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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/10/14
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am throwing in the towel of doing full, giant-sized reviews of All-New X-Factor. I got hit with a lot of work at the end of this week, including those reviews of Teen Titans and Ultimate Spider-Man, and I took a long hard look at All-New X-Factor and decided that I just didn’t care enough anymore. I started the long-form reviews for X-Factor because it was my favorite comic starring my favorite character, but it has since become a shadow of its former self.
So from now on, let’s welcome All-New X-Factor to our Hench-Sized Reviews! I hope it finds the place a nice fit.
Beyond that new issue, this week brought an avalanche of good comics, some of which I had to simply skip right over due to time constraints. I really want to get back to reviewing Black Widow, and She-Hulk was really good again, but this week I had to focus on the first chapters of Original Sin and Futures End, the new Big Event comics from Marvel and DC.
Neither one is all that great, quite frankly.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Magneto #3, though I have a feeling that some of the comics still on my pile waiting to be read might be a little better. Still, out of the stack I managed to get done in time for reviews, Magneto was pretty cool.
Plus he’s got that starring role coming up in X-Men: Days of Future Past. So I want to be on his good side.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Factor #7, Aquaman and the Others #2, Batman Eternal #5, Futures End #1, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #2, Magneto #3 and Original Sin #1.
Review: Teen Titans Annual #3
Holy crap, you guys, I actually liked Teen Titans Annual #3! I fully expected an explosion of horror and bad writing. But damn if Scott Lobdell doesn’t pull one out in the end. I would like to think, that over all these long years of me writing Teen Titans reviews, that you readers have come to trust my judgement. Or maybe you’re finding my blog for the first time and don’t know what to believe. Perhaps you, like the rest of us, just wanted to see how the final issue of Lobdell’s Teen Titans would turn out. I’m happy to say–no, ‘happy’ isn’t the right word. I’m…comfortable saying that Teen Titans Annual #3 isn’t the train wreck I thought it was going to be.
Teen Titans Annual #3
In his final issue on the series he introduced to the New 52, Lobdell manages to go out on a high note, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
Two things make this final issue pretty good: focus and teenagers. This Annual features the return of Harvest, the villain that technically brought the Teen Titans together at the start of the series. He was a bad character then and he’s a bad character now. But it’s clear from this issue that Lobdell had intended to stretch this story out across several issues. I would bet dollars to donuts that he had always expected to get around to this story, and he never intended it to be only one issue long. But time makes fools of us all, and here is is cramming everything into a single, oversized issue. On the one hand, it sucks, because there are a lot of themes and moments here that would have benefited from a little room to breath, like his attempts to flesh out Harvest’s character and motivation. Predictably, they’re terrible. But maybe Lobdell could have done something more with them. Of course, that’s a big maybe.
On the other hand, forcing Lobdell to rush through this story keeps the focus of the issue tight. I can’t say that the story is all that good, but at least it doesn’t meander and he doesn’t have time for all of his worst traits, like he did in the recent space story. The whole adventure is over and done with in a single issue, and, again, it wasn’t half bad.
As for the teenagers, Lobdell actually takes the time to treat his characters like real people. The first half of the issue, or at least the first few pages, are the Titans out of costume talking to one another about the future of the team and their duty to try and stop Harvest. This was the #1 thing lacking from Lobdell’s Teen Titans: real, human interaction. Had this series regularly contained even an iota of what we see in this issue, maybe it would have been good. Of course, this is still Lobdell’s Teen Titans, and we quickly leave that human stuff behind, but while it’s there, it’s enjoyable. I can say that with conviction.
We also get our first look at what Kenneth Rocafort will be like on art duties. There are times it looks good and times it looks bad, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what he really brings to the table.
Teen Titans Annual #3 finally brings to an end Scott Lobdell’s horrendous comic. It was all mostly bad, but in his final issue, he wraps the comic up nicely, fixes a few mistakes and hopefully hands the thing off to some much better creators. Join me after the jump to finally put a cork in this sucker.
The Teen Titans Return in July!
We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but I didn’t realize how closely it would follow the current, horrid Teen Titans series. Either way, the Teen Titans are coming back from cancellation with a new #1 issue by writer Will Pfeifer and artist Kenneth Rocafort! The roster isn’t going to change, keeping Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy and Bunker!
The new Teen Titans are just the old Teen Titans
Newsarama made the reveal today, posting the cover and an interview with Pfeifer. Most recently, he’s been writing a few issues of Red Hood and the Outlaws. Beyond that, he hasn’t been in comics for a few years now. That’s not a good sign, as far as I’m concerned. But maybe he has some good ideas in store.
From the interview, it looks like Pfeifer is kind of going to keep things the way they are. The Titans are going to be heroes and fight bad guys. Though Pfiefer does claim that he’ll be focusing on them more as teenagers. That’s a good sign as far as I’m concerned, and it was the No. 1 thing missing from Scott Lobdell’s series. The key to a really good Teen Titans comic, in my opinion, is a focus on the characters as teenagers first, superheroes second. Just because they wear colorful costumes doesn’t mean they have to be in those costumes all the time.
Pfeifer had this to say about the series:
The fact that these characters are actual teens (and we’re going to be writing them like actual teens, too) opens up a whole world of possibilities. I mentioned before how they’re going to screw things up from time to time, and though that has some serious implications, it’s also a way to put some genuine comedy into the book. Plus, the Titans haven’t been heroes for too long, which means they’re not burned out or jaded by the (insane) pressures of the superheroic life. They’re actually having fun themselves – well, sometimes – and I want that to come across in the comic.
