Ratings and Rantings featuring Green Lantern #3

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here once again with those comic content comments you capriciously crave, that's right folks, I'm here once again and this week should be interesting. Still continuing on with my "Not for me by three"method if a book hasn't won me over by the third issue it joins the dropped list, currently leading the way is Detective Comics, so let's see if anything else joins the list today.

Batman and Robin #3

We start things off with Damian and Alfred playing chess, while Bruce as Batman improves the security perimeters of Wayne Mansion, due to his recent run in with Nobody a.k.a. the man he also knows as Morgan. He then goes out on patrol, but tells Damian that he isn't to come, as he needs to seem defenseless and doesn't want Damian in that position with him. He also tells Damian to name the dog he bought in the last issue, as he's a gift for Damian's recent self-control. Damian, seemingly ignoring all of that, decides to go out on his own, but Alfred manages to place a tracker on the Boy Wonder before he leaves. While on patrol, Robin stops a robbery and brutally beats the living hell out of the two robbers, including throwing one of their knives through the robber's hand. As Robin pummels the robber someone tells him to "finish him,, Damian. " to which Robin is confronted by Nobody. Nobody says that Damian is holding himself back for Bruce, and he looks down at the recently beaten the and says thanks to Damian's beating, the criminal is now brain-dead, so Nobody kills him. Damian tries to stop him but Nobody uses a pressure point to subdue the Boy Wonder then removes his mask. Suddenly, Batman arrives and faces off with Nobody, but Nobody uses an Ultrasound (not the kind for babies...) to incapacitate Batman long enough to lure him into the street where the Dark Knight is hit by a speeding car, man that scene was so unexpected. The issue ends soon after as Batman and Robin awaken strapped to the inside of an old car in front of a screen at a old drive in theater, as Nobody tels them to enjoy the show. I really enjoyed this issue, I like the stuff with the dog as it ties into future Batman events (Batman Beyond), I loved the Alfred/Robin interactions,  especially with the tracker, and I like how Nobody was portrayed here, he could be a great addition to Bats' rogues gallery. I'll give this issue of Batman and Robin a 9/10, and it's definitely safe from being dropped by me anytime soon.

Alfred: Did you know this chess set has been in the Wayne family for over 200 years?

Damian: That's almost as old as you, Alfred.

Green Lantern #3

This issue opens with Carol Ferris arriving home from her train wreck of a date with Hal Jordan, she answers her cellphone after turning down a picture of her and Hal together as someone tells her to turn on her TV to channel four. She turns and see's a super-powered Hal Jordan helping save the city with Sinestro and is shocked. From there we see Sinestro explaining why he wants to take down his former Corps, and mentioning how they went against what he told him and enslaved his home planet, and if Hal helps him defeat his former Corps, he'll give Hal his ring and they'll go separate ways.Hal agrees and the two head off to defeat the Sinestro Corps together. Before the attack, Sinestro tells Hal that after the sun sets on Korugar, Sinestro will head down and engage the entire Corps, meanwhile Hal is to take Sinestro's Green Lantern and put it in the Sinestro Corps battery, as a green lantern is the fail-safe for the rings. Pretty sneaky sis! The two head down to the planet and wait for sunset, until a woman named Arsona attacks a Sinestro Corps member that's about to eat another native of Korugar. Arsona is then attacked which causes Sinestro to jump into action to save her and fight the Corp, while Hal flies off to the Yellow Battery. Hal takes the lantern in the battery and it says "Green Lantern detected, Disintegration process initiated as Hal fucking DISINTEGRATES as the issue ends! Oh man that was epic, I know it won't last but the visual of that was awesome, so that plus the awesomeness of Sinestro gets this issue a 10/10.

Hal Jordan: Dammit, Sinestro! You set me up! (Then he was dust...)

Grifter #3

We kick things off with Grifter, Cole Cash, being confronted by his brother, Max Cash, as they hold one another at gunpoint with a helicopter hovering over them, even though I'm fairly sure there was n helicopter and the car Grifter was in was turned over in the last issue, but whatever. After a pretty boring argument full of vague comments, we cut over to see Cole's ex-girlfriend arriving outside of Gotham City. Who runs from crime and goes to Gotham City?! That's just dumb... I'd take my luck anywhere besides the place that's home to The Joker, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Black Mask, Poison Ivy and the rest of those loons. She ends up getting caught by what I can only assume are the things after Cole. Meanwhile Cole and his brother's argument is interrupted by one of the Alien things, and during a fight, the Helicopter is knocked out of the air and falls and explodes on Cole's brother....okay then. When Cole's next line is "That was my brother!" I decided I was done with this comic and this series. I tried, but I can't even make myself care about this isue to finish the review, this issue gets an N/A and joins Detective Comics on the dreaded drop list.

Me: Um...check please!

Deathstroke #3

We start off with Deathstroke fighting some dude that's dumb enough to impale himself on Deathstroke's gigantic sword (that whole sentence sounded weird) and we then jump over to see Slade training and then talking with a man known as Peabody. He gives Peabody the briefcase and asks him if whatever is in it is real, and Peabody says he'll need a few days to find out, and Slade says fine. From there he discusses his target and we see Slade arrive in a gigantic suit that looks like the one Dexter used to play Dodgeball on Dexter's Lab back when I was a kid. Anyway, Deathstoke breaks into the lair of his target and kills a bunch of people, just like in the last two issues before he's confronted by a by in the same suit as the one from the beginning of the issue, and after a bit of a struggle, Deathstoke beheads him. As the issue comes to a close we see that Harmony's parents are the one's hiring people to go after Deathstroke. Meh, I couldn't get into this either. It seems like every issue is just Slade decapitating people, and there's no substance, which made this get old for me fast, I'll give this issue a 5/10 rating but I won't stick around for anymore.

Me: I bet twenty bucks he's gonna decap..yep, I was right.

Batgirl #3

We kick things off with Batgirl trying to save the people on the train that a bomb has been placed there by The Mirror. (This reboot has some lame villain names.) Haha, there's graffiti on the train that says "For a good time, call the Red Hood." Batgirl realizes she can't find the bomb so she singles out the man The Mirror is trying to kill and makes everyone else move to a different train car. She then hugs the intended victim and states that since The Mirror believes Batgirl is to die by falling, he won't kill her and the intended victim because that would dishonor his plans, but The Mirror says Batgirl has forgotten the guy who saved the intended victim is on another train and he also "cheated death" and with a push of a button he detonates his train, killing the good Samaritan as well as a bunch of innocents.We then see that the young woman who's partner was killed in now investigating Batgirl, as she believes Gordon has a blind spot when it comes to Bats. From there we see Batgirl steal her bike back from the GCPD impound lot when she's approached but Nightwing, who has been tailing her. The two leave on Babs' bike and talk alone, as Dick asks Babs if she wants to be back in her chair, considering they said her condition could deteriorate. She leg sweeps Dick and tells him to catch her and see if she's ready to be back, he eventually does catch her but Babs lashes out and attacks Dick, the two fight for a bit before he calms her down and says that he and Bruce aren't worried about her because they doubt her but because they love her. She apologizes and says she needs to take care of this alone, and Nightwing obliges and leaves Batgirl all alone as this issue comes to a close. This was a fine issue, nothing bad but nothing amazing either, although I did enjoy the swerve the Mirror pulled, this book is safe for now, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Batgirl: You're a mess, you know.

