Category Archives: Comics
Captain America is a Jerk; Or Why Uncanny Avengers is the Most Marginalized Team in Comics
Marvel currently has an overabundance of Avengers. And why shouldn’t they? In a matter of weeks last Summer, The Avengers movie became the third highest grossing film of all time! It’s only common sense that they would want to pump up the number of Avengers comics they’re putting out. But in doing so they have created an overlap problem. There are too many Avengers.
And the series Uncanny Avengers – which was billed as the flagship series of the new Marvel NOW! campaign – has instead become the red-headed step-child of the Avengers line. And it’s all Captain America’s fault.
He knows what he did
Let me first say that this is not a knock against writer Rick Remender or artist John Cassady. They’re both great creators and they’re putting out a fine, solid comic book with Uncanny Avengers. The problem is that they’ve been completely screwed over by the larger Marvel machine, and Captain America in particular. The guy is a total asshole.
Allow me to explain after the jump.
Superman Unchained is the Stupidest Name of All Time
Do you remember a few months ago when DC started hinting at a new Superman series written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Jim Lee? At the time, the comic was rumored to be called ‘Man of Steel’ to coincide with the big movie of the same name.
Instead, DC have revealed that the new comic will instead be called ‘Superman Unchained’ – quite possibly the most ridiculous name ever.
Here is the announcement article at USA Today. Reading that article makes me question – and not for the first time – what the hell even goes on at the DC editorial offices. According to Snyder and Lee – who, don’t get me wrong, are two of the biggest talents in comics today – the series is going to be like every other Superman series ever. It’s going to star Superman as a superhero and include his supporting cast, like Lois Lane. There doesn’t seem to be any special gimmick or pull or reason for the series to exist.
What the hell is the ‘Unchained’ even supposed to signify? Is every cover going to feature him breaking out of chains? And why chains? Since when has Superman ever been chained or had a problem with chains?
Why not call it ‘Man of Steel’ like the freakin’ movie!?
What about the comics already being published, Superman and Action Comics? Why not just put Snyder and Lee on one of those series? There’s no way Superman is going to be able to support three ongoing series. Batman can barely pull it off, and Superman is no Batman.
Speaking of which, DC is also bringing back the Superman/Batman team-up book, because they want to make money. Comics like Hawkman and Blue Beetle are being cancelled to make way for even more Superman and Batman comics. This is the future of comics from the Big Two publishers, people. Soon all we’ll see are Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine comics, with other characters only appearing in team-up books.
Still, Superman Unchained is a stupid name and it just seems to me like DC is shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to Superman and Action Comics.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/2/13
Robin Week comes to a close with my official review of Batman Incorporated #8. It’s actually a very good comic, so it’s great to see Damian go out at the height of his awesomeness and popularity; kind of like Seinfeld or Calvin & Hobbes. I would even be tempted to give Damian’s demise the Comic Book of the Week, but that award has to go to Hawkeye #8. Writer Matt Fraction had an amazing week, delivering the one-two romantic punch of Hawkeye and FF, two amazing comics that reinforce why I love the medium in the first place. If you’re not reading either book then you’re definitely missing out.
Who would have thought that coming out of the big The Avengers movie last summer, the two characters with the best comics would be Hawkeye and Thor? Speaking of which, why doesn’t the Black Widow have her own comic series? That seems like it would be a no-brainer, especially for Marvel NOW! Oh well, this is why Marvel is not paying me the big bucks.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #17, Batman Incorporated #8, FF #4, Hawkeye #8, Talon #5, Uncanny Avengers #4, Uncanny X-Force #2, Uncanny X-Men #2 and Young Avengers #2.
I Support Harper Row as the New Robin
The body of the previous Robin isn’t even cold yet, but already I’m throwing my considerable blogging weight behind Harper Row for the new Robin! I know some of my readers, and probably a lot of comic book readers in general, would rather Batman not get a new Robin, at least not right away. And that’s a perfectly fine idea. DC should go ahead and tell some stories of Batman dealing with the death of his son and being a lone vigilante for awhile.
But Batman needs a Robin. He will get a new one. It’s inevitable. Robin makes the comics richer, he makes Batman richer, he makes the stories richer; Robin is just a good character to have around.
And Harper Row should be the new Robin.
She’s hip and knows the Internets
I also think DC should replace Damian sooner rather than later, for a number of reasons. Mostly because the reboot needs a Robin to call its own. Damian was created before anyone even had the idea of a reboot, and while a lot of characters were tweaked and altered, Damian was untouched when the whole universe was remade. And it’s clear now that he was only on loan to DC from Grant Morrison.
DC needs their own Robin, one who can stand the test of time and exist as his or her own character, not just at the whim of a single writer. Tim Drake was such a character.He wasn’t created to become Robin just for a single story, he became Robin and was allowed to grow and expand over years of stories. If DC plans to make this DCnU continuity a lasting thing, then being able to tell the story of a new Robin from the ground up is a great idea.
And Harper Row is the obvious choice. I mean, c’mon, surely she was created for just this purpose!
Review: Teen Titans #17
Teen Titans #17 was very close to being one of the best issues in the entire series so far. Even with Lobdell’s horrible habit of introducing villains in cutaway scenes that are apropos of nothing, this was still a good comic for the actual Teen Titans themselves. But then he goes and blows it with a pretty lame final page surprise. For the first 2/3rds of this comic, it actually looked like Lobdell and co-writer Fabian Nicieza were going to do a good job in treating the Titans as real people. They even managed to surprise me by injecting some really cool drama into the group. I thought they were actually on to something new and meaningful.
Teen Titans #17
NOPE! What I thought was meaningful, character-based drama turned out to be just the start of another stupid storyline. Dammit, Teen Titans, why must you continually shoot yourself in the foot?
Comic Rating: 3/5: Alright.
Since the very beginning of this series, I have said time and again that the best way to make Teen Titans work is to treat the characters like real people. We need to see the Titans interacting like real friends and teenagers more than we need to see them thrown up against the latest, lamest super-villain. And for the first part of this book, Lobdell and Nicieza actually do that. We’re introduced to their new headquarters, they talk about what the attack by Joker has done to the team and we get a lot of really good scenes between the individual characters. The scenes don’t go as far as I think they should go in terms of establishing these characters, but it’s leaps and bounds above what we’ve seen before.
And if there’s one thing I can say Lobdell has done well, it has been keeping Tim Drake at the center of the comic. He’s the most fleshed out of all the Titans (though that’s not saying much), and Tim goes a long way in keeping the series from being unreadable. And for most of the book, Tim is even better than he’s been before. Lobdell and Nicieza use him really well.
But then they mess it up. And they do it on purpose. The twist ending is almost painful to read in just how badly they screw up a good thing.
Henchman-4-Hire 