Comic Book Review: R.E.B.E.L.S. #6

R.E.B.E.L.S. has been a favorite in the Bunker. Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin have become one of the better teams at DC. Hopefully, the powers in charge will keep them together.

Creative Team
Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Claude St. Aubin
Inks: Scott Hanna

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The first few pages display Starro's attack on the Dominators. He manages to take control of their home planet.

On his ship, Vril has been captured by Amon Hakk (a former employee). Hakk is a Khund. When Dox's L.E.G.I.O.N. imposed peace on the Khund homeworld, Hakk was declared a traitor.

A message is displayed from the Dominators world. It tells how Starro has taken over. Dox explains that both Maltus and the Dominion have fallen. Dox says that he is the only one clever enough to stop Starro. Hakk releases him.

Suddenly, Hakk's oxygen tank transforms into Ciji (a Durlan who appears as a young girl). She was not going to let Hakk shoot Dox. She joins with Dox to help stop Starro.

We cut to various worlds across the universe and see the various aggressive races who view the fallen Dominion as an opportunity for them.

In space, Wildstar has retrieved Silica (a sentient computer). Once on board Dox's ship, Wildstar takes her to Dox. Dox tries to reboot Silica but her command functions have been wiped. Dox says that even in this condition, Silica can send the command override signal to his Peacekeeper robots. All they need is a broadcaster. Ciji knows of a Gordanian broadcaster in the area.

At the Gordanian relay station, Dox's forces quickly take over the broadcaster.

On Maltus, Starro's troops are preparing for battle. Storm-Daughter tells Starro that Dox escaped her. Suddenly, Dox's image is broadcast into Starro's stronghold. Dox activates the failsafe he built into the Peacekeepers.

The Peacekeepers surround Starro's bases and activate a force field around each of them. Starro cannot get his forces off the planets. Dox tells Silica that she did fine. He tells her to self destruct. Dox tells the others that their chances of success have gone from 0 to 7%. Dox says that he will need to get more help if he wants to improve the odds.  End of issue.

The Good: Bedard continues to build up his Starro storyline. Dox shows that he always has a plan in place. It is fitting that he used his "father's" force fields to imprison another conqueror. I can't wait to see what plan Dox reveals next.

The art team of St. Aubin and Hanna did a fantastic job with this issue. Their space scenes are breathtaking, the massive battle scenes are packed, but not cluttered.  They also did a great job with all the different alien races. Since this is the Legion book for now, I am glad to see such quality with the art.

The Bad: The only real complaint I have is that this team is not on the regular Legion.

Overall: Another fine issue. I hope DC keeps publishing this surprise book. I was not too excited when I first heard of this title, but R.E.B.E.L.S. has won me over. Highly recommended.
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Jim

Comic Book Review: Red Robin #2

The first issue of this new series starring Tim Drake/Wayne was not a strong start to the new status quo for the former Boy Wonder. The way the story was presented in the first issue the mission statement of this book is Tim's journey to find Bruce. This mission seems to be a bit one dimensional. Still, Chris Yost did show he has a good understanding of Tim's character in the first issue. On to the review for Red Robin #2.

Creative Team
Writer: Chris Yost
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Inker: Art Thibert
Colorist: Guy Major

Story: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Art: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts 24 hours into the future were Tim is on a plane headed towards Berlin. Tim is staring at a Bluetooth contemplating what he should do. One of the stewardesses on the plane asks if Tim needs anything. Tim tells her he does not need anything. Tim thinks about how he needs to keep up his search for Bruce while ignoring the assassins out to get him.

We go back to the present were the three League of Assassins members working for Ra's Al Ghul are watching Tim from the roof of a building across from Tim's hotel room. The assassin with the sniper gun then fires a bullet into Tim's hotel room that causes it to explode. As they start talking about how easy it was to kill him, Tim appears as Red Robin and attacks them.

Back in the past at an unknown time at Wayne Manner, Alfred is heading towards Tim's room with a trey of food. Alfred says that he does not approve of the confrontation Tim had with Damien. As Alfred opens the door to Tim's room he finds it empty.

Over at Wayne Enterprise, Lucius Fox tells his assistant to cancel the Board Meeting and to find Tim Wayne.

Over at Tim's old high school, Zoe and Ives are sitting through class sending Tim text messages asking him where he is.

Later that night, Jason Bard and Officer Harper are trying to also reach Tim and they are having no success. Bard and Harper then talk to over the phone about Tim's disappearance.

We then see Tim riding his motorcycle into an abandon warehouse building where he has built a new headquarters for himself. His computer tells Tim that he has some messages from Ives, (Jason) Bard, (Officer) Harper, Oracle, and Alfred. Tim tells the computer to delete the messages without even listing to them or reading. them. Tim then opens a case that contains his Red Robin costume.

Going back to the present, Tim as Red Robin continues to his fight with the three League of Assassins members that tried to kill him. Throughout the fight, Tim is analyzing the assassins' moves and trying to figure out who they are.

The one with the sniper tells his partner that is fighting Red Robin, who he calls Z, to move out of the way so he can get a shot. Red Robin throws one of his discs to disrupt the shot.

The bald girl assassin takes out two guns and starts firing like crazy trying to get Red Robin. She almost hits one of her partners, who calls her Pru. Red Robin takes cover and Pru notices his cape and tries to seek up on him. As soon as she is about to shoot Red Robin, she notices it is only his cape. Pru is then attacked from behind by Red Robin. Red Robin breaks Pru's nose in the process. Red Robin prepares to fight Z, who is talking to Ra's. Z is told by Ra's that Z and his partners need to "disappear."

The scene transitions to Cape Town, South Africa where Tim continues his inner monologue. Tim informs us that the target was the Director of Public Prosecutions in Cape Town. We are told that this director runs a modern day slavery. The director got a note saying he was going to die on this date. Therefore, the director has two bodyguards with him. As the director waits in his room for the assassin, the director is shot through the head by a bullet that came through the steel plated door to the room.

The assassin is behind the door and is attacked by some mysterious clawed figure from the shadows. The mysterious figure kills the assassin using some weird red energy web. Tim then says that the assassin was the fifth member of the League of Assassins to be killed in the past few days.

The scene goes back to Paris were the assassins are preparing their escape. Red Robin tries to get to them before they can escape. However, the sniper, named Owens, uses a flash bomb and the three assassins make their escape.

After the smoke clears, Red Robin is left on the roof alone. Red Robin notices that the assassins left their communicator behind. Red Robin picks up the communicator. A voice starts talking calling him "Timothy." The voice tells Tim that he had him in higher regard than what he showed. Tim picks up the communicator and says "Ra's Al Ghul."

Going back to the past, Tim, in his Red Robin costume sans mask, gets a call from Cassandra (Wonder Girl) but he tells his phone to "disconnect." He then put on the mask when someone comes out of the shadows. Tim kicks the person in the stomach knocking them down.

We see that the person is Stephanie in her Spoiler costume. Tim asks her how she found his new hideout. Tim does not help Spoiler get up. She tells Tim that he forgot about how much she knows him and she figured that he would build himself a "Command Center". (Power Rangers reference. Nice!)

Tim then says he doesn't even want to know how she found him. Steph tells Tim that he should talk to someone. Tim refuses and tells her that her finding his hideout is another reason he can't trust her especially with her wearing that costume. (Another clue Steph will be the new Batgirl?)

Steph tries to stop Tim from leaving. Steph says that everyone is worried about Tim. Tim asks her if Dick sent her. Tim says that if Steph really cared about him then she would have come to him and not Dick. Tim continues on to say that all he wanted was to help her but now he can't even talk to her. Tim goes to leave and tells Spoiler not to follow him.

We cut to Tim sitting in a room somewhere in Berlin. Tim thinks about how he can trust Ra's to help him. Tim then reasons to himself that Ra's is the only one that believes Bruce is alive, just like him.

We then flashback one more time to Paris where Tim tells Ra's "Okay Ra's….start talking." End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Red Robin #2 was a passable read. Chris Yost tells a disjointed story with how much he jumps from the future to the present to the past and back to the present. Still, there were a few things to like about this issue.

One of the things that Yost has shown over these first two issues is that he understands what kind of fighter Tim is. Tim has never been considered one of the best fighters in the DCU, in terms of raw fighting skills. But were Tim is able to beat most people, outside of Bruce, Dick, and Dinah, is his analytic mind. Tim is always analyzing his opponents and trying to outsmart them. Yost is able to capture this aspect of Tim perfectly with how he tried to figure out the assassins' names he was fighting along with thinking why they are after him.

It was also good to see that these League of Assassins members were actually competent fighters as they hold their own against Tim. Over the past decade, the League of Assassins members, other than Ra's, have been shown to be nothing more like the Putties from the Power Rangers as they have been easily beaten by everyone in the Batfamily. Hopefully, we see that the League of Assassins are portrayed as more of a threat then they have been in the past.

Also, I am interested to see what Ra's has in store for Tim, and how it ties into him losing members of his League of Assassins. From the looks of it I'm guessing that, as always, Ra's is looking for a new heir. Since Dick basically rejected Ra's offer back in Nightwing #151 Ra's may have moved on to Tim. If not that then Ra's may need a new body. In any case, it will be interesting to see what Ra's motivation is to help out Tim.

Ramon Bach provided some solid artwork. His artwork was at its best when had some action to draw. Still, Bach's art did feel a bit inconsistent and rushed at times especially in some of the talking heads part of the issue.

The Bad: What really hurt this issue was the bad pacing of this issue. The continuous shifting between the past, present, and future made the issue hard to follow. It made it look like Yost had an extreme case of ADHD when he wrote this issue as he never gave adequate time to a scene before switching to a completely different scene. If Yost decides to do this with future issues of Red Robin then he will need to tone it down in order for the reader to really get into the storyline of the series.

Also, with the involvement of Ra's, while interesting, it makes Tim's journey to find Bruce a bit predictable with how it is going to go down. If anything, this journey only makes Tim look like he really does need psychiatric help. Even though we know that Bruce is alive in the past or in another dimension; we are never really given a reason for Tim's mission other than Tim suddenly getting a feeling that Bruce is alive. Tim's constantly saying that he hopes he is right and not just crazy makes the logic of the reasoning behind his journey very weak.

Also, the story of Tim falling into a depression like state after losing someone close to him feels like a rehash of a similar storyline that Tim went through after Connor's death, as well as Bart's to some extent, over on Teen Titans the past few years. Even though Tim is dealing with it in a different way the story still feels as though it is hitting a similar beat.

And it doesn't help that both of Tim's best friends are now back. Even though as a reader I can understand that it is hard for Tim to lose both his real and adopted fathers, but the fact that his two best friends just came back to life should offset Tim's feelings of loss to an extant. Tim even makes a reference to Flash: Rebirth which means that he knows that Bart is back at the least if not Connor as well. So with both of his best friends back it does not feel like Tim would try and distance himself from his friends as he is being portrayed as doing.

Also, the reason for Tim adopting the Red Robin identity that it allows him to do things that he would not be able to do as Batman or Robin is weak logic. I would have preferred it if Yost used the logic that Nicieza used in the last issue of Robin, where Bruce was already dead at the time. Nicieza had Tim view Red Robin as an evolution of his former identity of Robin.

While this logic sounds similar to the reason that Dick adopted the identity of Nightwing this logic would have been much more believable than Tim viewing Red Robin as a way to cross the line. If anything, it makes Tim look like a copy of Jason Todd, which is something that we did not need.

The scene with Stephanie only helps to reinforce the fact that Tim is starting to become more like Jason. Having Tim act like a complete jerk to everyone around him only feels like a regression in his character; just like it has been for Jason after "Under the Hood." Even though Tim is having a hard time with the death of Bruce, as I said before, he does actually have people like Dick, Alfred, and Barbara that he can turn to for help in getting over Bruce's death. And with how Tim was portrayed after Bruce's death before this series it feels like this new direction for Tim is something that was picked out of a hat and not from what has been previously been written.

Overall: Red Robin #2 was an average read at best. This issue felt too disjointed with all the jumping back and forth between time and it made it hard to read. Still, with Ra's involvement in this series and the mystery of who or what is killing the League of Assassins members the story does show signs that it may improve after a rough start. Yost just needs to find a better focus with his story telling abilities in Red Robin.
________________________________________________________________________________
Kevin

The Week Begins - July 13th 2009

After a week of zero comics we’ve got some good stuff coming in this week even if it’s still a thin list.

Blackest Night #1 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Geoff Johns
Art: Ivan Reis



Taking a bit of a risk here with just buying Blackest Night and none of the tie-ins. Maybe later on I’ll start buying Green Lantern as I’m certain that at least that book is imperative alongside Blackest Night as Green Lantern Corps is no doubt as well. Though it’s all a thing of price range sadly.

But come on, how could this not be the Most Anticipated of the week? It’s the event that’s been so many years in the making. Unlike Secret Invasion which was basically an 8 issue exercise in pointlessness Blackest Night looks like it will be the most worth your money event ever.

Though at the same time I come into this event with some light worry. My biggest is over if Johns can really pull off an 8 issue event without it getting really thin in the middle issues. It’s a very easy problem that just about every writer is capable of falling in to so I’m worried there.

Also there’s the simple fact that I’ve never even read Green Lantern before. My father had a few comics, as well as the Green Arrow/Green Lantern comics which where awesome but this is my first time ever buying a Green Lantern comic myself. Up to know I’ve just kept up to date with online spoilers. Though hopefully all the hype will be worth it.

Overall though I can’t contain my excitement to check this comic out. Even with my worries my excitement is still high and I am coming into this book with high hopes.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2

Written: Paul Dini
Art: Dustin Nguyen



If Blackest Night where not coming out this week this easily would have stolen my pick for Most Anticipated. While the debut issue of this series had some pacing problems and felt a little disjointed I can’t deny that I did love it as a Paul Dini fan. The man simply ‘gets’ Gotham City very well.

I do have high hopes that with this issue Dini can move beyond the disjointed sub-plots and focus heavily on the main story of Batman and Robin taking on Firefly as it really is an interesting plot for me. Dini fleshed out Firefly nicely last time and I hop he can use the villain well in this issue.

I honestly think this series has the potential to be the best of all the Batman Reborn books. Sure Batman and Robin is cool action and fun but Streets of Gotham is at the heart of what the Batman comics have been all a bout. The dark and gritty world of Gotham city. For that I love it and can’t wait to read more.

Mighty Avengers #27

Written: Dan Slott
Art: Koi Pham



I don’t know if I’m happy or sad that Pham is back on the book. Segovia’s art was absolutely great for me and he fit the book so well that I really hope he returns sometime soon. Pham can be a really great artist when he puts in that extra bit of hard work but often his art can look really sloppy and just plain bad. His work during Secret Invasion being the best example.

This story does sound great and interesting, apparently the Unspoken is the ruler of the Inhumans prior to Blackbolt which is a nice twist. Looking at that cover it’s obvious he’s coming back and will be the new villain for our Avengers which should be interesting.

The last story arc finally got me hooked on this comic and I’m really excited to see where Slott goes from there and it seems he’s finally doing some great character work all around which is great. Another comic I have high hopes for.

Superman/Batman #62

Written: Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Art: Rafael Albuquerque



I know I’ve been rough on the Superman/Batman series in the past. I’ve never been fond of it and I find it to be one of the most pointless books that DC puts out each month. The idea is all right, and maybe even to an extent the execution is worth it but why this needs to be an ongoing series is beyond me. I would much rather this just have been a mini-series or something like that.

But despite all my complaints and frustration towards this series, this one issue looks amazingly great. The concept alone is great, have Supergirl and Robin on their own little adventure in Arkham but then you add the great art and just cool looking character work and this comic looks like a must have. If I could I’d love to pick up this issue as it looks great.

Timestorm 2009/2099 #3

Written: Brian Reed
Art: Eric Battle



All right, first things first, what the hell happened to that awesome original cover they had? They ditched it for a simple mediocre cover by Tom Raney? Color me confused. It’s like getting a big expensive sports car, then the next day there’s a broken down old van in your garage. Makes no sense at all.
After a disappointing first issue I ditched the series as I wasn’t looking to waste 4 dollars a month on it. If it is any good I’ll pick up the collection, if not, well then at least I didn’t waste 4 dollars a month on it.

I must admit I’m rather sad to see 2099 turned into such mediocre drivel. Sure it was never amazing material but for what it was I loved it. Reed doesn’t seem to really care at all about this comic and has no passion for the story and it’s characters which makes for a weak read for the reader.

Still I have hopes that this isn’t the book that kills one of the best comics from my childhood and that in the future a writer who actually cares about 2099 will handle it.

TTFN

Well, Groovy Superfriends, I’ve had a lot of fun sharing myself with you these past couple of years. And I hope to do so again one day. Sadly, I have had my content stolen by dozens of WordPress blogs using a popular WP build-a-splog plugin, to the point that I may as well be a syndicated columnist. Except for the fact that this same plugin redirects all of my links to affiliate sites - affiliates who, for the most part, are aware of and grateful for this phenomenon, because their 3rd rate belt-buckle and beer stein e-tailers would have died out long ago if not for the illegal internet.

Thanks also go to GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain registrar - and every other domain registrar, and web host, on the planet, all of whom happily ignore international copyright law. And DMCA apparently stands for “Don’t Mean Crap At’all”.

