Jason Todd mania is running wild!

Hey there X-Maniacs! Your humble servant and/or Shaman of Mutantkind here with a little bonus post! I should have four new reviews up tomorrow(probably two early-ish in the day, and two later on), as I rapidly deplete my new comic pile for a change. See, that's what happens when I don't buy out the entire comic shop on Wednesday! I can actually keep up with the new books I buy! But that's not what I wanted to talk about. My recent displeasure/dissatisfaction/blinding hatred of the not-so-wonderful world of DC has had me wanting to expand my collection of DC back issues... I mean instead of spending money on and reading something I KNOW I'm going to hate(ie: anything written by Chairman Johns), why not buy and read something I'd probably enjoy WAY more(ie: anything NOT written by Chairman Johns)? Which is what I decided to do... But what to buy... I mean there are A LOT of options... So I figured I'd look into the character chronologies for various favorite characters of mine...

It was then I realized which character I HAD to focus on... None other then THAT Robin, Jason Todd! And thus began my several day old quest to find/own Batman #357, the comic Jason first appears in. I looked through dozens of online comic shops and kept coming up empty... From the big comic shops to the small ones, NOBODY seemed to have that damned issue of Batman! So finally I went to my place of last resort.. eBay. Sure enough, there it was, Batman #357! AND it had free shipping along with a buy it now option! Needless to say, I brought it as fast as I could, before common sense smacked me in the back of the head and caused me to second guess the logic behind spending over 20 bucks on a single comic book. So good, I had the first appearance of one of my favorite DC characters(or at least I would in about a week's time)... But I needed more! From eBay I headed to Mycomicshop.com and went on a spending binge that would make a junkie blush! By the time I came down from my high and realized what I had done, I'd placed an order for 30 Batman comics from the 80's where Jason made an appearance... Which comics you ask? Well, allow me to list them good sir or ma'am! Batman #359, #360, #361, #363-366, #408-414 as well as Detective Comics #524, #525, #527-531, #543, #544, #547, #568-570, #572, #573 & #579... That's a lot of comics, but I'm going to rationalize it all by saying that it was a gift to myself for the successful completion of the school year! A lame excuse to be sure, but an excuse nonetheless!

So now the question becomes, what should I do with all this Jason Todd goodness? I doubt I can review every one of those comics here on the blog as well as take care of my regular weekly books... Contrary to popular belief, I'm not an inhuman blogging machine. I was toying with the idea of starting up a new blog and dedicating it to Jason, but that would require a good amount of work, as well as causing me to neglect my duties on this blog. I could do a post running down the main points of what I read, but where's the fun in that? I could do a Retro-Picto Review for a few of the issues like I did for these comics, but again, that would take time away from my regular reviewing duties... I could always do nothing, a personal favorite of mine... So what to do... I guess I'll leave that up to the few of you who managed to stay with me through this LONG-WINDED post. What do YOU think I should do? Drop me a comment, and give me some idea as to which way I should go with this... Or don't. Either way is fine by me. I guess that's it for now. I'll post my decision some time next week(probably when Bats #357 arrives), and we'll take it from there. As always, thanks for reading, and I'll leave you all with some fun with Jason. Until next time, X out.So Jason killed a rapist... If you ask me, he should have gotten a medal!

New Comic Day! September 29 edition.

Hey there X-Maniacs, it's Wednesday, which means it's time for me to bust out my weekly “New Comic Day” post!!! Normally this is the point where I'd happily begin listing off all of the new books I picked up at the comic book shop today... Unfortunately for me, I only wound up picking up a measly FIVE new comics! Yes, that's right, I only picked up 5 new comics today... The rest of my comics from this week are subscription books, so I have a good week to wait on them. So needless to say, I was feeling like... well, less than a comic fanatic, so I wound up picking up a few back issues and a trade as well at the comic shop today. Hey, unless I spend at least $30 a week on comics I go into a funk! First off, the back issues. I managed to grab Flash #113-118, Captain America Annual #8(featuring Wolverine!)and the Kick-Ass hardcover. And now for the new books. Captain America: Patriot #2, Avengers Prime #3, Teen Titans #87, Detective Comics #869 & X-Men vs Vampires #1(yes, that's the actual title).

So yeah, a depressingly small pull today, but maybe in the long run, that's for the best... You see, my chum Kello alerted me to a huge sale over at Things From Another World. Btw, I think the sale still going on until Friday just so you know... Anywho, late Sunday night I wound up buying a mind boggling 19(!!)trades from that place. And the crazy thing is that I barely spent over $100 to get them all! I mean, that's an AWESOME sale if I do say so myself. While I'm talking about that particular comic order, I might as well fill you guys in on exactly what I brought.. Avengers: Kang- Time and Time Again, Infinity Crusade, Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, Marvel: 1985, Superman: Birthright, Batgirl: Destruction's Daughter, Batman: Scarecrow Tales, Batman: Harvest Breed, Penance: Relentless, Spectacular Spider-Man: The Final Curtain, Squadron Supreme: The Pre War Years, Superman: End of the Century, Supreme Power: Contact, Supreme Power: Powers & Principles, Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up: Ultimate Collection, What If? Classic Vol. 2, Wolverine: Logan and finally, Zombie... Whew! That's a LOT of trades!

Hmm, what else can I talk about here... I beat Fallout 3 earlier today, and I'm currently playing through the third expansion which allows you to continue the story even after the game ends. I can see myself picking up all of the expansions over the weekend... That game is THAT awesome! Once I'm done going through the expansions I plan on starting the game over again so I can play as the most wicked villain imaginable. Lookout Capital Wasteland, here comes EVIL X! BWA-HAHAHAHAH!!! Besides that I'm almost finished with my EPIC review for the Superman: Secret Origin mini-series that wrapped up not so long ago. I've finished reviewing it up to the forth issue, so hopefully I'll be able finish reviewing the last two issues and get the post up by the weekend. And I guess that'll have to do it for me, as I think I've rambled quite enough for one night. As always, any comments are appreciated and will be responded to... Probably! Until next time, X out.

Comic Gazing for: 4/14/10

Tis Wednesday, which means the comic gods doth smile upon us and shower us with new issues! Rejoice! OK, enough of that... Obviously, I'm not getting the proper amount of sleep, and what little sanity I had left has finally left me. Oh well, it will be missed... A few quick notes before I get into the main event, which is me describing what comics I'll be picking up this week and why. First off, I've read the last three issues of the Justice League earlier today, and I'm hoping to have at least one or two of them up tomorrow night, with the rest of them up for Friday... However, that all hinges on when I get my school work taken care of... One more month to go before summer vacation, so needless to say, my professors are throwing EVERYTHING at me. For example, I have a 7 -10 page history paper due next week, so there's a real good chance I'll be pretty lax when it comes to posting stuff next week. So instead of reviews, expect a lot of Random Scans, and other things I can post quickly and effortlessly. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Before I start yammering on about next week, I should talk about this week, and the books that have come out today. So, without further ado, let's see what's out now!

Action Comics #888: Eh, this series has been very hit or miss since Supes went to New Krypton, and I think I liked the last issue, so that means this issue should be pretty bad. Oh well, maybe I'll luck out and get two good issues in a row. Or maybe not. Interest Level: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Adventure Comics #10: This is somehow connected to the Last Stand of New Krypton storyline, which I have been enjoying more then I thought I would. With that said though, this series has been the weak link in that storyline, and I kind of expect that to continue. Interest Level: 6 out of 10.

Batgirl #9: I haven't read that last issue due to my rabid hatred of Chris Yost's work, and I doubt I'll feel like reading this issue anytime soon. Oh well, at least I know a few good blogs to see what I've been missing... Interest Level: 4 out of 10.

Batman #698: UGH! The less said about this series the better!!! Now it seems the Riddler is going to be getting ruined here next. Gah! Interest Level: 3 out of 10.

Booster Gold #31: I personally thought the last storyline was superb, so I'm hoping this issue continues the good work. Interest Level: 9 out of 10.

Brightest Day #0: In for a penny, in for a pound... I was... underwhelmed, I guess is the right word, with Blackest Night, but ever the eternal optimist, I'm hoping this series provides me with the answers to many of the questions Blackest Night left unanswered. Interest Level: 10 out of 10.

