Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, yours truly, Jason Todd here with another edition of your favorite weekly feature of comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! Thanks for coming through and we've got a nice amount of content today, with four DC comics and two Marvel comics. We've also got a new poll and last week's poll results. We've got a lot of stuff to get through, so let's get things started with our first comic.

Gotham City Sirens #23

Man, with the crazy look on her face and the gymnast like butt on Harley, I almost didn't even notice Catwoman and Poison Ivy in the background. We start things off with Catwoman noting how everything on this night is making this the right time to separate a million dollars from a fat man, and we see her target is none other than Oswald Cobblepot, better known as the Penguin. Catwoman takes out Penguin's guards and takes his diamonds while remarking how she missed being on her own, when Batman drops in to tell Catwoman about Arkham. He pretty much tells her that he has some other business but once he takes care of that, he's going to Arkham and anyone he finds there is going to stay there, which is code for, go save Harley and Ivy before I make sure they stay there. Catwoman tells Batman she's done with his schemes, saying she knows what he did before he won the cowl (anyone wanna explain that?), and Batman remarks that Cats were never known for their loyalty, before disappearing into the night. We then jump over to a hectic Arkham with guards and everyone else running amuck and in the middle we see Harley kissing a gun-wielding Joker. The Joker and Harley decide they want to have a game night so they go off to find some "volunteers". We then see Aaron Cash calling Commissioner Gordon to tell him they need help at the Asylum, and Gordon says their on the way. We soon find out that Arkham Director Alice Sinner is still in Arkham and is being protected from inmates, including Dr.Arkham. When the inmates come to attack Sinner, Arkham uses his crazy mind and his knowledge of the human body to scare the guards into surrendering, then he has them killed anyway. Arkham walks over to Alice Sinner who is happy he came for her, and opens a wall safe to give Arkham another Black mask skull. God I hate that Arkham is black mask... He puts the mask on and he and Sinner kiss while inmates beat a guard to death behind them. Catwoman arrives at one of her secret caches and is still upset that Batman tried to manipulate her, she says she doesn't owe Harley and Ivy anything, even if they helped her when she was down, then she thinks for a minute and realizes she owes them, so heads out to help. We then see Arkham and Sinner realize they can't escape due to the GCPD being at Arkham now, and the guards he's spent time blackmailing could be killed in the riots, so there's only one thing they can do if they hope to escape anytime soon. We then see Black Mask and Sinner along with some inmates confront the Joker and tell him to give up the Guards he was torturing, because Black Mask and his men outnumber Joker, but Harley pulls out the debilitator which shocks and subdues all of Arkham's men. After arguing over the guards being bargaining chips and saying that Batman is on the way and they could've used them, Arkham yells that this isn't a game, to which Joker tells him everything is a game. Their fight is then interrupted by Poison Ivy who erupts through the ground and tells Harley she's tired of saving Harley from The Joker, and now she has to pick, once and for all, Ivy or Joker. The issue ends with Batman (Bruce) and Catwoman heading to Arkham to stop the chaos as Ivy waits for an answer from Harley. I liked this issue, and while I didn't care much for the Black Mask stuff, I did like the fact we get a Harley/Mr. J, Catwoman/Batman battle in the next issue, as well as the first face to face Batman (Bruce) Joker meeting since Bruce returned from his trip through time. I'll give this issue a 7/10 rating and I hope the next issue is at least this good.


The Joker: I was going to take the opportunity to place your face in the fryer. Make it so you don't need that ridiculous mask.

Deadpool #37

We start things off with Deadpool in what can only be described as "his crazy ass heaven", before we see him in a kiddie pool bleeding with a gun in his head. We jump back nine days with Deadpool asking Wolverine how he can die due to their healing factor, but Wolverine doesn't wanna help Deadpool off himself. Deadpool mentions how Wolverine used him to help him find Daken (in Wolverine Origins) and that Wolverine owes him, but he still doesn't help, but Deadpool seems to have figured out what Wolverine doesn't want to tell him. We see four days later, Deadpool stops in Russia and pays a TON of money for the Russians to get him something, but we don't see what it is he wants. We then see today, as Deadpool waits on Bruce Banner and drives after him. He asks Bruce if he's having a party and if The Hulk will be there, but Bruce says he isn't having a party and leaves, but Deadpool says there will be a party. As Banner drives away he wonders why Deadpool confronted him just to talk, and we see Deadpool press a button which explodes a nuke on the bottom of Bruce's car, which obviously causes The Hulk to emerge from the wreckage. Deadpool and Hulk have a huge fight in the middle of nowhere, so no one else gets hurt, see Deadpool is still quite heroic! Deadpool tries his best to piss off Hulk even more, so he jams two swords in his nostrils and fills his mouth with C4 and dynamite, which is just plain awesome. But surprisingly, Hulk responds and says Deadpool won't drive him mad, and to go back to whoever hired him but Deadpool says no one hired him, causing Hulk to say that should make it easier for Deadpool to walk away. Deadpool tells Hulk he won't stop until Hulk does what he wants him to do, but Hulk says he does what he wants to do, before flicking Deadpool away. Deadpool presses a button when he lands which lights up a backpack by Hulk which causes it to blow him up again. An enraged Hulk jumps over to Deadpool as the issue ends. Now this was fun, I loved seeing Deadpool try to irritate Hulk as well as his quick confrontation with Wolverine. Now that Bruce doesn't seem to be in control of the enraged Hulk, things are gonna get even more crazy, I'll give this issue an 8/10 rating.

Hulk: I'm a 2,000 pound radioactive monster. I only do what I want to do.

Green Lantern #66

We start of learning that Mogo's role as moral compass is what guides the Green Lantern rings when searching for recruits, and an infected Mogo finds mindless and violent recruits and makes them Green Lanterns. We then see Guy and Hal being overwhelmed by the Guardians who are fused with the entities, minus Parallax. Guy wants to leave and regroup but Hal is positive their close to Parallax and starts to drill at the battery while Guy tries to hold back the Guardians. Guy realizes his red ring isn't doing much against the Guardians so he uses Krona's Gauntlet instead. He says that it feels like he's wearing twelve Green Lantern rings at once (something Hal would know about), but before he can strike, both Guy and Hal or blasted by Krona with the power of all seven entities, and for the record, it looked pretty damn cool. We then see Sinestro as a Green Lantern fighting Manhunters, when he radios to Abin Sur and doesn't get an answer, he remembers that Abin is dead, and that he's no longer a Green Lantern and sheds a tear. Aww, isn't that sweet. Anyway, he realizes he's in the pages of the Black Book and yells at the top of his lungs to Lyssa Drak that he knows she's hiding within the pages. As we see Sinestro looking for Lyssa we see other trapped people's memories in the background, including Saint Walker with his kid, Larfleeze and Atrocitus. We also see Indigo-1 locked in a cell, she attacks Sinestro and asks where did Abin Sur imprison her... before Sinestro frees himself and looks through more pages. That's interesting, I wonder how Abid Sur and Indigo connect. Sinestro finally escapes the book but as he does, Krona puts him back into it, telling him the Green Lantern Corps no longer needs him, as it has the Earthmen. He then tells Hal and Guy that the Guardians are unable to do their jobs due to having emotions, but Hal and Guy will no replace them, as he has them wrapped in the same bandages that turned him into one of them, and now Hal and Guy will rule next to him, as the new Guardians as this issue ends. I really enjoyed this issue, It looks like Sinestro may become a GL again at some point which would be interesting, we also saw that Indigo used to be a criminal or something which was a shocker, as well that someone can become a Guardian since I figured they were born that way. Either way, great issue and I hope the other two are this good, I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Indigo-1: Where did Abin Sur imprison me? Tell me before I tear your throat out.

Green Lantern Corps #60

We start things off with temporary Indigo Lantern John Stewart and Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner, encountering the rings Mogo is sending to new Green Lantern recruits thanks to Krona. They encounter over 10,000 rings according to John's ring, and Kyle's Blue Lantern ring proves to be useless again when he can't even stop the rings and shut them down. John is able to latch onto the rings power and makes a giant dome to contain the rings from getting out and pushes them down to a cave on Mogo, but he can't hold the rings down and they explode through the dome. Kyle figures is Blue Rings can heal, maybe he can get to Mogo's mind and heal him so he can recall the rings. As they travel to Mogo's brain John tells Kyle to remember Mogo is psychic and he's gonna try to hit them with their deepest fears. Surprisingly their attacked by some more Green Lanterns, as Krona sent them to Mogo to go after Kyle and John. Kyle is boosting their ring power just by being a Blue Lantern but he also uses his ring to remove the impurity from a few of the Lanterns while he and John fly further into Mogo. They finally encounter Mogo's brain, which is a giant GL Ring encased in a circle of green. Kyle tries his ring and makes a construct of Mogo's former partner, Green Lantern Bzzd (?) but the impurity stays, because Mogo also had the Black Lanterns inside him as well. Kyle tries to purge them from Mogo but Mogo blasts Kyle, knocking him out, as Hundreds of GL's head towards Mogo to come after John and Kyle. John decides he'll tap into Mogo's GL power to defend himself and an unconscious Kyle but Krona tells Kyle telepathically there's nothing he can do, because as each second passes more and more GL's are recruited and being sent to Oa. Kyle regains consciousness and John says Mogo is too far gone, but he can do one thing. He grabs the Black Lantern element into his ring and makes a portal for himself and Kyle. John says billions will die unless he does this, and infused with the Black Lantern power, he creates a sniper and shoots Mogo's core, causing Mogo to explode as the issue ends. Once again, another great issue in "War of the Green Lanterns". John did what he had to do, and I think he made the right decision, but of course they'll be a huge fallout from this. Anyway, this issue was great, but the one problem I had is with Kyle, who was the main GL ten years ago, looking weak and worthless, I'm sure there's something coming from that eventually but it still bothers me, but I'll give this a 9/10 rating.