I hope to be back one day when working for myself doesn’t mean working for gangsters and criminals and thugs and the excrement of the earth - and if you have any suggestions feel free to e-mail me at matt@groovysuperhero.com - but let me leave you with one word of advice, lest your own bloggerty be stolen one day: don’t go to the “experts”!

They all share the same manifesto: Blogger blogs steal, WordPress blogs are all wonderful sources of delicious love.

Personally, I’m not a partisan. I find things to love about every single blog platform. But I will say this: Blogger is owned by Google. Google don’t take no shit to their reputation. If anything, they are way too trigger-happy, like HUAC hearing a gust of wind that sounded vaguely like the word “communist”. If they suspect you borrowed a semicolon for one of your pieces, they will shut your ass down, and take the time to investigate 7 months later - 99% of the time, restoring your blog with an apology.

WordPress, on the other hand - well, they have that handy little content theft plugin that is used by thousands upon thousands of WP blogs around the world - they’re self-hosted, open-source, unpoliced no mans land. So, when you ask an “expert” for advice about your Blogger blog getting poached by WordPress splogs - don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer, or even for your question to be printed.

The problem with 99% of experts is that they are sad, impotent little nobodies desperate to be taken seriously - the reason they're out there espousing there brilliance to anyone who will listen is because they are desperate to have their tombstones say something more than just

A. Nobody
1979 - 2012
Got a Mercy Lay From that Chubby Starbucks Barista One Time Back in '08

if you point out anything that suggests that they may be in error, it freaks them out, because usually they have no clue at all what they are talking about, which is why they just parrot one another. (See: Limbaugh, Rush).

I hope we meet again pardners, and I suspect we will - could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be when we all have jetpacks or when we’re all in hell from the Bird Flu.

Excelsior!

Comic Book Review: Green Lantern #43

We have finally arrived at the "official" prologue to Blackest Night with Green Lantern #43. The road to Blackest Night has been a long one. Johns has been building up to Blackest Night for more than a year. I am glad that we are finally here so we can get this big event underway. Hopefully, Green Lantern #43 presents us with a more exciting read that builds up the reader's interest in Blackest Night. Let's hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy
Colors: Randy Mayor

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue begins with the disclaimer that the events in this issue take place prior to Blackest Night #0. (Great. Just what Blackest Night needs. Even more back-story.) We see Scar reading the Book of Black. Scar thinks how no one is supposed to live forever.

We get a re-telling for the millionth time about how the Guardians have been around forever. That they first created the Manhunters to be the universe's police force. That the Manhunters had a "programming error" that led them to exterminate an entire space sector. That the Guardians decommissioned the Manhunters and then harnessed the power of the green light and created the Green Lantern Corps.

Scar talks about the Blackest Night prophecy from the Book of Oa. Scar runs through the different colors of the emotional spectrum. Green for willpower, Blue for hope, Indigo for compassion, Violet for love, Red for rage, Yellow for fear and Orange for avarice. Scar says that Green is at the center of the emotional spectrum. Scar says that she welcomes the darkness and will take part in the birth of the Black Lantern Corps.

We cut to Black Hand lying in a grave nestled up to four skeletons. Black Hand narrates the rest of this issue. He says that his name is William Hand and that he believes that there is life after death. That it is a cold and eternal blackness. His heart is filled with death and he is happy at this moment.

Hand says that the destination for everyone is death. Hand says that death is supposed to be forever. However, people have kept coming back from the dead. And that is because someone has allowed that to happen. Hand then says that he can hear death calling his name.

Hand then proceeds to conveniently and politely recount his origin for us. That even as a little boy he was fascinated by death. Hand's father was a mortician and Hand thought the corpses were "pretty." Hand thinks how no one in his family related to him. Hand was so obsessed with death that he demanded for his mother to serve his meat to him bloody rare. (Okay, I get it. The dude really likes death.)

We learn that Hand likes to kill animals like birds and squirrels and then stuff them. (Ah, taxidermy. Appropriately creepy. This character is a collection of every cliché possible.) We then see Hand stare at the family dog. (Oh gee, I wonder what is going to happen next?)

We then see how the family dog went missing and the family searched everywhere for it. We see little Billy Hand outside with his father proudly picking out his own gravesite already. Little Billy Hand was all too excited to be a mortician and take over his father's family business. The family eventually finds the family dog stuffed and posing on the mantle in Hand's room. (And there it is. Exactly what we expected.) The family then has little Billy Hand go see a series of therapists for his affliction of being a walking caricature.

William Hand grew up as the black sheep of the family. Then one day, Atrocitus came crashing into the funeral home. Atrocitus said that Hand's insides held the doorway to absolute darkness. Atrocitus has the divining cosmic rod in his hand. Suddenly, Hal and Sinestro show up on the scene and quickly take down Atrocitus. Hand sees that Atrocitus dropped the cosmic rod. Hand grabs it and slinks away from the scene without talking to Hal.

Hand then discovered that the rod could disintegrate things. Hand then lies down in an open grave and thinks about how the Green Lantern's light haunted him and kept him awake. Hand felt to compulsion to shut the green light off.

We cut to Hand back at the mortuary and watching the news report of Hal fighting Star Sapphire. Hand says that he knew that the divining rod would lead him to the Green Lantern. We see Hand making his own costume. Hand makes his costume out of a body bag. (Oh, of course he does.) Hand narrates how he finally wore clothes that he felt comfortable in.

We shift to Black Hand battling Hal Jordan. During their first brawl, Hal did not recognize the divining rod that Black Hand was wielding. Hand thinks how every time he fought Hal he would lose. Then more Green Lanterns came to Earth and Black Hand could sense their lights as well. Then one day the light went out. We see that is the day when Hal became Parallax.

But, then a spark of that green light came back when Hal Jordan became the Spectre. Black Hand then battled the Spectre and the result was the Spectre removing one of Black Hand's hands. Later, Hand was abducted by a group of aliens who rebuilt his hand and have it a death touch. Hand could now hear, touch and see death. We see that each time a character in the DCU was killed that Black Hand could see it.

This includes the deaths of Tula, Ted Kord, Al Pratt, Digger Harkness, Phantom Lady, Roy Lincoln, Ralph Dibny Sue Dibny, Jean Loring, Ronnie Raymond, Maxwell Lord, Psycho Pirate, Vic Sage, Dr. Light, Martian Manhunter, Ryan Kendall, Deadman, Terra, Sandman, Aquaman, Jonathon Kent, Jade and Bruce Wayne. (And there, ladies and gentlemen, is a quick look at the core membership of the Black Lantern Corps.) We see Black Hand in a graveyard saying "Yes. I'm listening. I'm heeeeerree."

Black Hand then says that he sees those who have escaped death as well. A voice colored in black (The mysterious Lord of the Black Lanterns.) lists Clark Kent, Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, Diana Prince, Kilowog, Conner Kent, Bart Allen and Barry Allen. Black Hand says "You want them back." The voice answers "I want them all."

We cut to Black Hand's family having dinner together. Black Hand arrives at the front door and rings the doorbell. One of the brothers answers the door. Black Hand kills the brother. Black Hand then enters the house and kills the other brother. Black Hand then kills his mother. Black Hand then kills his father.

The voice then tells Black Hand that he is not done yet. That there is one more death. Black Hand sits at the dinner table and then shoots himself in the head with the divining rod.

Scar then appears on the scene. Scar says "This pleases him." The voice then says "He is ready." Scar says "Yes." Scar barfs up some black goo. (Ahh, the puking of blood or black goo on this title never gets old.) The voice says "Flesh. William Hand of Earth. Rise."


A black power ring appears on Black Hand's hand. Black Hand then stands up and is now zombie-fied and powered by the Black Light. Scar says that Black Hand is the embodiment of their corps. That Black Hand is the Black incarnate. The Black Hand is their lord's herald.

Black Hand then says "And with this power I will finally extinguish the light." End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Green Lantern #43 was an average read. The road to Blackest Night has been the biggest built-up to a big event that I can remember. I feel like we have been getting an endless serious of "prologues" to this event for at least a year.

Having said that, Green Lantern #43 did actually feel like a legitimate prologue to Blackest Night. The Black Lantern Corps are going to be the main villains in Blackest Night and it was about time that Johns finally got them up and running.

Johns constructed some solid dialogue. The inner monologue, while heavy handed at some points, was generally well done. The inner monologue served as a nice spine for this story and a way to give the reader necessary information about Black Hand without interrupting the montage of Black Hand's origin.

The best aspect of Johns' effort in this issue was his handling of Black Hand's character. Johns does a fine job introducing Black Hand's character to readers who are unfamiliar with him. Black Hand is not a big name character. And since Johns is making Black Hand a big player in Blackest Night, it is incumbent upon him to make sure that readers unfamiliar with this villain understand who he is and how he relates to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern mythos.

Johns proceeds to make several tweaks to Black Hand's origin in order to better mesh Black Hand into Green Lantern's current continuity. Originally, Black Hand invented the divining rod. Now, Johns inserts Atrocitus into Black Hand's origin. Atrocitus is searching for the source of the Black. And once Atrocitus gets captured, Black Hand ends up stealing the divining rod that Atrocitus had with him. This was a nice retcon to Black Hand's origin that properly meshes Black Hand into Johns' current take on the Green Lantern mythos.

The other purpose of this issue was to give the reader some more information about the Black Lantern Corps. Not that the Black Lantern Corps is a particularly complex or difficult to understand concept, but we do not know anything about the structure of the Black Lantern Corps or its membership.

We now know that there is a mysterious voice that is the Lord of the Black Lantern Corps. Maybe the voice is a remnant of the Anti-Monitor whose corpse was used as the source for the Black Lantern power battery. We then have Scar who serves the Lord of the Black Lanterns. Then we have Black Hand who is the Black Lanterns' herald. Just like Parallax and Ion, Black Hand is the embodiment of the Black Lantern Corps.

Johns also gives the reader a nice and convenient laundry list of all the dead people in the DCU who should all be members of the Black Lantern Corps. It should be interesting to see our heroes having to battle so many of their fallen friends and teammates. While not particularly riveting reading, this list of characters was informative and gives the reader a preview of who they can expect to see in the Black Lantern Corps.

Johns also gives the reader a list of characters that have cheated death. I would imagine that these are the characters that will officially be the main targets of the Black Lantern Corps. Also, with Johns giving the Black Lantern Corps targets outside of the various colored Lanterns, we see how Johns is making Blackest Night a DCU event that will have an impact on Earth.

Johns ends Green Lantern #43 with a nice ending. Seeing Black Hand wielding a black power ring and ready to serve Death certainly got me excited for Blackest Night. Johns has made the reader wait a long time to finally see a Black Lantern. So, this moment was quite gratifying.

Hands down, the best part of Green Lantern #43 was the gorgeous artwork by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy. This was a fantastic looking issue with several dramatic splash pages. The artwork helped to bring some much needed intensity to a rather dry story. I also greatly appreciate the vast amounts of detail that Mahnke pours into his art.

The Bad: Green Lantern #43 was not a particularly dynamic and exciting prologue to Blackest Night. This issue was too one-dimensional and heavy handed for my taste. This issue could easily be summed up with just one word: Death. And that is a reoccurring problem with the different colored Corps. The very nature of their design and structure is that they are one-dimensional and exaggerated.

This was particularly noticeable with the story arc involving the Red Lanterns. It involved plenty of puking of blood and yelling "Rage" every other sentence. In Green Lantern #43, we get the theme of Death pounded into the ground. And we get more puking. This time it is black goo instead or red liquid. Thank goodness Johns kept the puking theme going.

Green Lantern #43 was a poorly paced. Of course, that comes as no surprise given that this is Geoff Johns that we are talking about. Johns loves decompression to the extreme. Green Lantern #43 was a slow and lumbering read. The first ten pages of this issue were slow, but they were necessary in bringing new readers up to speed on Black Hand's character and tweaking his origin to better fit Johns' Green Lantern mythos.

However, the second half of this issue got bogged down too much. We got four pages detailing the laundry list of names. Then we got four pages to show Black Hand killing his family and then himself. This story was just way too decompressed. Having said that, I am sure that Green Lantern #43 will read much better when combined with Blackest Night #0 and the rest of Blackest Night in a deluxe edition hard cover collection.

I found Johns' handling of Black Hand's character a bit too ham-handed at certain points. Black Hand became a bit cartoonish and more of a caricature than an actual fully developed character. Johns relied on a series of serial killer clichés in filling out Black Hand's newly tweaked origin. Sometimes less is more and it seems that Johns went a little overboard with Black Hand's personality and his origin. It was just a little too goofy.

It got to the point where I found Black Hand to be more comical than a dreaded evil villain. I was chuckling to myself at points of this issue where I do not think that Johns intended to me to do so. One point in particular was when we got to the moment when Black Hand made his costume out of a body bag and commented that he finally felt comfortable. It was just too much and I burst out laughing.

But, to be fair, Black Hand is the herald for the Black Lantern Corps. He is their Parallax. So, by Johns' very design Black Hand should be a one note character that embodies Death. It is more of a me problem as I find this type of character to be dreadfully boring. I could have tolerated Black Hand's character more if he had only played a supporting role in this issue. However, this entire issue centered on Black Hand and his character as the main character made for a shallow and one-dimensional read.

Overall: Green Lantern #43 was a serviceable read that did its primary job of establishing the Black Lantern Corps and setting forth their mission directive for Blackest Night. I suspect that readers who enjoyed the Red Lantern story arc and the Agent Orange story arc will also enjoy this issue. Green Lantern is important for readers unfamiliar with Black Hand and his role in the Green Lantern mythos. Also, this issue is a definite direct prologue into Blackest Night and it serves as a nice bridge from Green Lantern into Blackest Night #0. Despite my criticisms with this issue, I would still recommend getting Green Lantern #43 if you have decided to jump aboard Blackest Night.
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Rokk

Comic Report Card: Adventures of Spawn

Hey, it’s Comic Report Card. Where we look back at older comic storylines/mini-series and grade them. I grade each separate issue then I add their scores together for an overall grade. It’s not he usual way I review something, but since these stories are often at least a few months to a year or two old some of their grade depends on how the stories have aged over time and if they are still enjoyable.

That being said I am sticking to the Rokk’s Comic book Revolution style of (insert #) Night Girls out of 10 along with my grade as well as their use of Synopsis, Good and Bad then ending it with an Overall thoughts.

Today I’m grading 2 comics that tell one story. It’s…the Adventures of Spawn! A crazy fun re-imagination of the dark world of Spawn. Some may think it doesn’t work and it’s a stupid idea, but I’ve compared it to what the Ultimate Universe did for Spider-man.

Adventures of Spawn actually started as a web comic, for free online, available HERE but 2 one-shots from the 2 issues online have been printed and I’m reviewing them, even if you can just go and read the comics for free online.


Adventures of Spawn #1

Written: Jonathan David Goff

Art: Khary Randolph

Colors: Jason Gonzalez and Joe Ferstl

Synopsis: We first get an introduction to the villains. Mammon the leader. Tiffany the Angel who was abandoned by her lover the Redeemer. Cy-Gor the cybernetic gorilla. Overt-kill the machine based man. We see see them as their plan begins and they get ready to dominate the world.


A Reporter is (shockingly) reporting and talking about what a great day it is when Overt-Kill attacks the local New York Museum. After crashing and making a big explosion Overt-kill shouts at the reporter “Where-Is-the Stone?!”

Shifting to the San Diego zoo is Al Simmons, his wife Wanda and their daughter Cyan. (Al Simmons is the hero Spawn X who is given this power from the Necro stone. He is also still a mercenary like in the original comic.) As the family visits the monkeys the monkeys are hostile shouting and looking at the Simmons family.

We cut to Omega Spawn (robotic version of Spawn from the future who went back in time) working on building his Omega Squad (basically duplicates of himself) when Redeemer walks up and tells Omega Spawn to beam him out of their surveillance satellite, that he has a meeting with the council of Light. Redeemer is soon beamed out (Scottie! I like this Spawn, it’s exciting!)

Just when Omega Spawn finds out that Overt-Kill has attacked the museum Plague demons (Mammon’s minions) have invaded the Satellite and are flooding the place fast. Omega Spawn tells the computer to turn off the Jump Drive which is where the Plague Demons are getting in from.

Redeemer gets to the hall of light to meet the council when he, in shock, finds the entire council has been murdered. Tiffany, his ex-lover, stands in the middle of their table with their blood on her sword and she grins at Redeemer. After finding out that she let Mammon into the hall of light Mammon leaves and they start fighting.

Overt-kill grabs the Awakening stone and police draw guns on him. In response he draws his chainsaw.

The monkeys attack Al Simmons, after his family gets away he is swarmed by monkeys and soon transforms into Spawn X. He takes out a few monkeys when Cy-Gor strikes, pinning Spawn down and creepily saying “Now…it’s lunch time.

Omega spawn gets the Omega Squadron online and tells them to “bust some heads” (best line in the entire comic) While the Omega Squadron take care of the Plague Demons Omega Spawn heads down to earth to take care of Overt-Kill.

Redeemer and Tiffany fight, Redeemer confused still as to why Tiffany betrayed him. She says it was because he left her to join Spawn X and that she was abandoned. Just as she gets a killing blow on Redeemer the noise “Bzz-“is heard.

Just as Cy-Gor is about to take a bite out of Spawn X he gets blasted off and they fight.

