Ratings and Rantings

Hey Todd Squad, yours truly, Jason Todd, here again with your favorite weekly comic content comments, Ratings and Rantings! We've got another short week ahead of us but it should be action-packed, considering the big Batman/Robin/Red Hood team up, the Titans taking on the JLA, and the last issue of the Batman/Powers showdown, so let's get this thing started.

Titans Annual 2011

 We start things off as Isis and Osiris make their presence felt in a Kahndaq war, heavily tipping the scales in favor of their country. Iris thinks to herself how different Osiris has been acting since he killed The Persuader back in 52, as Osiris kills a bunch of retreating soldiers. Meanwhile the other Titans run into the JLA who tell them their under arrest for murdering Ryan Choi, Deathstoke, with his eye back somehow tells the JLA the back off or he'll detonate a nuke he has aboard the ship which will take out China. Cheshire and Roy tell Slade to give it up because he won't blow up a country, but Slade mentions that the JLA will back down because they won't risk Roy's life, not after Choi or Star City, and that's the only reason he let Roy join the team in the first place, and this was his plan all along. Once the JLA realize they can't stop the explosion or contain it, Batman (Grayson) tells them to fall back. We then see Tattooed Man at Slade's base when he's met by Dr. Impossible and Sr. Sivana who show him that Slade's basically created the fountain of youth pretty much,and the Titans have helped him put it together with their plans over the past few months. They then give TM a transportation device that sends him to Slade and the Titans, as they are currently trying to re-recruit Osiris. Osiris see's Slade and attacks but Slade gets him to calm down when he mentions he still may be able to bring Black Adam back and after some smooth talking, things go according to plan. Soon after, we finally see the Titans and the JLA throwdown, and when Cinder blasts Congorilla, Starman blasts her back which causes her to blow up, but somehow she's able to pull herself back together, kind of like Clayface. Meanwhile, Slade and Palmer face off while Donna and Jade fight while discussing Roy, and Batman and Arsenal one one another. Tattooed Man joins the fight and is hesitant to fight the good guys but he has a debt with Slade so he does, and brings down Supergirl with his magic. Slade then pulls out a Sword coated with Kryptonite and attacks Supergirl, and we see this was a gift from Lex after saving his life back in the first Titans mission. As the two teams fight, Isis is fed up and causes a tornado to move both teams off her land, she then says outsiders are no longer welcome there and bans the J.L.A from Kahndaq. Batman wants to stay and fight and says they should've killed Slade years ago but Slade says they never will and that's why he'll keep winning. The JLA leaves while Arsenal thinks to himself maybe he does have hope again, hope that he can kill Slade. The issue ends with Slade using blood he got from Supergirl as the final stage of his "Fountain of Youth", as he plans on healing someone he cares about, and we see a flesh decaying Jericho as the issue ends. Damn this was better than I expected, and now I gotta get the last two issues of Titans... but I liked the big fight and seeing Roy and Dick throw down, as well as Donna and Jade. I'll give this issue a 7.5/10.

Donna Troy: You were always bad for Roy.

Cheshire: You're just jealous you couldn't keep him. Maybe you were a lousy lay? (Burn!)

 Batman Beyond #7

We get started with Batman being grabbed by Derek Powers a.k.a. Blight and he uses his phosphorus touch to grab Batman's head and literally melt away at his mask and onto his skin. Batman frees himself by using a Batarang to break part of Powers' containment suit, which will likely kill him. Powers' assistant, Mr. French calms him down long enough to explain that if he doesn't get this suit patched soon he'll die, and Batman uses that opportunity to escape. Batman arrives back at Wayne Manor to tell Bruce that Powers was behind everything, but Bruce is already aware. Bruce heads down to purchase his company anyway and uses that as a chance to lure out Blight, who takes the bait. Batman joins the frenzy and he and Blight face off once more. Batman manages to overpower the containment suit on Blight and makes it explode, which makes Blight turn into a gas and drift away or something. The issue ends soon after once Bruce Wayne makes it known to Terry that he intends to rename Wayne/Powers enterprises to Wayne Incorporated. Well this was a quick issue, there was some other stuff with Terry's friends and stuff that I didn't care to review, so yeah this flew by. It was okay, nothing special, I was kinda bored near the end but maybe that's because I know there may not be left in this Batman Beyond series come September, anyway I'll give this a 5/10.

JT: These subway stories are pissing me off....

Batman and Robin #25

Okay, so I bought this variant cover because A.) It's awesome as hell and the same price as the original, and B.) It didn't feature my namesake getting his face kicked into a brick wall. Anyway, we start off with Scarlet telling her captor that Jason Todd is coming to save her, and he's gonna kill the woman who kidnapped her. We then see Batman, Robin and Red Hood heading to save Scarlet, along the way, Jason won't shut up with the quips, which annoys Robin. The entire thing is hilarious, especially when Jason says maybe Damian will loosen up once he hits puberty. Before they arrive to save Scarlet, Jason blasts his way out of the Hovering Batmobile and gets a lead over Batman and Robin. Red Hood asks the kidnapper where she wants to meet him, and they decide to meet at Thomas Wayne Middle School. Once he gets there, they demand he drop his guns and strip and Jason does surprisingly, making ever female member of the Todd Squad blush. Anyway, they see Jason is unarmed and free Scarlet, and Batman and Robin spring into action, as they'd been hovering over in the camouflaged hover mobile. Bats goes to save Scarlet but some goons grab her first, and the first, second and fifth Robin's start to take out the goons, as Batman tells Jason no killing, and Jason acquiesces. We see some interesting thoughts on Dick from Jason as they fight side-by-side to take out all of the armed henchmen. Damian saves Scarlet but as he's repelling up to the Batmobile, Jason shoots his line and catches Scarlet, saving her himself. They then head to his Red Hoodcopter, because everyone knows he has one apparently. Batman and Robin pursue Jason as he and Scarlet escape but he detonates a bomb that he apparently planted months ago, and tells Batman and Robin they can save lives or come after him, and of course the Dynamic Duo have to go save civilians while Red Hood and Scarlet escape as this issue ends. Now this was a great issue, I loved all the banter between Red Hood, Batman and Robin. I loved seeing the snarky Jason one-up the Dynamic Duo. Sure a lot of questions weren't answered like who that chick was and why she wanted Jason, but who cares. This is my favorite of the three issues, and this is my blog, so I'll give this a solid 10/10.

Red Hood: Wow. This is one tight-assed sidekick. Not a lot of quips gonna be coming out of this Robin, huh, Dick?

And that's it for this week's R&R everyone! Next week should be a much bigger week as seen below, so feel free to check out the results of last week's poll below, no poll this week since Vizu is down though, so that's it for me guys and gals, until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger Man, Jason Todd. And in the words of Conan O'Brien, Be cool my babies!

Last week's poll asked "Which DCnU series needed a reboot the most?"

Last place with 9.1% - Superman and Teen Titans, because walking around doesn't get boring. :P

Second Place with 27.3% - Wonder Woman, I've said it once, I'll say it again, she just got a reboot sadly.

