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.
My Script Has Been Rent Asunder at The Proving Grounds!
I submitted another script to The Proving Grounds peer review at Comix Tribe, and this one got torn to ribbons. The story is Guards!, about beautiful princess taken prisoner by an evil king, and the lowly dungeon guard who decides to rise up and rescue her himself. I was really confident about this one, but it didn’t do so well.
Check out the session at ComixTribe.com!
Looks like I might have to go back to the drawing board on this one. Or maybe tweak it a little bit and find some other directions for it. Big thanks to the Comix Tribe editors for the review.
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Finn Jones Has Become Unto a Thing of Iron!
Marvel and Netflix have finally cast their Iron Fist, and it’s Finn Jones, the guy who played Loras Tyrell in Game of Thrones. Sounds like a pretty solid choice to me.
For the love of all that is holy, Marvel, please use the modern costume
I’m pretty sure Jones was fine in Game of Thrones, I don’t really remember. Hopefully he can live up to Danny Rand’s potential. He’s got to be fun and make a good team with Michael Colter as Luke Cage. I’m more than willing to give him a chance. Marvel has not failed in the casting department yet.
Iron Fist will come out…some day. But more importantly, the new season of Daredevil arrives next month! Woot!
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New Daredevil trailer features Elektra
Marvel’s Daredevil announced the Punisher’s appearance for Season 2, but Marvel and Netflix have just released a promo featuring Daredevil’s long-time love-interest, Elektra. This footage sort of snuck up on us, like some sort of ninja.
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!
