Category Archives: DC
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/6/13
Alright, guys and gals, this is the last time I change up my rating system. I know I changed it just a few months ago, but now that I’ve been trying it out for awhile, I realize just how confusing it might be. I started out with a scale of just 0-5. Then I added decimals, because that seemed like the thing to do, and I wanted my reviews to be a little more nuanced. Now I’ve decided that the decimals just add a lot of unnecessary clutter. But rather than do away with them, I’ve decided to take my 0-5 system and upgrade it to a 0-10 instead. I think, in the long run, this will just be easier.
Let’s do a quick run down:
0 – Abomination; 1 – Terrible; 2 – Very Bad; 3 – Bad; 4 – Pretty Bad; 5 – Alright; 6 – Pretty Good; 7 – Good; 8 – Very Good; 9 – Great; 10 – Fantastic!
Now that the housekeeping is out of the way, on with the reviews!
Short week, this week, with only a handful of comics coming out on my buy pile. Avengers continues their big storyline, Batman Incorporated draws ever close to the finish, and the new writer on Green Lantern settles into his new role of storyteller. All quality comics, and I enjoyed each and every one. But the real standout this week is The Superior Foes of Spider-Man! I’ve been eagerly anticipating this comic since it was announced, and it did not disappoint (though the name could stand to be a little less complex). Superior Foes is about a handful of Spider-Man’s B and C-list foes banding together into a new Sinister Six (which would have been a fine title). The comic takes the down-to-Earth, personal appeal of a book like Hawkeye and adds a dash of villainy. The characters here aren’t out to rule the world. They’re just out to make a living, and costumed crime is the path they’ve chosen. This is exactly my kind of book, and The Superior Foes of Spider-Man easily wins Comic Book of the Week.
It’s the little stuff that matters. Like Shocker and Speed Demon arguing over the keys.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #15, Batman Incorporated #12, Green Lantern #22, The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1.
Robin Watch: Damian Returns!?
I did not see this one coming! Damian Wayne is coming back! Just…not back to life. An interesting twist in the search for the new Robin is an upcoming Elseworlds mini-series starring Damian Wayne. Revealed today in the pages of USA Today, the series will be called Damian: Son of Batman, and will take place in an alternate future where Damian grew up to become Batman.
Possibly by killing Batman?
Alternate futures are a staple of comic books, and Damian has already been the subject of at least one.
The 4-issue mini-series will be written and drawn by comic book legend Andy Kubert, who was the artist on Batman #666, which was itself a futuristic story about Damian as Batman in a post-apocalyptic Gotham City. The first issue of the new mini-series will be released on Oct. 30.
Kubert had this to say:
“I had a big affinity for Damian when I drew Batman issue #666 (in 2007). I really liked that Batman and always wanted to revisit him. Damian is a bit different than the ‘Bruce Wayne’ Batman. Grant Morrison tweaked his character in a way that made it very endearing for me to draw. And to write. Basically, what I’m doing is exploring the path that Damian has taken to become Batman. I think readers will see him in a different light than before.”
This sounds like a pretty cool story to me. I’m sure everybody will tell you that DC killed Damian long before his character wore out his welcome. I didn’t like Damian at first, like pretty much everybody else, but the little twerp grew on me over the years. I never particularly liked him as Robin, but as Damian, he was a pretty cool character. He still had a lot of potential. But Grant Morrison is Grant Morrison, and if he wants to kill off his own creation, then he’s allowed. Being a legendary comic book writer holds that kind of power.
So I don’t really know what to expect from his upcoming mini-series. Andy Kubert is great, and I’m sure he’ll tell an exciting story. This doesn’t reveal anything in terms of who is going to become the new Robin, but it’s definitely something to keep our eye on here at Robin Watch!
Project Rooftop Does Green Lantern
I’m a huge fan of Project: Rooftop, the art blog dedicated to cool and fun superhero redesigns. And several times a year, Project: Rooftop holds a fan art competition, with real prizes. If I could draw, I’d totally submit. But I can’t, so I’m left simply enjoying everybody else’s submissions! Still fun.
This time the did Green Lantern, and came up with some petty awesome results!
