Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/21/15
It was Ladies Week in comics this week, with at least five of my favorite female-friendly comics hitting the stands! I have been a huge proponent of the push for more female representation in comics, and I’ve pretty much loved everything I’ve read so far. Heck, I’m even making my own comic starring two female protagonists. So I couldn’t be more excited for a week that includes new issues of Princess Leia, Lumberjanes, Batgirl, Silk and the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!
But only one of those issues can win Comic Book of the Week, and that honor goes to the latest issue of Batgirl, which features a pretty stellar climax to their first story arc.
Boom-Punching 101
Not that Silk and Squirrel Girl weren’t awesome too! As was the second issue of Princess Leia, which I reviewed over at Word of the Nerd this week, so check that out too!
Sadly, I didn’t get around to the Lumberjanes review. That comic is mid-story arc, so I’m waiting for a good jumping on point to get back into regular reviews. And I can’t wait for that to happen!
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #40, Batman Eternal #50, Divinity #2, Silk #2 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3.
Epic Portal Song For Your Friday
I could watch that new Avengers commercial on repeat from now until the movie comes out, but we have bigger fish to fry today! Namely, this awesome song.
That video was done up by Harry101UK. I’ve featured a few others of his Portal songs back in the day, but this video became available recently, and Henchwoman Alyssa found it and shared it with me. It’s just such a chilling, awesome song. Those Portal games are a blast.
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Even the Avengers TV Commercials Are Amazing!
Avengers: Age of Ultron is in TV commercial mode now, with only a month and a half before it hits theaters. And apparently one of those commercials is the most amazing TV movie commercial ever produced.
Jeez louise! That was amazing! The action, the banter, the character moments, the accent; that is brilliant stuff! And that’s just a commercial! Oh man, this movie. I can’t even. I can’t even all over the place!
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Review: Teen Titans #8
It’s a classic warning to be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. I am afraid that has befallen me with Teen Titans #8. No, Red Robin still doesn’t change out of his costume, but the Teen Titans are actually the stars of the book for once. And they’re engaged in some pretty cool extracurricular activities. Writer Will Pfeifer has set the Teen Titans up to be minor NYC celebrities, and he actually has some fun with this concept. The problem is in the execution. I don’t really know what it is, but there’s just something off about Pfeifer’s attempts to have some fun in this issue. Maybe my bias had completely taken over my sense of good and bad, but it just doesn’t feel like he thought this issue through very well.
Teen Titans #8
Still, I applaud the effort, and I especially like what he does with Red Robin in this issue. So general kudos.
Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.
In Teen Titans #8, Pfeifer splits the Titans up to engage in some wacky high jinks. Beast Boy hosts Saturday Night Live (or Comedy Tonight, as it’s called). Raven hangs out with her new rock band friends. Wonder Girl has a weird encounter with a fan. And Red Robin focuses on crime solving, like he’s supposed to do. Manchester Black is still around, still Pfeifer’s pet characters, but the Teen Titans actually get the spotlight for once. I just don’t think Pfeifer put all that much thought into each of these scenarios. It’s clear what he wants to accomplish, he wants the Titans to go viral on social media, but he kind of forces it.
At least he’s trying something different. I rather love the idea of the Teen Titans becoming mini-celebrities and being embraced by youth culture. These characters are perfect for an exploration of social media and its impact on not only our world, but the world of superheroes. I hope Pfeifer is reading the new Batgirl, because that uses social media in ways I wish I fully understood (but I’m about half a generation removed from a full understanding). I can see what Pfeifer is trying to do, and I kind of like what he’s trying to do, but I just don’t think he sticks the landings very well. There’s some square peg/round hole stuff going on here.
Maybe I’m just nitpicking. This is what I wished for, after all. Join me after the jump to see what I mean.
My 6 Favorite Dragonball Z Characters
I have been on a real Dragonball Z kick recently. It owes a lot to the fact that I’m currently a master fighter in the new video game Dragonball Xenoverse! The game is a fast-paced, energy-blasting, butt-whooping battle game featuring not only a wealth of DBZ characters, but also my own original create-a-character! I love create-a-character modes in video games, especially unique games like Xenoverse.
The excitement of going Super Saiyan with my own original character is pretty awesome.
One of these things
Of course, playing a DBZ video game got me back into watching the DBZ cartoon, because I haven’t actually seen the whole thing. My brother got me into DBZ back in high school, and I started watching week days after school during the Cell Saga. Since then, I’ve gone back and watched all of the earlier episodes, but until this month, I had never seen a single episode of the show’s climactic Buu Saga! Consider that rectified!
To celebrate my utterly random re-interest in Dragonball Z, I decided to make this week’s List of Six about all of my favorite characters! And feel free to bask in the nostalgia and share some of your own in the comments!
Henchman-4-Hire 