Rantings and Rantings featuring Justice League #1

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages, it's time once again for that weekly cavalcade of comic reviews and rantings, brought to you by one half of the blogging tagteam champions of the woooooorld, yours truly, Jason Todd. So, here we are, officially apart of the DCnU, everything's changed, some for the better, some possibly for the worse, only time will tell. FYI, I bumped Amazing Spider-MAn #668 to next week so I could get this review up asap for all you Justice League fans. So since time is of the essence, let's get to what may be one of the most anticipated comic books of the year, but before we get to JLA, let's tie up a few loose ends from last week's review.

Superman Beyond #0

We start things off with Superman barely being able to keep the peace on an alien planet where a battle has broken out, but he's able to stop the planet from being invaded by the attackers. After helping the aliens, Superman decides it may be time to return home for the first time in a year, since helping Batman Beyond, Terry McGinnis, defeat Lex Luthor in the Superman/Batman Annual #4. We then see the Justice League trying to get Batman to come help out with Metropolis but he says he's busy enough with Gotham. We then see a prisoner named Mangler, and after his wife tells him she's not bringing their daughter to see him in prison anymore, and he seems defeated since he's been trying to get good behavior points to get out early, but she sticks by her guns and walks out on him. Later on, during a bit of a prison scuffle, a guard shoots some liquid that falls on the Mangler and of course makes him into a powerful villain. We then see Clark Kent on Earth, planting flowers at his parents and Lois' graves before meeting with a very old Jimmy Olsen who offers him a job as a reporter now that Jimmy is a media mogul. Meanwhile, Mangler uses his new powers to beat the hell of the joke that is the Justice League, with his Sandman-like powers. Superman makes the save but it doesn't take long until the Man of Steel is taking a beating due to his old age and the fact he's slowly grown weaker since his days on top. Once he momentarily despises of Supes, Mangler goes to see his daughter, but upon seeing what her dad has become she screams, obviously afraid, which breaks Mangler's heart. He then tells Superman to do his job and protect her from monsters like him, or he's going to destroy Metropolis. Superman throws everything at him but runs out of options so uses his speed to make a tornado and suck Mangler into space to knock him out, but once up there, with his last breaths Mangler manages to turn his arm into a spike and stick it through Superman. Well damn... as Supes realizes he doesn't have much time left, he selflessly grabs Mangler and takes him back to Earth so he doesn't suffocate in space, and takes the brunt of the fall as well. As Superman slowly dies, Mangler repeatedly asks why he would save him after he killed Superman, Barda checks on him and it appears Superman is still alive as his wounds slowly heal. They ask him to join the Justice League and he accepts, and the issue ends as we see an old Clark and Bruce share a moment like only Superman and Batman can. This was a good issue, but to be honest I think it would've been more impactful is they killed off Supes here. I mean with the reboot it's not like it matters, and Supes saving someone that killed him is like the epitome of something he'd do, which could lead to Mangler becoming a good guy to try to make that up to Superman and society. But maybe they wanted him around for more Batman Beyond stories. Either way, it was a fine issue that I had no problems with, I'd give it a 6/10.

Superman: Maybe tomorrow has finally arrived for the so-called Man of Tomorrow. Maybe I'm just too old to play hero.

