Batman and Robin #26 & Birds of Prey #15

So the past couple of comic books I've read have been good. No, scratch that, they've been really good. As a matter of fact, this has been one of the better comic reading weeks I've had in a while. But you know what they say about all good things, right? They MUST come to an end, and damn did my good reviewing streak come to a thudding halt with these two comic books... Read on... If you dare!

Batman and Robin #26:

Summary: Batman(Dick Grayson), Robin and Nightrunner are all in Paris, where the Louvre museum has been turned upside down, inside out and all around thanks to four recent escapees from Paris's version of Arkham Asylum. The four crazies were sprung by a guy named the Son of Man. After some difficulty, the heroes manage to sedate all four of the villains and realize that they were being recorded by little portable cameras. The heroes follow the cameras back to the Son of Man's lair, where he gives his life story(of course...), before revealing that his father had slashed his face while he was a child to give him a Joker-esque smile. Before the heroes can attack him, the Son of Man reveals that he had rigged explosives up somewhere, and he'd blow them up if anybody touched him. Bats wonders why Son of Man was doing this, and he reveals that he was killing people for art(or something like that... To be honest I stopped caring a few pages back). That enrages Nightrunner, who goes after Son of Man, but he's stopped by Robin, who didn't want Son of Man to set off the explosives. In the confusion, Bats fires some quick drying gel at Son of Man's hand, preventing him from pushing the button... But wait! Son of Man then reveals that the explosives were in the portable cameras, and that they were voice activated. With that, Son of Man sets them off, and we find out the explosives were only powerful enough to destroy the cameras. From there, Son of Man reveals that he filmed the whole debacle for his father, who he cut into pieces and put in a giant tube, where his father would watch what had happened on an endless loop.

Thoughts: After I read a comic book, if I'm not near my laptop, I'll usually jot down the title of the comic, the score, and a few words about the comic for when I do the review. For this comic, I put down the title, the score, and one word, “Rubbish”... That, in a nutshell, was exactly what this comic was. Garbage. Seriously, it was one of the worst one-and-done stories I've read in quite some time. The worst thing was the fact that I was kind of looking forward to this issue because I saw that David Hine was writing it. I'm not even going to bother wasting any more time on this comic. If you enjoyed this issue, kudos. Me? I absolutely hated it.

Score: 2 out of 10.Damian has definitely seen better days...


Birds of Prey #15:

Summary: Huntress, Black Canary and Manhunter head to the warehouse where Lady Blackhawk and the Phantom Lady had been captured by clones created by a dead Nazi scientist... Yes, this is one of THOSE comic books! The clones use some sort of evil Nazi machines to recreate the dead Nazi scientist, and the now alive Nazi scientist begins to take the pieces of his persona that he hid in Blackhawk and Phantom Lady's heads WAAAAAAY back in 1940's/1950's. Huntress, BC and Manhunter finally enter the warehouse and the Nazi scientist mistakes BC for her mother and tries to get the final piece of his persona out of BC(since he hid the third piece in BC's mother). Since BC doesn't have the missing piece, the Nazi scientist starts to go crazy and begins absorbing the clone's life-forces to empower himself. Unfortunately for the Nazi scientist, he absorbs too much power and explodes just as the women escape the lab. For the sake of my dwindling sanity, let's just say the issue ended there and leave it at that.

Thoughts: Ugh. Going in I expected this issue to be bad, and boy did it meet my expectations! The story didn't interest me last issue, and it was more of the same this issue. The storyline was basically a spotlight on Phantom Lady and Lady Blackhawk, both of whom I could care less about. Yes, it was cool to see Manhunter, but she didn't really DO anything... Same for BC and Huntress, the two BoP that I like the most. If your idea of a great comic is obscure female DC characters dealing with crazed Nazi clones, then THIS is the comic book for you! For the other 99.99999% of us? Pass.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.Hit the Nazi, NOT the wire!!

Birds of Prey #14 & FF #6

And we've made it to the end of the comic book week(which runs from Wednesday to Tuesday in case you were wondering)! Miraculously, I managed to keep my word and delivered every review on the day I had promised I would! How about a round of applause for YOUR Comic Book Malefactor?? No? Meh, whatever. Here are the final two new comics from last week's pile, before I bring home what I'm sure will be an obscene amount of comics tomorrow to start this mess all over again.

Birds of Prey #14:

Summary: This is one of those comic books that mixes the past with the present, making for a tough review... First I'll deal with the stuff from the past, 1950 Argentina to be precise. The Phantom Lady, Black Canary(that would be the first one, Dinah's mother) and Lady Blackhawk are escorted to a small village in Argentina by a US army officer with orders to hunt down a Nazi war criminal who was hiding in the village. Upon arriving, the foursome are met by a mess of kids with guns, dressed up like little soldiers. The army officer winds up getting shot in the head saving Phantom Lady, ending the flashback. The story in the present details Phantom Lady, Lady Blackhawk and Black Canary(the current one) visiting a VA hospital, meeting up with the old soldiers. Eventually Phantom Lady meets up with an old soldier with advanced Alzheimer's, and as she was passing by, he grabs her arm and stares menacingly at her. Eventually Phantom Lady gets free and continues making the rounds. Once Phantom Lady is out of sight, the Alzheimer's patient gets up and sends a message in Morse Code to somebody... Later on, Barbara Gordon invites Blackhawk, Phantom Lady, Canary, Huntress and Manhunter out to dinner. Phantom Lady excuses herself and heads to the bathroom, getting jumped by a mess of guys with electrical powers. Wondering what was taking Phantom Lady so long, Blackhawk heads into the bathroom, and it's second verse, same as the first. Before being knocked out though, Blackhawk manages to scream, alerting the other women that there was danger. By the time they reach the bathroom though, there's no sign of the attackers, Phantom Lady or Blackhawk. This issue ends with Phantom Lady and Blackhawk waking up in some sort of wacky laboratory, with Blackhawk realizing that the men who captured her had something to do with the mission from 1950.

Thoughts: Yeah, this comic was a bit confusing, especially since we never actually find out what happened in Argentina in 1950, but I found myself enjoying the pacing of the story. It moved along briskly, and I'm sure everything will come together next issue. Plus there was no Hawk or Dove, making this the best issue of BoP since the series relaunched! Huzzah!! The bottom line here is that this was a slightly confusing, but otherwise perfectly acceptable comic book.

Score: 6 out of 10.Look out, it's a bunch of creepy kids with guns!!!


FF #6:

Summary: We begin by recapping how Black Bolt died after the War of Kings. Yes, died. From there we flashback to a few weeks ago and wander aimlessly around the capital of the Kree empire, Hala, seeing what the Inhumans were up to. Then we flashback AGAIN, this time a few thousand years back to Hala, where some Kree scientists are telling the Supreme Intelligence about how well their genetic experiments on other alien races were going. The Supreme Intelligence begins to look over the information being fed to him, with most of the scientists within him applauding the info they were seeing. However, a religious leader steps forward and warns the Supreme Intelligence that he was noticing something the scientists hadn't realized, that one of the genetically modified beings would be capable of destroying the Supreme Intelligence several thousand years into the future. After conferring with the voices in his head, the Supreme Intelligence orders the genetic programs stopped and the scientists behind them killed. Before the last scientist is killed, he manages to destroy the data of where all of these experiments were taking place, leaving the Supreme Intelligence with only 94% of the worlds. From there, the Supreme Intelligence orders all of the genetically modified beings killed lest they trouble him someday. We then go somewhere else where we see Black Bolt floating around in space with his eyes suddenly lit up.

Thoughts: Well, I think this'll be the issue where Hickman's Fantastic Four run jumped the shark for me. This was easily the worst comic book I've read in quite some time actually... And that's really saying something, because I read A LOT of comic books in a month! First off, I hate Black Bolt. So that should help some of you understand where I'm coming from here. On top of that, I REALLY like Vulcan... So yeah, you should be able to put one plus one together on where my anger is coming from... Black Bolt and Vulcan died together in the War of Kings mini-series. Now Black Bolt is suddenly alive again? I call bullshit. And there didn't even seem to be any reason for Black Bolt coming back to life! He just sort of wakes up! What the hell is that?! I'm going to have to think hard about whether or not to pick up the next issue of this, thus far, terrible series. I don't know, maybe I'll just wait until the Human Torch comes back before I start collecting the FF's adventures again. If Hickman is still writing it, at least we know how Johnny will come back. He'll inexplicably return to life in the Negative Zone one day, floating peacefully in the sky...