Flash #1: I hate SAINT Barry Allen. There, I said it. Ahh, I feel good getting that off my chest too... Anyway, I'm only picking this comic up because I stupidly subscribed to it when Flash Rebirth began, so I'm locked in for a few months. Maybe Geoff Johns can preform a miracle and make me like the Sainted One, but I sincerely doubt that. Interest Level: 4 out of 10.

Green Arrow #32: Umm, I don't even know what to say about the direction Green Arrow has gone in. On one hand, I really do like seeing Ollie return to his roots as a hunter of men, but on the other hand it all just feels kind of wrong... Meh, at least the last few issues have been Cupid free... Interest Level: 9 out of 10.

Secret Six #20: I haven't read the last issue yet, so I really don't have anything to say about this issue. Interest Level: 5 out of 10.

Daredevil #506: I've enjoyed this series for the past year and a half now. Umm, that's all I've got... Interest Level: 9 out of 10.

Siege: Captain America #1: I don't know what this is about, but since I see Captain America and Christos Gage, I know it'll be worth my money. Interest Level: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Siege: Loki #1: This comic should be interesting if for nothing else then to show us where the hell Loki's been during the whole fall of Asgard. Interest Level: 8 out of 10.

Siege: Young Avengers #1: Umm, it's the Young Avengers! What more do I need to say? I was a HUGE fan of this series before it was bizarrely canned, so whenever they pop up somewhere, I'm more then happy to read about it! Interest Level: 9 1/2 out of 10.

And that gives me 4 Marvels and 9 DCs. Well I'd say that makes DC the winner here hands down! I will say that even though I have way more DC comics listed here, I'm really looking forward to the Marvels more then almost any of my DC books. Well, that's going to have to do it for tonight, I still have miles to go before I sleep... And with that I say good-bye and Long Live The Legion!!!

Comic Gazing for: 3/17/10

Happy St. Paddy's Day X-Maniacs! To be honest with you, I didn't even know it was St. Patrick's Day until I was in school, and everybody was wearing green... I on the other hand was wearing my Black Lantern t-shirt... Anyway, before I get to what comics I'll be picking up this week(and it better be A LOT!)good news! My LEGION comics came in the mail, and I am DYING to start reading them! The only problem is that I just started reading the Hawkman series from the 2000's... I may just read both series at the same time, because like I said, I am really looking forward to those LEGION books. Seeing as that REBELS is probably among my top 3 favorite monthly books, and that the LEGION series was the precursor to REBELS, it's going to be really tough to stay away from it. Believe it or not, Vril Dox is probably my second or third favorite comic character, which is pretty amazing considering I hadn't even heard of the character a few months ago. All right, I think my obligatory, "Gush about the REBELS series" part of this post is over, let's see what's coming out this week.

Batman #697: If you've been reading this blog of mine with any regularity, you probably know that Tony Daniel's run on Batman has been a big disappointment to me, especially on the heels of his really good Battle for the Cowl mini. However, instead of dreading this comic as I usually do, I'm actually looking forward to it. Why? Because we're supposedly going to find out the identity of Black Mask. I have a few guesses as to who it is(it seems REALLY obvious...), but I guess I'll find out for sure whenever this comic makes it to me.

Booster Gold #30: If this issue is as strong as the last issue was, this comic should be awesome! One big gripe though, I REALLY don't want to read about the fake Blue Beetle in the back-up story... When is DC going to drop this Second Feature idea?

Green Arrow #31: Now this is something I'm definitely looking forward to. Whenever GA gets a major storyline in the DCU, I'm happy!

Green Lantern Corps #46: This is the very last Blackest Night x-over issue for this series, AND it's double-sized! I have to say, I'm looking forward to the end of Blackest Night, so this series can disconnect from BN and start pumping out the awesome stories it had been before the BN x-over took over.

Supergirl #51: Being unable to stay away from Superman x-over stories, I'm picking this one up since it follows the whole Brainiac invading New Krypton stuff.

Titans #23: Strangely, the solicit for this one seems to insinuate that Roy Harper(Red Arrow/Arsenal)is being spotlighted... That should be interesting, seeing as that DC decided to maim him in Cry for Justice!!! Grrr...

Dark Avengers #15: Since I plan on reading Dark Avengers #14 tonight, I really don't have anything to say about this issue yet.

Guardians of the Galaxy #24: Whoops, here's another series I've fallen a month back on... I'll have to dig out GotG #23 and give it a read...

Nova #35: The last issue did the near impossible, make the Sphinx somewhat interesting to me, so I'm intrigued to see what he does next to Nova and the time lost heroes... Oh yeah, and I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that this leads to Namorita returning to the mainstream Marvel U, even though I know that's doubtful at best.

Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #5: I'm not reading this mini until I've collected all of the parts, so I really don't have anything to say about it...

Siege #3: Well well well, it's the penultimate part to the SHOCKINGLY good Siege storyline! BENDIS is putting together his best story since the beginning of the House of M event(imo), so here's hoping he continues the good work, and doesn't revert back to the Dread Lord of comics...

Wolverine Origins #45: Now this is a comic I'm definitely looking forward to! Daniel Way has been building towards a final showdown between Logan and Romulus, and with each passing issue we're getting closer and closer to Wolvie's endgame against his long-time(kind of...)nemesis. I can't wait to see what happens in this one.

X-Men Legacy #234: Well this one is a little bittersweet for me... The very first comic I ever brought was X-Men #1, and over the years I've managed to pick up all 233 X-Men comics that came before this one... That long streak comes to an end with this issue. My subscription to this series is up after this comic, and with how AWFUL Mike Carey's entire X-Men run has been, it is with a heavy heart I say good-bye to this series. I can't believe Carey's run has lasted as long as it has(some 40 issues!), and instead of waiting for a new writer to take over, I'm finally cutting the cord. Once there is finally a writer change I'll be back, but until then, I'll stick with Uncanny and Astonishing.

7 Marvel's to 6 DC's! How about that, Marvel has FINALLY taken the top spot back from DC in the battle for my money! So, is this a one week glitch, or is this a sign of things to come? I guess I'll find out next week... How's that for a cliffhanger! Yeah I agree, not very good...

The top three comics I'll be looking forward to reading this week would be: Siege #3, Green Arrow #31 & Green Lantern Corps #46. Well, that's it for this week, as always, Long Live The Legion!

Comic Gazing for: 3/10/10

It's another Wednesday, so you know what that means! Oh, you don't? Well then, allow me to fill you in, it's time for my longest running regularly scheduled weekly post, Comic Gazing! What comics will I be picking up this week? Will it be more then the abysmal 4 new books that I picked up last week? Will I be happy with the books I wind up buying? Does anybody care? All of these questions and more will be answered during the following post! Oh, and before I forget, there's a STRONG possibility(and you know it's strong because I put it in all caps!)that I won't have the time to post any new reviews tomorrow. I've got a History midterm tomorrow, and two papers due on Friday, so to be honest, I probably shouldn't even be spending time blogging right now! Anyway, if I don't post a review tomorrow, I'll just throw out the newest craze in the blogging community, that's right X-Maniacs, I'll post a BONUS Random Scan of the Week!!! Wow, it's like Christmas in March! Alrighty, enough idiocy, let's get to the funny books I'll be purchasing this week.

Action Comics #887: Ugh, I've been pretty down on this series for a couple of months now, and I'll be honest with you, I don't really expect that to change with this issue... Hopefully I'll be proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

Batgirl #8: The good news is that I LOVES me some Batgirl! This is definitely one of the best comics coming out of DC, so I'm oh so pleased to see a new issue is out. The bad news is that this issue is involved with a crossover with Red Robin, which is a comic I refuse to read until Chris Yost is no longer writing it... So although I'm psyched that a new Batgirl is coming out, I'm bummed that I'll only be reading half the story.

Batman & Robin #10: As utterly bizarre as it may sound, I actually liked the last two issues of this series! Well, maybe "liked" is overstating things a bit... Let's just say it was better then any other issue of this series to date and leave it at that. With that said, I'm sure this issue will go back to being a major disappointment to me, but hey, maybe Grant Morrison will shock me for three issues in a row!

Justice League: Rise and Fall Special #1: I haven't read Cry for Justice #7 yet, and this is the aftermath to that mini, so I really don't have too much to say about this issue until I get my hands on Cry #7...

REBELS #14: Woooo-Hooooo!!!! This series is my FAVORITE current DC comic right now, so I CAN NOT wait to read this! This issue wraps up the storyline that has been running through this series since issue #1, so to say I'm excited about this comic is a true understatement! Without a doubt, I'll be reading this comic before I read any other book I order.

