JT's Take: Green Lantern #11

Hey guys and gals, today's review on tap is Green Lantern, after the escape of Black Hand in the last issue, we can only imagine what the psychotic villain has planned, so let's get to it!

Green Lantern #11

Summary: We start this issue with Sinestro about to break free from the Indigo Tribe when he's released into Jordan's care. Jordan tells Sinestro that he's under Jordan's care and the Indigo Tribe has made it so Jordan's ring has now limitations that Sinestro put on and he can attack Sinestro if need be. Sinestro quick realizes Black hand is missing so they go looking for him and discover he killed himself, but his body is gone so he's back from the dead. From there we see Hand bring his family back to life and sit down to a Chinese food dinner cause he's weird like that. He tells his family's moving corpses that he plans on killing everyone then giving them all rings so they can all rise and kill more people and so on. Back with Sinestro and Jordan, they visit Sinestro's secret base on Korugar and open the Book of the Black to check it's prophecies. Upon opening the book we see the Guardians attacking Sinestro, Atrocitus leading The Manhunters into an attack, a Red Lantern Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner behind bars, the new hooded Green Lantern, and someone wearing a White Lantern ring. As Sinestro and Hal come to, they find themselves sitting on the floor of Black Hand's dining room, who welcomes them to dinner.


Thoughts: This was a pretty average issue. On first glance I didn't think too much of the splash page, although I am wondering who's gonna wield the White Lantern ring... I'm assuming it'll be Hal for obvious reasons. Besides that, nothing in this issue really stood out for me, and I don't like that Hal can blast Sinestro because now I know I'll have to watch them fighting which is... ugh, I liked the other dynamic more of Hal having to listen to Sinestro.

Score: 7/10

Sinestro: Where's Black Hand, Jordan?

JT's Take: Deadpool #58

Hey guys and gals, today we're gonna check in with our favorite former Regeneratin Degenerate, with a game on the horizon, the sky is looking high for the Crimson Comedian, so let's see if this issue is doing as well as Deadpool's career.

Deadpool #58

Summary: This issue of everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth starts off with Deadpool being caught with his pants down, literally, as Deadpool is caught doing a numero dos on the toilet as he's confronted by a gun-toting supervillain by the name of Black Swan. We flashback to eight days ago as we see Black box notifying Black Swan about the chance to get revenge on Deadpool, since he no longer has his healing factor. From there we go to five days ago, as we see Deadpool, upset that his pinky finger hasn't grown back yet. He's starting to regret being cured and being able to die now. Deadpool decides to go ask Cable to stop Black Box, since the two are friends, but it turns out Cable is in a coma, so... once again, Pool get's screwed. Back at the present, Pool talks Black Swan into letting him at leas flush first, which he does, but Deadpool leaps behind the shower curtain as he does. Turns out a few days before, Pool bought an Anti-Ballistic Shower Curtain. Classic Deadpool. As Deadpool flushed, a bomb shot out of the back of the toilet, which blasted Black Swan away. Black Swan is now bleeding to death from an artery, as Deadpool stands over him victorious, Black Box realizes that Black Swan has failed, so he calls someone else and asks if they want a shot at Deadpool. The issue ends as the challenge is accepted by noneother than Black Tom.


Thoughts: Black Swan, Black Box, Black Tom.... what is it with Deadpool and Blacks? Lol, wait, that came out wrong. Anyway, I'm wondering who's next, maybe Black Bolt and Black Panther? Other than that, not much happened though, the plan was classic Deadpool which was fun, and Deadpool is already regretting losing his healing factor, maybe he'll be able to get it back and keep his good looks? I guess we'll find out, although I can't say I'm too excited to see Pool take on Black Tom...

Score: 6/10

Deadpool: Wish I'd learned how to moonwalk... Wonder if there's a Youtube video that could teach me...?

JT's Take: Amazing Spider-Man #690

Hey Todd Squad, today we're gonna check out this week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man. With The Lizard now stuck as Curt Connors and trying desperately to get his scaly backside back, let's see how Spidey deals with the upcoming confrontation.