Score: 0 out of 10. Yup, the dreaded imperfect score... Take a bow, FF #6, you've earned it!Yeah, because Black Bolt will somehow make this series suck less.

Birds of Prey #13 & Wolverine #9.

Two posts today that have pretty much nothing to do with each other... Seriously, I can't think of a single correlation here... Oh well, here they are anyway.

Birds of Prey #13:

Summary: Huntress and the Question are rushing towards Black Canary and Useless #2's last known location since Huntress was told how dangerous Junior was by Catman... That's a bit of a stretch... Anyway, Babs can't raise a signal at BC and Useless #2's location, so she's stuck sitting around helplessly. As for BC and Useless #2, they are being trounced by the apparently invincible Junior, who was able to outfight Black Canary AND survive a close range sonic scream. Junior winds up stabbing Useless #2 with a large pair of scissors, at which point BC realizes that retreat was probably the best option here. Huntress and Question manage to catch a ride on a helicopter and get to the building Junior was holed up in, while Babs calls Catman asking for any weaknesses Junior might have. Catman tells her that Junior hated to be seen(?!) so Babs manages to tap into the lights in the building Junior was living in and turn the lights on in Junior's den. This sends Junior into a panic, at which point Huntress, who just arrived, kicks Junior down the stairs before leaving with BC and Useless #2. This one ends with Babs declaring Huntress the new leader of the Birds, and swearing revenge on Junior for injuring Useless #2.

Thoughts: Meh. It's not that this comic was bad per se, I just hate Useless #2(that would be Dove) and Junior. I mean if you'd have replaced Useless #2 and Junior with any number of characters, I'd have enjoyed this one WAY more, because it was a good, fast moving story. But alas, instead we get Useless #2 and Junior... If you don't have a problem with those characters, you'd probably enjoy this one more than I did.

Score: 6 out of 10.HA!!


Wolverine #9:

Summary: Wanting to shut Mystique up permanently, the Red Right Hand hires Lord Deathstrike to hunt down and assassinate Mystique. While Mystique is being hunted by the surprisingly awesome Lord Deathstrike, Wolverine is also hunting her down, since she had information on the Red Right Hand. Oh yeah, plus he wants to kill her for her hand in the whole, “Sending Wolvie to Hell” thing. Wolvie manages to track Mystique down while she was battling Deathstrike and tries to kill her himself. Mystique hurls a grenade at Wolvie to get him off her back(literally!) and tells Wolvie that she WANTED to tell him what the Red Right Hand was up to since they were trying to kill her now. Mystique manages to tell Wolvie that the leader of the Red Right Hand was living in a beach house in Mexico, but is shot again by Deathstrike before she could reveal what the Red Right Hand was planning on doing to Wolvie when he arrived. Tired of Deathstrike, Wolvie goes after him, but Deathstrike phases through the street to escape. With the distraction of Deathstrike gone, Wolvie turns his attention back to the bloodied Mystique. Mystique tells Wolvie that she wasn't sorry she helped send him to Hell, but that she didn't want to be a part of what the Red Right Hand had planned next for Wolvie, because regardless of all the animosity between herself and Wolvie, Wolvie was there for Nightcrawler up until Crawler's end. Mystique seems willing to offer up more info on the Red Right Hands plans for Wolvie, but having tired of hearing from her, Wolvie fatally stabs Mystique, leaving her corpse lying on the street. This issue ends some time later at an underground auction house, where we discover that Lord Deathstrike had managed to acquire Mystique's corpse and was selling it. After some bidding, the corpse is sold to the Hand for a cool five million dollars...

Thoughts: What's there to say? I enjoyed this one. It was basically Mystique trying to fend off attackers from two different sides, as both the surprisingly cool Lord Deathstrike and Wolvie were out for her blood. The only real gripe I had with this one was the way in which Wolvie killed her... He stabbed her through the chest. I've seen Mystique walk away from gunshots, stabbings, explosions, you name it, but being stabbed by Wolverine's claws in the chest was her kryptonite? I mean she's such a talented shapeshifter she's been known to shift her vital organs to different spots in her body to avoid fatal harm. Why didn't she simply shift her heart to her leg or something? I guess she died from the accumulation of injuries she suffered this issue, but I'd have preferred it had Wolvie decapitated her, because that seems like the one sure injury she wouldn't be coming back from. Besides my issues with Mystique's death, I liked everything else here. From Wolvie learning where the Red Right Hand was holed up(which is exactly what they wanted), to the Hand taking possession of Mystique's corpse, undoubtedly to turn her into one of them, this was a good, quick, action-packed ride that definitely has me looking forward to Wolvie's inevitable confrontation with the mysterious Red Right Hand.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.So long, Mystique!

Birds of Prey #12 & Gotham City Sirens #23

Two DC books to get out of the way today. One of them was so bad it was cringe-inducing, the other wasn't that bad at all. Which was which? Read on and find out!

Birds of Prey #12:

Summary: This issue starts off about as nonsensically as possible, so I'm just gonna skip it and pretend it didn't happen... Trust me, it's better that way... From there, Oracle sends Lady Blackhawk, Black Canary and Useless #1 & #2(or Hawk and Dove, same thing) to infiltrate some evil rich guy's offices. While Blackhawk keeps the rich guy distracted, Black Canary and Useless #2 sneak off to see what the rich guy was keeping in his basement. Useless #1 winds up getting held at gunpoint by two of the rich guy's bodyguards, and Huntress and the Question are randomly dealing with dirty cops and drug dealers in the sewers... Okay then. Anyway, Canary and Useless #2 make it into the basement and find a box with a phone next to it... Oh god no... Please don't do this to me, Gail... Not in THIS series too! Oh god, she did... *sigh* It turns out Ragdoll's sister Junior was living in the box and after killing the lights in the basement goes to kill Canary and Useless #2.

Thoughts: I'm not sure I could have hated a comic written by Gail Simone any more than I hated this one... I mean I usually enjoy Gail's work and all, but this was just horrible. Okay, let me clarify what I'm saying here... In MY opinion, this comic was horrible. The story was ALLL over the place, AND it made me think about Ragdoll, a character who is reaching Mad Hatter levels of annoyance from me. I have NO idea what the point of the first few pages of this comic few, nor do I know why Huntress and Question were in the sewers halting dirty cops. This was bad... It was really bad...

Score: 2 out of 10.Please kill Useless #2...


Gotham City Sirens #23:

Summary: We get started with Catwoman breaking into a truck full of diamonds that were headed for the Penguin. Before she can make good her escape, Batman(Dick Grayson this time around) lands near her and tries to guilt CW into heading to Arkham Asylum to deal with her two Sirens teammates, Harley Quinn(who broke Joker out of his cell last issue), and Poison Ivy, who wants to help Harley get away from under Joker's thumb, but is crazy. CW basically tells Dick to go to hell before driving off with her stolen booty. From there we head to Arkham, where the inmates have escaped and the place is rapidly falling apart. Harley is firmly under Mistah J's control again, and is happily doing whatever he asks of her. The two decide to have a game night, which involves Joker brutalizing various Arkham guards. While Joker and Harley are playing their games, Jeremiah Arkham finds the current director of the Asylum, Alice Sinner, who seems to still be loyal to Arkham(!!). Sinner opens a safe in her office and hands Arkham his Black Mask... um, mask and Black Mask walks the hallways of the Asylum, unhappy that Joker's games were undermining his own plans... That's pretty awesome actually. Black Mask heads up to Joker and tells him as much, and asks Joker to stop with his games, which pisses Joker off since he sees all of life as a meaningless game. Before Joker can attack Mask, Poison Ivy arrives on the scene and flings Joker away. With Joker away from Harley, Ivy tells Harley that she had to decide what was more important, her warped relationship with Joker, or her friendship with Ivy. This issue ends with Catwoman reluctantly deciding to head to the Asylum, stopping off at Gotham City Central first to see if Batman wanted to go with her. Much to her surprise(and relief), the Batman waiting for her at police headquarters was Bruce Wayne, and the two head off to see what they could do about the mess at the Asylum.

