Showing posts with label Detective Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detective Comics. Show all posts

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ratings and Rantings Featuring Uncanny X-Men #1

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with another edition of your FAVORITE comic content comments. This week I've only got six books but a few of them are game changers to say the least, so let's get started off by jumping into this month's issue of Detective Comics!


Detective Comics #3

We start off with a partially paralyzed Batman trying to escape after finding out the cut up Gordon in front of him, is not the real Jim Gordon. While trying to escape, Batman is attacked by a bunch of the Dollmaker's goons, and there was a very forced scene where each goon would compliment the other goon by name, which seems SO forced,  especially since these lesser characters don't matter.From there, Batman escapes and brings a goon with him to torture, he even calls him "Sunshine" which just seemed odd. After heading to the cave, Bruce using facial scanning to find out that The Doll Maker is Barton Mathis, the son of a man Gordon shot when he was younger. Because that makes SO much sense, we reboot everything then the first villain is someone that's the son of someone Gordon shot YEARS ago?! Anyway, Batman finds out where Gordon is thanks to Olivia, who apparently was working for the Dollmaker to lure Bats there. While going to save Gordon, Batman is caught from behind by a big Killer Croc look-a-like before being choked unconscious. Instead of... I don't know, unmasking him, they throw Bats in a room where he's attacked by a bunch of people who look like The Joker as this issue ends. Alright, I'll be dropping this comic. This month I'll be dropping any comics that haven't drawn me in yet, so this is number one on the list, and the list will be at the bottom of each post until this month concludes. Anyway, this issue gets a 4/10, I hated Bats talking out of character, I hated how he KNEW it was a trap but didn't get any back up whatsoever, and I hated the face that no one tried to unmask him, while he was paralyzed of unconscious, but as usual Tony Daniel's art was great.

Batman: Let's go shunshine, I've got Earl Grey tea brewing. (Okay.. I embellished some of that...)


Justice League International #3

We start things off with Booster distracting the first giant robot while Batman does recon mission on it, as the rest of the team seems to be doing the same thing. Ice and Rocket Red go below the sea in Russia to take on one of the giant robots, and this time was also used to plant some seeds of Rocket Red asking Fire out and asking Ice about Fire. While the teams are taking on the Robots, news breaks that a huge spaceship is over the Earth, which Guy Gardner overhears and says hat everyone is in over their heads, which is why they needed him. Over in Africa, Vixen and Fire bond while distracting and investigating their giant Robot, and the two seem to bond pretty well. Suddenly they're attacked by a bunch of underground people, who overcome Vixen and Fire,and knock them unconscious, causing Fire to turn back into her human form as well. And lastly, over in Canada we see General August in Iron a.k.a. General with Godiva, as he seems more annoyed than anything by her, but the two enter their underground cavern and are attacked by the underground men as well. There was an odd scene where Godiva was supposed to be in trouble and say help but for some reason they drew in General's head instead of hers, which should've been caught by someone... Anyway, General defeats the undergrounders and saves Godiva in the process, which leads to them starting to bond as well. One thing I like about Godiva is that she says this was basically going to be a P.R. stunt for her, which makes her the female Booster in a way, before Booster grew up anyway, which should be interesting. Back with Booster and Batman, Batman uses the underground set up to find out that they are being watched on a live feed, but eventually he and Booster are overcome by the number game. Guy Gardner reaches space and see's that the beams each Robot is sending into space is making a giant orb of light and he crashes his way into the ship. Guy goes to investigate but is suddenly knocked unconscious by a man only known as Peraxxus, as this issue comes to an end. I am really enjoying J.L.I., and this issue only added to the fact. I love the cast and how different most of them are, so I like seeing them interact, if anything I'd want to see more interactions and last fighting, which is odd but shows how good the cast and dialogue are. I'll give this issue an 8.5/10 rating.

Peraxxus: A Lantern. I expected more. You'll be one of my easier kills.


Invincible #84

We start things off by seeing a little good that has come with the destruction of Vegas, as they're now utilizing it's glass like surface with double sided solar panels which allows the panels to draw in double the solar energy, which causes a sad Invincible to state that Dinosaurus was right, before walking off. We then cut over to see Monster Girl telling Rex she's moving out, and that she didn't sleep with Bulletproof, but Rex says he doesn't care anymore. Well alrighty then. We then see Mark and Samantha talking about something very vague, I'd be lying if I said I knew what they were talking about, other than the fact it was vague and Samantha supports Mark. Next we see Invincible show up at the Pentagon, and he tries to get Dinosaurus to turn into Dinosaur form to save him, but since he turns due to indifference and not anger (shout out to The Hulk), Invincible starts telling him a very boring story about his life, which cause Dinosaurus to make an appearance. Invincible basically says that although his methods are extreme, Dinosaurus does have good ideas and wants to help people, so Invincible wants to work with him and with their combined ideas and powers, they can make a much bigger impact on the world. Dinosaurus accepts Invincible's offer and the two break out of the Pentagon, and head out to make a difference, even though this has resulted in Invincible becoming a fugitive. This was a fine issue, it seems as if we're getting back to the action instead of the slower pace this issue has taken since the Viltrumite War, so let's hope things heat up a bit, I'll give this issue a 7/10.

Every Man that read this: Monster Girl is pretty hot...


Amazing Spider-Man #573

We start things off with a bunch of naked people that used to be giant spiders, including Misty Knight *rawr*, Black Panther and Hawkeye. We also see Steve Rogers say he has something to do, and asks where the government issued Spider-Man went, so there's our segue into the next issue of Venom, which should be seven shades of awesome. We also see Kaine trying to sneak off using the Stealth Mode of the suit he borrowed from Peter, but he's caught by Madame Web, who wants to talk about his future. We also see Peter and MJ talking but he has to run off to see Aunt May who wants to make sure he's fine... that old woman annoys me so much. As Peter leaves we also see that he cured everyone except for MJ, who web-swings away. Interesting...I'm gonna love this. While seeing off Jay and May, Peter oversees Eddie Brock on TV with Reed Richards, hailed as the hero that helped cure the Spider-Infection, which is pretty awesome that Eddie finally gets to be a hero. As May and Jay leave, Peter is then confronted by Kaine, who says he's leaving the city and taking Peter's stealth suit, since Madame Web says he may need it. Also interesting... Peter finally arrives home and see's Carlie packing her things, she doesn't want to hear Pete's excuses and she says she knows he's Spider-Man, and she's been lied to by so many people but now he's on the list, so to show her some respect and say it. He tells her that he's Spider-Man and she says she knew because he knew how to use his powers, he didn't need a learning curve and he should've made more mistakes on purpose like when she taught him how to skate. She says whatever this is they have is now over, before leaving him standing alone in his apartment. Once again, interesting. Peter then goes to see Doctor Strange and asks how Carlie figured it out considering Strange's sell, but he cites that Peter introduced himself to the world while having his powers during Spider-Island, and while everyone won't remember he's Spidey, they can in fact learn he is once again. Goddamn this issue is setting up SO much, between MJ having powers, May and Jay leaving, Kaine leaving with the stealth suit, Cap after Venom, Brock as a hero, Carlie and Peter splitting, and now Pete's identity being able to be learned again, this is easily a year worth of storylines. Afterwards, Pete heads to Horizon Labs and asks Max if he has any of the cure left because Spidey sent him. Max gives Peter a cure and Peter changes to his Spidey threads and heads up to a rooftop where he's met by Madame Web, who says he has earned this and he can use the cure to have a normal life from now on, and a new Spider-Man, possibly Kaine, will take his spot on the web. Spidey said no, the vial of cure is for someone else, and Madame Web says okay and tells Spidey sorry for his upcoming loss. From there, Spider-Man goes to see Mary Jane and gives her the cure (booo) but she says it was fun while it lasted. He mentions to her that he and Carlie are over and that he's a bit disappointed that Eddie gets all the credit for saving the city but MJ tells him to look over at the Empire State Building, as it has lights shows Red and Blue over it, as the city shows their respect to Spidey for saving the day. I loved this issue, it set up so much while dealing with the Spider-Island fallout, and who knows, maybe the cure didn't work on MJ... haha, either way, I was a big fan of this event and this issue, I'll give this issue a 10/10 rating.

Clint Barton: Guys, we live in a world where the Hulk grows ten times his size and his pants stay on. Roll with it.


Uncanny X-Men #1

We started with a page that has pretty much all the major members of the team, along with their powers and real names as well as their code names, which is something Wolverine and The X-Men could've used. Anyway, we start off seeing Mr. Sinister kill some tourists before casually tapping his cane on the side of a big golden robot and making a portal. Next we see Cyclops address his new team, which he dubs the Extinction team. He says it's their job to save so many humans that people realize they are good guys, but Storm points out the obvious, besides herself, Hope and maybe Scott, everyone else on the team has at some point been, a super villain. Eventually, the team is needed and go to the giant statue that we saw Sinister at, as he has used his powers to turn the head of the statue into that of his own, because it's unnecessary yet awesome. Sinister says if Cyclops and his crew want to be heroes, he'll help them, as he attacks the team using the statue. Emma calls for backup as Namor arrives to help the team out, but a huge blast manages to subdue Colossus and even blasts off Emma's arm while in diamond form. Colossus then changes into The Juggernaut and is ready for round two. With the help of Danger, Magneto reconstructs the statue into just an ordinary statue in a pretty impressive maneuver. While trying to locate the head of the statue, they see that Sinister has landed it in the city, and effective turned everyone into versions of himself as this issue closes. I liked this issue, I had a few things I didn't like how odd Storm's face looked, but for the most part I enjoy the team, I enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed Mr. Sinister of course. I'll give this first issue an 8/10 rating and say that I'm very interested in the next issue, especially since things to come in the series shows what looks like Hope confronted by the Phoenix, and Namor making out with Emma Frost.

