Category Archives: Comics
Nightwing Lives! Becomes Secret Agent!
Looks like we were right: Dick Grayson is going to survive Forever Evil! But it seems he’ll be giving up the superhero lifestyle to become a spy.
For some reason.
He’s OK with guns now
Revealed by USA Today, Dick will be the star of a new series called Grayson, because apparently somebody finds that more marketable than Nightwing? Maybe?
According to the interview, Batman knows Dick is alive, and orders Dick to become an undercover spy for the agency Spyral. The new writers hope it will be an international caper sort of book, with Dick dodging bullets and fighting bad guys. The writers are Tim Seeley and Tom King, himself a former CIA agent.
Of the new series, King says:
“He’s doing something that’s going to cause pain to his friends and family, but he believes in the cause. That tension between having to do something good but having the cost of it being pain to his family, it drives him a little crazy.”
The new series will start in July.
I’m not sure what to think about it. Definitely an interesting direction to send Dick Grayson, but then DC gave Dick half a dozen new directions in his short-lived New 52 series. Remember when his moving to Chicago was supposed to be a big deal? Dick Grayson definitely needs a solid, permanent status quo. He needs some grounded storytelling. Is this the answer? I have no idea. It’s kind of insane, really. Dick Grayson as a random super spy? I mean…I guess. It’s really all going to come down to the quality of the work itself. There’s almost no predicting how this series will be at this point. Either Seeley and King write a good comic or they don’t.
I’m sure Dick will be back to being Nightwing before too long.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/12/14
I am not often someone who toots his own horn – usually – but I think it’s time to share with you all that I’ve been picking up some other blog duties on the side of Henchman-4-Hire. I volunteered a few months ago to write additional comic book reviews for the website Word of the Nerd. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? I write a different style of review for them, adding to my already big workload here.
So just in case you’d like to read some additional reviews of mine, you can check out my takes on Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #1 and Nightcrawler #1 this week. Sometimes my reviews have overlapped between the two sites, but why do that when I can just share with you lot some other reviews I’ve written around the webs!
And no way am I going to abandon the weekly Hench-Sized reviews! This week sees the return of the All-New Ghost Rider, Captain Marvel and Secret Avengers, with the debut issue of Batman Eternal, DC Comics’ big new weekly Batman series. Does it live up to the hype?
No, no it doesn’t.
The second issue of Secret Avengers wins Comic Book of the Week for its playful style and strong characters. But Captain Marvel wins moment of the week with a guest appearance by Carol’s cat Chewie! Cats in comics are my kryptonite. I’m not ashamed to admit that.
Both ‘Carol’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ would be good names for cats, I think. Or maybe just ‘The Captain’. Or even ‘Captain Cat’. I could do this all day.
Comic Reviews: All-New Ghost Rider #2, Batman Eternal #1, Captain Marvel #2, Secret Avengers #2 and Superman/Wonder Woman #7.
Review: All-New X-Factor #6
Six issues in and all of the members of the All-New X-Factor have signed up. I like the casual way the team has come together, with everybody just sort of asking if Danger, Cypher and Warlock would like to hang out. But I wish writer Peter David focused more on that element of the series. It would be a wonderfully subversive twist on the idea of a superhero team, especially starring these characters in this Marvel Universe. Everyone in All-New X-Factor has been here before. They’ve all been members of different superhero teams, some long-lasting and some not. The idea that they’re all randomly grouping up together for form yet another new team, and what everybody thinks of that, would be an interesting – and I think entertaining – focus for the series.
All-New X-Factor #6
And I think PAD recognizes this, but I fear he’s still a little too focused on general superheroics. All-New X-Factor isn’t looking to be subversive. It isn’t looking to be anything more than just another superhero comic, and in the All-New Marvel NOW!, that’s just not good enough anymore.
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
All-New X-Factor is growing on me just a little. The comic is becoming more rewarding to read, though if I wasn’t dedicated to doing these long reviews, I probably would have dropped the comic by now. Why am I dedicated to these long reviews? I dunno. I guess I owe it to the memory of Multiple Man to keep them going. But it’s just not a very catchy, entertaining comic. It’s readable and well put together, which can’t be said for every comic on the stands. But All-New X-Factor is unimpressive. It doesn’t really seem to have anything to say, and all of the characters are kind of just hanging out waiting to see if they’ll still be a comic by the end of the year. PAD tries to inject a little humor and humanity in the characters, but it’s not enough, and it’s just not as good as the last volume. PAD doesn’t have the same handle on these characters as he did on the last roster, and it shows every time he engages in a little playful banter.