Amazing Spider-Man #690

Summary: We start things off with a Lizard-minded Curt Connors cutting off his right arm with some kind of lightsaber like device. He has to remain undercover while he tries to revert back to Lizard form, so he can't walk around with an extra limb. He throws the disarmed...arm to a Lizard version of Max Modell to chomp on and then goes to try more experiments, each time testing them on other members of Horizon Labs in their personal labs, including Grady and Bella. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is fighting Morbius in the middle of the city when Madame Web pops up telling Spidey how urgent it is he heads to Horizon Labs, Spidey argues about stopping Morbius but eventually see's she's right, so he tries to make quick work of him and leaves him webbed for the police. Back at Horizon, after a few more failed experiments and cut-off arms, Connors runs into Uatu, who looks like Billy to him. Uatu says Connors looks stressed and needs to relax, and invites him to play video games. Surprisingly throughout this issue, the Lizard-minded Connors has enjoyed music, Dorito's and video games more than he ever would have as a Lizard. Being with Uatu helps Connors figure out what he needs for his "cure" to change him back to Lizard form. When Connors leave's Uatu's room, leaving him unharmed, he runs into Officer Cooper, who notices that Connors is missing his left arm... not his right. Connors runs as Carlie pursues him. At just that moment, a mechanism is set off by a Horizon Scientist Tiberius Stone, who is apparently working with Kingpin. The doors unlocking unleashes the Lizard versions of Max, Grady, Bella, and other people that Connors injected. Spidey swings into Horizon just in time to save the few remaining civilians. Back with Connors, he's still running from Officer Cooper when she's attacked by Modell, which causes Connors a distraction so he can slip into a closet. He gets ready to inject himself with the final cure when The Lizard starts to wonder if he even wants to go back to the way he was, as this issue ends.


Thoughts: This issue was kind of weird for me. It was about Lizard-Connors, which is cool, but him loving life and living as a Lizard-brained Connors so he can play videogames and listen to pop music is just... odd. I'm sure he'll use the injection it but it seemed like an odd cliffhanger. Plus, the stuff with Morbius seemed to end too quickly, so hopefully he's in the next issue.

Score: 7/10

Carlie: Aren't you supposed to be missing your right arm?

JT's Take: Venom #21

Hey Blog readers, today I'm gonna jump right into things, because I'm very sleepy and I'm typing this review at like one in the morning and I've gone off of.... maybe five hours of sleep and I have plans tomorrow/today (Thursday). So, bare with me guys and gals, and let's get to it!

Venom # 21

Summary: This issue starts things off with Venom infiltrating Crime Master's base. As he arrives, we see The Crime Master, Bennett Brant, explaining to his sister about how after he was killed he was revived by someone, and chosen to carry on the Crime Master legacy, a new Crime Master for each generation. The reunion is cut short when Bennett is notified that Venom is there, as we see Venom taking on Megatak, in a losing effort. Before Megatak can dispose of Venom, Venom is "saved" by Toxin, who kills Megatak so he can then kill Venom. Venom knows he can't afford to have a long fight with Toxin, but he manages to pull Eddie Brock out of the symbiote, then uses a bomb to blow the symbiote up. Suddenly, the Toxin symbiote grabs Brock and pulls him back in, which causes Eddie to go up in flames, cursing Venom for what he's done. Flash wants to help but the fire weakens the Venom symbiote, so he has to watch as Brock goes up in flames. He then heads after Betty and comes in contact with Jack O'Lantern, but before the fight can get started, a pissed off Venom knocks him into a giant vat of chemicals, Joker style. Crime Master says Jack is tough and he'll pull through, and then pulls out a sonic gun and blasts Venom. A weakened Venom crawls towards Crime Master, and Crime Master pulls out a flame gun, which pretty much makes the Venom Symbiote fall off of Flash. Crime Master, seeing Venom is on the ropes, prepares to kill Flash once and for all, when suddenly he's shot from behind by Betty. Bennett, obviously shocked, turns to his sister before falling into the vat of chemicals himself. Flash asks Betty if she's okay, but she said her brother died a long time ago. She also thanks Flash for saving her but says she never wants to see him again. The issue comes to a close with Agent Venom showing up at the Avengers space station and says he thinks it's time he comes clean.


Thoughts: This was a pretty good issue. The ending seemed rushed, what with Megatak's death and all, but seeing Eddie burn was crazy, and It's pretty much a given now he'll be back as Toxin AND he has a reason to really hate Flash/Venom. And Jack O'Lantern will face Venom in the next issue so that should be pretty awesome. I even liked how cocky Bennett was in this issue, sucks to see him go but maybe he'll be back again. Betty shooting him surprised me, although I probably should've seen that coming. All in all, this was a pretty good comic, and I'm wondering how the Avengers will accept him coming clean.

Score: 8/10

Eddie Brock: YOU BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!

New Comic Day! July 25th Edition!

Hey everyone, JT here again on what many of us consider, the best weekday of all time, TGIW, it's Comic book day! My haul for this week isn't too big but as always, you guys comment below, let me know what you want to see a review for most, and you can more than likely expect to see it up and reviewed tomorrow. And of course, I'm always curious to see what you guys are reading as well, so feel free to let me know what you decided to grab at the shop.

Now, let's get to it! This week I picked up Aquaman #11, Batman: The Dark Knight #11, Green Lantern #11, Amazing Spider-Man #690, Deadpool #58, Venom #21, Jungle Book #4, and Irresistible #1. So, eight books, let me know which ones you guys would like me to review/discuss, and we'll take it from there guys. Til tomorrow, JT signing off!

JT's Take: Catwoman #11

Hey honorary members of the Todd Squad, I'm here with our final review before the new comic week starts off, so let's check in with DC's resident feline femme fatale, Catwoman.