Nightwing: Yeah. Fought this tough redhead chick. She beat the crap out of me.

Batgirl: She sounds wonderful.

Ultimate Spider-Man #4

We start where we left off in the last issue with the kids being told in the gym that Spider-Man had been shot, Miles has Ganke cover for him and sneaks out. Miles eventually makes his way to the fight and see's Peter take down Osborn before he dies on the lawn while talking to Aunt May, as we see Miles watching in the crowd. Miles walks over and asks a crying Gwen Stacy what his name was, and she replies Peter Parker as Miles looks over at the fallen Spider-Man. Back at his dorm, Miles tells Ganke this is all his fault, and if he'd used his powers earlier he could've helped Peter instead of sitting in his room being afraid of his dad and everything else. At Peter's funeral, Miles and Ganke make their way to the front of the barricade and Miles asks Gwen why he did it, she explains that he did it because of what happens with his uncle and with great power comes great responsibility. From that we see Miles trying to make his costume much like Peter did, when Ganke comes up and hands him a brand new Spider-Man Halloween costume. Haha, you gotta love that. After going out on patrol and clumsily defeating a villain as we read in a report via the Daily Bugle, they also refer to him wearing Spidey's costume being in bad taste. Back at his room, Miles and Ganke discuss what to do next and they almost get caught in the process, as Miles and Ganke's roommate almost catches Miles dressed up like Spidey. Afterwards, Miles is out on the town when he's suddenly kicked in the face by  Spider-Woman, who ends the issue by asking Miles "Who the @#$@ do you think you are??" Once again, I enjoyed this issue, I liked that Miles is slowly coming along and how Peter inspired him and how we're seeing a trial and error run with him, thins can only get better with Spider-Woman in the next issue. I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating.

Miles: I need to figure out the buzzing in my head thing. Head buzzing. Is it cancer? Did the spider give me? *BLAM face kick!*

And just  like that, that's it for me guys. I want to thank you all for reading and as always comments are appreciated. I want to let you guys know due to the number of books I'm grabbing, next week's reviews will be much more condensed, also, until I get my laptop back (still working on someone else's) there won't be any new polls, as  don't have the log in info to the site on my laptop and can't get the password sent to my email. But that's it for me guys, once again thanks for reading and until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger-man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batman #3, Catwoman #3, Justice League #3, Nightwing #3, Red Hood and the Outlaws #3, Supergirl #3, Morning Glories #14, Venom #9, Amazing Spider-Man #674, Deadpool #46, and Ultimate X-Men #3... Eleven Books, who am I, X-Man?!

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

1. Detective Comics
2. Grifter
3. Deathstroke

Ratings and Rantings featuring X-Men Regenesis

Note: Halfway through this post, my computer crapped out on me so I drove over Falisha's to post this. Long story short, I was tired and didn't feel up to reviewing Morning Glories this week as well so It will be in next week's R&R, if my computer is fixed by then. Thanks for reading.

Hey Todd Squad, yours truly hear again with a huge week of Ratings and Rantings. This is actually my 160th post, shocking enough. A pretty odd milestone to celebrate but I just happened to realize that when I started typing this. So congrats to me, haha. Well this week I've got ten issues to review, and my more detailed style would make this one LONG, monotonous post, so instead I've decided to borrow a format from my good buddy X-Man75, in which I'll basically give a quick overview over the comic, then give my thoughts. Again, this won't be my usual style of reviews but this is a big pull week for me, so bare with me. FYI, expect the same next week since I'll be enthralled with Batman: Arkham City!

Deadpool #44

This is last week's issue which I never got to review. Over the course of this issue, Deadpool tries to stop his crazy stalker, Dr. Ella Whitby from killing The Warden of the prison he recently inhabited. While trying to save the Warden, Deadpool confronts Ella and they share a laugh or two, before she blows the place to high hell, seemingly killing herself in the process, as Deadpool simply gets up and walks away. Later on, Whitby returns to Deadpool, burned up looking like a small, chubby version of Wade. He tells her he's in love with someone else, but doesn't state who, so a heartbroken Whitby puts a gun in her mouth and pulls the trigger, killing herself before Deadpool can stop her. Also, in this issue, Deadpool found a bunch of his body parts in Whitby's fridge and threw them away, and at the end of the issue it seems they all reformed to make an evil Deadpool. Well this was weird, I expected a more delightful romp, not to see a kamikaze and a suicide. I guess I like the idea of Deadpool vs. Deadpool though, but this issue fell flat, which is sad because I like Dan Way, and I figured once Deadpool had his full attention it would get even better, but that hasn't been the case. I'll give this a 5/10 rating.

Deadpol: She's gonna be copying me, so... how would I do this? Ah-Ha! I'd teabag him! (I'm giving you no context here...)

Deathstroke #2

We started things off with Deathstroke meeting with Mikel at a bar, When things get heavy the man turns to the patrons and asks how many of them he's paid to kill Deathstroke if he needed them to. A bunch of people pull out their weapons and the brash Deathstroke murders them all with ease and pure awesomeness before killing Mikel as well. Mikel's reinforcements show up late, including a big metal juggernaut (not that one) by the name of Road Rage. After killing about fifty people, including civilians and innocent bystanders, a camera crew runs up to Slade...for some reason... and tapes him as he says that all of this is nothing but fun for him. This of course makes worldwide news and Deathstroke is content since this was all a plan to get him more mercenary work. Well... that was something. I couldn't get into this issue, it rushed by and nothing really made me care, I liked seeing Deathstroke kill a bunch of people, that was fun, but I doubt I'll remember this issue thirty minutes from now, which is not a good thing. I'll give this a 6/10 rating.

Deathstroke: ...This is nothing but fun.

Batgirl #2

We start things off with Batgirl pursuing The Mirror, and she inadvertently kicks him off a ledge too hard, almost killing him in the process, but he grabs a gargoyle. Batgirl tries to help him and is thrown off the ledge for her trouble, considering she's "on the list". Batgirl manages to stop herself from hitting the ground but crashes into a taxicab rib first instead, so.. kudos on that Babs. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon soon learns from Detective McKenna that Batgirl is back, and his eyes bug out as he's surprised, suggesting he may know that Babs is Batgirl. Batgirl eventually catches up with The Mirror, who beats the crap out of her, but she manages to steal his list of names, and when the cops come, he hightails it. When Babs eventually finds The Mirror's base, she discovers that he's someone who watched his family die as he was saved, and now he just wants to die, but he's taking out people that should have died but also lived. So yeah, very convoluted. Anyway, the issue ends as he states there's a bomb on a train so.. there's your cliffhanger I guess. There was also a VERY boring storyline in this where Babs went on a date with some guy, so boring I didn't even thing it was worth reviewing. This issue was the opposite of Deathstroke, it seemed to drag on and on with Babs getting beat up by the Mirror and the basic theme is that she's not 100% yet, I'd give this issue about a 6/10 rating, as it was pretty slow and I just didn't enjoy it as much as Batgirl #1.

Cab Driver: Hey, look what you did to my cab!

Batgirl: Yeah, but look what your cab did to my ribs.

