Category Archives: DC

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/11/14

I’m a little embarrassed. There are only four comics on the review slate today, and none of them are Indie titles like I promised last week. But that’s only because I couldn’t settle on one I liked, and most of them were already mid-story. Fortunately, Image just announced a ton of new books coming this year, so maybe I can get in on the ground floor of some of those. But still, only four books this week! What’s wrong with me? Well, for starters, I’ve been a bit under the weather. Blame it on the Polar Vortex!

At any rate, at least we’ve got some good books this week! All-New Marvel NOW! has launched, and we’ve got the first issues of Avengers World and Black Widow, both solid starts. And DC Comics gives us a healthy dose of green, with both Green Arrow and Green Lantern! They should market that somehow. Too bad they already cancelled Green Team.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Green Arrow #27, which continues its so-far amazing The Others storyline – but don’t let the name fool you, it’s far more interesting than that.

That is some very pretty arrow shooting. How is it that both Green Arrow and Hawkeye are such great comic books these days?

Comic Reviews: Avengers World #1, Black Widow #1, Green Arrow #27 and Green Lantern #27.

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Sinestro Gets His Own Comic!

Sinestro, the long-time Green Lantern villain and lifelong badass, is going to get his own ongoing comic book series from DC Comics in April. And based on the preview cover, it already looks amazing!

Me Sinestro, you Jane

A comic about Sinestro out alone in the cosmos, battling aliens and fighting to survive like some kind of action hero, living only by his wits and Yellow Power Ring, sounds all kind of awesome to me! Geoff Johns left Sinestro off in such an amazing place at the end of his lengthy, legendary Green Lantern series. If new writer Cullen Bunn can tap into even a shred of Sinestro’s potential, this series could be amazing.

But then I also had hope for the Larfleeze comic…

So yeah, according to Newsarama, the comic will be written by Bunn and drawn by Dale Eaglesham. Sinestro is going to be heartbroken out in the wilderness of space, having lost all of his friends, family, loved ones and home planet. But Lyssa Drak shows up to remind him that he still has fear! Will Sinestro take back the Sinestro Corps or will he forge a new destiny?

I’m excited to find out.

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/4/14

Welcome to the new year, Henchmen and Henchwomen! I can officially say I’ve been doing these weekly reviews for more than a year. I probably should have gone back through all the reviews and picked out the best issues of the 2013, but I’ve been sick all week, and have better things to do (coughing and video games). So we’re stuck just reviewing this week’s titles, which, thanks to New Year’s Day, were short once again.

Fortunately for us, Marvel and DC put out some good titles. Hey…there’s a good New Year’s Resolution! I should start adding at least one non-Big Two comic to the pile each week. Stuff from Image, Dark Horse and all the rest. Sounds like a plan. If any of you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments. It doesn’t have to be a superhero comic either. I want to expand my horizons.

But for now, I’m more than happy for another delightful issue of Superior Foes of Spider-Man, the Comic Book of the Week! Behold, the secret origin of the new Beetle!

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #26, Batwoman #26, New Avengers #13, Superior Foes of Spider-Man #7 and Talon #14.

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Review: Teen Titans #26

Any Bart Allen fans holding out hope, after all this time, that the character and his origins were still somehow in tact, can go ahead and despair with the new issue of Teen Titans. Just like Wonder Girl, Superboy and Red Robin, Kid Flash’s origin is completely re-written for the New 52. Nothing of the original Bart, short of the time travel, remains. There was never any Impulse and there is clearly no connection to Barry Allen or the Flash. Writer Scott Lobdell lays out Kid Flash’s origin in this issue, from how he got his speed powers to how he ended up in the 21st century. And as is expected from Teen Titans, none of it is particularly interesting.

Teen Titans #26

When it comes to a space-age character origin, I can’t really say Bart’s story is very bad. It’s fine, perhaps even a little interesting. As for an origin to Kid Flash, and his place in the Teen Titans and DCU, it’s definitely worse than from before the reboot.

Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.

I feel bad for any Bart Allen fans who still had hope, but then, were there any left? Was anybody still expecting him to be the grandson of Barry Allen delivered from the future? That, at least, had a connection to the Flash mythos. That provided meaning and importance to the character, making him a part of the Flash legacy. But nope, not anymore. Everything you knew about Bart Allen is gone. Now, instead, he’s Bar Torr, a freedom fighter turned traitor from far into the future. There are a ton of questions and plot holes in this new origin, and parts of it that just don’t make any sense. And what any of this has to do with the DC Universe as a whole is beyond my understanding.

Wait until you see how he gets super speed. It’s…disappointing, to say the least. There are a lot of disappointing parts to Bart’s origin. I wonder if this was Lobdell and DC’s plan from the beginning. Have they just been sitting on this origin, waiting for he chance to tell it? Or was Lobdell just making it up as he went along when writing this issue? Because the plot holes are so huge you could fit Titans Tower through them. And the leap from Bar Torr to Kid Flash comes out of nowhere.

So strap in, Bart Allen fans, and prepare to have everything you ever loved about the character stripped away.

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Mr. Freeze Coming in Arkham Origins DLC

The first full-on story DLC for Batman: Arkham Origins was announced via Twitter today, and it looks to be all about Mr. Freeze. Possibly even the origin of Mr. Freeze. That sounds neat.

I doubt Freeze is getting the Humanitarian award

No word on the release date, other than 2014. Also no word on what’s going to happen. But any further story gameplay for Arkham Origins will be a ton of fun.

Maybe they’ll even find a way to incorporate Robin…but probably not.