Hope: We get fancy chairs now? This is a new direction. Did we steal them from someone?
Namor: To sit in a seat so fine, Namor would take it from any man. (Lmao...Namor is crazy.)

And just like that, that's it for this week's Ratings and Rantings. Feel free to leave any comments as well as checking out the results of last week's poll. FYI, no new poll this week since I'm having problems with their website. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger-man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "What character do you miss the most in the DC Reboot?"

Last place with 0% - Donna Troy, damn, poor poor Donna.
Third place with 11.1% - Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, I guess since she'll be back as Spoiler?
Second Place with 22.2% - Wally West as The Flash, I expected more.
Winner with 67.7% - Power Girl, after an awesome run by Judd, I can't express how much I miss Peej.


Next Week on Ratings an Rantings

Batgirl #3, Batman and Robin #3, Deathstroke #3, Grifter #3, Green Lantern #3, and Ultimate Spider-Man #4

List of Books I'll Drop Come December (Subject to Change)

1. Detective Comics

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Ratings and Rantings featuring Schism #5

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


X-Men: Schism #5

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

Cyclops: You press that damn button, you're killing me too!
Wolverine: No.. you're killing yourself.


Detective Comics #2

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

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


Justice League International #2

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

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


Invincible #83

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

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

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

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

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

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

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

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, thanks again for stopping by for another edition of Ratings and Rantings! This is a big week for comics as Spider-Island part one officially starts, and awesome comics like Fabian Nicieza's Red Robin and Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl sadly end. But we've got a lot to get through today so enough with the introductions, let's jump into things with the aftermath of the War of the Green Lanterns!

War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #2

We start things off with Soranik being asked to help assassinate Sinestro, and after hesitation she agrees to help. From there we see Kilowog, Kyle and Guy discussing Kyle's rift with Soranik, John not showing any remorse for killing Mogo, and the fact their rings won't show them where Hal is. Suddenly, Morro shows up and tells the GL's that the Guardians wish to bury Krona with their fallen Green Lantern members, which riles up Kyle, Guy and Kilowog so they go to see Salaak. They tell him they don't want Krona buried there, but Salaak says he's following orders. When Kyle stands up to him, Salaak accuses him of mutiny and he's threatened by Guy. Salaak then leaves, saying he has to take care of some errands, which prompts Kyle to realize how divided the Corps are thanks to this mess which was caused by Krona. He says he's going to apologize to Soranik and asks his ring where she is, but it replies that she's blocked tracking of her ring. He immediately realizes she must be up to something no good, involving her father, Sinestro, so he flies off, leaving Kilowog and Guy confused. Hannu, Soranik and the other members of the squad that wants to kill Sinestro subdue the Guardians' security but Kyle shows up before they can get inside. He tells everyone to relax and tries to talk to his girlfriend, which Soranik says she isn't and attacks Kyle. Kyle manages to knock Sora out and turns his attention on everyone else, and they blast at him but he moves out of the way. Their blasts rip open the Guardians door to reveal they have Sienstro in some sort of torture device trying to force the ring off of his finger. They give up and decide to address the Lanterns soon after as a group, and the Guardians say they will forgive most misdeeds of late, but one thing they will no longer tolerate is to have their judgement questioned. They don't know why the ring chose Sinestro but it must have something planned for the future they can't foresee, so they command everyone to return to guarding their sectors. The issue ends soon after with the Lanterns giving Mogo a proper send-off, us never seeing Hal in this issue, and the Guardians approaching Ganthet like zombies. Well this was weird. I find it odd we never saw Hal in this issue, Sinestro was just allowed to keep his ring, Kyle and Soranik and Kyle and John seem to have grudges, and Guy is just Guy. Oh, and Atrocitus has Krona's corpse thanks to Ganthet. Anyway, most of this issue seemed like filler in my opinion, I'd give it a 6/10.

Sinestro: Surely, they came to kill me. It's what I would do.


Teen Titans #99

We start things off seeing that Superboy Prime had himself cloned pretty much to bring along three other Superboy's to deal with Superboy and the Teen Titans. As the Teen Titans take on their enemies, we see into the thoughts of Red Robin, dealing with fighting his best friend, Wonder Girl fighting her now ex-boyfriend's clone, and Kid Flash taking on a carbon copy of Inertia. Meanwhile, we see Beast Boy, Solstice, Raven and Ravager fight their counterparts, Ravager even takes on the Persuader AND Indigo. Woo, you go Rose! Prime then leads his Titans after Titan Tower to finish the onslaught, even having Headcase use the Golden Gate bridge to turn it into a gigantic robot-like monster. The Teen Titans are busy saving civilians and manage as Prime sits back admiring the handiwork and says he's about to end the Titans legacy, when he's confronted by Bombshell, Zatara, Aquagirl, Speedy, Blue Beetle, Miss Martian, Supergirl and a very tall Damian Wayne as this issue ends. Well, that issue flew by, it was basically a fight stretched out over twenty or so pages with some needless dialogue to get us to the final issue, #100. This was alright, nothing amazing, and I would've preferred to see more Titans of the past, maybe Dick, Roy, Donna, Starfire and such, but ah well. Also, why is Prime just standing around watching, he could kill ALL of them. ALL OF THEM! Even the other Superboys!!!! Anyway I'd give this issue a 6.5/10.

Robin: Legends are a thing of the past.
Speedy: Legacies last Forever. (First thing she's said since Lian's funeral in Rise and Fall of Arsenal...)


Deadpool #41

We start things off with Deadpool, once again wearing his trademark mask, welcoming back the fellow inmates he beat the hell out of. We see that Deadpool has progressed since getting his mask back, and sense everyone's afraid of him and giving him their fruit cocktail (THAT IS NOT A EUPHEMISM!), Deadpool's on top of the world. One person who hasn't been allowed out to play or get any fruit cocktail is the Fool Killer, who wants revenge against a certain Deadfool, er, um, Deadpool. Meanwhile, we see Deadpool talking to the Doctor that'd taken an interest to him, when he realizes the boxes in which he converses with the voices in his head no longer show up, he asks her how she stopped them. Deadpool asks what she did to him and his brain, but she says she's not that kind of doctor. When an inmate says maybe she should tell DP what kind of Doctor she is, she has the inmate escorted away by security, before giving Deadpool one of her "specially made puzzles" to do. Deadpool immediately recognizes the picture from the scattered pieces, a job he'd completed in the past, as he notes they left out all the good stuff, all they left was the bodies. The Doctor said she wants Deadpool to see the bodies, but he says those are boring, and when she asks if murder is boring, Deadpool replies that he's a Mercenary, not a murderer, and he does it for money, but the doc doesn't believe Wade. Deadpool then notes that when he was a kid he saw a grown man slip off his porch and die, and that everyone in the neighborhood was shocked... but Deadpool never finishes the story because he apparently forgets he started it... that was interesting. Deadpool then says he's sleepy and wants to take a nap, but the doctor says he has to finish his puzzle first. Ten days later we see the doctor and her supervisor talking about how Deadpool has been sleeping so much and is sparingly leaving his cell, the soctor realizes she's losing Deadpool on her road to trying to cure him. We then cut to Deadpool, sleeping, when he's hesitantly awoken by a fellow inmate, who asks if Deadpool ever got any of Siryn's fruit cocktail (That IS a euphemism.), to which Deadpool replies he doesn't remember, he's done tons of things he no longer remembers. He then gets a letter from the daily mail distribution and it turns out he sent it to himself before he was committed and didn't remember that either. The letter contains a picture of Charlie Chaplin, which confuses Deadpool, we then see that the Foolkiller got a letter too, that enrages him, but we don't see what it is. The issue ends soon after with The Foolkiller being released from his cell as a sleeping Deadpool catches up on some rest. Now this was a pretty good issue, I couldn't get into the last one as much but this one was interesting, Deadpool seems to be somewhat cure, and he even started a story and didn't finish for some reason... I'd give this issue an 8/10.

Deadpool: What's so bad about puzzles? Puzzles are rad! (People still say rad?)


Red Robin #26

The final issue of Red Robin finally arrives, as a series I've followed since Fabian took over, I'm sad to see it go. There's been tons of women vying after your Timmy Drake/Wayne, and the final issue is Tim Drake finally going after the man who killed his father, so let's get to it. We start off with Red Robin facing off with Digger Harkness, a.k.a. Captain Boomerang. We get a quick recap to see that Tim planted seeds to lead Boomer to this trap, and that if he would've made one right choice in this cycle, he'd have never ended up in Red Robin's trap. We see that he had Digger steal what he thought was Black Lantern energy, and it eventually led him to Mr., Freeze because it needed to be opened by him due to being cryogenically sealed. Boomer bribed Freeze into helping him by saying he could use the power to resurrect his wife but when Freeze tells him it doesn't work, Boomer thinks he's lying and wants the power to himself. Red Robin intended this, so when Freeze killed Boomerang, Tim would feel no guilt, but at the last second he set off an explosion and took out Freeze before Digger knew what happened. But Timcouldn't allow Boomer to kill himself, nor would it allow anyone else to, so he decided he'd kill Boomerang himself. During their fight, Boomerang is hit and stumbles off a ledge, falling to his death, but Tim's conscience makes him save Boomer. Batman and Robin show up as the GCPD arrest Captain Boomerang, and Dick tells Tim he made the right choice saving him. After Dick and Damian leave, Tim says he knows Bruce is in the shadows, and Batman steps out, telling him he knows Tim made all the wrong choices that led Digger there, and regardless of how many options he gave Boomerang, Tim knew he'd pick the ones that would lead to him. Tim says this is him, and these are his decisions, as Batman leaves Tim standing on the rooftop, Tim says that this is his city if he wants it to be. Not Dick's or Bruce's, but his. This was a pretty good issue, we all knew Tim wouldn't kill Boomerang, nor allow him to die, but the planning that went into everything shows why Tim is Tim. This was a nice end to a great run of Tim as Red Robin under Fabian's watch, I'd give this issue an 8/10 rating.