Green Lantern #2

In one of the best verbal smackdowns ever, Sinestro lays into Jordan before making a Green Lantern ring and giving one to Hal. The ring allows him to have all the power that Sinestro designates and Sinestro can turn the power off and on at will, thus making Hal his slave. Sinestro then one-ups Hal, as Hal tries to save a woman that fell off a hole in a bridge, but Sinestro saves the woman, everyone else, and manages to fix the bridge, as he tells Jordan he should've been using his ring to fix society, not to be a glorified cop, but to bring change. He then kills a member of the Sinestro Corps, the one that apparently ruined the bridge. After killing the rogue Corpsman, Sinestro tells Hal that the Sinestro Corps have ruined Korugar and that Hal is going to help him destroy them all. Now this was a good issue, Sinestro had plenty of zingers, Hal was made to look like even more of a chump, and we got to see why prior to Hal, Sinestro was the greatest Green Lantern, for good reason. And those two teamed up taking on the entire Sinestro Corps should be fun, I'll give this issue an 8.5/10.

Sinestro: The Corps didn't simply give you a ring that could let you fly and create airplanes. The corps offered you a chance to improve the universe. (Preach it, Sinestro!)

Grifter #2

Things start off with Cole meeting his girlfriend, Gretchen, in a bar, trying to explain to her how he actually killed two aliens/monsters/demons on that flight (last issue) and how he would never do anything like that. While they talk, one of the possessed things strolls into the siner`, and Cole confronts and attacks him before setting him ablaze using a cigarette and a pan of flour...yes, it was as awesome as it sounds. From there, Gretchen thinks Cole is insane, and she tells him not to follow her. Cole then leaves the diner but doesn't make it too far before he's confronted by someone looking for him, his brother, Max Cash. Max Cash is an awesome name, anyway I enjoyed this issue. I like that Cole is pretty much on his own against an enemy no one else believes exists, I also like that he dropped the huge sideburns as well. And the fact that Gretchen was shown possibly going to Gotham City opens a ton of Batman/Nightwing vs. Grifter possibilities. But yeah, things heated up and I'm interested in where we go next, I'll give this issue an 7/10 rating.

Demon: You bring a fist to a gunfight? How human of you. (Well I guess I'll put my hands back in my pockets.

Batman and Robin #2

Things start off with Bruce explaining to Alfred how he's worried about Damian and what would happen to Damian without Bruce around. Well... you were missing for a while and he listens to Dick more than he does to you now, but whatever you say Bruce. Batman and Robin go out and stop some criminals from trafficking guns and leave them hanging for the cops, when suddenly Nobody shows up and slits their throats, unbeknownst to Batman and Robin. Afterwards, Damian takes out his rage of not being able to kill and maim on the training dummies in the Batcave, as Alfred also seems to worry about Damian and his rage issues. Also, we see Batman buy a Great Dane, which is cool because he has one in Batman Beyond, so that's some nice continuity. The issue ends as Batman is confronted by a man named Morgan, a mutual acquaintance of Ducard, and it seems Morgan is Nobody, and Bruce knows, just as Morgan knows Bruce is Batman and vows to save Bruce from himself. This was interesting, I was surprised at how nonchalant the Morgan/Bruce conversation seemed, and Bruce randomly getting a dog, although that may be to calm Damian, but I loved the stuff with Damian and his rage. I'd give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Bruce: I'm a billionaire, Damian, not a trillionaire. (And you never will be with that attitude, Bruce!)

Ultimate Spider-Man #3

Curious about Miles' spider-powers and the mysterious spider that bit him, Miles let's Ganke talk him into going to talk to his Uncle Aaron. They arrive at Aaron's house to find it completely empty, as he's apparently moved away in the span of one day. On the way home a building catches on fire, which is excellent timing I guess. After some prodding from Ganke, Miles saves the day without a mask before fleeing the scene. Afterwards, he tells Ganke that he's done doing that, and there's already a Spider-Man, plus Miles feels that he isn't cut out for the job. Miles then moves on with his life and attends his new highschool, where he rooms with Ganke and another kid. The issue ends soon after with the kids being called to the auditorium, and told by the faculty (for some reason) that Spider-Man had been shot. I really enjoyed this issue, I loved seeing Miles save the day and as always he comes off really likable. If I had any problems, it's why they felt the need to wake up a bunch of kids and call them to the auditorium to tell them Spider-Man had been shot, I know he's a hero but that still seems rather excessive. But besides that, this was another issue I enjoyed in the brief run of Miles Morales, I'll give this a 9/10 rating.

Ganke: Show Me!!!

Miles: Shut the door. (I'm once again giving you no context here, except that Miles had a sly grin as he spoke.)

Ultimate X-Men #2

We start things off with a captured Jimmy Hudson being thrown into a room with Reverend Stryker. From there we saw Rogue saved by Iceman, Human Torch and The Shroud (Kitty Pryde) but run into a little trouble in the process, including Iceman getting his arm broken off, which was pretty damn awesome. After being saved, Rogue explains that she was told to incite the robots and that she'd be saved, and she was told this by God. Next we see a woman named Elise Cartwright chained up, as she's approached by Reverend Stryker. We find out that Elise has been opening her home to orphaned mutants, and Stryker takes this as an opportunity for her to confess her sins, before he kills the woman in gold blood, then states that he's doing God's will, as the issue comes to an end. This issue was interesting, I like that both Rogue and Stryker believe they are being led by God, so when they confront one another it will be interested, I also enjoy the playful banter between Johnny (Torch) and Bobby (Iceman), but what annoyed me is how we started out with Jimmy being thrown in a room and we don't see how he was caught. Not only that but we don't see him again for the rest of the issue, but that aside I enjoyed this. I'll give this an 8.5/10.

Human Torch: Ha! Bobby dated a crazy chick.

Amazing Spider-Man #671

Over the course of this issue we see that Mary Jane has finally developed her spider powers and is using them to save herself as well as other civilians. Meanwhile, Jameson is subdued by Spidey, but not before he bites Spider-Man on the arm. Medics then try to keep Smythe alive as he mutters about them having all the Spider-Slayers they need. Also, the Spider-Queen finds out about the Anti-Venom cure and has Jackal send Tarantula to Horizon Labs to contaminate the cure. Surprisingly, we find out that the secret "Number Six" at Horizon is none other than Michael Morbius! Interesting. When he arrives at Horizon, Spidey is shocked tom see Peter Parker is already logged in, and he's attacked by Tarantula, when Jackal tells him via satellite that Tarantula is none other than Kaine?! Meanwhile, Madame Web tells the people at Horizon that the Spider-Jammers have cut off her link to the web and to fix them now, and with the help of Reed Richards, they change the frequency so it not only allows her to see the web, but gives Spidey his Spider-Sense back! Using his Kung-Fu and Spider-Sense combo, Spidey knocks Tarantula into the Anti-Venom cure which cures him of his giant spider look, but allows Kaine to crawl out looking normal, and still apparently with his Spider-Powers. Kaine mentions to Spidey that The Queen is the mastermind behind this and he can take him to her, as The Queen snaps at The Jackal and screams at him with a scream so powerful it incinerates him. The issue ends soon after, while Madame Web notes that by interfering she's inadvertently caused the Spider-Jammers to give The Queen "God-like" powers. Okay, I loved this issue, a ton happened and it sucks that Brock may not be Anti-Venom anymore after giving up his powers to cure people, but I love the idea of Spider-Man, Kaine, Venom, Mary Jane and the recently cured Captain America all teaming up to go after The Queen. I'll give this issue a solid 10/10 rating.

