Category Archives: Reviews
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!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/20/16
What a phenomenal week for comics! I’m not just talking about DC’s new Rebirth announcement, which looks fine. I’m talking about the specific comics I read this week, almost all of which were good to great! If you told me 5 years ago that I would love comics about Thor, Harley Quinn and Luke Cage, I would have told you you were silly! But here we are!
Comic Book of the Week goes to the first issue of Power Man and Iron Fist. This was a rock solid start for the revived series, one that will hopefully help define the characters ahead of their upcoming TV shows. Honestly, after only one issue, I would watch this show.
Kids today
It’s even got Jessica Jones in a supporting role! Though considering her Netflix success, where’s our new Jessica Jones comic?
Comic Reviews: Harley Quinn #25, Mighty Thor #4, Power Man and Iron First #1, Silver Surfer #2 and Spider-Woman #4.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/13/16
Happy Love Day, one and all! Oh no, wait, that’s that other holiday. This is Valentine’s Day weekend! This is when we should be feeling the looooove! But alas, none of the comics I read this week had a Valentines bent. Odd, considering we had new issues of Starfire, Totally Awesome Hulk and All-New Wolverine, all of which would totally make good romance comics!
Well…maybe not all of them. Still, solid, enjoyable week for comic books.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Ms. Marvel, which finally proved to me why Kamala Khan should be an Avenger!
This is sort of like ‘Avengers Assemble’
I didn’t say it was for good reasons…
Comic Reviews: All-New, All-Different Avengers #5, All-New Wolverine #5, Batman #49, Ms. Marvel #4, Silk #4, Starfire #9 and Totally Awesome Hulk #3.
Review: Deadpool
They did it! They pulled it off! And with flying funny colors, no less! A comics and character-accurate Deadpool movie seemed like it had about as much chance of happening as that Lobo movie DC is always talking about. Like a pipe dream clogged with used toilet paper. But don’t that beat all, actor Ryan Reynolds and director Tim Miller apparently wield a golden plunger.
Deadpool is a hilarious, action-packed thrill ride, bathed in that sticky, zany funk that makes Deadpool so special in the first place.
Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great
The Deadpool film is everything someone could want from a Deadpool film. This movie is so character accurate that it almost defies logic. Considering the character’s extreme misuse in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which gets mocked in this movie), it was nigh impossible to believe anyone at FOX Studios would make this new film happen. It was hard to believe anyone at FOX Studios even knew what Deadpool was about. But after Reynolds championed the character and the movie for so long, and after some footage was ‘leaked’ a year or two ago, someone got the wheels turning and we’ve now got a great movie.
Deadpool is a ton of fun. It’s got the exciting, hard-hitting action of recent blockbusters, as well as the snappy wit we’ve come to expect from superhero movies, but all of it is just so ‘Deadpool’ that this film stands in a league all its own. The action is just short of slapstick, with attention paid to both badass asskickery and wacky shenanigans. The humor is that special mix of raunch, snark and Fourth Wall-breaking that has come to define the character.
The Deadpool movie may not have the emotional depth or importance of all the great Marvel blockbusters, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t an entertaining jaunt in the world of comics come to life.
Join me after the jump for my full review and some SPOILERS!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/6/16
This might be the weirdest comic review article of my long blogging career. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the latest issue of Batgirl really hits home for me in a lot of weird ways. Especially when you consider it features a villain who can read and alter minds…but you’ll have to read on to find out what I mean!
Beyond the new Batgirl, this was a solid, enjoyable week of comics. We got new Iron Man and Captain Marvel comics, as well as Miles Morales’ debut in the regular Marvel Universe! I was against this idea from the beginning, but the execution isn’t half bad.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Doctor Strange #5. Writer Jason Aaron is hitting it out of the park with this opening storyline! I hope the Doctor Strange movie is even half this cool.
Atlantean Black Magic!
I’m sure Benedict Cumberbatch can pull this off.
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #48, Captain Marvel #2, Deadpool & The Mercs for Money #1, Doctor Strange #5, Invincible Iron Man #6 and Spider-Man #1.
Henchman-4-Hire 