John Stewart: Katma Tui is dead!!!! (Out of context I find this hilarious... you tell em John.)

Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #10

Things start with Krona about to turn Hal and Guy into Guardians, but suddenly Krona, the Guardians and all the Green Lanterns hear a screech and drop to the ground. We then see Kyle and John arguing about John killing Mogo, to which John says he had no choice and Kyle says he shouldn't have given up hope. John tells Kyle he didn't wanna have to do this, he has enough guilt in his life with what happened to Xanshi but he did this because he had no other choice. Kyle, still upset, tells John to leave him alone, and starts trying to pull enough of Mogo's pieces together to restart his core. Kyle fails of course, and John drags him away, saying that Hal and Guy need his help. Over on Oa, Kyle and Hal finally break free from Krona's chains as he and everyone else convulse on the ground. As Guy and Hal leave they grab Ganthet and the Book of Black, and Guy or course socks Krona in the face on the way out. As Hal and Guy leave they literally run into Kyle and Guy, and after explaining what the two teams have been up to, John teleports them to the battery so they can free Parallax from it. While they try to release Parallax, our guys can't make a scratch on the Lantern, but Ganthet regains consciousness and tells them the reason why they can't tap into the battery is because they need all of the emotional spectrum, and they still have two unused rings, the Orange and Sapphire rings. Ganthet has Guy put on the Sapphire ring with his Red Lantern ring, and Hal put on both the Sinestro and Orange Lantern rings. The four Lanterns use the power of six to blast the Lantern but before they can release Parallax their attacked by the entire GL Corps. Ganthet tells Guy to go try since he wields the two extreme rings, while they all hold back the GLC, so Guy goes but can't work both rings at once. Ganthet tells him to look into his sole and thing of who he loves and who he hates the most to make the rings work. Guy reveals that the thing he loves most is his ring and the Green Lantern Corps, because the Corps is his life, he hates being filled with the Rage of the Red Lantern Corps. Guy yells that over and over and breaks a hole in the battery which releases Parallax, causing the Corpsmen to drop once again. Under Ganthet's orders they all zap Parallax as the Green Rings return to Hal, Guy, John and Kyle. Guy notes that Mogo purged the red from him last time and now that Mogo's dead, if he takes that red ring off, he'll die too. Kyle mentions that he can heal him, as a Blue Lantern, and convinces Guy that he can do it. He does in fact heal Guy as the two rings leave Guy's finger and Kyle, John and Hal remove their rings and put on their Green Lantern rings again. The issue ends with Krona, the Entity-infected-Guardians, and Parallax getting ready to take on the entire Green Lantern Corps. This was another great issue, it was full of action and set the story for the final chapter of the War of The Green Lanterns in next month's Green Lantern comic. I'll give this issue a solid 10/10 rating.

Guy Gardner: This ring feels weird, makes my mouth feel like it's got sugar and blood in it now.

Venom #3

We start things off with Jack O'Lantern appearing in the bedroom of Betty Brant, the girlfriend of Flash Thompson, the current Venom. We then see the place that started the Venom project as they tell one of the directors that Venom has been radio silent for three days, well over the 48 hours that he's able to wear the Symbiote for. The director tells them not to detonate the fail-safe, as just in case Flash doesn't still have control over the Venom symbiote, he needs to take out the shipment of Antarctic Vibranium that he set out to destroy in the first place. We then see Venom taking on a bunch of the employees that are moving this shipment, and he's started to unleash the Venom we all know and is losing control. As Venom attacks, one of the Henchmen get a hit on him with a flaming sword, which causes Venom to get angry, and in a Hulk like moment, the symbiote takes over as Flash just has to watch it destroy them. After the symbiote disposes of the last few henchmen, Flash gives himself a shot of a sedative, that allows him another hour in control before he has to give in to the suit. Flash makes his way to the shipment of Vibranium and soon enough he's piloting it when the helicopter radio asks for Corporal Thompson. Flash plays dumb, but the shrouded figure tells him to bring him the Vibranium in New York, or his girlfriend will get it, as she's currently strapped to a comically huge bomb by Jack O'Lantern. We then see Peter going to check on Betty when he notices her apartment has been trashed and she's missing, he calls Glory Grant and asks if she's talked to Betty, and she says Betty said she was gonna sleep in today, so Pete tells Glory to call the police and send them to their apartment as he web-slings away as Spider-Man. Venom finally lands the shipment in New York for the Crime Master and meets him face to face, along with his henchmen. Flash thinks to himself how the suit is in control but it's playing along with Flash, as he asks where Betty is. Crime Master tells him where Betty is and says he has five minutes, and not to tell his superiors what happened. He notes that since he knows Venom's identity and he also knows that being Venom must feel like a thrill to Flash since he's legless without him, he's sure he'll omit that Crime Master knows who he is and he won't tell them that or they'll take the suit from him. Flash remarks to himself that it takes everything he has to focus on Betty and keep the symbiote from eating CM's face. As Venom goes to save Betty he's attacked by Spider-Man, who thinks he kidnapped Betty, and is using things it remembers to go after his friends. Flash keeps trying to take control but the symbiote is too busy trying to kill Spider-Man. The issue ends as the bomb tied to Betty is getting ready to explode, Venom is trying to murder Spider-Man in the middle of New York, and they finally decide to hit the Fail-Safe on Venom. This was an excellent issue, action-packed, great story, and finally some Spidey/Venom interaction, with Venom facing the guy that Flash has idolized since he was a teenager. I can't wait for the next issue of Venom now, I'll give this a 10/10 rating.

Venom: KKILL SPPIDDER-MMAN!!! (Can't beat the classics!)

And that's it for this week's reviews. Six great issues, this was a pretty good week for comics in my opinion. Now with those reviews done, I wanna thank you guys for reading and welcome any comments or criticisms you may have. Below are the results to last week's poll, and thanks to that, be sure to vote on this week's poll as well. So that done, I wanna say thanks for reading and be sure to join us next week for more Ratings and Ratings, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off. You stay classy, Todd Squad!

Last week's poll question asked "What do you think I should do with the weekly polls?"

16.7% said Get rid of them.
And a shocking 83.3% said to keep them, I didn't even know anyone cared about them, so consider them here to stay for good.

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #6, Static Shock Special, and Amazing Spider-Man #663

Just Ratings, No Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with more of those comic reviews you crave oh-so-much. This week we've got a nice haul of comics, more than I expected but first I want to mention Free Comic Boom Month.

For the last few years, a very nice comic fan has started Free Comic Boom Month, so if you email him and let him know some of your favorite comics, he'll mail you a comic he thinks you may enjoy from his personal stash for free, which is really awesome. So feel free to check out his FCBM post as well as his blog by clicking here. 

So, I had a nice post typed up that I finished last night with reviews of everything except Amazing Spider-Man which I didn't pick up due to it being a FF comic (Isn't there already one of those?) and Morning Glories #9 since I let Lisha borrow it. So I woke up today before work and decided I'd post and suddenly my net craps out on me.. so I figure I'll post it from my phone, and I do but it leads to only posting the first two or three paragraphs. Needless to say that pissed me off, and after completing the post last night I copied over the copy I saved in Word, probably because I'm an idiot. Anyway, I'm very upset that this happened since I wasted my time typing up and completing a review, plus I'm upset you guys don't get to read it, that's what makes me the most angry. So, to make it up to you guys, next week I'll be posting 5 Reasons why you should read Invincible, What I Learned from Brightest Day, AND Ratings and Rantings featuring Morning Glories #9, Batman Beyond #5, and Deadpool Annual #1 which continues the Identity Wars story arc. See, I love the Todd Squad, Three posts in one week is a lot for my lazy ass, so enjoy it guys! Anyway some quick review scores that I recall

Action Comics #900 - N/A, horrible ending to one of the best Luthor stories ever. I couldn't even finish it as I only planned on reviewing the main story. See more on it here at Paul C's blog.

