Category Archives: DC
A Day of Trailers!
Yesterday, Comic Con unleashed a virtual torrent of movie and TV trailers. They’ve been doing it all weekend, in fact. And if I were more of a professional, and was getting paid to post stuff online, I probably would have flooded this blog with a million trailer posts yesterday! But I’m neither of those things, so I’m just gonna dump them all right here, right now, in one big post. That’s probably better for all of you!
First up, Thor: Ragnarok!
That trailer was brilliant. Nothing short of a masterpiece in trailer construction. Funny, action-packed, giving just hints of the story, with plenty of other hints about how much fun we’re going to have watching Thor 3. Hulk looks amazing, and yet somehow, Thor comes off as even cooler. I’m very much looking forward to this!
Next up, Justice League!
That trailer was dark garbage. Complete opposite from Thor: Ragnarok. It’s all slow-motion and darkness, with a couple attempted zingers thrown in to try and appeal to the Marvel crowd. I can see why the Super DC Fanboys might love this trailer, but it does little to nothing for me. None of the characters look interesting and none of the action looks fun. It looks like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice retrofitted to include more forced humor.
I’m definitely excited for Stranger Things, season 2!
Looks amazing! They were smart to start filming right away, since those kids all still look like kids. Season 3 is going to be in the throes of puberty. But season 2 looks great! Bigger monsters! Bigger mysteries! More Eleven! Can’t wait for this one!
I’m not too impressed, yet, with Star Trek: Discovery.
I was never a big Star Trek fan. In fact, I’ve never seen any of the series, save for maybe a few random episodes. So Discovery will be my first real watching of a Star Trek TV show. And it looks neat, but the trailers haven’t really captured me. I’m also a little disappointed that it’s set before all the other shows. That’s always a dumb idea. Not sure why they keep going back to it.
On the other hand, Orville looks hilarious!
Watch everybody love Orville, Seth MacFarlane’s Star Trek parody, more than they like Star Trek: Discovery. This show looks fun and has way more energy than Discovery, with special effects that seem on par. This should be pretty great!
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They Picked a Bad Name for Duke Thomas
After giving up his Robin gang, during which he was particularly awesome in Scott Snyder’s Batman, Duke Thomas was officially recruited into the Bat-Family in a golden yellow Bat-suit. And for reasons that never really went explained, he did not get a codename to go with his outfit.
Seriously. How does Batman not give Duke a new codename? Aren’t those things necessary in the field? What did they expect Commissioner Gordon to call him?
Welp, DC and Snyder have finally revealed Duke’s name: The Signal.
He’s also going to get his own comic, from Snyder, called Batman: The Signal. Duke’s role is going to be the Batman-of-the-daylight. They’ve done this very concept before with other characters, but now it’s gonna be Duke’s thing. Aaaaaand I don’t like it.
I still like Duke Thomas, for sure! But what kind of superhero name is ‘The Signal’? It suffers from the banality of modern superhero naming conventions.
Nobody ever has the guts to name their new character something like ‘Batman’ anymore. It’s all about trying to be cool and hip, even though superhero comics were built on the backs of heroes with dorky names.
Plus, an argument I’ve made before, nobody is going to remember The Signal. Batman and Robin are the Dynamic Duo. They are household names. Grandmothers have heard of Batman and Robin. Whereas nobody has ever heard of Huntress or Azrael or Batwing or Onyx or The Signal. These hangers-on don’t matter, not in the long run. There will come a time when nobody cares about Duke Thomas anymore. But there will never come a time when nobody cares about Batman and Robin.
Not making Duke into the real Robin is a mistake.
Though I will definitely buy and read Scott Snyder’s Duke Thomas comic!
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/22/17
Man oh man, it’s San Diego Comic Con weekend! So much cool news, so many good trailers, so much to get excited about! But for another year in a row, I’m stuck here in Central New York, about as far from San Francisco as you can get in the continental United States. Someday I’ll be out there.
At least this week was marked with good comics, like Batwoman, Harley Quinn, Power Rangers and the long-awaited second issue of the new Spectacular Spider-Man! All good comics, but Comic Book of the Week goes to Batman #27, as writer Tom King throws us a curveball with the unexpected new origin of Kite Man!
Knock. Knock.
Secret Empire continues to slog along. It’s getting a little long in the tooth at this point, and isn’t as sharp anymore. While The Mighty Thor is still good, but I skipped reviewing the issue again because it’s kind of just killing time. The War Thor is a neat idea, but he hasn’t done much of substance just yet. Still a great comic.
Also, in case you were curious, like me, the first issue of Astonishing X-Men does not yet feature the return of Multiple Man. I’ll let you know when it does! It was a pretty cool X-Men comic though. I like the idea of gathering a bunch of disparaged X-Men to go on an impromptu mission. I’d like it even more if they hadn’t added Old Man freakin’ Logan.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #26, Batman #27, Batwoman #5, Harley Quinn #24, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #17, Ms. Marvel #20, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 and The Wild Storm #6.
No Sign of Robin Yet in Batman Telltale
A sequel to the Telltale Batman game was announced, but there’s no sign of Robin! Why does that matter? It matters to me!
Looks fine. Riddler is always a fun guy, and I’m sure his gimmick can go a long way in Telltale’s style. I liked the first one and I’m sure I’ll like this second one, too!
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/15/17
Can you believe we have to wait all the way until November for another superhero movie? Man, what’s wrong with the world? Good thing we’ve got other comics to fill the time! Detective Comics, Hulk comics, Wonder Woman comics, X-Men comics and Squirrel Girl comics!
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl wins Comic Book of the Week because Ryan North and Erica Henderson revel in what it would actually be like to visit the Savage Land!
Gift shop pun game remains on point
I checked in on Amazing Spider-Man this week but decided not to review it because it’s largely a Secret Empire tie-in and I’m not super keen on reading or reviewing a ton of tie-ins. Thankfully, this tie-in is largely focused on Dan Slott’s ongoing story of Doc Ock taking back Parker Industries, so I dig that part of it. And it moves the Spider-Man/Mockingbird relationship forward a little, which I also like. But mostly it was a big, busy, crazy issue. So good times there!
Comic Reviews: Defenders #3, Detective Comics #960, Hulk #8, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #22, Wonder Woman #26 and X-Men Blue #7.
Henchman-4-Hire 