Secret Six #19: Although I've always been a really big fan of Gail Simone's work, this series has been middling at best to me... With Cheshire coming back this issue, I'm hoping this series reverts back to its awesome early days, but sadly I've just about given up on this comic.

Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #1: Since I did enjoy the World of New Krypton maxi-series, I'm kind of looking forward to this one. For those of you who don't know what this is all about, Brainiac has come to New Krypton looking to put the Kryptonians back in the bottle they escaped from. I for one am very interested to see where DC is going to go with the whole New Krypton concept after this storyline.

Dark X-Men #5: This is sadly the conclusion to the mini-series that returned my all-time favorite comic book character to life. I'm hoping that X-Man gets to remain alive at the conclusion of this mini, although realistically, I don't really see a place for Nate in the current Marvel Universe... Whatever happens though, I have thoroughly enjoyed this mini, and will be eagerly anticipating getting my hands on this issue.

And that's it for this week... So the final tally is 7 DC comics to 1 Marvel. Using some fancy mathematics I have figured out that I'm only buying 8 new comics this week... What gives these last two weeks??? Usually I'm ordering 14-18 new books a week, the past two weeks I've ordered a grand total of 12 books... Very, very strange... For the record, the three books I'm most looking forward to this week would be, REBELS #14, Dark X-Men #5 & Batgirl #8. That's my thoughts on this week's new releases, what will you guys be picking up? Let me know, and Long Live the Legion!

Comic Gazing for: 3/3/10

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for another sterling edition of Comic Gazing! As of 3 hours ago, I have completely finished off my History paper(7 pages about a letter written to King George III by Ch'ien-lung), and have just begun to scratch the surface of my next paper, which is for Musical Theatre. After that, I've got to tackle my Accounting homework, although I have a few days before that's due... Whew... So yeah, it's been a wee bit busy for me school-wise as of late. However, come tomorrow I should have at least 4 new reviews up, with an additional 3 or 4 the next day. Since I doubt most of you want to hear me talk about what I've been learning in my Accounting class, I'll instead get into the comics I'll be ordering this week. Now, last week was a rather large haul for me, so hopefully things will be a little bit quieter this week...

Adventure Comics #8: I'm subscribed to this series until issue #12, so I have no choice but to deal with whatever is thrown my way. Looking at the solicits, I have to say I'm less then excited(where's my Three-boot Legion dammit!!!), but I'll at least give this issue a read, mainly because I have to...

JSA All-Stars #4: I don't think I've read issue #3 yet, so I really can't say too much about this issue.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #7: Well, hot damn, I think this is the final issue of this mini!!! Once I read this one, I can finally read the two most recent issues of the JLA comic, which deals with the aftermath of this mini. For me, this series has had a lot of ups and downs, but I'm hoping that things end on a high note...

Mighty Avengers #34: Speaking of ups and downs... This series has been kind of hit or miss with me(although it's WAY better then either of the BENDIS Avengers titles!), but this issue promises to have the Mighty Avengers battling Thor with the long running Loki storyline finally beginning to reach it's conclusion. I have to say, being somewhat of a fan of Loki, I'm looking forward to this one.

Annnnd that's it... Huh, only 4(!?!)comics this week??? What the hell is THAT? Maybe I'll buy a copy of the New Ultimates #1 just for the heck of it... For the record, that's 3 DC's and 1 Marvel this week. You know, with this week being so light, I shudder to think of how many comics will be dropping next week... I'd better start saving up for it now. That's going to do it for me tonight, Long Live The Legion!!!

Comic Gazing for: 2/24/10

Since I just placed my order for the past three weeks comics(including the ones coming out this Wednesday), I figured I might as well get this post out of the way while my recent purchases are still fresh on my mind. Before I get to that though, I have a few other things running around in my brain that need to get out. After reading World's Finest #4 last night, I'm starting to get the itch to do another Let's Talk About... post. If you read that review, you probably have a pretty good idea as to what that post is going to be about... Besides that, I've been having some trouble getting to sleep the past few nights, which sucks for sanity(as well as the coherence of my posts), but is really helping me catch up on some of my back issue comic book reading. Over the past three nights, I've read a couple of back issues of Batman(during the Jason Todd years), and I have to say, I have NO idea what all of the fuss about Jason was... Why did the Bat-fans resent him so badly? Was it simply because he wasn't Dick Grayson? I ask these questions because to me, Jason seemed to be a very good compliment to Bruce... Sure he was a bit rough around the edges, but he wasn't ANYWHERE near as obnoixious as the current Robin, Damian Wayne. Weird. Besides that, I finished up the Final Night mini-series that came out of DC in the mid 90's, and I've read through the first 45 issues of the Green Arrow series from the 1980's. All I can say about those issues is, DAMN did Dinah and Ollie run around killing a whole mess of people! The Punisher ain't got nothing on them! Well, that's what I've been doing instead of sleeping, but that's not what this post is supposed to be about. This post is supposed to be about what comics I plan on purchasing this week, so how's about I get to that.

Batman and Robin #9: Wow, we're all ready up to issue #9? I still haven't read issue #7 yet! Hmm, I think I know what I'll be reading tonight!

Blackest Night Green Arrow#30: On the plus side, I doubt Cupid is going to be in this issue. On the negative side, this is yet another Blackest Night x-over issue that isn't going to add anything to the main Blackest Night storyline.

Blackest Night #7: FINALLY!!! I can't WAIT to dig into this comic, especially since most of the BN x-over stuff has been trying my patientce as of late. This issue HAS to be good, right?!?

Blackest Night JSA #3: Huh, I still haven't read BN: JSA #2 yet, so guess what I'll be reading after I finish up Batman and Robin #7 later tonight...

Flash Rebirth #6: Well I'll be damned, it's the final issue of this mini-series... Sadly, I really don't even care what happens here, since we all know Barry Allen survives his final encounter with the Reverse Flash. Maybe if this comic would have come out 6 months ago, I'd be excited for it, but as it is now, the only reason I'm even buying it is to complete the mini-series. Oh, and just so everybody knows, Captain America Reborn>>>>>>Flash Rebirth.

Gotham City Sirens #9: The important thing here is the fact that the Riddler seems to be the focal part of this issue(at least according to the solicits), and that means I should enjoy this issue.

Justice Society of America #36: I'm hoping this series picks up a little bit after the last two issues, which I didn't exactly care for.

Superman #697: Eh, This series has had it's highs and lows, but I still like Mon-El, so I'm still willing to pick it up.

Teen Titans #80: Um, I still haven't read issue #79... Yeah, I'm sure you know the drill by now.

Wonder Woman #41: Wonder Woman vs. Power Girl... 'Nuff said!

Avengers The Initiative #33: Jeez, what the hell?!? I haven't read issue #32 yet... What have I been reading lately???

Dark Wolverine #83: This series might just be the best comic book coming out of Marvel(or DC for that matter!)today. I've given the past two issues consecutive perfect scores, which is almost unheard of, especially in light of how fickle I can be! In my honest opinion, Daken is one of the most complex and intriguing characters in not just the Marvel Universe, but the DCU as well. Once I'm done reading Blackest Night #7, this will definitely be the very next comic I read.

Deadpool #20: Deadpool #19 should be coming along with this order, so I really don't have all that much to say about this series yet.

New Avengers #62: Oh no... It's a new issue of New Avengers... Oh well, much like going to the dentist, reading this series is painful, but something I have to occasionally suffer through.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #1: I LOVE these Marvel Handbooks, I've collected every single one that's been released, and I'm overjoyed that a new one has been published. The Marvel Comics history buff in me can't get enough of these things!

Realm of Kings Inhumans #4: I'll read this mini once I have all the issues.

Thor #607: I normally don't pick up Thor comics, but since this is a Siege tie-in, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Thunderbolts #141: Read what I said about Thor #607. The same exact thing applies here.

X-Factor #202: I'm really not digging the current storyline, but hopefully things pick up with this issue.

19 books for me this week... That's a bit more then usual. More surprising to me though is the fact that I'll be picking up nearly as many Marvel comics(9)as DC ones(10). That's the first time in well over a year Marvel is nearly getting as much of my money as DC is... That definitely surprised me. Will next week be the week Marvel finally dethrones DC in the battle for my bucks? I guess only time will tell... Well, that's it for me. I see I have a lot of comics to read, so all I have left to say is, Long Live The Legion!!!