Winner with 54.5% - Justice League of America, because no JLA team should have Congorilla... ever.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #23, Green Lantern #67, Green Lantern Corps #61, Red Robin #25, Amazing Spider-Man #665, Deadpool #40, and X-Men Schism #1! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

Ratings and Rantings

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

Red Robin #24

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

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

Batman: Arkham City #2

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

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

Deadpool #38

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

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

Batman and Robin #24

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

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

Invincible #80

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

Eve: We can move into the master bedroom.

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

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

And that's it for this week's Ratings and Rantings everyone. As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment below. That's it for me, and the results for last week's poll is below so be sure to vote on this week's new poll as well. So until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off. Until next time, you stay classy, Todd Squad.

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

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

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, Jason Todd here with another edition of Ratings and Rantings! This week's post only has three comics to review, and all are DC comics, but each of them has a ton of potential. We've got Power Girl written by one of my favorite writers, Judd Winick. Also by Judd we've got Batman and Robin #23 which features the return of my favorite character, Jason Todd, so you KNOW I can't wait to read that. And last but not least we have the amazing Scott Snyder's Batman: Gates of Gotham which features Batman (Dick), Robin, Red Robin and Cassandra Cain! So with three comics but a ton of talent involved, this should be a great post, or so I hope. And since I don't have anymore witty banter to stall with, let's jump right into these reviews!

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1 of 5

Awesome cover by Trevor McCarthy with the Bat-Family in the pane glass windows behind Batman. Everyone from Damian to Babs, Steph, Catwoman, Cass Cain, Tim, Jason, Alfred, Huntress and more. We start things off with Alan Wayne and a few of his colleagues looking over plans for Gotham City to be built. We then jump forward to see Batman trying to get information out of a man named Ronnie, who was at the Gotham harbor when someone brought in three-hundred pounds of Semtex. Well damn... anyway the guy spills that it was Penguin who brought it in, but as he does a bridge blows up. Batman radios to Red Robin and tells him the new Trigate Bridge blew up, but Red Robin replies it's not just Trigate, it's a trio of bridges also including 22nd Street and Madison. Batman tells Red Robin to take whichever is worse and he'll see what he can do at New Trigate. Batman manages to save a few lives but the end result seems to be thirty-one dead and twenty-five being hospitalized with concussions and/or burns. When talking to Commissioner Gordon, Batman mentions that Ronnie pointed the finger at Penguin before the explosions but it doesn't seem like a Two-Face crime. Gordon mentions he should lean on him anyway and Batman says he will. Batman checks in with Red Robin for clues but Tim hasn't found anything either. Dick then mentions that the trigger man says "The Families of the Gates of Gotham will fall", to which Tim let's Dick know that the bridges used to be called "The Gates" back in the day. Batman then pays Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot a visit, questioning him about the Semtex. Penguin denies that he did the explosions because he has no intention of blowing up a bridge that has his name. He reveals that Madison bridge was originally called "Cobblepot Pass." Batman recites that the trigger man said The families of the Gates of Gotham will fall and then used explosives Cobblepot helped him get to take out his bridge. Penguin tells Bats he never met the man but he hears he wears a rather interesting costume. Dick later meets with Tim to discuss their findings at the Bat-Bunker, and surprisingly, Cassandra Cain shows up. She mentions she was the one chasing the Semtex in Hong Kong and she should have been able to stop it. Damian then enters the room as they explain that the Wayne's are the family behind the New Trigate bridge, and the bridge on 22nd Street's heritage belongs to none other than the Elliot's, the family of Thomas "Hush" Elliot. The issue ends with us seeing Hush in Arkham being approached by someone in a costume asking if he'd like to come out and play. Awesome! I liked this comic, it was slow and methodical but built up well, plus it has Hush and after his treatment in the last few years I hope our boy Scott Snyder can give him a push in the right direction. I'll give this issue a 8/10 rating.

Batman: What is this, pleather? You know how flimsy that gets in the rain?

Power Girl #24

Power Girl starts with a very interesting story about an Arab-American man who's on a plane when it starts to go down to to engine failure. It turns out the man is a meta-human and has never told a soul about his powers and doesn't want to stand out. He does decide to use his powers and level out the plane to save all the passengers, including himself. He says he's aware that people would try to blame him or say he took down the plane but saving everyone is more important than that, and as he saves them, everyone looks out the window and would know they were safe thanks to the heroes who'd also stopped the plane from crashing, Batman, and Power Girl. Once they landed our Arab-American hero, Rayhan, was blamed as a terrorist and arrested, and six months later he's still in custody for something he didn't do. He's been denied an attorney and no one believes his story. They continue to interrogate him but he never changes his story, he's just a man who was afraid to use his powers because he knew people would fear him because of who he is. He asks if his father is okay since they've given him no outside contact, and wants nothing but to know if his father is okay, and he's told they'll see if they can find out, but they don't usually reward people who don't give them answers. We then see that the newly red-head Karen Starr's company, Starrware, is making huge rounds in the news. This leads to Karen Starr having a National Security Agent put with her which drives her insane because she's not used to having someone tell her what to do. She complains about it to Batman later to which he replies this is her fault. She's made Karen Starr a smart, powerful and media-savvy woman and she's now one shaved head away from being  Lex Luthor, which has led to her being watched. But Batman says the world needs a Karen Starr, and that he'll help her anyway he can, which leads to us seeing Karen Starr attending a red carpet benefit with none-other than Bruce Wayne. We then see Rayhan in prison still, asking to see his father, but his guard deny him the chance. He says that from what they've told him he'll die soon, and they can send as many guards or put as many power dampeners on him they have to, but he wants to see his father, but they still deny him. We see that Rayhan has been able to break out at anytime but he hasn't out of respect for this country, but upon being told he couldn't see his dying father, that's as the final straw, so he bust out of the prison. Rayhan gets to the hospital and wants to see his father but they won't let him up without I.D., he says they can send security with him but he wants to see his father, but he's suddenly swooped up by Power Girl. She holds him while Batman moves in to put a power dampener on him but Rayhan fights back which takes Batman and Power Girl by surprise as the issue ends. I LOVED this issue. The storyline is genius, a nice guy who has power is immediately viewed as a terrorist because he tried to help and all because of his race. It's sad but a true thing in our society and Judd did an excellent job of putting us in Rayhan's shoes, a man who did nothing wrong and paid the price, I'll give this issue a 9.5/10.

Batman: You're a shaved head away from being Lex Luthor. You're going to be watched.

Power Girl: I guess it would be easier if I pretended I was a drunk playboy.

Batman: It would. But not nearly as effective.

