I review comics!!!

Recently all that seems to be coming out of the Comics Blog-sphere has been gossip, complaints and people pondering big questions. But almost no one is reviewing comics anymore. So let me begin to review the comics i read again.
A couple of notes before i begin. 

• All of the comics that I buy in the singles are purchased digitally and read on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
• After reading some comics when i was growing up (Lobdel era X-Men, old Flash comics, Sandman, ect) I got into reading comics monthly with Kevin Smith on Green Arrow, which was rapidly followed by Waid's JLA, and then the Post No Man's Land era of the Batbooks. So when people talk about how everything is changing and how much they hate it, i really have no idea what they are talking about. The first major arc i got into was Officer Down where Commissioner Gordon is replaced by Commissioner Akins and I was good with that. I have heard nothing but complaining for over a decade about "how much better things used to be."  I heard constant bitching about how much better Pre-Crisis Huntress was then Post-Crisis. Now she is back after being gone since i was 4 and there is more bitching. It is really frustrating.

Anyway, onto the reviews
Comics Purchased 12/12/12


Superboy 15 by Tom Defalco and Roger Robinson, Ron Frenz, Iban Coello, Amilcar Pinna

Part 3 of H'El on Earth
Not the greatest issue of them all, but one that keeps the basic plot of H'El on Earth going along. I am wondering how much of this plot has been brewing since the beginning of the New 52, because this really seems to be reaching the climax of the introduction of Superboy that has been slowly building over the last, well,15 issues.It will be very interesting to go back and reread all of the title once H'El on Earth is finished so that i can absorb the story as a whole, something that i can blessedly do now that I get everything on digital. We are also seeing a much more confident Superman than we have in many years, the credit for which i will lay at Lobdel, a writer who everyone rags on until one remembers that for all of its artistic excesses early on, 90s X-Men was Scott Lobdel. The man writes damn good comics and always has. Also, it is very good to see more Roger Robinson art. He did one of my all time favorite runs from when i started reading comics (Devin Grayson's Gotham Knghts.) His art here is a lot looser, probably because of the Ron Frenz breakdowns, but  still quality. Though he is looking much more like Tom Mandrake than he normally does. As a side note, if you ever get the chance to read the run of The Spectre that Mandrake did with John Ostander back in the early 90s, do. It is wonderful and a key part of the Ostander/DeMatis sector of the DCU that was so amazing at the time. 

out of 5

Star Trek 12-14 by Mike Johnson, Claudia Balboni, Stehen Molnar

Getting caught slightly up on a series that I had let rest for a few months. It is a series that I enjoy, but is not worth the $3.99 to get it Day&Date.
For a licenced property, it has good art that looks enough like the actors to be recognizable but not so much like that it looks like tracing. Issue 12 ends the two part Tribble story that began in issue 11 and features the return of Archer's beagle. Issue 13 is a story about that big Security guy who like to call Kirk cupcake in the movie. Issue 14 is about that green guy that was hanging out with Scotty.  All in all, good books.






Transformers: Robots in Disguise 12 by Joh Barber and Casey Coller and Andrew Griffith
Transformers Spotlight: Orion Pax by James Robets and Steve Kurth and Livio Ramondelli

Staying on licenced books, we arrive at my favorite on going series (yes spotlight is a one shot but it is by the writer of the other Transformers series and is basically a continuation of the last arc on More than Meets the Eye.)
I was never a huge Transformers fan growing up. I had the requisite Optimus Prime, but i don't think i have watched more than the cartoon movie and the first 2 Michael Bay movies. I started reading both of the series with the launches of Robots in Disguise and More than Meets the Eye last January. The basic plot of the series. The War between Autobots and Deceptacons is over. Megatron is dead and Optinus Prime has left, realizing that he is too big a distraction. In Robots in Disguise, Bumblebee is in control of Cybertron, trying to lead the post war government. It is a very political book, but machinations, assassinations and  the fate of a species on the line. More than Meets the Eye is a hilarious book in which Rodiumus get board and decides to go on an adventure. He gathers 20-30 mostly Autobots and other Cybertronians including one who was stuck down a hole for 3 million years and thus knows nothing about the war. It is the easiest to get in to as it tends to explain more and, more importantly tends to be absolutely hilarious. This Spotlight follows on an arc that dealt with a the crew of Rodimus' ship sitting around telling tales of the days before the war and especially of Orion Pax, the noble cop who would one day become Optimus Prime. Characters who we know and love wonder in and out and you get insight into how these characters are today. I cannot recommend these title enough. The trades of both came out a couple of months ago. I would recommed going with More than Meets the Eye first as it a) is a better book b) is hilarious and c) includes the issue that sets up the status quo for both books
Get it here.

Green Lantern Corps 15 by Pete Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. 
I have been off of Green Lantern Corps for many months and just jumped back on for Rise of the Third Army. While I do love Tomasis writing and appreciate Pasarins art, there is a spark missing from the title that was here when Patrick Gleeson was writing it. Continues the Rise of the Third Army. OK.