I find it very interesting that Teen Titans is starting over with a new #1 issue. This is a tactic that Marvel does a lot, but DC hasn’t done it since the start of the New 52. This is a new gimmick for DC. And I really, really, really think it has to do with washing off the stink of Lobdell’s run. That comic was just horrendous. Clearly, though, Pfeifer is going to keep the same cast and tell the same stories. So what other reason could DC have for starting with a new #1 than trying to lure back readers that Lobdell scared off?
Of course, Pfeifer doesn’t put it like that.
Putting the #1 on the cover of our first issue accomplished a couple of things: First of all, it draws attention to the book. There are so many comic books competing for the readers’ attention now – not just with other books but with video games, TV and that little thing called “the internet” – that anything we can do to lure some eyes to our cover is something I’m all far. But even more importantly, that #1 lets the reader know that this isn’t just a continuation of the other series. Yes, the Titans are the same heroes, and no, we’re not going to kick things off with a year of origin stories, but we are heading in a new direction and exploring some new themes.
If you’ve been reading the book, by all means, keep reading it. (Please – I have a daughter who’s going to need braces soon!) But if you haven’t been reading Teen Titans, give this version a shot. I don’t think there’s another book on the shelves quite like it.
I am always willing to give a series like this one a shot. So consider me on board, and definitely keep reading the in depth reviews that will continue with the new creative team.
Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get an enjoyable Teen Titans comic in the New 52.
Also, why is Beast Boy suddenly green again? Another sign that DC are trying to correct their mistakes?
Review: Teen Titans #29
I am as surprised as anybody to declare that Teen Titans #29 ain’t half bad. Actually, maybe that’s going a little too easy on it. Let’s just say that Teen Titans #29 is not the train wreck that most issues have been. It helps that nobody does anything else stupid in this issue. Possibly because the story is about everyone reacting to all the stupid things they did in the last issue – and boy, those were some stupid things. Instead, Teen Titans does what I’ve always wanted it to do: slow down and treat these characters like real people who have real conversations and real lives. That these conversations and lives occur a thousand years in the future in the middle of some weirdly pro-Evil Empire war is just the price one must pay for still reading Teen Titans.
Teen Titans #29
I have little doubt that the latest issue of this unfortunate series is just the calm before the inevitable crapfest that will be the return of Harvest. I do not expect the final two issues to be anything other than painful, but at least writer Scott Lobdell gave us a brief moment of ‘not-so-terrible’-ness.
Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.
The primary reason that Teen Titans #29 isn’t as bad as the other most recent issues is that all of Lobdell’s worst writing traits are gone. There are no insufferable blocks of stilted exposition. The only editor’s note referring to another comic is referring to only the previous issue. There are no random, one page ‘teases’ for some future villain. And if you were in any way upset with his characterizations and bastardizations of beloved heroes, then there’s some bittersweet good news: he wipes them off the table in this issue. Evil Superboy, for example, doesn’t even show up. I have no idea what’s happening in his solo series, but we here in Teen Titans get one throwaway line about his whereabouts and that’s it! We don’t have to deal with his horrible inner monologues about needing to find a cure! Good riddance, I say.
Of course, I still feel bad for any fans of Bart Allen. To think there were Wally West fans who were upset that he didn’t get to appear in the New 52 when it started. Man, you got nothing on Bart Allen fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if we never see him again. There’s no last minute save. No change of fortune. Lobdell kicks him to the curb along with Solstice. I would feel bad for any Solstice fans, but really, are there any? She’s gone too. And yes, she totally killed that judge at the end of last issue.
I wonder if Teen Titan‘s imminent cancellation led to Lobdell’s deck cleaning in this issue, or did he always plan on ditching Kid Flash, Solstice and Superboy as awkwardly and as brutally as possible?
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review.
Review: Teen Titans #28
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think writer Scott Lobdell did such a bad job creating pathos in Bar Torr’s rebellion against the Functionary. There is real emotion in his fight to free his people from a corrupt and evil government. So it’s a shame this comic is actually about a club of colorful, teenage heroes who wouldn’t know real emotion if it was beat into them with a crowbar. The Teen Titans are caught in the middle of a war that doesn’t belong to them, and they’re stuck flailing around in an embarrassingly desperate attempt to be useful.
Teen Titans #28
But in the end, the Empire wins. The Rebel Alliance loses. And Teen Titans has apparently decided to just cut its loses when it comes to the new and unique characters created for the soon-to-be-cancelled series.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
If I could keep this honest streak going, I was mildly entertained reading this issue, because it’s largely just a bunch of action scenes. The art is actually pretty good, and the pacing is pretty OK, at least when characters aren’t having lengthy thought bubble monologues, and Lobdell engages in his favorite pastime: painfully blunt exposition. The new Evil Superboy has appeared in how many issues now? And in each one, he apparently has to mentally remind himself of his own motivations and personal storyline. It’s maddening!
But at least Evil Superboy gets to actually impact this issue, or stand out as a character. Red Robin, Wonder Girl and Raven are absolutely lost in this story. But they don’t just fade into the background, oh no. Instead, they insist on trying to stick their big noses into this war that has nothing to do with them, and likewise insist that everyone involved should adhere to their limited understanding of 21st century standards. It’s like the Titans are incapable of understanding the context of where they find themselves. It’s a war for independence from a murderous government, but the Titans seem to think they can just get everybody to play nice and negotiate – and this is coming from teenagers who have dedicated their lives to vigilante violence.
But at least those three don’t get character assassinated. If you thought Lobdell was burning Kid Flash’s character to the ground, just wait and see what he has in store for Solstice. I hope you hadn’t grown too attached to her.
Join me after the jump to find out why killing in a war for freedom is wrong, but murder in the name of love is righteous!
Henchman-4-Hire 