Thoughts: First things first, thank you Peter Calloway for FINALLY giving us the return of CLASSIC Joker. Grant Morrison has done a lot of good things during his time with the Bat books(Damian, Batman Inc, etc), but his forked-tongued, tank-top wearing, neck-breaking version of Joker REALLY bugged me... With a character like the Joker, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! So seeing Joker back in his trademark purple suit, NOT talking with that weird world bubble anymore made me very happy. Actually, all of this issue made me very happy... Anytime Joker is around I'm glad, the fact that Calloway actually seems like he has plans for the current Black Mask was nice, since Tony Daniel basically made Arkham into Black Mask and then COMPLETELY forgot all about it, and the interactions between Catwoman and Dick, and Catwoman and Bruce were very well written. I've got to say, this was a really good comic that left me with no real complaints.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Classic Joker is awesome Joker.

Birds of Prey #11 & Batman #709

Two DC reviews here, both rather long-winded... Apparently, the less sleep I get, the more chatty I get. Now this is good for those times when I have to stay up late to finish a paper for school, but not so good for typing up reviews. Don't believe me? Read on!

Birds of Prey #11:

Summary: So 4 criminals have stolen a mess of Ancient Egyptian antiques and taken an asthmatic woman hostage in Gotham. Huntress decides to get involved in the investigation and manages to catch up to one of the crooks, who was trying to escape from Huntress on a motorcycle. Huntress shoots the guy in the foot with a crossbow bolt, but he manages to make his way up to a rooftop, where he is stopped by Catman. Catman scares the guy into giving up the location of one of the other three crooks, and Catman offers his assistance to Huntress(after stealing a quick kiss and catching a right hand for his troubles). Irregardless of Catman's kiss, Huntress decides to work with him and the two track Crook #2 to his pregnant girlfriend's house. The pregnant woman takes a run at Catman(?!?) and gets punched in the nose for her troubles, much to the rage of Huntress. Crook #2 grabs his gun and shoots at Huntress and Catman, missing Huntress but clipping Catman. Huntress manages to slam Crook #2 into the wall, where he squeals the location of Crook #3, who had the asthmatic woman and the antiques. After Huntress patches Catman up, he manages to track Crook #3's truck to a warehouse, a feat that surprises Huntress. The two bust in and discover Crook #3 standing next to the tied up hostage holding a katana(?!). Huntress tells Catman to take care of the woman while she takes Crook #3 down, which Catman reluctantly does. Huntress makes quick work of Crook #3 and puts her crossbow to the back of Catman's head, telling him the jig was up... Wha-huh?! Huntress explains that Catman was Crook #4(!), having figured out that fact by putting several little clues together throughout this comic. Realizing that he'd been caught, Catman pretty much tells Huntress she was correct, but in a non-incriminating way, since he knew Huntress couldn't nab him on the little clues she put together. Enraged that Catman(a potential romantic interest) had played her like that, Huntress slaps him(again) and tells him to get lost. Catman tries to plead with Huntress, telling her that since he “lost” his son he'd been on a downward spiral, and needed help. Huntress ALMOST gives in to Catman, but pushes down her instincts and tells him that she didn't want to see him again before leaving with the kidnapped woman(who I guess watched all this play out!). When Huntress is out of earshot, Deadshot steps out of the shadows and Catman reveals that he had set all of this up to dissuade Huntress from wanting to strike up a relationship with him because he's a bad guy.

Thoughts: You know, I was as confused as hell for some of this comic, but once I figured out what Catman was doing with his triple-cross, I realized that I REALLY enjoyed this issue! A lot! Like more than any issue of BoP since it's relaunch! So what did I like? Well, the fact that this issue spotlighted Huntress sure did help, plus there was NO Hawk or Dove in this comic... I think THAT'S what bugs me the most about this series, the fact that those two are a part of things. For me, they just haven't fit in yet. In my opinion, all you really need in this series are Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress. Jettison the dead weight, Gail Simone!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Catman sure did get slapped a lot this issue!


Batman #709:

Summary: With Red Robin and Catwoman having failed their tests, Batman(Dick Grayson) heads to a rooftop in Devil's Square to meet up with Azrael, Crusader and Fireball. Basically Bats has to prove that he's righteous(or something along those lines), lest Azrael has Fireball obliterate Gotham City. With no real choice, Bats agrees to take this “test” and Azrael calls forth some guy who used to be an acrobat called the Prodigy back when Bats was a young kid. It seems the Prodigy was viciously beaten by some punks in Wisconsin after he made a move for one of the punk's girlfriends. The beating left him unable to do his acrobatics anymore, and pretty much paved the way for The Flying Graysons to take over the mantle of most impressive circus act in Haley's Circus. So what exactly does this have to do with Bats, you ask? It turns out that Dick had overheard the punks planning their attack on Prodigy but did nothing to stop them. That inaction is what drives Bats(according to Azrael), and is what damns him and all of Gotham... Sheesh, isn't that just a bit harsh?! He was only a kid! Bats tries to reason with Azrael, stating that all of Gotham didn't deserve to burn for the sins of a few, but Azrael is insistent that EVERYBODY in Gotham is a sinner. Bats asks if that included Azrael's sister-in-law and her kids, and reveals that they were on their way to the building they were debating atop of. Azrael has Crusader bring the woman and her kids to the roof to see why she hadn't left town yet, and she reveals that she was called by Red Robin to come by to try to talk some sense into Azrael. She also expresses disgust at Azrael's plans to destroy Gotham and refuses to see the “logic” in his actions. Somehow this all leads to Bats convincing Azrael to stab himself with his two swords to see if he was truly without sin, and thus deserved to judge everybody else. The swords show Azrael that he had been manipulated by Ra's Al Ghul, who wanted Azrael to destroy Gotham, since that act would lead to a global war, one that would annihilate most of the world, allowing Ra's to swoop in and take control of everything. Azrael is horrified that it wasn't God, but Ra's who set him on this path, and before he can figure out what to do, Fireball begins to slowly detonate. Bats tells Crusader to cover Fireball with a telekinetic forcefield, which is able to contain Fireball's blast, saving Gotham, but killing Fireball. In the end, Azrael and Crusader leave, angry about the way they were manipulated by Ra's, while the Prodigy(remember him?) tells Bats that he knew that Dick had watched the beating he received, and that he didn't hold it against Dick since he was only a kid and kids make mistakes. As for Ra's, he calmly states that while this particular plan failed, he'd keep trying, since he simply needed Bats and his allies to slip up one time for him to win.

Thoughts: Okay, that review was WAY longer than I intended, so I'll make this part quick. Two things. The first is that I didn't like the Prodigy stuff here at all. I didn't like the light it put Dick in, as it made him look guilty(-ish) for something he really played no part in. I mean he WAS only a little kid! The other thing I wanted to mention was that I LOVED Ra's parts here. We never really knew what Ra's was up to this entire crossover until the last few pages of this issue, but Ra's logic, and parting words all made perfect sense(in a crazy, super-villain sort of way).

Score: 7 out of 10.Crazy people are crazy!

Quick Hits: 3/24/11

I said I'd have to get a move on with these reviews, especially in light of earlier today's rather... enthusiastic trip to the comic book shop. I mean those 20 something comics I picked up aren't gonna review themselves, so here are the last couple of comics that I needed to review from last week. Next on the agenda, THIS week's books!

Iron Man 2.0 #2:

Summary: The mystery of Palmer Addley continues here with the(thought to be) dead Palmer possessing a US soldier and making him don a suicide bomber's vest to kill several other US soldiers in Iraq. War Machine(who has been tasked with solving the riddle of how Palmer is striking from beyond the grave) heads to Suzi Endo, a world class computer expert(and possible ex of Rhodey's). Suzi manages to track the signal that set off the bomber's vest to a location in Russia, which is where Rhodey flies to. Rhodey finds an abandoned warehouse and upon further inspection discovers a whole mess of dead Russian soldiers pinned to a wall. Rhodey catches a glimpse of somebody out of the corner of his eye and pursues them, but winds up getting hit with a monster virus, which completely shuts down his armor. While laying face down, somebody walks up to the helpless War Machine and tells him to go back to the States and tell his bosses that Palmer Addley is dead. Suzi, who was keeping an eye on Rhodey after he left, manages to reboot Rhodey's hydraulic system, which gets him up off the ground, before telling him to get out of the warehouse as soon as he could. Rhodey tries to drag himself out the door, but is caught in a huge explosion before he could get clear. This issue ends with War Machine laying wrecked in a massive crater.