Soldier: Commander Grimm... you stand relieved! Take a Clobberin' Time-Out! (Lmao... that is genius.)

X-Men: Regenesis One-Shot

I love how this issue was done, basically we saw Wolverine and Cyclops draw a line in the sand for the most part and recruit people to either side with Wolverine or Cyclops. We started off seeing Wolverine go to Iceman, and basically tell him he needed him, and Bobby obliged and teamed up with Wolverine. Wolverine also tries to recruit Psylocke but she refuses and decides to stay with Cyclops.The thing I love is each time someone picks, we see a tribal version of them basically standing behind a tribal version of Cyclops or Wolverine, which was a great touch.We also see Kitty decide to go to Wolverine's team as Colossus believes he shouldn't be at a school with everything he has inside him now, so he stays in Utopia. For the rest of the issue we see everyone from Magneto to Storm choose sides, some are surprising and some are pretty obvious, but at the end of the issue we see the two teams head off on their own ways for the foreseeable future. This was a pretty good issue, a few of the characters I didn't know about, being new to the X-Men books, but I'm excited about this split. Instead of a line of the issue, I'll give you the team picks. And I'll give this issue an 8.5/10 rating. The final tally seemed to be

Team Wolverine: Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Beast, Rogue, Idie, X-23, Rachel Summers, Quentin Quire (against his will), Gambit, Frenzy, Toad, X-Man75.

Team Cyclops: Psyclocke, Colossus, Magneto, Hope, Dazzler, Namor, Doctor Nemesis, Danger, Magick, The Cuckoo's, Avalanche, Emma Frost, Storm, Me.

And just like that, 10 books have come and gone. Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think of this condensed style I stole from X. And as always, be sure to check out the surprising results from last week's poll. But that's it for me, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "Who are you the most excited to play as in Batman: Arkham City?"

Last place with 0% - Catwoman, I gotta that, that shocked me, especially since she's in the main game.
Third place with 7.7% - Robin, the third Robin, Tim Drake, comes in behind two other Bat-Boys.
Second place with 38.5% - The title character, Batman.
Winner with 53.8% - The recently announced, fourth playable character, Nightwing! (Info here)

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Morning Glories #13, Batman #2, Catwoman #2, Justice League #2, Nightwing #2, Red Hood and The Outlaws #2, and Supergirl #2.

Ratings and Rantings featuring Ultimate Spider-Man #1

Hey Todd Squad, welcome back to the blog that's giving you more bang for no bucks, the place that has weekly comic content comments, and apparently has what you guys love, a weekly column with multiple reviews, that's right, I mean Ratings and Rantings! This week's edition has five number one issues, and surprisingly one of them isn't DC related, it's Ultimate Spider-Man! Throw in the fact that we've got the DCnU debuts of Green Lantern, Batman and Robin, Grifter and Deathstroke, as well as more Spider-Island, and we've got a potentially great post ahead of us! So let's start things off with none other than Deathstroke!

Deathstroke #1

We start things off with Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, in Moscow, Russia after accepting a job, and one page later we see exactly what Deathstroke is, a mercenary that as clearly earned the nickname, "The Terminator". Hell, we even see him slice a fly in half by throwing a paperclip... yeah, it was awesome. Anyway, we see Slade accept a new job offer, and as he attends it, he finds out he's working with a bunch of twenty year old mercs that refer to themselves as "The Alpha Dawgs...Dawg." Well alright then. Needless to say, Deathstroke is annoyed by his "team", and pretty much stays to himself until the mission starts. When Deathstroke drops in on the target, a plane boarded by a suspected arms dealer, as we soon find out that he's actually a biological weapons arms dealer. He sics his men on Deathstroke, that are apparently modified soldiers with Clayface DNA, which makes them harder to kill. So, instead of trying to think of a way to kill them., Deathstroke just chucks one out of the plane and heads towards his target. The target surprisingly hands Deathstroke a briefcase and says they went through a lot to get Slade there. Slade asks if whatever is in the briefcase is a threat, to which his target replies that it's a message. Deathstroke then leaves him with a message as well, some C4 which blows the plane sky high (no pun intended)  while Deathstroke rappels back to his plane, piloted by the Alpha Dawgs. As the Alpha Dawgs or the Harm Armory since they can't decide on a name, celebrate their first mission, Slade is asked what he thinks of his up-and-coming team, to which he replies there is no team, only competition, and he doesn't work with competition. Slade then opens fire on the Harm Dawgs or Alpha Armory or the Dead Guys or whatever you'd like to call them. Slade then yells at his manager I guess, about accepting a contract that had him teaming with kids, and that he's the best. His manager, Christoph, says people don't think Slade can cut it anymore, and Slade says they have a lot of work to do then, as he intends to prove his rep is well deserved. The issue ends soon after with Deathstroke telling Christoph to be a good dog and clean up the mess. Hm.. that was interesting. It was a solid issue, very action packed, and shows that Deathstroke is done with teams after a year of him on the Titans. It was enjoyable and perfectly fine, but nothing amazing or anything that would make me want to read more if I was new to Deathstroke, I'll give this first issue a 7/10 rating.

Deathstroke: Do the smart thing and head to whatever whorehouse you spend your nights. Before I cut off your reason to go there.

Grifter #1

This is my first time reading Grifter, but I was compelled after hearing him described as "Sawyer from Lost in the DC Universe", and considering Lost is one of my favorite shows and Sawyer was in fact my favorite character on Lost, I decided to check out Grifter. So we start things off with Cole on a plane, hearing voices. The scene quickly gets hectic as one of the passengers attacks Cole, clearly one of the voices he's somehow hearing in his head. Cole makes quick work of her by stabbing her in the eye with what looks like a sewing needle. Clearly, this doesn't play out well for Cole among the passengers, who think he's just crazy and murdered a woman in cold blood. Cole takes a hostage to keep everyone calm and has them open the airplane door so he can jump out, when suddenly the passenger attacks Cole, as the passenger is also one of the things Cole can hear plotting to kill him. The guy tackles Cole as they fall out of an airplane, plummeting towards the water. We then flashback to a bit earlier as we see Cole pulling a con, and when he's paid some fake money, the partner that believes he's pulling the con on Cole remarks that Cole won't realize his payment was counterfeit until the next day. As the man leaves, we see Cole throw his fake money on a desk then grab a briefcase from behind a hidden door. Cole opens it to reveal a bunch of cash, clearly proving who the true conman is, as the man who tried to con Cole later opens his briefcase to reveal a bunch of playing cards. As Cole calls a woman, he says he'll be at the airport soon and meeting her in San Juan, when Cole is snatched up in a dark alley. He awakens to find he's been restrained to a table next to a tank with a giant blue glowing alien construct looking thing. As Cole is confused about where he is and decides to escape, he hears voices in his head, which prompts him to try to escape even faster. As Cole leaves, he encounters a man that asks how Cole recovered so fast, and the man telepathically alerts his "brothers", but since Cole can also hear this, he attacks the guy with a blunt instrument, but since he's still in shock he takes it too far and kills the guy. Cole, still shocked, escapes and notes that he was only out for 17 minutes, and wonders what they were doing to him when he hears that "The host body escaped." in his head. Still confused, he heads to the airport and that catches us up to where we started, as we see Cole and his mysterious attacker plummet into the sea. Two hours later, Cole calls Gretchen, and says he didn't make it to San Juan due to his recent events, but she says Cole was missing for seventeen days, and not seventeen minutes! Also, due to his airplane shenanigans, he's being searched for since people believe him to be a terrorist. From there we see Cole's brother, Max Cash, Special Operations Commander, is told to find his brother before news leaks out who exactly Cole Cash is and that he's related to a soldier. As Cole sits in a cemetery, he overhears the voices, saying to find and hunt down Cole Cash, as Cole puts on his mask and states he dares them to find him, before he finds them. This was a pretty good issue to start with, it threw a lot at the reader, and we saw Cole con someone. This issue really just set the stage for the next issue, which I'm pretty excited for now. I'll give this first issue a 7.5/10.