Batman and Robin 15 by Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleeson. 
Dear Patrick Gleeson, while the shot that Greg Capullo did looking through the eyes of a skull in issue 1 of Batman was amazing, that does not give you licence to do one of those looking through the eye holes of the Jokers face/mask. That was creepy as all fuck. Other than that, you continue to be one of the best artists working in comics today.
Also, the rest of the issue was also really good, it has been disappointing that Batmand and Robin had not jumped into Death in the Family till now, but now it is, and all is good in the universe

Demon Knights 15 by Paul Cornell and Bernard Chang
This title has been lovely and is another one that i will need to go and reread as a whole now that Cornell is leaving to write for Marvel. Great characters, with almost one of the most diverse casts in comics. Plus it is one of the foundation titles for understanding the current DCU. Plus any lines like "Lucifer fighting King Arthur?! Vandal Savage really should join in. You know, just to please the historians" give it high marks in my book.

Batgirl 15 by Gail Simone and Daniel Sampere.
First things first, this issue is nicely creepy and has soon good action beats, but even that is now enough. Batgirl has been a bit of a disappointing book, due to two factors. Firstly, the book has yet to get an artist that really suits it. No matter how much Simone might like the Ed Bennes stlye, I really don't and find it all a bit to plasticy. Secondly, I have never been that big of a fan of Simones writing. I enjoy bits and pieces of her work, but she has never really clicked for me. I did mostly enjoy her Birds of Prey and Secret 6 and parts of her Deadpool, but her Action Comics run (which may have been due to John Byrne), Wonder Woman and now Batgirl have not done it for me.

Batman 15 by Scott Synder and Greg Capullo
More than any other single factor, the thing that I love about Snyder's Batman run is that it hold up on and issue by issue level and a run wide level. I don't know if I really agree with Bruce's approach to the joker card, but i am sure it will click more during the reread. The issue also has one of my favorite Bat tropes. Batman needs some information from someone, so he shows up at their house (crashing through their window and landing on the dining room table with the entire family is having diner) and has a talk with the suspect. No punches, very little property damage (one window.) Just a pissed off Batman in need of information who need only look at someone to get them to talk. Cowardly and Superstitious lot indeed. Really looking forward to the Riddler story that is teased in the backup.




Comics not yet read as of publication
Bandette 3 by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
Defend Comics (the CBLDF book)
Legion Lost 15 by Tom Defalco and Pete Woods and Ronan Cliquet
(the spark seems to be missing in the Legion books. I am on this one till the book is canceled)

Coming Soon: The complete Post-Zero Hour Legion of Superheroes

I have held forth at length in the past about how much I enjoyed the post-boot/post Zero hour Legion. In fact I have been able to piece together a near complete run of the series from the various back issue collections in the comic shops around my hometown. While the actual floppies remain in a full long-box back at my parents house in California, I have recently re-acquired the digital archive and TPB that I have on the Post-boot Legion.

So, beginning sometime in the next week I will begin a full run though/review of the entire 11 year run of the second Legion of Superheroes. There will be some good moments (the DnA Years, the White Triangle Saga, the take down of the president of the UP) with the bad (Lori and Monstress)

I have yet to decide if I will be going through issue by issue of via story arc. I'll decide in the next few days.

Stephanie Brown is alive!?!?

So I was just looking at a full sized scan of the last page of last weeks Teen Titans. The shot which Rokk of Comic Book Revolution has posted here includes adult version of all of every single Teen Titan.
Now while this future is still sort of the future of the DCU circa a year or two before Infinite Crisis, statements are made in the issue that make it seem like Bart and Kon-el (I refuse to call him Conner) did die in past of the Future Titans (ah the wonders of time travel), and were brought back by Tim.

So this a round about way of showing this image from the bottom right of the page

As you can see there is a certain blonde girl dressed in purple. While the costume is obviously supposed to evoke the Huntress, Helena hasn't been part of any young hero teams since pre-crisis. So who must it be...

What will happen when Tim finds here. We have seen two of women fighting over the affections of Tim Drake.

We will have to see if it happens again.

Also Tim, buddy...pal... we need to discuss your obsession with blondes. I think Star Girl is the only young, blonde super heroine that you haven't made out with.

Friday Night Fights

As I begin my return to the Battlefield of blogging, the Legion of Superheroes show you just what will happen if you mess with even one of them

Friday Night Fights are a go!!!

From "The Legion" 16 by DnA, art by Kev Walker

Zuda begins

So Newsarama has just posted the first 10 Zuda Contestants here

While some look mildly interesting there is only one which I will actually be reading.

Alpha Monkey
Writer/Artist: Bobbie Rubio/Howard M. Shum
Summary: In a misguided attempt to save his son from the destruction of Earth by a comet (which then happens to miss the Earth entirely) a scientist rockets his son into another dimension. The child ends up on a parallel world ruled by Monkeys! Given unique powers by the planet’s bananas, the young boy fights off invading monsters as the planet’s new defender, Alpha Monkey!

It looks like the backstory will be a nice twist on the Superman back story and that alone...and I really do mean alone (the whole monkey bit is kind of played out) makes it more interesting than the other titles.