Thoughts: First things first, I do enjoy a good mystery. And this story is giving us a good mystery. I'm as lost as Rhodey when it comes to Palmer Addley, and how he's doing what he's doing. So yes, the story here is very good. BUT(you had to see that coming!), I don't know who many of the characters are in this series... I have NO clue who Suzi Endo is, and what her relationship to Rhodey is. I'm guessing they were an item once, but I'm not sure. That's more on me than Nick Spencer though, because I really never followed Iron Man(or War Machine) until very recently. The bottom line though is that I'm enjoying this comic, and look forward to learning more about the mystery of Palmer Addley.

Score: 8 out of 10.I hope the speech is at least interesting...


REBELS #26:

Summary: Last issue ended with Lobo killing one of Starro's lieutenants, Storm-Daughter. While Starro is more concerned with hiding the Lobo clones he had under the Psion homeworld, his other lieutenant, Smite, wants Lobo to pay for the murder. Starro decides to take the starfish off of Dox's face to find out how to beat Lobo, but Dox simply taunts Starro because he's AWESOME. Starro gets tired of hearing Dox, so he sticks th starfish back on Dox's face(HA!). Back on the planet Rann, Starro's forces are slowly beginning to overrun the planet, with Starro's mind controlling starfish attaching themselves to Adam Strange's daughter, as well as his father-in-law. Smite decides to program all of the Lobo clones the Psion's had created with the memory of how Lobo destroyed their homeworld of Czarnia, figuring the best way to beat Lobo was with an army of Lobos. Starro nixes this idea, since he didn't want to risk losing control of the Lobo clones. Smite gets sick of Starro and decides to face Lobo himself, so he could avenge Storm-Daughter's death. With Smite occupying Lobo, Starro tells all of his mind controlled Psion's to move the Lobo clones to a safer place, while he takes the mind controlled Dox to Rann to finish conquering that world. Back on Rann, Dox's son, Brainiac 3(Lyrl Dox) learns that most of Rann has been conquered by Starro's forces, meaning it was up to him to revive the near dead Tribulus to mount some kind of offensive against Starro before it was too late.

Thoughts: *sigh* I honestly can't believe this series is going to be canceled in a few short months... I say this as somebody who reads a LOT of comic books monthly(if you don't believe me, just check out any of my New Comic Day posts!), both DC and Marvel, so I'm not saying this lightly, REBELS is THE best comic coming out of DC, and probably one of the top 5 comics I read every month. As always, Tony Bedard's story was fantastic and the art was great as usual. I don't know what more to say. I'd implore people to read this comic book, but by this point it's too little too late. Before I go on a wicked rant against my fellow comic fans, and the DC hierarchy, I think it would be best to just end this review right now...

Score: 9 out of 10.That top panel made me literally laugh out loud!


Red Robin #21:

Summary: Okay, let me just say right now that there is NO earthly way I can even begin to review this comic book. It was THAT bad... All I'm going to say is that Red Robin seems to FINALLY have managed to shut down the Unternet by dooming the Madmen to live out their lives as lunatics... Oh, and in the end it appears that Anarky(Lonnie Machin) somehow manages to keep a sliver of the Unternet alive...

Thoughts: All I have to say about this comic book is this: THANK GOD this storyline is FINALLY over!!!!! This Unternet business was just a massive headache where I understood every third page. Now hopefully Fabian Nicieza can get off this Unternet kick he's apparently on so we can get some good Red Robin stories, like we used to before the Unternet junk came to the forefront.

Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.Something happened here. The end.


Birds of Prey #10:

Summary: After Calculator “killed” Oracle last issue by blowing up her helicopter, he decides to kill Huntress, Dove(good!) and Lady Blackhawk. Before he can get the job done though, Black Canary arrives on the scene, apparently not selling the mental abuse Mortis delivered to her last issue. This gives Huntress, Dove and Blackhawk the chance to break out of their bonds, while Hawk also shows up to lend a hand. Calculator tries to get away, but is caught by Huntress, who lets him go, but not before telling him that by killing Oracle he'd be facing the full wrath of the entire super-hero community. After all the Calculator stuff is taken care of, we head to the Batcave, where we learn Oracle is still alive(duh). She tells Batman(Bruce Wayne), Batman(Dick Grayson), Red Robin, Batgirl, and that worthless pain in the ass Misfit that she was still alive, but that she would only be working with them from this point forward, since too many bad guys had learned of her existence. And that's pretty much that.

Thoughts: Eh. It's not like this comic was bad or anything, it just didn't do anything to impress me. I like that Oracle faked her death, since that does take her off the radar of the villains, thus making the villains a bit more sloppy, but the rest of this issue was meh. I still hate that Hawk and Dove are on this team, it was never really explained how Black Canary managed to escape Mortis's mental torture, and Huntress letting Calculator go bothered me(even though I get why she did it). Plus I had to see Misfit, which always puts me in a bad mood. So yeah, this wasn't a bad comic, but it definitely wasn't something I'd want to spend a whole mess of time talking/thinking about.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Now THAT is a big gun!


X-Factor #217:

Summary: Rictor, Madrox, Shatterstar and Longshot head to the graveyard where Jameson's general friend was killed a few issues back to see if Longshot could use his powers to “see” who shot the general. Meanwhile, Monet and Strong Guy come across some people protesting mutants and Muslims and begin to debate them. Mayor Jameson soon arrives on the scene and ALSO begins to debate... Ugh. Longshot manages to see who shot the general, and Rictor uses a facial recognition program to create a picture of the woman. Madrox sends the woman's picture to the other members of X-Factor, and Monet and Strong Guy spot the woman in the crowd of protesters heading towards Jameson. Strong Guy gets in front of her, and she shoots him through the chest with her finger(which fires some sort of energy bullets). With the crowd now panicked, a secondary sniper from above sets her sights on Jameson.

Thoughts: I didn't like this issue AT ALL! It was WAAAAY too preachy for my tastes. I like my politics on my TV(so I don't have to watch it!) and my entertainment in my comic books. Sure, some comics can get across a political message in a clever, non-browbeating sort of way, but this comic just irked me. And I say that as somebody who AGREES with the message Peter David was delivering through Monet and Mayor Jameson! Even still, I didn't think the protest scenes had any place in this comic, and it REALLY hurt my enjoyment of this usually good series.

Score: 2 1/2 out of 10.Please, let's not get into the Longshot/Shatterstar relationship again...


Batman #708:

Summary: Batman(Dick Grayson) is still suffering the aftereffects of being stabbed by Azrael and his magical sword. Don't ask me when that happened, because I have no clue. After a restless night sleep in which Dick was plagued by dreams of a circus performer from Haley's Circus being beaten to death(which he has NO memory of), Dick heads out after hearing about some lunatic running rampant in Gotham. Dick arrives on the scene and sights a floating man throwing fire and swords at all of the “sinners” he sees around him. Red Robin and Catwoman arrive on the scene to help, but the madman is too much for them, as he batters them with his myriad of powers. Azrael arrives on the scene and tells the madman to stop, revealing that the guy was named the Crusader. Azrael tells the Bat-members not to worry about Crusader, since he always listened to Azrael, but Dick wants Crusader taken to prison for all the damage/death he caused. Azrael says no, and vanishes with Crusader in a puff of smoke and fire. From there we head just outside of Gotham where we learn Ra's Al Ghul was enhancing the powers of some guy named Fireball so he'd be able to destroy all of Gotham. It appears that Azrael, Crusader and Fireball are working for Al Ghul, and are testing the heroes of Gotham. If the heroes fail the test, then Al Ghul intends on destroying the entire city.