Emerald Warriors #9 - Great ending, very well writing and another good issue in War of the Green Lanterns, got a 7/10 Rating.

Brightest Day #24- Plain stupid, I'll speak on it more next week in my Brightest Day post but read about it here at X's blog. I gave it a 1/10 because it's finally over.

Venom #2 - Another great issue in what is making Flash Thompson become my favorite Venom besides Eddie Brock, I gave this a 9/10.

JL Generation Lost #24 - Great ending which will be spawning it's own JLI series which I love, I gave this a 8/10 rating.

Deadpool #36 - Amazing issue, great appearances from the Deadpool cast and just overall fun and funny, I gave this a 9.5/10.

So, that's it guys. As for the poll results of which GL you think is gonna lose their ring, John Stewart came in first place, Guy Gardner in second, Kyle in third (my pick) and lastly Hal Jordan. But that's all for me guys, I'm gonna go drown my sorrows in some Faygo Cola and get these posts ready for next week until next time, Stay Classy Todd Squad!

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with more of that comic goodness that you eagerly crave week in and week out. I'm here with another edition of weekly comic content comments, that's right it's time for another edition of Ratings and Rantings. This week we've got a nice little pile of comics to get to and I'm expecting most of them to be pretty good. I didn't pick up Detective Comics because I'm weary about a new arc surrounding a whale or whatever, and they didn't have Kick-Ass #2 there, but everything else is ready to go! So let's get all these pleasantries out of the way and start the reviewing.

Teen Titans #93

We start things off with the Teen Titans, Superboy, Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Raven, Ravager and Beast Boy all meeting outside Titans Tower. The gang then head out to an archaeological dig to meet Cassie's mom, and all the while Red Robin thinks to himself how much tension there is on the team. He thinks about the (sexual) tension between Superboy and Wonder Girl, Raven and Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Kid Flash, Superboy and Red Robin.. okay I made those last two up. Once they arrive we see they were called there to help Solstice look for her parents. Raven apparently can't be near her due to Solstice giving off such a bright and cheery attitude because she risks feeling the emotions and making herself vulnerable for yet another Trigon attack. Kid Flash on the other hand is apparently in love with Solstice right off the bat and is made to look like an idiot trying to impress her, thanks to Ravager. He uses his super speed to run off with a picture Solstice had of her missing parents and runs all over looking for them and finds no results so the team decides to split up. While Red Robin and Superboy explore, Connor mentions that Red Robin should defer to Cass since she's leader and he mentions Cassie told Tim to take over as Leader as she needed a break. The conversation is cut short when the two are attacked by a very ugly demon woman or something. She takes down Superboy which sends Kid Flash and Ravager to help Red Robin. She quickly takes down Kid Flash and Ravager as well as Beast Boy. Solstice shows up and blasts the chick which hurts her, and theoretically makes Solstice stronger than the previously mentioned heroes, but whatever. The Demon woman retreats and grabs Cassie's mom, and takes her and Wonder Girl with her to cross over to another dimension. The issue ends with Wonder Girl and her Mom in another dimension trapped with Demons. Well this was an okay comic, nothing amazing but nothing really bad besides the Demon squashing most of the Teen Titans. I'll give this issue a 6/10.

Red Robin: But I go by Red Robin now.

Beast Boy: You must get that a lot. I put out a press release when I changed my name.

Action Comics #899

Lex Luthor's Action Comics #899 gets underway with Lex finding the final Black Orbs, as he lists everyone who stood in his way like Groilla Grodd, Larfleeze and The Joker he's confronted once again, this time by Braniac. Braniac describes his GENIUS plan that shows he's been watching Lex through the Lo-bot which was made by his technology, he then had this Robo-Lois introduce nanobytes to Lex's bloodstream that rushed to his head when he was hung upside down back wih this run in with Mr. Mind, which would make him dream that he had to pursue the orbs, rather than just study them. A Shocked Lex looks hurt, then proclaims that he's a terrible actor, he then says he expected all of this because of a concealer he noticed when Vandal Savage bisected (yep, he said that.) the robot. Brainiac then notes how Lex betrayed him the last time they met, yet Lex carries on as if he was the one wronged. Lex and Brainiac talk for a bit longer before Lex mentions that he's made sure Superman will be too busy to stop the fight before attacking Braniac. Lex and Brainiac fight one another, quickly countering each others attacked until Lex gets the drop on Brainiac, then delivers a Wonder Woman-like neck snap to Branaic. After ridding himself of Brainiac, Lex forgives Lois then combines the black spheres which causes a giant black demon to come from it which apparently came from the Phantom Zone. Lex then decides to break Lois' face and reach inside to let the nanites that Brainiac mentioned earlier join him. He controls them to take the fight on a mental plane and fights the Phantom Zone demon. The issue ends with a huge fight between the two that only leaves one standing. Well, I was kinda lost once Lex started talking about mental planes and whatnot, just because so much went on over the span of like six pages, but I will say the ending makes me curious on what will happen in the next issue now that Superman is returning. I'll give this issue a 7/10.

Lex: When I encountered Death, I wondered if there was judgement, If there was a God, There is now!

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8

God I love the nonchalant look on Guy's face as he just casually strangles the life out of Hal Jordan. We start off with the Mod Squad of the Green Lanterns, Guy, Kilowog and Arisia flying back towards Oa so they can update the Guardians about their recent run-in with Zardor. As they fly back the impurity strikes once again, and Arisia flys towards Oa at breakneck speeds while Guy and Kilowog comment on how Parallax must be back in the battery. They turn around and see Hundreds upon Hundreds of Green Lanterns flying towards them on their way to Oa. While they fly by the Lanterns attack, and Guy mentions if he and Kilowog are okay some other Lanterns must have been able to right it too. Kilowog agrees and sends Guy to get help while letting himself be captured by the Lanterns. Guy almost rushes in headfirst but holds back and tries to call for helpand finally gets an answer from Hal. They can barely hear one another but agree to meet at the Green House and Guy flies off as fast as he can and a few hours later he lands at the green house, which just so happens to be in Antarctica or something. Hal confronts him and they talk about where they were when they got the flash vision of Parallax. Guy explains that he and Kilowog were fine though, and they soon figure that the people who had been in contact with Parallax before were able to fight off his control. They then start to explain what they've been doing and their respective missions, which of course upsets Hal because he didn't know about the Atrocitus/Guy/Ganthet pact. They argue more and pull no punches with Guy even mentioning Hal's past mistakes before the two start fighting one another. They have a knockdown drag out fight that includes Guy making a ton of constructs that look like he has over the years and having them all attack Hal. As the two fight they realize whats happening, and take off their rings to stop the fighting. The two then realize they have to figure out a way to stop Krona and do it without their rings. Well this was a great issue, I love seeing the Hal/Guy rivalry come to a head so this was great, and I don't know what to expect, maybe Red Lantern Guy saves the day? I'll give this issue a 9/10.

Guy: Heh... is that what we've got between us, a rivalry? I always looked at it as purely a difference of opinion.

Gotham City Sirens #21

GCS #21 or as I refer to it, Harley's Day Out starts off with Harley wondering about what people will say when she's studied in psych classes years from now, and if she'll be known as The Joker's love-sick sidekick or for what she plans on doing, and that's killing Mistah J. She's then standing in front of Aaron Cash who says he knows she's behind everything that's happened at Arkham tonight just to get to The Joker. He mentions that he remembers meeting Harley when she first got hired at Arkham, which causes us to see a flashback. He says he can't let Harley free Joker but Harley says she doesn't want him free, she wants him dead. She tells Aaron to move out of her way but he refuses, and she thinks to herself how sad she is she has to do this to Cash. She tells him his infant son who passed away died because of a nail she has in her hand. We then see The Joker threatening Cash upon hearing his wife is pregnant which caused Cash to beat the Joker senseless. Later on while out with his son and wife, a clown offers Cash's son a balloon which Cash refuses, and while Cash and his wife talk, the clown (The Joker in disguise) drags the nail across the baby's arm unbeknownst to his parents, which later killed Cash's son due tetanus. The tetanus caused the face muscles to be pulled down over the child's jaw which made a makeshift smile. Cash, shocked at this revelation that it was the Joker, unlocks his cell and even gives Harley a gun to use on The Joker before walking away. Harley walks into Joker's cell, pointing the gun at him and he tells her he's missed her, which causes her to think about her times with Joker, even him letting her fall off a roof before dropping the gun and hugging The Joker. I did NOT see that one coming, although I should have. Meanwhile, Selina and Ivy have come to save Harley but when Catwoman notices the police are heading to Devil's square she decides to investigate that instead, leaving Ivy to go get Harley alone, and Ivy tells Selina she'll never forgive her for turning her back on them as the issue ends. Man this was a great issue, this series was so bad not long ago but Harley's being competent, there's tension within the Sirens and now we see what happens with Harley back with The Joker, I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating just because I don't see how Cash could NOT know Joker killed his kid, if my kid died with a smile after The Joker said he'd give him a smile, I'd go straight in to work and kill him, proof or not.