Batman: You saved him tonight, Tim... But what about tomorrow... ? (Like you'd continually save Joe Chill...)


Batgirl #24

Batgirl, I've called one of the best series going for the last two years, with good reason. Bryan Q. Miller took a plucky character named Stephanie Brown, and made us care about her, he even made her become my favorite Batgirl, and yes I do mean over Barbara Gordon. So I'm sad to see this series end, but I do want to thank Bryan Q. Miller for the great issues, the tons of laugh of out loud moments, and being one of the first writers to actually make me like Damian Wayne. Thanks Bryan Q. Miller. So let's get to the finale of Stephanie Brown's run as the Blonde Bomber, Batgirl! We start off with Batgirl, Stephanie Brown, confronting her father, the former Cluemaster. It turns out not only was he behind everything that led Stephanie here, he also has been growing a powerful hallucinogen plant known as Black mercy. He blows the aroma at Stephanie which causes her to fall out and start hallucinating, and he gets ready to leave, saying he wonders what Steph's mom is up to. Before he can go, Batgirl throws one of her patented Goop-a-rangs, which explodes on her dad's hand, causing him to get stuck to the wall. Batgirl wakes up in the hospital with a nurse sitting next to her, the nurse is none other than her mom. After a few words back and forth, we discover that Batgirl got a blood transfusion to clear the spores from her body by her mom, and she's aware Stephanie is Batgirl and is very proud of all the good she's done. From there we see Batgirl leave her hospital room and she's surrounded by Nell and a bunch of the kids Batgirl and Robin helped save earlier in the series, we even see Robin through a window salute Batgirl from afar. That was a really great moment considering how critical Damian has been of Stephanie. From there we see Stephanie and Babs talking on the rooftop, and Babs asks Steph what she saw while under the spell of Black Mercy, as we see Steph beating up goons as Batgirl, Damian giving her the cold shoulder, and a mosaic of Babs, Wendy and Steph, a scene with Batgirl, Supergirl, Star Girl, Bombshell and Miss Martian in olden times fighting a dragon and dwarves, and even get the uber-awesome scene of a blue lantern Batgirl, Green Lantern Oracle and Red Lantern Damian Wayne (Awesome!) taking on a bunch of black lanterns. We also see a picture from 1944 with three Batgirl's (Steph, Babs and Cass) standing with the Blackhawks, as we even see Skeets in the picture, insinuating Booster Gold took it and finally we see an adult Stephanie with her son, and on the next page we see the adult Stephanie Brown as a futuristic Batwoman fighting crime alongside a future Batgirl. The issue ends soon after with Batgirl being optimistic about the future, and claiming this moment as her own, before swinging off into the city. This was an excellent issue, I loved the way Steph had things wrapped up with Babs, kind of passing the torch in a way. I loved the little what-if photos we got to see due to Steph's hallucinations, and I really loved the way Bryan showed how proud Mrs. Brown was of Stephanie. This has been a great run, damn near perfect in my opinion and I'm really sad to see Steph's run as Batgirl end. So thanks again to Bryan Q. Miller for giving us a hell of a book and a hell of a hero, Steph may be the "forgotten Robin" but she'll always be my favorite Batgirl. I'll give this issue of Batgirl a 10/10 rating.

Batgirl: It's only the end if you want it to be.


Detective Comics #881

This ends the over 50 year run of Detective Comics, and I can't think of too many other writers that deserve the honor more than Scott Snyder, who's crafted some of the best Batman related stories in recent memory. The last issue blew me away, and I know this one will as well. We start things off with Batman promising Commissioner Gordon that he'd fine Barbara, whose wheelchair was found outside with her blood stained on it. From there we see James and Babs, and Babs says that he's going to be found and he'll never see the light of day again. He says that may be true but it doesn't scare him, The only time he was really scared is when he first met Barbara, and the way she looked at him like she could tell there was something evil in him waiting to get out, but he was relieved because she saw it too. He asks when she first discovered he was "a psychopath" as Babs called him. Babs says when he retaliated at a bus driver for calling him four-eyes, and how he waited a year to get his revenge, as she was attacked in an alley and had her face slashed and disfigured. He asks how she knew it was him, and she says the weapon he used, a matchbox with razorblades tapes to both sides, so the cuts were too close to stitch, because if you stitch one side it pulls the other open. That sounds painful as hell... Snyder you're a sick man. Anyway, Babs says James did it for the sake of hurting her, and he wants people to pick on him, as it gives him an excuse to do what he already wants to do, torture them. He then tells Babs to look at her legs, she pulls away the cover that's over them to reveal two knives sticking out of her thighs above her knees. James says their stuck in her femoral arteries and if she pulls either one out she'll bleed to death in a matter of minutes. He then cites the time he was thrown in Arkham by Babs and their dad for a few nights to be scared straight, and how his cell was a few away from The Joker's. James said he actually ended up getting along with The Joker, and how Joker's a good listener, and he told Joker how Babs was always in a rush to grow up... and how he may have suggested maybe she should slow down and rest in a nice cozy chair. Holy shit... Scott Snyder is a goddamn genius. James Gordon... is the one to suggest The Joker paralyze Barbara Gordon?! Nope, he isn't as it turns out he never did say that, he's just tormenting Babs because he's an asshole. Well played good sir. Babs says she thought James was different, unlike the other criminals when he came from her, she figured when James came for her there wouldn't be any grandstanding, he'd just kill her, and before she can finish her sentence, James yanks the knife out of one of Babs legs. He says that Babs is right, but this isn't just about her, it's also about him, as we cut over to Batman trying to find Babs with the help of Red Robin via comm link. The link is interrupted by James Gordon who immediately outs Batman as being Dick Grayson. He recounts how basically while he was in a clinical trial, he saw that Batman had returned on the news and he was smiling, and how that reminded him of Dick from his childhood always being around Babs and how Dick always smiled and genuinely cared about people. He said at that moment he realized Dick was Batman, and it was no longer Bruce. He then reveals he's been around for most of the run Snyder has been doing, how he was there when Dick attended The Dealer's auction, and how this all led up to him getting alone time with Barbara for this moment. He then says they'll find Babs' body soon, and before he leaves town he's going to kill his father too, and he turns around and notices Babs has tries to escape. He turns a corner looking for her when Babs stabs him right to the side of his left eye with the knife that was in her other leg, but James recovers as if nothing happened. James gets up as Babs tries to crawl away, and as he finally reaches her, Batman appears and lays James out with one big punch, and tells Babs he's going to cauterize her wounds. Babs asks how he found them and he says when he met James for lunch he placed a tracer on him that works on a cellular platform, and how it just kicked in a few minutes ago. As Dick tries to cauterize Babs' wounds, she tells him not to let James get away. James gets outside and tries to get away when he's shot through the leg by his father, and then through the other leg as he continues his escape. He falls off a bridge but James is caught by his dad who says he's not letting him go. We later see Gordon thanking Dick, for everything, implying he knows he's Batman, and Dick tells him it was no problem. They ten talk about Gotham and how it seems to know everyone's nightmares and make them true. The issue ends soon after with both men vowing to stay in Gotham, ready for whatever the future brings. This was a wonderful issue, I'm looking forward to Snyder's Batman run even more now, and the character of James Gordon is so sick and sinister that he's a perfect villain. I would LOVE to see him return and become Babs' own Joker if you will. I'd give this issue a 10/10, especially due to the cliffhanger it left, an excellent end to the franchise of Detective Comics.

James Gordon: That's the spirit, sis! Hide and seek!


Morning Glories #11

We start thinks off with Ike sitting with a pool of blood pouring out of the body by his feet. He's stunned as he's told by Abraham to get out of here, and that everything will be taken care of by Abraham himself. Ike, seeming confused and still stunned leaves after thanking Abraham. From there we see Mr. Gribbs banging on a door and three women walk out, before finally Ike comes to the door. Gribbs tells Ike they finally have some use for him, and we see the two taking a walk. Gribbs basically says he figured Ike for the rich, prissy, smart ass type but after looking through his file he was surprised to see that Ike was wicked enough to kill his own father. We see a flashback of the media whirlwind that ensued once people thought Ike killed his billionaire father, but we see he was exonerated of all charges, and his lawyer wants to get him home after leaving court but Ike says he wants to stop at his father's funeral, but they must make another stop prior to that. From there we see Gribbs tell Ike he will let him free, let him out of Morning Glory Academy and allow him to go wherever he pleases without hearing from them again, if he kills for him. Ike is taken aback and says he needs time to mull it over, which Gribbs grants him. We then see a flashback to Ike's dad's funeral, where he brought a party bus and a bunch of dancer's, and even a banner that says "The Dick is Dead, Long live the Dick." He then drinks alcohol and insults his mother all while enjoying the death of his father. From there we jump back to present day and see Ike going to his former quarters where he's threatened by Jun for betraying the team, but Jun is calmed by Hunter. From there we see Hunter run into Jade, which we saw in Jade's issue, before being told to F*** off by Casey. He's then approached by Zoe, who states that as long as he keeps drawing their rage she coasts by. He says that if she were smart she would've cut the gang off a while ago, he did and pretty soon he'll be going home, to which Zoe replies that Ike doesn't seem like the type that has much to go home to. Burn! After that epic burn, we flashback to seeing a parking attendant that Ike is bribing, since he has tape of Ike leaving the building after his father was killed. Ike tells him he has to destroy the tape and forget he saw it but the guy plans on using it for more money because he's a greedy bastard. Ike warns him that it isn't safe and the money was to get his attention, the man starts coughing and clutching his chest before he falls over dead. Ike grabs the phone with the video from the mans hand and leaves as people come over to check on the man. Back in the present, Ike goes to see Gribbs and says he'll have to decline the offer, and Gribbs says that's fine but he can tell Ms. Daramount himself. He walks into her office and she tells him to call her Georgina, and she says if she had offered she would've been much less callous about it than Gribbs. What then follows is a bunch of words I didn't notice because Miss. Daramount took her hair down and removed her glasses and she is hawt! She basically offered to "thank Ike" if he did what she asks, probably with some fruit cocktail and the next page we see Ike walk out asking Gribbs where the guy is and how can he kill him. Well played Ike, well played. As Gribbs leads Ike to a basement room with the guy Ike is to kill, Ike is asked if he killed his own dad. Ike stumbles for a bit before saying yes, but they weren't that close. Gribbs says good news, before opening a door and revealing Ike's father, Abraham (?!), who says hey to Ike, as Ike, who doesn't even look surprised says hey back, as this issue ends. Now this was interesting, I loved seeing into Ike's past, as he's a smart ass and that's a fun character to read about (Jason Todd anyone?) and the stuff with him and Zoe as well as the scene with Miss Georgina Daramount made this issue interesting to say the least. Now I'm wondering why Ike's dad isn't really dead... and apparently is none other than Abraham. I'd give this issue a 9/10 rating only because we don't know why the guy in the bar died, that seemed very abrupt and I wish I had more insight on that.