Thoughts: This is actually the beginning of a crossover with at least Red Robin, and possibly Gotham City Sirens(even though that's just a guess on my part). I have to admit, I've never cared for this new Azrael, plus I don't know who Crusader and Fireball are... I have no idea when Dick was stabbed by Azrael, or what the deal with Dick's weird dreams were. So there were a lot of things I just couldn't enjoy here, because I had no clue what was going on! I did like seeing Ra's towards the end of this issue, because he is one of my favorite Bat-villains. But besides that, there were just too many times I sat back and had no idea what I was reading.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.What's a Batman review without the obligatory shirtless Dick Grayson pic?

Quick Hits: 2/17/11

Never let it be said I don't keep my promises(well most of the time anyway...). I promised to post an all DC Quick Hits edition for Thursday, and BAM, here it is. I actually enjoyed all three of these comics, which is a nice change of pace, especially when it comes to DC lately. Oh, and that announcement I promised in my New Comic Day post on Wednesday? I'll fill you guys in on it tomorrow night(Friday), when I put up a post explaining just what all of the hubbub is about. Don't worry, it's nothing earth-shattering or anything like that. The only other thing I have to mention is that I'm hosting my scans through Photobucket now, so if they look a bit different, that's why. If they look unbearably different, let me know in the comments section. Okay, that's what's coming tomorrow, but today I have some reviews to get to, so here they come.

Red Robin #20:

Summary: We get things started with Tim(as Red Robin) chasing after Catman, who had just left Lonnie Machin's hospital room with a flashdrive that would return control of the Unternet to Viktor Mikalek. Tim manages to catch up to Catman and the two do some sparring, but Catman is simply interesting in leaving town, so he shows Tim that he had stolen Tam Fox's cell phone and calls the Unternet with her phone, tipping the Calculator(who ran the Unternet for a time)that someone was trying to use the Unternet without his permission. With no choice, Tim has to let Catman go and rushes to Tam's dorm, just in time to see it blown up by a man who looks surprisingly like Calculator himself. Tim searches the rubble and is relieved to discover Tam wasn't there at the time, but that search allows Calculator to escape. Tim heads back to his base with a piece of the rocket used to destroy Tam's dorm and finds some footage of Calculator purchasing it... Except his facial recognition program can only match the Calculator in the footage to the 94th percentile. After some thought and sleuthing, Tim realizes that the Calculator he saw was actually a robot, and that 147 other Calculator robots went on-line with the one he saw. Realizing that he'd need some assistance, and not wanting to be spoken down to while on the mission, Tim turns to the Teen Titans. Tim and the TT trace the signal which activated the Calculator robots to a nightclub in Istanbul, and Robin(Damian)spots a Calculator robot, attacking and beheading it. Unfortunately this action reveals that the robot had a built in bomb, and that Tim and the TT were surrounded by several innocent civilians and a few Calculator robots, which were now primed to blow.

Thoughts: Hmm, let's see. I like, and have always liked Tim Drake, from his early Robin days to his current Red Robin identity. I like the current line-up of the Teen Titans, and have actually morphed into quite the Damian fan. I've liked Fabian Nicieza's writing since the 90's, and I've enjoyed JT Krul's current run on the Teen Titans. So putting all of that information together and mixing it up I can tell you quite definitively that I really liked this comic! Yeah, there were some things that bugged me, Catman's bizarre and totally uncalled for appearance being one of those things, but just about everything else was done really well. Tim turning to the Titans for help, especially since it was their mutual enemy(Calculator)he was squaring off against, made perfect sense, and all of the characters acted exactly as I would have expected them to act. I'm definitely looking forward to the next part of this x-over in the Teen Titans comic.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Can you believe that Damian has become one of my favorite DC characters?! If that's not a sure sign of the impending apocalypse I don't know what is!


Titans #32:

Summary: Captain Marvel(or Shazam, I'm not sure what the hell DC is calling him nowadays)and Osiris have a good, old fashioned super-hero throwdown after CM discovered that Osiris had been killing people with the hope of returning his sister, Isis, to life. While those two brawl in the streets of Philadelphia, Ink quits the Titans, figuring that now that he had avenged the death of his son he was done. Deathstroke tries to convince Ink to stay and keep assisting the Titans, but Ink turns them down and walks. Meanwhile, CM manages to reach Osiris by telling him that although they have the powers of gods, they can't walk around killing people indiscriminately. Osiris listens to CM go on for a while before he begins to wonder if killing CM would bring Isis back. Deciding to give it a shot, Osiris grabs CM and steals his powers, turning CM back into regular, old Freddy Freeman. Freddy tries to regain his powers by saying Shazam a few times, but they don't come back to him. Meanwhile, the Titans base rumbles violently from Osiris's room, and the villains head down to investigate. That Damn White Lantern Ring(yeah, that's its official name now) tells Osiris that he had accomplished his task, and he rushes back to the Titans base, finding Isis alive, but furious with him.

Thoughts: I didn't like the way Eric Wallace's run on this series started at all. I mean I disliked it so much I was seriously debating on whether I'd keep reading when my subscription was up. However, it seems with each passing issue I'm enjoying this series more and more. I liked this issue. It didn't blow my mind or anything, but it was a good, solid read. I like all of the little stories that it seems everybody on this team have going, from Cheshire and Roy to Ink to Osiris to even Deathstroke himself. This series is becoming pretty well rounded, and is shockingly becoming one of my favorite non-Bat family DC books(although that isn't really saying all THAT much with my recent displeasure with the DCU in general). Now I'm sure some of my longtime readers are probably kind of surprised by the fact that I haven't exploded at the fact that Freddy Freeman was robbed of his CM powers. Yeah, I am a big fan of Freddy, and feel he's about 17 and a half times more interesting than former CM Billy Batson. But let's face it, with DC's whole, “Everything old is new again” editorial dictum I knew Freddy's days as CM were numbered and as such had long braced myself. I have NO doubt that in the end Billy Batson will be the one to regain the CM powers, and as such have made peace with that. Does it suck? Yeah, it sucks HARD, but that's DC.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.It's not working because you aren't saying, "Shazam!" with the exclamation point!


Birds of Prey #9:

Summary: This one's pretty simple. Black Canary is being tortured mentally after having been touched by Mortis last issue. Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and Dove have been taken hostage by Calculator who thinks(but isn't sure)that Dove is Oracle. Black Canary manages to fight off the influence of Mortis back at the Birds base(which is where Batman took her), while Oracle heads to Calculator's headquarters in an attack helicopter. Oracle tells Calculator to release her minions or face the consequences, so Calculator has one of his goons(Current)blow up the helicopter, presumably killing Oracle in the process.

Thoughts: See that? Simple, just like I said. I've been really down on the Birds of Prey series since it restarted, mainly because of the way Hawk and Dove were unnecessarily foisted on the team. This was probably the first issue since the relaunch that I really enjoyed reading. It focused on the REAL Birds(Black Canary, Huntress, Oracle), the story finally came together, and everything made sense. Sure Dove got to do the whole Superman act which annoyed me, but the story itself was really solid. I enjoyed the Black Canary parts, with Dinah trying to fight off the effects of Mortis's touch(and ultimately succeeding)and I liked Oracle's “death”. Yeah, we ALL know that Oracle isn't dead, I mean the entire purpose of this storyline was for Oracle to fake her death to throw the various villains who had discovered she existed off her trail, but even with the ending being uber-obvious, I still enjoyed this one. The next issue is the finale to this storyline(it said so right on the last page!), and I'll be interested to see how Oracle decides to operate now that she'll be completely off the grid again.

Score: 8 out of 10.Now THAT shotgun would kill a whole horde of zombies!

Quick Hits: 2/6/11

Another day, another installment of Quick Hits! This post is a mixed bag, with 3 DC's and a Marvel. For the most part we had some average books here, although one of them was better than average. Oh, and remember, the “Fear Itself” prologue is only ONE month away(AND written by Ed Brubaker!), and I guarantee it will BLOW Flashpoint out of the water. Okay, 'Nuff said, let's get to those reviews!

Shazam! #1:

Summary: Blaze wants to steal the powers of Captain Marvel(Freddy Freeman)and has elected Mary Batson to assist her. Mary pretends to poison Freddy to draw out Blaze, at which time Freddy attacks the villain. The battle is pretty evenly matched, but Freddy has friends in Mary and the former Captain Marvel, Billy Batson, and that helps turn the tide of the battle, leaving Blaze defeated. With Blaze done for, Freddy sends her back to Hell, or Limbo, or wherever Blaze was residing this week, and she turns her attention to her other pet project, Osiris.