Omega Spawn soon arrives and knocks Overt-Kill down. When Overt-Kill gets agitated Omega Spawn pulls out his buster (wait, is this Megaman? I’d play Megaman even more if Omega Spawn was in it!) and warns him that it packs a big punch. Just as Spawn and Redeemer have been teleported out of their fights to Omega Spawn.

Mammon shows up and has brought Cy-Gor and Tiffany with him, the heroes and villains face off to get the Awakening Stone. Leaving the first issue off on a cliff-hanger.

Commentary

The Good: Adventures of Spawn has tons of great moments, characters and some enjoyable art. It’s a unique and fun twist on a series that never really seemed to fit with the idea of being kid friendly. Even if this entire issue isn’t suitable for younger kids.

What Goff did such a great job with this entire spin-off was he created a more all ages friendly book without dumbing it down. Not an easy task nowadays as most writers will write off an all ages comic as an excuse for simple dumb writing that doesn’t even seem somewhat interesting. Goff however does a great job of making an accessible comic and keeps it entertaining and not stupid fun.

Spawn X is a silly name I admit but the character is done nicely here. He has some great dialogue and it was really interesting to see how Al Simmons lives his life as a family man while balancing being a hero. It’s a really good spin on things and Goff also handles that nicely.

Turning Redeemer from Spawn’s biggest enemy into his ally was a very cool spin for the character. I also liked how it seems there was a deeper history to Redeemer of all people but he abandoned it all for his new role as protector alongside Spawn X. He’s a great character.

Omega Spawn was just plain awesome. Sure he’s a bit of a cheesy character, the idea of a robot from the future isn’t too original but he still is great. He’s got this very distinct personality where he doesn’t just feel like some cheap robotic stock character and he has some very badass moments. Why Omega Spawn hasn’t gotten his own spin-off series by now is beyond me.

Most of the villains are handled well enough. Mammon was a good choice at the time as he was the grand force behind the whole Spawn series in the first place but I was frustrated to see the Phlebiac Brothers pushed to the side for a mini-comic and rather Overt-kill took their place. They deserved his spot more.


I liked the idea of Tiffany as the love scorned angel who betrayed her brothers and sisters for revenge. It’s a classic idea and Goff really makes it work. Showing that in her loss of her lover she went nuts and Mammon took advantage of that.

I did like the simple premise of it and how it was handled. Goff doesn’t push himself too hard to try and make a simple fun premise into something too serious or interesting. He does well with what he’s got. Randolph’s art is strong at times and the character redesigns are nicely handled. Randolph does a great job of telling a story with his art and packs a lot of great stylish action into his artwork here.

Though story itself is simply very well done and along with it the art fits near perfectly. Goff packs tons of great moments and tells an entertaining read from start to finish.

The Bad: Goff floods the pages at times with narration. It gets insane. While his story flow is nice, it’s so frustrating that there’s tons of text here and most of it is pointless. While the actual dialogue between characters is nicely done, this random narrator in yellow boxes is just annoying and it feels like it was Goff trying to add more to an already enjoyable and full storyline.

I am not too fond of Overt-Kill here. He’s all right, but he’s become such a C-list villain over the years that I would have preferred a more memorable Spawn villain in his place.

While Randolph’s art is good, the coloring falls a little flat. (I didn’t notice this until reading issue #2, mind you) but the coloring doesn’t really pop or give the stylish great art much definition. It’s a little disappointing when these great character designs have coloring that falls so flat and looks boring, not really complimenting the great art and even becoming a bit of detraction for it.

Overall: With good and bad to say about it, the first issue of Adventures of Spawn was a bold new attempt from TMP and overall it paid off well enough. It was a smart and fun recreation of an already enjoyable series and for that it gets good marks.

Story: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Art: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Grade: B-

Adventures of Spawn #2

Written: Jonathan David Goff
Art: Khary Randolph
Colors: Avalon Studios


Synopsis: Mammon has a brief monologue then shouts for the villains to bring him the Awakening Stone. Spawn says that’s not going to happen. Mammon tells the villains that no matter what they lose it will be worth the reward if they bring him the Awakening Stone. Also that any Plague Demon that brings him the stone will be upgrade to Terror demon.

As the fight starts up Spawn tells Omega to get the Squadron there now as they can’t handle the villains and go after the Stone. Tiffany says they are not enough and Spawn wonders if she can be redeemed, but she replies that she’s already been saved by Mammon.

As Omega is pounded into the ground by Overt-Kill Spawn tells him not to worry but soon the Plague Demons have their hands on the stone. Just before he can stop them Cy-Gor punches Spawn and the 2 continue their fight, Spawn trying to out-maneuver Cy-Gor. Cy-Gor gets Spawn down ,telling him that he plans to steal Spawn’s K7-Leetha (the suit that grants his power) and use it for himself, shouting “Imagine the possibilities” with the sight of him standing on the bodies of the heroes and villains as the world burns behind him.

Just as Overt-Kill stars digging into Omega’s shoulder with a chainsaw the Omega Squadron show up. They take out Cy-Gor and Tiffany then go to town on the Plague Demons (Damn, where can I get myself an Omega Squadron? If they are this good on villains, I bet they could do wonders for my lawn.)

Tiffany and Cy-Gor are back up, the heroes switch enemies. Redeemer takes on Cy-Gor, Omega against Tiffany then Spawn and Overt-Kill. Spawn quickly trashes Overt-Kill but it’s too late, Mammon as the stone and the Omega Squadron has been dismantled. (On second thought I’m going to cancel that order.)

Mammon starts chanting some ancient language with the stone to open a portal and bring back his evil master Malebolgia (the roles are reversed this time I see) but Spawn stops him and grabs the stone then flees into the sky with it. Mid-flight mammon cuts him off high in the sky and grabs the stone then Spawn by the throat.

Mammon starts draining Spawn’s power from the Necro Stone, soon taking the stone out of Al Simmons body and just when Mammon almost has it Al Simmons focuses what power he has left into a giant spiked gauntlet and knocks Mammon down and grabs both Stones.

Mammon and all his demons are suddenly warped by the R-factor, a warp that randomly teleports them anywhere in the universe. Spawn is worried that this isn’t over even though the day is one, that this is just the beginning.

Commentary:

The Good: Issue #2 is a huge improvement over #1. With a bout a year to look back on #1 no doubt Goff saw what he did wrong and sought to correct his major mistake of the frustrating narration that flooded every few pages.

Narration is still there, but this time it’s from Spawn X himself which was a smart decision. Rather than some random narrator we can’t see we actually know who’s narrating and how they know what’s going on so we feel more of a reason to read the narration and the narration itself is more worth it.

The characters continue to be great. Even though I still dislike Overt-Kill it was worth it seeing Spawn smash his body and then his severed head whining about it.

I liked the little “you can do it!” moment with Spawn X nearly about to have all his power drained when he gets one last punch and takes out Mammon with it. It was a great scene and not really something we get in the main Spawn series which is disappointing as it’s so great.

I thought it was very cool when Tiffany said “I’ve already been saved” as a twist that she actually thinks Mammon saved her from herself. It’s funny and speaks loud for her character.


I liked the Omega Squadron a lot more this time around, they where great. Really badass and cool. It’s a shame they got torn apart so soon.

The artwork is it’s usual greatness, but it’s a lot better thanks to the expertise coloring. The coloring gives the art huge style and a great effect. Some incredible definition and it just looks gorgeous. Unlike last time where the coloring was just boring with the coloring here it was incredible and it proves just how important colorists really are as they turned strong great art into absolutely incredible art.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the series. Leaving more for the hopefully eventually 3^rd issue to pick up and continue the trend of greatness.

There’s also a Phlebiac brother’s short story that is basically the same panel over and over again with copy and pasted images of the demon brothers. It’s actually really funny as far as dialogue, it had me in stitches and laughing out loud a lot at how great it was but it’s also a little simple so I can only say this was a good back up story.

The Bad: While Spawn X’ narration was nice, it definitely went a little overboard at times and was a little unnecessary still. Besides that I have no complaints about this issue.

Overall: Adventures of Spawn #2 takes what the first issue did and turned the volume up to 11. the characters contain their greatness, the issue was stuffed with great moments, absolutely incredible art and was an awesome conclusion.

Writing: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Grade: A-

Final Thoughts: Adventures of Spawn isn’t perfect, but for what it is it’s a great spin-off that takes a brilliant spin on an already enjoyable series. For anyone who enjoyed Spawn, but wanted a less serious but still enjoyable take on the franchise this is the comic for you. Now if only issue #3 where to be made already!

Final Score

Writing: 8 out of 10
Art: 9 out of 10
Overall: 8.5 out of 10

Final Grade: B+

Cartoon Review: The Spectacular Spider-Man Ep. 17

"Shear Strength"

Review
Last week's episode seemed to imply that Doctor Octopus was not the Master Planner, as he was in the comics. But, it looks like the writers stuck to the source material as they quickly revealed at the beginning of the episode that the Master Planner is in fact Doc Ock.

While I did question who the Master Planner was, I am not surprised that the writers went with the reveal that the Master Planner is Doc Ock.  The writers did a good job making the viewers who were unfamiliar with the Master Planner being Doc Ock think that Master Planner was someone other than Doc Ock. 

Just as a side note, I also thought it was interesting that we were introduced to another Spider-Man villain before he becomes a villain: Morris Bench, also known as Hydro-Man in the comics. It is interesting that he has some relationship with Norman Osborn as he acted as Norman's demolition expert. As soon as I saw he was introduced in this episode I started thinking just how cool it would be to see an episode with Sandman and Hydro-Man. It would be awesome if we get something like that later this season.

Now, even though I have been really enjoying the second season so far, one of the things that I have noticed is that these first few episodes have been more focused on the Spider-Man adventures and not on Peter's personal life. And for the first time this season, we got an episode were it felt like a Peter Parker episode even when Peter put on the costume. Some of the best Spider-Man stories are the ones that focus more on Peter's personal life and how it relates to his Spider-Man adventures and not just what Peter does as Spider-Man.

It was good to see that for once one of Peter's friends were not kidnapped because of him being Spider-Man, but for another reason. The fact that Doc Ock kidnapped Gwen in order to blackmail her dad Detective George Stacy into committing a federal crime for him made this episode much more interesting. It made the task of Peter having to save his love interest even more suspenseful as we know the history shared between Detective Stacy and Doc Ock in the comics.

I liked how Doc Ock's plan messed with all of the city's power. The writers have definitely built Doc Ock as a huge threat with this episode. It actually follows how Doc Ock was originally Spider-Man's #1 villain before Green Goblin killed Gwen in the comics. And with how Doc Ock has gathered the Sinister Six to help him in his crimes it will be interesting to see how Tombstone, who we have yet to see this season, reacts to someone invading his turf.

As always, the action in this episode was phenomenal. The addition of having to save Gwen made Spider-Man's fight with Electro and then with Doc Ock even better. It was awesome seeing Spider-Man use his agility to dodge all the attacks from all of Doc Ock's arms and how Spider-Man used Electro to help him defeat Doc Ock.

And as a long time Spider-Man fan, it was awesome seeing the image of Spider-Man being stuck under a huge pieces metal. It was a great call back to Amazing Spider-Man #33 where Peter was in a similar situation. And it was cool that this time around it was Gwen, who was knocked out, that inspired Peter to not give up and gave him the strength to power out of the situation. It was a great scene and probably the scene were Spider-Man looked more like how Steve Ditko drew the character.

With that scene it made the end of the episode even more heartbreaking. With everything that happened in this episode it looked like Peter and Gwen would finally get together.  Then we got the rugged pulled from under us. In the end, we end up with Peter and Liz together. That final scene was a bit hard to watch especially with Gwen still on the line asking if Peter was still there on his cell. But that just goes to show you that the writers have done an awesome job getting the viewer emotionally invested in these characters.

Episode Rating – 9.8/10
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Kevin

New Age Poll: The Best Image Comic I'm Reading?

Hey it’s time for a New Age Poll to ask all the readers out there a very simple question – what is the best Image Comic I’m reading right now? The poll is at my blog New Age Comics with Andrenn (helpfully a link in the last 5 words I just wrote) so go there and vote.

Spawn

Witchblade

Invincible

Savage Dragon

Jersey Gods

Now I’m well aware that not all the readers here read Image Comics, but I thought I’d start simple and if this poll works well then I’ll move on to a poll of all the comics I read. The poll will be up for 5 days, on the 5^th and final day when the poll ends I’ll announce the winner and then throw in my own 2 cents as to what is my personal favorite.

Also on another note, don’t forget the Exploit-a-Spawn project we’ve got going. I’ve already made a few myself, and gotten about 14 or so already over the last couple of days. So if you’ve got a funny idea then E-mail your Exploit-a-Spawn image.

You can E-mail your images to me at metalhellspawn@aol.com

Though remember, nothing inappropriate and to title the E-mail “Exploit-a-Spawn” and just in case you need it again, here’s that Spawn image to use.

So that’s all for now. I look forward to seeing the winner of the New Age Poll and your Exploit-a-Spawn images!

Comic Book Review: Batman #688

To say that Winick's work over the past few years has been underwhelming would be an understatement. The last time Winick actually did a good job with a story arc was his "Under the Hood" arc here on Batman that reintroduced Jason Todd. For that reason, I thought of giving him a shot with his new run on Batman. While Batman #687 was not great I still thought it was a good start for his return to this title. Hopefully Winick can carry that into Batman #688 by providing another good read.

Creative Team
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Mark Bagley
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Ian Hannin

Story: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts three weeks into the future in the Batcave where Batman (Dick Grayson) is getting his ass kicked by someone in the shadows. The person in the shadows tells Dick that he is not Batman and that he can never be the true Batman. As the person rants, Dick falls to the ground right under the case that holds Bruce's old cape and cowl.


Back in the present, Box News (nice Futurama reference) reports that Batman has returned and that they actually have footage of his return. As they air the footage of Batman taking down a gang of arms dealers the reporter discusses how the new Batman is leaving the crime scenes clean.  This has made it easier for the Police to make more arrests that lead to successful prosecutions.  The Gotham Police Department likes this new approach by Batman.

The scene switches to The Penguin's place where he is yelling at his men for screwing up.  The Penguin asks his men who approved off the job at the dock. The guy with the moth mask says he approved the job which gets him a beating by The Penguin. The Penguin starts ranting about how he was finally getting to spread his "wings" and now he (Batman) is back and screwing everything up.

We slide over to the roof of the GPD building.  Commisioner Gordon and Detective Pike turn on the Batsignal and wait for Batman to show up. After five minutes Gordon tells Pike that they should leave. Pike is confused and asks why they are leaving with the Batsignal still on. Gordon responds by saying "To let him know we're here." Still confused Pike tries to get more answers out of Gordon, but Pike only gets some cryptic responses from Gordon.  They go back into the building.

The scene shifts to the Batbunker were Dick is complaining to Alfred that the cape continues to get in the way of his fighting style.  Even the adjustments they have made to the cape have failed to make any difference. Alfred talks about how Dick and Bruce's fighting styles were different.  Dick responds by saying that he is not changing fighting styles.

Alfred starts laughing and Dick asks him what he is laughing at. Alfred says he is not still getting accustomed to the difference between Bruce and Dick's way of being Batman yet. After a bit more discussion about adjustments they need to make to the cape Dick asks Alfred where Damian is. Alfred tells Dick that Damien is awake and awaiting today's training.

We cut to an arena that looks like the UFC octagon where Dick starts Damian's training. Damian tries attacking Dick but is unable to hit him as Dick blocks and dodges all of Damian's attacks.  During the entire fight, Dick peppers Damien with non-stop witty banter.  Damian finally breaks his silence and tells Dick that he talks too much.  Damien lunges in to attack. Dick uses Damian's momentum to grab his staff and knock him to the ground.

Dick lectures Damian about how he used to banter all of the time when he was Robin to help distract criminals. Damian says he is not Dick and that he will not be a distraction. Dick says he knows that and that they both have to learn to be a team. Damian asks Dick what he is trying to say.  Dick responds by saying "Don't anticipate." They then continue their training.

Elsewhere, Two-Face is discussing with one of his henchmen, Benny, the failed arms deal that the Penguin's men got caught in and how Batman appeared on camera without disabling the cameras. Two-Face asks Benny if he has his camera working yet. Benny finally gets the camera to work and he shows Two-Face a different angle of Batman's fight with the arms dealers. Two-Face watches the footage and tells Benny he wants him to organize a job. Two-Face tells him the job is a fact finding mission to find out everything that The Penguin is up to, big or small, and then to leak the information.

Benny asks if this is to get the Penguin arrested by the cops. Two-Face says it is not the cops. Benny catches on and says Two-Face wants to get the Batman on the Penguin's case. Two-Face responds by saying "Yes. I want him going after Penguin. But he's not Batman." End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Batman #688 was a good read.  I know that I may be in the minority on this, but Winick did a good job showing that the transition of Dick being the new Batman.  Winick also did a fine job showing that Alfred and Damian's adjustments to the new status quo is not going to be easy.

Even though Grant Morrison is exploring this same concept over in Batman and Robin, I cannoty fault Winick for doing the same. The reason I won't fault Winick for this is because both books come out a week apart and he cannot really have Dick as Batman going out in Gotham and beating villain after villain. The fact is that Winick needs to explore a similar concept to what Morrison is in order to make the transition of Dick going from being Nightwing to Batman feel believable.