Batman and Robin #23

And now the moment I've been waiting for, Batman and Robin #23, written by Judd Winick, the Return of Jason Todd. We start things off seeing Batman, Nightwing and Robin, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd catching a few criminals. While we see this we hear Batman and Nightwing discussing Jason, and both seem to have a lot of faith in the second Robin. In the end, Batman tells Nightwing that Jason is Robin, and he needs him to be the best he can be. We then jump forward to see The Red Hood, inmate number 357-428 (the first and last issues Jason appeared in as Robin), in a holding cell with Batman (Bruce Wayne) staring back at him. Jason has red hair, meaning the Morrison thing will stay in continuity, but I don't mind it because he kinda looks like Roy with long hair, it makes no sense but I won't mention it anymore because I'd just get annoyed. Anyway, Jason welcomes Bruce back to the land of the living, saying he knew he wasn't dead anyway, because Bruce wouldn't go out like that. Jason talks about what he remembers on his return to the land of the living, before asking Bruce how he is. Batman gets straight to business and mentions Jason asked for a transfer from Arkham to a correctional facility, which peeves Jason a bit, because he wants a talk before they get down to business, he even asks how Damian's mom is. Interesting... Bats tells Jason he's in Arkham for his safety, and Jason replies that Arkham is for the criminally insane, and he isn't insane, in fact he killed criminals. Jason says he's not insane, he's homicidal, and he will kill again, so lock him up with criminals, not in Batman's kennel for freaks. We then see Dick and Damian talking to Bruce in the Bat-Bunker, as Dick asks why Jason would want to go to a correctional facility where he'll have to fight off all the enemies he's made over the years. Bruce tells them because Jason has a plan, and they need to be prepared, because by the time they figure out what it is, it'll be too late. From there we see Jason showering when he's cornered by some goons, one of which had their brother killed by The Red Hood. Jason doesn't seem to be worried and even throws a few barbs their way which only upsets them further as Jason leaves. Later we see the main guy that was trying to confront Jason has been hanged in his cell, obviously that would point at Jason being his killer. While out reading during recreational time, Jason is attacked by a few prisoners, one with a shiv. Jason, being the well-trained Bat-family member he is, defends himself and makes even more enemies in the process. Over time we see more and more people try to take Jason out, he apparently has a price on his head, but they each end up dead. Over in Gotham, Batman and Robin take down a gang and overhear that their leader has committed suicide while locked up. Batman then calls the Warden, upset that he hadn't been contacted like he told the Warden to do if any problems arose. Meanwhile there's been nine suicides and six murders since the Red Hood was transferred there. The Warden tells Batman that 82 prisoners are now dead and over a hundred are ill due to poison in the food and that he suspects Red Hood after finding poison in the food. Batman says he's on the way but the Warden says The Red Hood has been moved back to Arkham and is currently en route. We see Jason as he talks about how he's always loved trouble, and how if you put him in a building with a bunch of criminals that deserve death and think he's gonna behave himself than you don't know him to well, and now he's on his way back to Arkham, unless something else comes up. Suddenly the squad cars escorting him are blown up and all the guards escorting Jason are killed. Jason asks who the hell just killed everyone and we see some giant animals toting guns for some reason and say their the ones breaking Jason out as the issue ends. Well that was weird. I loved the beginning with Bats, and I was hoping Jason would be redeemed but I'm not surprised he killed all those criminals, it's what he's been doing for years now. I don't know what to think about the whole, Jason being broken out by talking animals or whatever but I enjoyed most of the issue up until that point, PLUS I'm a big Jason fan so I'll give this a 8/10 and hope Judd has a plan for where this is going.

Jason Todd: You look good. And I don't just mean that because you were dead.

And just like that, three comics have come and gone. That's all for me this weeks guys and gals, thanks for reading and as always comments are appreciated. Below are the results for last week's poll and be sure to vote on the newer poll as well whenever I get a chance to put it up. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off. You stay classy Todd Squad!

Last week's poll asked "Which Brightest Day character's series are you looking forward to the most?"

Last place with 0% - Swamp Thing and Firestorm... sad... just plain sad. Champion eh?
Second place with 12.5% - Aquaman and None of them... That's a pretty bad look for Aquaman too..
Winner with a whomping 75% - Justice League Generation Lost, so get Judd on it and let's go!

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Deadpool #37, Venom #3, Gotham City Sirens #23, Green Lantern #66, Green Lantern Corps. #60, Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #10,

Just Ratings, No Rantings?

Hey everyone, it's that time of the week again for the best weekly dose of comic content comics! This week's R&R is my last one before I start my job, so in other words, if the Ratings and Rantings get pushed to the weekend in the upcoming weeks, you'll know why. But I'll try my best to make it a Weds-Fri. posting.

Anyway, that was my lead in for the post. From there I spent about a good hour and a half reading and reviewing these comics, which I enjoyed for the most part. When I finished I added my pics and everything, only for blogger to tell me that I wasn't logged in. When I logged it in refreshed my page and now my entire review is gone. Needless to say that upset me since I wanted to give you guys a nice read, as I always try to whenever you stop by JTCS. But after that, It's kinda hard to even want to do it over again. So instead of calling it a bust I'm gonna give you the scores, go get my stuff for work tomorrow ready, and hope you all understand how frustrated I am about this, especially since I was done. So my scores for the following comics were:

Batman And Robin #16 - 3/10
Brightest Day #13 - 5/10
Amazing Spider-Man #647 - 10/10
Red Hood Lost Days #6 - 10/10

I would explain why but I'm pretty pissed at Blogger, and myself for making such a rookie mistake, but what can you do? But thanks for reading as always, and comments are appreciated, and mandatory. Nah, I'm kidding...or am I? Also, for this weekends massive post 100, you guys voted for another Top Five 5, which is interesting since half the people that participate didn't vote for that. I love that since it's less work for me! As for you mystery voters, join in on the fun and send your picks in too! But, as always, please try to send your picks in as soon as possible to KevinKavalier@gmail.com so we can make sure they make this weekends post. I'd say try to have everything in by Saturday night, since that's when the post will go up. The topics are below, so until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd, signing off.

Top Five Mutants
Top Five Memories/Posts/Favorite Things about Jason Todd's Comic Spot
Top Five Batman Villains
Top Five Speedsters in Order of Most Favorite to Least
Top Five Comic Characters You'd Punch in the Face if you could

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Batgirl #15, Birds of Prey #6, Booster Gold #38, JL Gen Lost #13, Red Robin #17, Titans #29, Amazing Spider-Man 648

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, it's that time of the week again for the best weekly dose of comic content comics! Before we get underway I feel I should plug my new article where I talk about my top ten favorite TV shows, you can see that article at a great site that's a place where our fellow bloggers all go to submit articles on comics, movies, TV and anything else they wanna discuss, Legion of Losers! So go check that out, tell em Jason Todd sent ya, and I win a free mini-fridge or something. Anyway, this week should be a short version of Ratings and Rantings since I only have a few comics, so let's get things started!