Kick-Ass 2 #3

We start things off with Kick-Ass and his ragtag team of jabroni's questioning the criminal they caught, asking him where the girls he has working as prostitutes are. He says upstairs, so Kick-Ass goes to investigate wit two other heroes. They free the girls and give the the fifty-grand the criminals had so they can go start new lives. Afterwards, the heroes leave and let Kick-Ass in on the tidbit that they carry empty guns to scare the criminals, which Kick-Ass thinks is pretty awesome. We also see they don't just fight crime, but these heroes also pass out missing persons flyers, volunteer at soup kitchens, and of course influenced more people to become street heroes. And eventually, Kick-Ass decided to have his friend Todd join since he was the odd man out, but the person Dave really wants is Hit-Girl, but she continues to turn him down since she made a promise she was done fighting crime. Dave doesn't let up but when Mindy walks outside and see's Marcus, she runs to the car, as Marcus stares at Dave, clearly aware that he's Kick-Ass. When Dave arrives home he walks into his room to find his dad holding his Kick-Ass costume. His dad says he was worried because he thought Dave was on drugs but this is worse, and he's found his boots, sticks and the newspaper clippings he's saved. Dave says he's a hero and he's proud of what he's done, before snatching his costume from his dad and running out of the door. Over at the Justice Forever Headquarters, Colonel Stars is attacked and shot through the stomach by a huge woman named Mother Russia, the new bodyguard of the Red Mist. He orders her and his guards to tear the base apart and to leave a message for the other heroes. We then see the Colonel dead, duct-taped to a chair with his head gone and his dogs Sofia's head in place of his (gruesome) and the words "The Red Mist is Dead, Long live The Motherucker." The issue ends as the news of the dead hero found in a basement is seen by Mindy, which seems to incite the rage of the former Hit-Girl. Man this was a good issue, it started a bit slow but Dave's secret being found by his dad, the return of the former Red Mist and that gruesome scene made this a really good issue, I'd give it a 9/10 rating.

Marty: Those trunks are so tight I can make out individual pubic hairs.

Justice League #1

We start things off in the past, five years ago to be exact as we see Batman pursuing a criminal, while also dodging the GCPD. Batman manages to catch the person he's pursuing when suddenly the villain is blasted by a green firetruck, courtesy of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who seems shocked that Batman is real. When the GCPD shoots at both GL and Bats, Hal throws up a shield, but while they focus on the GCPD, Bats and GL are attacked by the mystery villain. The villain blasts down a helicopter but Hal makes the save while informing Bats that he was sent there due to an extra-terrestrial sighting. Bats tells GL to go back to Coast City but he sticks around, and is shocked to learn Batman has no powers and is just a man in a bat costume. Batman somehow manages to take GL's ring and then returns it once he realizes it's the source of Lantern's power. The two start to get into a scuffle when Batman notices the alien planting a bomb. Hal tries to stop the alien but he yells "for Darkseid" before the alien explodes in the sewers of Gotham, as Hal protects himself and Batman with a box he constructs. Batman and GL then investigate the alleged bomb the alien left behind, and GL figures it may be connected to Superman since he's an alien, so the two go to confront the Man of Tomorrow. We then jump over to see Vic Stone playing football as he's apparently a highly scouted player, but when he scores a touchdown and looks in the crowd and see's his Dad isn't there he's pretty disappointed. Aww, poor Cyborg. Back with GL and Bats, they arrive in Metropolis right outside of where Superman is. Bats tells GL there was obviously a scuffle here and to take this tactfully but the ever cocky Hal Jordan decides he's going to go restrain Superman and question him, and half a second later he's flying across the sky from a red-blue-blur punch. The issue ends soon after with Superman staring at Batman asking what can he do. Well this issue kinda flew by, we didn't learn much... I mean literally. We saw Bats meet GL, we saw Bats meet Supes, we saw Hal get "one-punch!'d" by Superman and we saw Vic play football. It wasn't a bad issue but I expected more from this first issue since DC only dropped two issues this week, but on the plus side, Jim Lee's art was pretty damn good! I'll give this issue a 7.5/10 rating.

Green Lantern: You really want to pick a fight with someone who can create anything he can think of?

Batman: I'd be worried if I thought you could think.