The Joker: I hope it doesn't have your smile.

Aaron Cash: I said shut up.

The Joker: Don't Worry, if it does I'll give him mine.

Amazing Spider-Man #657

We start things off with Spidey meeting up with Sue, Ben and Reed, as they all share memories about Johnny. We see the Fantastic Four and Spidey take down Krakatoom, and Spidey is about to take off but is asked to help and stay monitor the area and have a camping trip with the Fantastic Four, to which Spidey quickly agrees to. Ben mentions how he thought having Spidey and Torch would be more annoying than anything but he ended up having fun because Torch and Spidey were like brothers the way they joked around. Reminds me of a certain blogger I know and myself. Over the course of the trip Spidey and Torch played a ton of pranks including Torch tanning the words Flame On! onto Spidey's back and Spidey webbing up the toilet paper so it stuck to Johnny's butt. Ben enjoyed it the most because with Torch preoccupied, he wasn't bothering the ever lovin' Blue Eyed Thing, which allowed him to tan and... get his rocks off. Okay, I contemplated not typing that but I couldn't resist, my blog, my rules. Anyway, Ben was able to relax, until Spidey and Torch teamed up and made a makeshift Krakatoom which they tricked Thing into attacking. After reminiscing they tell Spidey he doesn't need to be related to be family and Ben tells him if he needs a brother, he's always there for him and Sue says the same, which leads Spidey to say he already does except for the time they had to take her home. Now it's Sue's time to spill the beans and she mentions how she and Johnny were out on patrol when Johnny stopped to sign autographs. Spidey shows up and decides to humble the Torch and yanks his pants down in front of the girls, causing Torch to chase after him, which leads to the heroes being caught with their pants down (I made a funny!) by three fourths of the Frightful Four. This leads to Johnny complaining about not being able to fight without pants, so Sue makes the enemies pants go invisible so they get shy about covering their undies, which leads to them getting their clocks cleaned. Afterwards, Sue is arrested with the three villains because she pantsed three men in public, so she's arrested for indecent exposure. Okay, that made me legit laugh out loud. After that we see a story from Reed's description where he, Johnny and Peter are going into space, but of course first Johnny has to paint flames on the side of the ship so it can go faster. While in space the ship stops working due to the boys encountering a gigantic Green Star, and they have Torch try to absorb the energy from the star so they don't burn to crisps. Pete and Reed then try to look all over to see what the problem is and talk over Johnny whenever he tries to add something. They finally listen and Johnny let's them know it sounds like their carburetor is flooded, which it turns out he's right. As Johnny goes to burn off the energy he held in, Spidey admits to Reed that for all the stuff he says about Johnny, he's actually a bright guy. Back in the present Peter says he wish he'd got to tell Johnny that and Reed plays a special hologram Johnny left for Peter. He tells Peter that he knows how he feels about losing family but he's leaving him something, his spot on the team with the best sister, two brothers, niece and nephew a guy could ever ask for. The issue ends with Spidey agreeing to take Johnny's spot on the team for his fallen brother. Now this was a great issue, I loved seeing Spidey and Torch's exploits and the rest of the Fantastic Four being in on it was even better, especially the stuff with Sue. I had no problem with this and it showed the great friendship bond between Peter and Johnny that we needed to see, no I take that back it showed the bond between two brothers. I'll give this a solid 10/10 rating.

Spider-Man: Now, with great power comes great responsibility. And just because you can make men's clothes disappear doesn't mean that you should.

And that's all for me folks. We had a decent haul this week, and as of right now the weekly poll hasn't ended but it looked fairly obvious that Invincible wins, so expect a 5 Reasons: Why you should read Invincible within the next few days. Until next time that's all for me, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #4, Brightest Day #23, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, it's that time of the week again for the best weekly dose of comic content comics! We've still got a lot of comics but because my shop didn't have Daken or Booster Gold (what the hell guys?!) I swapped it out for Superman #703. But we've still got a huge week ahead of us, with a little more Shadowland, another taste of Generation Lost, and of course we see how Bruce Wayne deals with the changes during his absence in The Road Home one-shots. So with so much on our plate for today, I guess we should just jump right in and kick things off with Shadowland.

Shadowland #4

This issue of Shadowland starts off with Elektra attacking some of Daredevil's Hand minions after finding a secret passageway that only Daredevil and the minions know about. The art looks amazing by the way, I don't recall if I mentioned it but Elektra especially looks life-like and beautifully drawn. Our Lady in Red quickly disposes of the minions before opening the secret passageway letting in our heroes, including Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Punisher and Wolverine for some reason, who looks about three feet tall. Wolverine says he has business with The Hand and wants to put Matt out of his misery, but Luke and Danny are hesitant because Matt is still their friend somewhere in there. From there we have a quick check in with Lady Bullseye and Kingpin, whose talking very cryptically about the old and new, and how things are about to change. Back with our heroes, they work out a plan to strike, and Elektra tells them that Matt also has White Tiger, Typhoid Mary, and to their surprise he hopes to resurrect Bullseye. The heros, oops make that Heroes (Inside jokes, haha.) quickly come to the realization that they may have to kill Daredevil or else risk dying themselves. Next we see a beautifully drawn page where Bullseye is about to be resurrected, and we see Elektra's sai protrude through the front of his mask panel by panel. Daredevil instantly erupts with anger and sends his guard after Elektra, Cage and the rest of the heroes but quickly realizes their a distraction for Punisher who uses a stun grenade on Daredevil. While Daredevil wonders why they uses a stun grenade, he quickly finds out when he's impaled in the chest by all six of Wolverine's claws. Wolverine is shocked Dardevil pulls his claws out of him and throws the Canucklehead across the room into a giant pillar. Punisher tries to shoot at Daredevil but can't hit the Man Without Fear, and his gun is soon blown up by Typhoid Mary. She doesn't have time to celebrate though because Spider-Man webs her up and subdues her. From there Spidey and Daredevil clash, but thanks to his Spider Sense, Spidey is able to subdue Daredevil long enough for his fellow heroes to hold him down while Elektra tries to reason with him. The issue ends soon after, and continues to keep me reading and wondering what will happen next. This was the second to last issue of Shadowland and I'm still enjoying it. Shadowland has been great so far, and I can only imagine how the story will end. As for this issue, it was great but things feel a little rushed, It's like Elektra just turned sides so quickly, it seemed kinda pointless to have her join DD so late, at least if she joined in the first issue it'd seem like she tried to gain his loyalty. But for what it was, this issue was great, I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating.

Elektra: If it was as simple as that, I would have cut his throat the moment he took me into his trust.

Green Lantern #58

This month's issue of the longest running current DC Series about a Green wearing Superhero kicks off at a Montana State Prison. We quickly find out a giant red bull apparently attacked the prison, as if it was looking for someone. The workers say that they cleared out the prisoners but can't put out the fire, but they soon find out from Atrocitus himself, accompanied with Sinestro, that it's not fire but it's actually Rage. Apparently the Red Lantern entity is scavenging around looking for a host. When Atrocitus senses the Rage surrounding the bus of prisoners, and the Rage towards them from the families of the people they've killed, Atrocitus takes it upon himself to breathe fire on them and incinerate the entire bus of prisoners. From there we see Hal Jordan and Star Sapphire Carol Ferris, as Carol prepares to become Queen of the Star Sapphires. Hal tries to talk her out of it, citing how Parallax destroyed his life, which he has back and is perfectly fine so that's kind of a bad example. Hal causes a construct to push back the entity from Carol, but she scolds him about it. When the entity takes a shine to Carol, he asks if she has a new boyfriend, before she replies that he has a girlfriend and makes a construct of Hal's girlfriend, Cowgirl. (For the record she looks oddly like Marvel's Outlaw.) Carol says she has to help the Star Sapphires, and when Hal asks when she's coming home she replies with the line he used to give her, "When my job is done." From there we go to Livonia, Michigan (Woooo Michigan!!!!), they even named a few streets so it seems more realistic. Kudos to you Geoff Johns, you are a hometown boy. Anyway, we see that a 14-year-old girl named Nicole Morrison is missing, and her book bag was found in a dumpster a week later. We see that she's been kidnapped, and her kidnapper tries to get her to eat, even mentioning he's taken girls before. Nicole tells the man she forgives her, because she was always taught to forgive those who do wrong, she then says she hopes he'll forgive her. She gets free and throws the soup he was trying to feed her in his face before running but he catches her. Before he can do anything, the Blue Lantern Entity tells her all will be well before jumping into her body. We then jump over to Larfleeze, he's sad because he doesn't have his Lantern and he can't make his constructs, as his ring is only at 74%, and he's used to it being much much higher. He's interrupted by Abraham Pointe, the guy who The Predator inhabited in the last issue, he's tied up and Larfleeze appears to be watching him until Hal returns. Abraham tells Larfleeze he saw inside of him when he was The Predator, and knows Larfleeze was taken from his family, and also that Larfleeze isn't his real name, and this of course ticks Larfleeze off. Larfleeze attacks the young man, telling him not to utter or even whisper his name. Hal Jordan soon appears and knocks Larfleeze off of Abraham. Hal and Larfleeze have a really nice short discussion that I can't do justice, but it was very interesting. The two are interrupted by a message from Saint Walker who announces Adara has chosen. Next we jump over to Salaak on Oa, he's curious as to why Hal Jordan hasn't logged any arrests or confrontations since after the Blackest Night ended, and he suspects Hal doesn't want the Guardians to know what he's been up to. From there we see Saint Walker, Larfleeze and Hal Jordan going to see Adara. Hal thinks that her taking the body of a kid is a bad thing, Saint Walker is ecstatic, and Larfleeze just wants his precious Lantern returned. When they confront Adara, she replies her name is Nicole, and that there is an empty feeling in Larfleeze. She fills him with hope by telling him his parents are still alive and they still miss him. Adara/Nicole wants to fill Hal with hope but he says he's all filled up, and he wants her to leave the young woman's body. She replies that she knows Hal is full of hope, but he's afraid to. Before we can find out why, she's interrupted and the issue ends. I won't say who interrupts her but I will say that a certain X-Man75 is NOT gonna like it. As for me, I thought this comic was perfect. We followed Larfleeze, Hal, Carol, Sinestro, Atrocitus and the Blue Lanterns, all in one issue and they all pretty much furthered storylines like a great comic should, I'll give this issue a solid 10/10.