Comic Gazing for: 2/17/10

It's another Wednesday, which means it's time for another installment of Comic Gazing! Today was the first day of my Mid-Semester break(which used to be called Mid-Winter Break), and I spent it doing exactly what I thought I would, laying around watching the Winter Olympics and reading comic books. After watching a few events, I came to the simple conclusion that I have NO idea what was going on in half of the sports I was watching... Anyway, enough about that, let's get on to the comic books! A few new comics came in the mail today, including Green Arrow/Black Canary, Titans and Adventure Comics. With the exception of Adventure, I can't say I'm really looking forward to reading any of those books... I still have a slew of other books to read as well, so expect a lot of reviews to be up on this blog come tomorrow night. Well, with the pleasantries out of the way, here's what I'll be ordering with my next comic book order.

Batman #696: I really don't even know what to say about this book... This issue promises to have both the Penguin and the Mad Hatter in it, two villains I have repeatedly called useless, and who I'm embarrassed to even have to read about... Right now, all I want is for this storyline to be over, because I don't know what the hell Tony Daniel is doing with this series. How the same guy can be responsible for the very good Battle for the Cowl and this junk is totally beyond me.

Batman Streets of Gotham #9: I'm hoping this issue goes back to the stuff with Zsasz and the fight club he was running, although I think there may still be one issue to go before we get back to that particular storyline.

Blackest Night Flash #3: Blackest Night x-over means I buy it no matter what.

Green Lantern Corps #45: Red Lantern Guy Gardner vs. the Green Lantern Corps... What more do I need to say?!?

Green Lantern #51: I guess Hal is Parallax in this issue, since the only way Hal can think of defeating Nekron is by becoming an even bigger menace then Nekron is... That's definitely some strange strategy...

Justice League of America #42: I haven't read issue #41 yet, and to be honest, I don't think I'm going to until the Cry for Justice mini-series wraps up. I really don't understand why neither Marvel nor DC can seem to put their comics out in the proper order anymore...

Outsiders #27: I just decided to drop the Magog series this week, and this is another series that is perilously close to the chopping block... Although I actually enjoyed the last issue, I'm still only collecting this series on a month to month basis.

Supergirl #50: I'm picking this issue up on a whim. Since it's the fiftieth issue, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Superman Batman #69: This is another series I'm currently picking up on a month to month basis. I wasn't thrilled with the Blackest Night x-over issues, and as a matter of fact, I was tempted to just drop the title last month, but instead I've decided to give this series one last chance to impress me before I decide to finally drop it.

Captain America #603: It's Captain America and it's written by Ed Brubaker... To be perfectly honest with you, if I could only pick up one comic this week, this would probably be it.

Daredevil #505: I'm actually going to be reading DD #504 tonight, so I'm not going to say anything here.

Dark Avengers #14: I'm going to stick with this series until the bitter end(which is coming up rather quickly). BENDIS continues his bizarre dissection of the Sentry here, and morbid curiosity forces me to buy this...

Deadpool #19: Considering how much I like Danial Way's work, I have no idea why I dropped this title several months back... I guess now is as good a time as any to start collecting this series again.

Doomwar #1: I'm going to give this first issue a shot, but unless it really blows me away, I doubt I'll be sticking around for the rest of this mini.

Guardians of the Galaxy #23: The last few issues have been a little weak, but I'm confident that things will pick up with this issue.

Uncanny X-Men #521: *Sigh*... What more can I say about the terrible condition of my one-time favorite series, Uncanny X-Men? This is one of those titles I really don't want to read anymore, but since I've been collecting this series since the very beginning of my comic book reading career, I feel duty-bound to continue reading this series as it continues its agonizing downward spiral...

16 comics this week, which is just about normal for me. Sure there are a few I'm on the fence about, and at least one I don't even want to read, but for the most part, this looks like a solid week with a few very interesting reads. That's it. Until next time, Long Live The Legion!

Comic Gazing for: 2/10/10

Since I've been studying for my first big Accounting exam(which is tomorrow)for the better part of the night, I figured I'd do a quick post, just to clear my head for a bit. I wasn't going to post anything today, but since I also have a Musical Theatre paper due later on this week(yeah, that's right, a Musical Theatre paper...)I might wind up skipping tomorrow's post depending on how long it takes me to bang out that paper. Since tomorrow is Wednesday, and Wednesday means it's a new comic day, I figured I should post what I'll be purchasing this week, just in case I can't get to it tomorrow. Oh, and my area is under a Winter Storm Warning, and it is currently SNOWING! With any luck, that means they'll close my college tomorrow, and I'll have an extra week to prepare for this Accounting test since I get a few days off for Mid-Semester break, or President's Day, or whatever the hell my school is calling the mini vacation I get next week. OK, I think that's enough about me, how about I actually talk about comics! I read JL: Cry for Justice #6 last night, and you know what? I really enjoyed it... I didn't want to, but I did. Hopefully when I've got more time and less school related duties to attend to, I'll put up a quick review for it. For now though, here are the books I'll be purchasing come tomorrow.

Action Comics #886: I think this is still a part of the x-over with the Superman title, but I'm not exactly sure... Meh, I was buying this comic anyway, so I guess it's a moot point.

Adventure Comics #7: This is the first post-Geoff Johns issue of this series, so I'll be interested to see who's taking it over, and what they have planned.

Batgirl #7: Jeez, another Batgirl already? I haven't even read Batgirl #6 yet! Maybe after I'm done studying tonight, I'll give Batgirl #6 a read...

Batman and Robin #8: Like with Batgirl, I still haven't read the previous issue of this series, and with some of the things I've heard about it, I'm not sure I want to!

Booster Gold #29: Gah, once again, I still haven't read the issue before this one yet! I really need a few more hours in the day...

Green Arrow Black Canary #29: This is the final issue of this series written by Andrew Kreisberg, which means this should be the last time I have to suffer through another Cupid story! Jeez, once Cupid's gone, what am I going to have to complain about?

JSA All-Stars #3: I like the JSA, and so far this series has been OK. I'm not exactly sold on the Stargirl/Johnny Sorrow love-thing, but maybe this issue will win me over.

REBELS #13: Yeah, a new issue of REBELS! Seriously, this is one of the best non-Geoff Johns written comics coming out of DC today.

Secret Six #18: I still haven't read Secret Six #17... Starting to sense a trend here?

Titans #22: This issue is the end of the current line-up in this comic, so I'll be very interested to see what happens starting in issue #23.

Dark X-Men #4: Umm, as long as Nate Grey is prominently featured in this comic, it'll be one of the first things I read once this order arrives.

Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #4: This is one of those mini-series I collect but don't read until it's completed, so I really can't say much about this one.

And that's it. Damn, only 2 Marvel books this week, as opposed to 10 DC comics. Huh... I REALLY need to find some good Marvel comics to read... Alright, I think I've spent enough time avoiding my studies... Until next time, Long Live The Legion!

Comic Gazing for: 2/3//10

Yeah, so I'm a day late posting this... What can ya do? Three weeks in and my professors are finally getting warmed up, so I've been dealing with an increased amount of reading, homework and papers, which naturally leads to diminished work here on this blog. With the added pressures from school, I'm not going to have as much time to dedicate to reviews. For those of you who are more mathematically inclined, the formula would look something like this: Added schoolwork+More homework= Less Time, and Less Time= Less blogging. Complicating matters would be the fact that I have a MESS of comics that I'd like to read and review before my next order of books arrives... So what's a comic book junkie to do? Well, I think I may just "review" several comics at once, and when I say "review" I pretty much mean, "Write a sentence or two about each comic I read, and add a picture!". If you think my reviews are misleading and uninformative now, wait until tomorrow! I'm aiming to bust out 5 or more "reviews" tomorrow night about a few comics I've read over the past 2 weeks or so. It's going to be short and(not so)sweet! But enough about tomorrow, let's talk about yesterday. Yesterday was new comic day! What did I order this week? Why did I order it? Will I have the time to review it on this blog? Will I suddenly gain the ability to run faster then the speed of light? Keep reading to find out!

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #3: I'm not really looking forward to this issue, but I've already picked up the first two issues, so I might as well finish up this mini-series.

Justice Society of America Annual #2: I like the Justice Society, so I figured, why not pick this up. How's that for a reason?

Question #37: Two words, Blackest Night.

