the same bug we saw earlier that was being controlled by Doc Ock. Back with Peter Parker, Max Modell has figured out his secret and confronts him. He knows that Peter Parker... invents tech for Spider-Man. God... have you people EVER heard of Occams Razor? From there, Max even helps Peter make something to block out Scorpion and the Spider-Slayers Spider-Sense. From there Spidey heads to join Ben Grimm and Mockingbird in saving the Jameson women, but checks in via phone call to Glory to make sure the Jameson men are okay. We then see the crew of the Daily Bugle trying to escape, and as Norah runs out and the Robertsons are trying to escape,  Phil Urich breaks a column which causes the building to start to cave-in. One of the big rocks falls on Randy's legs, and Robbie realizes since the Spider-Swarm is after him, he leads them away from Randy by having Ms. Marvel and Power Wom..screw that, Jessica Jones, fly him away.. Back with The Jameson women, Marla uses her knowledge of Spider-Slayers to make a frequency which screws with the swarm and allows The Thing to really start Clobberin! While Spidey is trying to place his Spidey-Sense screwing up devices around for triangulation purposes when he is confronted by The Scorpion again. Scorpion notices Spidey's new weapon and promptly breaks the remote detonator, like the jerk New Yorker he is, right X? So Spidey detonates it himself, and also feels the brunt of the device that screws up his Spider-Sense. He then takes down Scorpion with one huge punch and webs him up before heading to join the Thing. While the Jameson's all reunite, Spidey is talking to Ben and a explosion causes a piece of metal to fly and smack Spidey dead in the forehead, and Spidey is shocked to see he no longer has Spider-Sense! Smythe climbs out of the wreckage and tells Spider-Man his machine had no effect on him and subdues Spider-man's friends and allies before going after Jameson. He sends a spiked tendril at J. Jonah Jameson but hes pushed out of the way by Marla who is impaled. Spidey, feeling a surge of adrenaline rushes Smythe. This issue ends as Marla tells Jonah not to blame anyone, and to stop living his life with hate as he holds Marla in his arms. This was probably the best comic I've read in a long time. I didn't expect the ending and it was amazingly done, down to the last page. The artwork, especially on the last page was amazing, as was the ending, and we're left to also wonder what happened to Spider-Man's spider-sense and how he'll cope with that as well. Along with this we also see a great sneak peek at the new Venom, and man that made me even more excited for next week's Spider-Man 654.1 issue. This issue deserves a perfect 10/10 rating.

Jonah: I'm not going to say it.

Spider-Man: What?

Jonah: "This is all your fault, Spider-Man." Because I know. This is my fault. All mine.

Well that's it for me guys, here's hoping you enjoyed this week's Ratings and Rantings. I'll be back next week with four more comics to review, and as always comments are appreciated. Below are the results of the last Weekly Poll, and be sure to vote on this week's new poll as well. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.

Last week's poll asked "Who do you think will die in Reign of Doomsday?"

Last place with 0% - Cyborg-Superman, you just can't win can ya Hank?
Third place with 10% - Tie between Superboy and the Kryptonian Killing Machine, Doomsday.
Second place with 30% - John Henry Irons himself, Steel.
Winner with 50% - The Eradicator, voted most likely to be eradicated.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Brightest Day #20, Green Lantern #62, Green Lantern Corps #57, and Amazing Spider-Man 654.1 (?)

Ratings and Rantings

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it's that time once again for your weekly comic content comments from yours truly. That's right, it's time for Ratings and Rantings, I'm Jason Todd and this is my comic spot. We've got six comics on tap for today. But I gotta warn you guys, my reviews may be a little crappier than usual since due to my new schedule I work Thursdays and Fridays from 2-10:30 and don't get home until about 11:30 p.m. That also means my reviews will now be pushed back to Saturday or Sunday instead up popping up on Thursdays or Fridays. Now that we're all caught up let's get things started with our Merc with a Mouth and a 2010 Red Hood Award winner, Deadpool!

