Category Archives: DC
Wait, What? Hourman!?
Following the success of Arrow, and the potential upcoming success of a Flash TV show, DC and The CW are apparently now planning a show starring Hourman. For reals. Hourman!
This guy!
For those who don’t know, Hourman is a rather obscure hero who fights as a member of the Justice Society of America. There have been several different Hourmen over the years – because good brand names never die – with most of them ingesting a magic pill called Miraclo that grants them super strength and super speed for an hour. I apologize to all Hourman fans out there because that sounds absolutely ridiculous.
Which is probably why The CW is going with an entirely different version of the character, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on a short-lived volume of Hourman comics, the TV show is going to focus on a hero who can see one hour into the future. He will use that power to avert horrible upcoming disasters in order to win back his wife and child. So it basically sounds like a reduced version of Early Edition. Anybody remember that show? I never watched it, so why is it ingrained in my memory?
I’m starting to think somebody at The CW, desperate to follow-up the success of Arrow, just went down a list of DC superheroes and kept throwing out pitches until somebody shrugged and said, “Alright, let’s do that one.”
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/2/13
I come to you today, my friends, with a heavy heart. This week saw the release of The Sandman Overture #1, a return to that famous character by world-renowned writer Neil Gaiman, with artist J.H. Williams III on pencils. There’s a very good chance, considering the subject matter and the creative team, that The Sandman Overture could be the greatest comic book of the year. Like everyone else in the world, I love Gaiman’s original run on Sandman. But I’m sorry to say that I just couldn’t bring myself to review the new first issue. I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it, but I am a mere mortal. I have no place bestowing a grade on work such as this. And besides, after reading issue #1, it’s clear to me that this is a ‘read all at once’ kind of story. So maybe at the end I’ll write something
For now, let’s stick with the superhero stuff, shall we?
We’ve got the final chapters of both Lights Out and Battle of the Atom to enjoy, though I found both to be a little underwhelming. Two chapters of Infinity shipped this week, but nothing new there. The only real stand-out – and therefore Comic Book of the Week – was Superior Spider-Man #20, in which writer Dan Slott seems to gleefully start tearing down both the lives of Peter Parker and Otto Octavius. Slott’s overall plotting on Superior Spider-Man has been a master class in comic-bookery. everything he’s set up so far is about to come crashing down, and it’s going to be a real pleasure to read.
As for Moment of the Week, our last visit with the Time Traveling Icemen pulls it off with aplomb.
Comic Reviews: Infinity #5, Avengers #22, Green Lantern Annual #2, Superior Spider-Man #20 and X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2.
Review: Teen Titans Annual #2
According to the infinite wisdom of DC Comics, the Superboy we’ve been getting to know all along in the New 52 is going to die. Though I don’t know for sure, because I’m not reading the Superboy series or any of the Superman comics, for that matter. And because I don’t read those, Scott Lobdell hates me. At least that’s the impression I get reading Teen Titans Annual #2. Almost everything that happens in this issue ties closely to the events of Superboy and whatever strange concoction of clones and time travel Lobdell and DC have been building over there.
Teen Titans Annual #2
Not that it really matters, in the end, because Teen Titans Superboy is barely a character in the first place. Just like Teen Titans is barely readable.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
I have always felt that the decision-making in the New 52 is haphazard at best. DC changes directions on characters and series at the drop of a hat. If something isn’t working, they will go to extreme lengths to try something else and just kind of hope it all works out in the end. No thought is being given to the bigger picture or the long run, and nowhere is that clearer than in the fate of Superboy. Lobdell said at a recent comic convention that Superboy is going to die. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t joking. Instead, DC are going to forge ahead with someone named Jon Kent, the future son of Superman and Lois Lane. It seems the Superboy we’ve been reading about in Teen Titans is a clone of this Jon Kent fella. Again, I think this is all covered in the Superboy series, but I understand that comic is generally unreadable, so I haven’t bothered.
But it’s apparently required reading if you want to try and understand Teen Titans. I would complain more, but then Teen Titans has always been a dumping ground for tenuous connections to other comics. Multiple storylines and characters from Teen Titans have been shuffled off to other comics for no explicable reason; just another example of why Teen Titans is a terrible comic book.
Teen Titans Annual #2 is the issue where Jon Kent replaces Superboy on the Teen Titans. The switch involves time travel, an editor’s note to read Action Comics Annual, and the Teen Titans being played for chumps. So all-in-all, it’s your typical issue of Teen Titans in the New 52. It’s bland, the characters are wafer thin and more effort is put into exposition and clunky dialogue than actual character building.
I would say that it’s sad to see Superboy go, but it’s really not. The character has been as dull as a brick since Teen Titans began, and his recent hook-up with Wonder Girl was the exact opposite direction I wanted the story to go. So see you later, Superboy! You existed, and that’s probably all that can ever be said about you.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Happy Halloween from Supergirl and Batgirl!
If artist Mike Maihack spends the rest of his days drawing adorable, holiday-themed Supergirl and Batgirl comics, it will be a life well spent. Comics need more adorableness in their pages in this day and age.
Justice League: War Trailer Has Me Legitimately Excited for a DC Animated Movie Again
Justice League: War is the next animated movie from DC, and the first trailer has blown me away. It’s based on the opening story for the New 52 Justice League, which I thought was pretty terrible. But it looks like that story might make for a good animated movie.
I’ve been pretty lukewarm about the DC animated movies for awhile now. They’ve all been pretty shallow, by-the-numbers adaptations. I’ve really felt like the people working on them could be put to better use, because their skill in animation is second to none. But nope, they keep popping these out to medium amounts of fanfare. Well now the movies have entered the New 52, which I feel is long overdue. DC needs this kind of synergy, and I hope this movie pays off.
Better for DC to animate their New 52 comics than spend a good chunk of their efforts glorifying the old, pre-reboot stories.
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