I like that Winick shows that unlike in Prodigal Son, were Dick and everyone else knew that Bruce would eventually return to the role of Batman, that this time around everyone, except Tim, believes Bruce is gone and is never coming back. Dick does not have the safety net of Bruce's return to fall back on in case he fails in his role of Batman.

This time around Dick believes himself as the true Dark Knight so, of course, there should be a tough transition phase. And Winick does a good job exploring the turmoil this is causing Dick and how Alfred is there to support him in his new role.

I like how Winick plays up the difference between how Bruce and Dick do things differently as Batman. When Bruce was Batman he liked playing up the urban legend part of being The Dark Knight.  Bruce would mostly stick to the shadows when fighting bad guys. Bruce liked people to know that Batman was around but that he was an unseen force protecting the streets. It was rare for people to get pictures or footage of Batman during Bruce's time under the cowl.

On the other hand, Dick has always been a natural showman with his circus background.  Therefore, Dick would naturally want it to be public knowledge that Batman is around by being seen on camera, especially at the start of his run as Batman. As Batman, Dick wants to be the center of attention especially with a big gang war going on in Gotham after the events of Battle for the Cowl. Dick knows that by just having Batman's name and figure out in the public that people will still think that the original Batman is still around. Even though people will later figure out that he is not the same Batman as before, this plan helps Dick in the short-term as he transitions into being Batman.

Also being more public plays up the fact Dick is trying to retain some of characteristics of Nightwing into his role as Batman. Just from the footage captured on the Box News it can be seen how Dick is using a more acrobatic fighting style to fight the bad guys than Bruce ever used. It was good to see Alfred bring up this fact to Dick that he may have to incorporate more of Bruce's fighting style into his own in order to be successful.

It was interesting to read the reasoning to why Dick never incorporated a cape and cowl into his Nightwing suit. It was a big argument with fans of the character when he was Nightwing if he should incorporate a cape and cowl into his costume. Winick's argument of the cape getting in the way of Dick's fighting style was well made. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Dick to realize that it is not the suit that needs adjustments but just his fighting style that needs to incorporate the cape when he is fighting.

I enjoyed seeing some of the training between Dick and Damian in this issue. Over in Batman and Robin, the new Dynamic Duo are being portrayed as dysfunctional partners were Dick is the only working on making the partnership work. Here we see that Dick is slowly gaining Damian's respect with some of these training sessions and is actually being a mentor to the young kid instead of only shouting out orders around trying to get his respect that way.

Maybe my favorite part of this issue is that Winick actually picked up on the plot line from the last story arc in Nightwing were Tomasi had Two-Face tell Nightwing/Batman that he had big plans in store for them both. In that last story arc, Two-Face was able to tell that Nightwing was the original Robin and it looks like he again can tell that the new Batman running around is Dick and not Bruce.

With Joker gone for the time being Two-Face can work well as Dick's Joker during his tenure as the Batman.  Both of these characters share a long history with each other. It will be interesting to see if Two-Face is the one beating up Dick/Batman in the scene three weeks into the future, DC time, or if it is something unrelated.

Even though there were some inconsistencies with the art; Bagley provided plenty of solid artwork in this issue and showed that he is able to draw more than just Spider-Man. And there was a certain energy with the artwork as all of the scenes felt like the characters were constantly moving and not just standing still and posing for a camera. Plus, with Bagley on this arc we know that all of the issues will come out on time and will have a consistent look to it.  And that is a big plus.

The Bad: Even though I liked Batman #688 there were some obvious faults with the issue. The first thing is that some of the dialogue did feel like it was a rehash of dialogue of old dialogue from previous issues. If Winick wants to differentiate his dialogue from Morrison's then Winick needs to use other Batman characters like Barbara, Bullock, Talia, or some other Batman character than just Alfred and Damian. 

Also, I do not really get the point of Commissioner Gordon's scene with Detective Pike. The whole scene felt like space filler as Winick just had Gordon ramble on about him wanting Batman to know he knows that he is around. This scene was unnecessary and it did nothing to further what was going on with the issue.

My biggest problem with this issue is the involvement of the Penguin in the gang war going on in Gotham. I know that Battle for the Cowl was not a well received event but the event cannot just be ignored. The last time we saw the Penguin he was being taken away by the US Military. Not the Gotham PD. The US Military.

So, I really do not understand how The Penguin went from being detained by the US Military to being in a penthouse suite in Gotham giving orders to his men again. It only furthers the perception that there is not a lot of communication between the writers and the editors in DC since no one caught this continuity error.

At the same time, it feels uncreative that Winick choose to continue the gang war between Two-Face and Penguin when we were left off with Black Mask being in control of the gang war. Even though Black Mask is not one of my favorite Batman villains I am still interested to learn who the new Black Mask is. But, because we are just getting a rehash of the Two-Face/Penguin gang war from Battle for the Cowl my interest in the new Black Mask and what he has in store for Gotham has disappeared.

Overall: Batman #688 was a good read. While it is nothing amazing, Winick is doing a good job showing the rough transition Dick is going through from being Nightwing into being the new Batman. I am also interested to see another confrontation between Dick and Two-Face now that Dick is the new Batman.
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Kevin

Comic Book Review: Booster Gold #22 w/Blue Beetle Second Story

Ever since Johns and Katz left Booster Gold, my interest in this title has steadily declined. However, Jurgens seems to have got this title back on track with this current story arc. I am optimistic that Booster Gold #22 will be an entertaining read. Let's ahead and hit this review for Booster Gold #22.

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Dan Jurgens
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Hi-Fi

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin "Moments ago" with the Black Beetle teleporting back to his secret base. Black Beetle informs his boss, a shadowy figure stationed at a computer, that there were complications with his mission. Black Beetle says that Booster Gold interceded on Batman's behalf and since that was outside of the mission's parameters, the Black Beetle withdrew.

The shadowy figure says that all they need to do is find another point in time that is malleable. A picture of Ravager (The original Grant Wilson flavor) brawling with the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans appears on the computer screen. The shadowy figure says that this point in time is perfect. Black Beetle then teleports away. The shadowy figure says that if Black Beetle is successful in his mission then the shadowy figure should see immediate evidence of that success.

We slide to the present with Booster Gold and Skeets in the Batcave. Booster Gold was sent back to the Batcave by Rip Hunter to get the pictures that the Batman had of Booster Gold trying to save Batgirl over and over again. Evidently, now that Batman is dead, Rip was worried that one of Batman's enemies would get their hands on the pictures and discover Booster's secret.

We see Booster Gold stating that there are now two memorial cases for two dead Robins. Skeets answers that Dick never became Batman. That Dick Grayson was the first Robin to be killed. Skeets accesses the time stream records and says that Deathstroke and Ravager attacked the Teen Titans and killed Dick Grayson. Booster snorts that he thought Rip said that the past cannot be altered.

Suddenly, Rip Hunter appears in a time sphere. Rip answers that there are exceptions. Booster snidely comments that Rip's "official" time travel rules are once again being broken. Rip says that this happened because a door of sorts was left open in the past. Rip explains that time did not need to be altered. It merely needed to be steered to a variable that existed at that time.

Evidently, when a variable has already been introduced then the past is no longer solidified time. That this is the case of another future that could have developed if Robin and the Teen Titans had died in the fight against Ravager. Rip says that he does not know who the Black Beetle is or how he does it, but that the Black Beetle has the tools to make this happen.

Rip, Booster and Skeets hop into the time sphere and slip into the time stream. Rip comments how the entire Teen Titans team was killed in the fight with Ravager. Rip says that this has caused chaos in the time stream. We see things like Batman with Batgirl (Barbara Gordon flavor) and Sinestro, instead of Hal Jordan, as a member of the JLA. Rip then heads them to the point in time where the Teen Titans re-formed.

We see the time sphere arrive at STAR Labs. Booster and Skeets exit the time sphere. Booster's task is to prevent Ravager from attacking the Teen Titans. Rip then heads on to the Vanishing Point to find out why the Black Beetle was there.

We slide inside of STAR Labs where Cyborg is angry with his father for turning him into a freak. Ravager then busts onto the scene and attacks Cyborg. Booster and Skeets then appear on the scene. Booster pretends that he is a hi-tech STAR Labs security guard. The two heroes then start brawling with Ravager.

During the fight, Skeets informs Booster that Ravager is Grant Wilson, the son of Wade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator. Booster and Cyborg end up taking down Ravager. Suddenly, Deathstroke and the Black Beetle appear on the scene. Black Beetle blasts our heroes with a power dampener ray that robs them of their abilities.

Deathstroke grabs Ravager. Black Beetle is about to kill Booster and Cyborg when Skeets uses his own power scrambler to temporarily scramble the Black Beetle's armor. Black Beetle and Deathstroke, carrying Ravager, then make a quick exit.

Skeets says that he can track the villains. Cyborg says that he needs to get back to the Teen Titans. Booster then volunteers to come along to help Cyborg. Cyborg readily accepts the additional firepower that Booster brings to the table. We cut to Booster and Cyborg arriving at the mansion where the Teen Titans are staying.

Skeets says that Ravager is supposed to attack the Titans. During the battle, Ravager's powers will burn up his body from the inside out and end up killing him. Raven will use her powers to make the dying Ravager think that he had defeated and killed all of the Titans. Booster comments that the vision of the dead Titans must be the variable that Rip mentioned.

Booster and Cyborg enter the mansion. Booster then sees Dick, Wally, Gar, Donna and Kory in their bathing suits hanging out by the pool. Booster is stunned silent by the smoking hot Kory in her bikini. Donna asks if Booster has any additional information to what Cyborg has told them or if Booster is just going to stand there and drool. Booster mutters that Donna is worse than Diana. Booster then says that the Titans are about to be attacked and should get ready to battle.

We cut to the Vanishing Point. Rip is searching around to find out why Black Beetle was snooping around the Vanishing Point. Rip finds that Black Beetle placed a system tap on the main computer to transmit the Vanishing Point's information elsewhere. Rip wonders who would have such intellect to pull this off. Suddenly, the system tap explodes and takes down Rip.

We cut back to Ravager arriving at the mansion and getting ready to attack the Titans. The Titans tells Ravager that he is outnumbered 7-to-1 and for him to surrender. Suddenly, Deathstroke the Terminator and Black Beetle arrive on the scene. Deathstroke says that the odds are now in favor of the villains. The three villains then attack Booster and the Titans.

During the fight, Booster asks Black Beetle why he wants to kill the Titans. Black Beetle says that he only wants to kill the JLA. And that there is no better way to neuter the JLA then by its driving force and its ultimate tactician.

Black Beetle then infuses Ravager with enough chronal energy to halt Ravager's powers from getting out of control and killing him. Ravager, Deathstroke and Black Beetle proceed to kill all of the Titans. The villains then leave the scene victorious. We see Booster floating face down in the pool. End of story.

Creative Team
Writer: Matthew Sturges
Pencils: Mike Norton
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Guy Major

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Blue Beetle battling a horde of killer robots called Unimates. The Unimates proceed to beat up on Blue Beetle. We then cut over to the prison where Dr. Alan von Nuemann, the creator of the Unimates, is being held. The Unimates grab Dr. von Nuemann and break him out of the prison. We see the Unimates flying Nuemann to his daughter's lair. Nuemann's daughter, Maria, pleads for her father to help her. Maria is crying and asks for her father to "make it stop."

We zip back to Blue Beetle asking the scarab for the best way to stop the Unimates. The scarab replies that small tactical nukes are the best option. Blue Beetle yells "No!" and reminds the scarab that he is never going to agree with any plan that includes any human deaths. Blue Beetle thinks about how ever since the scarab was "re-booted" that it has been somewhat blood-thirsty.

Blue Beetle asks the scarab how the Unimates are targeting him. The scarab answers that the Unimates are focusing in on Blue Beetle's electromagnetic and heat signatures. Blue Beetle asks if the scarab can take advantage of that and use it against the Unimates. Suddenly, Beetle's armor morphs into a giant disk that blasts the Unimates. The disk "paints" Blue Beetles electromagnetic and heat signature on all of the Unimates. Therefore, the Unimates leave Blue Beetle alone and begin to attack each other.

Blue Beetle lands on the ground and changes back into his civilian clothes. Jamie stands next to his friend, Paco, and the two of them watch the Unimates destroy each other. During the battle, Jamie's school gets destroyed. Again.

We cut to that night at Jamie's house. Jamie's mom tells Jamie, Paco and Brenda that school will not be cancelled. That they will be holding school in some leftover FEMA trailers. Jamie's mom also says that the school has issued a public statement asking Blue Beetle to conduct his fights at some other location.

Brenda then mentions that she hopped online and was able to locate Maria Nuemann. That Maria is a professor at EPSU. Paco says that he has the "beetlemobile" gassed and read to go and that they should pay Maria a visit. Jamie says that he is not allowed out past nine o'clock on a school night unless something is actually attacking the city. Brenda then says that she has to study for a mid-term exam that she has been looking forward to taking.

Paco snipes that Brenda is weird and is the only person who looks forward to school and tests. Brenda then calls Paco a lazy and insensitive jerk. Jamie then asks his friends what is wrong with the two of them. Paco and Brenda sheepishly reply "Nothing."

We zip forward to Paco arriving at Maria's home. Paco knocks on the door and is greeted by Maria pointing a gun at his face. Maria leads Paco to her lab. There we see Dr. von Nuemann tied up. Nuemann says that Maria has gone too far. Maria yells for her father to show her what she wants. Maria tells her father to tell her how to make the pain go away.

We shift to Jamie being woken up by Brenda's cell phone call. Evidently, Jamie's scarab armor can allow him to receive cell phone calls directly into his head. His armor also lets him track down anyone who he has ever physically touched. Brenda tells Jamie that Paco is missing. Jamie armors up and goes and gets Brenda. Jamie then tracks down Paco's location.

Along the way to Maria's house, Jamie asks Brenda what is going on between her and Paco. Brenda admits that Paco bought her flowers and told her that he loves her. Brenda's response was to laugh in Paco's face.

Blue Beetle and Brenda then land at Maria's house. Maria comes running out of her house and asks what Blue Beetle is doing here. Blue Beetle tells Maria to calm down. We see Maria's arms morph into giant robot arms. Maria yells "Get away from me!" and punches Blue Beetle. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Booster Gold #22 was an enjoyable read. Jurgens delivers an entertaining story that is straight forward super hero fun. Booster Gold #22 is a quickly paced read that never drags. This issue presents a pleasant mix of dialogue heavy scenes and action packed scenes. And, to be sure, there is plenty of action in this issue.

This story arc has been a nice rebound story for this title. Jurgens continues to turn in a well plotted issue with this story arc. This issue moves forward with a purpose. I had problems with the plotting on the previous story arc, but this story arc is tight and focused. Jurgens has two main plotlines running at the same time. The first is Rip Hunter's mission to discover what the Black Beetle is up to and who he is working for. The second is Booster's goal to save Dick Grayson from getting killed by the Black Beetle.

Sprinkled into these two main plotlines are many little mysteries that pique the reader's curiosity. And these little mysteries are the charm of this title. The reader simply never knows what is going to happen next on this title. And just about anything at all is possible. And that is to be expected from a title that is based on time travel and alternate realities. When done right, this enables Booster Gold to be such a fun read.

Part of what makes Booster Gold so much fun is that the reader gets to revisit various classic moments in the history of the DCU. The fact that I am a continuity buff means that this aspect of Booster Gold really appeals to me. I loved seeing the Wolfman/Perez Titans once again. The New Teen Titans #2 was published in 1980 and is an excellent issue and worth checking out if you have never read it before.

The New Teen Titans #2 is a classic Titans tale that plays an incredibly important role in Titans' continuity. This issue marked the first appearance of the ultimate Titans villain: Deathstroke the Terminator. The New Teen Titans #2 sets the foundation for the long running feud between Deathstroke the Terminator and the Teen Titans. That issue was also the inspiration for the new Ravager in Rose Wilson that we currently have running around the DCU.

The Black Beetle's mission to eliminate the Batman in order to attain his ultimate goal of eliminating the JLA is a good basis for this story arc. I dig the Black Beetle. He makes for a fine arch nemesis for Booster Gold. And the fact that the man carrying on the mantle of Booster's closest friend, Ted Kord, is Booster's arch nemesis is a nice twist. I am curious to learn more about Black Beetle. I am also interested in discovering the identity of the shadowy figure that the Black Beetle works for.

Jurgens cranks out some solid dialogue. This issue has plenty of humorous lines, but this is not a "Baw-ha-ha!" story. The humor is properly played and fits well with the story and the characters. Jurgens also delivers quality character work with this issue. Obviously, Jurgens understands Booster's character very well and knows exactly how to write Booster. I like the simmering tension that exists between Booster and Rip. And what is particularly enjoyable is that the tension is not forced, shallow or contrived just for the sake of having some necessary tension in the title. That is what you get with many titles. Not in Booster Gold.

Jurgens has done an excellent job of methodically building the foundation and reasons for the tension and friction between Booster and Rip. And the rift between these two men continues to grow in a logical fashion. I like that Jurgens is showing the reader how Rip's "official" rules of time travel are continually getting bent.