Deadpool #31

We kick things off with Deadpool and his hot doctor sneaking around the hospital, trying to avoid Draculas. That is, until the hot doc screams and runs away from our favorite Mercenary trying to get help, and runs smack-dab into Draculas! After a battle of wits between Deadpool and one of those damn Draculas, Deadpool ends up "dead" at their hands. Silly Dracula's, don't you know death is for...other people...who aren't...Deadpool? Oh Yeah! While incapacitated, Deadpool dreams of Twilight, with some hot chick slapping the sparkly face of a fem-pire as I refer to them, and jumping ship tp Team Deadpool. Deadpool then awakes from his dream and heads off in search of the evil Draculas. From there we see the Hot Doc stall as Deadpool goes through with his plan which involves him pulling the fire alarm and saying "Yoink" a few times, which the Simpsons fan in me loves. It turns out earlier Deadpool had a priest bless a reservoir tank of water, making it Holy Water, and the Holy Water then fell from the sprinklers when the Merc with a Mouth pulled the fire alarm, which apparently just pissed the Draculas off. Deadpool grabs the Hot Doc and takes off, and even loses the Draculas, but stops and yells to them where he is so they can continue to follow him. They of course run into an awesome trap that's far too genius for me to explain properly, but take my word for it, it was damn genius. Deadpool then asks the hot Doc if she wants to go grab some drinks but she says no since she has a gunshot wound, so he suggests Ice Cream and she says yes. That's a lesson kids, shoot a chick in the leg, kill some vampires and ya get the girl. Or maybe not? The issue ends soon after and it's on to the next arc! This was a very fun issue, as always you can expect to laugh when you read a Deadpool comic, especially when it's written by Daniel Way. This was no exception as I laughed all the way through, as well as Deadpool shown being more than capable as a hero. I'll give this a 9/10, only because the ending bummed me out a bit.

Deadpool: Yoink! (Snake would be so proud)

Red Robin #17

Red Robin #17 starts with a few familiar faces, as we see the super campy Batman, Robin and Riddler inside the Unternet. We also see Tim tied up by binary and rocking a much cooler Red Robin costume that I hope he decides to keep. After being saved from "The Firewall", by Batman and Robin, Red Robin looks around the Unternet and soon finds his friend/possible-girlfriend Tamara Fox, except she's a cute chubby faced three year old. After talking to Tam and figuring that this must be the way they see themselves, Tim and Tam decide to look around together, along with The Riddler, who Tim figures is his subconscious mind trying to figure out what's going on. The expedition is cut short when Harley Quinn attacks our heroes and says no one leaves without Mayor Mr. J saying it's okay. Tim makes short work of the digital Harley but turns around and is shocked to see the Joker, in what I'd assume is Jason Todd's robin costume, still stained with his blood, a crossbar hooked onto the belt and even a "J" drawn on top of the Robin "R." The digital Joker is then killed by Anarky, and that happens to be the form that Lonnie has taken in the Unternet. After heading to Metropolis in the Unternet to find Mikalek, Red Robin, Tam and Lonnie figure out that this Unternet is making them angry, violent and more ruthless, due to Sivana and Darkseid's plans for it. The gang is then confronted by Metallo, but his link is quickly severed by Promise, who now looks fifteen years older according to Tim, as she cites she's been there a very long time. She explains how she's fought Mikalek's forces for years there and watched the many heroes fall, and she's soon shot in the back by Deathstroke, who's accompanied by Cheshire, Captain Boomerang and Firewall. We see Promise wake up back in the real world so we know she's not dead, and we then see Tim take down Deathstroke which even surprises him. He realizes he can control that world too, and Tam makes herself into an adult with an afro. Well...okay then. She calls herself Foxy Lady and decks Cheshire into next week. From there we see Mikalek's statue explode and a bunch of heroes fly out, including the adult Supergirl, as well as adult versions of Blue Beetle, Superboy, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, a female Batman (Steph?) and Bart Allen as The Flash. They need someone to stay and make sure that world doesn't go back to hell, and Lonnie volunteers, but Red Robin starts to have second thoughts as he awakes from the Unternet. The issue ends soon after with someone taking out a bounty on on Tim and Tam, in the form of Catman. We also see that this will start the Red Robin/Teen Titans crossover. This should be interesting, I enjoyed this issue but it seemed to drag on.A lot of it almost lost my interest but pulled me back in, but it was a fine comic, I'll give it an 8/10.

Batman: I'll deal with the cunning calculations of the capricious calculator, old chum, while you help our captured companion! (Fabian, you rule.)