Catwoman #11

 

Summary: This issue of Catwoman starts off with her confronting Detective Alvarez in his own home. He of course goes on the defensive, but Catwoman subdues him long enough to tell him that something is going on in Gotham. She tells him about the recent abductions and how the cops aren't doing anything, but if he wants to help then to call her at the number she left. As she leaves, we see that Spark is watching her and Detective Alvarez. We then see the kidnapper, it turns out our villain is watching and kidnapping people with healthy organs to sell them, and the next one on the chopping block is useless, since he slit his wrists and his organs went bad before they could be properly refrigerated. From there we see Catwoman's associate, Gwen, get shoved into a limo against her will, and she's met by a shadowy figure (Penguin?) who asks about her relationship with Catwoman. A few hours later, Detective Alvarez calls Catwoman, interrupting what was about to be a steamy sex scene with Spark, and the three go on a stakeout looking for the abductor. Not long into the stakeout, the Abductor shows up, at all three locations, causing each one to tackle the abductors and find they have the wrong person. That is, except for Alvarez, who finds the abductor to be a woman named Dollhouse. She shoots pretty much everyone with syringes, including Alvarez, knocking them out, then loads a few of them into her van. Catwoman and Spark show up, but too late, as she's already escaped with Alvarez and the rest. Catwoman feels like this is her fault, since she got Alvarez into this situation, as this issue ends.


Thoughts: Really? Dollmaker, Doll House, whats with all these doll characters? Anyway, aside from that, I was surprised the kidnapper was a woman, that genuinely shocked me. And this was an alright story, nothing really stood out or made this special, but it wasn't bad either, just average I guess. I am interested in seeing how Catwoman finds Alvarez, and Batman is advertised for the next issue, so that will be interesting to say the least.

Score: 6/10

Catwoman: You scream like you're having sex and people will either listen in or trot away. Either way, nobody calls the cops. At least, not right away. (It's funny cause it's true...)

JT's Take: Justice League #11

Hey Todd Squad, today we're gonna take a look at this month's issue of Justice League. After being so down on the series I had to review it with Brightest Day Rules, the last issue was pretty damn good, so I reviewed it normally, hopefully this issue continues the trend, so let's find out.

Justice League #11

Summary: This issue started off with the League recovering from Graves attack in the last issue, basically making each of them relive the death's of people they cared about. The League follows Graves use of their teleporter to Steve Trevor's sister's house, but arrive just as Graves leaves. Steve's sister blames Wonder Woman for getting involved with her brother, and now he could be hurt or dead, she tells Wonder Woman to bring Steve home or she'll haunt her for the rest of her life. After leaving Steve's sister, the League decides to go to Graves' cabin, his last known address, but Wonder Woman wants to go alone and plans on decapitating Graves. The League tries to calm her down, including Green Lantern putting her in a bubble, but she bursts out and backhands Hal, sending him flying. Hal goes on the offensive and attacks Wonder Woman, and Superman tries to break it up, but gets a kick in the mouth from Wonder Woman for his trouble. Cyborg notifies Bats that somehow Graves is recording them and streaming them to every device capable, world wide. The League teleports to Grave's cabin, where they all calm down. and Batman explains how Graves' family died after coming in contact with Darkseid five years ago, from some disease, and he blames the League for not saving them... Okay. Batman figures out from Graves' studies that he went to the Valley of Souls, so the League heads there, but for some reason only Cyborg can see the entrance, which is odd since you can only see it if you're walking the line between Life and Death. Upon entering, the League members each see the souls of someone close to them that's passed away, Batman see's his parents, Superman see's his parents, Aquaman and Hal see their dad's, Flash see's his mother I'd assume, but Cyborg see's himself?! The issue comes to a close as Wonder Woman see's the spirit of Steve Trevor, who tells her that she's too late.


Thoughts: I'm shocked... two months ago I HATED this series, but these last two issues have been great. This was a really good issue, I enjoyed the in-fighting, I'm curious about Cyborg being half dead, as well as if they actually allow Trevor to stay dead, since that surprised me. I'm also wondering if they were planting seeds for his sister to become a Wonder Woman villain. Overall, there was a lot of good in the comic, and hardly any bad. Plus, the SHAZAM back up has always been pretty good. If Justice League keeps this up, it could become one of my favorite comics.

Score: 8.5/10

Green Lantern: You've been dying for this, haven't you?
Wonder Woman: This isn't giving me any pleasure. But I'm sure you've heard that before. (BURN!!!!!)

JT's Take: Saga #5

Hey guys and gals, running short on the chatter for intro's so let's jump right into the most recent issue of Brian K. Vaughn's Saga!

