Yearly Archives: 2013

Is Damian Wayne Going to Die?

Is DC Comics going to kill Robin in an upcoming issue of Batman Incorporated?

There’s no official word yet. This is all just speculation. But if you read the signs, read between some lines and maybe jump to a few conclusions, it looks to me like DC plans to kill a 10-year-old boy!

Though he is kind of a jerk

Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne and his enemy Talia al Ghul. He was created by superstar writer Grant Morrison and introduced in Batman #655 in 2006. Talia raised the boy in secret and trained him in the ways of the League of Shadows. But when Damian finally met his father for the first time, he switched sides and became the new Robin. You know, of Batman and Robin fame? Damian had a lot of rough edges, but he made for a compelling protagonist. Here’s a kid who was raised to be a killer, but he wants so badly to do good and make his father proud as Robin.

But is he now doomed?

I’ve never been particularly happy with Damian as Robin. He stole the mantle from the previous Robin, Tim Drake, who is one of my favorite comic book characters. But Damian has grown on me. He’s had a lot of good stories and he’s definitely been coming into his own lately as the Boy Wonder. Still, the evidence is pretty strong. Join me after the jump to see for yourself.

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Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #20

I’ve always been a big fan of Venom. Even when the character was over-exposed in the 90s, I still loved him. Heck, I even like Topher Grace’s Venom from Spider-Man 3. He’s just a cool character and a cool concept, where the super-character’s costume itself is the super-power. Plus he’s big, he’s colored black and he’s a pretty badass level of ruthless. So Venom has always been cool. And when Brian Michael Bendis introduced Venom into the Ultimate Universe, he made him even cooler. So it’s exciting to see Venom come back, though it looks like he might be a new character.

Ultimate Spider-Man #20

Miles faces off against Venom with his father caught in the middle. That is some absolutely perfect drama for Ultimate Spider-Man.

Comic Rating: 5/5: Great.

This issue has it all! Action, adventure, comedy and desperately high stakes. There’s absolutely no guarantee that Miles’ father is safe. Peter Parker’s whole career started with the death of his Uncle Ben. Just because Jefferson has survived this long does not mean he’s going to stick around forever. So when Jefferson involves himself in the fight against Venom, it’s bad news for everybody. But good news for us, because this story has real power behind it. Not to mention it’s incredibly entertaining. The fight is one of the best Miles has been in, with Venom more than a match for this novice hero.

The dialogue is especially great. Miles remains funny in his own special way. He’s not the quip-a-minute Peter Parker, but he’s still quite humorous. And Venom is fantastic. He’s not a mindless monster, no matter how he looks, and his deadpan lines are especially cool. All of the characters are fantastic in this issue, and with the action and drama attached, it’s a great chapter of Ultimate Spider-Man.

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/9/13

Welcome to a week of interesting firsts! We’ve got the first issue of Fearless Defenders, Marvel’s new all-girl team of heroes. We’ve got the first issue of Winter Soldier written by incoming writer Jason Latour, who’s taking over for the legendary Ed Brubaker, the man who resurrected Bucky in the first place. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill. Brubaker wrote a nice letter at the end of his final issue of the series, about how humbling it was to go from trying to convince his editor that resurrecting Bucky would be a good idea to finding out that the ‘Winter Soldier’ would be the title of the second Captain America film. I hope that happens to me someday.

We’ll also see the first issue of Jeff Lemire’s take on Green Arrow. As well as the first times I’m actually happy with Avengers and New Avengers. In fact, New Avengers #3 wins Comic Book of the Week!

Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #7, Avengers #5, Fearless Defenders #1, Green Arrow #17, New Avengers #3, Superior Spider-Man #3 and Winter Soldier #15.

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Saturday Morning Cartoon – Super Mario Busters

I was a big fan of Saturday Morning Cartoons as a kid, so let’s resurrect that tradition with this amazing web video! The Super Mario Bros. as the Ghostbusters! I cannot stress enough the awesomeness of this video.

Genius, total genius. Give it up to James Farr for such greatness. And he promises there will be a sequel!

When the Internet Gives – The Skyrim Theme Sung by the Chocolate Rain Guy

The title says it all. Sometimes the Internet just comes together to produce something I never knew I could live without.

Who doesn’t love Chocolate Rain? It’s an Internet classic. And one has to assume that meme pioneer Tay Zonday has to wake up every morning and think up something new to do with his day. I bet he plays Skyrim. If I could sing an awesome version of the Skyrim theme, I totally would. I would owe it to the world. He’s only doing what he was put on this Earth to do. And for that, I salute him.

He also sang an awesome cover of Be Prepared from the Lion King. Because, again, the Internet is nothing if not all-giving.