The new issue is mildly entertaining, especially in how PAD deals with the Magus. One might say the ending of this issue was unexpected, but I kind of saw it coming. There were only two ways X-Factor was going to deal with the Magus, and this was one of them. In today’s day and age, this was definitely a predictable ending – not that I didn’t prefer it over the obvious fight climax. X-Factor has done enough fighting in only six issues. But this sort of twist ending is a little anti-climactic, though at least it serves its purpose of getting Cypher and Warlock on the team. The status quo of the Magus has changed, but I don’t imagine there are too many Magus fans out there to deal with the potentially ruffled feathers. It’s a solid wrap-up to last issue, and like I said, I’m enjoying the casual way the team is coming together. I just wish PAD put more focus on that perspective.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
The Teen Titans Return in July!
We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but I didn’t realize how closely it would follow the current, horrid Teen Titans series. Either way, the Teen Titans are coming back from cancellation with a new #1 issue by writer Will Pfeifer and artist Kenneth Rocafort! The roster isn’t going to change, keeping Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy and Bunker!
The new Teen Titans are just the old Teen Titans
Newsarama made the reveal today, posting the cover and an interview with Pfeifer. Most recently, he’s been writing a few issues of Red Hood and the Outlaws. Beyond that, he hasn’t been in comics for a few years now. That’s not a good sign, as far as I’m concerned. But maybe he has some good ideas in store.
From the interview, it looks like Pfeifer is kind of going to keep things the way they are. The Titans are going to be heroes and fight bad guys. Though Pfiefer does claim that he’ll be focusing on them more as teenagers. That’s a good sign as far as I’m concerned, and it was the No. 1 thing missing from Scott Lobdell’s series. The key to a really good Teen Titans comic, in my opinion, is a focus on the characters as teenagers first, superheroes second. Just because they wear colorful costumes doesn’t mean they have to be in those costumes all the time.
Pfeifer had this to say about the series:
The fact that these characters are actual teens (and we’re going to be writing them like actual teens, too) opens up a whole world of possibilities. I mentioned before how they’re going to screw things up from time to time, and though that has some serious implications, it’s also a way to put some genuine comedy into the book. Plus, the Titans haven’t been heroes for too long, which means they’re not burned out or jaded by the (insane) pressures of the superheroic life. They’re actually having fun themselves – well, sometimes – and I want that to come across in the comic.
I find it very interesting that Teen Titans is starting over with a new #1 issue. This is a tactic that Marvel does a lot, but DC hasn’t done it since the start of the New 52. This is a new gimmick for DC. And I really, really, really think it has to do with washing off the stink of Lobdell’s run. That comic was just horrendous. Clearly, though, Pfeifer is going to keep the same cast and tell the same stories. So what other reason could DC have for starting with a new #1 than trying to lure back readers that Lobdell scared off?
Of course, Pfeifer doesn’t put it like that.
Putting the #1 on the cover of our first issue accomplished a couple of things: First of all, it draws attention to the book. There are so many comic books competing for the readers’ attention now – not just with other books but with video games, TV and that little thing called “the internet” – that anything we can do to lure some eyes to our cover is something I’m all far. But even more importantly, that #1 lets the reader know that this isn’t just a continuation of the other series. Yes, the Titans are the same heroes, and no, we’re not going to kick things off with a year of origin stories, but we are heading in a new direction and exploring some new themes.
If you’ve been reading the book, by all means, keep reading it. (Please – I have a daughter who’s going to need braces soon!) But if you haven’t been reading Teen Titans, give this version a shot. I don’t think there’s another book on the shelves quite like it.
I am always willing to give a series like this one a shot. So consider me on board, and definitely keep reading the in depth reviews that will continue with the new creative team.
Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get an enjoyable Teen Titans comic in the New 52.
Also, why is Beast Boy suddenly green again? Another sign that DC are trying to correct their mistakes?
Robin Watch: A Challenger Appears
It would appear that a new contender for the position of Robin appeared in this week’s Detective Comics #30 – at least as far as Newarama is concerned. They’re usually pretty cool, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and put Annette Aguila on my radar as a potential Robin candidate. Any development in DC’s search for the next Robin is worth noting in my returning column, Robin Watch!
(Though if I were more clever with puns, I probably should have called it ‘Bird Watching’.)
Batman isn’t going to be a solo act forever. A new Boy or Girl Wonder is on the way, and I’m dying to find out who it’s going to be. Could it be Annie Aguila? What does she have going for her?
According to Detective Comics #30, she might just be a motocross badass.
Favors yellow, green and red coloring, eh?
The creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have jumped from their time on Flash to take over Detective Comics, and their first issue introduces Aguila and her mother Elena. Newsarama seems to think Annie Aguila might be a contender for Robin, considering how DC is hyping up the issue. She’s 18, seems pretty tough, and has some spectacular motorcycling skills. Her mother is also in a bit of danger by the end of the issue.
Manapul and Buccellato were a bit coy about her chances as Robin when Newarama asked them about her.
Could she be a contender? Maybe! Join me after the jump to examine some of the clues.
Henchman-4-Hire