Saga #5

Summary: This issue starts off with Prince Robot discovering from his wife that they are now expecting a baby on the way, but the King has decreed that Prince Robot can't return until he's completed his mission. Before The Prince can vent, he's told by one of his men that some other soldiers have spotted something. We jump over to see Marko standing in front of Alana and the baby, when the soldiers attack and one of their blasts hit Alana, knocking her down while she's holding the baby. Marko gets enraged and slices a man's hand off, then knocks out each soldier, and is about to decapitate them until he's stopped by Alana, so we see that Marko has a bit of a Hulk-like temper when upset... interesting. Back with The Will, we see him trying to escape with the girl he saved in the last issue, when he's met by Mama Sun, the owner of the Sextillion, and she has a gun pointed at The Lying Cat. The Will tells her he's taking the girl, but she says each worker as a security elixir in them, and if they leave before the end of their term it causes their arteries to harden, resulting in a very painful death. The Will then says he'll pay for the girl's freedom, but she costs $650,000, which is more than The Will can afford. Back with our happy family, we see they stole the ship of the soldiers Marko knocked out and are heading towards the Rocketship Forest, definitely in a great mood. We then see Stalk, as she finds the defeated soldiers tied up. She gets a call from The Will, saying he wants to help her with her job, obviously so he can earn the money to save his little friend, but Stalk says she doesn't need the help. Stalk is then confronted by Prince Robot and a soldier, she tries to explain she didn't knock out the soldiers but the new soldier says Stalk is reaching for something. Prince Robot, thinking of the new baby he has on the way, immediately reacts by killing Stalk. We see her laid out with a hole in her chest as The Will is still on the phone, unaware of her fate as this issue comes to a close.


Thoughts: As always, Brian K. Vaughn knows how to write a great story. Here, we got away from Marko and Alana for a bit, and learned more about The Will and Prince Robot, both characters I like, even though their both going after our main protagonists. I was sad to see Stalk go here, I kinda liked her character, I wouldn't be surprised if she healed but if this is the last of her, I'm interested in seeing how The Will reacts. Also, Fiona Staples continues to be one of the best things about this comic, her clean art, the way she drew Marko's rampage was great, as well as the the way she draws the emotions on Alana's face or the lack of life on Stalk's... she's a hell of an artist.

Score: 9/10

Alana: Ehn, so the guy whose hand you lopped off comes after us with a hook in twenty years. Add him to the list.

JT's Take: Captain Marvel #1

Hey blog readers, In case you've been living under a rock, there's a a new Captain Marvel in town! She's not Billy Batson or Freddy Freeman, but when ya see her you may say SHAZAM! Haha, yeah, I couldn't resist that intro. Anyway, let's jump right into things with the first issue of Captain Marvel!

Captain Marvel #1

Summary: This issue starts off with a big fight with Captain America and a newly costumed Ms. Marvel taking on The Absorbing Man, he's trying to steal a moon rock so he can get... moon powers. Yep... Lol. The Absorbing Man pays more attention to Captain America instead of Ms. Marvel, which proves to be a mistake, since Ms. Marvel is a force to be reckoned with, and also outranks Captain America in the military, which she hilariously mentions. After taking down The Absorbing Man, Cap. tells Ms. Marvel that he thinks she should take the name Captain Marvel, but she says that Captain Marvel is dead and she's taken enough from him already, she won't take his name, but Cap. tells her that his name was Mar-Vell, and she kind of took his name a long time ago. He says Mar-Vell would want her to honor his legacy, but the conversation is cut short when Captain America gets a call from the president. After sparring with Spidey for a bit and asking him a few questions about the name Ms. Marvel and her new costume, Ms. Marvel goes out and flies. She flies into space, all the while recounting her origin and her hero, Helen Cobb. After her flight to deep space and thinking of how her hero would do things, she flies back towards the Earth and proclaims she's "Taking the damn name." The next say, we see Carol taking care of her friend Burke, whom apparently has cancer. She seems to be a fun character, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of her sarcastic jabs with Carol. Carol then discovers that her hero, Helen Cobb has passed away. From there we see a flashback of Carol meeting Helen when she was a bit younger, and we see the two had a bit of a friendly rivalry. The issue ends with Captain Marvel at Helen's funeral, before taking her ashes up into space and releasing them, something that was undoubtedly Helen's final wishes.


Thoughts: First things first, the art in the comic is interesting. Sometimes it seemed kinda odd, other times it was great. I love the design of Captain Marvel's suit, I loved how Cap was drawn, the small things like Carol's posture when she isn't fighting opposed to when she is are pretty well done. Also, the comedy in this comic is great, the little jabs between Carol and Captain America, or her and Spidey, and how stupid yet hilarious The Absorbing Man was really helped my enjoyment of this. Another thing I really enjoyed was the news page at the beginning, talking about how Ms. Marvel was now Captain Marvel and how she was auctioning off her old suit for charity. That shows a great deal of character from that one panel, plus hopefully some super villain will start wearing her Ms. Marvel suit. All in all, I liked this first issue a lot, and I'm definitely on board for the long run.