By Ramon Villalobos
Click the jump to check out my favorites, including the winner! You can also click to check out the site to see all the winners, as well as the runner ups.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/29/13
This is a week for new comics! I’ve been trying to add some new titles to my weekly review feature, because it’ll get pretty boring if I just review the same comics month after month, and this week definitely delivered on new possibilities.This week also featured pretty much every X-Men comic imaginable – and most of them good. But we’ve also got the first issues of Larfleeze and Batman/Superman, as well as the new creative team on Red Lanterns. Will the new writer finally deliver the Red Lantern series I’ve been waiting for? Time will tell. I also decided to try out Journey Into Mystery, but sadly, the series has already been cancelled, so it won’t benefit from the Henchman Bump.
This week’s definite winner is writer Matt Fraction, who once again delivers two of the best comics in the world: FF and Hawkeye. I’m going to award Comic Book of the Week to Hawkeye #11 for its ability to think outside the box, and tell a story from the perspective of Hawkeye’s dog. It’s a fun issue. Though the moment of the week – possibly the moment of the year – goes to Miss Thing in FF. In the issue, the team have come up with a new, more efficient way for Miss Thing to get into her armor.
Best pop culture reference of all freakin’ time! Matt Fraction has to have been sitting on that line since he first envisioned Miss Thing. Heck, I’m going to declare right now that Miss Thing probably only exists because Fraction wanted to find a way to include that classic line from the insane cartoon Fred and Barney Meet the Thing. The man is a genius.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #13, Batman/Superman #1, FF #8, Hawkeye #11, Journey Into Mystery #653, Larfleeze #1, Red Lanterns #21, X-Men #2.
Review: Teen Titans #21
Teen Titans should be a comic about teamwork and camaraderie. It should be built on a foundation of strong characters who actively want to spend time with one another because they are legitimately friends. They’re not the Justice League or the Avengers. The Teen Titans are not Earth’s greatest heroes, joined together to fight the threats that one hero alone cannot handle. They’re teenagers, and they just want to hang out and be friends. That they also use their powers to save the world should just be icing on the cake.
Teen Titans #21
This is why I hate the current Teen Titans comic so much.
Comic Rating: 3/5 – Alright.
I say this all the time: I like comics where the characters are people first, superheroes second. In Scott Lobdell’s Teen Titans, they are only superheroes, randomly grouped together because that was the decided cast list of this series. There is nothing deeper or meaningful about the team. They’re friends because we’re told they’re friends. They’re a team because we’re told they’re a team. Their friendships and relationships are barely skin deep. Lobdell and his fellow writers are far more interested in writing generic superhero stories than they are in character interaction. We’re 21 issues into this series, and I don’t think any of the characters have dealt with anything all that emotional or personally important. There’s been no drama. There’s been very little done with any romantic relationships or personal friendships. Nothing memorable has happened at all.
The current Teen Titans is a concept-driven comic. DC knew they wanted a ‘Teen Titans’ book in their reboot, so Lobdell slapped one together. He picked a bunch of characters, created a few new ones, and then has just been kind of coasting from one issue to the next. The threat that pulled them all together in the first place – N.O.W.H.E.R.E. – was a dud, and is now long gone. Since then, he hasn’t touched upon any reason why the team should stay together, or why they even want to do so. They stay together because that’s the comic. If they didn’t stay together, there wouldn’t be a series. And it’s frustrating, because so much more could be done. I want to read stories about these essentially orphaned teenagers actually expressing what they get out of the Teen Titans and why they stick around. I want to see some real friendships blossom, or better yet, some real relationships and the drama that comes with those. I want to see these kids understand their place in the DC Universe. How do they see themselves compared to the Justice League? Why are they superheroes? Sure they have powers, but what is it that drives them to dress up in costume and throw themselves at dangerous situations?
These are all plot points that I think could make for a great Teen Titans comic, but we don’t get any of that. Instead, in this issue, the Teen Titans fight Trigon’s three sons in a generic, mildly entertaining superhero slugfest. It’s just mindless, mostly boring superhero fights. Not only that, but still the Titans treat Raven like she’s been their friend since the beginning. I must have missed a scene where Raven even went so far as to introduce herself to them. But this is how weak the camaraderie is: Raven and Beast Boy pretty much just glom onto the Titans and are treated like total members just because that’s what the plot has dictated. It’s maddening.
Henchman-4-Hire 