And just like that, three comics have come and gone. Welcome to the DCnU, and the next month should be exciting with more DCnU comics, more Schism and Spider-Island from Marvel, and hopefully more Morning Glories and Invincible. Here's hoping you guys enjoyed this review and feel free to let me know what you guys think. But that's it for me, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Action Comics #1, Batgirl #1, Justice League International #1, Static Shock #1, Invincible #82, Morning Glories #12 and Amazing Spider-Man #668

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, it's that time again for your favorite weekly comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings. I'm your host, the incomparable Jason Todd, here to review comics for you guys and gals. Before I get started I'd like to mention a few of DC's new reboots that have interested me so far, besides JLI and possibly JLA,  Nightwing and Red Hood and the Outlaws, I'm also now interested in the new Teen Titans and the new Static Shock series. So, five or six outta 52 eventual titles so far I guess isn't a bad start... Anyway enough about the future, let's get to the present comics, because we've got five to run through today, and since I didn't know Invincible #80 dropped this week, it's been subbed in and Superman/Batman has been pushed back a week by DC, and lastly, my shop didn't have Morning Glories this week (boo) so I'll review that next week.

Red Robin #24

We start things off with Red Robin taking on the Scarab and her fellow Scarab's. but the fight doesn't last long because Tim and Lonnie had already worked up a virus for the armor that was stolen from the GCPD, which quickly takes care of everyone except Scarab, who wasn't wearing armor. She somehow manages to escape from Red Robin so Tim asks Lonnie to see if he could find any information on this tournament of death that Tim's life is the prize of. It turns out that killing a CEO was a ruse, and that was used to throw people off the trail so they wouldn't know the real target was Viktor Mikalek, so four hours later, Red Robin arrives in Samara with the intent on saving Mikalek. Once Tim gets past his security, he asks Viktor why they were after him, and who shot him. Mikalek mentions that he was shot by the woman Red Robin helped escape a few issues ago, Promise. He also mentions that thanks to Red Star, he's pretty much going to be ousted by Russia, to which Red Robin doesn't care, until Mikalek mentions that if he is ousted, where else would he go but the city where he recently purchased a hockey team, Gotham City. Red Robin then decides to try to find Promise before she can finish the job of killing Mikalek, but by the time he finds her "crow's nest" as it were, it's been abandoned. Surprisingly he's attacked by a GIANT member of the tournament that is beating Tim senseless, until Promise shows up and blasts him in the back with rubber bullets. Tim is then attacked by Promise of all people, who can make her hands look like Venom's for some reason, and knocks Tim out. He awakens chained up underground, with his Red Robin suit on but his cowl off. He's introduced to Promise's sister, a.k.a. the woman we've seen with Ra's Al Ghul, and she intends on killing Tim, but not before his legacy lives on by giving her a child, and the mystery woman disrobes as this issue ends. I couldn't get into this for some reason, obviously it's being rushed do to the reboot, I mean we went from Tim being cornered by a ton of guys to him beating them in three pages, to chasing Scarab, meeting Mikalek, fighting a big guy, then this Ra's mystery lady just being related to Promise, out of nowhere. But I couldn't get into it, it wasn't bad, but things jumped around too much and seemed really rushed, I'll give this a 6/10 rating.

Me: So wait...that dude...on the cover is Promise?