Birds of Prey #8

This is a beautiful cover by the way. Okay, so Birds of Prey kicks things off where we left off last time with the Birds being confronted by a woman in a veil with two henchmen asking which of them is Oracle. The Birds keep egging the woman on to bring the fight after she explains how her touch makes people go insane due to their past demons, but Dinah says nothing, probably because she has enough demons in her past to open her very own hell. We switch over to see Oracle, nervous about her plan considering Calculator has moved hastily and put together a team of dangerous people, especially considering she has no intel on the woman. Batman offers his assistance but Oracle tells him her team is more than capable. The mysterious woman is about to touch one of the Birds when Dove speaks up and says she's Oracle. We then see The Calculator on the ground cringing in pain, saying how he's been having horrible headaches lately. He believes Oracle has somehow planted a virus in his brain and wants his last thoughts to be her death rattle. Oracle tries to call in Hawk but she can't find him and his communicator is off, and before she knows it, Batman has already left to go help the Birds. We then see Penguin make a fool of himself then threaten a woman before being interrupted by Hawk. From there we see Oracle ask Batman if he'll back off, and surprisingly he says he'll trust her judgment. She then asks the Batman to take a dive, to which he surprisingly agrees to do. Man... this new Batman is gonna be hard to get used to for a while. Meanwhile, Oracle gives the word to the Birds to attack and they do just that. We then see that Oracle erased Calculator's memories of her, as seen in Batgirl #12, and how she withheld this information from Bruce. Batman finally arrives on the scene to lend a hand to the Birds of Prey. After dealing with the bad guys, Bats lets Mammoth plant him with a giant left hook, and Dinah is about to help Bats when she's touched by our mysterious mademoiselle. After Dinah is pretty much taken as bait, our friend Dove has to power down and give in to the villains demands. This issue ends with Dinah caught in the memories of every decision she's ever faced, including Ollie, Ra's Al Ghul, Sin, The Ray, Doctor Light and even more. This was a great issue, almost everything was perfect, except I'm wondering where Batman taking a fall was supposed to lead to... and why the hell did I have to see the Penguin curtsy? That was just freaky. I'll give this issue an 8.5/10 as I eagerly await the next one.

Lady Blackhawk: I swear, the way you people get all dreamy over an ass kickin', I'll never understand.

Justice League: Generation Lost #17

This issue starts out with Jaime Reyes' father calling him stupid. I'm serious. It's hilarious out of context, so I'll just keep it that way. We then see Blue Beetle strapped to a table that's rendered his armor useless as he lies there, trying not to panic and to figure out a way to escape. We then jump back to see the guys of the JLI, Booster, Atom, Rocket Red and Skeets (Yes, I count him as a guy.) taking on the Creature Commando's still, at least until they realize they shouldn't be there for some reason. We then see that Checkmate has been pretty much disbanded by the government due to the Magog fiasco. Back with the JLI, Booster is livid at the idea that Max just walked in and took Jaime. Booster comments how their no closer to knowing what Max wants than they were when they first started, and Rocket Red interrupts to tell them he knows where Max and Jaime have gone. From there we see the Black and White Kings of Checkmate, and the Black king soon finds out that Checkmate has been under the control of Max Lord this whole time, and after doing that, Max turns the Black King into an OMAC. Well that was just uncalled for... Max then starts what can only be described as torturing Blue Beetle. Back with the JLI, Gavril's led them to Tokyo in search of Blue Beetle, but can't get a more specific reading on him. While the gang starts to plan what to do, Captain Atom is whisked away at top speed by an unknown force then punched back down towards the planet. When he climbs out of the rubble he sees he's been attacked by Power Girl?! So this is where the PG/Gen Lost Crossover starts, my mistake guys and gals! This looks to be very interesting, and seeing Judd's two current series interact should be fun. This was a great issue, nothing amazing but far from bad. I'll give this issue an 8/10 and hopefully the next issue can top that as we see the JLI and Power Girl team up...or throwdown!

Jaime's Dad: You can be stupid, Jaime. And you can panic. But you don't get to do both.

Batgirl #17

Batgirl surprisingly starts off with Damian Wayne and Alfred, which may be the best equation for comedy when it comes to a Bat comic and a writer with a talented funny bone. Alfred brings Damian breakfast but finds the pint-sized Robin has only had two hours of sleep at most before training, citing if his father can do it so can he. When Alfred remarks that he's only a child and will stunt his growth, Damian responds by saying his size and height are perfect for keeping his enemies off balance. Awesome...just plain awesome. We then see that just like Batman with his Black Casebook, Damian is keeping a Red Casebook of his own. We then see Steph who's overslept again, she hops up and grabs some waffles her mom made, munches on them while getting ready and takes off while her mom tells her to stop and smell the roses and all that jazz. Next we see Robin string up a crossing guard because he wants the kids to get to school on time and that's suspicious. Haha, really? Well... that is a good point. Anyway he's interrupted by Batgirl, who questions him with things like laffy taffy wrappers, if he knows what laffy taffy is, and where he pulled a sword from on his costume. You know, just normal things I guess. After telling Damian that she needs to question that crossing guard about missing kids as apart of her first Batman Inc. mission, Damian seems to be shocked he had no idea of the mission. Damian decides this is his mission too and tells Batgirl to try to keep up as he goes after someone he believes is a target. The kids they track are going on a field trip, so Batgirl sends Damian inside so he can, as he put it "blend in with a gaggle of runny nosed half-breeds." We then see Damian in his own Mini-Matches Malone undercover gear of his own. When a little girl named Nell introduced himself to Damian, he introduces himself as Bruce, showing how much respect he has for his father. (Even though it's really Jason! Okay rant over.) Damian goes around, being forced to play with the girl Batgirl refers to as his "girlfriend." Batgirl discovers that the bus driver has been incapacitated and they soon find out that the entire bus of kids is being kidnapped. Batgirl and Robin go after the bus and Robin even stabs his sword through the roof of the bus and tells Batgirl he's "almost fifty percent sure he didn't hit a child." You gotta be kidding me. Fabian, Krul, and Miller should ALWAYS write Damian Wayne. After taking care of the two criminals, Batgirl and Robin get the kids to safety and sit back with a good old cup of coffee, which according to Robin tastes like Battery Acid. The issue ends with Steph trying to teach Damian how to have fun, which itself was a fun moment. Nothing really came from this story, it was just a solid story that you could not read and not miss anything. But I'm glad I did read it because it's increased the fact that Damian has been growing on me, and it's probably the only comic that makes me laugh as much as Deadpool. There's a reason Batgirl won best Ongoing Series here at JTCS and if this continues it may do it again in 2011. I'll give this issue a 9/10. It was funny, and I enjoyed it, but it was missing that one thing to make it memorable enough for a 10.