Thoughts: I really only have one complaint here... This hardly tied in to the Titans series at all... I mean I brought this expecting it to carry on from the last issue of Titans, where Freddy confronted Osiris, but instead this issue seemed more like a flashback issue. So while that was a bit disappointing, this issue itself was a perfectly acceptable one-shot. You get a good battle, the hero looks to be defeated, he's helped by his friends, and the villain loses. That's pretty much the perfect formula for a super-hero comic book. I was a bit annoyed that Freddy seemed more obsessed with finding a way to get Billy and Mary their powers back than anything else, but in this bastardized version of the DCU, it's really only a matter of time before Billy regains the Captain Marvel moniker because that's how it was 25 years ago, and in the DCU that's really all that matters.

Score: 7 out of 10.Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's DC, we all KNOW it's only a matter of time before Billy and Mary get their powers back...


Teen Titans #91:

Summary: The Teen Titans manage to defeat Headcase, Jock and Doll Face(THANK YOU for finally giving these villains names, JT Krul!)after a pitched battle, but the mastermind behind the trio's transformation remains at large. While the majority of the team handled that, Robin and Ravager were able to defeat a school lunchroom full of drugged students. After watching Ravager in action, it seems Robin has actually found some respect for her. We end things here with Robin sitting in the Titans security room thinking about how much he detested his teammates(except for Ravager)when he is contacted by a beaten up Red Robin, who was requesting the assistance of the Teen Titans.

Thoughts: Wow, can you believe this series has almost reached issue #100? But that's really neither here nor there. I liked this issue. The scenes with the majority of the team against the trio of villains were pretty good(although I'm STILL annoyed by how super-smart Bart Allen has become... I miss Impulse...), and I loved the interactions between Ravager and Robin. This series might just be the perfect vehicle to give Damian a voice outside of Gotham and the Bat-family. Plus considering their parentage, Ravager and Damian are really the perfect fit. This comic leads into the Teen Titans/Red Robin crossover, which I have some high hopes for. I will say that I think it would have been hilarious for Damian to have simply hung up on Red Robin at the end of this issue, but that's just me.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.What can I say, I like Damian and Ravager together... Sue me!


Thanos Imperative: Devastation #1:

Summary: So the Thanos Imperative is over, and Star-Lord and Nova are, for all intents and purposes, dead. With the Guardians of the Galaxy disbanded, Cosmo decides to go around the universe to gather the biggest cosmic powerhouses he could, as per Star-Lord's last words to him. Cosmo manages to recruit Beta Ray Bill, Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Ronan the Accuser and Quasar, and this group manages to EASILY put down Blastaar's attempted take over of the Kree/Inhuman empire. Cosmo christens them the Annihilators, and begins to discuss the recent troubles Star Lord had been documenting concerning the Dire Wraiths. This issue ends with a random Space Knight(Ikon)teleporting to the group and telling them he was supposed to lead them.

Thoughts: Well, I do love Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Marvel space tales, but this comic fell just a bit flat for me... My biggest gripe would have to be the Annihilators themselves... They're just TOO powerful! I mean Gladiator and the Surfer alone are two of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, but when you add Beta Ray Bill(who is pretty much Thor-like in power), Ronan(probably the most powerful Kree NOT named Mar-Vell)and Quasar(who has faced down NUMEROUS cosmic level threats), you're looking at a murderer's row of characters! I mean seriously, what threat could POSSIBLY take down this group?! The Dire Wraiths? Bah! Speaking of the Dire Wraiths and their longtime enemies, the Space Knights, I'm not at all pleased to see any of those characters return. I didn't enjoy the Dire Wraiths back in the day, and I doubt I'll enjoy them now. So yeah, this wasn't exactly a ringing success for me. With all that said though, you can be SURE I'll be picking up the Annihilators mini-series... Yes, I am a very complex individual.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.That team could wipe the floor with ANY other grouping of characters!


Birds of Prey #8:

Summary: As per Oracle's orders, the Birds are trying to trick Calculator's goon squad(Mortis, Mammoth and Current)into believing Dove was Oracle(for some reason...). Calculator manages to deduce Dove's civilian identity and figures that she's smart enough to possibly be the Oracle he's been hunting for. Figuring he has what he was looking for, he tells his goons to capture all of the Birds. The Hive joins the battle on Calculator's behalf as well, as does Batman for the Birds, although he is under orders from Oracle to throw the fight(once again, for some reason...). The heroes basically get overpowered, and this issue ends with Mortis touching Black Canary, forcing her to face every bad moment of her life, all at the same time. Oh, plus Hawk visits Penguin, thus bringing the final score for this comic down by 1/2.

Thoughts: Um, what? I'm sure Gail Simone has a great plan and endgame for this storyline, I just can't see it for the life of me yet... I have to admit, since DC restarted Birds of Prey 8 issues ago, I've found myself just not enjoying this series as much as I enjoyed the previous one. Maybe it's because of the wholly unneeded addition of Hawk and Dove to make this series a VERY loose Brightest Day tie-in book, but something just isn't clicking for me. I don't know what else to say...

Score: 6 out of 10.When the HELL did Dove become the "conscience of the superhero community”?!

Birds of Prey #7

Review: This issue begins with Savant meeting with Calculator and informing him as to Oracle's exact location. From there, Oracle beats up some junkies outside her headquarters and is met by Batman(in this case, Bruce Wayne). Oracle takes Bats into her headquarters and shows him around. Upon arriving inside, Oracle meets up with Savant, who tells her their plan for Calculator went as expected. Savant then leaves and Bats tells Oracle that he needs her assistance with the whole Batman Incorporated thing. Oracle says she's willing to help, but that it would have to be as Barbara Gordon, because Oracle had lost the sanctuary of the shadows and as such had to die. Moving on, Black Canary, Huntress, Dove and Lady Blackhawk are hanging out at a strip club to celebrate Dove's birthday. This issue ends with Mammoth, Bolt, a few HIVE goons and some woman named Mortis attacking the Birds since they were under the impression(from Savant)that one of them was Oracle.

Thoughts: Ugh... This was probably the worst Birds of Prey comic I've read in... well, maybe ever. I usually love Gail Simone's work in this series, but yikes, this one was a mess. The story was blah, the dialogue was pretty bad, and overall the whole thing was pretty boring. I mean it felt like I was reading this comic for a few hours, not a few minutes. Oh well, even the best of writers doesn't hit it out of the park every time. Hopefully this series returns to its usual awesomeness next issue.

Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.It's going to take some time getting used to the new, touchy-feely Bruce Wayne...

Birds of Prey #6

Birds of Prey #6

-This JUST came in the mail today, even though it was released like a month ago... Yep, DC's subscription service REALLY sucks.
-Last issue Huntress and Lady Blackhawk headed to Thailand to try to rescue Black Canary from her nemesis, the White Canary.
-Unfortunately, Black Canary can't leave Thailand because White Canary had kidnapped her adopted daughter, Sin.
-White Canary promised to release Sin provided Black Canary fought Lady Shiva(THE greatest fighter in the DCU)to the death.
-Unfortunately for Black Canary, on her best day she has little chance against Shiva, and she is currently nursing a broken wrist.
-Black Canary asks Huntress to serve as her second, and as tradition dictated, Huntress had to challenge Shiva on Black Canary's behalf.
-Instead of challenging Shiva for Black Canary, Huntress challenges Shiva herself, figuring that Black Canary had way more to live for than she did.
-White Canary immediately accepts the challenge, agreeing to release the captive Sin and her foster family once the battle between Huntress and Shiva had concluded.
-Black Canary is incensed, since there's no doubt that Shiva was going to kill Huntress.
-Right before the fight commences, one of the White Canary's henchwomen decides she can no longer abide by White Canary's antics, and tells Black Canary the location of Sin.
-Black Canary rushes away, and Shiva and Huntress begin their battle, with Shiva battering Huntress with her masterful fighting techniques.
-Black Canary manages to locate Sin and ferry her to safety.
-Huntress badgers Shiva and takes a hellacious beating, but Shiva becomes so infuriated by Huntress's non-stop taunting that she falls prey to some dirty fighting tactics(Huntress literally spits her own blood into Shiva's eyes!)and Huntress manages to knock Shiva off her feet, much to the shock of everybody present.
-By this time, Black Canary returns and interrupts the fight, telling White Canary that she had rescued Sin, and therefore the battle didn't need to continue.
-White Canary doesn't want to call off the battle, since it was supposed to be to the death, but Shiva ends the fight, stating that the battle had no time constraints, meaning they could pick up the battle at any time.
-In other words, Shiva hadn't broken her word, just delayed the conclusion to her fight with Huntress indefinitely.
-Having lost Shiva's support, White Canary storms away, swearing revenge like any good super-villain would.
-This issue ends with Shiva giving Huntress her props for knocking her down, while Black Canary thanks Huntress for her insane risk.