Superman: World of New Krypton #12: So this is the final issue of World of New Krypton(I think...). I'll be interested to see what the end of this maxi-series means for Supes, and if it means that he'll FINALLY return to Metropolis, where he belongs!

Nova #34: This is still one of Marvel's better series. As a matter of fact, I'll probably give issue #33 a read tonight before I hit the hay.

Siege #2: The first issue of Siege was good. No, scratch that, it was GREAT! Now, the real question is, can BENDIS keep up the high standard he set last issue? I'm definitely hopeful, but dubious...

Ultimate X Comics #1: I really can't explain why I decided to pick this issue up... I guess the answer is that at the very core of my being, I am a HUGE X-fan, and I'm always willing to give a new X-book a shot, no matter how badly Marvel continues to mess up the X-universe.

Huh, only 7 comics for me this week... Usually I'm buying double that number! Well, considering all of the money I've wasted at eBay this past week, I think a small pull list is just what my wallet needed! That's it for tonight, as always, thanks for taking the time to read my maniacal babbling, and Long Live The Legion!

eBay: the bane of my existance or the love of my life???

First things first, I FINALLY have some news on my missing comic book order!!! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, allow me to give some background on my months long ordeal. Back in the beginning of October, I placed(like I normally do)a comic book order with my regular comic book shop. I think it came to something like $80 and it contained two or three weeks worth of comic book goodness(probably about 30 books or so). Usually when I order from this particular comic book shop, it takes about 3 to 5 business days for me to get my package. Well, two weeks went by and I was still waiting on my books, so using the tracking number from the US Postal Service I discovered that for some reason, my package had been declared "Dead Mail" and was sent to a Mail Recovery Center. Needless to say, I was gobsmacked(I love that word!)! I immediately wrote an e-mail to the USPS and my comic shop and they both basically told me to wait, and that the package would eventually get sent to either me or back to the comic book shop. A month passed, and I sent out another e-mail to the USPS, and was asked for a description of my package, which I gave to the best of my ability(although I'd never seen the damn package!). An e-mail from my comic book shop informed me that they still didn't have anything new to tell me. Mid-December I sent out a few more e-mails and was met with more frustration and non-answers. Anyway, I sent out another round of e-mails yesterday, and earlier today, my comic book shop got back to me and told me that they still hadn't heard anything back from the USPS, but that they were willing to either refund me the money from the order or ship out the comics again! I quickly responded that I'd like a refund, and sent out the reply. That's where I am tonight. You don't know how relieved I am to finally be putting this headache behind me! Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the money refunded to my credit card and I can go about reordering the books that never came.

Wow, that explanation went longer then I anticipated! I actually meant to spend this post talking about eBay! Well, why stop blabbing now? Last night I wound up finishing off my Accounting homework relatively early, so I decided I'd finish the Batman: As the Crow Flies TPB. I finished that trade off(it was OK, prob a 7 out of 10)and then proceeded to read the three comics I reviewed earlier tonight. After finishing them off, I was going to put all of my Green Arrow comics in order so I could read them, but being kind of tired, I decided against that. Instead, I made the cardinal mistake of going to eBay! Now, I'll readily admit that I am a recovering eBay addict. From May of 2008 through the summer of 2009, I spent untold hundreds of dollars on eBay. After buying something completely ridiculous(I don't even remember what)I decided, "That's it, no more going to eBay!" and for several months I made good my promise... Until last night that is. Over the course of 20 minutes, I purchased the entire Aquaman series from the 1990's(#0-75), a Superman/Darkseid one-shot, an old issue of Marvel Team-Up from the 1970's starring Spider-Man and Hawkeye and the three issues of Green Lantern which made up the Emerald Twilight storyline(GL #48-50). Now, for the record, I've been trying to get my hands on the Emerald Twilight story for MONTHS now, but no comic book store I visited had the trade, and the single issues were just insanely overpriced(issue #48 alone sells in some stores for like $15-20!). Being able to finally purchase that story at a reasonable price was definitely the highlight of my night. The other comics, well, let's just say that although I'll happily read them, I'm not sure that I actually NEEDED them!

Speaking of not needing something(sweet segue!), a comic book order arrived today featuring a bunch of comics that had me really scratching my head... The order contained the following: Adventure Comics #452, Manhunter #1-38, Simon Dark #1-18, The Question #1-6 and Son of Vulcan #1-6... What the hell?!? I don't even know who Simon Dark or Son of Vulcan are!!! This was one of those cases where I found the entire Manhunter series, as well as Adventure Comics #452, which is something else I've wanted to read for a while now, and then I threw the other comics into my shopping cart because they were cheap. That's what happens when you give somebody with poor impulse control(ME!)a credit card... Oh, and I'm expecting ANOTHER package of comic books to arrive in the mail tomorrow or Saturday with the past two weeks worth of books! Yep, I am most definitely addicted to comic books... Well, that's it for tonight, Long Live The Legion!!!

Comic Gazing for: 1/27/10

It's another Wednesday, which means it's time for me to go comic gazing! Before I get into this week's books, let me say that I'm cautiously optimistic that my package of comic books containing the past 2 weeks worth of comics should be heading my way as early as tomorrow, but more likely Friday or Saturday. A package of new comics should mean a couple of new reviews up on this blog, so be on the lookout for that.

Besides that, I'm finishing off the Batman: As the Crow Flies TPB, and I may also read a few other comics, including Superman: World of New Krypton #11, Blackest Night: Suicide Squad #67 and Avengers: The Initiative #31. If I read those books, I'll probably have a post dedicated to them for tomorrow, if I don't, well then obviously I won't! It looks like I got a couple of responses for my Batman post(which you can find by clicking here), which is great. You know how I love comments(or if you didn't, you do now!)! Once I publish this post, I'll be heading over there to see what my distinguished readers had to say. OK, I think that's a long enough introduction, let's see what comics I'll be grabbing this week!

Atom and Hawkman #46: It's a Blackest Night x-over, and by now I'm sure everybody must realize I'm obligated to buy every single BN x-over comic, no matter what it is!

Batman and Robin #7: Meh, it's another issue of Batman and Robin... Can't say I really care one way or the other. Hopefully I'll like this issue, although I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Blackest Night: JSA #2: I REALLY liked issue #1, plus this is a BN x-over, so that explains why I'll be picking this one up.

Gotham City Sirens #8: For the most part I've thoroughly enjoyed this series, hopefully that trend continues with this issue.

Green Lantern #50: Hal Jordan vs. the Black Lantern Spectre, written by Geoff Johns? Need I say any more?

Justice League: Cry for Justice #6: I really haven't been enjoying this mini as much as I thought I would, and after the events of last issue(you know what I'm talking about!), I'm even less enthused about reading this issue. At least there are only two more parts left here...

Justice League of America #41: Remember when this series was good? I barely do... Here's hoping James Robinson's new JLA can regain some of the awesomeness that was Brad Meltzer's run so very long ago.

Justice Society of America #35: The older members of the JSA take on Mordru the sorcerer for like the one millionth time! I shouldn't complain though, because for the most part, this series has remained solid, even after the departure of Geoff Johns.

Superman: Secret Origins #4: This is one of those mini-series I've been collecting but not reading. Once the entire mini is out, I'll give it a read straight through.

Superman #696: This is the third(?)part of the Superman/Action Comics x-over, so in order to get the full story, I need to pick this book up!

Teen Titans #79: I think I'm going to officially put this series on life support. If Superboy and/or Kid Flash don't join the team within the next 5 months or so, that's it, I'm dropping this title. I'm tired of reading about characters that I could care less about(for the most part).

Wonder Woman #40: After the last issue, I'm definitely looking forward to reading this one!

World's Finest #4: If not for Toyman I'd be REALLY happy with this mini-series. Even with Toyman present in this mini, its still been very good.

Avengers: The Initiative #32: I've enjoyed this series from the start, and with its cancellation on the horizon, I'm going to enjoy it while it's still here...

Captain America Reborn #6: Woo-hoo, it's finally the conclusion to this mini-series! Although the outcome has already been spoiled in at least two Marvel comic books I've read lately(Siege #1 and something else)I'm still really psyched to read this one.

Daredevil #504: This issue concludes Andy Diggle's first storyarc in this comic, and I have to say, thus far his work has been nearly as good as his predecessor in this series, Ed Brubaker. That's about as lofty a compliment I can give to a writer!

