Category Archives: Robin
Review: Teen Titans #19
We are off the rails here, people. We are through the Danger Zone. Forget everything you thought you knew about Teen Titans and prepare yourselves for ultimate dissatisfaction. Everything I have ever complained about with Teen Titans has come home to roost. We are through the looking glass so hard that my hyperbole machine is going to crash. Wow. This is a terrible comic book, but it almost feels par for the course for Teen Titans. Not since the horrors of Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has this series been so bad.
Teen Titans #19
Everything I have hated about this comic is here in this issue. Terrible characterization, clunky, obvious exposition, characters and villains who come out of nowhere, an almost painful lack of subtlety; this one is off the chain.
Comic Rating: 1/5: Terrible!
This comic is bad from page one. It’s one of the most chaotic and leaden comics I have ever read. This is supposed to be the big, New 52 introduction of Trigon, but I couldn’t have imagined it being more mishandled. Trigon was one of the big bads in the pre-reboot continuity. He was one of the Teen Titans’ biggest enemies. But now he’s just pathetically wasted. There’s nothing new or interesting about this rebooted version of Trigon. Any mystique he used to have has been stripped away. The new Raven had a bit of mystery as well, but that is cruelly torn from her with this new issue.
There’s maybe one or two good things about this comic, and I’ll mentioned them in the synopsis, but they seem like flukes. Or they have more to do with different comics, which doesn’t help the Teen Titans much at all.
This is the worst possible version of the Teen Titans I could have imagined going into the New 52. The characters are poorly defined, their relationships are underdeveloped, they spend 90% of their time in costume playing superhero, the villains are terrible, and the comic has little to nothing to do with the DC Universe as a whole. I’m probably most disappointed in that.
But we might as well get to it. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis of this crapshoot.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/13/13
We’ve got some good and we’ve got some bad this week, sometimes down to the very franchise. I’ve already ranted a lot about my disappointment with Batman and Red Robin, so at least the regular Batman book is good enough. On the Marvel side of things, the Avengers have a mediocre to strong output, whether it’s Age of Ultron, Avengers or Uncanny Avengers. You might even be surprised to learn that some kind of plot finally develops in Age of Ultron! I didn’t see that coming!
But speaking of Avengers, the star this week is Thor, as his series, Thor: God of Thunder, easily hammer-smashes the competition to win Comic Book of the Week! I was disappointed last issue with the weak origin for Gorr. But when Jason Aaron focuses on his various Thors, the comic is gold! It’s also the funniest comic you’ll read all week. Perhaps even the sexiest.
Sounds like my kind of woman!
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #5, Avengers #9, Batman #19, Batman and Red Robin #19, Hawkeye #9, Thor: God of Thunder #7, Uncanny Avengers #6, Uncanny X-Men #4.
Watch Out, Tim Drake Fans! DC is Still a Den of Liars!
Do not buy this week’s issue of Batman and Red Robin #19! Well, I mean, you can buy it if you want to. But if you, like me, were looking for any examination of the Bruce/Tim dynamic in the New 52, you will be grossly disappointed. The two barely have anything to do with one another, and when they do interact, it’s just a circumstance of the plot.
This is almost as bad as when we were teased about Red Robin getting an issue of Night of the Owls. Seriously, if you were planning on buying this comic just for the Tim Drake appearance, save your money.
I guess you could buy it for Carrie Kelley, maybe
I’ll post some spoilers after the jump. Just know that this issue is not a team up between Bruce and Tim. DC Comics is a Den of Liars and Thieves!
All of My Hopes and Dreams for Injustice: Gods Among Us Are Wiped Out With One Depressing Clip
Regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve been eagerly tracking the character roster for the upcoming DC superhero video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, hoping that my favorite superhero, Robin, would be a playable fighter. I mean, c’mon, am I really the only one who sees the excitement in being able to pit Batman against Robin? It’s the classic story of teacher vs. student, of mentor vs. apprentice! Well the final two characters have been leaked to the Internet, and they are…drum roll please…wait…they’re who? God dammit! Cancel the drum roll!