Wooo, this comic was well worth the wait! Huntress is probably my favorite female DC Comics character, and her battle with Lady Shiva made me into an even BIGGER fan of Huntress. Everything about the fight was awesome, from Huntress challenging Shiva by throwing a drink in her face(!), to her taking a beating from Shiva, to her actually taking Shiva off her feet. Anybody who reads this comic and DOESN'T become a Huntress fan is, quite frankly, insane! Besides the fight, there were other little character development scenes here that really hammered home just how great a character Huntress is. There was some stuff with Hawk and Dove, but I glossed over it, because it didn't add to(nor take anything away from)the main story. I still wish Hawk and Dove weren't even on this team, but as long as Gail Simone continues to write a comic THIS good, I can overlook those two worthless Brightest Day additions. I know I'll be looking forward to the next issue, whenever DC decides to send it to me that is...

Score: 10 out of 10.What's up here? Huntress is taking Lady Shiva to school, that's what!

Origins and Omens flashback, part 1.

Hey again all, X here with what I think should be a fun little post. You see, last night I posted that I had been reordering my comic books to take a break from my various school related responsibilities. As I was going through my DC books, I came across a bunch of those “Origins and Omens” stories from early 2009 that ran right before Blackest Night began. What was “Origins and Omens” you ask? Basically it was Scar(of Blackest Night fame)looking into the future via the Book of Black. So I figured, why not post the O&O pages from the books I have and see just how accurate those “predictions” were... It turns out that I have 17 scans, so I'll post 9 today and 8 tomorrow. I'll be doing this in alphabetical order, so we'll have A-J today. Alright, let's get this show on the road.


First up would be Action Comic #874...-Guardian did run into that group of Legionaries
-He did team up with Nightwing and Flamebird
-And the Science Police building did explode.
-I don't recall his “daughter” dying
-Nor do I remember him flying on the wing of a plane, although I don't think anybody could blame me for forgetting about that...


Next is Adventure Comics #0-Well that's an easy one... Superboy did indeed come back to life!


Birds of Prey #127-That really bloody scene was from the abysmal Oracle/Battle for the Cowl mini
-Babs did break away from the Birds/Black Canary temporarily
-I don't recall Babs having one final battle with that awesome possessed Calculator
-And the Batgirl costume thing... Maybe that alludes to Steph becoming Batgirl?


Booster Gold #17-Booster did battle with/against the Teen Titans from the past
-But to my knowledge, Booster still hasn't learned the identity of the Black Beetle...


Green Arrow & Black Canary #17-Hey hey, I think every single thing from those scenes happened! Although to be honest, most of the stories were awful, so yeah...


Green Lantern #38-John Stewart had to deal with his dead ex during Blackest Night
-Hal and Sinestro DID have to team-up together(pretty much every other issue it seems)
-Black Hand also swore fealty to the Black Lanterns/Scar.
-I don't recall Alan Scott being called in front of the Guardians, which is pretty funny since Geoff Johns WROTE this issue, meaning you'd think it definitely would have happened!


Green Lantern Corps #33-Jade did indeed come back to life
-Sodam Yat did battle Mongul on Daxam
-I thought those children who attacked the GLC were Black Lanterns, not Sinestro Corps members, although I suspect I'm forgetting a storyline... Possibly with Kryb...
-I also don't recall the scene with Kilowog and Ganthet, although it easily could have happened somewhere along the line


Justice League of America #30-That Starbreaker guy did attack
-And Icon did help them during the Starbreaker battle.
-As for the half naked guy... No idea!


Justice Society of America #24-Obsidian did turn into a shadow egg
-Magog did leave the team
-The team did split in half
-And Mr. Terrific was stabbed by Kid Karnevil
-I don't recall Alan fighting the guy with the roots
-Nor do I recall the other battle with that giant thing with the sword


So there we go, that takes care of the first 9 scans. Tomorrow I'll post the rest, which include Nightwing, Robin and Superman. Until then, X out.

Some more reviews!

Hey again, I figured before I started doing reviews for the new comics I picked up earlier today, I should probably take care of the comics I read over the last night(and day)first. Before I get into the single issues, I wanted to hit on the Kick-Ass trade which I finished up at school earlier today. So what did I think of Kick-Ass? It was good. No, scratch that, it was REALLY good. I'd easily give it a 9 - 9 1/2 out of 10. Why not a perfect score? I could see the obligatory betrayal coming from a mile away, and the ending kind of bugged me a bit. If ever a series was asking for a downer ending, it was this series. Yeah, one of the “main” characters bites the bullet, but I couldn't help but feel that more than just one of the fringe heroes should have been killed. I guess Mark Millar had one eye towards a second series when he concluded this mini. The other thing I wanted to say about Kick-Ass is this, man was it violent and profane! JRJR did some sweet artwork, or maybe I should say some sweet gory artwork, and the dialogue was definitely for a more mature audience. But I'm definitely glad I gave it a read. It easily gets a huge recommendation from me.

Okay, now we'll get to the single issues starting with Secret Avengers #5. This issue gave us the story of why Nick Fury was working with the evil Shadow Council. We learn that it isn't actually Nick Fury who turned bad but one of those Nick Fury LMD's. It seems that Nick's evil brother Jake used the uber-powerful Zodiac Key to grant one of the LMD's all of Nick's memories, causing it to believe that it WAS Nick. Nick eventually captured LMD Nick and was going to have it cremated, but John Steele(a member of the Shadow Council)rescued it and the appreciative LMD changed its name to Max Fury and began working with the Council. In the end Max and Steele get together and decide to keep very close watch on the Secret Avengers. I really liked this issue, and I definitely enjoyed the way Max's story was told here. It was interesting, somewhat original and it tied into Nick Fury's past in a totally plausible way. The only complaint I could come up with here is that we hardly saw any of the Secret Avengers. Hopefully next issue rectifies that for me. For a score I'll go with an 8 1/2 out of 10.

Next up we'll go to one of my favorite DC titles, and that would be Birds of Prey. In this instance, Birds of Prey #5. Black Canary and her foe White Canary head off to Bangkok, while Oracle tries to keep the Birds together after the events of the past 4 issues. She decides to help Savant out with his mental issues, prevents Huntress from killing Penguin(DAMN you Barbara!!!)and waits for Hawk and Lady Blackhawk to recuperate. After Lady Blackhawk gets better, Oracle sends her and Huntress to Bangkok to assist Black Canary. In the end we discover that BC has taken up the White Canary moniker and was leading the Bangkok underworld... Huh? This comic surprisingly didn't do it for me. I mean, I do love me my Birds, but this issue was slow and plodding, and the reveal at the end left me confused(and a bit annoyed)as opposed to excited. I have absolutely NO doubt that Gail Simone will pull things together for the next issue, but this issue just didn't do it for me. I'll give this comic a surprisingly low 7 out of 10.

Sticking with DC we'll take a look at Gotham City Sirens #16. Catwoman winds up getting kidnapped so some mystery villain(s) can try to garner the knowledge of Batman's secret identity from her mind. This brings Talia Al Ghul to Gotham to try to work with the Sirens(and Zatanna for some reason)in order to rescue Catwoman and protect Batman's secrets. I thought this was a good way to start a new storyline, and as a BIG fan of the Al Ghul family I was happy to see Talia show up here, and even happier to see her NOT written by Mad Grant Morrison. So while this comic didn't blow me away, it didn't bother me either, which explains why I'm giving it a 7 1/2 out of 10.