Brightest Day #11

(Warning, the following review contains a LOT of sarcasm)

Brightest Day, return of the Black Lanterns! Or at least that's what the cover would have you believe. Let's see if this is in fact the return of those skin rotting, emotion eating, Black Ring wearing zombies! We start off with Deathstorm, yes that's his name, because apparently Black Lantern persona's feel the need to change their names. I can't wait to see Martian Death-hunter and Aquadeath. (Sarcasm) Anyway, Deathstorm says he's not gonna hurt Ronnie and Jason, he's going to emotionally torture them and make them hate each other so they cause another big bang and kill everyone. Nice way to take advantage of the thing we learned last issue and already make it a threat. I'm assuming this won't work since Brightest Day is supposed to go until like Spring. As cheesy as the name Deathstorm is, I can't help but like him, as well as the awesome artwork of Death slowly surging through Professor Stein when Deathstorm wraps his bony, decaying fingers around Stein's neck. Deathstorm then does a genius thing, he absorbs Stein, basically doing the same thing Ronnie did to Jason in Blackest Night.  From there we jump over to see Aquaman and Black Manta fighting it out as Jackson, his father, Siren and her guards. Aquaman tells Jackson to run, and he does... then we go back to the Firestorm crew. Well that seemed like a pointless cutaway. Deathstorm tries to turn Jason and Ronnie against each other, all with the subtlety of a Circus trying to sneak through a subway. The boys tire of his crap and form Firestorm, complete with BOLD LETTERING and unleash "THE FURY OF FIRESTORM!", patent pending. We then jump over to Aquaman and Manta again, Manta says he still remembers the sound Arthur's son made when he killed him. Well, it's the thought that counts right? Anyway his mind games don't work, but Manta still manages to get the better of Aquaman. We then jump over to Jason Rusch's dad house because if he doesn't have anything to do with White Lanterns and Brightest Day than I don't know WHAT does! He's having a pity party over being a sucky dad to Jason. He even says he deserves the World's Worst Dad trophy. I'd probably reserve that for Deathstroke or Captain Boomerang since he ate his son's heart or someone who matters. Deathstorm pops up with a Microphone for some reason and pulls Jason's dad into the body too... I could make a joke about five men in one body but for your sake I won't. He says he's gonna use Jason's dad to screw with Jason some more, okay then. Back with Aquaman and Manta, they fight and with a semi truck drives by Aquaman pushes him in front of the truck. Yeah, because that doesn't endanger anyone apparently. Aquaman, Jackson and Jackson's dad then get a ride from the truck driver.... um.... alright. Back with the Firestorm five, Firestorm chases Deathstorm around in theur mind or something, They finally reach their destination and Deathstorm grabs the vacant White Lantern that's been sitting in that small town. He infects it with some evil then lifts the Lantern and is about to destroy when someone interrupts and tells him to bring it to them. He tells Deathstorm the 12 that rose must be stopped, then the only interesting thing in the comic happens. I won't ruin it for anyone who doesn't wanna know though. Well that issue was crap. Nothing good happened until the last few pages, and even that was more shock value than anything. Deathstorm is more annoying than he is funny as the issue goes on. I get that they cut back and forth in stories like most forms of entertainment do (TV Shows, other comics, movies), but all this does is slow down the excitement and kill big moments. If what happened at the end didn't happen I'd be giving this comic a one, but since it did and now I'm curious for the next issue so I'll give it a 2.5/10.

Black Manta: I still remember the sound your son made when I gut him like a fish.

Red Hood: The Lost Days #5

Okay, say what you want... but Jason looks like a Wang with huge muscle arms on this cover. Also why does his helmet not have eye holes? Anyway... We pick up where we left off with Jason at gunpoint by some crazy Russian mobsters. Jason tries to bluff his way out of the situation but when that doesn't work he makes himself throw up then uses the distraction to subdue some the men that have him at gunpoint. Jason takes the leader, holds a gun to his head and gets the Russians to let him go, and he takes off. From there Jason ambushes his bombs expert teacher, and tells him to tell Jason where the secondary bomb site is. When the former teacher refuses, Jason drops a small bomb on his chest, telling him the bomb won't kill him but it will blow off most of his jaw and maybe his eyes, then he lights the fuse. Jason stops the bomb when his former teacher sings like a Canary, but Jason keeps him tied up anyway and leaves another bomb, set to explode in 18 hours, so if Jason doesn't return to disarm it, his former teacher will die. Jason heads out to try to stop the suicide bombers since he couldn't get to the bombs and disarm them all. Jason finds one of the bombers, a student who didn't even realize the bomb had been planted into his book bag. Jason warns the student to go home and dump his hard drive so he won't be the patsy he's been set up to be. Jason continues to go around finding all the bombs which have been planted in the bags of Arab kids, to make it seem as if it's a terrorist attack. Jason goes after the last bomb and discovers that the student who it's been planted on is in traffic on the Westminster Bridge, which would obviously cause a ton of deaths and injuries. Jason holds her at gunpoint and tells her to give him her bag, she opens it and sees the bomb and surrenders the bag to Jason who discovers he has no time and has to disarm it there on the bridge. Jason's interrupted when a British officer tells him to move his bike off the sidewalk, Jason whips his gun out on the officer and tells him to back up so he can finish diffusing the bomb. Jason eventually runs out of time so he throws the bomb off the bridge into the water below. Jason heads back to his home base and is ambushed by the Russian Mafia, who've "rescued" his former teacher and beat the hell out of him until he told them where Jason was staying. Jason springs into action and quickly kills everyone in the room, cause he's all cool like that. Jason finally comes to the Russian boss and is about to kill him, after the leader fails to bribe Jason with money, drugs, and everything else he finally utters the line of the issue to get Jason's attention. This was an okay issue, kinda slow but nothing amazing. I'm wondering what happens in the last issue and if Talia will introduce Jason to Hush, this has been a pretty good mini and I can't wait to see how this chapter of Jason's story ends. I'll give it a 7/10.

Russian Mobster: I know where The Joker is!

Jason Todd: Okay... Now you have my full attention.

Deadpool Max #1

Deadpool Max is what happens when you take a character like Deadpool that has no limits in terms of what he'll do and make a comic that allows explicit content. I'm wondering how far Deadpool will go, so let's find out. We start out with Action Officer Bob reporting in with someone about his recent mission. His first phase was to take down Hammerhead, the boss of the International Crime Syndicate Maggia. We see that in order to get in, Bob had to sleep with a homosexual member of the syndicate, a huge dude named Bruno. Right off the bat we see this isn't an ordinary comic. We see Bob get a key to Hammerhead's suite then insert it into his crap, yes, literally his crap, then dropped it down the clothing shaft so another agent could retrieve it. Deadpool was supposed to enter and take care of everyone discreetly, but that plan doesn't work as Hammerhead enters the room holding Deadpool's head in one hand and his body in the other while Bob hides in the closet. Hammerhead throws a fit and punches Bruno in the face, telling him he's head of Security and it's his job to handle that stuff, and to bring him info on whoever the "ninja" is. Two hours later Bruno brings Hammerhead a picture of Deadpool standing next to a captured Osama Bin Laden. Bruno tells Hammerhead that Deadpool is a Legendary C.I.A. agent that's been called unkillable, and when his leg was blown off he just grew it back. When naming all the ways that Deadpool has survived death, one line was so absurd it made line of the issue, you can see it below but it's kinda out there. Hammerhead doesn't believe the rumors and tells Bruno to cut up Deadpool's head and send it to the C.I.A., the White House and everywhere else. From there, Bob manages to steal the head, causing everyone else to get freaked out and think the disembodied head of Deadpool was going to come murder them. Bruno got so freaked out he studied the tape over and over, and discovered that Deadpool was never shot so how could he have bled out. He then suspects Bob to have something to do with it and pulls a knife out on him. We find out that Deadpool put his costume on one of the men he killed and that was the body we've seen which was pretty genius. Then Deadpool went and got drunk in the wine cellar and passed out, so now Bob was on his own. Before Bruno could attack Bob, Hammerhead came in, and the irate man beat the hell out of Bruno for not finding the missing Deadpool head. Before Bruno could even explain Hammerhead headbutted him causing Bruno's head to explode. I'll leave Bob's fate a mystery unless anyone cares enough to ask about the ending, but this was a graphic comic with a lot of swearing, and I didn't mind. This comic was fine, especially for a first issue but nothing amazing. More Deadpool, less Bob is all I gotta say. The next issue will apparently have Inez a.k.a. Outlaw which I love because I'm a huge fan of her, so I'll probably check that one out. As for this issue I'll give it a 6/10.