Ike: Mummy! You know I applaud a woman who wears white to a wedding even though she's not a virgin, and wears black to a funeral even though she's not mourning.


The Amazing Spider-Man #667

We kick things off with Carlie Cooper showing Peter she has spider powers, which makes him wonder if he gave her a S.T.D., a Spidery Transmitted disease. Classic Slott. From there we see Madame Web and Shang-Chi on a rooftop, as they watch The Jackal and his guards show up at a meeting of thieves and mobsters from various crime families. Of course, they all end up fighting one another with their spider powers until the Jackal and his two goons, Spider-King and the Tarantula step in and put everyone in time-out. Jackal tells them thanks to him they have powers, and forget about what gangs they were in, they all have a new uniform, as he presents them with Spider-Man costumes, saying their going to break so many laws, and the most important one, Identity Theft. From there we see Peter and Carlie saying good bye to Jay and May at the airport, as Peter calls Aunt May "Mom" before they leave, and Carly for some reason yells she has Spider-Powers in the middle of her good-bye which cracks me up. Next we see a bunch of Spider-Men in different suits terrorizing New York, Mary Jane happens to see this and steps in, saving a kid from being crushed by something one of the bad guys threw. When a Spider-Man with the FF costume tells her quick thinking, she asks "Is that you, tiger?" to which he replies "Oh, I'l be your Tiger, pussycat." before he has his clock cleaned by The Thing! The Avengers join the fray and start taking on the phony Spidey's as MJ asks where Peter is. We then see Peter is stuck in traffic with Carlie as Jameson has ordered a lockdown on New York, due to a bunch of people developing spider powers. Before Pete can even react, Carlie web-slings off, saying this is a job for your friendly neighborhood Spidey-Cop. I'm really starting to like Carlie, plus she has a tattoo of Spidey's face on her pelvis apparently. Peter quickly changes into his Spidey gear and goes after Carlie, hoping he's able to dissuade her. Spidey arrives on the scene and manages to get beat up by Thing, Ms. Marvel and Iron Fist because they don't believe he's the real Spidey. Shang-Chi, unable to sit this one out like Madame Web instructed, joins the fight as Madame Web says Spidey has just learned the first lesson of Spider-Island, even though he has great responsibility, on Spider-Island his great powers are meaningless. We see Spider-Man laid out next to a bunch of other Spider-Men as this issue comes to a close. This was a fun issue, it jumped around a lot, I got a few laughs from Carlie and Ms. Marvel, and it was a great official start to Spider-Island. I'm wondering what Spidey can do to differentiate himself from these costumed villains as well. I'd give this first issue an 8.5/10 rating.

Mary-Jane: I swear, if we're doing the clone thing again, I'm going back to L.A.!

Whew, a pretty good week if I say so myself! The end of Batgirl, Red Robin and Detective Comics, the beginning of Spider Island. Well, that's all for this week guys and gals, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger-man, recklessly misusing my Spider-Powers to get a main event match against CM Punk and Wrestlemania. Anyway, I'm Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Which Comic Character do you think should get a movie next?"

Last place with 0% - Venom, cause Sony and Topher Grace ruined him for us.
Third place with 9.1% - Teen Titans, cause we don't WANT it, but if it looks good, we'll see it.
Second place with 36.4% - The Flash, and 100% hope it's Wally and not Barry...
Winner with 54.5% - Invincible! Make it happen Kirkman!


Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batman #713 (By Fabian Nicieza), Titans #38, Green Lantern Corps #63, Power Girl #27, Venom #6 and X-Men: Schism #3

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, Jason Todd here with eight hopefully awesome comics for this weeks Ratings and Rantings! I'm not feeling the long introduction thing, partly because I'm watching All That on Teen Nick's The 90's are All That! and the other reason is because we've got a lot comics to get to, so let's get this party started!


Gotham City Sirens #25

We start things off with a scorned Poison Ivy, escaping from Arkham Asylum with the help of her plants. We see that she was approached by a man disguised as a guard who told her if she got out and tried to kill Catwoman, his employer would help her, since the employer also has a grudge with our favorite feline. The only thing is, the trap is in motion so Ivy has a time limit. She immediately heads out to find Harley, and she plans on killing her but when she see's Harley has scrawled pictures of The Joker all over her cell, she realizes that Harley is addicted to him, and she still wants to help Harley, probably because she does in fact love her. She offers Harley to help her kill Catwoman, and two thirds of the Sirens flee Arkham Asylum to find and kill Selina Kyle. It turns out that the employer is Penguin, who has a bone to pick with Catwoman after she stole money from him. The issue ends soon after with Ivy approaching Catwoman as they get ready for a fight, with Catwoman unaware that Harley is behind her ready to strike. Well that was a really quick issue. This was pretty much a segue issue to get Harley and Ivy outta Arkham and ready to get revenge on Catwoman, which will undoubtedly fail. But this was a fine transitional issue, I'll give it a 7/10 rating.

Poison Ivy: I am going to kill her. (Harley) Snap her like a flag in the wind.


Teen Titans #98

Supah Boy Prime returns! I love SBP, he's probably my second favorite Kryptonian after Power Girl to be honest. Anyway, things start off with a Black Hole almost taking Superboy in the middle of a battle, he escapes but the black hole somehow brings Superboy Prime back to our world. Upset that this is a world where he's a villain and has no family and no Laurie (his girlfriend) he vows to kill all of the Titans, just because I guess. We then jump over to see Kid Flash taking on three of the Rogues, he defeats them but Inertia (!) runs in for an attack, Kid Flash, angrily grabs Inertia and runs so fast that his skin peels away. We then see that Bart was in a "X-Men Danger Room" if you will but Red Robin is worried that Bart is using the room too much and it isn't safe for him. We then see Superboy and Wonder Girl break up, and she gives Connor a box back but we don't see what it is. Ravager see's this (and looks smoking hot...) and hits on Connor, even though she's surprised those two have finally broken up. She asks whats in the box and he says maybe he'll show her one day. Over with Raven we see that she feels like she's being phased out, her darkness being enlightened by Solstice's bright aura. Suddenly, trouble breaks out in the town and the Teen Titans head over to find none other than Superboy Prime with his Teen Titans, Headcase, The Persuader, Indigo (?!), Sun Girl, Zookeeper, and Inertia!!!! They split up and fight with Red Robin facing the former Titan, Indigo. Sun Girl takes on Solstice, Beast Boy and Zookeeper fight, Kid Flash takes on Inertia which according to Red Robin isn't the same one that was killed (Booo!), Ravager taking on The Persuader, Headcase faces off with Raven and Wonder Girl and Superboy taking on Superboy Prime...Superboy (Bald), Superboy (crew-cut) and another Superboy?! The issue ends with Prime, his Titans and three more evil Superboys getting ready to take on the Teen Titans. This was a pretty good issue. I love the though put into the choices, since Ravager and the Persuader do have a past as well as the rest. I also like the curiosity of what's in SB's box (Kryptonie I'd guess), and Raven's thoughts on Solstice. Really good issue that I enjoyed, I hope the next two are this good. I'll give this one a 8.5/10.

X-Man75: Tim is gonna LOVE all those Connors. (I know you were thinking it X..)


Green Lantern Corps #62

We start off with a look at the past, where thanks to a Star Sapphire, Soranik Natu and Kyle Rayner were shown their true loves in the confines of their minds. Soranik saw Kyle, but Kyle apparently saw the then-deceased Jade. He lies and tells her he see's her as well, and they went on with their relationship. We then catch up to the present where Kyle is morning Green Lantern Mogo. He's told not to take things so hard by Tomar-Tu, the replacement for Tomar-Re. Kyle thanks him and says that Soranik is really taking things hard and blaming him due to problems they had before the stuff with Krona happened, but Tomar seems to be there for Kyle. When Kyle's emotional tether with the Star Sapphire from earlier is connected, he see's her attacking a bunch of seemingly innocent people. He's sucked into a pink abyss and Tomar grabs his hand which brings him with Kyle. Kyle and Tomar-Tu land on a desolate planet, and Soranik lands soon after. It turns out Star Sapphire Miri has brought Kyle and Soranik there to have them try to stop her from taking over the planet. Tomar-Tu quickly realizes there have been no deaths, only collateral damage, and wonders why Miri has done all of this. Miri attacks Tomar and Kyle and Sora team up to save him, they then take on Miri's constructs and take out Miri. She then admits that she orchestrated all of this to get Kyle and Sora back together. Well duh. Kyle, ever the idiot blurts out in rage that he didn't see Soranik in the crystal which just pisses Soranik off even more. He explains that he saw Jade, but she was dead and he never expected to see her again, and he chose life by choosing Sora. She tells him to stay away from her and never come to her sector again as this issue comes to a close. Aww poor Kyle, well at least she got out before she died. This was another good issue, It broke up Sora and Kyle though, who were one of my favorite comic couples. So hopefully they meet up more in the new DCnU since the GL stuff is pretty much staying the same. But I enjoyed this issue, the introduction of Tomar-Tu and everything, but the ending was obvious when we found out tat Kyle lied about seeing Soranik in the love crystal, I'll give this a 8/10.