Batman: Arkham City #2

This cover is epic, one of my favorites of the year so far. We start things off with Vicki Vale and Jack Ryder outside of the future Arkham City, doing a live report on the future prison , or as Mayor Sharp refers to it, a "Quarantine Zone". As Sharp speaks, we see someone else is saying words and Sharp is merely parroting them. During this, Bruce Wayne arrives, and Vicki asks his thoughts, considering he's a member of the parole board, Bruce mentions he has a wait and see approach, but he does want to know who is in charge of releasing criminals, sense Sharp has suspended the parole board. But Sharp dances around the subject and never gives Bruce an answer. From there we see Batman, as he mentions to Alfred that he is convinced Sharp's strings are being pulled by someone else, so he goes to try to find Mayor/Warden Sharp's file at his home. Batman gets past Sharp's rent-a-cops without anyone noticing him, and finds his file which says that due to Sharp's past, he's a prime candidate for Schizophrenia. That explains why he believed himself to be the spirit of Amadeus Arkham. While Batman gathers files, a computer turns on and we see a shadowed figure that tells Batman welcome and that he can take the files, but they have something for him. A small Gatling gun descends from the ceiling and starts shooting Bats with rubber bullets, which barely sting due to his suits armor. Sleeping gas is then released, as well as other nuisances, which Batman deals with quickly because he realizes this is being done so they can study his fighting style. We then see Aaron Cash is doing his job of sedating criminals for their movement to Arkham City, even a guy named Jimmy Briggs, who's a small fish that won't survive in Arkham, I hope Jimmy Briggs is addressed in the game. We then see The Joker being moved, and he can't wait to get to Arkham City, he even plans on running for Mayor, which made me laugh. As he's wheeled away, he realizes he isn't being taken to be sedated, and is instead being taken to a guard room, where a bunch of pissed off guards plan on killing Joker over what happened to their friends during the events of "Batman: Arkham Asylum" That's an awesome callback, and I loved seeing Joker's thoughts during this, as he knew he was in trouble but played his Joker persona up the whole time. Surprisingly, Joker is saved when one of the guards turns on the others, even more surprisingly, the guard is revealed to be Harley Quinn, who does some pretty vicious attacks in order to save Mistah J, and the two escape by boat. Batman has apparently planned for this after the last events of Arkham, and knows when someone leaves Arkham without clearance, and he's also installed cameras in the boats, and see's Joker and Harley escaping. He goes after them with the Bat-Boat, and Batman blasts their boat with a missile. He tells them to surrender but they don't, so he blasts them again which blows the boat up. Well damn Bats... anyway he doesn't find any survivors, which lets him know Joker and Harley escaped. When Joker and Harley wash ashore, they find their way into none other than Arkham City, and no one knows their there. So Joker and Harley proclaim themselves Mayor and Mayoress of Arkham City as this issue ends. Man... I LOVED this comic. I mean, the last two years have been hit or miss for me with Dini's work, but this comic was great, everything had a pace, we saw Joker and Batman take center stage, we even got to see Harley kick some ass and show us why she's one of the baddest women in Gotham. I'll give this a perfect 10/10 rating, bring on more Arkham City!

The Joker: There are hands to shake, babies to kick, no one puts the "pain" in "campaign" like yours truly!

Deadpool #38

We start things off with an enraged Hulk asking Deadpool where the nukes are, but Deadpool won't spill the beans, especially since he doesn't have anymore nukes, but doesn't want the big green wrecking machine to know about that. DP tells Hulk that he has a small transmitter in his body that's powered by the electrical current in his body which will detonate a randomly placed nuke all over the city each hour, which is an excellent lie that he made up on the spot. He then taunts the Hulk, asking "What the hell are you gonna do about it?" Which makes the Hulk even MORE angry and causes him to grow in size/ Hulk calls Deadpool a monster, to which DP replies, takes one to know one. He then punches Deadpool SO far that he goes through numerous buildings and backgrounds and momentarily dies. Goddamn... that's just awesome. Deadpool soon awakes from death but not before promising his angel of death that he was gonna get Hulk to kill him. When Hulk lands where he knocked Deadpool, Deadpool manages to use a wrecking ball wire, get it ties around the Hulks legs, and use him as a wrecking ball, until Hulk gets even larger and more angry. Deadpool, proud of himself for finally enraging The Hulk so much that he KNOWS he's gonna smash him into dust, he realizes that Hulk will not only destroy him but probably everything within a Hundred feet. The issue ends as Hulk rushes towards Deadpool, who realizes that he's right next to a children's daycare. Man, this issue FLEW by as you can tell from the short review, but there was so much action that I loved it. I mean, I'm not a Hulk fan but he's been really impressive in these issues and as always, Daniel Way writes a fun Deadpool. This issue was really funny and now that DP has pissed off Hulk to the max, he has to get him away from innocent kids? Genius twist Dan Way, THAT's how you do it, M. Night! This issue of Deadpool gets a 9/10 rating from me.