Damian: Feel free to leave whenever you like. Preferably, now. (Even BRUCE doesn't speak to Alfred like that!)

Amazing Spider-Man #651

We start off this issue of our Amazing Arachnid with Hobgoblin heading to see Kingpin, knowling with Spidey and Black Cat hot on his trail. He tells Kingpin that he knows Spider-Man and Black Cat are there to steal the reverbium back, and when Kingpin checks with his men he loses the video fed, courtesy of Black Cat. It doesn't take long for some Hand lackey's to attack her (makes me think of the Foot clan from Ninja Turtles...) but the Amazing Invisible Spider-Man lays the Smackdown on them. Back with Hobgoblin, he continues to try to make himself look good to Kingpin at Montana's expense and heads after our heroes. Spidey seems to be by himself though as Black Cat pulls one of her famous double-crosses and heads to look Kingpin's penthouse, leaving our itsy-bitsy-invisible Spider-Man all alone. He's soon attacked by The Hand, but since they can't see him he deals with them, until Hobgoblin turns up the frequency on his sonic screech (He can do that?!) and shorts out Spider-Man's suit, making him visible. Over in the Penthouse, Black Cat tries to steal right in front of Kingpin and Montana and gets caught by the Southern Second in Command. Poor kitty, between you and Catwoman I don't know who does dumber thieving. She tries to contact Spider-Man for help but Spidey can't hear her, due to switching over to the suit's secondary mode. This new mode allows him to block out all sonic frequencies, so Hobgoblin's sonic screech can't affect him. While Spidey takes on Hobgoblin, Cat takes down Montana but is then caught by Kingpin. Hobgoblin realizes he may be in trouble so he uses his screech to set off the Reverbium, and everything starts to come crashing down. Hobgoblin leaves as Spidey turns off his sonic safeguard and finally realizes that Black Cat needs help, so he heads up to help her out. The building falls and Hobgoblin pops up to save Kingpin but of course lets Montana fall to his doom. Spider-Man of course saves Cat in time and tells her they won't be teaming up again if she's only looking out for herself. We then see Kingpin make Hobgoblin his new right hand man, and that Hobgoblin has taken over as his number two. From there we see Pete talking about how his life is getting better, how his job is working and we even see his new apartment. The issue ends with Pete and his new girlfriend Carlie, taking Aunt May and Jay Jameson out for a dinner that Peter is picking up the check on. This was another fine issue of ASM, we saw Spidey deal with Hobgoblin but we know it's far from over, more evolution for Hobgoblin, possibly the end of Montana which I doubt, and a little rift in the Black Cat/Spider-Man team-up. This issue was action packed and it definitely deserves it's 10/10.

Spider-Man: How do I look?

Black Cat: Honestly? Like an ad for the new Tron movie.

And just like that, that's all for this week! I forgot to pick up Booster Gold due to the amnesia I get from the crippling old age of being twenty so we may see a review for that next week. Besides that I hope you all enjoyed this week's Ratings and Rantings, I'll be back next week with more reviews and hopefully more great scores. Below are the results of last week's poll and don't forget to vote on the new weekly poll as well. Until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which story arc are you looking forward to most in 2011?"
Last Place with 14.3% - More Brightest Day! Hm... take note DC!
Third Place with 21.4% - Batman Inc. may have Batmen everywhere but not fans.
Second Place with 28.6% - Reign of Doomsday falls short to our winner...
Winner with 35.7% - Flashpoint ran away with the vote and seems to be the most wanted arc!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Streets of Gotham #19, Brightest Day #18, Green Lantern Corps #56, Power Girl #20, and Amazing Spider-Man #652