Soranik Natu: Never speak to me again, Lantern 2814.4. And stay the hell out of my sector! (The GL equivalent of get your shit outta my house.)


Detective Comics #880

That cover is creepy as hell. We start out with Gordon calling a woman named Barbara Gordon, not that one, this is Barbara Gordon Sr., and warning her to stay put and be safe because The Joker is free and he's probably coming for her to get at Jim. She wonders why he would come after her and when she opens the door expecting the hotel security that Jim had them send, she instead is confronted by the Joker and Jim hears her screams. He pulls up to the hotel and runs upstairs to find her naked in the shower, rocking back and forth with a smile that shows she got some Joker Toxin. It turns out that the Joker was eating the Joker Toxin since it was being put into his food for him, and since he's immune, he ate enough to the point it secreted from his pores, giving him a deadly touch. That's pretty freaking genius. Batman then follows after The Joker, as Babs waits for him to come to her, since she's ready for him this time. Tim calls Babs to tell her that Barbara is doing better and Commissioner Gordon is still with her. Batman goes under the sewers to find The Joker and finds him, waiting for Bats. He takes advantage of Batman's night vision and shines a huge spotlight which disorients Batman. The Joker gets close enough to smell Batman and determines that it isn't his Batman, but one with feathers that will have to do. The Joker attacks while telling Batman that Gotham means a safe place for Goats, which are fed on by Bats and he isn't his Bat so he can't hurt him. Batman tells Joker that maybe that's right, but he's gonna get an "A" for effort, before decking The Joker. When Batman tells Joker to leave the Gordon's alone, Joker calls him an idiot and says his Batman would know that he didn't attack old lady Gordon, he's just waiting on his Batman to come out and play. The issue ends with the realization that the attacker was none other than James Gordon, Jim Gordon's son, and he attacks Babs Gordon (former and future Batgirl) as this issue comes to a close. This was a DAMN good issue. I didn't see the swerve coming which is weird because I should've after the last few issues, I loved the stuff with Joker, knowing his Batman as always, knowing that Batman was actually a former Robin, and probably even knew he was Nightwing. This was just a great issue, and Snyder can write the hell out of The Joker. I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating.

The Joker: I didn't do anything to the old bitch. My Batman would know my work.


Invincible #81

Things start off with Mark and Samantha watching the news as they report on the new land of glass that lies where Las Vegas once was, thanks to what happened in the last issue. When news breaks that the hero who tried to stop Dinosaurus was Invincible, Powerplex almost snaps. It turns out he's apart of a "Suicide Squad" like team of former criminals that were put together by Cecil Stedman, but Powerplex still shows that he may not be able to hold his anger at Invincible due to their past run-ins.We then see that Invincible has met with the Pentagon and feels that they feel he's to blame. In actuality they don't blame him, but they do realize things within the organization need to change, and Cecil also believes that Dinosaurus may have survived that explosion. We soon see that Cecil is right, as we see Dinosaurus' alter-ego hiding from the police after they find his armor. On the way home, Invincible and Atom Eve encounter a criminal named The Gravitator who uses a powerful Gravity Gun. Invincible makes short work of him and demands to know where he got his tech. It turns out the inventor-turned criminal from the last issue sold his tech to a criminal, and he's shocked when Invincible turns up at his doorstep. Invincible contemplates taking the guy to jail, but when he meets his fiancee, Hanna, he decides to take him to go see someone that will buy his tech instead. After dropping the inventor off, Invincible heads home when he's randomly attacked by Powerplex. Powerplex asks how long it'll take for Invincible to realize he's causing destruction and deaths, and surprisingly Invincible admits that he's aware and he thinks about all the people he hasn't been able to save everyday. Invincible refuses to fight Powerplex, but explains how each time people died, more would've died had he not been there to save them. He also says that he can't be blamed for killing Powerplex's wife and kid, he didn't bring them there nor did he blast them with electricity inadvertently,  Powerplex is the one who did it. Powerplex agrees and breaks down crying, and is soon captured by his former teammates. The issue ends soon after with Invincible explaining to Atom Eve that as a hero he's done his fair share of bad by making mistakes, and he starts to wonder if he should continue on as a hero. This was a fine issue, nothing amazing but far from bad. It was a little slow in my opinion, I'd give it a 7.5/10.

Invincible: I have no interest in being the two-hundredth hero on your payroll. I'm doing my own thing.


Venom #5

Things start with a villain known as "The Human Fly" that's kidnapping a bunch of people and saving them for lunch. It turns out his most recent kidnapping was of the Senator's daughter, which springs Venom into action. Sadly, the Human Fly takes his meals to a bell tower, so when he attacks Venom and knocks him into the bell, his suit starts to react to the sonic impact. Venom recovers and throws the bell at the Human Fly and manages to web up him and the bell before they hit the public below. Turns out he did the whole mission in less than a minute but was scolded because Agent Venom made the news. While at home, Flash thinks about his father and how much he hates him, and how he worked his whole life for his respect and never got a thing but insults and beatings. Flash then makes his way to go meet with his girlfriend, Betty Brant. They talk about her recently being saved by Spider-Man, and Flash being sorry for having to leave so much (to secretly operate as Agent Venom) and the two finally seem to be at a good place, until Flash's phone rings. It's his mom and she tells him his dad may be drinking again, and Flash vowed long ago that if he did start drinking again he wanted nothing to do with him. Flash doesn't want to go look for his dad but when his mom starts crying he feels obligated, and tells Betty he has to leave. Flash calls Peter to help him go find his dad, and after checking a ton of places, they still can't find Flash's dad. Flash gets a call and it turns out his dad is drunk at the police department, so Flash shows up to get his dad. Flash tells him let's go, because he promised his mom he'd bring him home, and his dad says he couldn't take him when he had legs, so he should think twice before talking to him like that. He continues to pressure Flash and tries to attack him while saying he has a weak cripple for a kid, but Flash simply lets him fall instead of giving him the beating he wants to. We then see that his dad has been drinking because he knows he's going to die soon since he has cirrhosis of the liver and has known for a year. It's because of this, and his father's disregard to those that love him, Flash decides not to see his dad again, and leaves the hospital. He runs into Betty outside and hugs her, and his phone rings, he accepts another mission as Agent Venom as this issue ends. This was another very good issue of Venom. It dealt more with Flash, substance abuse, and child abuse and it was written damn well by Rick Remender. If there's one thing I didn't care for it was how quick we were introduced to the Human Fly and he was defeated, I would've rather he escaped since at the moment Flash only has like two rogues. I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating as well.

Flash: No, SORRY, Pete! After the son of a bitch would lose his mind and beat me, I didn't ask what bat he'd be hitting up next!


X-Men Schism #2

That's quite a busty Rogue on the cover of this issue... anyway, things start with a Middle-Eastern leader speaking to his people about how the mutants want to control them, as he cites how he was controlled by Quentin Quire. He says this time is over as he shows gestures to a Sentinel as his people cheer, but when they fire it up, the Sentinel goes wild and starts blasting everything and killing the civilians. We then see Wolverine walking the halls of the base on Utopia when he runs into some of the Mutant Students. Idie says everyone is afraid of mutants because their monsters, Wolverine tries to tell Idie she's no monster but she says she's made peace with what she is... interesting. From there we see that nearly 75% of the sentinels around the globe are defective, per Kade Kilgore's orders. We then see that Kade has even more plans, as he tells the Hellfire Club he needs four billion dollars and ten of their most violent men, which they give Kade, who then puts his next set of plans into motion. Back with the X-Men, Wolverine tells Cyclops to send him into the field so he can help take down Sentinels with Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Domino and the rest, but Cyclops says he needs Logan there in case the non-defective Sentinels attack. Surprisingly their argument is interrupted by the appearance of Quentin Quire, in the flesh. Quentin asks for Sanctuary on Utopia since that's what all mutants are offered, but Wolverine grabs him by the hair and asks what button calls Steve Rogers. Lol, that was hilarious. Cyclops says they aren't turning him in, he'll be tried right there by his own peers, but Logan says their harboring a fugitive, luckily their argument is interrupted again because Steve Rogers actually calls The X-Men. During the video-call, Logan keeps Quire quiet and Cyclops lies, saying he has no idea where Quentin is at the moment. Afterwards, Wolverine pushes Quire to Cyclops and says he isn't happy about this situation. After Wolverine leaves, Cyclops goes off on Quentin and banishes him to his quarters, when Emma Frost tells him the Mayor has moved up the opening of the Mutant History museum in hopes of easing the tensions between humans and mutants. Cyclops quickly realizes things won't bode well for the mutants if something happens at this event because it will be televised. He sends some of the X-men, Colossus, Magneto, Namor, Iceman and Emma Frost, as well as the students, including a worried looking Idie. The issue ends soon after with the building about to be invaded by a fully equipped for war Kade Kilgore and his goons.I really like how they keep teasing arguments between Logan and Scott because we know they are going to have a falling out, it's just a matter of where and when. This was a fine issue, but nothing spectacular. It was more of a prep for issue three and the fallout from issue one, so for that reason alone I'd rate this about a 7/10.

Cyclops: And if I ever, ever, hear of you belittling Wolverine again, I will personally break you in half! Pray everyday, Quentin, That you will someday be even half the man he is! Because as It stands now, I wouldn't take six of you on your best day for one of him on his worst! (Dayum!)


