Category Archives: Comics

Review: Teen Titans #24

I never thought I’d be happy to see the regular Teen Titans again. But after the horrors of the Teen Titans Villain Month comics, I say bring on the regularly scheduled programming, as awful as it may be! And Teen Titans #24 is pretty awful. Not terribly awful, I suppose, but pretty darn awful, nonetheless. This week, Teen Titans focuses on its horrible, stilted expositional dialogue, with an overabundance of thought balloons, because writer Scott Lobdell isn’t aware that those went out of style with fanny packs and the word ‘radical’.

Teen Titans #24

Teen Titans #24 kicks off a time travel adventure for our teen heroes, because why not? It is decidedly not radical.

Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.

For those of you who aren’t reading Forever Evil, the Teen Titans almost had a moment of awesomeness. Almost. Written by Geoff Johns, arguably DC’s best writer, the Teen Titans were some of the few heroes who hadn’t been killed or de-masked by the Crime Syndicate. So Red Robin told his team to gear up! They were going to have to save the world and take on the Crime Syndicate themselves! It was legitimately awesome. But when the Titans actually attacked the Crime Syndicate, they came up against Johnny Quick (Evil Flash) and lasted all of three minutes. The Teen Titans, everybody. Rather than some glorious fight, Quick simply unraveled Kid Flash from time and sent the whole team hurtling into the time stream.

Because that’s how things work, obviously.

So that’s where we are: the Teen Titans are lost in the time stream, bouncing wildly through different points in time. Don’t worry if you don’t understand it, Lobdell freely makes up a bunch of jibber jabber to explain it and then promptly has all of his characters spout his explanations, as well as every important facet of their personalities and back story. Lobdell gets everyone up to speed on Teen Titans in the most hamfisted, achingly dull way possible. But such is the modern Teen Titans. Despite all of the creative shakeups and changes the New 52 has seen in the past two years, Scott Lobdell on Teen Titans remains steadfast. J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman walked off Batwoman, but Lobdell still holds Teen Titans in his icy death grip. Sometimes the universe just isn’t fair.

Also, if you haven’t heard, DC is going to randomly kill of Superboy in a few months. So sorry if you were in any way invested in the New 52 Superboy.

Read the rest of this entry

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/19/13

It is with great disappointment that we read comics this week, because the final issue of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s Batwoman has come out. These geniuses were building up a battle between Batwoman and Batman himself, and we get one single issue to tease their story before their famous walk out goes into effect. And the issue is damn good. In fact, Batwoman #24 wins Comic Book of the Week for me because of the skill and fun with which they set up this fight. This is going to rank up with J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Thor in terms of comic book runs that ended too soon. Same with Straczynski’s Supreme Power…man, that guy really can’t seem to finish a comic.

Batwoman sadness aside, we’ve got some good issues of Infinity, Lights Out and Battle of the Atom, since Big Event crossovers are all the rage these days. We’ve also got the return of Hawkeye after a long hiatus, so that’s a plus. But for my money, nothing beats Batwoman this week.

Comic Reviews: Avengers #21, New Avengers #11, Batwoman #24, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #1, Green Lantern: New Guardians #24, Hawkeye #13, Uncanny X-Men #13 and Wonder Woman #24. 

Read the rest of this entry

Awesome Shot of Robin Costume Just Because I Love Robin

DC Comics’ January solicitations came out on Monday, and the best thing in the bunch was this cover to Batman and Robin Annual #2. Drawn by Doug Mahnke, it’s a brilliant shot of the New 52 version of Dick Grayson’s original Robin costume. I really like the design. It is, of course, much better than the original original Robin costume, with the short shots and pixie boots. And I just wanted to share this picture because this is a Robin-friendly blog.

Though if I may be allowed two minor nitpicks…I don’t like that the arms aren’t bare. He’s got black sleeves between his green shoulders and gloves, and I just think bare arms would look so much better. I also don’t like that this costume no longer has the classic yellow clasps on the chest. I always thought that was kind of iconic. They’re obviously still incorporated into the design, but I think the whole costume is just missing a little something without them.

But those are silly, worthless nitpicks. I love the costume, simple as that.

6 Marvel Characters Who Deserve Their Own Solo Series

I love it when comic book companies put creativity and diversity over commercialism, and the New York Comic-Con this past weekend proved that Marvel Comics still has their head on straight. Whereas it would make the most financial sense to just publish comics about Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man and the Avengers, Marvel instead revealed a whole host of new series dedicated to exploring lesser known and less marketable heroes.

But I think they could add a few more names to their upcoming catalogue.

All of them already have comics!

Solo series are very hit and miss in today’s comic book market. The heroes that have been around forever – like Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, etc. – have no problem maintaining their own comic, even multiple comics. But it’s very hard for a new solo series to take off. For every success like Hawkeye or Deadpool, you’ve got dozens of cancelled comics like Scarlet Spider, X-23, Gambit, Moon Knight and more. I applaud Marvel for giving characters like Silver Surfer, Iron Patriot, Loki and Black Widow a try, even if cancellation is a distinct possibility. And here are six more suggestions for characters who deserve the spotlight, even if only for a little while.

Read the rest of this entry

Marvel Has Got a Mega-Load of New Comics Coming!