Hal Jordan: Dammit, Larfleeze, You work with me, you don't cross the line.

Larfleeze: Cross the line, Green Lantern? You're working with Me. Sinestro. Atrocitus. And not your Green Lanterns. So who's crossing what line?

The Road Home: Red Robin

The Road Home for those that don't know is supposed to show us how everyone reacts to Bruce Wayne being back, also how Bruce reacts to the changes in his absence. This week I'll be reviewing three of these, and starting off with Tim Drake's, since as you all know he was the only one that believed Bruce was not truly dead. So how will Tim react to his return? How will Bruce react now that Tim is no longer Robin and is now Red Robin? Let's find out now shall we? During the Road Home issues we see words from a white casebook, which are pretty much Bruce's thoughts. He mentions how he has to observe how people have changed in his absence and if they'll work toward or against the new plans and outlook he has after his long return home. Meanwhile, we discover that Red Robin is currently in Amsterdam trying to protect a Mayor from an "assassination tournament." Tim seems to have a plan with an ally, but his plan is thrown for a loop when former member of the League of Assassins and new ally of Tim Drake, Pru a.k.a. Prudence shows up. We see courtesy of the case book that Red Robin was supposed to soften up the super-powered attackers and Bruce would intervene, and he does with a new costume which confuses me and proves I should've read The Road Home: Batman and Robin first. Bruce uses his new super suit that apparently can tap into the speed force and teleport (what?!) to capture the bad guys then disappear. Tim is seemingly confused at Bruce's actions and states he feels like a student again, before taking Prudence somewhere where he and her can talk alone. Pru and Red Robin talk about the assassinations and how more will happen, and she agrees to help him, but also sends a text message to someone telling them she's with Red Robin before leaving with Tim. Next we see Vicki Vale confront Alfred, asking to see Bruce Wayne, and claiming she knew someone was impersonating Bruce. She then laid out all her cards on the table, knowing Bruce is Batman, someone's impersonating Bruce, that Dick was Robin and is now Batman and that Dick placed a Bat-shaped tracer on her bag. She's shocked when Alfred admits she's right and tells her they feared Bruce was dead and couldn't let Batman's legacy die with him. Alfred explains everything, even that Bruce was lost in time, and manages to switch the tracker Vicki had with another one. Once he's done that Alfred says that Vale has no proof and he'll deny everything, she says she'll take the tracker to her tech guy and he tells her she should, meanwhile she's unaware he's switched them. We soon see that the plan was for Bruce to "save" the villains so they welcome him in, which they did, they then send him to try to kill Red Robin. When everyone is in position, Bruce attacks Tim. Bruce says they planned to put on a show but he instead intends to test Tim and himself, and attacks Tim full-on. From there we see how well Tim and Bruce know each other as their able to pretty much read each other's body language to determine what to do to make the fight come off real and not staged. After taking out everyone with the help of Prudence, she tells Red Robin she'll continue to help him and the mystery man. When the Mystery Man asks why she's helping, she replies "Because." before taking off. Back at a hotel room Tim mentions he'll be heading back to Gotham while Bruce will be going to check on the Outsiders. Bruce warns Tim about trusting Prudence but Tim tells him to relax and he trusts her. We then cut over to Pru and see she's still checking in with Ra's, and after describing the Mystery Man, Ra's figured out that it's Bruce, and the "Detective" has returned. This was a fine issue, I expected more stuff between Tim and Bruce talking and less action but this was a nice way for Bruce to check up on Tim, I just wish we had more substance and conversation between Bruce and the guy that believed he wasn't dead when no one else did. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10.

Bruce: So my task with Tim is one I have to work hard for myself as well: never to forget you have allies in this war, that you need those allies and friends... and to try, just a little bit, to enjoy those ties a little more, because their so fragile.

Superman #703

  

Superman's "Grounded" storyline continues in this issue and I don't know what to think. I loved issue 701 but hated 702, so this will act as the rubber match so to speak. The issue kicks off with Big Blue holding a stalker up in the air and making him promise to never stalk the woman or go back to her job ever again. Superman holds the guy up in the air for over thirty minutes by his ankles until the lesson sinks in. Once he lets the guy down he tells him to keep saying he'll never go back for an hour and he'll know if he stops. That's a great use of your powers Superman, scaring the hell out of stalkers while someone, somewhere is probably drowning. Oh well, call Aquaman right? Anyway, Superman walks away and is confronted by Batman. Bats says something funny so we know it's Dick Grayson right off the bat, no pun intended. Superman says he's aware Batman has been following him due to all of the sonic signatures he's often surrounded by, and Batman says they need to talk so they go somewhere more quiet. Batman tells Superman that he thinks he's having a emotional Breakdown after losing Krypton twice and that he should stop before somebody gets hurt, which causes Superman to reply by saying he expected that after seeing how out of touch Dick and Bruce became over the years. Superman asks how often they talk to an average guy while their hiding in shadows or on rooftops, and Dick replies that their problems are bigger and more dangerous than an average guy. Superman replies that both Dick and Bruce's parents were killed by normal people, and if someone was looking out for the average guy then they could've had a life. Dick replies that it would've been better for them, but not all the people they've saved over the years, which is a great point. The conversation ends with Dick giving what may not just be a Line of The Week but maybe a "Line of the Year", which you can read below. From there, Superman finds out that debris from New Krypton has landed on earth, so he goes to investigate. We see a teacher looking at the artifact that her students brought her, but when she looks through it and looks at Superman she becomes possessed or something for some reason. While Superman looks for the debris, our Teacher hits on some guy at a bar and touches his hand with a glowing white light. The angry redneck bar dweller (best way to describe him.) walks up to Supes, punches him in the face and knocks him across the city. Supes flies back and grabs the man trying to take him into space to knock him unconscious (one of his go-to-moves) but the super-powered Jeff Foxworthy elbows him in the chest. When Superman see's the man flying, he decides not to hold back, and they have a big destructive fight that a man on a Reporter's salary can not afford to fix. Afterward when the invulnerability has worn off of the opponent and he calms down, someone reminds Superman that he just destroyed everything. Superman fixes everything but people who are interviewed are upset because they've lost family heirlooms and photographs and stuff like that. One of the main people upset at Superman is the teacher that somehow was possessed, and we see that Batman is watching the newscast. This issue was interesting, It wasn't perfect but the conversation between Batman and Superman was phenomenal. Definitely loved that, it was some of the best writing for those two I've seen in a while, not counting Winnick's in Superman/Batman #76. Anyway, this issue was fine, nothing amazing besides the Bats/Supes convo though, I'll give it a 7/10.

Batman: The world of suburban streets, and neighborhood diners, and front porches... That isn't our world Superman. Not anymore. We can't live there. Not just because it endangers us, but because it puts them at risk. All of them. The isolation we endure is the price we pay for what we do. We can't go home again. Because when we walk into our world... we walk out of theirs. Forever.

