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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/10/15
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! The long national nightmare of Secret Wars is over, and the All-New, All-Different Marvel is upon us! Though, that isn’t exactly accurate. Secret Wars is not yet over, and will actually continue all the way into December. And it’s not a nightmare, I’m actually enjoying it. But the All-New, All-Different Marvel is definitely here in force this week! No longer do we have to rely on tie-ins or Star Wars comics to get our Marvel fix! We’ve got brand new first issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Invincible Iron Man and Doctor Strange, who, I guess, doesn’t deserve an adjective.
Comic Book of the Week goes to the first issue of the new Amazing Spider-Man, which only barely inches past the new Invincible Iron Man. Possibly because it includes the greatest cameo by the Prowler in a decade! Among other goodies.
It gets really good, people
Though this week isn’t all wine and roses. DC has launched their sequel to the henchly-reviled Batman Eternal! And like a pig to the slaughter, I picked that up too…
Comic Reviews: Action Comics #45, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Batman and Robin Eternal #1, Doctor Strange #1 and Invincible Iron Man #1.
Batman and Robin Eternal Threatens to Tear the Heart Out of Me
We knew this was coming. There had been hints and whispers, and we couldn’t deny them. The sequel to Batman Eternal is going to be called Batman and Robin Eternal, and it’s going to focus on the legacy of Robin as part of his 75th anniversary.
Part of me couldn’t be more thrilled…and another part of me remembers how much I loathed the first Batman Eternal. I’m at war with myself!
Thanks again to Comicbook.com for the scoop.
The new weekly series (only 26 issues this time) was announced at Comic-Con Friday during the Robin Panel. Promised to be bigger and better than the original, Batman and Robin Eternal will be a globe-hopping adventure that celebrates Robin’s legacy.
The series will focus on three characters: Dick Grayson, Harper Row and, at long last, a returning Cassandra Cain.
“This series is going to reintroduce Cassandra Cain to the DC Universe,” returning co-writer James Tynion IV told reporters this morning. “We can’t talk too much about that just yet but this is a character that for me at least I have loved for my entire comic-reading life. The fact that we have the opportunity to bring her back in a very, very central role — she is on of the three leads of this story, her, Dick and Harper Rowe — I’m really pumped.”
I’m curious why Harper Row is going to be the focus of Batman and Robin Eternal. Could this be the chance I’ve been waiting for? Are there plans to eventually move Harper up from Bluebird to Robin? There’s still time! You can still make that happen DC Comics!
All I know is that my love of Robin is going to go to war against my hatred of the first Batman Eternal. Only one can win, and we’ll find out which when the new series starts in October.
Man, today has been a great day for Robin news.
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The 6 Best and the 6 Worst Parts of DC’s New 52
The New 52 is over; long live DC Comics. After more than three years of sticking to their rigid, grim and gritty house style, the second biggest publisher in comics has decided to try something different — and I couldn’t be happier. I quickly soured to the New 52 and have barely hung on all these years later.
Get out of there Cyborg, you’re not Justice League
When DC rebooted their entire comics lineup in 2011 — including everyone from Superman and Batman to Green Lantern — they decided that the best way to reach fans was with dark, gritty comics aimed at teenage boys and young men. They published 52 comics a month and called the whole event the ‘New 52’. But comic book fans are prone to change, and nowadays we want a variety of different comics and styles, definitely not just grim and gritty. Marvel Comics, the biggest publisher, understands this and routinely beats DC in sales.
So starting in June, DC will abandon their New 52 way of thinking and will start offering new comics with new styles for new audiences. It’s a great plan! But before it’s gone, I wanted to take a look back at 6 things I liked and 6 things I loathed in the New 52. Hopefully DC can learn from this.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/24/15
Time to ease off the massive reviews, finally! We’ve just got a few comics this week – or at least the few comics I was in the mood to buy and read – and they’re all Batman and Spider-Man comics! How cool is that? Those two are arguably my two favorite mainstream superheroes, so this is kind of a big deal.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Amazing Spider-Man #13 for another entertaining chapter of Spider-Verse, though it’s not necessarily a spectacular standout. This is still just a Big Event I enjoy reading.
I’ve missed you, Superior Spider-Man!
We’ve also got the Spider-Verse tie-in that is Scarlet Spiders, as well as new issues of Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin. In fact, I didn’t hate this week’s Batman Eternal for once! I would say this is a solidly cool week.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #13, Batman and Robin #38, Batman Eternal #42 and Scarlet Spiders #3.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/17/15
Something is definitely wrong with me these days, henchies. I am definitely not living up to the ‘hench-sized’ decree in the title of this column! From last week to this one, it seems like I have a whole heck of a lot to talk about with comic books! I try to keep these reviews short and easily digestible, but sometimes when I get going, I really get going!
It helps that this week sees the debut of Star Wars #1. There’s definitely a lot to talk about with that comic! I was a little hesitant about diving in, but Marvel does not let me down. This is quality comics! Star Wars #1 captures Comic Book of the Week because it could be a pretty historic book.
If it was up to me, though, Captain Marvel would win because the newest issue is just that damn good! Captain Marvel #11 gets the first perfect score of the new year! Check the review to find out why! We’ve also got new issues of Batgirl and SHIELD, both of which deserve a lot of attention. And Batman Eternal finally brings us an issue focused on Red Robin and Harper Row, the only thing I still like about that comic.
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my take on Amazing X-Men #15. Why does a comic like that still get published in the very crowded X-franchise? Find out in my review!
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #38, Batman Eternal #41, Captain Marvel #11, SHIELD #2, Silver Surfer #8 and Star Wars #1.
Henchman-4-Hire 