I’ve only mentioned All-New X-Factor and New Warriors so far, because I’m a big X-Factor and Scarlet Spider fan. But at New York Comic-Con, Marvel has announced a whole pile of brand new comics they’ll be putting out in the next couple of months! If I was more on the ball – and not playing the new Pokemon X – I would have already posted about all of them. Instead, I decided to just bunch’em all up on our Monday. Sounds like a fun way to start the week to me. A lot of these sound pretty amazing. And of course they’re coming out just when I told myself I was going to lighten my weekly comic book budget.


Silver Surfer

By Dan Slott and Mike Allred

Dan Slott is apparently a huge Silver Surfer fan, and even though she’s been spear-heading Spider-Man for years, he’s now snatched up the Sentinel of the Spaceways. I can definitely identify with someone falling in love with Silver Surfer as a kid, so this might be the perfect time for me to jump back onto the Surfer bandwagon. Mike Allred will be freed up when FF comes to an end soon (dies a little inside), and I think he might be perfect for the Surfer. Apparently Slott’s plot involves Surfer getting a young, female companion and going on adventures. So basically it’s going to be Silver Surfer by way of Doctor Who, which sounds amazing.

Check out an interview with Slott here.


Iron Patriot

By Ales Kot and Garry Brown

In another example of comics following movies, it seems that War Machine is changing to Iron Patriot for reals. I guess he’s been Iron Patriot for a few months now in the pages of Secret Avengers, but now he’s going to get his own solo series. Marvel has tried to publish a War Machine comic several times in the past, so maybe they’ll have some luck with this new coat of paint. According to some interviews, it’s going to be a heavily political book – I think.

Check out an article about the series here.


All-New Ghost Rider

By Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore

GhostRiderNew

Speaking of characters getting multiple comic attempts, there’s going to be a new Ghost Rider! I’m fairly certain the last new Ghost Rider was around only earlier this year, and it was a woman. But that didn’t sell. This time, Smith is creating a new young man named Robbie Reyes to be Ghost Rider. And apparently instead of a motorcycle, he’s going to have a car. That sounds good to me. I’ve always thought Ghost Rider could be expanded by turning any vehicle into a flaming chariot of awesomeness. Ghost Rider should be riding around on a flaming segway. Not that I think anything is really going to make a new Ghost Rider series work. But good luck to all involved.

Check out the interview here.


Loki: Agent of Asgard

By Al Ewing and Lee Garbett

Who could have guessed how huge Loki would become, huh? I thought he was alright in Thor, and I was shocked Marvel would use him again so soon as the chief villain in The Avengers, but casting Tom Hiddleston as Loki was apparently as big a stroke of genius as casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark! So it’s no wonder Marvel wants to capitalize on that sexiness as much as possible. So goodbye, Kid Loki! Say hello to Sexy Loki! Ewing and Marvel are going to turn the God of Mischief into a gorram secret agent. I actually kind of love this idea. It’s a neat use of Loki, and could have some real mileage behind it if people actually buy the book.

And again, I found an interview about the series here.


Black Widow

By Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Speaking of The Avengers, also spinning out of that film is a new solo series for Black Widow. I really want this one to succeed. Marvel needs a strong female presence, and Black Widow is really their only major female character who isn’t a derivative of a male hero and who isn’t better known as a member of a team. So seeing Black Widow succeed would be nice. Edmondson says the series is going to be a hardcore spy comic, which definitely works for the character, but didn’t really work for Winter Soldier post-Brubaker. So who knows how this one will do.

Interview can be found here.


Elektra

By Zeb Wells and Mike Del Mundo

Elektra has had a few solo series in the past, and for good reason. She’s a badass ninja assassin, and sexy to boot. She’s as solid an idea for a female protagonist as any. According to the creators, she’s going to be on a mission to take out a league of assassins, while taking some ‘me’ time and not worrying about Daredevil. But I’m pretty sure Elektra hasn’t been linked to Daredevil in years, right?

Did somebody say interview? Check it out here.


Punisher

By Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads

Where did this Edmondson guy come from? He’s doing Black Widow and Punisher? Sounds like a dream job. But he’s not Garth Ennis, so already he’s at a disadvantage as far as I’m concerned. He’s also not a big name writer like Greg Rucka. So this seems like a basic, straight forward Punisher series written by a new up-and-coming writer. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere. The story will involve Punisher heading to LA to take out some big time criminal, while also dealing with a government group set on taking him down. Could be…something, I suppose.

More information can be found right about here.


Avengers World

By Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer and Stefano Caselli

This comic is just an expansion/continuation of Hickman’s Avengers, which I’m lukewarm about. I mostly just wanted to post that stunning picture.

Interview, they have one here!


I’m sure I’m missing one or two comics, but Marvel announced so many! I would have posted some new DC titles, but there weren’t too many notable announcements. I think they’re going to give us a weekly Batman series because DC doesn’t think they put out enough Batman. What do you guys and gals think of these new titles? Anything float your particular boats? I’ll definitely be picking up Silver Surfer, Avengers World and Black Widow, and maybe even Iron Patriot and Loki: Agent of Asgard, depending on my mood on those particular days.

Still, sounds like it was an awesome Comic-Con!