Guardians of The Galaxy #22: Although the quality of this series has dipped slightly as of late, it's still among my favorite Marvel books.

New Avengers #61: This is another Siege tie-in, and if BENDIS can continue his momentum from the shockingly good Siege #1, this comic has the potential to be readable! I can't remember the last time I said that about an issue of this series!

Siege: Storming Asgard: This is a Siege tie-in, which is why I'm picking it up.

Wolverine Origins #44: This is another of my favorite Marvel books. Daniel Way has been consistently good on this series from the start, so I doubt that's going to change now.

X-Factor #201: THE best X-title on the market today. PERIOD.

Whew, that's a lot of comics, even by my standards! DC is still getting more of my money, but with Siege so far being way better then I ever thought it would be, I'm picking up a few more Marvel books then usual. Will DC continue to rule my wallet? Will Marvel continue its climb and once again become my favorite comic book company?!? Find out in next week's installment of Comic Gazing!!! How's that for a corny ending? Long Live The Legion!

Adventure Comics #6 & Gotham City Sirens #7

I should probably be doing my Accounting homework instead of posting comic reviews, but what can I say? I may physically be back at school, but mentally, I'm not quite there yet... Speaking of not being there mentally, I went and brought a bunch of comic books today for pretty much no apparent reason. I was checking out eBay earlier because I've been wanting to pick up the full run of the Aquaman series from the 90's. Unfortunately for me though, the full runs I found were a little bit too expensive for my taste. From eBay, I went to the Comic Collector Live website to see if one of their participating shops had some cheaper Aquaman books. I wound up finding the comic where Black Manta kills Aquaman's son, which is something I'd been interested in reading for a while now, so I decided to pick that up, and that's where the trouble began. The comic shop I was ordering from had one of those, "Spend $25 and your order ships for free!" deals going, so I figured, "Eh, I can spend $25 here." By the time it was said and done, I'd picked up the full run of the Simon Dark series, a Question mini-series, a Son of Vulcan mini-series and the entire Manhunter series. Now, those of you who read my post from last night may be wondering why I decided to buy the Manhunter series after my remarks. I may not have liked the first 5 issues, but the next couple of issues were pretty good, and since I was splurging anyway, I figured, "What the heck?" Anyway, enough about my day, here are my thoughts on Adventure Comics #6 and Gotham City Sirens #7.

Adventure Comics #6: Writer: Geoff Johns. Artist: Francis Manapul.

Lex Luthor arrives at the home of his brain-addled and physically handicapped sister's house and lays Superboy out with some Kryptonite. Lex's niece pleads with him not to kill SB, and SB winds up playing to Lex's ego by telling him that he's full of it when he claims that if it wasn't for Superman he could right every wrong and cure every disease in the world. Lex assures SB that he can, and SB challenges Lex to prove it by fixing Lex's sister. Lex agrees to the challenge, and holds his niece at gunpoint while he sends SB out to gather the various ingredients he'd need to heal the sick woman. SB gets the items, and Lex gets to work, coming up with a concoction that not only heals his sister's mind, but that heals her body as well. SB is shocked that Lex was actually able to do it, and then Lex proceeds to stick his sister with another needle, undoing all of the work he did, leaving the woman a wreck again. When SB asks why Lex did what he did, Lex explains that he only wanted to prove that he COULD do it, and that once Superman was dead, he'd cure his sister again. SB decides to beat Lex up, but Lex winds up getting saved by his buddy, Brainiac. The two villains teleport back to Brainiac's ship, and Lex explains that as far as he's concerned, SB isn't his son, he's simply a failed experiment. Lex then indicates that he was creating another "child", this time with Brainiac... Wow, that sentence just sounds wrong... Anyway, SB meets up with his old Young Justice/Teen Titans teammates(Red Robin, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl)and tells them that after witnessing what Lex had done, he knows he could never turn out like Lex, and he ends up throwing his Lex Luthor/Superman journal into the campfire ending this issue, as well as Francis and Geoff's run on this series.

I know this is going to raise the ire of many of my fellow fanboys, but I'm glad Geoff won't be writing SB's adventures anymore. Now before I begin to get death threats, allow me to explain. Geoff Johns is my current favorite writer. I even gave him my writer of the year award for 2009! However, I HATE the whole, "Superboy is half Superman, half Lex Luthor" thing. I've never liked that idea, it always seemed so unnecessary to me. SB had been an established DC character for 10 years or so before Geoff did the SB/Supes/Lex thing, and for me personally, it hurt SB's character more then it helped it. If anything, Geoff should have introduced a new character with the duel Superman/Lex Luthor DNA instead of forcing it on SB. That's probably why I haven't enjoyed this series as much as I figure I should have. I hated that stupid Lex/Supes journal SB was always writing in. I never really understood the purpose of it... He's Superboy, not Boy Luthor, or Conflicted-boy... Anyway, thanks for bringing SB back from the dead Geoff, but please, stay away from him now!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I wish Lex would talk in the third person more often... That would make him even more awesome!

Gotham City Sirens #7: Writer: Paul Dini. Pencils: David Lopez.

This is a Christmas issue that shows what the Sirens are up to for the holidays. Catwoman spends some time with Dick Grayson and they reminisce about their missing friends and loved ones, Poison Ivy hangs out in a tropical rainforest and takes down some drug traffickers and Harley Quinn goes home to her loser family. After facing nothing but grief from her family, Harley returns home to the Siren's headquarters(which was recently rebuilt)and spends the rest of the holidays with Catwoman and Ivy.

Meh. For some reason this comic just never clicked for me. I really can't figure out why, but I just didn't like it. I've been enjoying the past few issues of Sirens, but this one just left me bored and annoyed. Like I said, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there was just something... Off(I guess)in this one for me. Oh well, hopefully I'll like the next issue.

Score: 5 out of 10.Damian: "Are you going to suit up or get drunk with the tramp?"
Dick: "*sigh*I'm going to get drunk with the tramp..."

Comic Gazing for: 1/20/10

Before I get into the good stuff(COMICS!), I have a few quick things to say. First off, today was the first day of Spring semester, so this blog is probably going to be a bit on the quietish(hey, that's not even a word!)side for the next few days. Between classes, meeting up with the financial aid folks, buying books, etc, I'm not sure when I'll be going back to my regular format of reviewing comics. I'm going to give Adventure Comics #6 a read tonight, and hopefully I'll do a post reviewing at least that comic by tomorrow. Besides that, I'm going to cede defeat to those goddamn spammers who seem intent on posting their annoying posts/links on my blog. I can't take it anymore!!! Everyday, I'm deleting upwards of 8 spam comments. It's a real waste of time, so from now on, I'm going to put the word verification back on this blog. Hopefully my regular commenters won't mind filling out the word verification thing, but like I said, I'm tired of dealing with these damn nimrods.

Alrighty then, on to some comic related stuff! I just finished reading Gail Simone's first few Birds of Prey comics(issues #56-75)and I've got to say, they were FANTASTIC!!! I don't have a single bad thing to say about ANY of the stories I read in those books, that's how much I liked them. The first few issues(which you can find in the Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds trade BTW)were simply flawless, and if I was scoring them, they'd easily get a 10 out of 10. They're that good. Unfortunately, the first Manhunter trade wasn't quite as good. I was expecting SO much from the Manhunter: Street Justice TPB, and I've got to say, I was pretty disappointed. I'd only heard good things about Manhunter, and I've been really enjoying her recent appearances in Batman: Streets of Gotham, but for some reason, the first 5 issues of the Manhunter series just didn't do it for me. I think the thing that bothered me the most was the fact that it was never really explained WHY Kate Spencer decided to become a murderous costumed vigilante... Most vigilantes have understandable reasons for doing what they do(see: Castle, Frank), but Kate just one day decided to steal some impounded super-hero equipment and go to town on baddies. Even after her son nearly dies due to one of her Manhunter weapons, she's right back on the streets the very same day! I'll probably begin reading the second Manhunter TPB pretty soon and hopefully things will begin to come together a little bit more sensibly in those issues.

OK, enough talking about the past, let's talk about the present! Here are the comics I'll be ordering this Wednesday.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #8: The main story with Zsasz has been extremely good, and the back-up with Manhunter has been awesome. What's not to like here?

Blackest Night Flash #2: Well, I didn't like the first issue, but I'm hoping this issue focuses more on the Rogues and less on Saint Barry Allen. If that's the case, I'll be happy.

