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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 12/31/16
Here we are at last, on the final day of 2016. This accursed year has done much to destroy the human spirit and crush all our hopes and dreams. But I say that dreams never die! I plan on making 2017 the best year ever! And we can start with a nice, big pile of comic book reviews to end out the year.
We’ve got so many comic reviews, too! I had some extra time on my hands this week, so I read and have reviewed a ton of books! We’ve got great comics, like Infamous Iron Man and the new Hulk! We’ve got middling books, like Ghost Rider and Prowler! And we’ve got not quite good books, like Teen Titans!
But Comic Book of the Week goes to a stellar Spider-Woman, as writer Dennis Hopeless shows everyone the pure awesomeness of carefully constructed and executed character drama!
This day, we punch!
The final issue of Civil War II also came out this week, and just as we all feared, it was a bunch of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Captain Marvel and Iron Man duke it out and nothing really comes of it. Tony is taken off the table, Ulysses literally just disappears, solving that crisis, and pretty much every comic has already moved on to their new ongoing storylines anyway. So yeah, this thing was a big stinker.
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #6, Detective Comics #947, Ghost Rider #2, Great Lakes Avengers #3, Hulk #1, Infamous Iron Man #3, Mighty Thor #14, Prowler #3, Spider-Woman #14 and Teen Titans #3.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/26/16
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews might never be the same after this week. I didn’t see it coming, but I’ve been buzzing on this since new comics dropped on Wednesday. Sure we got some solid comics this week, like Detective Comics and Teen Titans, but this is the week where everything changes.
Harley Quinn #8 wins Comic Book of the Week for probably the single best issue of the entire run so far. And not just because it’s so damn fun. This is next level stuff. This is so good, I’m going to do something I’ve never done in my several years worth of comic reviews.
Maybe I’ll be setting a precedent that I can in no way sustain, but I don’t care. This is Comic Book of the Year material.
Rated M for Mature
But no, not just because of the tasteful nudity. Read below for my essay of a review!
Also, the latest issue of Civil War II was released this week, and the Big Event continues to underwhelm. Not to mention the fact that most other Marvel comics have simply moved on already. And it doesn’t even come close to the magic that is Harley Quinn.
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #5, Detective Comics #945, Harley Quinn #8, Prowler #2 and Teen Titans #2.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/29/16
Happy Halloween, everyone! Or close enough! Sadly, there weren’t any spooky comics on my pile this week. It’s like everybody forgot about the holiday! Though I suppose the fact that the greatest comic book Halloween story has already been written might deter others from trying. Oh well.
Still, at least we had some good comics this week from some of my favorites. Power Rangers, Ms. Marvel and Detective Comics were all a blast. This week also saw the debuts of the new Prowler series from Marvel and the new Teen Titans from DC. You’d think I’d be super psyched about both of those things, but you would be wrong. Comic Book of the Week instead goes to the new Silver Surfer for a particularly fun and enjoyable done-in-one story.
The Silver Surfer knows the best dates
The latest issue of Civil War II also came out this week, but ugh, that thing is a definite stinker now. And I’m starting to fear the sort of impact it’s going to have on other, more fun comics. Will Miles Morales come out of Civil War II as anything other than damaged? Will Captain Marvel ever be a hero again? Civil War II is barely a story, but it doesn’t seem like Marvel is ever going to learn any lessons about putting out crappy, long-delayed, status quo-altering event comics.
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #4, Detective Comics #943, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #8, Ms. Marvel #12, Prowler #1, Silver Surfer #7 and Teen Titans #1.
Comic Review: Teen Titans #24
And so we arrive at the end of the Teen Titans in the New 52. It has been an incredible journey, from the heights of potential, to horrendous mediocrity, to these past few limped along months. For reasons that are unknown to me, DC Comics decided to stick with the core team and concept for the New 52 Titans for the entire five year span of the imprint, despite shaking things up pretty much everywhere else at the company. Heck, this comic has even survived past the New 52 itself, with Rebirth all anyone is talking about. Yet we come not to bury Teen Titans, but to honor it.
Because Teen Titans goes out with an issue I always wanted from this series, but never got. In fact, Teen Titans #24 proves there was a good comic hiding in these pages all along.
Comic Review: 7/10 – Good.
But even as we try to say goodbye to Teen Titans, I still get to hang my head and sigh one last time. Because this isn’t really the finale of Teen Titans, it’s an epilogue/tie-in to this week’s Detective Comics #940. So despite everything this comic has done for itself after all these years, despite keeping the core team and concept together all this time, Teen Titans doesn’t actually get to end on its own merits. The finale is just a follow up to another, much better comic. How embarrassing.
I will be spoiling the big news in Detective Comics #940, so don’t read ahead if you don’t want to be spoiled — though I’m not sure why someone would read my review of Teen Titans before reading that phenomenal Detective Comics issue.
Suffice to say, Teen Titans #24 is a series of vignettes as the remaining Titans recall some of their favorite moments with one of their favorite team members. The scenes have real character to them, the sort of character that was almost entirely missing from Teen Titans as a series. If we had anything in the comic even approaching the scenes mentioned in this final issue, Teen Titans could have been pretty good.
Instead, we bid everybody goodbye and will likely speak no more about this version of the Teen Titans. Let’s hope the next people do a better job.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and review!
Comic Review: Teen Titans #23
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Tony Bedard was given this writing assignment. I have to imagine that DC editorial told him he had relatively free reign to just write generic, harmless Teen Titans stories using whatever villains he felt like. Mallah and the Brain? Check. Amanda Waller? Check. H.I.V.E. and Queen Bee? Here we go!
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
It boggles the mind what DC is doing with Teen Titans right now. For reasons that I will probably never know, DC has decided to hold off the Teen Titans Rebirth launch for awhile, months after every other comic had their Rebirth. And for some reason, DC also decided to just drag out the massively unpopular New 52 Teen Titans rather than bring it to a merciful end. So we get issues like Teen Titans #23, where Tony Bedard writes a perfectly fine but utterly pointless Teen Titans comic.
Teen Titans #23 is about as banal as comic books can get. It’s harmless fluff written and drawn by a professional, highly skilled creative team. But they don’t spin straw into gold, they just keep it straw.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review.
Henchman-4-Hire 