Score: 8.5/10

Captain Marvel: Three seconds in a museum and you're sound asleep. Why am I not surprised. Next time I'll skip the punching and just read you a book.

JT's Take: Avengers Academy #33

Hey X-Maniacs, JT back once again, and I figured I'd follow suit with the AVX review from yesterday and review Avengers Academy, since it features one of the Formerly Phoenix Five, the lovely Emma Frost. So let's see how our favorite students deal with one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

Avengers Academy #33

Summary: We start things off with a flashback to two weeks ago. We see Juston talking to his dad about visiting, when his dad tells Juston to come home, he's not like the other kids with powers and his family is worried, and he should just give up the Sentinel. Juston says that the Sentinel is his friend and he won't have it melted down or used to attack mutants, and ends the call with his dad. He tells the Sentinel he'll never abandon it, just as it will never abandon Juston, since that's it's Prime directive. Back in the present, the Avengers Academy students all continue to attack Emma Frost to fight her off, all the while stating reasons that she should allow Juston to keep his Sentinel. Juston tries to repair the Sentinel from Emma's attacks and climbs inside the driver's seat to help with repairs. Finesse goes off to call Quicksilver and asks him to help, but he says he's busy with the current AVX stuff, plus he's never cared for the Sentinel anyway, and Juston should just let Emma destroy it. Finesse says that Quicksilver is an emotionless machine like the Sentinel, as is she, and she intends to help. The Sentinel lunges at Emma trying to attack her, and she blasts it, but is shocked to find out that Juston was inside the Sentinel. Pym removes Juston and says he's only stunned at the Sentinel protected him, and the Sentinel continues to try to go after Emma to protect Juston, even though it can barely stand. The Sentinel keeps trying to advance until Emma completely destroys it, and Juston cries that he can  rebuild him if the CPU survived, but Emma states that she has it in her hands, and melts it . She states they can rebuild it with a new CPU but she couldn't allow that one to live, since it was made solely to kill mutants. Emma says she was merciful, and asks X-23 to join her back on Utopia, but X-23 says if she see's Emma again, one of them will kill the other one, simple as that. Emma leaves and as she does, Quicksilver arrives, holding the Sentinel's CPU. He says he was able to swoop in and replace it with a similar looking CPU from a training bot at the Academy so quickly that Emma couldn't see him, and she couldn't sense his mind due to their defenses. Ten minutes later, Quicksilver has rebuilt the Sentinel for Juston before heading off to join the Avengers against the Phoenix Five. The next say, Hank Pym and Tigra tell the students the only reason they were targeted is because they are Avengers Academy, and as this war is getting more dangerous by the minute, so they think the students should go home to their families. He then regrettably announces that as of this moment, there is no more Avengers Academy. Reptil asks if they can come back when the Avengers/X-Men war is over, but Pym says the honestly thinks this world will be a different place when the war ends, as this issue comes to a close.


Thoughts: Well hot damn, this was a hell of a comic! I'm not gonna lie, I was heartbroken when Emma destroyed the Sentinel's CPU, and I was ecstatic when Quicksilver showed up with it. Everything here was perfect, the characterization of Juston and the Sentinel at the beginning, the fact that all of Emma's points were valid, and everything about Pym, Quicksilver, X-23, and Finesse. Plus, the ending caught me totally off guard with Pym and Tigra's announcement. I loved every single bit of this comic, and I can't wait for the Final Exam storyline.

Score: 10/10

Hank Pym: As of this moment... There is no more Avengers Academy.

JT's Take: Avengers Vs. X-Men #8

Hey everybody! (Hi, Doctor Nick!) Sorry, Simpsons humor. Anyway, JT here with the first review of the new comic week, as requested by a few of you, including Trobb, Avengers vs. X-Men #8. The last issue left off with Namor about to destroy Wakanda, so let's see the fallout, shall we?

Avengers vs. X-Men #8

Summary: We start off with Namor just wrecking Wakanda as The Thunderer and Ironman escape through the portal to K'un-Lun and join Wolverine and Hope. Back at Wakanda, The Avengers all attack Namor and take it to him, but he manages to snap Red Hulk's arm, causing the bone to pop out (Gory and awesome!) and give the Phonix powered Atlantean mounts a comeback, until Namor comes up against Scarlet Witch. The Two have a powerful battle that ends with Wanda and Namor losing consciousness. The remaining Phoenix Five show up and Namor's Phoenix powers leave him and go to Magik, Colossus, Emma Frost and Cyclops, making them even MORE powerful. How... is Colossus getting stronger? He's Colossus...he's The Juggernaut... and now he has EVEN MORE Phoenix power! Anyway, the Avengers escape through a portal that Cap opens thanks to a device Ironman gave him, as the Phoenix Four discover that they are stronger and will continue to be stronger everytime one of them falls in battle. Cyclops is then telepathically reached by Professor Xavier, as Prof X tells him to stop and that this has gone too far. Cyclops tells Prof X he has no right to order them around but Prof. X tells them this is their last warning, stop or he will stop them. Over with the Avengers, they discuss that it took everything they had to take down Namor, and they've just made the rest stronger. Everyone looks towards Captain America wondering what the plan is, but Cap looks like he's all out of ideas as this issue comes to a close.


Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this issue. I liked the stuff with Namor fighting everyone, how much it took to take him down and the stuff with Cyclops and Prof X, but the ending seemed weird. It wasn't really a cliffhanger as much as a very abrupt ending... I am wondering how Namor will feel now that he's lost his Phoenix Powers, as well as what the Avengers can hope to do against the even stronger Phoenix Four. And I gotta know what's Prof. X has under his sleeves as well...

Score: 7/10

Spider-Man: We finally got a lucky shot and all we did was make the other ones more powerful?!

The Thing: So even when we win we lose.

Spider-Man: And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is exactly how it feels to be me... every day of the week.

New Comic Day! July 18th Edition!

Hey Todd Squad/X-Maniacs, JT here again after one hell of a week. This week alone, I worked Friday through Monday, one day getting up at 4:30 AM, the rest, between 5:30 and 7:00, then on top of that, my Internet stopped working on Tuesday! I couldn't even talk to our good buddy Vampire X due to that. So yeah, it's really hindered my reviewing, as you all noticed. For that, I apologize because you've already been abandoned by one lazy blogger (:P We're still cool, right X? Who am I kidding, you don't even READ this!) but I'm back with some reviews this week. Considering this post is going up by like two in the morning, I'm not expecting many comments before the first review is up, but let's see what I got this week.

This week's pull list included, oh, and yes, I did drop Red Hood. Yeah... hurts to say that... damn you Scott Lobdell. Anyway, this week I picked up Justice League 11 (Maybe Brightest Day Rules?), Catwoman #11, Avengers vs. X-Men #8, Avengers Academy #33, Captain Marvel #1, and Saga #5. Cool, just enough books for one review a day, so I guess I'll pick one for tomorrow, but feel free to comment and make recommendations of what you'd like to see first, or shall I say sooner. Well, time for me to get some sleep, til next time, this is JT, signing off!

JT's Take: Scarlet Spider #7

Hey guys, gals and troglodytes, JT here again, since X is.... pretty much dead to the blogging world. Made me think that he's kinda the Peter Parker of this blog, and I'm a bit gruffer, kind of like Kaine. And THAT, my friends, is how you do a HORRIBLE segue to a comic review. :-D

Scarlet Spider #7

Summary: Things kick off with The Scarlet Spider himself, Kaine, saving a woman after witnessing a huge building explosion. Kaine also saves the people on the streets below before locking lips with the grateful woman he saved. Of course, that quickly leads to her and Kaine having sex, because that's how heroes like Kaine get down, in H-Town. The morning after festivities are cut short when Kaine discovers from his recent partner that she's the one that blew up the building. She introduces herself as Zoe, before going to answer the knock at her door, which causes Kaine to suit up and go out the window. After "not caring" for hours, Kaine eventually decides to look into it, and heads back to the Roxxon building and notices it's pretty much fixed up again, even after the explosion earlier. Kaine then takes his questions to the head honcho at Roxxon, and discovers that Zoe is his daughter. Surprising right? Before Kaine can ask anymore questions, he's told to leave or else he'll have to deal with a superhero team known as The Rangers. Cause they're in Texas... so, yep.


Thoughts: This was a fun issue, it kinda flew by. I liked seeing a different kind of Spidey, and that's what we get with Kaine, the way he jumped right into bed with Zoe was both surprising and hilarious. I'm interested in seeing what Zoe's beef is with her dad and the Roxxon corp., as well as what happens with Kaine takes on The.... sigh...Rangers. God that's a horrible name. Other than that, this was a perfectly acceptable comic.

Score:  7.5/10

Kaine: I don't use computers.

Officer Wally: What are you, Amish?

JT's Take: Venom #20

Happy Saturday Todd Squad, today we're gonna check out the most recent issue of Venom, how is Flash Thompson dealing with his own personal Savage Six? Let's find out, shall we?

Venom #20

Summary: We start off with Flash heading home to check on his mom, he see's her apartment has been ransacked, but he's suddenly attacked by Death Adder, who slices Flash's back and manages to poison him. A poisoned and slowed down Flash fights Adder, while the apartment patrons all run over to watch. Flash eventually gets his head back in the game and regains control of the situation before making the decision to kill Death Adder so he stops coming after him. Flash regrettably snaps his neck in front of  family that wouldn't get out when he told them to, then heads out looking for The Human Fly. He finds him, and Flash's mother, and Flash tortures The Human Fly, pulling off both of his wings and demanding he tells him where Crime Master is. From there we see Betty awaken in a room, where she's told via intercom to leave the room and come see The Crime Master. She enters a room that has a ton of pictures of Betty and her family, and she's met by Toxin, Jack O'Lantern, Megatak, and The Crime Master. The Crime Master tells Betty that the shrine is an ode to Betty and her brother Bennett, a man that became a mobster and lost his life in the process, and he replies that Crime is his family now, as he unmasks and reveals that he IS Bennett Bryan. Betty is clearly taken aback, as Bennett says their first act as a family once again, is to watch him murder the hell out of Flash Thompson.


