Category Archives: Robin
I Don’t Know What I’m Going to Do About Teen Titans in DC: Rebirth!
If you haven’t yet heard, DC Comics announced their entire Rebirth lineup at Wondercon today, with all sorts of artwork, new creative teams and more galore! I’m all in favor of pretty much everything they’re planning. As long as it means good comics, I’m on board. They can shake up their lineups all they want. And there are some pretty big shake ups on the way. Nothing as serious as the New 52, but there will definitely be some new stuff out there.
If you haven’t seen the new lineups, I recommend visiting Newsarama or Comic Book Resources. They are much better equipped than I am to handle this stuff. I’m only interested in the parts of Rebirth I’m actually interested in. I’m definitely going to be checking out a lot of the new books, from the Batman books to the Justice League, and I think I’ll try to get back into Aquaman, Wonder Woman and perhaps even some Green Lantern, since my favorite Lantern, Simon Baz, is going to get some attention finally.
But the biggest question I have going forward is what the heck I’m going to do about Teen Titans! The series that I have been reviewing month in and month out since the start of the New 52 will be no more! Those reviews are some of the most popular articles on my blog. So where do I go from here?
It’s time for Damien to retire
What am I supposed to do with this version of the Teen Titans?
Join me after the jump for the rest of the news!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/26/16
So what did everybody think of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice? Is the DC Cinematic Universe off to a good start? I will be seeing the movie tonight, and my review will go up early next week. I’m a little worried, since I didn’t care for Man of Steel. But I’m going to keep an open mind.
Fortunately, comics were a blast this week! We’ve got new Patsy Walker, which is always a cause for celebration. As would be the new issue of Grayson, but unfortunately, something has gone horribly wrong! Read on to find out what.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Batman #50, the big climax of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s time on the title! The energy and excitement of this issue easily cast aside my various minor hang-ups with Snyder’s Batman. This is a solid, exciting issue.
Batman is a fashion maven
Speaking of solid, exciting issues, my new Kickstarter is only one week away! Next Saturday we will launch the next fundraising campaign for Gamer Girl & Vixen! I hope I can count on you henchies to lend your support and order my comic!
And if you haven’t had a chance yet, you can read the entire first issue for free! You’re welcome to take my word for it that it’s good, but you can also see for yourself.
Comic Reviews: Batman #50, Grayson #18, Harley Quinn #26, Patsy Walker a.k.a. Hellcat #4, Totally Awesome Hulk #4 and We Are Robin #10.
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.
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!
6 DC Superhero Games That Rocksteady Should Work On Next
Finally, at long last, I’ve played and beaten Batman: Arkham Knight. I made the decision to abandon video game consoles with the new generation and focus all my attention on PC and Steam…only for Arkham Knight to receive a PC adaptation that was so bad that Warner Bros. took it off the shelves and offered everyone a full refund, no questions asked. That’s about as bad as things can get.
But then I went and splurged on a new, high-end computer last Fall. And when I decided to take the plunge a few weeks ago and see how Arkham Knight held up on my machine, the game ran perfectly. You couldn’t even tell there’d ever been a problem.
He was the most obvious one…
So for the past few weeks, I’ve been kicking bad guy butt, hunting down the Scarecrow, and finally living that great, glorious dream that all my console friends had already experienced. I enjoyed the game well enough. The story wasn’t the best and I felt too many parts were ‘on rails’, where the game just pointed you in the direction they wanted and gave you the button prompt to enact the next little thing they put in front of you. And there were far too many gadgets and combos to keep track of in the otherwise stellar fighting sequences.
But overall, I enjoyed the game, like I’ve enjoyed all the Arkham series. Those games could very well be the high water mark of all superhero games. Now, Arkham developer Rocksteady is done with Batman, so they say, which means they’re free to move on to a new franchise.
And surely Rocksteady and DC aren’t about to give up on superhero games just yet!
Henchman-4-Hire 