Before now, Rip has maintained that the past is constructed of solidified time and cannot be changed. However, in this issue, the reader learns that solidified time in the past is malleable whenever there is a variable present. And the variable in this issue is the dream that Raven gave Ravager. This was a rather clever little twist by Jurgens.

What I particularly enjoy with all these exceptions to Rip's "official" rules of time travel is that these exceptions serve to undermine the reader's trust in Rip. Jurgens has succeeded in making Rip come across as untrustworthy. The reader cannot shake the feeling that Rip is only ever telling Booster the partial truth so that Booster only believes that Rip wants Booster to believe. What is particularly enjoyable is that while the reader is never too sure about Rip, it never gets to the point where the reader views Rip as an actual villain. Rip is a hero that simply comes across as shady.

Jurgens ends Booster Gold #22 with solid hook endings to both of the main plotlines in this issue. A bomb takes down Rip at the Vanishing Point. And we see Booster floating face down in a pool with dead Titans littered around the pool. Those two scenes served as enjoyable climactic hook endings.

Jurgens and Rapmund provide the reader with plenty of nice clean looking artwork. Jurgens is able to convey the story to the reader in a pleasant fashion. I continue to enjoy Jurgens' classic super hero style of art.

Now, let's talk about the Blue Beetle back-up story in this issue. I am a Ted Kord loyalist. Have no doubt about that. I love Charlton Comics characters and I am also a big fan of Steve Ditko. So, it follows that I was less than pleased when Rucka had Ted go out like a total bitch. And because I am opposed to the extremely uncreative process of replacing established white characters with new minority characters with the same name and powers I have held a serious grudge against Jamie.

And the odd thing is that Jamie Reyes is exactly what I have been begging Marvel and DC to give us. Hispanic super heroes. Mi hermanos are tough to find in comic books. Despite the growth in the Hispanic population, Hispanics continue to be under-represented in comics. Still, I would have much preferred that DC take the time and effort to create a new Hispanic super hero rather than take the lazy route and kill off an established hero in Ted Kord in order to achieve this goal.

It will be of no surprise that when it was announced that Booster Gold was going to get a $1.00 price hike in return for gaining a Blue Beetle back-up story that I was less than pleased. The last thing I wanted to do was pay an extra buck for Booster Gold in order to get the pleasure of reading about a character I had no interest in at all.

But, since I had no desire to drop Booster Gold, that made me a captive audience with the second story in Booster Gold featuring the new Blue Beetle. Therefore, I figured I would approach the Blue Beetle second stories with an open and honest mind. And you know what? The new Blue Beetle is pretty damn fun! Blue Beetle could be DC's answer to Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man.

What is not to like about a super hero who cannot go investigating a case because his mom has saddled him with a nine o'clock curfew? And Jamie actually listens to his mother! Classic. This is exactly what makes Blue Beetle so fun and refreshing. Jamie is not the typical "rebellious" teen hero. And Jamie is not the stereotypical dark teen hero who has suffered massive personal loss and tragedies. Jamie is actually a fairly well adjusted kid who is a bit of a nerd. All of this actually makes Jamie an incredibly unique teen hero in the world of comics.

Blue Beetle sports a great supporting cast. We have Jamie's two high school friends in Paco and Brenda. These two good friends also help Paco in his various adventures. And you have Jamie's father, mother and little sister as well. Sturges whips up some nice chemistry between Jamie, Paco and Brenda. The squabbling between Brenda and Paco reminded me of my high school friends who ended up dating each other.

The Blue Beetle back-up story was a fun read. It was light and enjoyable. Sturges delivers some good dialogue. Jamie's inner monologue in this story was fantastic. Sturges also displays a good sense of humor. Jamie's witty banter was spot on and instantly endeared me to his character.

It is demanding on an author when they are limited to only ten pages per issue to tell their story. But, Sturges handled this shortened format in fine fashion. The back-up story was well paced. Sturges wastes no panel space at all and keeps the story moving along at a lively pace. Sturges makes sure that this story has a good amount of action with Blue Beetle battling the killer robots. Sturges ends the back-up story with a neat little hook ending as Maria surprisingly demonstrates metahuman abilities with her jacked up robot arms.

Sturges has done what I thought was impossible and made me a fan of Jamie Reyes. This back-up story was just pure good super hero fun. I am looking forward to the next installment of Blue Beetle's adventure.

The Bad: Booster Gold #22 may not appeal to readers who dislike stories that revolve around time travel. This issue may also not appeal to readers who prefer darker and more violent titles. This issue may also not appeal that much to readers who prefer cerebral reads. Booster Gold is not a title that is trying to re-invent the genre. The main emphasis of both the main story of Booster Gold #22 and the Blue Beetle back-up story is more geared to fun than anything else.

Overall: Booster Gold #22 was an enjoyable read that provides the reader with plenty of straight-up super hero fun. I would recommend readers who enjoy time travel and classic super hero stories to get this issue. I would also recommend that readers who dig DC's rich history to get this issue as well. And, to be sure, Teen Titans fans should give this issue a look given the role the Titans are playing in this story.
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Rokk

Groovy Superhero Will be back after these messages

Groovy Superhero is taking a very short break (like, if you have an enlarged prostate, this isn't gonna be much longer than your average bathroom break), to search for Earth with the angel Starbuck and Baltar and his Technicolor Dreamcoat. We'll be back super-soon with posts, features, cool announcements (soon), and pizza and ice cream if you've been good. Poison and Wrath of Khan ear-bugs if you've been bad.

Groovy Superhero is Ready for the Odinsleep

Verily, mine allergies be a bitch! What's more, I have for years believed myself hearing impaired and suffering from the inner ear condition Meniere's Disease, like the mortal Venture Bros. creator Doc Hammer. It always seemed likely, considering my long history in the music business (and irresponsible parents who let me go out to my first concerts alone at age 11 - ("oh, AC/DC, it's pretty crowded, I'll bet the most comfortable place for me is to sit on the guitar amp for the next three hours"), people always telling me to shut up because I'm speaking too loud, and a frequent ringing in my ears. That, and a frequent sense of feeling off balance and a truly barfalicicious vertigo sensation.

Now that my nose is also expunging horrors not seen since Ragnarok, I finally deigned visit a Midgard ENT doctor, who informed me that while I suffered from nearly every ear, nose and throat disease, technically my hearing was fine, because my problems were the result of a deformed sinus cavity which could not be treated by any means known to man. This mortal twit did fancy himself quite the wordsmith, and he certainly prided himself on his euphemisms: I believe his words were: "You ever see Grand Central Station at 5:00 pm? That's what's going on in there. It's packed to the gills, things are routed in the wrong direction, some entrances and exits are closed off entirely - you're technically healthy as a horse, but you will have completely untreatable ear, nose and throat problems for the rest of your life. Have a nice day now!"

I believe I shall mount his head in my royal trophy room, but first I must needs take mine Odinsleep. The best this Earthly medicine man could do was to recommend a saline spray, but that has not only failed to soothe mine oozes, itches and aches - rather, it has added insult to injury: no matter how much mead, grog, and golden apples I consume, all I can taste is Helen Hunt!

I go now to my Odin racecar bed, and let none dare wake me from my slumber or they shall be punished with a private viewing of what lays beneath mine eye patch - the Odinmoist!.

---

Groovy Superhero

New Age Ideas: Brand New Addictions

It’s been a while but New Age Ideas is back and this time for the low price of $0.00 I’m stuffing it with tons of ideas. For those unaware, New Age Ideas is a simple collection of my ramblings and ideas, some of them long, others short. Either way these are my New Age Ideas.

Snap Kirby Krackle and Pop!

Don’t you hate being late to the party? Seems I’m not too late but I still missed out on the majority of the debut stuff from Kirby Krackle. An awesome Comic Book Band, claming to be the first. I’m not sure if that’s completely right but there the first I’ve heard of so I’m not going to waste time debating it.

These guys are seriously incredible. Their best song yet has to be Ring Capacity. This has to be somewhere in the new Green Lantern DVD movie or something. It’s blood-pumping and insane and I love it. Check them out here.

Click this link to see their awesomeness!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies could be cool

As someone who’s happily avoided the often poor looking Superman/Batman series I never read Public Enemies. I know it’s the team of Loeb/McGuiness which promises something decent at least. The animation style seems to remain faithful to that and hey, Kevin Conroy is Batman! I’m officially renting this as soon as possible.

DC ahead of Marvel for once?

What’s with Marvel paying so little attention to their animated film features where DC is dominating them? Hulk vs. was the best thing Marvel has put out yet but so far no word on anything else. On the other hand, DC is cranking out new Superman/Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman DVD’s all coming out in a fairly close order. DC is really dominating with some quality movies here like usual, but man they are just crushing Marvel. Maybe Marvel is just too busy with their ongoing cartoons like Spectacular Spider-Man, but it is seriously time they pick up the pace.

Green Lantern First Flight looks like pure awesome.

Seriously is this out yet? I can’t wait to check this out. This looks absolutely incredible. What perfect timing that this comes out right alongside the biggest Green Lantern story in forever.

I feel bad…

I still haven’t seen the Wonder Woman DVD. I’ve been meaning to rent it but I’ve been lazy. I feel so bad about this.

Time to set up a rule for a character’s Second Ongoing

All right, with Merc with a Mouth officially being a gigantic waste of 3.99 I think it’s time I set up some rules if you’re going to make a second ongoing for a character.

1. Fans want something different. If you’re going to make a second ongoing make it unique from the first ongoing so it stands out and fans could read both and enjoy both.
2. If it has to be radically different to make it stand out and be a unique cool experience, do it! Don’t be afraid to try something different from what the other guy is doing!
3. Don’t go with the same obvious clichés of the character. Mix it up.

These 3 rules have already applied to books like Wolverine: Weapon X which prove that these rules work. Now if I could only get the new Deadpool series writer to see this…

Twittering! My new Addiction…

Hey Kids, follow your good ol’ Uncle Andrenn on Twitter. I most tweet about comic stuff which is funny as some of my friends would expect me to tweet about politics and religion. Oh no. that’s too easy. Comics and video games are much more fun to Twitter.

Terminator vs. Transformers

See, IDW has both properties to make comics with…why the hell not? It’s a perfect marriage. Set it in the future, past, present. Whenever. Come on IDW, it would be awesome to see the T-1000 go up against Optimus Prime.

Oy-Bama

You know I like Obama as much as the next guy who doesn’t watch Fox News but man comics are using him more than News Networks. It’s nuts. He’s fighting zombie with Ash, talking to Nick Fury after being attacked by the Green Goblin. And the Leifiled guns…god help me the Leifield Guns.

I can forgive all of that though for this one, single, awesome image that will never be trumped ever. Nothing in the history of man-kind will be this over the top crazy and awesome again. Thank you, Erik Larsen.

A not so-event-less year

You know for promising that 2009 would have no big events, it seems 2009 is Marvel’s biggest year ever. First, there is Dark Reign and all the tons of tie-ins and mini-series that it has reached. Then there is War of Kings which, while may not be on a massive scale, is still a cross-over laden big event. The Dark Avenges/Uncanny X-men crossover Utopia is still an event of sorts even if it ties in more to Dark Reign. And, of course, there is Captain America Reborn. This event that may lack any tie-in books, but is still a major moment in Marvel history just as was Steve’s death.

So yeah, for a year that promised no big events to stop reader's getting event fatigue this year has had anything but no events. Honestly, this year makes Secret Invasion look like a minuscule story arc in New Avengers by comparison.

While I may be complaining about that I must admit that there does seem to be a lot of awesome stuff coming from Marvel this year because of these major happenings in their universe, so I can be a little more easy on them for it.

2009’s Best Event?

Speaking of events, it seems there is quite a lot of competition this year between Marvel and DC, even more so than last year, really. Blackest Night is DC’s real big event this year with Marvel's War of Kings, Utopia and Reborn competing against it. Though honestly, I think Blackest Night is going to blow the competition out of water.

Sure, I wish this event would have stuck to a more cosmic level and not invade the entire DCU, but I have serious faith in Johns that we’ll be getting a great read this summer.

Exploit-a-Spawn

I want to leave you off with a fun project to anyone interested. You see the image with the removed words from Spawn’s speech bubbles. Well I’d really like to see you guys come up with something funny or cool to put in there. I know it’s not Grade A stuff to work with but I can still hope. For all the images I get (if I get any at all, fingers crossed) I’ll post them sometime on my blog (and at the Revolution!) for the whole internet world to see.

So I look forward to your submissions, you can send them to me at my E-mail. I know I shouldn’t have to say it, but nothing inappropriate. No due date is set for what time you have to submit them, when I feel I have enough images for a full post then I’ll collect them all and post them. Simple as that.

*edit: Already getting a couple of images, very good. To make sure I know it’s an E-mail about the Spawn image title the E-mail: Exploit-a-Spawn so that I know. This is because one of the E-mails was, for some reason, in my spam folder.

So, my E-mail: metalhellspawn@aol.com

Comic Book Review: War of Kings #5

Four issues into War of Kings and Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have already given us one of the best event books we have had in a long time. War of Kings has been a perfect mix of action, drama, and politics without getting lost in one aspect of the story. And with the surprising ending in the last issue War of Kings #5 should be another great read.

Creative Team
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Paul Pelletier
Inker: Rick Magyar
Colorist: Wil Quintana

Story: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue begins with Crystal narrating how the news of Lilandra's death just reached the Inhumans and how she feels that Lilandra's death is only going to lead to more deaths.

While Crystal is narrating we see Black Bolt playing with Lockjaw and the Inhumans discussing the recent events. Karnak and Gorgon try and make Black Bolt speak on what they should do next, but Medusa interrupts them by saying that Lilandra's death is a pity. Karnak comments that Lilandra's death is a turning point for this war as they were hoping that Lilandra would be able to end the war.  Karnak says that now the only way to win the war is by using their Counter Plan.

Gorgon asks what the counter plan is. Medusa answers by saying it is the plan that her husband did not want to use but with recent events it is the only way to end the war. Gorgon says that he still does not know what the Counter Plan is. Attilan's engines are powered up and Attilan launches into space.


The scene shifts to The Imperial Shi'ar Flagship Hammer II were we see Vulcan laughing at the news. He then asks everyone why he is the only one happy about the events. Admiral Ka'Ardum responds by saying that Lilandra's death will trigger a Civil War within the Shi'ar with all of the Pro-Nermani Factions.

Vulcan asks Ka'Ardum what they should do. Ka'Ardum replies that they should look to make peace with the Inhumans and Kree to make sure their strength doesn't dwindle anymore than it has.  Vulcan, not liking Ka'Ardum's answer, says he will execute Ka'Ardum shortly.  Vulcan turns around and tells Talon that his Fraternity of Raptors is ruining Vulcan's empire. Talon responds by saying that the Shi'ar Empire is not Vulcan's. He says that all Vulcan is, is a custodian.  Talon's statement angers Vulcan. (BURN!!!)

Talon goes on to say that Vulcan has not proven worthy for Talon and the Fraternity of Raptors to follow. Vulcan tries to attack Talon for his misconduct but his attack is blocked by Talon.  Talon then leaves.

Later, we see Admiral Ka'Ardum inform Vulcan that Attilan is heading towards Shi'ar space and that the Inhumans look to strike the Shi'ar personally. Vulcan tells Ka'Ardum that it is all the fault of the Imperial Guard for not finishing off Black Bolt (War of Kings #1). Vulcan than tells Ka'Ardum to follow him and he takes off to kill the Inhumans.

Back on Attilan, Ronan and Crystal throw Gorgon into the Imperial Room and ask Medusa what is going on with Lilandra's death. Medusa and Maximus say that they are working on a contingency plan designed for the King.

Crystal asks Maximus what he built and he says it is called The Utterance of Destiny, T-Bomb for short, which is weaponized terrigen mist. Both Crystal and Ronan try to reason with Black Bolt and Medusa that this is not the right way to go about ending the war.

Medusa immediately lashes out that it is what they must do. Crystal and Ronan beg Black Bolt to stop this course of action. Medusa ends the conversation by telling them they are both naïve and that she speaks for Black Bolt.

The scene shifts to Chadilar, The Shi'ar Throneworld, were the Starjammers and an enraged Gladiator fight back the Shi'ar Guard and Death Commandos. Gladiator tries to kill Chancellor Araki but is attacked by Black Cloak. Both get into a huge brawl with Black Cloak gaining the upper hand. Before Black Cloak can finish Gladiator off, Black Cloak's head explodes. Rachel, who caused Black Cloak's head to explode, comes out of the smoke saying "He was the one…He murdered my family."

Gladiator than rushes Chancellor Araki and kills him. After that the Starjammers are left in the middle of this battle with only the thought of what they should do with Lilandra now dead.

The scene shifts back to Attilan were everyone is waiting for Black Bolt's decision. As they wait they hear a sound and Medusa says that Black Bolt has just made his decision. We then see that Black Bolt has decided to launch the T-Bomb.

Crystal cannot believe Black Bolt's decision, but Medusa says that Black Bolt is leading them into their future of peace and equality. Maximus speaks up and says that it is shame that Black Bolt won't be there to see it.

Medusa becomes enraged and attacks Maximus asking him what he means by that statement. Maximus responds by saying that the T-Bomb is powered by Black Bolt's voice and in order for the T-Bomb to be used at full power Black Bolt must be at the controls.