Cole Cash: A fool and his money, as they say... are an easy mark.

Batman and Robin #1

Things get underway with a beefed up looking Batman taking down a criminal in Moscow, the Batman look-alike says he's an ally of The Bat as he holds the criminal, when suddenly the criminal is short point blank in the head. The Bat based hero is then beaten up by a mystery assailant, with his joints broken and bent the wrong way, before his helmet is cracked open. He asks his invisible attacker who they are as they turn visible, and they reply "I'm Nobody. And so are you." From there we cut to Bruce Wayne sitting in Wayne Manor, as he walks to a portrait of his parents and a young Bruce and proclaims to his father that tonight is the night for change. Bruce then gets Damian and tries to tell him why the passwords and such for the Batcave are 10:48, and explains that's the time his parents were kill. Damian, ever the little jackass, doesn't seem to care one bit about Bruce explaining this. When Bruce tells him to show some respect, Damian replies they are just names and dusty frames on the walls to him, which Alfred takes offense to, since he says there is not a speck of dust on those portraits. As Batman and Robin head out, they go to crime alley and Bruce proclaims this is the last time he will mourn their deaths. He says it's how they lived that should be remembered and not how they died, and he will honor their wedding anniversary, not mourn the last time he saw them as they bled to death. Bruce mourns his parents one last time, all the while Robin makes smart-ass remarks that should've led to Bruce backhanding him like a few other Robins, but Bruce maintains his cool. The duo are then told by Alfred that they are needed at Gotham University, so the newly teamed Dynamic Duo make their way there. Once arriving there, Batman and Robin attack the ne'er do-wells (I just wanted to use that phrase...) As they take them out, three of the criminals escape and Robin pursues them as Batman yells for him to wait. Robin engages and cuts a wire on their vehicle, but one of the criminals tries to shoot Robin with a flamethrower of sorts, which just incinerates the men inside. When Batman catches up, he asks Robin what happened to the men, but Robin says he doesn't know. Bruce says he doesn't have a license to kill and he needs to control himself, to which Robin replies that he's not like Tim, Jason or Dick, and he's light-years ahead of the past Robin in skills and training, and he's Batman's partner or he's not. Batman replies that he isn't his partner, he's his son, and Damian has to earn his trust. We then jump over to Nobody, as he slowly immerses the Moscow Batman in acid, and says it'll be like he never existed. He then says the global circus has to end (referring to Batman Inc.) and that he'll be paying Bruce Wayne a visit as this issue comes to a close. Damn, that was a good issue. I was a bit worried about the brooding Batman teaming with Damian who is... well Damian, but it worked together well. And Damian's so disrespectful that you KNOW eventually Bruce is going to snap. I'll give this issue a 9/10 rating, plus Nobody looks like an interesting villain.

Robin: And you were easier to look up to when you weren't around.

Batman: Should I be expecting those words on my next Father's Day card?

Green Lantern #1

Man that is an awesome cover with Sinestro wearing a Green Lantern Corps ring. He's had like three different rings in the past two years though. We get started with Sinestro saying the Green Lantern Corps Oath and charging his ring as the Guardians look on. They say they believe the ring chose Sinestro to give him a chance at redemption, and they tell Sinestro to defend his sector and send him on his way with his ring and lantern. Ganthet is outraged since he remembers that the last time Sinestro had a Green Lantern Ring. The Guardians then say Ganthet needs to be on the same page as them so they all zap his giant head with beams from their giant heads, cause that's how they roll I guess. We then see Hal Jordan and his landlord demanding rent, when suddenly Hal hears a woman screaming for help. He looks across from his apartment and see's a musclebound man that looks just plain cartoon-like attacking a woman. Hal decides to go save her and jumps out of his window, through her window and clocks the guy before realizing they were filming a movie. HA! After some time in the pokey, Hal's bail is paid for by Carol Ferris.Once they leave, Carol tries to explain to Hal he can't try to fight crime anymore, since he's no longer a Green Lantern. Hal then tells Carol he's ready to fly planes again but she says she can't insure her planes with him flying them due to his accident record, so if he comes back to Ferris Air he can't work as a pilot. Man, life just sucks for you Hal, and now that ya can spend time with your woman, she's a hero and YOU aren't. You were better off dead. Oh, I spoke too soon as Carol says she hasn't put on her ring since she got back and she doesn't plan to, so Hal asks her on a date and shoots her a perv smile. We then see Sinestro, looking at the Sinestro Corps through a giant construct of a telescope and see's they have enslaved the people of his home planet, Korugar. Suddenly, Sinestro is attacked by one of the Sinestro Corps members. He says that Sinestro betrayed them since he has a Green Lantern Ring, which leads to Sinestro killing him, then destroying his ring before it could find a replacement before flying off. While out on their date, Hal pops the big question to Carol, asking her to co-sign a lease for his new car. She obviously thought he was going to propose so she throws her drink in his face and storms off. As Hal walks home in the rain and finds an eviction notice on his door, he's approached by Sinestro who says if Hal wants his ring back he'll do everything Sinestro says as this issue comes to a close. This was also pretty good I enjoyed seeing Hal's crappy life crumble and Sinestro is almost always awesome, I'd give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Hal Jordan: Wait! Carol! You drove me!

Ultimate Spider-Man #1

We start things off with Norman Osborn in a lab telling the story of Athena and Arachne to a scientist named Markus while looking at a spider with the number 42 on it's back. Afterwards, Osborn explains how he created Spider-Man due to one of the spider subjects biting him, and how they weren't able to replicate that formula. And that's why Markus is there, to replicate the formula since he's a genius with four doctorates. After that we see the news of Osborn being the Green Goblin made headlines, and someone breaks into the lab soon after. Spider number 42, which escaped from it's containment box then hitches a ride out on the guy that broke in, thus escaping the lab. Next we see a young Miles Morales and his parents walking through Brooklyn to a lottery drawing that will basically allow forty kids out of seven-hundred and Miles is the last kid to win a spot when his lottery ball is pulled, lucky number 42. Miles feels bad for the other kids but his parents are happy he gets a chance to thrive in the inner-city by getting into a charter school. Afterwards, Miles goes to see his Uncle Aaron and tells him how he got into the charter school, as his Uncle says he's happy Miles will have chance, which is more than he and Miles' dad had. As Uncle Aaron goes to grab some popsicles to celebrate, Miles sits down and we see Spider number 42 climb out of Aaron's bag, as he was apparently the thief at Oscorp. The spider climbs across the couch and bites a unsuspecting Miles who falls out and begins to foam at the mouth before passing out. He wakes up a little while later as his father and uncle argue, as his father asks what he gave him, clearly he doesn't think much of his brother. They continue arguing as Miles asks his dad to stop, but they keep at it, until they notice Miles is gone. Miles' dad walks outside looking for Miles but little does he know Miles is sitting right in front of him, and can apparently turn invisible as this issue closes. Say what you want about Marvel and Miles Morales, but I enjoyed this issue. It gave us the typical Spider-Man origin but tweaked in a way that works for Miles. We also have all these questions about Miles' powers, his rogue gallery, why he puts on the suit, and especially his family. All in all I enjoyed this issue, the ending was a bit abrupt but I like what I read and I definitely plan on reading more. I'll give the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man an 8.5/10.