The Amazing Spider-Man #666

Spider-Island starts here! We kick things off with a rejuvenated Spidey catching a few crooks and being thanks by the citizens and and few police officers. After that, Spidey even manages to help the Young Allies take down Hydro-Man, and even more surprisingly he doesn't make any puns! Afterwards he has back to work and we see he genius Peter Parker has even made an invention that allows him to change his Spidey costume to look like normal clothes, man this guy is getting more and more awesome. After showing an invention to Max Modell and his colleagues that allows you to freeze things cryogenically then thaw them at will, perfectly unharmed, Pete gets a call from his girlfriend, Carlie. When Peter answers Carlie says something weird is going on, and we see one of the criminals Spidey webbed up recently break out of the webbing, he tries to run away but Carlie backhands him and he's out cold. After hearing that Carlie wants to talk with him, Peter heads to his apartment, but forgets to look both ways since he's relied on Spider-Sense so long and almost gets hit by a bus, but he's saved by Phil "Hobgoblin" Urich, along with Norah. They mention that there have been a bunch of Spidey sightings, and sometimes three places at once, so Pete makes an excuse so he can go check things out, but first he has to stop to check with the FF While at the Baxter Building, Mary Jane calls to remind Pete that it's his Aunt and Uncle-In-Law's last night in the Big Apple, she also reminds him to check on Betty in the hospital since Flash got called out of town again. From there we see Flash kicking butt as Agent Venom before calling Betty himself. Betty answers her cell phone in the hospital (which is damn near impossible to get reception in in my experience) and she happens to encounter the story of a lifetime (she's a blogger, like myself except people read her stuff... badum tsh!) when she stumbles onto a ton of patients that are exhibiting the powers of a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Spidey goes to an Avengers card game, then goes to do more martial arts training with Shang-Chi. While training with Shang-Chi, Peter faces off with Julia Carpenter, the new Madame Web, as she informs him that they've been getting him ready for a new challenge, and he'll have to use a killing blow, which Peter refuses to do, since he vowed no one would die around him. She continues to tell Peter it's mandatory but he claims he'll find another way, and he finally heads home to meet with Carlie, whom he'd forgotten about. When she asks if they can talk he says he's been swamped and asks if it can wait until morning, and Carlie looks disappointed but says yes. The issue ends soon after, as we find out the man people behind this mystery phenomenon of spider-powers are a mystery woman and none other than Miles Warren, a.k.a. The Jackal! Now this was a pretty good issue, it set the stage and got a lot of questions started, I'm wondering what happens from here and who will be the first major heroes and villains to get arachnid powers, since I already know Carlie and Mary Jane will have them. But this was a nice start to Spider-Island, I'd give this issue an 8/10 rating.

The Thing: Aw. Why;d ya haveta go an' do that? We had matchin' outfits. We wuz adorable.

And just like that, this week's comics have been read, reviewed and ranted. So feel free to leave a comment and vote for this week's newest poll. Last week's poll barely had any votes so no use in posting the results, the clear winner with 80% was Justice League International. And that's it for me, so until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger man, signing off!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #8, Batman Arkham City #4, and Batman: Gates of Gotham #4.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Ratings and Rantings

Welcome Todd Squad to your favorite weekly comic content comments, the former review a few, the post that's better than the Best of The Rest (Yeah, I said it X.) and the ONLY place where you can get my thoughts and ramblings on comics, because who doesn't want that... Ratings and Rantings! I'm your part host, Jason Todd, and this is a gargantuan week where we have a total of nine, count em, nine reviews. We've got comics from Marvel and DC this week, and also the first ever JTCS review of the critically acclaimed Morning Glories ongoing series, add that with a brand new Weekly Poll to vote on and you've got the making of one hell of a post. So, let's kick things off with one of my favorites, Generation Lost.


JL Generation Lost #20

We start off things in Gen Lost with a Flashback to seeing a sixteen year old Max Lord, sneaking a girl into his house. She's worried they'll get caught but he's positive his parents will be in a deep sleep due to how late it is, and they head inside. While walking to the basement Max walked into the kitchen to see his father dead, with a chunk of his head blown out, blood everywhere, holding a gun. We learned that Max's dad Arthur Lord was a good man who'd found out his company was doing bad things, and when he tried to take those things public, he was silenced. At his funeral, Max's mother cries as she angrily tells Max she doesn't believe what anyone said, and she knows Arthur didn't commit suicide and he was murdered. She tells Max to never underestimate powerful people, and when going up against them, plan every step and remember, when fighting bad people, good people are always going to get hurt. From there we jump to present day and we see Max Lord standing over the recently shot-in-the-head Blue Beetle. Booster and the rest of the JLI looked shocked and Booster screams out that Max is a dead man and he'll pay for what he's done. The JLI break through the almost unbreakable walls thanks to Captain Atom and pursue Max as we see another flashback. We see Max apologizing to his mother because his hostile takeover on Chemtech failed. She tells him that Chemtech didn't kill his dad, the men who ran it did, and Max has already dealt with them, but he says he hates seeing the name as a constant reminder of what led to his father's death, and we see it's been bought out by none-other than Lex Luthor. Max mentions that Lex doesn't play by the rules, leading his mother to ask him why he continues to allow evil men who hide behind their businesses when he could be stopping them with his. From there we see Max paid terrorists to take over the United Nations and the Royal Flush Gang to attack the League's headquarters, just so he could manipulate the heroes and form a team with them, the Justice League International. From there we see Max talking to his mother, telling her about his mind control powers that happened as a result of an alien invasion, which I wasn't aware of. He says he's like the league now and how having powers scares him, and his mother tells him it shouldn't scare him, and he's always been able to make people do what he wants, now fate has made it easier. She tells him never forget that he's one of them, and from there we see him drinking in a room. Booster walks in and asks if there are any survivors, and he tells him no, that Coast City is gone. The two talk and Max says he understands that people die and it's God's will and such, but he tells Booster what makes him sick is win the deaths are caused by one of "you" people. He mentions how when Joker shot Babs Gordon that Joker killed sixteen people before Joker locked him up, or how John Stewart's arrogance caused billions to die when Xanshi blew up. He asks Booster if they cause more harm than good by being around. Booster tries to tell Max not to give up hope when Max says that his Mother lived in Coast City. A surprised Booster asks if there's anything he can do and Max says, forget we had this conversation, before making Booster forget. From there we see Max's life from the OMAC's, to killing Ted Kord, to being killed by Wonder Woman, becoming a Black Lantern, and his return. We see how he came back more powerful than ever and made everyone forget, and planned everything, step by step until now. We see him at the present day, telling Booster he's sorry it's come to this but maybe one day he'll understand that he's just trying to help. The issue ends as Max escapes and the JLI try to save Beetle, but appear to be too late. This was a great issue, I loved to see Max's horrible actions being humanized, and showing us why he changed from the fun old Max to the supposed villain he is now. We saw that he had remorse for everything he did, but believed he was doing the greater good, much like Lex. This issue was very well written and one of my favorite so far, definitely my favorite Max-centric issue. I'll give this a solid 10/10.

Max Lord: I am sorry that it's come to this. I hope some day you'll understand, I'm just trying to help.


Teen Titans #92

Teen Titans and Red Robin continues here! We start things off with Tim and Damian, Red Robin and Robin, The Wonder Boy and The Boy Wonder laying into the Calculator Robots while thinking to themselves how annoyed they both are with the other one. Right off the bat we get the obligatory guy love thing between Tim and Connor, as Conner tells Tim he'll always be his Robin and Tim says Connor will always be his clone boy. Who do they think they are, X and I? I kid, I kid.... Anyway... As the Teen Titans take care of the Calc Robots, we see the real Calculator watching them on a giant monitor. He mentions how the Teen Titans are pretty much responsible for the death of his son Marvin, and how it happened over Cassie's leadership and how it's time to return the favor. Kill Beast Boy Calc, Please!!!! From there the Teen Titans enter a club while trying to find Calculator's signal and find out their above him, so Superboy shoots a hole in the floor, cause I'm sure there aren't any stairs or a more stealthy way to do that. JT Krul then shows his amazing writing abilities by having Ravager and Beast Boy say damn near the same thing in the same panel. Nice work, Krul. And, I spoke too soon, because Superboy then drops the horrible line "Now this is what I call Underground." Oh god, is this Teen Titans or Teen Cliche's? Then... Calculator, who's been watching them the entire time, so HAS to know their right above them, says out loud, "Where did they go?" as his camera's just show a hole in the club's floor that's right above his hideout. Really? He's THAT stupid? The Teen Titans break through his wall as he activates more robots, leaving Bart to say "Great, more robots." My sentiments exactly Bart. As the Teen Titans deal with his Robots, one grabs Cassie and Calculator talks about how the Titans don't let anything get in their way, not even the bodies of fellow Titans, and he tells her how basically used Kid Eternity as a phone to call up Marvin from the dead and after it stopped working he killed him. Cassie starts crying for her fallen teammate that was only on the team for like twelve issues. (Looked it up, fourteen issues.) Not long after that the entire team is subdued by the robots, but Robin throws his very sharp version of a Batarang and breaks the mainframe, taking out the robots. Cassie wants to kill Calc for killing Kid Eternity, but Red Robin reminds her thats not who they are. After she tosses him away, Robin goes over and stabs him in the stomach, shocking everyone except Tim, showing that Robin and Red Robin knew Calculator was a robot, but no one else did, not even Calc himself. Also Superboy didn't, even though he should be able to hear heartbeats, see through people and whatnot. Afterwards, Red Robin says something about the team and refers to himself, and Robin gets upset and says he's ready to go back to Gotham, especially since the Teen Titans already have a "Robin". Later, Tim asks Robin if he wants to stay, and Robin says he can't deal with them AND him, and they'd obviously rather have Tim around. When Damian goes back to join Dick, we see him comment on how Damian is more patient, how he's picked up new moves and hasn't used his blades to harm anyone. The issue ends with Damian saying he didn't need the Teen Titans and telling Dick he already had one friend in Gotham and one is more than enough. I enjoyed this issue for the Red Robin/Robin interaction, the swerve ending, the character development with Damian, and Tim rejoining the team apparently. What I didn't like was the way Calculator was made to look like a fool, especially after Tim put him over so much, like Catman in Red Robin, only for him to come out looking like a dud. Also I didn't like a lot of the dialogue, it seemed like some stuff a drunken Chris Yost would write, and Krul is much better than that. But with those as my only gripes I guess I'd give this issue a 6.5/10 rating.

