Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Teen Titans #78 & Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2

It's another day, which means it's time for me to check out MORE Blackest Night x-over issues! While DC's Blackest Night hasn't become as massive as Marvel's Civil War from a few years back(I don't think there was a single Marvel title that didn't x-over with Civil War in one way or another!), I've got to admit, after 6 months of Blackest Night mayhem, I'm getting a little burnt out... I mean, it's a good story and all, but does it have to be SO long? OK, end rant. Tonight I'll be looking at Teen Titans #78 and Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2. You've been warned.

Teen Titans #78: Writer: J. T. Krul. Pencils: Joe Bennett.
Picking up from last issue, Jericho explains to Ravager that he's no longer crazy and that his eyes somehow grew back after Vigilante poked them out... OOOOOOK then... The two siblings wind up getting attacked once again by their Black Lantern brother, Grant, while Deathstroke is trying to deal with the Black Lantern versions of Wintergreen and his wife, Adeline. Jericho and Ravager's battle with BL Grant spills over into the next room, and BL Adeline and BL Wintergreen wind up getting the upper hand on Deathstroke, but they are unable to elicit a strong emotional response from Deathstroke. However, upon seeing Ravager and Jericho, Deathstroke winds up feeling love, and the Black Lanterns begin to tear his heart out. Jericho and Ravager save their father and Deathstroke leads his kids to a panic room filled with weapons. Deathstroke locks them in the panic room and tries to kill the Black Lanterns on his own, but fails miserably, and the BL's break into the panic room and attack Ravager and Jericho anew. Finally having enough, Jericho possesses the body of his Black Lantern mother(Adeline)and attacks the other Black Lanterns while telling Ravager to escape with the beaten Deathstroke. Jericho winds up tricking the Black Lanterns into killing each other, ending their threat. This issue ends with Jericho making amends and forgiving his father, which Ravager is still unable to do.

This was a completely acceptable comic book. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the entire Wilson family, so it was nice to see them spotlighted these past two issues. While I was a bit baffled by the way the Black Lanterns were able to kill each other(reaching into another BL's chest kills it? Huh???), I was pleased to see Jericho and Deathstroke make up. It was also nice to see that Jericho wasn't crazy anymore, although his explanation for how his eyes grew back(he has no idea how that happened!)definitely annoyed me. All in all though, this was a pretty enjoyable comic which I'd happily recommend to any fans of Deathstroke and his family.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Awww, see that, Deathstroke isn't just a killing machine, he's also a good father... Kind of...

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2(of 3): Writer: Greg Rucka. Pencils: Nicola Scott.
This issue takes place between the pages of Blackest Night #6 with Wonder Woman now running amok as a Black Lantern. BL WW attacks Mera and manages to get the better of her for the most part. However, BL WW hesitates slightly(WW is trying to fight her transformation into a BL), which allows Mera to toss WW away. BL WW then runs into Wonder Girl and BL Donna Troy. WG gets distracted by BL Donna and BL WW tears WG heart out, much to the horror of WW who is still trying to fight the transformation. BL Donna taunts the dead WG, which leads to BL WW snapping and hacking BL Donna to pieces with her axe... Huh... At that point, Batman(?!?)arrives on the scene, and he proceeds to make out(?!?!?)with BL WW, which helps WW regain some semblance of control over herself. From there, the Greek goddess Aphrodite appears before WW and tells her that nothing I just described actually happened, that WW imagined everything from making out with Bats, to killing WG. Aphrodite explains that she was just keeping WW from harming anybody until the Star Sapphire ring of love was ready to find WW. With that, the Star Sapphire ring latches onto WW, destroying the Black Lantern ring that WW had been wearing, as well as ending this issue.

Well, that was kind of meaningless... After reading this comic, I had to wonder what the purpose of this issue was. I mean, let's face facts, NOTHING HAPPENED! Wonder Woman(thanks to Aphrodite)imagined everything! Hell, as long as you read Blackest Night #6, you already knew what was going to happen(WW becoming a Star Sapphire). I'm not going to say this was the worst comic I've ever read, because it wasn't, but it WAS a big waste of time. If you've already read BN #6, then I'd definitely recommend skipping this issue.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Even lost in time, Bruce Wayne is STILL the man!

9 comments:

  1. I am 100% shocked that BN WW 2 even got that high a rating...maybe I'm just mean lol.

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  2. Ha! You know, after reading how little you thought of this comic, I think I was well prepared before I picked it up. I was expecting SO little that it actually exceeded my low expectations!

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  3. Lol I'm still shocked..I expected a two and I thought you'd love the Titans issue with the Wilson family...except Im also confused as to how BL's can kill each other.

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  5. lol. I'm with Jason. I'm like the BIGGEST Wonder Woman fan and BB WW #2 upset me soooo much. Greg Rucka is another comic writer to add to my "I hate list". they need to hire Jodi Picoult needs to seriously write for WW again.

    I would've given that issue a 3. lol But nice article

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  6. Jason: I did like the Titans comic, I think I'm just getting a case of Blackest Night fatigue... Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed BN as much as the next guy, but I kind of wish there was a single uniform way to kill off BL's. During the first few issues of the BN mini, they were like invincible, now if you look at one funny they keel over and die!

    Falisha: You have a Comic Writer Hate List? That is so awesome! So do I, and my list is LOOOONG! BTW, I totally agree with you on Jodi. Her WW run was WAY too short. Same with Allan Heinberg. I love the job Gail has been doing,(Gail's been a fav of mine since the AWESOME Birds of Prey series) but I'd be overjoyed if either of those writers took another crack at WW, even if it was just for a mini-series.

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  7. Yeah you're right, so far white light can kill them, certain color spectrums, certain people only can, and they can kill each other. They need to settle on one definite way of killing them.

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  8. Jodi's WW Love and Murder, was FANTASTIC. I snabbed it from the library and read it in like a day. the story line was wonderful and kept me busy for a few hours. lol. I wonder if I start a petition to get her to take over Rucka's spot lol.

    Wishful thinking. I'm praying BN WW #3 is freaking fantastic to make up for the first 2.

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  9. Yeah, I actually have all of the current WW run, and for the most part it's been great. Sure there have been some slow parts, but the first 10 issues or so and most of Gail's run has been just plain awesome.

    On the plus side, at least there's only one more issue of BN WW for you to suffer through, and then you can forget that it ever happened! :P

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