Deadpool: He's gonna mega smash us into, like, sub-atomic particles!

Batman and Robin #24

We kick things off with a flashback, to Jason's time as Robin, and Batman telling him when things go wrong, not to just act cool and stay level headed, but to take control of the situation. We then flash forward to see Jason and his anamorphic rescuers who just saved him from being shipped back to Arkham, the Menagerie. The chained Jason asks for answers, but his saviors aren't at liberty to say who sent them or why, so Jason decides to take matters into his own hands, and beat the hell out of them. The artwork in this issue has fallen DRAMATICALLY since the last issue, I mean... I'm not trying to be a jerk but in comparison it looks horrible. Anyway, Jason takes down one of them but is soon overcome considering it's four on three and they have the strength and speed of their animal counterparts. They catch Jason and plan on taking him in alive, but considering he can't help but be an ass, he kicks one of them in the head, which makes him angry enough to want to bring Jason in as "Alive but broken". Before he can attack Jason, Batman and Robin show up to the party. Batman and Robin take on the Menagerie along with Jason, and Dick even saves Jason's skin (literally) but once Jason gets a gun the tone changes. Jason takes the reptilian member of the Menagerie hostage and shoots him in the foot, then holds a gun to his head and prepares to leave when he gets a call on a phone one of the Menagerie members has. Jason answers and we see him talking to some mysterious woman, who tells Jason to surrender or they'll kill the only person he cares about, his former partner, Scarlet. I guess this is enough of a reason for Jason to team up with Batman and Robin, which is a decision Damian is not a fan of.  Damian wants to leave Jason, tied up, and take Scarlet to Juvie. Dick says no, Jason is coming to willingly turn himself in, but won't go unarmed. Damian mentions that Jason will probably turn on them, and he'd prefer a plan, but Dick says they'll adapt if they have to, which is what Bruce told Jason as Robin. Dick also notes that if they make a plan, Jason will hear them since he probably has the building wired, and Dick mentions that's what he'd do anyway. Jason chimes in that Dick is right, and sometimes "You've gotta lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas." as Jason walks out wearing his costume from Grant's run, except without the cape and pill helmet, he has a leather jacket and his classic Red Hood helmet as the issue ends. This was a nice issue, I expected it to be dumb with the animals from the last issue, but the callback to Scarlet as well as Jason's new costume made me really enjoy this issue. I'll give it a 8.5/10, as I'm not a big fan of the artwork.

Jason Todd: Thank God. Batman and Robin are here. (This comment just OOZED of sarcasm.)