Bruno: They say the Yakuza believes he's possessed by a demon. They tattoo his image on the dicks of their soldiers so they never forget to be vigilant.

Well that didn't take long at all eh? Thanks for joining me guys, here's hoping you enjoyed this weeks Ratings and Rantings. Also, it's that time again for the Top Five 5! You guys know how it goes, you send me your top five picks for each category at KevinKavalier@gmail.com and I'll post the answers this Sunday, as well as a new poll and the results of this weeks poll. Make sure ya send your picks in ASAP so you don't forget. The topics are below, and here's hoping you guys participate. Until next time, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd.

Top Five Least Favorite Comic Couples (Romance only, no Bromance)

Top Five Members of your personal JLA Squad (If Batman which one, if GL which one, etc.)

Top Five Characters that need a Reboot

Top Five Ongoing Comics you recommend reading

Top Five would be if you went to a Halloween Party

Next Time on Ratings and Rantings

Booster Gold #37, Bruce Wayne - The Road Home Batgirl, The Road Home - Batman and Robin, The Road Home - Red Robin, Green Lantern #58, Emerald Warriors #3, Generation Lost #11, Titans #28, Daken Dark Wolverine #2, and Shadowland #4. (Ten Comics... I better enjoy this short comic week.)

Ratings and Rantings

Hey everyone, it's that time again for the weekly phenomenon that's taking the nation by storm! Well, not really, but I'm sure it's giving someone a pretty big gust in the right direction. That's right, Jason Todd here, once again welcoming you to my Red Hood. Today we've only got four comics to run through but we'll also have a new poll, the poll results from last week, and a sneak peek of what I'll be reviewing next week. So without any further stalling on my part, let's jump into our first review, Dark Wolverine!

Dark Wolverine #90

As a few of you know, I was late to the party with Dark Wolverine. After trading for a bunch of issues of Wolverine Origins, X-Man75 talked me into checking out Dark Wolverine, which I don't regret because it's a hell of a series. I'd highly recommend Dark Wolverine or Wolverine Origins to anyone reading this, because they are two series that took characters I knew nothing about and made me into big fans of them. Now, I only mention this because this is the final issue of Dark Wolverine. So where does Daken go from here? Let's find out right now. We kick things off for the final time with Daken, at a peace rally against Mutants, thinking how everyone would easily settle their argument if they beat the hell out of each other with their signs. Oh that Daken, when will he learn? From there we see Daken on a bus or subway or something helping an old woman take a picture. That's what kills me about Daken, he's this ruthless killing machine yet he does things you'd never see Wolverine do, who's supposedly a hero. When Daken is near a tarot card reader, she predicts that an Emperor is coming, and may take the throne, but taking this throne will lead to death, and not just for the Emperor. As Daken walks around the city he thinks to himself how easy it would be to kill people, but how it would grant him no joy, it'd just be an action, and he has better things to do with his time. From there we see Daken walk around town, commenting on many things, one in particular is Happy Hour at a bar, where he seems to touch the neck of a woman, a woman who is out with Wolverine. That woman is Wolverine's newest love interest, Melita Garner. This issue was genius, because it's in your face the whole time and yet you never realize (highlight for spoilers) that for the entire issue Daken's been following Melita around the city. It was so genius in the sense that it was unexpected. The issue ends with Daken saying it would be easy to become Wolverine, but he wants more. This was a great ending to a really great series, I don't know what will come from Daken in the future, but I for one will definitely be watching. I'd give this issue an 8.5/10 rating.

Daken: I've always known what I am. Does she? Does Wolverine? Do you?

Brightest Day #9

Brightest Day kicks off this week with Aquaman and Mera together, discussing the White Light telling Arthur to find a young man with an Eel tattoo. When Mera speaks up as if she may know who the young man may be, Deadman and Dove magically appear underwater in front of them. After complaining about being Dumped in the water, Deadman is asked, "Remember Cap Brighton, you used to love swimming." That ring is one hell of an Intergalactic Stalker, I'll tell you that much! Pretty soon our four heroes are sitting around a campfire, (Just like the good ol Camp Brighton days, right Deadman?), discussing what the Ring wants them to do, and how the new Protector can't step up until everyone accomplishes their missions. Arthur steps up and tells Deadman to tell the other returned superstars about their missions, and how the world needs all the heroes it can get. After his speech, Mera tells Arthur she knows who the kid is they have to find. From there we cut to the mystery kid, standing on his porch in the rain, he makes the rain form around him, and he sprouts gills on his neck while his tattoo and eyes glow blue. When he finally submerges himself in his powers, his dad yells his name, and tells him they can't take risks in someone finding out about Jackson's powers and taking him from them. His dad then says it's time they tell him the truth. Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter goes to the Star City forest and marvels in it's beauty. He notes how his vision told him he has to burn it down, and he doesn't see why he should have to, before he shoots a powerful beam out of his eyes and obliterates his hands. And would you believe I'm only on page ten?! From there we see the other Green Martian, in her normal form, strolling around the store with a buggy, walking through blood of people she's obviously murdered. Well that was refreshing. Martian Manhunter turns into some big Green Blob for some reason, and it's not long before Green Arrow stumbles upon him and attacks. The White Light tells him not to burn this forest for some reason, and J'onn and the Martian scream in pain, all the while leaving me thoroughly confused. MM is killing the big White Lantern Tree and changing into all these different forms before Ollie smashes the Martian Manhunter with two huge tree trunks. From there, the two escape the forest and we see that MM destroyed it not purposely, but as a side effect since being brought back to life, and he's still killing surrounding plant life. After some talking, Martian Manhunter tells Ollie he's going back home. We then jump to Black Manta, destroy the grave of Thomas Curry, asking "Where is your son?", before being attacked by a group of men. The fight is finally stopped when we find something out many have been speculating for a while, but I'll leave that answer until you get a chance to read it, or ask me personally. Overall this was an interesting issue, we learned a lot of stuff and it wasn't bad, I'd give it an 7/10.

Martian Manhunter: I have been given a second chance at life... and I hardly believe it was so that I could hide away from the rest of the world.

