Yearly Archives: 2013
Why Robin Matters
Robin the Boy Wonder is the most maligned superhero in the world of comics. He gets no respect. His mentor, Batman, is one of the most beloved and iconic heroes in the entire world! But poor little Robin gets picked on and teased to no end. It’s a travesty. And it’s going to change.
I’m here to tell you folks that Robin is one of the best superheroes in comics and he doesn’t deserve all the hate. Forget the 1960s Batman TV show, push all of the gay jokes out of your mind, and let’s just pretend that 1997’s Batman and Robin never happened. Because if all you’re going to do is focus on the worst interpretations of the character then you’ll never see the whole picture.
And Robin is a deeper and far more interesting character than anyone gives him credit for. Until now. It’s time to give Robin all the credit.
Robin’s importance to the Batman mythos can be summed up in four key points that we’re going to explore in this article. The first idea is my own, the second I got from noted Batmanologist Chris Sims from Comics Alliance. The third idea comes from artist Tim Sale. The fourth is just kind of obvious.
1.) Robin represents approval of Batman’s costumed crimefighting. Characters like Commissioner Gordon and Alfred will only ever accept that Batman exists, but Robin is not only someone who approves of the life, but has flourished in it.
2.) Robin is a reflection of Batman, in that this is what happens to a child who loses his parents when there is a Batmanaround to help him.
3.) Robin is visually and psychologically the opposite of Batman, creating an inventive and appealing juxtaposition and balance between the two characters.
4.) Robin can change; Batman can’t.
Join me after the jump and we can get started!
Robin Theme Week Announced!
Next week I’ll be doing a Robin Theme Week here at Henchman-4-Hire!
As my regular readers will know, Robin is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. The Boy Wonder is one of the coolest, most underrated superheroes in comics, and he deserves some attention. The week will be in honor of current Robin Damian Wayne, who may or may not die in next Wednesday’s issue of Batman Incorporated.
The week will feature a tribute to Damian on that day, as well as other Robin goodies throughout the week, including a Robin-themed List of Six Wednesday morning. And come back bright and early tomorrow morning for the opening post: Why Robin Matters.
I hope you all enjoy the week!
Review: Saga #10
I was disappointed with the last issue of Saga because writer Brian K. Vaughn took us away from the main characters at a very entertaining part of their story, choosing instead to focus on some of the side characters. And while I don’t take back my disappointment, I am definitely glad he did that, because Vaughn set up one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the series yet. I cried out loud when I turned to the final page! Damn you, Brian K. Vaughn! Why must you hit us with all the feels? We’re only human. We can’t be put through an emotional wringer like this!
Saga #10
Saga #10 is absolutely perfect in every conceivable way. Vaughn brings together both groups of characters in an issue that brings to a head the various plot threads we’ve been reading over the past several issues. He does this by first showing us true love and then later breaking our damn hearts.
Comic Rating: 5/5: Great!
Vaughn should be teaching some kind of class on creative writing. The man is a master of building up characters and putting them together in highly entertaining and emotionally fulfilling ways. We only met Marko’s parents a few issues ago, but I love them already, and I love how they have quickly become such a warm and important part of the cast. A writer should be able to tell he’s got good characters when all I want to do is read them sitting around and talking about their lives. We get some of that in this issue, as well as some more parenting advice from Barr, but there’s also a lot of action, which is good too. If you can’t tell by the cover, we finally get Izabel back into the cast and everyone returns to the spaceship tree. Those are some very entertaining scenes.
The art by Fiona Staples is, of course, absolutely top notch. I can only hope she becomes one of the greatest artists in the industry after this series. The characters all look great, and she brings a real coziness to their confines. Staples also draws one incredible splash page that I’ll post later that is simply stunning. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that she is perfect for this series after seeing that page.
And then when it comes time to break our hearts on the last page, Staples is more than up for the challenge.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Crysis 3 review
In my mind, Crysis is one of the most underrated first person shooters that I know of.
Released in 2007, the first Crysis went virtually unnoticed against such competition as Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 and Gears of War. It was a treasure waiting to be excavated by gamers like myself.
The protagonist was a member of a special unit of highly-trained soldiers wearing experimental “nanosuits” like the one shown above. The nanosuit offer a range of special abilities to be activated in-game, including super-speed, super-strength, a cloaking device, and armour-plating which added a refreshing new dynamic to the old “Supersoldier kills hordes of aliens” trope made popular by Halo.
Your unit in Crysis was sent to a remote island to fight a North Korean threat. The short version of the story is that the North Koreans in Crysis woke an ancient, hibernating alien race beneath the earth. Picking up where the first Crysis left off, Crysis 2 began with an alien plague that had wiped out much of Manhattan’s population and brought the city under marshal law. A new main character found himself in command of one of the aforementioned nanosuits, and the fate of New York City (and by extension, the world) rested on his shoulders as the Big Apple found itself being invaded by the alien threat unleashed in the first game: called The Ceph. He defeats the Ceph hivemind, and the world is saved…until now.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/23/13
It’s weeks like this that make me regret ever starting this Hench-Sized review column! Oy vey! Somehow, the Marvel and DC scheduling system is perfectly tailored to my reading habits so that the books I actually buy and read all come out on the same darn week! Last week I only had four comics in the Hench-Sized reviews. This week there’s more than a dozen! And it doesn’t help that I’m broke…
But enough whining, let’s get to some comics! This has proven to be an absolutely stellar week of books! I enjoyed all of the comics I bought this week, with more than a few of them rising to perfect scores. And you want to talk gender equality? How about the fact that the two best comics this week both star female leads. It’s an absolute shame that more people aren’t buying Captain Marvel. That book is absolutely amazing! But it’s surpassed just a little by Batwoman, which wins Comic Book of the Week for its fantastic climactic issue and surprise romantic ending!
Though Captain Marvel’s sheer adorableness was hard to beat.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #6, Batwoman #17, Captain Marvel #10, Green Lantern #17, Green Lantern: New Guardians #17, Indestructible Hulk #4, Justice League #17, Justice League of America #1, Nightwing #17, Nova #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #17, Superior Spider-Man #4, Thor: God of Thunder #5, Vibe #1, Wonder Woman #17.
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