Thoughts: Well that was surprising. I don't know much about Bennett Brant but needless to say that reveal surprised me. I'm wondering what his beef is with Flash though. Also, I loved seeing a more brutal side of Venom. He's kinda like Jason Todd, in the sense he's doing the things Spider-Man (or in Jason's case, Batman) won't. He's more aggressive, and has taken two of the Savage Six out of the game, so I'm wondering how far he'll go to stop the Crime Master, and if Betty will forgive him for it. Overall this issue continues to be the best ongoing since Bryan Miller's Batgirl.

Score:  8.5/10

Crime Master: You're gonna watch me murder the hell out of Flash Thompson.

JT's Take: Walking Dead 100

Now, for the first time EVER at the X-Man Comic Blog (We should change that name :-p), I'm going to review an issue of The Walking Dead, and what better than issue 100? So, before we jump in, I'm going to say, there WILL BE SPOILERS. Don't get upset at me if something is spoiled, I'm warning you now. So let's do it.

The Walking Dead #100

Summary: Things start off with the group that was stalking Rick's group keeping lookout and heading to notify the rest of their team of an attack. We then see Andrea and the rest of the members of Rick's group at the home base, living their lives while Andrea plays lookout. The group consisting of Rick, Michonne, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia and Heath decides to stop driving and take shelter for the night since they won't make their destination in time, with Michonne taking first watch. Once Rick relieves Michonne and takes watch, he eventually starts to fall asleep, and is suddenly roped around the neck and pulled to the ground. His friends emerge and are surrounded by at least thirty men. Their leader, Negan, approaches and asks who is in charge, one of his men tells him that Rick is, so he tells Rick he works for him now. Everything they have, he wants half, and if he tries to fight back, things won't end well for him. He then says Rick killed his men, and he's going to be punished for that. He has his men line up Rick, Michonne, Carl, Maggie, Heath, Glenn and Sophia, then pulls out a bat with barbed wire wrapped around it. He goes up and down the line, saying why he won't kill each person, then decides he has to pick one, and picks Glenn. Rick tells him not to but Negan tells him to stay down or they all die, and if anyone moves he'll have his men cut out Carl's other eye and feed it to Sophia. Rick looks away as Carl cries and Maggie cries while calling to Rick, as Negan raises his Bat high and slams it down on Glenn's head, caving in his skull and causing his eye to pop out. Negan continues to bash Glenn, over and over until all that's left is bits of his skull, brains and an eye. An enraged Rick says that he's going to kill Negan. Negan tells him to do it now, so he can have his men kill the rest of his people and do even worse to his son. He then punches Rick and tells him things have changed, he's in charge now, and he'll be back in a week for their first supply offering. The issue ends as Rick and his crew lay crying at Glenn's dead body.


Thoughts: Damn that issue was insane! After issue 99, X and I discussed how we thought they were attacking the base, which is what Kirkman wanted us to think, but Falisha said she thought they were attacked Rick. After thinking about it, X and I figured they would kill off one of four people in this issue, Rick, Michonne, Glenn or Andrea, and sadly we were right. I would say I went into this issue expecting Rick or Andrea to bite it, and I was still shocked at what happened and how brutal it was. Also, as much as I hate what he did, I am LOVING Negan as a character, this guy may be worse than The Governor. To say I'm excited is an understatement, I can't wait to see what happens in the next issue of The Walking Dead.

Score:  9/10

Rick: Not today, not tomorrow... But I will kill you.

JT's Take: Batman #11

Hey guys and gals, JT here with the finale of the year long story chronicling Batman's war with the Court of Owls. Let's see how things play out, as we see Batman take on Owlman!

Batman #11

Summary: Things pick up where they left off in the previous issue, with Batman and Owlman taking it to one another. Owlman gets the upper hand and hooks Batman with a line, then flies him around the city, explaining how he's always lived in Bruce's shadows, watching Batman and Bruce from afar. He'd planned to attack sooner but the Court of Owls had him bide his time. He explains that after getting rid of Bruce for good, Gotham will be his, as he flies near a plane and tries to drop Batman into the engine. Bats hangs on and manages to escape after detonating a small explosive he'd placed on Owlman earlier. Bruce falls towards Gotham from miles in the air, but manages to save himself by swinging into an abandoned building. He's met by Owlman, who tells him he plans to bury them both under the debris of the building, but he'll survive due to the serum in his blood that keeps him from dying. Batman decides to play dirty and jams his thumbs into Owlman's eyes, before diving out of the building just as it explodes. Later reports discover that no bodies were found in the debris, meaning Owlman got away as well. We also see Bruce talking to Dick later, Bruce saying how the Court of Owls was still out there, how Thomas isn't his brother, since a John Doe baby was brought into the hospital a week after Thomas supposedly died, so the Court could use that information to confuse the child into thinking he was Thomas. He then states, he won't know for sure until he can get a DNA sample though. The issue comes to a close with Bruce saying when the Court of Owls does return, he'll be ready for them.