Shadowland #3

Shadowland, which has been consistently good so far, I'm hoping this issue makes the main series three for three. We start off with Moon Knight doing the "People wonder why my costume is....blah blah blah" that every superhero in the history of the world has done. From there he talks with Ghost Rider, and we find out someone, who we saw last issue, is controlling the Spirit of Vengeance. After Ghost Rider leaves, Moon Knight gets ready to suit up for a fight. We then jump over to Daredevil, who raises his band on killing, telling his men to slay them all, them being Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and the rest. In the midst of fighting, Iron Fist and Shang-Chi try to talk Daredevil out of the fight, but he's adamant about fighting his former allies. When Matt leaps into the air like Superman then punches the ground causing it to shatter, Iron Fist proclaims "That's impossible, you're not Matt!" before getting a kick in the head that would make Shawn Michaels wince. (Wrestling reference.) Daredevil then makes quick work of Shang-Chi before jumping back towards Iron Fist, ready to land a huge punch and says "You should have joined me Danny, now you have to die." before Danny is saved by our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Spidery discovers that Daredevil is even quicker than Spidey now, and has a few tricks up his sleeve. When our heroes start to lose the fight their "Ace in the hole" steps in, which caught me by surprise. From there we see Lady Bullseye and The Kingpin having a conversation, she tells him that by summoning Ghost Rider, he will take revenge and come for Kingpin, who replies that's exactly what he wants. Back at his main base, Daredevil discusses what he thinks was a distraction plan so Ghost Rider could free all of his prisoners, and discusses with Typhoid Mary that next time his former friends will be back to get him. Tarantula tries to tell Daredevil their going to far, Daredevil claims they need better fighters and tells Mary to follow him and bring a shovel, while unbeknown to them, Moon Knight is watching from above. If Matt's doing what I think, me and X called this one. And yep, we rule. While going about his plan, Daredevil is interrupted and we finally get a face to face with him and Elektra. Back with our heroes, Iron Fist explains to everyone how different DD's fighting style is and how he doesn't think that's actually Matt Murdock. After he says that, Master Izo arrives drops a bombshell of an announcement on our heroes. This was a REALLY good issue, probably my favorite one so far, definitely a tie between this one and issue one. So much happened over the course of this issue, and it was written with such a great pace that it never felt stalled or rushed. I'll give this issue a perfect 10/10. This is clearly the best story out today, in Marvel or DC.

Daredevil: Consider my ban on killing hereby lifted! SLAY THEM ALL!

Red Hood: The Lost Days #4

In this issue we start things off with Jason on a bike, getting away from a bunch of Somalian boy soldiers after he ratted out his team of Mercenaries. The Mercenary Driver named Rip, is one that's been training Jason on how to use any vehicle in a combat situations. Next we see Jason learning how to use timing and explosions, something we know by now he's very good at doing. We also see Jason laugh and smile for the first time in a while, and we can visually see the aging process as he starts to grow a beard. When Jason mentions that his bomb experts teacher has a problem with another guy, she remarks that Jason's "investigations" are becoming a habit. She says that usually she finds him a teacher, he learns their skills, then half of them wind up dead. He tells Talia it's not without reason, before naming all the crimes his former teachers either were doing or were planning on committing. Talia mentions how he's starting to pick up old habits on his road to revenge before Jason interrupts saying that he's not like Batman, he would throw criminals in jail and Jason is ridding the world of them. After this conversation, she shows Jason a picture of Batman and his new Robin, Tim Drake. Jason doesn't show any emotional problems at first, but later back in his room he stares at the pictures of his replacement before breaking down. After that scene we see Jason has bugged his bombs teacher, and we see him meet with someone else, telling him that they need to move everything up three weeks. Jason finds out that these two criminals plan to detonate a bomb in the middle of an afternoon, killing 700 people, and blame it on on an Arab terrorist cell. Jason decides to stop this and finds where his teacher keeps the bombs he made, before replacing the wires making them duds, but sadly for Jason he's caught by a few henchmen while doing this. I won't ruin this as usual but this was another great issue, I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous three but I still thought it was really good. I'll give it a 8.5/10 rating.

Russian Guy: Yah! She was one of those-- you American! What's the expression you use? She's a "What-a-face?"

Jason Todd: Butta Face.

Russian Guy: Yes! She had everything but a face! Yes!

Well that's all for the review end of this week's Ratings and Rantings. I wanna thank you guys for stopping by and reading, and remind you once again to vote on the new poll over on the right side of the page. Below is the results of last week's poll question. So that's it for me, I'll see you guys next week for more Ratings and Rantings, until then, I'm your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man, JT!

Last Week's poll asked "Who do you think will be the new White Lantern Hero?"

Last Place with 16.7% - a tie between A Current Mainstream and a Second Tier hero.
Second Place with 25.5% - Someone we've never seen before.
Winner with 41.7% - A currently Dead character like Blue Beetle or Don Hall.

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Adventure Comics #518 (Atom Comic), Batgirl #14, Batman #703, Booster Gold #36, Green Lantern #57, Generation Lost #9, Red Robin #16, Amazing Spider-Man #641, Daken Dark Wolverine #1 (That was fast...) and Daredevil #510

Ratings and Rantings

Once again it's that time of the week, Jason Todd here, once again welcoming you guys to my Red Hood. This week's Ratings and Rantings should be interesting as Marvel invades, I plan on reviewing Shadowland #2, Shadowland: Bullseye One Shot, Deadpool #1000 and this marks the beginning of me reviewing Amazing Spider-Man on a regular basis. So along with those Marvel Comics, I've also got some DC Comics to review as well as Green Arrow #2, which I'll review first since it didn't make the cut last week. But before that, I wanna remind everyone that this weekend I'll be doing the Top Five 5, so remember to send me your picks, and the topics will be at the bottom of this review.

And lastly, I wanna thank Falisha for pointing out if you Google Jason Todd, that my blog is the first thing on the second page. That's pretty cool to know and definitely makes me wanna keep running the blog and see if I can crack the first page. But enough of that, let's kick off this week's reviews!

Green Arrow #2

This month's Green Arrow picks starts with a mysterious man wondering around the Star City forest, filling up his canteen with water before the story jumps over to the best buddies since Cory and Shawn on Boy Meets World, Green Arrow and Green Lantern. We find out that electronics, as well as Hal's ring won't work in the forest for some reason. Hal and Oliver continue to talk about the forest and the White Lantern power, then Ollie tells Hal that he knows the forest better than anyone since it's his home now. Ollie uses his Lantern (hmmm) as he guides Hal deep into the forest to show him where he's living, he somehow has tables, a couch, a bookshelf filled with books and many places to write his memoirs I'd assume, "How to live in a forest, the Green Arrow Way!" After showing Hal around, the Oliver tries to show Hal the way out of the forest, while mercenaries drop into the forest, looking for Green Arrow. They find him and Green Lantern, and Hal proves he doesn't need a ring to fight, as he and Green Lantern lay out the would-be-attackers. But when more attackers come, Green Arrow and Lantern decide they need a new plan, and try to figure out a way to get Hal's ring working again. The plan works and with a power boost, Green Lantern helps Green Arrow clear the forest of the invaders. This issue ends with a very interesting cliffhanger, that keeps me interested to see how Ollie will get out of it. As for this issue, I enjoyed it a lot, not much happened but we saw a new conflict, and got introduced to someone else in the forest, I'd give this issue a 7.5/10.

Green Arrow: You have your sector Hal, I've got mine.