Green Lantern - Emerald Warrior #3

Emerald Warrior kicks off where it ended last month with Guy being all wrapped up by a Red Lantern, so he can't get the Red Lantern Rage purged from his body. When she doesn't back up willingly, Guy, Arisia and Kilowog blast her off of the Emerald Warrior. The three take on the Red Lantern while the elephant Blue Lantern dude just watches. He does note that for some reason the Green Lantern's rings aren't super-charging around him like they should, which I also noticed before he said it. When the three Green Lanterns are getting nowhere the Blue Lantern just grabs the Red Lantern by the throat. When Guy asks him to purge her he replies that it would kill her, but he can strengthen her vocal cords so she can talk since he's just been muttering "G-Guy Gardner B-Blue" and etc. She yells out that Guy shouldn't be cleansed because he'll need the power of Red and Green to fight back. When they ask what they will be fighting, they discover it will be powerful forces gathering in the unknown sector. Man, do these guys ever get to take a break? From there we cut over to the former Ion, Sodam Yat who awakes from his slumber ready to attack Mongul when he realizes he's surrounded by thousands of civilians that have apparently saved him. He soon finds out he's on his home planet of Daxam, and in a church dedicated to him. He discovers that when he fell out of the sun that the inhabitants of Daxam lost their powers, and that people are hunting him to throw him back into the sun so they can get their powers back, and the search is being led by Sodam's Father. From there we see the threat that the Red Lantern spoke of, and how he maintains his powers and some other stuff that bored me. It just came off very forced and mystical and for us to not know much about the characters or their goals It's hard to connect and care. Back with Guy he talks about how someone is trying to take the Corps down from the inside and they've been draining the battery, which explains why the batteries don't skyrocket near a Blue Lantern. After deliberation Guy decides to have the Red Lantern tag along, as well as keep his Red Lantern infection. The gang heads off to Daxam is search of Sodam Yat, and the issue ends soon after. Well this issue was okay but I found myself not caring much. The fight seemed kinda bland, I mean it was three on one. The villains don't really draw me in, and I was hoping Sodam's return would be a little more interesting. Long story short I don't think I can justify buying this comic every month when I buy so many other good comics. Looks like I'll be bidding Emerald Warrior adieu. I'll give this issue a 5/10.

Guy Gardner: If Sodam's not dead and he's the drain... then I'm going to have to kill him.

Justice League Generation Lost #11

This issue of Gen Lost starts with a group of young men ad women fighting some huge robotic centaurs. We soon find out that these are fake thoughts being shot into the Metal Men but Maxwell Lord and Professor Ivo. We then catch up to current times with the JLI being attacked by the Metla Men, obviously as a result of Max Lord. We see that from the Metal Men's perspective that Fire, Ice and Rocket Red look like the bad guys and to each other the Metal Men look like normal humans. When the Metal Men attack the JLI members fight back to defend themselves, and when they try to retreat, our heroes are met with resistance by Ivo. Ivo causes the Metal Men to all unite into one giant robot. On the other end of the world, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and Skeets are trying to check in with Fire, Ice and Red but can't get an answer. When our gang stumbles on a bunch of OMAC parts, which Booster points out is weird because OMAC's take over humans, they don't start as spare pieces. When Booster has Skeets check the place for fingerprints they find that the only prints there are Professor Ivo's, who created the super powerful android known as Amazo. Back with Fire, Ice and Rocket Red, they attack the Metal Man (patent pending) with everything they have but can't put a dent in the big guy. Fire tells Ice to focus on Mercury's part and try to freeze him before taking a HUGE head on punch that smashes her into the ground. Ice takes the offensive and attacks the Metal Man while Rocket Red checks on Fire, who is stunned but pretty much fine. The two go to see Ice to see that something, maybe her rage at the machine for attacking Bea has changed her into something new as the issue ends. This was a great issue, I've never been a fan of the Metal Men but they were used fine here, and humanized which works for them. I'm definitely wondering how they'll explain Ice's transformation in the next issue. But this was a solid, well written issue. I'll give it an 8/10.

Max Lord: ... And I just live to make peopler happy.

Prof. Ivo: They're not actually people.

Max Lord: And they're not actually happy. So no need to split hairs.

The Road Home: Batgirl

This issue of Road Home follows the current Batgirl and former Spoiler as well as the fourth Robin, Stephanie Brown. We start off with a quick look into the past with Batman and Robin confronting Spoiler, and Batman telling her to go home, an order she disobeys. We see from Bruce Wayne's notes that Steph has always been a variable he can barely control. We then jump forward to present day and see Batgirl at the Waynetech research facility as a Masked Man (Bruce) is setting off alarms. She attacks the Masked Man who fights back to test her, and even compares her to Dick in the sense of her always cracking wise during a fight. When the Masked Man uses his heat vision, then uses his Green Lantern-like powers, there's a funny moment where Batgirl is shocked and thinks she's fighting Amazo. When the Masked Man disappears from the fight we jump over to seeing Stephanie and Babs Gordon discussing the prior events. They mention how Batman and Robin took on the Masked Man earlier in the week, alluding to their one-shot. Babs also mentions she may get the Birds of prey on the case, possibly alluding to the Oracle one-shot. Babs then says she wonders why the Masked Man took it easy on Batgirl, and Steph begrudgingly agrees. Steph then gets excited about teaming up with the Birds of Prey before Oracle makes her promise to sit this one out. Steph promises, even throwing in some good ol' fashioned "Scouts Honor", too bad she had her fingers crossed. With the help of Wendy "Proxy" Harris, Stephanie (not dressed as Batgirl) stumbles onto the secret Lair of the Mystery Man. She also discovers from Proxy that he stole a gun from Waynetech. Steph looks around and soon finds a map of crime alley, and starts to connect the dots. We then see another flashback, with Steph as Robin and Bruce as Batman as she mentions that Bruce never gave her a fair shot. Steph's trip down memory lane is quickly ended when she's ambushed by a group of attackers and Bruce watches on while invisible. Steph takes care of the goons before running off while Bruce watches her fight and compliments her style to himself. Batgirl quickly realizes that the Mystery man is planning on shooting someone (Commissioner Gordon?) in Crime Alley with the gun he's stolen and figures out a way to track him down. When she confronts him she points out that he's obviously testing her, as he has super speed and invisibility so why would he resort to using long range weapons like laser beams?  The Mystery Man unmasks himself as Bruce Wayne, and goes to compliment Stephanie but before he can she slaps the taste out of his mouth. Yes, you read that right. Stephanie SLAPPED Bruce Wayne. Oh man that was awesome, and it got even better when she's so shocked at what she did she just runs away and says "I'm glad you aren't dead." We then jump over to see Vicki Vale confronting Oracle, and suggesting that she and Dick Grayson were Batgirl and Robin. Oracle denies every claim but manages to use her tech-wizardry to clone all of Vale's data to her phone. Later on we see Batgirl on a rooftop, she knows Bruce is there even though he's invisible so he shows himself and they discuss the "Slap heard round the world!!!" Steph then discusses how much she's changed, and the dialogue here was so perfectly written by Bryan Q. Miller that I'm just gonna say, buy this comic, BUY THIS COMIC. After the great conversation between Bruce and Stephanie, we see Bruce talking with Alfred about Stephanie, his upcoming reveal to Babs Gordon, and going to see Selina and what she's been doing with the Gotham City Sirens. We even got a little information on the former Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, which made me very happy. This was an amazing issue and the best of The Road Home one-shots so far. I'll give this one a solid 10/10 rating.

Bruce: Who knows, maybe there's room for hope in Gotham, after all.

The Road Home - Batman and Robin

This issue starts off like the other Road Home one-shots in the sense that our heroes are taking on some villains to serve as a test by Bruce a.ka. The Mystery Man. While we see Bruce watch over Batman and Robin as they chase after one escaping villain, we see their also being watched by Vicki Vale, and she wants to know what caused Batman and Robin to become what they are. We see Vicki wants to know the back story to help her be seen as a more serious journalist, instead of just throwing names out there she wants interviews to accompany them. Vicki walks over to her couch and grabs the tracking device Dick planted on her bag in Batman #703, and speaks into it saying she knows Bruce can hear her and if he doesn't talk to her by noon the next day then the truth will make the final edition by sundown. Her message is overheard by Alfred who looks upset by the news. Back with the Dynamic Duo have found the escaped villain, Killshot, and we find out that Dick let him escape so they could track him. When Dick drops in for the attack on the gang members, as we see Bruce comment on how effortlessly Dick has accepted the Cowl and the role of Batman. He also commends Dick's skills in getting Damian to follow along with him as Robin. Before Batman and Robin can catch Killshot, Bruce intervenes, because Killshot being captured would jeopardize his plans. Next we see Vicki Vale, wearing a dress she must've stolen from Power Girl, out meeting with Bruce Wayne, obviously Hush. He denies being Batman but then plants a kiss on Vicki Vale, he then hits on Vicki and ivites her over to put the Batman stuff to bed, as well as other things. Vicki soon realizes that's not Bruce, because he seems like a real jerk, and not the fake jerk Bruce comes across as. Next we catch up with Batman and Robin who have gotten ahead of Killshot and caught him, as a testament to their skills. Next we see Bruce at a new hideout, and we find out he's talking to Red Robin, Tim Drake. We see the Mystery Man discuss his plans and unmask as Bruce Wayne, meaning this one should've been read first, and much like X-Man75 says, this should've had some type of numbering on it. Other than that this was another solid issue, I ofund it better than the Red Robin (since I was less confused) but not as good as Batgirl, but that was great. This was just a solid way to kick-start Bruce's return. I'll give it an 8/10.

