Category Archives: Comics
Batman’s Gonna Fight a Bunch of Owls
We comic book fans love it when our favorite characters hang out or team up. It builds a bigger and fuller world, it provides new avenues for character growth and usually it’s just plain keen. That’s why teams like the Justice League are so popular in the first place. Heck, the entire fate of Hollywood is banking on this very concept when Marvel’s superheroes team up The Avengers movie this May! So it’s no surprise that comic book companies save their biggest stories for crossovers and team ups. And DC Comics’ New 52 initiative has finally announced their first major Event Comic crossover.
And of course, it stars Batman. Because you don’t get much more awesome than Batman. He’s going to be fighting a bunch of owls.
What danger 'hoots' in the night?
Who are the Court of Owls? (see what I did there?) They’re only the hot new bad guys in Scott Snyder’s Batman series. DC announced Monday that all of the comics in the Batman-family will crossover this May for an Event called ‘The Night of Owls’. They also announced that the Batman series will feature back-up stories in its regular issues filling in some of the backstory and history of this enigmatic band of hooters. So this could mean Batman teaming up with Robin, Nighting, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman and whoever else is in the Bat-family of books that I’m forgetting. Sadly, that doesn’t include Tim Drake.
More after the jump!
Review: Defenders #2
With the team already set up in issue #1, this follow-up second issue deals mostly with exposition and fighting. Writer Matt Fraction has clearly thought up a pretty detailed plot, and now he’s got to tell us all what it is so that I guess we can enjoy the rest of the story. This issue was not very exciting, I’m afraid. Not at all bad, but nothing to blow minds or convince me that The Defenders is the next big thing.
Defenders #2
The Defenders has yet to truly ‘wow’ me or show why it should be considered anything more than a Matt Fraction vanity project. The stellar art of the Dodsons isn’t enough.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright!
This is a humor book where the jokes are more subtle and less slapstick, and unfortunately don’t land most of the time. The characters, while enjoyable, take a back seat to the plot explanation. And the plot is cool, I guess, but it’s hardly anything noteworthy or groundbreaking. This series is so far pretty much just standard superhero fare. Sure it looks fantastic and is well-written, but everything about it falls pretty flat. This feels like it should be a high-profile book, but is failing in that regard.
It’s some of Marvel’s top talent launching a series that doesn’t need to exist. Nobody was screaming for a new Defenders series. So when Marvel let’s Matt Fraction and the Dodsons create The Defenders, I want to know there’s a purpose. Spoilers and synopsis after the jump.
Review: Punisher #7
Greg Rucka throws us a curveball in this issue, writing a darn good character piece while solving none of the problems I’ve had with the series so far. If anything, this issue makes those problems worse. The story doesn’t move ahead at all. We learn nothing new about the villains, their motivation or anything, really. And neither the Punisher nor the Bride even appear! Instead we get the reason why Detective Ozzy Clemons dislikes the Punisher. That’s it.
Punisher #7
Still, it’s a well-written character examination. And the art of guest artist Michael Lark is to die for.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright!
The problems with this series do not weigh down this issue, as they have previous issues. Rucka is clearly still going for style over substance, and with this issue, he does a very good job with it. Of course, I’d give the issue a higher grade if anything actually happened story-wise. As I said, the Punisher doesn’t even appear. It’s the Ozzy and Bolt show, as the two have a long talk about various topics (mostly the Punisher) on their way to the upstate lodge where Punisher and Bride did all that killing last issue. I’m a sucker for a good character exploration.
So hopefully I can explain why I’m cool with this issue, despite it not fixing any of the series problems, moving the story forward or providing much depth. Synopsis and spoilers after the jump.
6 Fun Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2012
If we don’t count the bottle of Mountain Dew that I finished off that was still left over from 2011, then so far my 2012 New Year’s resolution to not drink soda is doing just fine! Thanks for asking. But a barren year of nothing to drink but water, milk and the tears of hungry orphans is not the only thing to look forward to in 2012. There’s a whole lot of crap going on, some of it better than others.
Also, it’s supposedly the last year on Earth. So there’s that.
Star Wars in 3D is not on this list
2011 was a great year for geeky pop culture. We had an amazing year of superhero movies, with Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, Green Lantern and the X-Men: First Class. TV was pretty neat, seeing the end of Smallville and the start of Game of Thrones. Everything from video games, comic books, novels and horse racing had a lot going on last year. Can 2012 even stack up? Well it’s going to give it the old college try. Here are 6 Fun Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2012. But rather than just individual things, they’re more like categories.
Review: Teen Titans #4
While showing a definite and more grounded improvement over the last issue, Teen Titans #4 still feels off when it comes to teen dialogue and interaction. A lot happens in this issue – from the team getting together and getting a name, to finally confronting Superboy – but it’s not all gelling as well as I’d like. Or ‘gellin’ like Magellan’ if that’s how you roll. At any rate, I can definitely appreciate what writer Scott Lobdell does in this issue because I definitely want to see a lot more of these teens just hanging out and getting to know one another. But I can’t really put my finger on why that doesn’t quite work.
Teen Titans #4
Maybe it’s because everything feels so rushed and kind of sloppy.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
Or maybe everything just feels forced. The same issues that have plagued this series continue here, but the specific actions and story points make up for that flakiness. N.O.W.H.E.R.E. continues to be a silly concept. The setting always seems very erratic. And this group of characters has yet to fully blend together, or feel anything other than forced together. I don’t think Lobdell found a very organic way to bring the team together. I don’t know if he came up with the members of the team, or if they were decided in some New 52 committee, but it’s like he had a list of characters he had to bring together and he just checked them off the list to ensure they were together by issue #4.
I just don’t get the feeling that this team is the team that belongs together, that this will be the Teen Titans of the new generation. But there’s still time to change my mind. The art, at least, remains phenomenal. Brett Booth is drawing beautiful, distinctive characters with great facial expressions and energetic movements. So at least good.
Spoilers after the jump.
Henchman-4-Hire 