Brightest Day #7

This issue of Brightest Day has been called "The one where we find out why those who returned did" so hopefully we can finally get some answers. The issue starts off with Deadman and Dove getting a cheeseburger (who saw THAT coming?! *sarcasm*) because the ring told him to last issue. I wanna know why Dove is dressed all clean with hair flowing and no one can get Deadman a T-Shirt and some pants? He's just walking around in the costume he DIED in and a trench coat. They talk about why Deadman may be back, and then talk about Hank and Dawn's roles as Hawk and Dove. After eating his cheeseburger the ring says "I hope you enjoyed your meal." (really?) and magically sens Deadman, Hawk and Dove, in costume, to the site of the White Lantern. In the crowd watching is Jackson Hyde, the kid we were introduced to a few issues ago. When Boston inserts his ring into the Lantern, Jackson's arm glows as he states he doesn't feel well to his friend, Maria. Boston asks the Lantern why did it bring them back, it replies they need to embrace life and Boston's costume turns all white, with the White Lantern symbol on his chest, and his face returns to his usual Deadman face/mask. The Lantern's entity tells Boston that he has been watching over the earth since the beginning of existence and a replacement must be chosen. The returned Heroes and Villains are there to protect the world until the arrival of it's new champion. We jump to Martian Manhunter whose trying to revive Miss Martian, when a ring manifests on his finger and tells him he must burn down the Star City forest. The rings continue to show our returned heroes what they need to do, and even manages to switch who's in control of the Firestorm body. Some of these prophecies are extremely interesting, and make me care about some stories I didn't before, especially Hawk and Dove. I think this was what this series needed to inject a little life (no pun intended) back into it. I'll give this issue of Brightest Day an 8/10 rating.

Hank: The Jukebox is broken.

Dawn: It was just playing the Dixie Chicks.

Hank: That's why I broke it.

Shadowland: Bulleye One-Shot

We start things off with everyone mourning and crying at Bullseye's funeral...wait...what?! Everyone's saying nice words and how great he was when someone yells out that he was an evil man and this funeral is a farce. The old man runs away but doesn't get far before he's presumably killed by one of the other participants. We find out that this funeral is more of a hostage situation as everyone is being made to show their "respects" to Bullseye. Someone who I don't know named Denny (I'm new to Daredevil so I apologize) sees Bullseye's ghost and says if he were alive than the old man with the shurikens in his back wouldn't be. The sixth sense kid tells Ben Urich (Hey, someone I know!) that the man isn't dead yet and they should help him, but they can't due to the armed guards that are running the fake funeral. We find out that eight hours earlier, Urich was abducted for this "funeral" for Bullseye. Mayor Jameson's announcement that no money would be spent on a horrible vigilante like Bullseye's funeral, so a bunch of Bikers who owe it to Bullseye decide to give him one. Denny Deaver, the kid from earlier, is doing this so he can get Bullseye out of his head, since he can see and hear dead people. They continue to make the rounds and kidnap people for the funeral until finally, thanks to a top off from Urich, Daredevil and his crew find our what's going on. I'll stop here as not to spoil things for anyone. The ending really made this story, but all the back tracking kind of killed the pacing in my opinion. It was still a good one-short but far from the best I've read, I'd give it a 5/10.

J. Jonah Jameson: As far as I'm concerned, toss Bullseye into the incinerator, then flush the ashes into the sewer... which is still better than Bullseye deserves.

Shadowland #2

Shadowland #2 starts off with an opening monologue by Moon Knight, while we see a Cab Driver swallow what I'd assume to be a balloon of something, so I'd assume the Cabbie was Moon Knight. He smashes up the taxi with a baseball bat until The Hand descends down, ready to attack, as he tells them to bring it on. We then see Luke Cage and Iron Fist (as Danny) at the Soup Kitchen, discussing Daredevil murdering Bullseye. Danny brings up a good point that they've all killed nameless Hand ninjas and HYDRA members over the years, and if anyone deserved it, than it was Bullseye. They have to cut their discussion short because two men get into a fight, Luke breaks it up, and in walks Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin. After discussing how the people in the city are turning on each other due to the Shadowland events, Kingpin states that they're going to have to take down Daredevil. Jumping inside his lair, we see Daredevil, who feels no remorse or guilt after killing Bullseye. He tells Tarantula that he needs better trained warriors for expanding their territory. He states that any costumed heroes are now invited to join him and The Hand, and if they're not with him, they're against him. Luke Cage, Iron Fist and some other heroes go to meet with Daredevil, only saying they'd join so they can talk to him. They tell Matt that he's going crazy for the most part, bringing up his recent murder, he replies by saying he put down Bullseye for the greater good. In the midst of this, Spider-Man joins the intervention, via the rooftop windows. Moon Knight, now with the captured cops and other people "arrested" by The Hand, heaves up the balloon from earlier, revealing Lockpicks. He goes to escape and runs into the last person I expected to see. When hearing of this infiltration, Daredevil blames his former allies, saying they caused this distraction and attacks. This was a great issue, the first issue was amazing and this one was almost as good. I don't know why this one seems a little smaller, maybe because this focused on more dialogue and the last one had the big Bullseye murder. But so far Shadowland has been great, I can't wait for issue three. I'd rate this issue a 9/10.

Spider-Man: And hey, can I just add on a personal note.. that whole Black Costume thing? Never ends well. Trust me on this.

Amazing Spider-Man #639

I remember issue #600, man time is flying. So as most people know, this is the thing that fills in the blank after One More Day, and in the last issue we discovered (Highlight for Spoilers) that the reason Peter and MJ didn't wed is because Spider-Man got knocked out and missed his own wedding. (Spoilers over) In this issue, Pete and MJ continue to discuss the past. We see Spidey, in his black suit, listening in as his friends and relatives talk about how awful he is for leaving Mary-Jane at the alter. Spidey tries calling her but gets the voicemail, he swings to MJ's home as fast as he can so he can explain how he missed their wedding day. When he finds that she isn't home, he swings around the city, frantically yelling "MJ!!!!" at the top of his lungs, trying to find his almost-bride. He finally heads to his own home, and finds Mary-Jane waiting on the couch. She tears into him, having heard about what he said about having cold feet to Flash and Harry in the last issue. She demands for him to take his mask off, and when he does, and she sees his bruised and battered face, she tells him it's not about cold feet, it's about how Spider-Man will always come between them. She's about to ask Pete to stop being Spidey but he cuts her off, saying he can't. She leaves Peter, and tells him she never wants to see him again, but with a talk from her Aunt Anna of all people, she realizes that she still cares about Peter. MJ goes and apologizes through the door before Pete lets her in, they talk and she tells him, she wants kids. After a deep conversation, MJ says she can stay with Pete, but doesn't wanna get married or have kids, unless he puts the mask and costume up for soon, and he agrees. I summed it up, but it was a very touching and well written moment. This issue ends like something you've seen before but with a BIG twist, if you think Spidey never un-masked in public, you'd be wrong. I won't ruin it for you, but It's definitely got me ready for the next issue. I'll give this issue a 8.5/10. I liked most of the comic but the left at the alter thing seems kind of over-played, so I'm glad that wasn't the main factor of the break up.

Mary-Jane: Because, I've come to realize that I would never bring a child into a life like ours.