And the final DC comic of the night would be none other than Teen Titans #87. First off, I absolutely despise both Raven and Beast Boy, so the fact that this past storyline revolved around them and their relationship really didn't sit well with me. On top of that, the story made no sense... So yeah, this comic definitely won't be making one of my “Best of” lists. The main story had something to do with Raven's son and a lunar eclipse... I think. Basically Raven's son beat down all of the Titans except for Static, who(for some reason)had mega charged powers. So Super-Static managed to beat Raven's son(somehow...)but in the process vomited(which is always a fun thing to see...)and lost his powers. That's right everybody, Static literally upchucked his powers right out of his body... Yeah. Besides that, it would appear that Wonder Girl and Superboy are fully back together again, either that or they're having one of those friends with benefits type relationships, Aquagirl and Bombshell were lost at sea, Miss Martian slipped into a coma and was watched over by Kid Flash(who bizarrely was only wearing some hospital scrubs pants)and Static left with some doctor to go to STAR Labs. Umm, what more could I possibly say? Maybe if you like Raven and/or Beast Boy, love spontaneous vomiting and enjoy reading stories that don't make sense this was a good comic for you, for me though, it gets no higher than a 3 1/2 out of 10.

One more comic to go here, and it was definitely my favorite of the bunch. Written by the stupendous Ed Brubaker, we head back to the Marvel Universe and I finish this post up with Captain America #610. I think I should mention before I get into the meat of this issue, I've been rather letdown by this storyline. I don't understand why Baron Zemo suddenly turned evil, nor why he decided to lash out at Bucky. As if he could read my mind(and who knows, maybe Ed is a telepath and that's why he's such an awesome writer), Ed cleared up all of Zemo's motivations in this comic, and you know what? It all made absolute, complete and perfect sense! Basically Zemo was upset that someone with as much blood on his hands as Bucky was given the Captain America mantle. That point actually fits into Zemo's personality SO well that it actually made me smile. Zemo started his career out emulating his Nazi father, leading the Masters of Evil and being an all around lousy human being. Eventually he has an epiphany and decides that he's going to do good and help the world, whether the world wants to be helped or not. While Zemo was trying to prove that he was a hero, his greatest critic was the original Captain America, Steve Rogers. Steve wouldn't trust Zemo, and was certain that Zemo was plotting some nefarious plot, which Zemo wasn't. It took Zemo diving in front of a blast meant for Steve and becoming disfigured for Steve to GRUDGINGLY admit that maybe Zemo wasn't the villain Steve thought he was. In Zemo's mind, Bucky didn't work at all to erase the sins of his past(the Winter Soldier)and as such didn't deserve the honor of being Captain America. Throughout this comic Zemo tries to prove that Bucky doesn't deserve the Captain America name, taking away Bucky's shield and uniform and forcing Bucky to fight his way through hordes of goons(as well as Zemo's psychological games)in order to prove to Zemo(and maybe even himself)that he deserves the shield. In the end, Zemo seems to have gained some respect for Bucky since he leaves the shield and Cap uniform behind before making good his escape, although Bucky is now forced to live with the fact that Zemo outed his identity as the Winter Soldier back in America. I obviously enjoyed this comic, and even though I can totally understand Zemo's frustrations with Steve refusing to trust him after all of his good deeds, and yet blindly trusting Bucky to take over as Cap, I'm STILL a bit miffed that Zemo seems to have returned to his villainous roots. That's really the only negative thing I have to say about this comic. Besides that, it was all good, and this comic gets the high score of the night with a 9 out of 10.

And there you have it, five more reviews in the books. Some good, some okay and one really bad. Tomorrow I should start posting some reviews for the new comics I picked up today, but before then, I'll leave you all with a page from Captain America #610. Until tomorrow, X out.Okay, I'll admit it, Zemo's line had me cracking up.

Birds of Prey #4

Birds of Prey #4: Writer: Gail Simone. Pencils: Ed Benes & Adriana Melo.

Review: This story is told from three different areas, so to keep things somewhat straight, I'll go story by story. First up is Oracle. Oracle was captured by Creote and Savant and brought to a high bridge in Gotham City, where Savant reveals that he had been captured by the Calculator's goons a while back, and tortured. With Savant's mental disability(he has difficulty processing time), the torture(which occurred two years ago)seems as if it took place yesterday and every other day that Savant lives. As such, Savant has been reliving his torture every minute of every day, and since he feels Oracle is responsible, he wants her to suffer as he did. It's then that Savant reveals that he didn't bring Oracle to the bridge to kill her, but to kill himself, knowing Oracle would forever feel guilty for her failure with him. With that, Savant hops off the bridge, but is saved at the last second by Oracle, who manages to lunge out of her chair in time to grab Savant's arm. Unfortunately for Oracle, she has no leverage to pull Savant back up, so she begs Creote to help her, but Creote doesn't want to since he had promised Savant he would let him go through with his suicidal wishes. Savant begins to slip, and Oracle continues to beg Creote for help, and at the last possible second, Creote reaches down and pulls Savant back up, saving him from the abyss. Savant is upset that Creote disobeyed his wishes and demands to know why, so Oracle tells Savant what everybody else could see, that Creote was in love with Savant. Next up we head to Huntress, Dove, Lady Blackhawk, the injured Hawk, and the injured Penguin. While trying to ferret Penguin to safety, he suddenly turns on them and stabs Lady Blackhawk through the chest with his umbrella, revealing that he was in cahoots with White Canary and Savant from the beginning. When asked why, Penguin explains that he was to separate the Birds so White Canary could get Black Canary alone, and Savant could capture Oracle. In payment for his help, Penguin was promised Savant's files, which had massive amounts of information on several heroes and villains, and for somebody like Penguin, that information is worth more then almost anything else. Penguin keeps his blade to Lady Blackhawk's neck, so none of the other Birds would make a move on him, but Huntress begins to distract Penguin by telling him that his partners were going to betray him, which shakes Penguin's resolve just long enough for Dove to blindside him and knock him out cold. And finally the main event, Black Canary vs White Canary. The two women fight and after a while Black Canary reveals that she had figured out the identity of White Canary, the sister of the Twelve Brothers in Silk. Who? The Twelve Brothers in Silk were a bunch of master martial artists who were humiliated by BC back in the original Birds of Prey series. White Canary killed all of her brothers to save her father from the shame of their loss to BC. And with that, the two women fight for the better part of this comic, with White Canary eventually gaining the upper hand on BC. With BC down and nearly out, White Canary takes that opportunity to taunt BC, telling her that next she was going to systematically hunt down and kill everybody that BC was close to, from Roy Harper, to Ollie Queen, to her daughter, Sin. With that, BC gets up and in one final flurry knocks White Canary out of a window, crashing on top of her into the street and finally taking the fight out of White Canary. BC cuffs White Canary and demands to know if she was behind the murder of the man BC was accused of killing in Reykjavik. This issue ends with White Canary telling BC that it was Lady Shiva(!)who killed the man, and that if she let her out of the cuffs, they could both go after Shiva to kill her.

What I Thought: Damn was that a long review! I'm going to have to shortchange my Red Robin review now... Anyway, this issue was pretty good, although I'd say it wasn't as spectacular as the first 3 issues of this series. I liked seeing Penguin punched in the face, so the Penguin parts were good, but parts with Oracle left me with mixed emotions... Don't get me wrong, I like Creote and Savant. A lot actually. But I did find it kind of hard to feel overly sympathetic for Savant in this issue. Not all that long ago, he really tortured BC in the old Birds series, so the fact that he was tortured by Calculator's goons seems almost like poetic justice. So I did have some difficulty finding sympathy for Savant. I did feel bad for Creote, who had promised Savant that he wouldn't stop him from killing himself, even though he was obviously in love with Savant, and of course I felt bad for Oracle, who only wanted to reform Savant, and never expected things to go so wrong. I have to say, the White Canary reveal was a pretty big disappointment. I can hardly even remember the Silk Brothers storyline(I know Wildcat was involved), so the fact that White Canary was connected to that was a bit of a letdown. For the past three issues, me(and my fellow awesome Birds fans)have been speculating on the identity of White Canary, and I'd have to say that almost anything would have been better then the reveal that we got here. With that all said, I DID enjoy this comic, I just can't help but think it could have been better.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.And with that one act, Dove moved up several spots on my favorite characters list.