Medusa tries to communicate with her husband; trying to tell him he does not have to sacrifice himself and that he can't do this to her. Black Bolt just stands with in the T-Bomb looking at a picture of Medusa and their son Ahura while listening to her words. Black Bolt puts on his helmet to power the T-Bomb and tells Medusa goodbye.

The T-Bomb activates and is about to explode, but Vulcan flies in destroying most of the T-Bomb and entering the control room were Black Bolt is. Vulcan charges at Black Bolt.  Vulcan yells "You. Let's go." End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: War of Kings #5 was another great entry in DnA's space epic. With War of Kings, DnA are showing that you do not need A-List heroes and villains to tell a great epic story. Characters like Black Bolt, Crystal, Ronan, Gladiator and the Starjammers have, at best, been B-List characters. But now with these characters' involvement in War of Kings they have come closer to becoming A-List type characters. And it is a testament to the quality writing from DnA on this event that they have been able to do this with characters that have not gotten much attention within the Marvel Universe.

While Black Bolt and Vulcan are the stars of this event, DnA have done a great job letting other characters involved in this war get time to shine. DnA are able to do this by going from scene to scene in such a way that the characters in those scene feel like they are important parts to the story without having to have Black Bolt or Vulcan present.

Even though this issue centered on Black Bolt and Vulcan much more than previous issues, I can say that I was just as interested in what Gladiator would do after Lilandra's death as to what Black Bolt and Vulcan would do to end the war. It is this interest in all of the characters involved in this big event that really makes this feel like an epic story and not just another typical "big event" book that Marvel and DC throw out every year.

Speaking of Gladiator, other than Crystal there is no other character that has benefited more from this event more than him. Gladiator has become much more interesting as this event has progressed. At the start of the series, Gladiator was the same stoic warrior loyal to the Emperor that we have seen before.  Gladiator then slowly transformed into someone finally willing to speak up and do what he thought was right by siding with Lilandra.


It was awesome seeing how Gladiator reacted to Lilandra's death as he just ripped the Shi'ar Guard apart. I have never seen Gladiator act with so much emotion as he did in this issue. And even though it was a short battle I loved Gladiator's fight with Black Cloak. It was a brutal fight and I liked how it ended with Rachel finally getting her long awaited revenge.

I like that DnA decided to give Rachel some character development. While it was only a quick scene, it was more development that Rachel has gotten since "End of Greys." It will be interesting to see where this development of Rachel and the Starjammers as a group go after War of Kings is over.  These characters can either get their own book or return to one of the X-books.

Also, I enjoyed what DnA did with Crystal and Medusa's characters in this issue. With how much character growth Crystal has gotten over these past few issues, it was only a matter of time before she and her sister got into a heated argument. Even though both Crystal and Medusa have been at odds throughout the series this was the first time were I felt that they would end up getting into a fight. It is hard to tell whose argument was correct as both Crystal and Medusa make solid arguments on what the Inhumans should do to end the war.

It was cool to see Ronan stepping up and having his new wife's back on the matter concerning the T-bomb. DnA have done such a great job making me care more for the relationship between Ronan and Crystal than I actually thought I would. It is easy to follow each issue to see the evolution of the relationship between the two.  The moment when Ronan and Crystal barged into the throne room felt like the moment were the two were officially a couple. It will be interesting to see if the power struggle between Black Bolt and Medusa versus Ronan and Crystal continues after the conclusion of War of Kings.

Maybe the most interesting aspect of this issue was Black Bolt and all of his facial reactions throughout the issue. Paul Pelletier did a great job with all of Black Bolt's facial reactions to all of the arguing going on around him. It was clear that Black Bolt wanted to speak up at several points and it even looked like he wanted to shut his wife up a bit a couple times.

The scene where Black Bolt was going to sacrifice himself in order to end the war was a very emotional moment.  Pelletier effively conveyed the sadness on Black Bolt's face while he listened to Medusa desperately trying to tell him not to activate the bomb. It was yet another great scene in this series and DnA did a great job packing the scene with plenty of emotion especially with Black Bolt looking at the picture of his wife and son that he was leaving behind.

Now, just like a lot of fans, I really do not like Vulcan's character. It has nothing to do with what DnA have been doing with the character, but the fact that Vulcan has been simply a one-dimensional character ever since his introduction. There really is not much that can be done about that fact, but because of that I really loved how Talon basically told Vulcan to man up and show why he should be able to call himself Emperor. Vulcan has not really done anything to prove that he is the Emperor since "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire" and it was good to see Talon call him out on this fact.


Talon's little speech to Vulcan provided a nice catalyst to the fight we all have been waiting to see since War of Kings was first announced: Black Bolt vs. Vulcan. Honestly, this has been the thing I have been looking forward to seeing the most and everything up to now has been set-up for this fight. I cannot remember the last time I looked forward to a fight more than Black Bolt vs. Vulcan. With all the build up this battle between the two rulers has had we should be in store for a great fight.

As I mentioned earlier, Pelletier did a great job showing a range of emotion from all of the characters in this issue. Pelletier's art has been improving with each issue and he does a great job giving War of Kings an epic look. Pelletier packs a lot of energy in every panel and whether it is drawing action or talking head scenes they all look great.

The Bad: For the first time in this series I have found something wrong with War of Kings and that would be the need for the T-Bomb. While Maximus has created some great tech for the Inhumans and Kree to use throughout the event I don't understand what the use of the T-Bomb is. Even though Maximus said it was a powerful bomb that would end the war it seemed as nothing more than a plot device to get Black Bolt and Vulcan to fight one on one. We didn't even get to see what the T-Bomb could actually do before it was destroyed by Vulcan. Though I will say that this is not a bad thing since I look forward to the fight, but it is more that this was the first complaint, minor or otherwise, that I have had against DnA's space epic.

Overall: Minor complaint aside, War of Kings #5 was an excellent read. It is such a treat to read an event where the creative team involved are not worried about telling the most complex story or the biggest slugfest ever.  Instead, DnA are only looking to give us a quality read. DnA have put on a clinic with War of Kings.  If you have not jumped on the Marvel cosmic bandwagon yet then I strongly recommend reading War of Kings when it comes out in trade format.  You will not be disappointed.  I cannot wait for the final installment of War of Kings next month.
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Kevin

Be Careful with Those Long Weekends: A Public Service Announcement

Independence Day is a wonderful, patriotic holiday, but I learned an important lesson this year. A valuable lesson, which we should all remember to pass along to our friends, family and loved ones, lest they learn the hard way like I did.

Friends don't let friends drink and take strange women home.

This has been a public service reminder from your friends at Groovy Superhero.

---

Groovy Superhero

Comic Book Review: Batman and Robin #2

I enjoyed Batman and Robin #1. Despite the fact that I found the Battle for the Cowl to be terribly hackneyed and despite the fact that DC's handling of Batman is nothing more than a watered down version of what Marvel has done with Captain America. Morrison managed to turn in a brilliantly creative debut issue on this title that immediately captured my interest. I am confident that Morrison will turn in another quality read with Batman and Robin #2. Let's do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Dick back at the Bat-bunker with his head in his hands. Alfred is standing next to Dick and asks Dick what happened. We flashback to Dick and Damien landing on the roof of the Gotham Police Headquarters where Gordon is waiting by the Bat-signal. Gordon tells Dick that Mr. Toad will not talk. Suddenly, Gordon is radioed that there is trouble in the police headquarters. Dick and Damien race down the stairs into the building.

One of the cops next to Gordon asks if both Batman and Robin used to be taller. The cop adds that Batman also sounded different. Gordon says that Batman sounded different but familiar. Gordon adds that he has also seen Robin before. Gordon and the two cops then follow Dick and Damien into the building.

We cut to inside the first floor of the police headquarters where the flaming guy, Rex, rushes inside and proceeds to burn several more cops. Big Top then steps out of the car that the villains drove up in. Big Top is an extremely fat woman (?) and she has a large gun that she fires at the police. The gun fires several gas canisters. We see Dick and Damien on the first floor with their gas masks on. We see four circus thugs enter the headquarters to serve as support for Rex and Big Top.

Damien immediately leaps into battle and attacks the four thugs. The four thugs prove more than Damien can handle by himself. Dick tells Damien to step aside. Dick then springs to action and takes on the four thugs. Dick kicks ass on the four thugs. Dick then tells Damien to stay by his side. Damien ignores Dick and goes after Big Top who is making her way to Mr. Toad's cell. Damien attacks Big Top.

We see Dick battling with Rex. Dick yells out that he needs Damien over here. Damien does not answer. Dick then uses a fire extinguisher to take down Rex. Dick then yells out "Robin! Where the hell are you?" We cut to Damien still brawling with Big Top.

We slide back to Dick tying up the four circus thugs. Gordon appears on the scene. The circus thugs are all talking in circus slang. Only Dick understands what they are saying. Dick says that Mr. Toad's crew has been trading in some next level mind control drugs with Russian people traffickers.

We zip back to the present with Dick and Alfred in the Bat-bunker. Dick says that their first mission together at the police headquarters was a disaster. That four cops go killed in the fight. Dick says that he knew one of them from when he was on the police force in Bludhaven.

We cut back to the brawl at the police headquarters. We see that Damien is beating on Big Top. Gordon and a couple of cops pull their guns and order Damien to stop attacking Big Top. Damien continues to beat on Big Top and is demanding to know what kind of attack Big Top's boss is planning on unleashing.

Dick then appears on the scene and pulls Damien off of Big Top. Damien snaps at Dick that he almost had beaten the information out of Big Top. A couple of cops look inside of Mr. Toad's cell and see that Mr. Toad was killed during the brawl. There is a domino in one of Mr. Toad's hands. Dick notices the domino. Gordon demands to know how a suspect was killed in his cell right under their noses and no one saw it.

We shift to Dick and Damien arriving back at the Bat-bunker. Dick yells at Damien that intimidation is one thing, but that there have to be limits. Dick says that if they step over the line then Gordon will not hesitate to hunt them down. Damien scoffs at Dick's suggestion. Damien growls that he already promised his father that he would not kill. Now, Dick is telling him that he has to be nice to police? Damien wants no part of that.

Dick rants that being Batman and Robin is not about working alone and thinking with your fists. That it is about detective skills. It is about learning to follow a direct order. Damien smirks that Dick's pathetic impression of Bruce is making a mockery of Bruce's memory. Damien tells Dick to keep his clues, detective skills and limits. Damien says that he is going to do this his way. Dick replies that Damien is ten years old. Dick says that Damien has a lot to learn. Damien spits that he will go find a teacher that he respects.

Damien marches off toward his motorcycle. Dick yells for Damien to get back here. Dick yells that it is an order. Damien brushes off Dick and leaves. We cut back to the present with Dick and Alfred still talking. Dick says that he sounded like an idiot trying to order Damien around. Dick said he sounded fake; like a kid trying to do Batman's voice. Dick wonders where Damien went.

Alfred says that he has no idea where Damien went. Alfred says that he came down into the Bat-bunker to tell them that the Quad-bat is ready for a test drive. Dick asks Alfred if he was such a brat when he was Damien's age. Alfred replies that Dick had loving parents. That Dick had role models of the highest caliber. Damien, on the other hand, was raised by assassins and thieves. Dick grumbles that he is irritated by Damien's know-it-all super-villain attitude and sneer.

Dick says that it is not just Damien. That Gordon and the police do not think he is Batman. That nobody believes Dick is Batman. Dick says that he spent years building up respect as Nightwing and now he is being viewed as a psychotic Batman impersonator. Dick says that the whole idea of replacing Bruce was insane. Dick says that he hates the cape. That the cape was the first thing he got rid off when he became Nightwing.

Dick says that he is way off balance. Dick then reigns in his complaining and apologizes and says that Alfred does not need to hear this. Alfred tells Dick that Dick does not have time to lament his situation. Alfred tells Dick that he must go test drive the Quad-bat. Alfred mentions that Dick's job is not all that bad.

Alfred then tells Dick that Dick's parents were show business people. Alfred tells Dick to not think of his Batman as being a memorial. Alfred says that they both know Bruce would hate that. Alfred tells Dick to think of his Batman has a performance. Alfred says Dick should view the role of Batman as a great role like Hamlet or even James Bond. Alfred says that Dick should play the role to his strengths.

Alfred says that there is no doubt that Damien is racing toward trouble. That the curtain is up and the spotlight is on Dick. Alfred continues that everyone is waiting for the hero to take the stage. Dick puts on the cowl. Dick tells Alfred to never let him forget the golden rule: The show must go on. Alfred tells Dick to "Break a leg."

We cut to Damien arriving at the abandoned circus where Pyg's Circus of the Strange is hiding out. Damien sees a person being held captive in a cage. The person calls out for Damien's help. Suddenly, Damien is overwhelmed by a bunch of Pyg's thugs. Pyg enters the scene. Pyg says "The hour of the pig has come! And the night belongs to me!" One of Pyg's thugs activates some explosives that blow up Damien.

We then cut to Dick racing through Gotham on the Quad-bat. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Batman and Robin #2 was a solid read. While this issue was not as good as Batman and Robin #1, there was still much to enjoy with this issue. Morrison delivered an excellent character study with Batman and Robin #2. Morrison eases off the gas pedal and slows down the story so that he may closer examine the relationship between Dick and Damien as well as Dick's adjustment to wearing Bruce's cape and cowl.

Despite the slower pacing, Batman and Robin #2 was a properly balanced issue. Morrison treats the reader to a good blend of action scenes and character driven scenes. The excellent fight scene at the police station keeps this issue a lively read despite the lack of any plot progression.

The real strengths of Batman and Robin #2 were the well crafted dialogue and the impressive character work. The main purpose of this issue was to take an up close look at the relationship between Dick and Damien. This is not exactly the same legendary teamwork that the reader has seen with previous versions of the Dynamic Duo in the Bruce and Dick combination and the Bruce and Tim combination.

Morrison takes the time and effort to show the reader the challenges that lie ahead for this current version of the Dynamic Duo. Morrison emphasizes how things are much different in the wake of Bruce's "death." The reader sees how Dick and Damien fight as separate units instead of as a cohesive team. And the result is that several cops end up getting killed and Mr. Toad is also killed before our heroes can extract any valuable information from him.

Morrison also shows how Damien has a complete lack of control in the way that he deals with criminals. Damien has no problems at all with beating a confession out of a criminal. And this puts Damien not only at odds with Dick, but also with Gordon. The friction with Gordon was an interesting little wrinkle since it has been a long time since Gordon has not worked hand-in-glove with Batman and Robin. Morrison hints at the fact that Gordon may not have the same trust in the new Batman and Robin that he did in Bruce and Tim. A possible rift with Gordon would be yet another headache for Dick as he endeavors to bear Bruce's heavy mantle.

Morrison does a fine job stressing the philosophic differences between Dick and Damien. I like that Damien has a complete lack of respect for Dick. This is exactly how Damien should be handled. It would have been forced and inconsistent with Damien's character if Morrison had Damien blindly follow Dick right from the start. This type of friction is to be expected and will place yet another challenge in front of Dick in his new role as Batman. Dick is a disciple of Bruce's belief in the power of the mind over fists. Dick respects the amazing cerebral detective side of Bruce's personality. On the other hand, Damien respects the physical power and aggressiveness of Bruce's personality.

Morrison wisely has Alfred point out the differences in Dick and Damien's upbringing. This was important to remind the reader why Damien acts the way he does. Morrison is the only writer who understands Damien's character and who knows how to properly write Damien. Damien is not simply a spoiled brat.

Damien is a product of his environment. Since birth Damien has been raised by murders, assassins and thieves. It would make no sense for Damien to act any different than the way that Morrison had him behave in this issue. It is completely understandable that Damien would chafe under the restrictions placed upon him by Dick. By reminding the reader of Damien's background, Morrison is attempting to get the reader to view Damien as something more than just a one dimensional brat.

The necessary friction and strife between Dick and Damien at this early point in their relationship should allow for some strong growth and evolution in their relationship. Hopefully, Morrison will be able to have both characters mature into their roles as Batman and Robin.

I am enjoying the little details that Morrison is putting into the story concerning this new Dynamic Duo. These small details are seamlessly placed into the story and help to act as small cues to the reader that this is a new Dynamic Duo. A good example of this is when the cop next to Gordon off-handedly mentioned how both Batman and Robin are shorter than they used to be. It is important that Morrison continue to write Dick and Damien differently than Bruce and Tim.

Batman and Robin #2 contains a wonderful character study of Dick Grayson. Morrison displays quite a nice feel for Dick's character in this issue. Morrison is able to have Dick experience a moment of self-doubt and inadequacy concerning his attempt at playing Batman without making Dick look too mopey and whiny. Morrison does not shy away from the fact that Dick is most certainly not Bruce. Instead, Morrison embraces this fact and has fun using this to give Dick his own distinct take on the Batman.

I like how Dick fells like a kid faking the Batman voice. I also enjoy how no one recognizes Dick as Batman. Not Damien, not Gordon and not any of the villains. This feeling out process on how to play the Batman role is critical for Dick to bring his own style to being the Batman rather than just trying to be a Bruce Wayne clone.

Morrison stresses the differences between Bruce and Dick by playing up the fact that at his core Dick is a circus performer. And Dick's past which is rooted in show business gives Dick a much different style than Bruce. Morrison takes the circus theme and extends it from Dick's past into Dick's future as Batman.