Green Lantern Corps #44: Umm, all I need to say here are 4 simple words, Guy Gardner: Red Lantern!!!

Outsiders #26: I'm going to give Dan Didio's first few issues of this series a shot, but this series is on a very short leash, and if I need to drop a title, this one(and/or Magog)is going to be first on the chopping block... Oh, and BTW, am I the only one annoyed that Dan gave himself the writing duties for this series? The guy is already the Senior VP/Executive Editor at DC, why not give a young, deserving writer a chance to take over this title?

Phantom Stranger #42: Two words: Blackest Night.

Starman #81(!!!!!!): OK, for those of you who don't know, James Robinson's Starman series is my favorite comic book series. EVER. I've read and own well over 10,000 comic books, and Starman tops them all. When I heard this comic was being made, and that James was writing it, I started giggling like a little school girl before doing several celebratory backflips(OK, maybe not, but I think you get my point!). As much as I want to read this comic, I'm also a bit scared that this comic could be a huge letdown... Man do I hope this comic is good...

Captain America #602: I don't know what to say about this comic... First off, I guess I'll state the obvious. What the hell is Marvel doing putting this comic out before they wrap-up the Cap: Reborn mini!?! I mean come on guys, a little common sense please! Besides that, I'm kind of miffed that Marvel is putting a Nomad second feature in this issue. First off, it looks kind of pathetic(to me at least)that Marvel is blatantly ripping off DC's Second Feature idea, even calling it by the same name! Besides that, I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in this new Nomad... At all.

Dark Avengers #13: Two words: Siege crossover!

Dark Wolverine #82: See above.

Mighty Avengers #33: I like Dan Slott and I like this team, so that in a nutshell is why I'm picking this one up.

Nova #33: This comic has been great from the beginning, and although I'm not totally sold on the whole Realm of Kings storyline yet, I NEVER miss an issue of Nova.

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #3: Speaking of Realm of Kings... I'm only buying this mini because of the writers(Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)involved with it.

Uncanny X-Men #520: I never thought I'd say this, but I really miss the bad old X-Men stories of the late 1990's... I just hate reading the X-comics nowadays... And before anybody asks, I only buy the X-books out of duty, not because I want to. Like a good addict, I HAVE to buy the X-books, no matter how awful things get.

That's all for this week, as always, Long Live The Legion!

Comic gazing for: 1/13/10

Hey, today is Thursday, which means yesterday was Wednesday(how's THAT for deductive logic!). I completely forgot to check out which new comics I'll(eventually)be ordering from my online comic shop. After a quick stop at my online CB shop, here's the books I just placed in my shopping cart.

Action Comics #885: This issue crosses over with Superman, and I(unlike many fellow CB fans)have been enjoying both Action and Superman, even though Superman himself is appearing in neither title. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

Adventure Comics #6: This is Geoff Johns final story in Adventure(for now anyway), so that alone is reason enough to buy this!

Batgirl #6: I've been thoroughly enjoying this series, however, it looks like my least favorite member of the Bat-family(Damian)makes an appearance... Will that be enough to ruin this title for me? Hopefully not!

Batman #695: So far I've been VERY underwhelmed with Tony Daniel's run on this series, especially in light of how good the Battle for the Cowl(which Tony wrote)was. Some friendly advice for Tony, if you want me to like this series, PLEASE stop putting the Penguin in it!

Booster Gold #28: If we get more Booster and less Jamie Reyes, I'll be happy. See, I'm easy to please.

Catwoman #83: Blackest Night tie-in. 'Nuff said!

Green Arrow/ Black Canary #28: Hey look, it's another issue of Cupid's comic! I'm hoping that this issue FINALLY begins to spell the end of Cupid. Conventional wisdom tells me otherwise though...

Magog #5: This series has been OK, but out of all the books I pick up monthly, this one is probably the closest to getting dropped.

Power of SHAZAM #48: Blackest Night tie-in.

REBELS #12: This series is, believe it or not, one of my monthly favorites. Once this order arrives, this will be among the first comics I read.

Secret Six #17: Blackest Night tie-in.

Titans #21: I really don't have any reason for picking this one up other then the fact that I am, and probably always will be, a Titans fan.

Dark X-Men #3: Why am I picking this one up? X-Man is in this comic, and I've named this blog, X-Man's Comic Blog... Do the math! Seriously though, I am PSYCHED for this issue! So far, this mini has been extremely enjoyable.

Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #3: I probably won't read this issue until the entire mini-series is out, but I'm willing to spend the money without reading the work because I trust the writing team(Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)that much.

Annnd, that's it. Wow, DC is getting WAY more of my hard earned money then Marvel this week. Although DC is getting most of my money, the comic I'm most looking forward to reading is a Marvel, more specifically, Dark X-Men #3. Well, that's it for me tonight, if you feel like sharing, let me know which books you have/will be buying this week. Long Live The Legion!

Wednesday means it's time to buy comics!

I just finished placing my comic book order for the past three weeks, which means by sometime early next week I'll be a little bit more up to date on what's happening in the comic book universe. What did I pick up? I'm glad you asked! Here's a rundown of the books I should be reading soon.

Siege #1- I'm cautiously optimistic that BENDIS will be able to pull a good story out of this x-over. Is that asking for a bit much? Maybe, but as they say, hope springs eternal.
Siege Embedded #1- This is some kind of Siege tie-in, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Why not?
Nation X: X-Factor #1- The only reason I even bothered to pick this up is because it's written by Peter David. If it was any other writer, I'd have skipped it. I HATE the Nation X idea.
Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2- I collect every single Blackest Night x-over, it's what I do, so that should explain this comic.
JSA All-Stars #2- I still haven't read JSA All-Stars #1 yet, but I'm willing to buy this issue with the hope that it's nearly as good as the current JSA series.
Suicide Squad #67- This is another Blackest Night x-over issue.
Superman: World of New Krypton #11- With the Man of Steel no longer appearing in Action Comics and Superman, this is the only book I can read about the new adventures of Supes.
Weird Western Tales #71- Like BN WW and Suicide Squad, this is another Blackest Night x-over issue.

Well, there you have it, that's my pull list for the week of January 6. Am I missing anything I should be picking up? If you think so, drop me a comment. If not, then Long Live The Legion!

The Best of the Rest.(Nov. 27-Dec. 3)

Well, it's Friday again, which means I get to post some irrelevant thoughts about some obscure comic book back issues, as well as whatever else pops into my head! Before getting to the main event, or maybe lame event is more apropos(wait til you see the lousy books I've been reading in my spare time), I figure I'll opine about a few comic related things first. Alright, first off, I've got to admit that I LOVE those stupid plastic power rings DC released this past month. Before I received my Red and Green Lantern rings, I figured the rings were little pieces of plastic junk that would break as soon as you touched them the wrong way... Wow was I wrong! Considering the fact that those rings are made of plastic, they're pretty stout. After getting my Red and Green rings, I'm VERY tempted to purchase the rest of the set, or at least the Yellow and Black rings. And yes, for the record I did wear my GL ring both to school and to the store on Thursday. If THAT doesn't confirm my status as an uber-geek, nothing will!

Speaking of being an uber-geek, my package of TPB's arrived in the mail today. Here's the story. Last week my regular online comic shop held a 40% off ALL trades they had in stock sale. Like a fool, I went INSANE and spent WAAAAY more money then I(or any sane individual who is trying to pay their way through college)should have. On the plus side, I did manage to pick up my sister's Christmas presents in that order, on the negative side, I'll be paying this madness off for months! But hey, what's done is done, right? I'll just chalk this entire experience up to my amazing lack of self-control and move on. Before I get to the regular back issue pseudo reviews I normally do, here's a list of all the trades I received today. Read it and weep(I know I did!).

JLA Vol. 1: New World Order
Batman: Officer Down
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3
Aquaman: Tide & Time
Manhunter: Vol. 1
Batman: Hush Returns
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis Once and Future King
Manhunter: Vol. 2
Flash: Wonderworld
Flash: Blood Will Run
Catwoman: Crime Pays
Batman: The Heart of Hush
Superman: The Coming of Atlas
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell.
And for my sister I picked out:
Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds
Birds of Prey: Sensei And Student
Birds of Prey: Between Dark and Dawn
Superman and Batman vs. Vampires and Werewolves(she's huge into Twilight/True Blood)
Green Lantern #81(this is a comic she's been trying to get her hands on for a LONG time).