Norman Osborn: I said I will beat you to death with my bare hands. (Good ol' Norman... never change.)

Amazing Spider-Man #669

We start things off with Peter and Carlie being attacked by Chance, White Rabbit and Scorcher, which Carlie attributes as a good thing since it means the Jackal is behind this, considering he has people guarding one of his old bases. Great point. Peter soon realizes that these super villains also have Spider Powers, and they quickly knock Carlie out. Pete takes advantage of that to bust out the Kung Fu that Shang-Chi taught him and makes short work of the villains, but Carlie see's the end of it. She asks Pete where he learned moves like that and why he waited to bust them out, but he dances around the question, that is until she says she, Pete, and Spidey need to have a chat about the Jackal now they they've confirmed his involvement. We then see The Jackal is watching, which is awesome due to his comments as if he's watching a sitcom. When he's beckoned by the mystery woman, Jackal states that soon another major city will be infected with spiders... interesting. We then jump over to see Venom taking on the Spider-King, as we saw in Venom #6, before we cut over to Times Square and see a disappointed Mary Jane over the fact that it seems as if everyone in New York has spider powers except for MJ. Next we see the Avengers are either keeping people from New Jersey that want spider powers out of New York, or keeping people with spider powers in the big apple. We then jump to Horizon Labs to see Max Modell telling Mayor Jameson that they've built spider-sense jammers based on Peter's designs of a Spider-Sense disruptor he used back in issue #654 so people with spider powers can't leave the quarantine zone. Before that news can sink in, Reed Richards makes it known to the Mayor that the spider power infection is now airborne, and eventually if not stopped, the entire planet will have spider powers, that is, everyone that's not a mutant or already has superpowers. Reed says in order to stop that they'll give everyone a power, a low-level magnetism that will allow them to tell which way is North. Lame, but it'll do the job so Reed starts producing a pathogen that will allow it. Meanwhile, Mayor Jameson goes to get his spider power vaccine, but when he's tested, he finds out that he has spider powers! Oh God, PLEASE gimme a J. Jonah Jameson vs. Spider-Man fight. On the other side of town, Anti-Venom is zapping people and curing them, against their will of their spider powers. With so many spider-powers out there, Madame Web's tether breaks and causes her to fall out, unable to see the future anymore.Over at the police station, Carlie and Spidey chat on the roof since Carlie "just missed Peter as he'd just swung off". Peter seems to think Carlie knows he's Spider-Man, so when she questions him then says she's going to call Peter, he says he has somewhere to be and takes off, but she follows him.Spidey arrives on the scene to see a six-armed Shocker! We see that he isn't alone, as he removes his mask we see Shocker is turning into a human-spider, and so is Carlie! The issue ends soon after as we see the mystery woman working with Jackal to turn these people into human-spiders is The Queen! Man this was a good issue, nice reveals, the fact JJJ finally has spider powers, the mystery of why MJ doesn't have them yet, the stuff with Venom and Anti-Venom, and of course the human spider mutations! I'll give this issue a 10/10 rating because I thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover.

The Jackal: Puh-lease. I'd recast, she's no Gwen Stacy.


And that's it for me everyone, thanks for tuning in and checking out this week's Ratings and Rantings. I hope you enjoyed this week's post and feel free to reply and let me know what you think, as well as ask any questions you may have. And be sure to check out last week's poll results as well as vote on this week's newest poll. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off!

Last week's poll asked "How should posts be formatted at Jason Todd's Comic Spot?"

Last place with 37.5% - Single Reviews for each comic.
Winner with 62.5% - Weekly reviews in one post. (Ratings and Rantings)

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Deadpool #43 (My shop was out this week), Batman #1, Catwoman #1, Nightwing #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (AWWW YEAH!), and X-Men: Schism #4!

Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, Jason Todd here with a big week for Ratings and Rantings. We've got seven hopefully awesome comics, including the first issue of Schism, the last issue of War of the Green Lanterns, the prelude to Spider-Island, one of the last issues of Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, and SO much more. So enough of this lead-in, let's get to the meat and potatoes of the post, the reviews!

Green Lantern #67

We start off with action as Hal, Kyle, John, Guy, and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps charge the Guardians that are possessed by the color corp entities. They quickly realize they have to get the entities to make an emotional contact so Hal heads to the Book of the Black to free Sinestro, Atrocitus and the rest. Kyle draws them escaping from the book in one of the pages and it happens because that's how the book works. Once their free, the respective rings go to each of the Corp Leaders but before they can put them on their overridden and the rings all go to Krona. Krona uses his power to knock Ganthet away and then tries to kill Hal. Hal mentions that Krona's rage is wrong because the Guardians made a mistake and everyone is flawed. Sinestro overhears Hal's speech and before Krona can kill Hal, Sinestro interjects and says that Hal would die for the Corps (he already has...) and Sinestro said he would as well. By standing up to Krona, Sinestro is deemed worthy of a Green Lantern Corp ring, which even shocks him, and he and Hal team up to blast Krona. Krona says he's defeated Hundreds on Lanterns and they aren't turning the tide, and Hal somehow inexplicably uses his ring to kill Krona, who has the power of six rings, but whatever. Atrocitus oversees the killing blow and yells that Atrocitus was his to kill, meanwhile I yell that he should put on some damn pants. When Krona explodes, because that's what happens when you die via ring apparently, the rings fly free to their owners. Interesting enough, Indigo-1 yells asking where Abin Sur is, and Larfleeze yells "Keep the orange one away from me." yet both seem unaware of their actions after they get their rings. After the fight is over, Sinestro is still wearing the GL ring, whereas his Sinestro ring has went to someone else. (Maybe the Weaponer can take over his Corps?) The Guardians note that no Ring should've been powerful enough to kill a Guardian, referring to Krona being killed by Hal, and also note that they will decide what to do with Sinestro and his new ring. The Guardians then determine that Hal Jordan is dangerous, he hid his actions before Krona's attack and killed a Guardian, and they dishonorably discharge him from the Corps and take his Green Lantern ring! The issue ends with Hal being transported from Oa to a random spot on Earth, saying "This isn't how it was supposed to end." I figured with the Sinestro news, that Hal would lose his ring but that was shocking... I wonder what happens now and how he gets it back. I'm also curious as to how Hal killed Krona and where Sinestro's ring went, I'll give this issue an 8.5/10.

Guardian: In the past, we may have considered Hal Jordan the greatest Green Lantern, but now... he is the most dangerous.