Superboy: I don't care what your costume your or him wears. As far as I'm concerned, you're my Robin, always will be. (More ammo for me and X-Man's Tim/Kon-El wanna date each other theory.)


Power Girl #21

My favorite female Kryptonian kicks things off in this month's issue of Power Girl as she speaks about how we all make mistakes, from the putting your foot in your mouth mistake of congratulating someone on being pregnant when they aren't, or her undressing while the window washers happen to be outside her window, or ripping doors of the hinges with her super strength. We then see she means the recent mistake of beating the crap out of Captain Atom because she thought he was a evil Superman thanks to being mind-controlled by Maxwell Lord. After she's snapped out of it, Power Girl is told she should leave by Booster, which is actually him telling her she should try to find some help in the form of Batman, Superman and some more heavy hitters. From there we see her trying to tell Batman about Max Lord and how he keeps forgetting him. For the record, I'd recommend the comic just on this conversation alone because it was hilarious. After not being able to convince Dick Grayson who Max Lord is, Power Girl says she;s going to find a way to make him believe. From there we see Peej thinking about Ted Kord, and she says how she never took him seriously due to him being so goofy. We see a flashback that someone had broken into a Kord Universal warehouse and stolen some things, and left two dead guards in their wake. So Ted had called in Nightwing, Power Girl, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Wonder Girl, Speedy, Green Arrow and Wonder Girl to investigate. Power Girl tells Ted that this is a team for Darkseid, not to investigate murders the police could do, but Ted remained adamant that he felt there was something bigger going on. He tells her about the mysterious name O.M.A.C. popping up during his search for answers and she said that he should be the one trying to find answers, not calling on everyone else. She and the team of heroes then left, and she said that was the last time she saw Ted, and he was right in his suspicions and it got him killed. So Power Girl goes to Ted's grave and digs up his casket, she takes it to Dick and tells him to scientifically prove that Ted shot himself. Dick starts to say how crazy she is and he won't play along with her game when Batman (Bruce) walks in and says Dick won't do it because Max Lord shy's everyone away from remembering the truth. Power Girl is shocked Bruce remembers and Bruce said so will Dick, and Bruce starts to do the autopsy on Ted. Once the autopsy gets underway, Dick has no choice but to conclude Ted Kord was murdered and instantly remembers what happened. Dick says he'll contact the JLA and Oracle as Bruce and Power Girl head to find the JLI, which will continue in Gen Lost #22. This was a great issue, I loved seeing Power Girl try to prove everything, and so obsessed that she got Ted's body, which was a great touch at how badly she needed Dick to believe her. I also loved that I as right in my speculation months back that Bruce would remember Max since he was away when Max did his worldwide mind-wipe. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the stuff about Starrware, so much so I even omitted it from this issue, since it almost ruined the flow of it, so that aside I'd give this an 8.5/10.

Power Girl: We've been having this conversation for thirty minutes!  I get you halfway down the field, boom, you fumble! Your forget again and we're back at home plate! 
Batman: You really don't know anything about sports, do you?


Action Comics #898

Lex Luthor's Action Comics starts off with Lex, still after the mysterious black orbs, as he's told one is wildly moving around space. While planning on going to get the orb, he's attacked by Larfleeze and his Orange construct, Glomulus. Lex notices that the orb is in Glomus' stomach, and Larfleeze explains that he found it and wants Lex to tell him how to use it so he can get more stuff. Ah, the wonderful gift of greed. Lex plays it cool and says he'll gladly help, telling the only Orange Lantern to hand over Glomulus, but Larfleeze doesn't fall for it, and figures out that Lex's Lo-bot activates the orbs and quickly figures out Lex is on a quest for power. Lex then explains that Larfleeze should be worried because after having a taste of that power he had while being an Orange Lantern. he wants the power back. He then launches a sneak attack on Larfleeze and tells one of his people to start a force field to keep Larfleeze there. An enraged Larfleeze yells that this is his attack and blasts Lex to the ground. Lex sends his Lo-bot to get something from Lab 8, and Larfleeze demands Lex have her come back, and grabs one of Lex's employees. He threatens to kill Lex's "construct" is Lex doesn't comply, and Lex, not wanting Larfleeze to think he cares about any of those people, just shoots the poor man square in the head, killing him instantly. Lex then surprises Larfleeze and pushes him into the sphere he got from The Joker, causing him to disappear. Larfleeze comes out of the orb somewhere in the Antarctic, and keeps shooting at the orb, telling whatever's inside to get back. He says Luthor must be mistaken to want that and no one would want that, even Larfleeze doesn't. which shocks him since he usually wants everything. The issue ends with the robot Lois talking to her boss as she leads Lex towards doom. Well this was an alright issue, I couldn't really get into it though, and I didn't care much about the reveal of Lo-bot's boss, what I did like is the mystery of what scared off both The Joker and Larfleeze, but I'll give this issue a 5/10.

Larfleeze: Hairless Lex Luthor!!! (Oh Larfleeze, always stating the obvious.)


Gotham City Sirens #20

We get things started as we see a very upset Harley Quinn, she explains how she has a quiet rage inside her that she hides behind her happy-go-lucky personality. How that rage only wants one thing, revenge for all the things she's been put through by a certain Clown Prince of Crime. She vows that she's gonna do what no one else has been able to, to kill The Joker. She uses four items to break into Arkham, because she claims that's all she needs. First while breaking in, she encounters an Arkham guard named Officer Hendricks. She remembers how she noticed he admired marbles, and used her fantastic psychiatrist skills to discover that as a kid he loved playing with them, and how he used them to escape and wished there were worlds inside them he could escape away to from his abusive father. So Harley throws marbles his way, and when he picks one up to inspect it, they explode. Harley claims she always liked Hendricks, but her rage won't allow for distractions, because they aren't enough. Harley starts to hallucinate and see's The Joker, she throws a crowbar but it fades through where she thought she saw him. From there, Harley recounts her meetings with Alice Sinner, the current head Director of Arkham Asylum, and how everyone knew that Alice's parents were apart of a mass-suicide cult. We see that Alice once loved a boy who loved her back, and he made her a flower out of fabric, and once they fell in love and were caught, he was forced to repent and act like Alice didn't exist. So she took her revenge and thirty-seven bodies were found at the crime scene, and a fabric-made flower. Harley said she had known Alice murdered those people, but recommended her to be hired at Arkham anyway, because of a request by The Joker, and notes that people with trauma are easier to manipulate. She then drops a flower made of fabric from an above vent onto Sinner's desk, and when she reaches for it, some knock out gas expels from the flower. From there Harley breaks out Basil Karlo a.k.a. Clayface with a crowbar, and we see how he goes crazy when a remake of his classic horror film is changed, and the weapon used to murder his character is changed from a Crowbar to a shoe. Clayface reacts by killing the director with a crowbar as Harley states to Clayface a crowbar represents failure. Clayface, once loose, starts attacking guards due to his anger. The issue ends as Harley heads on her way to kill The Joker and is confronted by her final challenge, Aaron Cash. Man, this was a great issue, it was great to see a new side of Harley, especially one that shows why she's such a damn good threat. Harley has so much talent and ability and I love seeing it utilized, although that Clayface explanation was pretty lame, I'll give this a 7/10.

Harley Quinn: It is a talent I've had my entire life. It's what made me a skilled therapist. I can find the weak spot. The one everyone has. Then I push.


Amazing Spider-Man #655

This issue of ASM is titled "In Memory of Marla Jameson", and starts off very interesting. For the first ten pages or so there are no words, thought boxes or any text. We see J. Jonah Jameson wake up in bed alone, and shower and shave, and we see he's still wearing his wedding ring. We then jump over to see Peter Parker finishing up shaving, he puts on his Spider-Man suit and gets dressed over it then seems to think while closing his eyes tight, and ends up leaving his Spidey costume on his bed and leaves for Marla's funeral. We see everyone from Betty Brant to Glory Grant showing up at Marla's funeral. We see as Jonah stands over Marla's grave and doesn't shed a tear, all the while with an emotionless face. These pages were done amazingly, they done so little in terms of words but they really hit home, the visuals are what sold it and that was a bold move that really worked out, so kudos to the ASM team. From there we see Peter lie down to bed later that night, as he finally drifts off to sleep he dreams of the night Uncle Ben was killed. This time Peter tries to stop the robber but can't catch him, as we see Uncle Ben in a blood-soaked shirt telling Peter to let it go. He tell's Peter he's at peace, and he's with family and points over to Peter's parents. Peter runs over to them and they turn around, only to see they have no faces. They say that Peter doesn't even remember them, that he thinks of Ben and May as his parents and his actual parents mean nothing to him anymore. From there Peter's family are boarding a plane to the great beyond and he see's Aunt May boarding, when he tries to grab her arm she morphs into Marla, and asks if she was Aunt May would he have found a way to save her. As Marla walks away she says don't worry, she'll be back, she used to build Spider-Slayer's and that makes her a super villain, and super villains always come back. Peter says she wasn't a villain, she was a good person, and she replies, never mind then. I loved that line so much because it really is true in the comic world. Villains come back every day but Uncle Ben or Batman's parents never will. From there we see Peter running around a Topsy-turvy New York that's full of people that have died in his life including Ben Reilly, Kaine, Gwen Stacy and Captain Stacy, and so many more people. He then see's Kraven, Green Goblin, Mysterio and the other villains that have returned from the dead, while his love one's haven't. He then sees vigilante's like Socurge, Punisher and even Wolverine killing off his rogue's gallery since Spidey wont take that step, and even has Captain America tell him to wake up and smell the coffee, even Cap killed Nazi's back in the day. Spidey then has the chance to stop the man who would go on to kill Uncle Ben once again, Spidey catches him and beats him to a bloody pulp, before realizing he was attacking Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben tells Peter that by crossing that line, that's how he'd be responsible, for the death of everything he's given him, and Peter promises he won't. He wakes up in a cold sweat and we later see him vow that from now on, whenever he's around, no one will die on his watch. The issue ends as we see a super villain with hostages, kill a hostage for no reason after making no demands because he can. This was an amazing issue, no pun intended. The look on JJJ's face never changing, Spidey's demons of his past and all the death's that are on his hands. I'll give this issue a solid 10/10 rating for one hell of a great story.