Hush: Now I have to go, but let's meet for dinner at the manor, say... next Tuesday? We'll put this whole Batman nonsense to bed... and maybe some other things as well...

Titans #28

This episode of Titans starts off with Ryan Choi's girlfriend all sad because she hasn't seen Ryan in a while. She STILL doesn't know he's dead. It's been like five issues and no one knows that Ryan Choi is dead? Are you KIDDING me?! When a light turns on in the house across from hers, which happens to belong to Ryan, she runs over to see The Atom and hugs him, but is disappointed when she realizes it's not Ryan, but Ray Palmer. They talk about how Ryan has been gone for weeks, (WEEKS!!!!) and how Ray is the first hero to come check it out. We then cut over to Arkham Asylum and see the arrival of the Titans. We see a guard is working with Deathstroke, allowing the Titans to sneak in and get their target. While they follow Deathstroke, Roy tells Jade they should attack Slade, and pretty much sounds like an idiot, then she points out that ONCE AGAIN Roy is high. We then see Ink thinking about how he hates helping Deathstroke, and how he should be redeeming his son, but instead is helping Deathstroke hunt people down. Ink looks sad before wondering what he's become. Meanwhile Osiris talks to the crooked guard and finds out he's accepting the money so he can get out of Arkham before he dies like so many other Arkham guards have. Osiris decides he has to kill the guard, either cause Deathstroke told him or because of the whole Isis thing, but the guard says if Osiris steps towards him he'll press a button releasing all the inmates. Osiris attacks him anyway, killing the poor bastard but he presses the button right before and releases the Arkham Inmates. The inmates step out and for some reason Zsasz already has a knife, Firefly has a torch and Mr. Freeze has a Freeze Gun, because apparently no one takes that stuff away in the Asylum.... As the Titans take on those villains and a few others, Osiris is attacked by Killer Croc who he mistakes as Sobek, which is pretty clever. Meanwhile Deathstroke has run into MAd Hatter for some reason, then goes to help Allegra Garcia (?) but before Deathstroke can reach her Batman drops in through the window above as the issue ends. Well this issue was really a bust, a lot of things annoyed me like people emerging from their cells with weapons, no one looking for Ryan after many weeks and etc. The best part was the actual ending, I'll give this comic a 4/10.

Batman: You're not touching this girl, Deathstroke.

Deathstroke: Then we've got a problem... because I'm not leaving without her.

Well that's all for me this time guys, I'll be back this weekend with a new poll and the results from last week. As always, comments are appreciated and loved. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman Beyond #5, Brightest Day #12, The Road Home: Catwoman, The Road Home: Commissioner Gordon, DCU Halloween Special 2010, Power Girl #17, Deadpool #28, Daredevil #511, Carnage #1 and Kick-Ass 2 #1. (10 MORE Comics!)

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, time for your weekly dosage of Ratings and Rantings! JT here, welcoming you back to my Red Hood for another volume of my comic content comments. Yes, I am pretty awesome aren't I? Before we start off I wanna thank everyone who did for participating in the Top 5 Five, I always have fun seeing what my readers and fellow bloggers thing about certain things. Anyway, we've only got a few comics this week so we're gonna kick things off with DC's Brightest Day.

Brightest Day #10

Things start off in this week's Brightest Day with Ronnie and Jason as Firestorm, being asked by the Professor to transmute a football into a globe for a test he's running. Jason knows how to do it but can't because Ronnie doesn't know because he doesn't know the molecular structure of plastic. Prof. Stein mentions that the Firestorm Matrix was drawn to Ronnie and Jason and they're going through a metamorphosis and will be more powerful than ever but very unstable. Firestorm removes his glove and finds that his whole arm is made of fire, then Ronnie starts freaking out and telling Jason to split with him. Prof. Stein tells the boys they can't argue or they'll upset the matrix, which is basically a piece of the Big Bang and started the universe, making them the most dangerous person in the universe. From there we see Aquaman and Mera, Aquaman is obviously a little upset at being the last to know about Mera's people, her original goal and the kid he's looking for. He tells Mera he'll find the kid by himself, and he needs some time alone. We then cut over to Jackson, he and his dad are going to a cottage. Jackson's dad gives him a chest that a woman gave him and his wife fifteen years ago and then tells Jackson that he's not their son, much to Jackson's surprise.We see the woman, who clearly looks like Mera, and that she rose from the sea and gave Jackson to his adoptive parents, saying his true parents weren't fit to raise them. For the record, since Blackest Night, Falisha and I have been discussing how we think Mera and Black Manta had a kid, so I would assume we're right. Anyway, Jackson's dad continues saying the woman said Jackson would save the world from a battle between land and sea, and that one day she'd come back for him. They knew they couldn't give him up because they loved him so they ran away from the sea, hence them living in Arizona. Jackson asks if Jackson even his real name, and who he is and if it's all locked away in the chest. Jackson's dad says the woman said only Jackson could open it, meanwhile while they talk if you look in the mirror on the car you can see Black Manta's glowing red eyes. When Jackson's arm starts glowing, Manta steps up and says his powers have been activated because he's being tracked, by him. Manta shoots a Scorpion-like "Get Over Here!" string with an arrow and snatching the chest away. They jump into the car and Jackson's dad drives them towards the water, Jackson says it's suicide and Jackson's father replies "Not for you.", he then tells Jackson to tell Jackson's mother he loves her. Manta follows them in the water but Jackson strikes back with a huge water blast while he holds his dad in his arm. When Jackson and his Dad finally get to land, Mera's sister, Siren, shows up and assists Manta. When Jackson tells them to get away from his father, Manta replies with the line of the issue (see below), before shooting an arrow at Jackson's father's face, which is then caught by Aquaman. Back with The Firestorm boys, Prof. Stein tells them that every time they argue they risk causing another Big Bang, and there's a one in a million, maybe even one in a thousand chance, and it would destroy everything except the two of them...and the newest part of the Firestorm duo...well trio. The ending of this issue was so kick ass I'm tempted to post a picture of it but I'll stay with my non-spoiler ways. This issue was amazing. Instead of jumping around and giving us five stories we got two very well written stories, a ton of new info on Jackson as well as the inclusion of the Aquaman storyline, and a big revelation for the Firestorm crew. The stuff with Jackson was amazingly well done, and I already feel attached to the character more than other characters that have been around longer. This is definitely the best issue of Brightest Day in my opinion, I'll give it a 9/10 rating. It was great but it didn't have that special something to make it a solid ten.

Jackson: Stay away! Leave my dad alone!

Black Manta: He is NOT your father. He is nothing but another man I've killed.

Batman Beyond #4 of 6

We start things off in Neo-Gotham with Hush and choking the futuristic Catwoman. He proclaims that Gotham will always need a Batman but it doesn't need anyone like Catwoman or anyone else, and they should be dead, no asylum's or jails. Starting to think I know who this Hush is, I've narrowed it down to two people and we're only one page in. Hush continues to talk trash until Batman shows up to help Catwoman, but we find out that it's actually a robot sent by Bruce. Hush continues to talk trash, now at Bruce, who's robot jams in the middle of an attack. But we see Catwoman spring into action, who can apparently clone herself into nine people, hence the Cat name. From there we see Batman Beyond talking to Richard Grayson, who like I mentioned last issue has a patch on one eye. He tells Richard he wasn't sent by Bruce and they aren't on the same page right now. Grayson tells him he's learning faster than he did by blowing Bruce off. While they talk we find out that Grayson is now teaching acrobatics, when Terry asks why Dick didn't keep a memento, Dick replies he kept one, and shows Terry a tattered and bloody Nightwing costume. Back with Batman-robot and Catwomen, Hush takes care of Catwoman until Bruce finally gets the robot back on track and attacks Hush. Hush quickly dissects the robot with ease, knowing how Bruce thinks before Bruce causes the robot to self destruct before Hush can take it away and study it. We then see a Nightwing flashback telling us how the suit got shredded, and also dropped a hint that mentioned that Widening Gyre may be canon since it was mentioned in this issue. The flashback was very dark, and showed us how distant Batman could be, and made a ton of sense in the way Bruce is written in the Batman Beyond series, both comics and the cartoon. Anyway, Dick tells Terry the only people Bruce ever loved were his parents and he doesn't care about anyone else. From there we see Hush holding something he's stolen from the failed Batman robot saying he can use it. Next we see Terry try to lure Hush in by pretending to be Mad Stan, whoever the hell that is. Hush comes but not before telling Batman that's the worst disguise he's ever seen. The two hold nothing back and fight, and Hush says as much as he loves being called Hush, there's no reason to hide anymore. He presumably kills Batman Beyond, then unmasks himself as someone I did NOT see coming. I won't ruin it but if you want to know who just highlight here ---> Dick Grayson!!! Anyway, that surprise caught me off guard, and this was a nice issue but it wasn't up to par with the others, nothing really amazed me besides the Dick Grayson story and the reveal of Hush. Also the reveal didn't make sense but maybe they'll explain it better next issue. I'd give this issue a 6.5/10.

