Category Archives: DC

The World of Comics Just Got a Lot More Adorable

It’s the crossover I never knew I wanted, but now I can’t think of anything better. DC Comics and BOOM! Studios are going to work together to crossover Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy in a summer mini-series! Village Voice has the details on the creative team!

It's just so beautiful

It’s just so beautiful

This is beyond cool. Like…I don’t even know how to describe how cool this is. An inter-company crossover? How does that even happen?! How does the universe allow such greatness to exist? I live in the universe, I know how horrible it can be.

We’re not supposed to have nice things!

But maybe, just maybe, the Lumberjanes and the students of Gotham Academy can team up and go on an adventure into our imaginations!

Starting in June.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/5/16

I don’t know about you, but this was a pretty busy week for me. Work work work work work work work. I tells ya! I was able to get in a full-sized review of the first issue of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, which was pretty fun. But this week’s Henchie Bits are a little on the light side What can I say, I was morphed out.

But hey, any week with new issues of Batgirl and Iron Man is a good enough week for me! We’ve also got the first issue of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Black Widow. I hope to stick with the title this time.

Comic Book of the Week goes to the second issue of Spider-Man. I do have a soft spot for Miles Morales, and this issue surprised me in a few interesting ways.

Too soon, Bendis

If only Donald Glover was still young enough to be cast as Spider-Man.

Comic Reviews: Batgirl #49, Black Widow #1, Invincible Iron Man #7 and Spider-Man #2. 

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/27/16

Tough week! I don’t know if somebody dumped my Cheerios or what, but I wasn’t as thrilled about this week’s comics as I was last week. Last week was great! Last week was hilarious. This week…not so much. Why can’t you be more like last week, this week?

We’ve got a ton of comics though, from Astonishing Ant-Man to Saga to Silk to We Are Robin! This week even sees the long-awaited return of Karnak by Warren Ellis! Unfortunately, it does not live up to the excitement of the first issue.

Fortunately, the new issue of Hellcat is as great as all the rest have been!

Totally justifies the random Doctor Strange cameo. I think this makes at least three at Marvel.

Comic Reviews: Angela: Queen of Hel #5, Astonishing Ant-Man #5, Karnak #2, Patsy Walker a.k.a. Hellcat #3, Saga #34, Silk #5 and We Are Robin #9.

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Review: Teen Titans #17

Here we go! Buckle up, boys and girls, because the next era of Teen Titans is upon us! New writer Greg Pak takes the reigns, at least for a little while, hoping to right this stagecoach for a few issues, until Rebirth comes along to maybe change everything up again. It’s a little hard to get excited about the new writer when there’s every indication that nothing will stick. But I’ve stuck with Teen Titans this long, and I’m always eager for something new from this series.

Teen Titans #17

So it’s damn exciting that Greg Pak immediately and unequivocally solves one of my biggest complaints about this series. This is close to being the Teen Titans I’ve always wanted.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

The biggest problem with Teen Titans in the New 52, and even in DCYou, is that the characters are treated as little more than action figures. They are costumed superheroes first, people second. All they do is fight bad guys, bouncing from one random opponent to the next. Famously, Red Robin never once removed his costume when Will Pfeifer was writing the series. There was apparently no interest in addressing the Teen Titans as teenagers or youngsters or human beings. They were action figures, trapped in a strange mess of stories, many of which were likely tugged back and forth by demanding editorial.

I may never understand why Teen Titans was so shackled when things like Batgirl, Ms. Marvel, Young Avengers and Teen Titans Go! were allowed to exist.

Teen Titans #17 doesn’t fix everything. Pak and DC don’t go for the nuclear option. This is still the same team, carrying on the same storyline, and existing in the same New 52 world. But Pak treats them as people for the first time in a long time. There is more characterization in this one issue than in Pfeifer’s entire run. There are character moments that legitimately shocked me for how little we’ve seen that level of depth. And for once, the threat doesn’t come from some outside force, but from within. For once, the Teen Titans are driving their own story.

And you better believe that Tim Drake shows up in this comic! Join me after the jump to see for yourself!

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Forgotten Characters: Vibe

Whatever happened to Vibe?

The dance-loving former Justice League Detroiter has never been more high profile than right now, with Cisco Ramon a popular, ongoing character in The Flash TV show. And before that, there was a big Vibe push in the New 52 from no less than Geoff Johns himself, putting the character front and center in the new Justice League of America.

But that fizzled out pretty fast.

Look at him fizzle!

Vibe was never a popular character. But with the New 52 relaunch at DC Comics, everything was new again, and Vibe was allowed to party like never before. He was part of a big promotional push in the lead up to Trinity War and Forever Evil, then starred in not only the relaunched Justice League of America comic, but also his own spin-off solo series by writers Andrew Kreisberg and Sterling Gates. And like I said, Vibe was chosen, out of all possibilities, to be one of the main characters in the supremely popular Flash TV show. His origin story has been an ongoing plot since the start of the show.

So why has Vibe been missing in comic book action for years now?

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