OK, with that business taken care of, onto the shoddy pseudo reviews!

Outsiders Annual #1(2007), Outsiders #47-50(July 2007-Nov. 2007), Checkmate#14&15(July&Aug. 2007)- I figured I might as well look at all of these books together since they all were a part of the same x-over. Black Lightning is falsely convicted of murdering some lowlife, and gets sent to Blackgate prison as a result. The prisoners find out Black Lightning is locked up with them and a hit is put on his head. The Outsiders are forced to bust Lightning out of the clink, while simultaneously clearing his good name... Did I just type, "The clink"?!? Ugh... The next storyline dealt with the Outsiders and Checkmate teaming up to try to take down Chang Tzu(AKA the giant Chinese egg dude). Tzu captures a members from both teams and the two teams must put aside their differences to save their teammates, without causing an international incident. The final issue dealt with Nightwing handing the reins of the team over to Batman, and Batman's subsequent plan for the team. This series really let me down towards the end. I truly enjoyed the early issues, but by the time the end arrived, I was almost relieved. Just for the record, after issue #50, this series was renumbered and renamed Batman and the Outsiders. Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Aquaman #10(July 1995)- This issue dealt with the first meeting between Aquaman and Kyle Rayner(Green Lantern). Some shark attacks a few divers, and Kyle decides to kill the shark so the people in the surrounding area won't have to fear the water. Things get complicated when Aquaman arrives on the scene and prevents Kyle from killing the shark. From there we get the usual "two superheroes meet, have a misunderstanding, fight, come to an agreement and part as friends" story. If you like Kyle and/or Aquaman, you'll probably like this issue. Score: 7 out of 10.

Action Comics #627-634(Nov. 1988-Jan. 1989)- These Action Comics were from back when DC would release AC on a weekly basis, the series contained several stories and each issue was 48 pages long. Although there were a couple of stories in these books, I only read the 9 part Nightwing(Dick Grayson)/Speedy(Roy Harper)story. Roy decides to discover his roots, so he takes Lian(his toddler daughter)and Nightwing(for some reason)to Northern Ireland. Roy winds up getting stuck in the middle of the Catholic/Protestant/Irish/British mess that was Northern Ireland in the 80's. One side wants to kill Roy because he prevented some drug smuggling, the other side wanted to kill him because he's an outsider, the police wanted to kill him because they're corrupt, and the British army wanted to kill him because of some corrupt politician, and a US government agency also wanted to kill Roy just for the hell of it. In a word, this storyline was a MESS. You'd have to be some kind of genius to keep everything that was going on in this story straight. I was constantly asking myself, "Wait, who are these guys again?" or, "Why are these people now trying to kill Roy?". Nightwing left after the third part of the storyline for some reason, and them returned as inexplicably as he left near the end of the story... It was all weird. Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

Wednesday Comics #1-6(July 2009-Aug 2009)- Yep, I've finally gotten around to reading these comics/newspapers. The premise is definitely unique, but I'm still undecided as to whether or not I like reading my comics in this format. For those of you not in the know, each issue of Wednesday Comics features 15 one page stories about a particular super-hero or super-hero team, and these "comics" are in newspaper form(think the New York Times). Unsurprisingly, the stories are VERY hit or miss. I'm enjoying the Superman, Batman, Hawkman, Teen Titans, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Flash, and Kamandi(yes, Kamandi!)stories, while I'm not even bothering to read the Wonder Woman or Metal Men features. The Metamorpho, Strange Adventures, Sgt. Rock, Catwoman/Demon and Deadman stories are OK, but definitely nothing to write home about. I still have 6 more issues to go, so taking that into account, I'll give these issues a 6 out of 10.

As you can plainly see from the scores I dished out(only one comic reached a 7 out of 10?!?), this was a pretty lackluster week. Hopefully things will really pick up come next week, since I've got a veritable library of trades to begin reading. If you managed to sift through this entire post, pat yourself on the back, you deserve it! Well, there's nothing left to say except, Long Live The Legion!

Talking turkey.

Well, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably not going to see my missing package of comic books anytime soon, so I'm going to just read the issues I have while using reviews from fellow comic book aficionados to figure out what happened in the books I don't have. I hate not actually reading the comic books personally, but what can ya do? On a positive note, my online comic book shop shipped out my latest CB order on Wednesday, so it's conceivable(but unlikely)that I'll be reading Blackest Night #5, Cap Reborn #4, JL Cry for Justice #5 and of course the comic I've been waiting nearly 4 years to read, Dark X-Men #1 as early as Saturday, provided my package doesn't get lost in the mail again... Speaking of my online comic shop, they sent me an e-mail alerting me to a 40%(!)off sale on ALL TPBs! Needless to say I'll be taking advantage of those great savings. I already have 13 trades in my shopping cart, and I'm only through the letter "e". Hmm, that's all I've got for now, I should really start to read some comics before I fall into a turkey induced coma. Happy Thanksgiving, and as always, Long Live The Legion!

More complaining, less reviewing!

I just finished typing up a 5 page paper on the Greek and Persian empires, so it's pretty safe to say that I don't really feel like typing anything else out right now, meaning there won't be any new reviews here tonight. I do have a few books to review, including the most recent issues of Daredevil, Titans, Wolverine Origins and Dark Wolverine. Hopefully I'll find the time to get at least one of these comics reviewed and posted for tomorrow(no promises though).

Speaking of new comics, I'm still waiting for my comic order from almost three weeks ago to arrive. After waiting over two weeks, I'd finally reached my breaking point today and sent an e-mail to the USPS asking what was going on. They responded by telling me the package was "Dead Mail / Sent to Mail Recovery Center"(!?!)... In other words, they didn't know where to send the package and couldn't figure out who to send it back to... REALLY??? Are you frigging kidding me!?! *Sigh*... So now my package of comic books is being sent god knows where because some nimrod couldn't read the address on the package correctly... Now I'll wait two more days to see if they're going to contact me about what I should do next. If they don't get back to me, I think there's some kind of claims form I'm going to have to fill out. Yay, more junk to fill out! Ugh, as you can probably tell, I'm getting tired and cranky, so before I really start to go off, I think it's probably a good idea to end this post here. As always, Long Live The Legion!

What I'll be reading... Eventually.

I'm STILL awaiting my comic book order from two weeks ago... The most galling/bizarre thing is that the comic book store shipped them out two weeks ago Thursday and my package has been sitting in Philadelphia since Oct. 15th... Come on, are you kidding me? I've always been pretty good with geography, and as such, I know that Philadelphia and upstate NY aren't exactly thousands of miles apart! Yeah, the lack of new comics is starting to get to me. But enough griping, since I have a lot of HW to get to tonight, I'm not going to be able to post a review for Daredevil #501. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow. I did manage to place a comic book order a few minutes ago, and I figure I'll post what I ordered here before hitting the books.

1 Aquaman Vol 3 #10
1 Arkham Reborn #1
1 Astro City Life In The Big City TP
1 Avengers The Initiative #29
1 Batgirl Vol 3 #3
1 Blackest Night #4
1 Blackest Night Batman #3
1 Blackest Night Superman #3
1 Blackest Night Titans #3
1 Booster Gold Vol 2 #25
1 Dark Avengers #10
1 Dark Reign The List Part 6
1 Dark Reign The List Part 7
1 Dark Reign Young Avengers #5
1 Gotham City Sirens #5
1 Green Lantern Vol 3 #108
1 Green Lantern Vol 3 #111
1 Green Lantern Vol 3 #113
1 Green Lantern Vol 3 #114
1 Green Lantern Vol 3 #74
1 Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 #19
1 JLA Incarnations #1
1 JLA Incarnations #2
1 JLA Incarnations #3
1 JLA Incarnations #4
1 JLA Incarnations #5
1 JLA Incarnations #6
1 JSA vs Kobra #5
1 Justice League Of America Vol 2 #38
1 Nova Vol 4 #30
1 Outsiders Vol 4 #23
1 REBELS #9
1 Secret Six Vol 3 #14
1 Supergirl Vol 5 #46
1 Superman Batman #53
1 Superman Batman #54
1 Superman Batman #55
1 Superman Batman #56
1 Superman Batman #65
1 Superman Secret Origin #2
1 Teen Titans Vol 3 #76
1 Worlds Finest Vol 2 #1

I guess the question now is going to be how long is it going to take for this order to reach me... Long Live The Legion!