The use of show business terms by Alfred were well played. Alfred's suggestion that Dick play the Batman as a great role like a true show business performer was a brilliant take on Dick assuming the role of Batman. The show must go on and Dick viewing himself playing the role of Batman like any other great role gels nicely with Dick's background and personality.

Hopefully, this will enable Morrison to make Dick a more flamboyant Batman than what Bruce brought to the table. It would be nice to see this reflected in Batman's fighting style. Bruce is a larger and more powerful man than Dick. And Bruce used a more brutal and no-nonsense style of fighting. Dick, on the other hand, is a smaller and more athletic man. It would be neat to see Dick as Batman employ a more acrobatic and high-flying style of fighting.

Morrison ends Batman and Robin #2 with a solid hook ending with Damien in peril and Dick racing to the rescue on his cool new toy, the Quad-bat. Morrison continues to show a vivid imagination when it comes to Batman's gadgets and vehicles. The Batmobile that we got in the previous issue was delightfully outrageous. And the Quad-bat is more of the same. This is a neat little nod to the Silver Age Batman with the fantastic vehicles and gadgets that he used to employ.

Batman and Robin #2 is a wonderful looking issue thanks to Frank Quitely's distinctive and imaginative artwork. Quitely is bringing such a neat and unusual look to the Batman's world that combines both the modern era of Batman with the Silver Age of Batman. Quitely is easily able to keep pace with the strange characters and outlandish gadgets that Morrison is able to create. The design and layout of the panels in this issue make Batman and Robin #2 a fun and unique looking issue.

The Bad: The biggest defect of Batman and Robin #2 is the lack of any plot progression. This issue is quite stagnant as plot wise nothing really happens at all in this issue. The reader is basically at the same spot that they were at the end of Batman and Robin #1. The reader does not learn anything new about Pyg or his Circus of the Strange. Morrison basically put the story on hold in order to perform some character work and flesh out the dynamic that exists between Dick and Damien. This robs Batman and Robin #2 of some of the excitement and strong pacing that the first issue possessed.

Overall: Batman and Robin #2 was another good read. Morrison is doing a fine job with this title as he continues to make Batman and Robin very new reader friendly. Morrison gives just enough background information about Dick and Damien without getting in the way of the current story and boring long-time readers. Morrison also continues to deliver a nice linear read on this title. Readers who may have avoided Batman and Robin out of fear that they were going to get something like RIP or Final Crisis should have no fear. Batman and Robin is much different in style and structure than either RIP or Final Crisis.
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Rokk

Week's End - July 5th 2009

Week’s End is back to set all you kids straight. We’ve added two new things, runner ups for each award and the “whoa” of the week.  The "whoa" is a a counter to the “ugh” where I point out one really awesome from the week. It can be anything, a specific cover, a moment or something about a comic in general.

Last time on Week’s End though I was reminded that I should give a Spoiler Warning often for Week’s End. Yes, for those reading, you should know that just about every edition of Week’s End will come with spoilers of some kind.

Comic of the Week: Spawn #193

To repeat a statement from the last edition of The Week Begins, some decisions are just too easy. Just about everything in this issue was great, and this is the best issue of Spawn in quite some time. The series has been on a steady rise over the last few months. Definitely the best issue of Endgame for sure.

Runners up: Savage Dragon #150, Batman and Robin #2

Moment of the Week: the Show Must Go On (Batman and Robin #2)

The best part of Batman and Robin #2 was this conversation following Damian running off. It’s conversations like this that remind me why Alfred is such an imperative character to the Batman mythos.  This scene also provides a twist on Dick as Batman that is making me finally like the transformation.

Runner Up: Captain America on D-Day

Cover(s) of the Week: Captain America: Reborn #1 (all covers)

This was a very tough decision, trust me. This week had some seriously excellent covers and to pick one was impossible. Looking at all the great covers for Captain America: Reborn #1 I had to choose them all. I could not pick just one. Each one has something great and unique about it.

The Hitch cover has an awesome dynamic pose and the scene of war behind Cap looks cool as all hell. The Ross cover (the one I got) has a great use of the two light colors to display a warp like image. Cassidy’s image was just very bold, especially with the colors. The Quesada variant was just very imposing and it looked badass as far as Cap is concerned.

So yeah, four awesome covers that win the award since their of the same comic.

Runner Up: Witchblade #128 Luke Ross variant.

Character of the Week: the New Batman

This was another tough decision.  Clown would have won this award if it weren’t for the final panel of Dick saying “the show must go on.” That line cemented Dick as the new Batman for me and finally made me really accept it. Morrison has been doing very well on Batman and Robin.  It may not be quite perfect, but Morrison is still delivering work on that title.  And Morrison is doing a great job with Dick Grayson in particular.

Dick’s new take on being Batman is just brilliant. To treat it as a role that he is acting and that he is a performer. It makes for an interesting twist on Dick playing Batman rather than just copying him.

Runners up: Clown (Spawn), Sara Pezzini (Witchblade).

Artist of the Week: Greg Capullo (Spawn)

Another easy decision. Capullo’s long awaited return to Spawn was well worth it. The man’s brilliant artwork graced issue #193 and he made every page, panel and character look great. Sure there was some minor problems with the coloring, and Capullo did have a few odd moments, but those can easily be overlooked for the incredible artwork we where treated to this week.

Runner Up: Stjepan Sejic (Witchblade)

The “Whoa” of the Week: Savage Dragon #150 100 pages!

When at my LCS this week I was shocked to see that Savage Dragon was like a TPB, for the cheap price of 6 bucks (it is for a TPB) rather than a comic. That was so awesome. Erik Larsen has to be one of the smartest guys in comics today.  First, we got Savage Dragon #144’s awesome style of several days on a page, then Savage Dragon #148 was for free and now this.

Runner Up: Sara Survives (Witchblade)

The Comic I Wish I Got: Marvel Divas #1

A really good looking comic that is seemingly getting mixed reviews. Some people love it and call it a quirky and great read.  On the other hand, others seem to hold a lot of disdain for it. Personally, I wish I could at least check it out, but with only 10 bucks on me this week I had a limited budget. Oh well, there’s always the collection.

Runner Up: Destroyer #4

A final note, there doesn’t seem to be any comics this week coming out for me, maybe one I’m not noticing, so I probably won’t have a The Week Begins this week.
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Andrenn

Comic Book Review: Spawn #193

Spawn has been one of the best comics I have ever read. Though my first comic I ever read was Spider-Man, the comic that got me back into comics a few years back was Spawn. I had heard that the title had reached 150 issues and hopped back into reading it. Spawn is the reason I am even reviewing comics nowadays so to that I feel I owe a lot to the series.

Having said that, this has not stopped me from being critical of the "Endgame" storyline that has now reached it’s ninth chapter. McFarlane returned to Spawn, but the book has had some serious pacing issues even when turning in a good read. A lot of fans, myself included, had very high hopes for the long awaited return of Greg Capullo to this title in hopes that his art could return a sense of greatness to Spawn. So with that said let’s get to the review.

Creative Team

Writer: Todd McFarlane
Artist: Greg Capullo
Inks: Todd McFarlane
Colorist: Jay Fotos

Story: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Violator menacingly stares down at Spawn, telling him that he knows all about him. Spawn gets angry and approaches Violator.  Freak warns Spawn not to as right now they are in a safe zone where Violator can not touch Spawn. Spawn ignores Freak and asks if it’s true that Violator can tell him about what he is.

Freak warns Spawn again. Violator says he has to go attend to another person far more deadly then Spawn. Violator runs off. We then hear two people talking (one of them Violator) and then Violator shrieks. We then see Clown walk out of the alley and ask if everyone is safe. Clown says that he has taken care of the Violator. (For those unaware, Violator and Clown are the same person)

Clown explains that he wants to help the new Spawn but Freak doesn’t trust Clown. Clown says that all three of them are brothers from Hell, but Freak just (excuse the pun) freaks out and runs away. Spawn and Clown go over to the Angel who had her wings ripped off in Spawn #191. Spawn watches the Angel as she slips deeper into insanity. Spawn wants answers from the Angel but Clown tells him that she would never tell Spawn anything anyway.

Clown tells Spawn how his suit is alive and teaches Spawn how to control it more. Clown tells Spawn to relax and embrace the suit. Just when Spawn starts asking more questions Clown says that he has to go. Clown asks for Spawn’s name. Spawn replies that it is Jim Downing. Clown runs off and yells that he will be in contact with Jim.

We see Sam and Twitch as they arrive at a crime scene from Spawn #189. Sam is asking about the I.D. and is curious as to who could have done this. Sam knocks over a vase. A cop say’s he will report it to which Sam replies “Oh, Screw You, Johnson” (Real classy, Sam.) Sam gives the officer fifty bucks to cover the vase to which Twitch says Sam is 700 dollars off on the price of the vase.

Sam and Twitch hop in their car and drive off. Sam and Twitch are talking about how to find Spawn when Sam screeches to a halt after almost hitting Clown. Same yells at Clown to which Clown replies by pissing on the hood of Sam’s car. (Even more classy. I love it!) Sam chases Clown down and arrests him. To which Clown whispers “Finally.”

Sam talks about how he wants to return the favor to Clown’s car by laying a giant turd on the windshield of Clown's car. Twitch replies’ That’s fairly mature, sir.” Sam comments on how mature is over-rated. Clown starts to turn into Violator but when Sam looks back he’s back to normal (as normal as a Clown can be) and they arrive at the police precinct.

We cut to the cops in Virginia who have been looking into a rich man’s suicide from Spawn #185. They get fed up with no one giving them answers so they plan to go to New York. (The one boring part of this issue. This sub-plot has been totally boring)

We hop back to the police precinct. Clown is put in a cell and he walks over to a vampire named Claudio. Clown says how Claudio couldn’t hide from him. Clown says that he wants Claudio’s boss with him and Clown is not giving him a choice. Clown says that with Claudio’s boss, the new Spawn and Violator they can create the new Unholy Trinity and that he will kill anyone who gets in his way. End of issue.

Commentary

The Good: Spawn #193 was a good issue. McFarlane is excelling with the dialogue in this issue. The best dialogue is the banter between Spawn and Clown. Their back and forth is great and I like how McFarlane is building a new dynamic rather than just going with the obvious “they hate each other” idea. I’m not exactly sure if this friendship will last long, but for now it’s a great twist.

I like the idea that Freak wants to help Spawn. Though I’m not sure if that is really Freak's desire. I think it is more that Freak does not want to help Violator. Either way, this is an interesting aspect of Freak's character and I hope it sticks.

Clown himself takes center stage in this issue and does a great job carrying the story. Clown is always an awesome villain even when he has had his down moments. McFarlane returns the Clown to his crazy evil conniving self and I love it.

McFarlane has also been doing a good job of developing Jim Downing, the new Spawn, over the recent few chapters of Endgame. While Jim has yet to reach the same level of Al Simmons, the previous Spawn, Jim has come a long way in these last nine months. Jim's dialogue and how he acts stands out nicely. Finally, Jim is becoming more of his own character.

Sam and Twitch have been in the comic for a few issues again, but this is their biggest point in the plot so far. McFarlane excels at their dialogue as Sam is still the same grouchy bastard and Twitch is still a level headed genius. Hopefully, these two characters will get more and more panel time later in this story.

The scene with Clown pissing on Sam’s car had me in stitches. It was the perfect thing for Clown to do in order to get arrested. The moments between these three characters in the car were funny. I enjoyed this scene and I hope that McFarlane has these three characters interact again in this story.

I continue to enjoy the development of how Clown is setting up a big army for whatever purpose he serves. I wish we knew why Clown was doing all this, but it’s Clown, it can never be something good. Having said that, I do hope that McFarlane speeds things up.

Capullo’s art was absolutely phenomenal. The man set the standard for the Spawn series and he practically redefines it here. Whilce Portacio has been great as the main artist, but Capullo still is the best when it comes to drawing Spawn. I can only hope that Capullo returns sooner than later as every page and every panel from start to finish looks great.

McFarlane and Capullo are a great team as far as story and art is concerned and they turned in a fine issue.

The Bad: McFarlane has been doing an awful job with the Suicide sub-plot that started in Spawn #185 and it has not been even remotely interesting. It may have been slightly interesting at first, but this sub-plot has barely moved an inch from when it was first introduced. This sub-plot has gotten boring and is dragging along. McFarlane needs to either cut or resolve this sub-plot.

While the rest of this issue had good pacing this one moment just stood out so frustratingly. McFarlane needs to tell the reader why the guy blew his brains out or cut off the sub-plot since it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

I did feel like McFarlane had a little more to add to this issue but he was at the page limit so he had to cut it off for the next issue.

It definitely feels like McFarlane is writing this for trade format and that is a tad frustrating. It is something that a large majority of writers today do. While I can understand that, I still think McFarlane could avoid this easily since he is such a veteran writer.

Capullo’s art does have a few minor weird moments and the coloring doesn’t fit perfectly. Mostly with Spawn’s eyes, the green is way too dark.

Overall: Spawn #193 isn’t a perfect read, McFarlane needs to either pick up the pace or drop some of the dead weight. Spawn has come a long way these past nine months into one of the best books on the shelves. But it is a bit late in the game to jump onto this title. Lucky volume 1 of "Endgame" came out this week, so go pick up the last two issues and "Endgame" volume 1 if you’re interested in this story.

"Endgame" is undeniably a story that’s been well worth it and this chapter, with the masterful Capullo on art, has been the best one yet. Spawn #193 is a must read for any Spawn fan.
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Andrenn

Groovy Superhero, Reborn!

Groovy Superhero and the Revolution are a united front, so for you Revolutionaries, this is one-stop shopping; my daily posts are appearing on both sites, so you only need visit Groovy Superhero if you want to peruse the archives for my backstory, which in any case will soon be collected in Absolute Omnibus format.

I've read them, and I promise they will blow your mind, especially the dramatic Volume 3: "The Cat Fell Asleep on My Keyboard and Now My Language Settings are All F**d Up", a/k/a "Me Chinese, Me Have Blog, Me Write Post About Magog".

I have a long and storied history, but today of all days it's time for a retelling of my classic origin story.



The year was 2002, and our brave fighting forces were at war overseas. I wanted nothing more than to write for my country, but the New York Times told me I wasn't on anywhere near enough cocaine to write "front-line" stories from a rat-infested apartment, and so I was rejected. Down but not out, I was recruited by the reclusive Professor Steve Jobs to be a trial subject for his experimental Super-Blogger Serum. He unveiled me before an awed crowd (Professor Jobs could pretty much unveil a wet hamburger roll and awe a crowd, it was his gift), but I was not only the first to receive the serum - I was the last. Professor Jobs took a bullet to the prostate fired by the president of Facebook, and the serum was lost forever.

As it turns out, that's probably for the best - it turns out the serum was a compound of amphetamines, bleach, and Tommy Lee's blood - it's given me a unique condition which doctors refer to as "Hepatitis-Z". So my eyes bleed a bit from time to time, and I occasionally vomit fire, Red Lantern style - but I've been blessed with the ability to tag, link, review and comment, in the name of freedom.

I lost my trusty companion Newton when I threw it out of a moving vehicle in a rage in 1994, but little did I know it survived, and was re-engineered. It has returned to me as the slim, sleek powerhouse iPod Touch, and together we fight the never ending battle against foes such as Batroc the Splogger and the Cylon Society.

God bless America, and God bless the Revolution. Groovy Superhero is proud to be a soldier in both your names!

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Groovy Superhero

Cartoon Review: The Spectacular Spider-Man Ep. 16

"Reinforcement"

Review
With the introduction of Mysterio and Kraven in the first two episodes of Season Two it was only a matter of time before the Sinister Six returned; though I did not to expect them to return in the third episode of this season. I don't know if it was just me, but I thought it was a bit too soon to see the Sinister Six again. I would have liked to have seen more development of Master Planner and what Tombstone, the current Kingpin of New York City, thinks of someone invading his turf.  I would have also liked to see a few other Spider-Man villains being introduced into this universe, like Scorpion or Smythe.

In any case, this is only minor complaint as "Reinforcement" was a fun action packed episode. This new Sinister Six was a great mix of characters that was much closer to the original Sinister Six group as they added Mysterio and Kraven to the group with Sandman, Vulture, Electro, and Rhino. The only one missing was Doctor Octopus, who is replaced by Rhino as the original member. And with Doc Ock's reaction to being recruited I am wondering who the Master Planner is as I thought it was Doc Ock.  But, Doc Ock's reaction in this scene and at the end makes me wonder if it is some other character that is the Master Planner.

I loved how they the creative team behind this show decided to split up the group into pairs to take on Spider-Man. The teams of Electro and Vulture, Sandman and Rhino, and finally Mysterio and Kraven all proved to be a great challenge to our favorite superhero. Each pair provided a different type of fight that really tested Spider-Man both physically and mentally. All the fights had a lot of energy as Spider-Man having to fight off the various members of the Sinister Six had him constantly on the move without much rest.

And I'll admit that there were times during each fight that I found myself smiling or laughing at the banter between Spider-Man and his Rogue Gallery. Some of my favorite moments from the fights were Spider-Man trying to banter with Vulture and Electro even though he had burnt his tongue and Rhino's line before going through the ice: "I hate you so much." It was classic.