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1

What would happen if instead of sending Kal-El to the planet Earth alone, his parents, Jor-El and Lara joined him on the rocket sent to earth? This is what we will find out in the three part Elseworld story,  Superman: Last Family of Krypton. We see the traditional voyage to earth for Kal to start things off, except he crashes on the way to Earth, then we find out it's a dream by Jor-El. We find out that the House of El members are already on Earth, having left Krypton. We jump back eighty-seven days to see their arrival on Earth, where they actually say "We come in peace." and someone mentions the cliche'd line, which made me smile a bit. An energy anomaly causes the authorities to mistakenly attack the ship, but the weapons do nothing but ricochet, causing one of their helicopters to fall from the sky. The inhabitants are saved by Jor-El, as Lara uses her super breath to blow the helicopter into the water, meanwhile Kal is floating, giggling and speaking Kryptonian...um...okay then. The planet Earth quickly accepts the El's as a part of their society, and the El's go around saving countless lives due to their super powers. Pretty soon everyone wants the El's, and they let Kal pick where they'll live for some...reason, and he picks Metropolis by shooting his heat ray onto a gigantic globe. Anyway, the would-be Brainiac constructs a huge mansion in the middle of Metropolis for the El's to live in. Back in present time, Lara is talking to the house about Jor-El's recent dreams, before finding  Sanctum that Jor-El has to himself in the building. She questions Brainiac (referred to as B) about it and also finds out that Jor-El is starting a company called JorCorp. Um....what in the hell is happening here? Meanwhile, Lara is looking for Earth couples that could take care of Kal-El for some reason, people on the list include Perry and Alice White,  and even Thomas and Martha Wayne. So they give Kal to the Kents for some stupid reason, so he can choose if he wants to live as an Earthling or a Krypytonian. Meanwhile, Lara writes a book and goes on TV to talk about it... I'm not making this up. Some other boring stuff happens, Lex as a kid becomes friends with Jor-El, and Lara has two more kids. Okay, I'm done with this series. This seemed like a really interesting story, but instead it's just a weird mix of the regular story and a bunch of unnecessary events. I don't plan on finishing it, and I could care less about The El's on Earth now, 2/10.

Pa Kent: I sure didn't see this coming.

Clark Kent: I've got X-Ray vision and I didn't see it.

Red Robin #15

Oh hell yes, this issue starts off with something I've been waiting for since he returned, Tim Drake, face to face with Digger "Captain Boomerang" Harkness. Tim's in leg braces and on crutches for some reason, he lets Boomer know that he hopes he rots in prison. Tim, is then shown as Red Robin, breaking into Vicki Vale's apartment and seeing that she does in fact know the identities of most members of the Bat-Family. He tells Dick and Alfred about the problem, before Damian interrupts with his well-documented hate of Tim. They decide they need a long-term plan to convince Vicki that she's wrong, and Tim seems to have an idea. Another surprise appearance in this issue, in the form of Tim's Ex-Girlfriend, Stephanie "Batgirl" Brown. He enlists her to help him catch Scarab, who's now in town thanks to Tim's recent crime-fighting. In his Tim Drake alter-ego, Tim, along with the Fox sisters, requests a meeting with Commissioner Gordon, and set up an appearance at a press conference.  By the way, I loved Tim's explanation of if his last name is Drake or Wayne, because it makes more sense than him just taking the Wayne name because Bruce asked him. At the press conference, Tim's plan goes into action, when Scarab attacks. The ending, although I should've expected it still surprised me, and was a great plot twist by Mr. Fabian Nicieza. And the big reveal of another villain was great as well, Red Robin is quickly moving up the ranks to becoming one of my favorite series each month, I'd give this issue a 9/10 rating. I love that Tim is continually being shown as the best planned of the Bat-Family because he is the best Detective of them all, even Bruce has said Tim may be better than him, so I love the psychology involved as of late. Also, the cover actually had something to DO with the issue, that's so rare these days...

Damian: I am on record as recommending we simply terminate the reporter.

Dick: Let's call that plan B for now...

Deadpool #1000

It's time for Deadpool #1000! Is it really Deadpool's thousandth issue? Probably not, but with all these comics he's got floating around, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. Anywho, this is cut into multiple stories, not unlike the Superman and Batman #700 issues a few months ago. The first story follows Deadpool, in Reno, Nevada, The biggest little city in the world, scoping out some babe to take back to the Merc Cave...or whatever he calls his base. It's filled with classic bad Deadpool jokes, gambling, and a TON of sexual innuendo. The story is much better than it sounds, completely switching gears and showing you not to read books by their cover, when Deadpool and the woman he's with start discussing other gamblers at his table. I won't ruin it but the first story was one of my favorites. The rest of this comic features appearances by Deadpool-faithfuls like Outlaw, Hydra Bob, Weasel, and Blind Al. Not eeverything is good though, there's one story where Deadpool goes looking for some kid who was sent to Fat Camp, and becomes overweight himself due to being fed and then fights the villains with his farts...yeah, that was horrible. The Blackest Night spoof was pretty funny as well, only because of the sheer absurdity of it all, with six more stories that I haven't even mentioned, this is pretty packed with Deadpool. So mix a few good Deadpool stories, some bad ones, and a Ryan Reynolds reference and you get this issue of Deadpool #1000, and I'd rate it a solid 6/10.

Deadpool: (Depends) How hot it's making you.

Desire: Human Torch hot.

Deadpool: My "Thing" likes to hear that.

Red Hood: Lost Days #3

Lost Days #3 kicks things off with Jason, training, learning how to increase his skills for his inevitable meeting with Batman. He states that Bruce taught him how to fight, defend, battle and disable, but never how to maim and kill. We see he's continuing his training with a skilled murderer named Egon. (Not the one from Ghostbusters.) We find out Jason has been training for months now, spending five weeks with a sniper and a chemist each, becoming proficient with guns and toxins. We also learn that although Talia loves Bruce, she's not exactly saving herself for him. Jason eventually discovers the men who have been training him in fighting, maiming and killing are running a slave trade, with over forty Asian children, all under the age of ten. Jason, being the ANTI-HERO he is (sorry about that.) decides to save the kids, something I doubt a villain would do. The showdown between Jason and Egon was handled well, and this issue showed Jason isn't heartless, nor is he a a hothead that rushes into battle without a plan. We also see where Jason's future Red Hood mentality starts and why he makes the choices he does. This was another great issue but it wasn't as mind-blowing as the other two, I'd rate this issue an 8.5/10.

Egon: You get Angry to easily. Zhen you become an idiot.

Jason Todd: Duly noted. (He still hasn't learned his lesson...)

Alright guys, thanks for reading, don't forget I'll be back this weekend with the Top Five 5. For those who don't remember or are new, I'll name five topics, you pick your top five answers for each topic and send them to me at KevinKavalier@gmail.com, I'll post everyone's answers this weekend and we'll see how they compare. So the topics are below, and make sure you send me your picks before Sunday, as I'll post everyone's picks then. So, until then, I'm your neighborhood Blogger-Man, Jason Todd!

Top Five Characters you want back from the Dead
Top Five Characters with untapped potential (Ex: Ravager)
Top Five One-Shots
Top Five Worst Comic Series
Top Five Male/Female Team-Ups

Next Week on Ratings and Rantings

Adventure Comics #517 (Atom Story), Batgirl #13, Birds of Prey #4, Booster Gold #35, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1, JL Generation Lost #7, Superman #702, Titans #26 and Daredevil #509.