Hush: A robot...nice... Finally found a sidekick who wouldn't talk back...

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2

The Guy Gardner focused comic known as Emerald Warriors starts off with Guy in the Hall of Lanterns looking up Hal, John, Kyle and himself. He talks about how in the history of Earth, and the universe, he's one of the four earthlings chosen to ever wear a Green power ring. Guy wonders what everyone will think of him after he does what he's setting out to do, and he hopes Hal, John and Kyle will understand. From there we see Arisia, she's awaken by Sodam Yat. They talk as Sodam slowly starts to burn, before his skin melts off and he blames Arisia for letting him burn in the sun of Daxam. She tells Sodam she knows she can save her as he sets her on fire and her skin explodes off of her bones...yes, that just happened. Arisia wakes up from an obvious dream and yells out Sodam's name. She says that she knows Sodam is out there and she will save him. Next we jump over to the Kilowog, not to be confused with my buddy the Poozer, Kellowog. A new Lantern rookie tells Kilowog how disappointed he is that he won't get to learn from the tough but fair S.O.B. that he's heard so much about. The eager recruit is soon told off by Kilowog, and basically told to pay attention or die, which is of course due to Kilowog just going through the events of Blackest Night. Some stuff happens with a guy with three eyes and Snakes coming out of his mouth.. it confused the hell out of me and I don't really know how to explain it to you guys so I'll just move on. Anyway, Gardner is about to leave for the Unknown Sectors when he's joined by Kilowog and Arisia who convinced the Guardians to let them tag along. On the way, Arisia asks Guy if they can make a pit stop at Daxam, he figures so she can go looking for Sodam. He says they'll make that their second stop, and says the first is the Blue Lantern planet, Odym. When Kilowog asks why, they argue until Guy admits that he's been having some residual effects due to his Red Lantern ring so he's going to the Blue Lanterns to get help since they can help purge the effects. The ending of this issue came outta nowhere, and instead of making me want to read the next issue it just left me annoyed since I doubt this is a big hindrance. I mean, if you read the comic, just look at the nonchalant look on the Blue Lantern's face. Anyway, this comic severely dropped in quality from the last one, the first issue had action and set the ground for things, this one didn't do much in terms of entertaining me. I'll give it a 5/10.

Arisia: He's not dead, Guy!

Guy: That a gut feeling or a fact-- cause the file I read was pretty clear that Sodam's--

Arisia: It's a gut feeling, and if it were Ice or Kyle we were talking about, would you even be asking me that question?!?

Deadpool #27

We kick things off with our villain-turned-Anti hero-Trying-to-turn-hero in a small town known as Littlefork, Wisconsin. (Shout out to Marc!) Deadpool's upset because the convenience store owner won't take his Gold as a form of payment for his Burrito. Deadpool argues with the guy, then unwittingly becomes apart of a robbery, that's run by a bunch of other guys with masks and guns. Deadpool's burrito causes the distraction, and irritation he needs to start filling the robbers with lead. The Crimson Comedian soon finds out that the robbers can also regenerate, much like himself. Deadpool jams a grenade in one of the guys' mouth and uses the distraction to find the shop keeper that wouldn't take his gold. Deadpool gets outwitted again, then the Regenerating Robbers show up and another fight scene happens offscreen until Deadpool stops it since their getting nowere. The head robber tells Deadpool his team are after the owner's weapon cache and that the guy is a terrorist and their patriots. The Owner says he's not a terrorist and he got the weapons from the CIA to sell in his country but would rather sell them in America.... sound rather Terrorist-y to me. Before Deadpool can get the facts straight, Steve Rogers (former Captain America), Black Widow and Moon Knight (really?!) show up, and Steve proclaims that Deadpool, the robbers and the owners are ALL terrorists. Upon realizing that Steve isn't dead, DP goes to give the former Cap a hug and gets punched in the face for his troubles. The sad part was seeing a flashback of Deadpool as a kid, who was a huge Captain America fan, saying he wants to be just like Cap when he grows up, only to have his dreams shot down by his jerk-ass dad. Steve, Widow and Moon Knight take care of everyone before going after the owner who has a huge power suit and proclaims he IS a terrorist...then gets shot in the middle of the head by Deadpool who says he knew it the whole time. Deadpool checks on our heroes, and surprisingly gets an invitation to the team bu none-other than Steve Rogers. The issue ends before we really get an answer and that's it... I try not to spoil anything but that's the whole issue.. so if I ruined it for ya, I apologize. Anyway, this was a cool issue, I'm wondering what the deal is with Steve asking DP to join, I don't think it's genuine. It was a cool issue though, nothing amazing, but solid. I'd give this issue a 7/10 rating.

Deadpool: Holy Crap you're an Arab living in America and you're a terrorist?! That's so disappointingly stereotypical and racist!

Birds of Prey #5

Beautiful cover, I love when characters look real like Alex Ross draws them, so seeing Lady Blackhawk and Huntress look like avid cosplayers is pretty cool. The issue starts off with Oracle, Savant and Creote on top of the bridge where Savant tried to commit suicide. Oracle promises to help Savant and he finally becomes aware that Creote loves him in a great scene between those two. From there Oracle checks in with Black Canary who tells her she has White Canary but needs to get to Bangkok fast, courtesy of Zinda "Lady Blackhawk" Blake. Huntress chimes in that Zinda is hurt and her and Hawk are going to the hospital. When Huntress asks what to do with Penguin, Oracle says let him go because they have no evidence or proof and their the outlaws now because of attacking the cops. Huntress says she's fine with that and puts the bolt of her crossbow right in Penguin's face, threatening to kill him, but Oracle promises to ruin his life her way, before Huntress grudgingly agrees and drops Penguin before walking away. After that Black Canary announces she has to quit the team and won't be coming back, well that was fast. A confused Oracle tells Creote to take them to Kord Tower, while wondering to herself what would Batman do? White Canary tells Black Canary if she comes with them her friends and Sin will be safe, but she can never return. Black Canary agrees and gets in the car with White Canary leaving Gotham behind. From there we see Huntress, clearly upset that Dinah left the team, dispatching of some thugs trying to rob a woman. Huntress acts tough before admitting to herself wherever Dinah's going, she's going too. Back with Oracle, she's moved her base of operations to Kord Towers, of the late great Blue Beetle Ted Kord. She tells Savant and Creote she wants to bring them in as her Bodyguard and Tech/Data Expert. We then see White and Black Canary getting on a plane, which has been White Canary's plan all along as they head to Bangkok looking for Shiva. Next up we cut over to Hawk and Dove...wait, his Brother Dove?! Ah, Hawk's dreaming, after a meaningful talk with his brother, Hawk wakes up in the hospital while Dove (the female one) sits next to him. In another room Zinda wakes up as Helena sits next to her, and in true Zinda fashion she requests eight beers. When she hears about Canary quitting the team she hops up from her bed and says "I don't remember giving her permission to quit. Let's go get that dizzy blonde." Haha, man I love this team. Next we see Dinah and Helena in Bangkok, they get into a cab and are ambushed. Our two Birds fight back but come upon a huge twist by the end of the issue. I really liked this issue, I'm wondering what will happen with Creote and Savant now that their back with the Birds, as well as Hawk and Dove and Zinda and Helena. I really like everyone in this team so that explains why I love this comic, but the art was odd in this issue. In some scenes everything looks really good, in other scenes they look really generic and if they didn't name characters I wouldn't know who the characters are. All in all this was a great issue for a great series so far, I'd give it a 9/10 rating.

Black Canary: Guess there's no point in leaving the cuffs on...

White Canary: If I want them off I'll remove them myself.

Well this was a pretty quick week everyone. Only five comics this week and pretty average for the most part. I'll be back this weekend with the poll results as well as a new one, if I can come up with a topic. As always ideas are appreciated, and until next time I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man JT!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman: Streets of Gotham #16, Flash #5, Green Lantern Corps #52, JL Generation Lost #11, Power Girl #16, Superman/Batman #76, and Titans #27.