Deadpool #40

Things start with the Merc with a Mouth being locked in an asylum, screaming that he's not crazy. We then jump to seeing that his defense attorney is none-other than Jessica "She-Hulk" Walters, and she kept him out of "The Raft", a prison for criminals with super-powers, but since Deadpool is Super-Human, he doesn't fit the criteria, and therefore belongs in a normal asylum. We then see Deadpool apparently has a friend in a Dr. Whitby. Deadpool tries to break out and Whitby allows him to use her as a hostage, but when DP finds out he's in England, he's a bit shocked and manages to get shot in the face, which knocks him unconscious for thirteen minutes. Whitby gets upset, saying Deadpool isn't crazy, if anything he's a troubled man, and it's a wonder he can move or speak. When DP wakes up thirteen minutes later in a glass cell, he tries to break out of the room and fails. Meanwhile, we see Dr. Whitby making an inmate do a puzzle, the inmate is in for committing Mass Murder, and the puzzle she's making him do apparently is a puzzle version of a picture of his murdering spree. Interesting that she'd take that approach to make him feel bad about the murders, and he replies that he doesn't like the puzzles, as Whitby walks away with a smirk. She then walks over to Deadpool, and he tries to chat her up so she'll free him, but when she comments on his scars, Deadpool realizes he doesn't have on his costume, and starts to get upset and claims people are laughing at him. He gets enraged, but Whitby tells him that his cell is unlocked. Deadpool takes this time to leave his cell and apparently injures ten other inmates so bad they needed to be hospitalized. Whitby takes this time to try to psycho-analyze Deadpool before we then cut over to one of the guys DP attacked, who wants to get back to the asylum for revenge, as this issue ends. Well... I couldn't get into that issue, not enough laughs, very slow story, unnecessary She-Hulk appearance. So yeah, this wasn't the best issue of Deadpool I've read, I'll give this one a 4/10.

Deadpool: Hey, didja see it when I stabbed that dude with his own femur?

Batgirl #23

Things start off with the GCPD being ransacked by three of the five Order of the Scythe members. They manage to get back the suits of the two members Batgirl defeated recently. Batgirl, recently back from her trip to the U.K., finds out that her former unwanted sidekick, the Grey Ghost, has been killed in her absence. Batgirl then gets some info from Detective Nick Gage about his past as a Reaper. We find out that when he was a Reaper, a heist went wrong and it lead to his fiance getting killed. Gage then tells Batgirl that Grey Ghost's dying words were "find Batgirl" and gives her a recording he left for her, explaining the Scythe's plans. I can't help but feel Clancy was killed here because of the reboot, and had it not happened he would've been around much longer. When Batgirl finds out that the two former super-powered suits she took down are being broken out of prison, she heads there. After calling Batman and Robin, and finding out the Dynamic Duo and the Birds of Prey are all busy, so Batgirl decides to go in alone, against the five super-powered villains. Before she goes in, she tells Gage to give Babs Gordon a call, because although she'd never say it, she digs Detective Gage, as Batgirl drops into the prison as Gage looks confused. Batgirl takes a beating but finds out Order of the Scythe Suits are there to keep everyone busy and murder their client, so Batgirl yells out "SHAZAM!" Surprisingly this brings her allies, in the form of Supergirl. Stargirl, Bombshell and Miss Martian. Now that's a Teen Dream Team if I've ever seen one, just add Ravager. The Furious Female Heroines take it to the Reapers and quickly dispose of all of them. Supergirl mentions making this team-up a regular thing, that I hope alludes to a future comic, which I doubt. The second to last issue ends as Batgirl goes to find out who the "client" is, as we see it's none other than her father, the Cluemaster. Well that was a surprising swerve, I'm wondering how the final issue of Stephanie and Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl series will end, but it's going to be bitter sweet. This was a fine issue, but of course it seemed rushed for obvious reasons, I'll give this issue a 8/10.

Batgirl: SHAZAM!

Jabberwock: Wait... Guys, she isn't magic, right?

Red Robin #25

Tim Drake's getting raped, or that's how we start anyway. More and more like Dick Grayson each day, eh Timothy? Anyway, he's "saved" from being raped by the half-sister of Ra's Al Ghul, by Cassandra Cain. Cass manages to subdue both Promise and the younger Al Ghul. Cassandra then frees Tim and stabs him in the back with a sword that protrudes through his chest. Once his blood pours onto the floor, it's confirmed as his and a door opens, allowing Cass to be immortalized among the past Assassination Tournament winners. As Cass takes her place, a laser takes a shot at her but she's tacked out of the way by Tim, who faked his death with the help of Cassandra, a collapsible katana, and a blood pack that contained a pint of Tim's blood mixed with glycerin water. Pretty damn clever, Timmy. Tim talks to the mysterious man that's lived for centuries and apparently wanted him dead, and he asks where Tim see's himself in twenty years. We see images of his grave, a futuristic Batman in Red and Black, and Tim sitting at a Giant computer, which all seem viable. Tim claims he doesn't plan that far ahead, but the mysterious voice says Tim has likely just thought of three scenarios, but Tim will actually be by his side. Tim then realizes that the base their in is going to explode soon, so he and Cassandra high-tail it out of there as it explodes. After realizing he has no answers and a ton of questions, Tim tells Cassandra thanks for helping, and she asks if he'll help with Cricket, to which he replies that he will after tying up some loose ends. We then see Tam Fox slap the taste out of his mouth after finding out her father's death was a ruse constructed by him to help find a criminal. She says she fell in love with Red Robin because he was cool, but the man under the mask is just cold. We then see Red Robin and Black Bat get their asses handed to them by Cricket in Hong Kong, a ten-year-old kid who is fast enough to seem as if he has power from the Speed Force, and is one of the deadliest fighters on the planet. Tim uses the six weeks healing from his dislocated shoulder and jaw, and three broken ribs, courtesy of Cricket, by getting a new apartment with his own base, and of course, "assassinating Captain Boomerang"?! as this issue ends. This was another good issue, I like how the loose ends are tying up, but the Cricket ass-whooping didn't help him or Cass.. so that was weird to just throw in there. Anyway, the next issue of Red Robin is the last one, and we finally get to see Tim get revenge on the man that killed his father, so that alone should be worth the price of admission, I'll give this issue a 7/10.

Red Robin: He left Cass with something worse: the promise that he'd fight her "for real" next time. (Dayum, burn by Cricket!)

Green Lantern Corps #61

John Stewart, taking angry black man to a whole new level. (That's what they SHOULD'VE put on the cover.) We start off seeing thousands of Green Lantern rookies taking their rings off one by one and throwing them into a gigantic green hill of rings. One rookie thinks she deserves it, so she flies off with it. We see that her name is Qurina Vint, and she's the first person from her planet to be inducted into the Green Lantern Corps. She's a cop who got her ring during the Mogo fiasco, even though she was in the middle of a drug bust gone bad. Qurina flies off and finds John, who still feels bad about killing Mogo, and she says maybe he can relate since he's the only person who feels less welcome there than her. John agrees, and she explains how she was a cop on her planet and she feels she can do it on a cosmic scale. John tells her if she wants to prove her worth to veterans and such then she should report to basic training with Stel. She agrees but she gets a message on her ring that says she has an emergency in her sector, and since she's the only Lantern for that sector now, she goes to help, and John follows after her. When they arrive to the planet, they realize it's pretty much a civil war, so the first thing Qurina does is remove the weapons from both sides. That causes them to send airships for attacks instead, so John has Qurina keep everyone from killing with each other and heads to talk to the leaders of the two factions. Of course John solves everything and by the end of the mission, tells Qurina to remember that her ring isn't the only weapon she has, her brain should always be used just as much as the ring. The issue ends with Qurina saying she plans on attending Stel's training and she notes that she plans on telling anyone who will listen that John Stewart mourns what he did to Mogo more than anyone will ever know. Well this was a find issue, nothing happened of course, because it's the second to last issue before the reboot, but it was fine for what it was, I'd give it a 7/10.