Marla: I used to build Spider-Slayers. That makes me a super villain. And Super Villains always come back.
Peter: But Dr. Jameson, you're not... I know you. You're a good person.
Marla: Oh... well then... never mind.

Detective Comics #874

James Gordon starts this issue off, as he's face to face with his son, James Gordon Jr. Commissioner Gordon doesn't look happy to see his son, but after James tries to get his dad to listen for two minutes, he finally complies. He tells his dad he's sorry for all the trouble he's caused him, his mom, Sarah and Barbara over the years. Gordon doesn't believe James, and recounts many times that James has hurt and tortured people over the years from Jocks that teased him to a girl when he was a kid named Bess Keller. James says he's not a good man but he's never killed anyone. He tells his dad about how he left Gotham thinking he'd be able to get away from who he is, and after being hassled in Texas, he wanted to go find the person who did it and hurt him and his family and friends, but stopped himself and checked into a psych center. He says what he found out there is that he is a psychopath, and he's fine with that. He shows his dad that he's in a drug trial that pretty much tames his psychosis, and he says he wants to help people like him. He says he's applied to work with Leslie Thompkins and she knows the truth about him, he just wants his dad to speak to someone at the Wayne Foundation, namely Dick Grayson, and make sure they don't say anything to block him from being considered by Leslie as well. Gordon doesn't answer as James gets up and walks away while telling his dad it's good to see him. Next we see Batman and Red Robin, since he's in everything this month, on stakeout. Tim doesn't think Dick should be on control after what happened with him being poisoned by The Dealer, but Dick, just like Bruce, is too hard-headed to ever take a personal day. While getting the drop on some criminals, the toxin comes back to bite Batman, causing him to make mistakes and get caught slipping by a few criminals. After the assist by Red Robin, they search the criminal area and find a bunch of endangered animals, they try to figure out who's behind it before figuring it was someone new. The issue ends with Commissioner Gordon thinking of his son and their recent encounter. Well this was an alright comic, I feel like signs point at it being James as the culprit and that seems to obvious. I liked the stuff with him and Gordon but the Batman stuff seemed filler and Red Robin was pretty pointless in this, his role could have easily been filled by Robin or even Oracle verbally. I'll give this issue a 7/10 because I'm enjoying the way James Jr. has been portrayed so far.

Gordon Sr.: What's that on your shirt?
Gordon Jr: It's blood, Dad. I killed a waitress while you were talking to Barbara. Her head is stuffed in the toilet of the Men's room... It's just ketchup, see?


Deadpool #33

The Merc with a Mouth is back doing what he does best, finishing up with the Hero lifestyle, DP now plans on getting paid, getting laid, and blood getting sprayed. And yes, I did just make that up. He starts his intergalactic voyage going to the planet Ongulia, or what's left of it after it's nuked by it's enemies and goes the way of Krypton. The remaining Ongulians seek help in the Red and Black form of the Regeneratin Degenerate himself, Deadpool. But before that, Deadpool must confront the widow of Macho Gomez, after killing him last issue. She threatens to chomp off DP's stupid head, so he plants one on the big hippopotamus resembling woman, and finds out that he's now married to her through that kiss. Surprisingly, Deadpool is fine with that, but he does have a thing for big chicks and old women, so maybe we should've seen this coming. After a honeymoon, Deadpool joins the family business of towing and recovery, and heads out on his first run, and after a bunch of bloodshed and calling himself Fatty a few times, Deadpool proves to be successful, which proves he's awesome at mostly everything he does. While doing this, he pisses off his boss, who happens to be his wife's brother. While talking about Deadpool with an employee, the employee suggests they bump off Deadpool, and says Deadpool's wife could do better, considering the guy is obviously in love with her. They make a few calls and we come full circle as the Ongulians ask Deadpool to get revenge for them by killing Id, who happens to be a moon. So yeah, Deadpool has to kill a living moon. It's the kind of wackyness that's so stupid that it's hilarious. The issue ends with Deadpool, eager to take on a living moon, accepting the job. This was a stupid, fun comic, nothing more, nothing less. It was perfectly acceptable and fun, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Deadpool: You want me to kill a planet...
Ongulian: Well, a moon...
Deadpool: You want me to kill a planet. Just say it.


Morning Glories #7

This issue of Morning Glories starts things off with a flashback to Mumbai, India, thirteen years ago. We see a man named Abraham, as his guide warns him that people in this area have proved to be liars and charlatans to see special. Abraham asks questions and we discover that the young woman their going to see is an orphan, due to her father murdering her mother. Abraham believes this young woman is the one he's looking for, solely based on faith. When Abraham and his guide walk into the room, the young woman finishes Abraham's sentence and greets him by name which shocks the guide, not only because she knew his name, but because she responded to Abraham in English, which is a language she had never even heard before. He tells the guide that this is the young woman their looking for, and that she is to be given to an adoptive family and her new name will be Zoe. We then fast forward to Zoe at Morning Glory academy talking to Casey, but she seems to be in her own world.When Casey acts what the problem is, Zoe goes off on her, asking why she wasn't made aware of their plan to save Jade. When Casey says she wasn't sure she could trust Zoe prior to that, Zoe tells her now she knows she can't trust her at all. Zoe storms out and walks past the gym and runs notices the cheerleader squad working out, after practice ends she confronts a cheerleader. Zoe, shocked the school even has a cheer team asks about it, and when the young woman asks if Zoe cheers, she takes great offense to it, implying that she's pretty much the Muhammad Ali of cheering all through the facial expressions she gives. (Kudos to Joe Eisma.) We then get another flashback, this time to last year, and we see Zoe on the cheer squad. She and a friend are talking about how they probably won't promote Zoe to Junior Varsity Cheer Captain unless she's dating a popular guy, or at least someone. Zoe makes up the lame excuse of the guy her friend recommends as being too tall, so her friend says maybe she'll date him, and calls Zoe a V-Tard, which just made it's way to my vocabulary. (Kudos to Nick Spencer.) The Cheerleader chatter is cut short when a teacher interrupts and says he hasn't gotten Zoe's friend's paper and she has until five to get it turned in, so she takes off to go finish her paper as Zoe looks on. Back in the present, the Morning Glory squad cheerleader tries to convince Zoe to join, saying she wouldn't even have to try out, but she'd have to pass a initiation ritual. Before she can explain she has to run, but asks Zoe to meet her on the soccer field at ten if she's interested, and she promises the sprinkler's full of hydrochloric acid won't go off then, which I loved because I honestly expected that... well minus the acid part. After she leaves Hunter comes over to say he thinks Zoe was right but she quickly brushes off his sympathy and says she has to trade up on the friend food chain. We then get another quick flashback as Zoe's leaving the gym at her old school she walks past a room and hears her friend crying out, she looks inside and see's the teacher trying to force himself on her, and Zoe clocks him in the back of the head with a book, causing him to fall forward and hit his chin on the desk, pushing back and breaking his neck. Back in the present, Zoe heads to the soccer field (which has goal posts, so I'm assuming that's a slip or they multitask on that field.) Zoe walks up and see's the cheerleaders with a ram, and she quickly announces she's not killing or having sex with it to join the squad. They laugh and tell her it's their team mascot and hand her something. They say what she has is basically a lie detector test and their gonna ask her three questions, two standard and one specifically for her, and if she lies she can't join the squad. They ask her earliest memory and we see Zoe's father strangling her mother while she watches from another room. The next question is what is the worst thing she's ever done, and we see that after she knocked out that teacher and mistakenly killed him her friend admitted the sex was consensual and they were playing a game that was her idea, for her to pretend he was forcing himself on her. After finding that out, Zoe decides they have to get rid of the body, and do so by putting his body in the school furnace. The final question is who is David, which refers to something in an earlier issue. Zoe doesn't ask, and instead runs off. We then see the main cheerleader reports this news to Miss Daramont who seems pleased with the information. The issue ends soon after with Zoe exacting revenge on the cheerleader, but I won't ruin it by saying how. Man, this issue was amazing. It started out great with a piece Zoe's past, then we saw her anger at being excluded, and the swerve with the teacher and the girl really caught me by surprise and the ending was shocking yet satisfying. Now I'm wondering what caused the change from sweet little girl to the "Mean Girl" that Zoe is now. If all comics were this good I'd never stop reviewing, I'll give this issue a perfect 10/10 rating.

Zoe: You know what's funny? I can't even remember your name. I wonder if it's because there's nothing interesting or attractive or useful about you? (In the words of Michael Kelso... BURN!)

Well, this was a long post but I definitely saved the best for last. Here's hoping you all enjoyed my reviews and rantings, and as always week free to comment. Be sure to vote on the new weekly poll as well, and check out the results of the last poll below. Well that's it for me guys and gals, until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger-man, Jason Todd!

Last week's poll asked "Which Bat-family member should have a solo ongoing comic series?"

Last Place with 9.1% - Alfred Pennyworth, but he still makes a mean cup of tea!
Third Place with 18.2% - Cassandra Cain, Well I'm not opposed to her joining the Birds of Prey. ;-)
Second Place with 31.8% - The heir to the Wayne Fortune falls short to his "brother"...
Winner with 40.9% - Jason Todd returns from the grave and gets a series? I wish!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #3, Streets of Gotham #20, Brightest Day #21, and Green Lantern #63.