Invincible #80

We start things off with a huge bomb dropped on Mark, just minutes after finding out the news that Eve was pregnant while he was away, his parents tell them their getting back together, but since Nolan can't stay on Earth, both of Mark's parents are going to Talescira, plus his mom wants to go see Oliver. They also waste no time leaving, as they leave only minutes later. With the house to themselves, Eve tells Mark she's moving in, due to all the drama that goes on at her parents house. The next day, Mark goes to see William and explain how he and Eve are moving in due to his parents moving to an alien world. While they talk, Rick walks in with dinner and kisses William, his boyfriend, on the cheek, which of course, surprises the hell out of Mark. After talking about it, Mark thinks back to all the times they changed in gym and he says he's glad William wasn't attracted to him, and in a moment of pure hilarity, William says he's always been attracted to Mark a little, to which even Rick agrees. Lmao, that's so damn awkward. Anyway, Mark, embarrassed leaves and William wishes they had handled it better, because he doesn't think Mark will take him flying again. Man... this series is so awesome. The fact that that's what worries him the most is hilarious. From there we see Invincible flying when he spots a criminal, the criminal instantly gives up, knowing he can't take on Invincible. When Invincible asks why he ran away on the side of a building with gravity boots and such when he could've just escaped with what he stole (bonds from a bank) with normal clothes and he would've never noticed him. The criminal seems nice and we find out he stole the bonds so he could buy his girlfriend a wedding ring, he starts crying when he realizes he's going to jail, so Invincible tells him he'll return the bonds for him and let him go free. He then goes to return the bonds for him before getting out of his Superhero gear and hitting a comic shop. While there, Mark manages to take a few shots at his own writer and DC Comics for restarting ALL their series at #1! Haha, God this is great, go Kirkman! Afterwards, we see Mark and his newer, thicker, more bootylicious (lol) version of Eve cleaning the master bedroom, and she even cleanses the sheets, which only slightly changes Mark's mind about sleeping in a bed where his parents had sex. They get a call at Invincible Inc. a.k.a. a cell phone that Eve has, and she tells him there's a big red guy attacking a client's building in Vegas. Mark gets dressed as Invincible and heads to Vegas to take on The Velociraptor. When the dinosaur-man announces that Vegas is full of bombs that will explode any second, Mark tries to figure out how to stop him, but surprisingly runs out of time, and Las Vegas is wiped off the map, the blast is so huge it obliterates everything, turns the ground to glass from the heat, and manages to turn Mark's suit into dust, leaving him nude in a desolate land as this issue ends. Man, that was wild, I didn't expect that ending at all, and this was a good issue with a lot of action, and since I can't think of one thing I didn't like, I'll give this a 10/10 rating.

Eve: We can move into the master bedroom.

Mark: No Way. My parents have had sex in there.

Eve: From what your mom told me, if that'll keep you out of a room we should probably just stay outside.

And that's it for this week's Ratings and Rantings everyone. As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment below. That's it for me, and the results for last week's poll is below so 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. Until next time, you stay classy, Todd Squad.

Last week's poll asked "What are your thoughts on the DC Reboot?"

Last place with 11.8% - "I hate it, I'm done with DC", good thing that's the minority eh?
Second place with 17.6% - "I love the idea, can't wait", we've got a few fans that can't wait.
Winner with 70.6% - "I'll wait and see before I decide", my personal pick, and a few series I can't wait for, but others should've never been more than an idea.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #22, Power Girl #25, Morning Glories #10 and Superman/Batman #85

Jason Todd will lead them (Red Hood and The Outlaws)

Huge news from the DC reboot this week. A lot of people are either happy , upset, or conflicted. Some things I don't like, like the fact that Dick is being reverted to Nightwing, but I do love the new colors on his uniform. A lot of people are upset that Babs will be walking apparently, and I definitely see their point but I won't get into that. As a person who has been a fan or Babs for a long time, I love both her Batgirl and Oracle runs. But the news that has made me the happiest so far, besides the JLI series, besides the fact that Dick has an awesome outfit, and besides the fact Kyle won't be lost in the shuffle, is the fact that Jason Todd, has finally returned to the side of the good guys, and he isn't alone, as he's LEADING a team, with one of my other favorites, Roy (Arsenal/The TWO-Armed Archer) as well as Starfire. This team, will be called, the Red-Headed Rejects. But seriously, Jason, Arsenal, and Starfire on one team (known as The Red Hood and The Outlaws) is awesome already, now if we can get some other awesome characters added (Wally West anyone?) then I may just forgive DC for giving everyone stupid collars on their costumes. Anyway, here's one plus myself, and other Jason Todd fans are definitely gonna be looking forward to.

Batman’s former sidekick had put his past as The Red Hood behind him, when the reclusive Jason Todd finds himself unwillingly elected as the leader of an all-new team of outlaw vigilantes.

As The Red Hood once again, Jason Todd will lead this new team of antiheroes, including Green Arrow’s rejected sidekick Arsenal and Starfire, a former prisoner of intergalactic war.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS will be written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by rising superstar artist Kenneth Rocafort.
(Source)