It’s Killer Frost and Ares. What the freakin’ Hell!?
Grant me the serenity…
Really, Injustice: Gods Among Us? Really? Killer Frost and freakin’ Ares? That’s the best you could come up with? Of all the hundreds of exciting characters in the DC Universe, you give us Killer Frost and Ares? When have they ever been relevant? Killer Frost didn’t even make my list of the Top 6 Snow and Ice-Themed Comic Book Characters, and nobody cares about Ares! Wonder Woman fans probably don’t even care about Ares.
“Oh boy, I can’t wait to buy Injustice: Gods Among Us, so I can play as my favorite DC comic book character: Ares!” SAID NO ONE EVER!
But oh, we’re not done, boys and girls. Not by a long shot. Finalizing the roster with Killer Frost and Ares would be bad enough, but Injustice: Gods Among Us had to go and twist the proverbial knife! Right into my soft, beating heart! Some of you have suggested that I should just be happy that we get to play as Nightwing. He’s kind of like Robin.
But there’s something you need to know about Nightwing…
Yes, hang your head in shame!
Robin Watch: Carrie Kelley!?!
The ongoing search for the next Robin continues with a rather surprise arrival in next week’s new issue of Batman and Robin: Carrie Kelley!
What the what!?! For reals, people, DC and writer Peter Tomasi are bringing Carrie Kelley into modern day continuity. But whether or not she’s going to become the next Robin is still anyone’s guess. DC are definitely good at teasing that possibility, at least.
This is just a strange choice, in my opinion, but it seems like the kind of thing DC would pull off. DC loves mining their big, popular stories for little stuff they can bring into normal continuity. Prior to the reboot, and even a little bit in the reboot, DC was using stuff from Kingdom Come left and right. Heck, Tim Drake is still called Red Robin. Then there was that whole Before Watchmen thing. Now they’re going to pluck Carrie Kelley from the legendary The Dark Knight Returns and tease her as a possible new Robin.
According to Tomasi in an interview with the New York Post:
“She’s a college kid who’s got spunk and speaks her mind,” said writer Peter Tomasi. “This is not an alternate-earth Robin, this is simply a girl named Carrie Kelley, who we learn knew Damian, which in turn weaves her into the fabric of the DC Universe for the first time in 25 years. What you’ll find out once you crack the book, is that she’s not exactly the ‘new Robin,’ but I don’t want to spoil the story and her introduction into Bruce Wayne/Batman’s life. In regards to how long she’ll be around, let’s just say that it’s a helluva lot longer than ‘one issue.’ I’ve got plans for Carrie that play well into the future.”
If I’m being completely honest, and this is just my immediate gut reaction, I don’t like this idea. First of all, Carrie Kelley is going to debut in the issue that was supposed to be dedicated to Tim Drake reteaming with Bruce Wayne. The issue is going to be called Batman and Red Robin, after all. I was really looking forward to their first real interaction since the reboot. But I guess DC just doesn’t want anything to do with the classic Bruce/Tim team. What a shame.
Second of all, I’m a proponent of Harper Row as the new Robin for reasons I’ve gone on and on about on my blog. Harper Row is a new character with a new life, which is perfect for the New 52 universe. Carrie Kelley is just a weak attempt to steal some goodwill from The Dark Knight Returns. I understand that we’re dealing with some alternate realities here, and that this version of Carrie is a new version, but she’s still a character with some complicated backstory. My #1 rule for writing comics, movies or anything else is to Keep It Simple, Stupid. Are you really going to want to introduce Robin from now on as the alternate reality version of a different Robin from the future?
And who also dresses like Robin at parties.
I think this is all just one big tease. I think Tomasi has some ideas for what he might do with his version of Carrie Kelley, and he’s going to run with them. I don’t think for an instant that this is the definitive revelation of the new Robin. At least I hope not. I would probably have no problem in the long run with this new version of Carrie Kelley being the new Robin, but like I said, Harper Row represents a much cleaner, fresher sort of character. Harper Row the much better candidate.
Still, it looks like DC is going to keep the recruiting field wide open!
Henchman-4-Hire 