Thoughts: Okay, some of you may disagree but this issue seemed really lackluster to me. The ending was kind of lame in my opinion, and we knew they wouldn't give us a definitive answer on Thomas, which they couldn't, due to wanting to make us wonder. But the fight between the two, the stuff with Dick and Bruce, all just seemed slow and kind of boring to me, not the payoff I expected after a year of building, but like I said, that's my opinion. It wasn't a bad comic, I just expected a lot more.

Score:  6.5/10

Dick: Dammit, Bruce. Now I can't hit you


Well that's it for me, Let me know what you guys think and if you enjoyed this issue more than I did, until next time, this is JT, signing off.

New Comic Day! July 11th Edition.

Hey Todd Squad, JT back after a nice week off, due to the fact I just grabbed my comics from last week on Monday thanks to Independence day. Yep, my shop was closed Wednesday and I couldn't get over there until Monday, so I figured I'd take some time off, as not to get burned out like a certain Vampire Blogger. Anyway, It's Wednesday so you know what that means, it's New Comic Day! This is a quick post because as I type this (about 1:30 AM), I have to get up in like seven hours because I'm going to see Amazing Spider-Man! Then going to grab my comic books, so let's get to the meat and potatoes of this post.

The books I plan on picking up this week include, Batman # 11, Batman and Robin #11, Enormous #1, Walking Dead #100, Avenging Spider-Man #9, AVX VS. #4, Scarlet Spider #7, Spider-Men #3 and Venom #20. There you have it, So, let me know what you guys would like reviews for, whatever gets the most votes I'll review first and so on, over the next few days. Alright comic crew, until next time, this is JT, signing off!

JT's Take: Aquaman #10

Hola Todd Squad, today we're gonna check out the most recent issue of Geoff John's "Aquaman", a book that is, in my opinion, one of the three best books since the DC Reboot, along with John's "Green Lantern" and Snyder's "Batman" series. So let's hope this issue lives up to the hype.

Aquaman #10

Summary: This issue kicks off with a secret operative by the name of... The Operative. He's a former teammate of Aquaman's, and has found one of Black Manta's secret bases. He's using the information to find out how Manta has been able to find and hunt down his former teammates. When Manta's men eventually arrive, he makes quick work of them but suffers a gunshot wound before escaping. After his escape, we see that The Operative is actually an old man, who uses a suit that helps enhance his abilities. He eventually tells his pilot/Grandson that they need to find Aquaman. From there we see Mera, arguing with a former ally turned enemy of Aquaman's by the name of Shin, since in the last issue he revealed that Aquaman killed Black Manta's father. Shin assures Mera that what he said about Aquaman is true, and Aquaman has deep secrets that he's hidden away. From there we see Aquaman and Black Manta, beating the hell out of one another in the middle of the city. From there we see a Flashback of when Aquaman's father died, and he asked Arthur to do something we don't get to hear, from there Arthur goes after Manta and attacks him on a boat during a thunderstorm, after a fight he snaps his neck, and lightning crashes, showing that the man he killed wasn't Manta. Manta then came aboard, as he'd been diving, and saw that Aquaman had just murdered his father. In the present, Manta and Aquaman continue to fight when Aquaman's former teammates, Prisoner and Ya'Wara show up, and tell Aquaman not to kill Manta until they can find out why he's been stealing the relics of Aquaman's former teammates. Aquaman says Manta is his and he'll decide when to kill him, which causes enough of a distraction for Manta to steal Ya'Wara's amulet. Manta uses the amulet to transport away as Aquaman runs after him, and the issue comes to a close as Black Manta appears face to face with Shin and Mera.


Thoughts: Well, This issue kinda let me down. The last issue was a bit more interesting and the reveal of Aquaman killing Manta's father was surprising. In this issue we saw how that happened, which was cool, but the stuff with The Operative didn't intrigue me, and that was like... the first six pages of the issue. I know it's building to more, but it seemed excessive here. Also, Johns, can we get some better names than The Prisoner and The Operative please? Besides seeing how Manta's father died, this was a pretty slow issue, even the fight with Aquaman and Manta seemed like it never got into second gear, which didn't excite me. Maybe I picked a bad issue to start reviewing with, but for what I did, this was kind of average.

Score:  6.5/10

Black Manta: My revenge is only the beginning, Aquaman.