[update 10/25: I should note that I will probably be looking at all of them, but that Alpha Monkey is the only one which really jumps out at me]

Things that make Yonatan a very happy boy

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL HC
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Cover by Maguire & Austin
Art by Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin and Al Gordon
A new hardcover collecting the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6 and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #7 from the late 1980s! Can an unlikely new Justice League line-up work as a unit to stop terrorists at the U.N., a brigade of Rocket Reds, the Royal Flush Gang, and other threats — or will they succumb to in-fighting and bad jokes?
Advance-solicited; in stores March 12 • FC, 192 pg, $24.99 US

I believe the appropriate response is...fuck yeah!

Stephanie Brown

Ah Stephanie Brown, aka the Spoiler aka Robin IV.
I really liked her character (especially when she showed up in Batgirl) and was sad to see her killed (even though I had dropped the Bat-Books around the time she became Robin since I didn't like the new writers is the Post New-Gotham era.)

I do remember her getting savaged on the DC Message Boards back in the day (this is before I found the Comics Blogsphere) and I got the impression that she wasn't much liked.

So I have this question for everyone out there.



When did she become so popular?
I certainty don't remember her being this "big" back in the day.

Green Lantern Corps

Any issue that begins with two planets locked in combat can only be the most awesome thing of the week.
Really there is just so much amazingly cool things going on in this issue that everyone needs to go out and get it now , or for those at Big Monkey who didn't get the issue since they sold out...I guess you can wait till the weekend to get it.

The only only thing that would have made the issue even better would be an appearance by my favorite Green Lantern and one of my favorite/ one of the best female characters in comicdom, Dr. Soranik Natu. She was sooo awesome in the last few issues of GL Corps that her presence is sorely missed this issue.

Also I think everyone should appreciate the fact that the picture below is almost the full cast of GL Corps, missing only Guy Gardener Soranik Natu and Sodom Yat.
While about 1/2 of the cast is somewhat hominoid, much of the Lanterns are anything but. I find that cool.

The Marvel vs DC Websites

So I go to the DC website to see what comics are out this week and how much money I will be spending. I find the list instantly and thankfully discover that this should be a fairly small week.
I then go to the Marvel website to try and do the same.

It is hard to find the list. It is hidden in a page behind one of the buttons on the top banner called " Comics on Sale." Other than that nothing about the fact that they have any comics coming out at really any point. The website is taken up by the Iron Man movie and a small window about WWH. But that is it. Anything saying that they sell comics is nicely hidden away, while DC, while not putting the list front and center at least puts it front and to the right. You log onto their site and you can tell that they sell comics and which ones are coming out.

I just find that interesting

Friday Night Fights

With a WHOK and a WHAP
It is time for Supergirl to kick some Ass
in this weeks installment of

Friday Night Fights
Featuring some beautiful art from Supergirl #20.

It is amazing...she looks like a real girl. (This is the important thing..she actually looks like a girl, and not a smaller woman) It is very sad that this artist is leaving after three issues. I hope he gets another title soon.

Justice League of America #12 Review

This is the cover to Justice League of America #12This is a picture of a Toilet that I found online

This is what should be done with all copies of Justice League of America #12

Any questions?

Comics reviews!!! (flashback part 1)

Countdown 38

Getting better...getting better...almost getting up to 52 levels. The one real problem that I had with this issue is that Jimmy Olsen seems to have aged backwards 5 or so years.

out of 5 Jason Todds





Green Lantern Corps 14:

Pure Distilled Awesomeness. Natu vs Sinestro. Patrick Gleeson art. Does loose one because Moose isn't doing the coloring for the issue and thus the green looses a bit of its sheen.

out of 5 Jason Todds




Green Lantern 22:

Reasons this issue is not as awesome as previous parts of the Sinestro Corps War: Only a small cameo from Natu, Don't hear much from Kyle (only Parallax), no Guy or Kilowog, Hal Jordan still not acting like the "Greatest Green Lantern", but keeps on acting like a silly putz.
Reasons why this issue did have awesomeness: We are not being bonked over the head with tales about how awesome Hal is, Guardians scheming, "Heh. Stupid Earth", since the Anti-Monitor seems to be a hologram and not the actual guy... where is it broadcasting from? Green Lanterns showing up en mass to bail out Hal. All in all a good issue, but I am really look forward to the GL Corps issues more than the GL issues(except for the bits in GL with Kyle in them).
All in all...
out of 5 Jason Todds




Batman 667:

On the one hand, oOo pretty. On the other, did we really need a return to the club of heroes. It might have made as much sense as anything else in the campy era of Batman, but in the modern era, it makes very little sense for the Club of Heroes to have existed. (now i have read some reviews is can sort of see what is going on...eh...)Oh and is Morrison laughing at the whole Red Arrow thing with Little Raven trying to rename himself Raven Red?

out of 5 Jason Todds




Metal Men 1:

Sigh...so fun. This is the sort of title that DC should put out more. It is plain unadulterated fun, and is something that can be enjoyed by kids and adults. Also it would make a great cartoon. Pixar should make a Metal Men movie.

out of 5 Jason Todds