Also, I found it interesting that there was a brief mention of Cletus (aka Carnage) when Kraven went to recruit Electro and Doc Ock. It was something that I missed when I first watched the episode but when I went back to re-watch it I caught the brief mention. Since we saw Venom introduced in the first season I would not be surprised if we saw Carnage later in this season.

Even though this was an action heavy episode there was some development with Peter's personal life, mostly the Peter/Gwen/Liz love triangle. It is interesting seeing that even though the first season ended with the kiss between Peter and Gwen that the creative team behind this show continue to keep the two apart. And I have to agree with MJ that it is Peter's wandering eye that is keeping them apart.  I wonder how long it will be before we see them together. I did like Peter getting distracted by MJ by thinking "Will you look at her. She's gorgeous!" It was a funny line that gives more reason to it being Peter not Gwen that is keeping the two apart.

Overall, this was another great episode for the second season of The Spectacular Spider-Man and I hope that with the first three episodes being so action heavy that we get more episodes focusing on Peter's personal life.

Episode Rating – 9.5/10
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Kevin

Groovy Superhero, American Son!

No, you're not hallucinating - my daily Groovy Superhero posts are also appearing at the Revolution. I'm spreading like the swine flu, marking my territory like a dog. My posts will also be reprinted in Playgirl Magazine (comics fan edition), starting with the September issue. Look for my debut on page 34, right before the Quesada centerfold.

I know I've already apologized for my extended absences, and now I have to apologize again if you've missed me these last couple of days. I've had some stuff going on.

Despite the fact that up until the series finale I was an embarrassingly hard-core Battlestar Galactica fanboy, I came clean with the fact that Starbuck being an angel was lamer than Patrick Duffy in the shower at the end of Dallas, and as a result I've had to go into hiding as there is apparently a 40-billion cubit bounty on my head now.

Anyone who reads me with any regularity knows I've been dealing with non-glamorous, non-costumed real-world crime, and anybody who doesn't read me regularly needs to catch up and fill that terrible void in their soul.

And, of course, there's nothing like family drama to cap off a week of insanity - I won't go into details, and I wouldn't have even brought it up, except for the funny part: there's crap going on between me and my dad. My dad, who in the eyes of the entire world except for those who truly know him, is a savior. My dad who, secretly, when nobody is looking and the goblin emerges, I have seen punch a moving taxicab - to what end? Who knows. But it's funny to watch, except for his hand getting all gory. (Who am I kidding, that part is totally funny! What was he thinking, he was gonna knock the cab unconscious, like in Looney Tunes?) My dad, whose hair defies all laws of physics. You see where I'm going with this, no?

That's right: I am Harry Osborn. I have pretty, pretty eyelashes and and glistening red and black striped cornrows - presumably because Steve Ditko was buzzed on stale ink fumes when he first drew me, and Stan was too lazy to correct him.

But I have emerged from my trials, stronger and more fearless than ever. That vote about whether or not I'm a douche? Just like New York City Mayoral term limits, it's canceled! Because one man's douche is another man's... hmm, that metaphor isn't going anywhere. Well, then, how about this: I have swum through an ocean of filthy douche water and come out clean on the other side!

I am Groovy Superhero - American Son!

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Groovy Superhero

Comic Book Review: Captain America: Reborn #1

I have mixed feelings about Captain America: Reborn #1. I am part of the camp that believe that there is no reason to rush Steve Rogers back so soon after his "death." I have been enjoying what Brubaker has been doing with Bucky as Captain America and how Brubaker has fleshed out all of Steve's supporting characters. I believe that Brubaker easily has enough stories in him to keep Bucky as Captain America for another two to four years.

So, while I might have pushed back the return of Steve Rogers, I understand that Marvel feels the need to rush Steve back before they release the Captain America movie. I have loved Brubaker's run on Captain America and have very high expectations for Captain America: Reborn #1. Hopefully, Brubaker can meet my high expectations and deliver a well crafted read with Captain America: Reborn #1. Let's do this review.

Creative Team
Writers: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inks: Butch Guice

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with a flashback scene to D-Day with Captain America leading the Marines in storming the beach in Normandy. Captain America tells the troops that he is not going to lie to them. Captain America says that this is going to be one of the hardest days in their lives. Captain America tells the Marines to follow him. A voice narrates that this is the story of the life of Captain America that everyone knows.

We then cut to Sharon shooting Steve Rogers. A voice narrates that this is the story of the death of Captain America.

We shift to the new Captain America and Black Widow breaking into a HAMMER Helicarrier. Captain America and Black Widow kick ass on a bunch of HAMMER agents. A voice narrates that Steve Rogers' old cohort, Bucky Barnes, is now the new Captain America. After Captain America and Black Widow wipe out all of the HAMMER agents, Black Widow radios someone and informs them "All right, we're in."

We slide over to Hank Pym's lab where Hank is meeting with Vision, Falcon and Sharon Carter. We learn that the two voices narrating all of the previous scenes has been Vision and Hank Pym. Sharon Carter explains how she was the second shooter and that she killed Steve Rogers. Sharon continues how she was under the mind control of the Red Skull. However, Sharon was eventually able to break free from the Red Skull's control.

Sharon tells Pym that Arnim Zola constructed a variation of Doom's Time Platform. Sharon re-tells the events of Captain America #42 where she was hooked up to the time platform. Sharon says that she saw Steve Rogers in the bright light of the time platform. Sharon broke her connection with the time platform because she was not going to let the Red Skull have Steve. Sharon says that it seemed like Red Skull was trying to bring Steve back.

Falcon then shows Pym the gun that Red Skull had Sharon use to kill Steve. Sharon continues that Red Skrull referred to her as "the constant." Sharon says that Red Skull needed her to make the whole thing work. Pym asks if they know what happened to what was left of this time platform. Sharon says that they do now.

We cut to yesterday with Nick Fury meeting with Bucky and Natasha to plot their infiltration of HAMMER. Nick tells them that HAMMER is holding all of Red Skull's confiscated tech on HAMMER's main helicarrier. Nick says that there is no record that the tech has ever been examined. That it appears it has been lost in the shuffle during the transition from SHIELD to HAMMER. Nick gives Bucky the breach point on HAMMER's ship. Nick says that he can make sure the surveillance cameras are looped for fifteen minutes. After that, Bucky and Natasha are on their own.

We zip back to the present with Captain America and Black Widow making their way past some HAMMER soldiers on HAMMER's helicarrier. We cut back to Pym's lab. Pym is inspecting the gun that Sharon used to kill Steve. Pym says that the gun is definitely Doom-tech. Pym says that they need to get Reed Richards to examine the gun. Pym says there is something odd that is not making a lot of sense. Some kind of tachyon field or something unstable.

Pym then asks what are the odds that Norman Osborn would not know about Arnim Zola's time platform that is sitting in Norman's own helicarrier. Pym says that it is generally a bad idea to underestimate Norman Osborn.

We cut back to Captain America and Black Widow in the storage room in the HAMMER helicarrier. Captain America tells Black Widow that they have a problem. Not only is there no sign of the time platform, but there are also no signs of the pieces of Arnim Zola's blown up robotic body that were confiscated by SHIELD. Captain America says that they have to go now. That this is not right.

Suddenly, the Ares and Venom appear on the scene along with a ton of HAMMER soldier.

We zip over to Thunderbolts Mountain which is serving as HAMMER's National Headquarters. We see that Norman has partially re-constructed Arnim Zola's robotic body. Arnim Zola tells Norman that Doom's device locked Steve's body in time and space. That with both the time platform and the constant that they were able to pluck Steve out of the time stream where he lay dormant. However, Sharon destroyed the time platform and that caused them to lose Steve's body during the transfer. Arnim Zola states that Steve has become unstuck in time.

We cut back to Normandy during D-Day. Steve looks around at the dead. Steve thinks that this is not right. That he should not be here. Bucky runs up to Steve and tells him that more Germans are coming and that they have to retreat. Steve is surprised to see Bucky alive. Everything goes white. We then see Steve as a young boy watching his mother die. Everything goes white.

We then see Steve back in World War II in the middle of a battle. Bucky dives and knocks Steve out of the way from some falling rubble from a bomb. Bucky says that Steve was in a daze. Steve responds that he is fine. Steve then thinks "Oh god…What's happening to me?" (Um, you are basically Desmond from Lost.) End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Captain America: Reborn #1 did not live up to my extremely high expectations. I found this to be a slightly above average debut issue. Still, there were plenty of positive aspects to Captain America: Reborn #1. Brubaker most certainly succeeded in making this issue extremely new reader friendly. Brubaker used the first seventeen pages of this issue to concisely and effectively re-cap the high points of his run on Captain America. New readers get the essential facts of Brubaker's run. This enables new reader to hop on this title and have absolutely no problems knowing what is going on.

In terms of sales and marketing, this was a smart move by Marvel. However, as a reader who has been following Brubaker's run on Captain America with the very first issue, the final thirteen pages were what actually interested me.

Brubaker performed his usual solid character work with this issue. The dialogue was also well crafted. Brubaker is an old hand with all of Captain America's supporting cast and knows how to write them properly. I loved the insertion of Norman into this story. This provided for a nice unexpected wrinkle and added yet another faction into the mix. Plus, this also helps to anchor Captain America: Reborn in the Dark Reign setting of the 616 Universe. I particularly enjoyed how Brubaker properly writes Norman Osborn as a dangerous and smart man who is not to be underestimated.

I also enjoyed that Brubaker worked Hank Pym into this story. I appreciate the concerted effort at Marvel to try and properly rehabilitate Pym's character. Brubaker continues the recent trend of firmly re-establishing Pym as one of Marvel's premier big brains right up there with Reed Richards and Tony Stark. The use of Pym in this story also helps to tie Captain America to the Mighty Avengers who I view more as the "real" Avengers compared to the motley crew on New Avengers.

Captain America: Reborn #1 was a strongly plotted issue. Brubaker does his best to show the reader how all the various clues during his run on Captain America connect together to arrive at this story. Brubaker seamlessly builds off the events from Captain America #42 in this issue. It is obvious that Brubaker has had a clear goal in mind from the moment that he "killed" Steve Rogers. Brubaker moves the story forward in a logical fashion with an obvious purpose in mind.

I like that Brubaker wasted no time in giving the reader at least the generalities surrounding what happened to Steve. Sure, Brubaker held back some of the finer details, but the reader gets the basic gist of what Red Skull did to Steve. I am glad that Brubaker decided to clue the reader in from the start of this story. This allows Brubaker to simply focus on the journey that our heroes are going to have to undertake in order to rescue Steve over the course of the next four issues. And it gives the reader enough information so they know what to expect with the rest of this series without spoiling too much.

Brubaker ends Captain America: Reborn #1 with a solid hook ending as Steve begins to realize that he is sliding up and down the time stream. I have to admit that even though I want a couple of more years of Bucky as Captain America; it was nice to see Steve Rogers back in action once again. Brubaker certainly did enough with the "surprise" ending of this issue as the reader discovers that Steve has become lost in the time stream to hook readers into coming back for more with the next issue.

Bryan Hitch and Bruce Guice combined to deliver plenty of nice artwork. While I do prefer it when Hitch inks his own work, Guice does a fine job with this issue. And more importantly, having Guice perform the inking duties hopefully will enable Hitch to meet his deadlines with this title. Hitch gives Captain America: Reborn #1 a nice dramatic look. I love how Hitch frames this story. Hitch's panel layouts are great and he makes this issue enjoyable to look at.

The Bad: Captain America: Reborn #1 did not live up to my lofty expectations for this issue. I have extremely high standards for Brubaker when it comes to Captain America. As long-time followers of The Revolution know, I have been consistently praising Brubaker's Captain America since the first day The Revolution started. I do believe that Captain America is one of the best comic books on the market. So, because of my respect and appreciation for what Brubaker has done on Captain America, I have extremely high standards of what I expect from Brubaker. Captain America: Reborn #1 simply did not live up to those expectation.

Brubaker's run on Captain America has been well crafted and quite original. While Brubaker has used some fantastic devices like the cosmic cube; his run on Captain America has trended closer to a realism based story rather than your typical outlandish super hero comic book story. On the other hand, Captain America: Reborn #1 was a rather unoriginal story. And this issue also veered toward more of your typical super hero comic book complete with goofy elaborate plans by the main villain.

As many of the followers of The Revolution know, I have been watching the DVD's of Lost like a madman for the past month. I am currently watching Season 4. The odd thing is that on Tuesday night I watched the fifth episode of Season 4 entitled "The Constant." If you are unfamiliar with Lost then check out the recap and review of "The Constant".

On Wednesday, I was relaxing in the lounge of my local comic book shop. Yes, my local comic shop has a lounge. That is part of why it is the best comic shop in America. I was talking with a couple of other guys about Season 4 of Lost. In particular the episode "The Constant." We were all raving about how incredible that episode was.

We then picked up our copies of Captain America: Reborn #1 and decided to read them and talk about what we thought of this issue. Once we all finished our copies of this issue, we looked at each other and all said: "The Constant." Maybe Brubaker was not ripping off Lost when he came up with his concept for Steve's mind and soul being unanchored and travelling along his time stream and requiring Sharon to serve as the constant to anchor him back into reality and into the present time stream. I guess that is possible.

But, the fact remains that Brubaker's concept for Captain America: Reborn is exactly what we got in Lost in the episode "The Constant." Desmond becomes detached from the present day as his mind and soul begin to slide up and down his time stream. Desmond has to use the love of his life, Penny, as his "constant" to anchor him to reality and the present day.

Now, the creators of Lost have stated that they were inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five when they wrote "The Constant." And I understand that often writers look to earlier works for inspiration for their own stories. But, when I was reading Captain America: Reborn #1 I felt like I was simply reading a reconstituted version of "The Constant" in super hero format. Insert Steve for Desmond and insert Sharon for Penny. It was disappointing to see Brubaker deliver such an unoriginal concept as the centerpiece for Captain America: Reborn. Hopefully, Brubaker will be able to give this story a more unique and original feel over the course of the next several issues.

Despite my reservations surrounding the originality or lack thereof of the main concept of this story, my biggest problem with Captain America: Reborn #1 is the act of bringing characters back from the dead. Unfortunately, resurrecting characters seems to inevitably lead to a cheesy and contrived story that is tough for the reader to swallow.

Brubaker's explanation of how Steve "died" and how he can be resurrected was a bit lame and cheesy. And that is the heart of the problem with constantly killing off characters and then bringing them back. It is asking too much from a writer to resurrect a character and to do so in a fashion that does not make the reader roll their eyes at some point.

This is why I wish characters would not be killed off so often. To cheat death, the writer will almost always have to resort to some convoluted and silly plot device to bring the character back to life. The idea that Red Skull would have Sharon use a special gun that sends Steve's soul adrift in the time stream only to then build a time platform and use Sharon as a constant to bring Steve's soul back into the present day was goofy.

I find this story much less interesting than the rest of Brubaker's run on the Captain America. Personally, I would much rather read about Bucky as Captain America than this contrived story of how Steve Rogers was brought back to life.

Another problem with this ridiculously convoluted plan that the Red Skull had for Steve is that it runs the risk of making Red Skull look like an idiot. Brubaker unveils in this issue how Red Skull planned an unbelievably ornate and elaborate plan rather than having the Red Skull simply have Sharon kill Steve with a regular gun and thereby forever being done with his arch nemesis. This type of silly plan is standard issue comic book fare that makes the villain look more like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers than an intelligent villain who is a legitimate threat.

We have seen this time and time again where the villain engages in a laughably and overly elaborate plan to dispose of the hero rather than simply shooting the hero with a gun and ending it once and for all. And in Captain America: Reborn #1, the reader is left with the impression that the Red Skull is an idiot for engaging in such an elaborate plan to deal with Steve. Hopefully, Brubaker has an excellent reason why the Red Skull would employ such an over the top plan rather than simply having Sharon shoot Steve with a real gun.

A more practical complaint of Captain America: Reborn #1 was that it was a slow read. As a long time reader I was bored while Brubaker spent the first seventeen pages recounting what we have gotten on this title since Steve Rogers was "killed." I understand why Brubaker went this route, but it did nothing to make this issue an exciting read for long-time Captain America readers. I suspect that now that Brubaker has gotten all the set-up out of the way that the remaining four issues should be more exciting for long-time Captain America readers.

Overall: The fact remains that despite the weaknesses of Captain America: Reborn #1, Steve Rogers fans are going to absolutely love this issue. And they should. Fans of a character can easily look past many defects of a story if the end result is the return of a beloved character.

Case in point is how I view Flash: Rebirth. My love for Barry Allen's character and my excitement over his return has allowed me to be relatively immune to the obvious defects of the story. Those defects usually only irritate readers who are not devout fans of the character being resurrected.

Despite my problems with this issue, I would still recommend Captain America: Reborn #1 to long-time Captain America readers. This is the moment that Brubaker has been building to since he came aboard this title. And if you have been reading Captain America since Brubaker's first issue then it will be tough for you to skip on Captain America: Reborn no matter the obvious defects of this story.

I would definitely recommend Captain America: Reborn #1 to readers who have never read Captain America before. This issue is very new reader friendly and it offers a technically well constructed story.

On the other hand, readers who are tired of reading contrived stories where a character is brought back from the dead are better off served by not bothering with Captain America: Reborn.
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Rokk