John Stewart: When your only tool is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. Don't ever forget that this weapon on your hand is only as good as the one between your ears.

Amazing Spider-Man #665

We kick things off with Peter Parker and his former-crush turned one of his best friends, Betty Brant, and how they always try to hang out the first Friday of each month for movie night. But in typical Spider-Man fashion, he has to break off the monthly movie date with Betty due to always being busy, between working at Horizon Labs, being a member of both the Avengers and the FF, and his original Spider-Man duties, he's pretty damn busy. Betty gets upset at Pete standing her up and says that she misses back when he was a struggling photographer, which upsets Peter since Betty has been on him for years to make something of himself, so he kind of snaps on her and hangs up. Betty's boyfriend, Flash Thompson (secretly Agent Venom), then comes to check on her before he leaves for a secret Venom assignment. He promises her he'll take her to see her movie when she comes back, but sadly it's only going to be playing today, (it was in theaters for ever but Pete kept standing her up), and Flash remarks that it's in the worst part of town but if that place is still standing, he'll taker her when he gets back. Betty decides she can take care of herself, and after Flash leaves she heads out to see the movie. On the way to the theater, she of course manages to get grabbed, and the next thing wee see is Glory Grant running through a hospital saying she's there to see Betty. Glory calls Pete and tells him what happened and he immediately thinks of the time he let a criminal run past him and that led to Uncle Ben's death, as he puts on his Spider-Man suit and goes to look for whoever hurt Betty. In the waiting room we see Robbie Robertson, Glory Grant, Mary Jane, Carlie Cooper and more of Pete's friends, even J. Jonah Jameson shows up. We see that Flash has been contacted and is on the way back to New York and Aunt May and Jay Jameson are waiting for him at the airport. Betty apparently wasn't sexually assaulted but has a cracked rib, head trauma and swelling on her brain. Jonah has brought a neurosurgeon from Mount Sinai, and he notes that he's lost Marla, he refuses to lose Betty, who is like a daughter to him. He says if you think he's been tough on crime before, wait until now. We then see Spider-Man, beating a small-time crook senseless, looking for answers of Betty's attacker, and he finds her pendant that her mother gave her. Spider-Man demands a name from the crook and finds out the guy who attacked Betty's name is Harlan Finch. We see Spider-Man beat the hell out of a ton of criminals, all the while demanding leads on Finch. Flash finally shows up at the hospital, and is upset he wasn't there and was on a mission as Venom. May eventually notices Peter isn't there yet, MJ tries to cover for him since she knows he's Spider-Man, but Aunt May says to stop making excuses for him because this is too much. Peter finally finds Harlan but before he can get him, Aunt May calls and dishes a guilt trip, saying she hasn't been this disappointed in him since the night Ben died. She says how he disappeared the night Ben died instead of staying with her, of course she doesn't know he went after Ben's killer, but Peter apologizes. Peter abandons his chase for Harlan and manages to make it to the hospital before Betty wakes up. When Betty wakes up, Peter returns her locket which makes her quite happy, and the two finally enjoy their movie night, as Peter sits next to Betty in her hospital bed as this issue ends. Now this was a great issue, Dan Slott usually brings it and this was no different. Everything about this comic was great, you felt Peter's rage, Betty's disappointment, Flash's guilt, everything worked here, I'll give this a 10/10.

Spier-Man: Who sold you this?! HIS NAME! NOW!

X-Men: Schism #1

We start things off with Wolverine arriving home, with spears and ninja stars (shurikens) sticking out of his chest. He finds out he apparently has a combat class to teach, per Cyclops' orders, but Wolverine is sleepy and tired so he dismisses the class. He goes to finally catch some Z's, but Cyclops tells him he has a speech to deliver in Switzerland, and for some reason Wolverine needs to be there, so he agrees to come with Scott says he can sleep on the plane. They arrive at the Conference and they talk about Scott's speech, all the while making jokes at one another's expense and showing that their relationship has come a long way, which makes the impending break up more meaningful, so nice work Mr. Aaron. Scott's speech is apparently to get everyone to deactivate their Sentinels, considering they've claimed the lives of so many mutants and humans alike. During his speech, someone walks in and interrupts, and that someone is Quentin Quire a.k.a. Kid Omega. Quire uses his psychic powers to make every politician there speak out their horrible deeds, including someone beating their children because they enjoy it and a man cheating on his wife of thirty-five years as she low dies from Leukemia. Everyone blames the X-Men for what's going on since Quire referred to himself as the future leader of the X-Men before committing his deed and disappearing. This leads to at least six Sentinels being activated and told to attack any male mutants, which includes Wolverine and Cyclops. They dispose of the Sentinels and manage to catch Quentin pop up on television, saying how he singlehandedly made the Earth's leaders into puppets and he did it for mutantkind. Afterwards, we see Mr. Kilgore announce that due to the recent developments, Kilgore Brand Small Arms are now half-priced. As Kilgore leaves, he see's his son, Kade Kilgore, is in his car with him and has a gun pointed at the elder Kilgore. He mentions how he's slowly taken over the company, being a child prodigy and all, and has even taken Kilgore's driver and bodyguard Bessy from him. Kade then shoots his father and lets him fall from the hover-car as he remarks that he just killed his father and took his company and feels no remorse, before telling Bessy to take him to the clubhouse to meet with the others. Back on Utopia, while Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor and Magneto discuss the current news, Wolverine drifts away and gets a box from Kitty Pryde. He then takes it to a teenage mutant, a young fourteen year old named Idie that was going to be in his combat class. He gives her a doll, which relates to earlier when he said a girl her age should be playing with dolls, and she remarked that she had one once but it was burned when she was accused of being a witch. It seems Wolverine has taken a shine to the young woman, the same paternal shine he took to both Jubilee and Kitty. So Wolverine and Idie eat ice cream together and bond a bit. This is interrupted when the news reports that many countries have started to build even larger, more powerful Sentinels. Cyclops tells Emma to get on Cerebra and tell everyone with an X-Gene whats going on, Storm thinks he's acting too fast but Cyclops says he wants to be prepared. We then see Kade Kilgore at his clubhouse meeting with a bunch of hooded figures, as he mentions how he's the one who freed Quentin Quire, although Quentin is unaware. The issue ends as the twelve year old Kade Kilgore takes his spot as the new Black King of the Hellfire Club. Now this was a really good issue, I'm new to the X-Men comics but I never felt lost or unaware of what I was reading, which is good. I'm wondering how the actual Schism between the team will start, as I know it will now include Kilgore, Quire and a bunch of Sentinels, but this was a great start, I'll give this issue a 9/10.

Wolverine's sign: Logan's quarters, Warning: trespassers will be stabbed repeatedly.

And just like that, that's all for this week's edition of Ratings and Rantings. I had a pretty good week with Schism and Spidey especially, and DC's bittersweet since Batgirl and Red Robin are ending soon, but all in all this was a nice week for comics. But I'm outta here, thanks for reading and be sure to vote on this week's weekly poll. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, until next time, Keep Cool my babies!

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3, Power Girl #26, Superman/Batman #86, Titans #37, and War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #1,

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