Throwback Tuesday: Featuring Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #14

Hey comic fans, it's Tuesday so you know what that means, it's time for a Throwback review! I planned on reviewing this issue last week before I took an impromptu vacation, if you wanna call it that, so here I am this week with my Throwback post. Today I'm reviewing another issue of one of the most goofy comic series to ever exist, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. If the cover below doesn't dissuade you from even reading this, let's see what happened!

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #14

Summary: This issue starts with Clark arriving on the roof of the Daily Planet in the helicopter they have, because that paper has MONEY. He notices Lois waiting for him and he takes his Superman suit off and hides it on the helicopter due to his Clark Kent attire sleeve being burned from a fire he put out as Superman, and he didn't want Lois to see his suit under it. Next we...wait... how did he burn his sleeve of his Kent clothes if he put out the fire as Superman?! Anyway, Jimmy manages to take the helicopter and fly it around, because the paper has so much money they'll let Jimmy pilot a helicopter even though he barely looks old enough to drive. Of course Jimmy manages to crash the helicopter, because he's Jimmy Olsen. He calls Superman for help with his watch but quickly finds Superman's suit on the helicopter and puts it on for warmth for some...odd reason. While walking around in Superman's suit, God realizes he has the chance to kill Olsen and Jimmy's struck with lightning, but sadly for us all, Superman's suit is impervious to lightning. Jimmy stumbles onto a land that time forgot, and is surrounded by hillbillies in Hogfoot Hollow. They think Jimmy's Superman, but he says he's not, so they say he's being modest and give him tests to prove he IS in fact Superman... because yeah. They ask him to move a tree stump from the ground, and in odd Olsen fashion, a boulder happens to fall down and move it while Jimmy pushes it, and no one else sees the boulder. Jimmy soon finds out that the strongest person in Hogfoot is to marry the Mayor's daughter, I guess... age doesn't matter. Jimmy's next exploit is being fed a ton of food he can't possibly eat, but luckily a giant bear reaches through the window and eats all of the food, which impresses the local hicks when they come back to see "Superman" has eaten everything! From there we see Jimmy seemingly scare a bear away, but the bear was actually afraid of a skunk... who wrote this?! When Jimmy finds out he has to marry Petunia, the Mayor's daughter, since he's the strongest guy in the town, but Moose Morton, super hick, is jealous since he wants to marry Petunia. Meanwhile, Clark flies out looking for Jimmy in his work attire. Why... not just take your glasses off... then people will just wonder why Superman is wearing a suit instead of them seeing and wondering why Clark Kent is flying. Moose challenges Jimmy to a fight but is shocked when he sees Clark flying and he faints, causing Jimmy to win Petunia's honor. With the wedding approaching, Jimmy is dressed in his suit by Petunia's brothers... weird. Moose decides to run up behind Jimmy and hit him with a boulder... um...okay, but Jimmy slips on a banana peel.  Moose figures the rock is "kricktynite" and Jimmy takes advantage of that to act powerless and run away. Moose, the potential murderer, then wins the love of the daughter of the Mayor... Anyway, Clark takes advantage of Jimmy being out of the suit and gets it back, then flies Jimmy back to the helicopter and fixes it, but basically threatens Jimmy not to ask why his suit was in the Helicopter. The issue ends with Jimmy telling Clark that being mistaken as Superman isn't fun and to never get caught wearing his suit, while Clark smiles knowingly.

Thoughts: This was sooooooo bad! I mean, I know these people apparently had never seen Superman, but if this is such a hick town that no one has a newspaper with his picture or anything, how did they even KNOW he was Superman? Who says, he's wearing spandex with an "S" on it but omits that he's a super powered flying ginger?! Also, how did Jimmy survive a helicopter crash, being struck by LIGHTNING (Who did HE piss off?! It wasn't even raining!), being narrowly missed by a boulder, surviving coming in close contact with a bear, TWICE, AND fighting a guy who was going to club him to death and then later throw a BOULDER at his head. The worst part is, Superman was around when the guy was gonna hit Jimmy with the boulder and didn't even intervene! He must've been thinking "I'll teach you to wear my suit, Olsen!" And the cherry on top was Superman threatening Jimmy while flying with him. "You ask how my suit got in that helicopter and they'll be asking how you fell out of it!" The trend continues, absurdity at it's finest.

Pages in this story: 8 (Seemed like MUCH more.)
# of Times people call Jimmy "Superman": 18
# of Times Jimmy should have died: 7

Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1

Hey blog readers and true believers, JT here, back from a brief hiatus due to injury. This issue should pick up where we left off, with an amnesiac Jason, Roy feeling betrayed, and Starfire feeling despondent. Also, a bunch of assassins are after the team, so unbeknownst to them, Green Arrow is coming to help, so let's get to it..

Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1

Summary: This issue starts with Jason sneaking into a room with a master computer to look up the Red Hood, and he's shocked to see numerous pics of him killing people, and his confirmed kill count at eighty-three, which I thought would be higher. From there we see Roy thinking about his past sessions with Hugo Strange as well as when he designed tech for Oliver Queen that Ollie never used but Ollie wouldn't let him come into the field. He eventually goes to check out the alarm that goes off but first tells a pretending to be asleep Starfire that he's not happy about her lying to him about her memories. Roy goes to investigate and finds Green Arrow, who warns him that Roy and his friends are in danger with 500 Million Dollar bounties on each of them. The talking is put on hold as there's an explosion with Starfire enters a room looking for Roy but instead finds a bunch of gasoline left as a trap which explodes when Starfire tries to illuminate the room with her flames. Roy arrives to seemingly see Starfire dead, after inhaling a Toxin by her attacker, Cheshire! Roy and Cheshire fight as Ollie goes to protect Jason at Roy's request. Cheshire and Roy's fight is laced full of her hitting on him and making sexual innuendo, which allows her to subdue Roy and take his hat as a trophy. Cheshire tries to attack her old pal Jason, they've worked together before but Jason doesn't remember, but Ollie and a poisoned Roy try to run interference, but Roy gets poisoned even more as a result. Ollie saves him with some anti-toxin as Cheshire prepares to paralyze Jason and take him with her, but Starfire returns and scoops Cheshire up, flying away with her but Cheshire manages to disappear (she can teleport or become intangible or something now), but not before saying she's keeping Roy's hate to remember him, and next time she may take one of his strong arms. (Ah, nice one Tynion.) Afterwards, Jason yells at Roy for telling him he was good, when he's a killer, and walks off, then Roy yells at Ollie, saying he never trusted him but apparently no one does, as he directs that comment at Starfire and walks off. The issue comes to a close as Roy and Star find a note saying Jason's leaving and not to come after him, we see him stowing away on the bottom of Ollie's helicopter, as well as the next threat for the Outlaws, the League of Assassins, lead by Bronze Tiger!

Thoughts: Does anyone else find it a bit... surprising that Roy invents tech when he was basically a class clown type character for a majority of this series? Also, someone wants to pay One Billion and Five hundred Million dollars for Jason, Starfire and Roy?! WHY?! That stuff aside, I enjoyed this issue. I was a bit wary of Tynion after all the bad stuff we've dealt with during Lobdell's run but this story was fun, it had jokes, we got to see more arguments of the team and it introduced a lot of threats like a bad ass Cheshire that I'm totally a fan of, Bronze Tiger, Roy's time with Strange which will surely come up more in the future. All in all, this annual felt like it was worth it, and I enjoyed it more than the I expected I would.

Score: 8.5/10

New Comic Day! May 29th edition.

Hey comic fans, X here with the latest New Comic Day post.  It's the fifth Wednesday of the month, so I'm not really expecting to pick up a lot of comics...  Or am I???  Um, I actually don't know yet...  The easiest way to rectify that is to check out which comics I should be picking up when I head to the comic shop in a few!  Deathmatch #6, Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1, Morning Glories #27, Avenging Spider-Man #21, Captain America #7, Dark Avengers #190, Indestructible Hulk #8, Morbius #5, Venom #35...  So 9 comics this week, which is roughly what I'd expect in a long month like May was.  I'll definitely be reviewing Cap #7 on Thursday.  For Saturday though, I have no clue what I'll be reviewing...  Probably Hulk #8, but that could change depending on what I read and when.  So yeah, that's all I've got for now.  Now we'll check in on JT and see what he'll be picking up today.  Until later, X out.

Hey guys and gals, JT here after a brief sabbatical to let my hand heal. It's not 100% by any means but I'm hoping by Friday it's feeling fine enough for me to type up some reviews. This week I plan on picking up Deathmatch #6, Injustice: Gods Among Us #5, Earth 2 Annual #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1, Smallville Season 11 Special (not annual?) #1, Wake #1, Avenging Spider-Man #21, Captain America #7, Indestructible Hulk #8, Morbius the Living Vampire #5, and Uncanny X-Force #5. Of those books I plan on doing single reviews for the Red Hood Annual and either Injustice or Avenging Spider-Man. I guess we'll see, shall we? But until then, this is JT, signing off!

Best of the Rest! May 22nd edition.

Hey all, X here with the forth BotR post of May.  How time flies...  Anyway, I'll be doing only three reviews in this post(I know, only 3!?), while JT chips in with a few of his own...  Or at least that's what I originally thought when I typed this up a few days ago!  With JT nursing an injured hand, this is going to be an exceptionally brisk BotR post, since it'll only have my 3 reviews...  So yeah, enjoy.

Daredevil #26: Wooo, I love this series!!  The most important thing going on here is that after consulting with Foggy, DD realizes that the man behind all of his recent troubles is(drumroll, please), Bullseye!!!  DD then manages to find the villain's base and defeat Lady Bullseye(!).  This issue ends with DD approaching the iron lung containing the villain(Bullseye), with Ikari approaching DD from behind.  Yup, this series is gold.  Plain and simple.  This was the second consecutive issue where I audibly said, "Holy shit!".  In this issue, it was the page before the reveal when I realized what Foggy was drawing.  Super, good, amazing stuff here. Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

Teen Titans #20: This comic was bizarrely all about Trigon...  Yep.  Scott Lobdell was all, "You know what people want to read about in a comic book named 'Teen Titans'?  A super old demon named Trigon."  So yeah, we get Trigon's story, with a heavy emphasis on Raven.  And in true Lobdell style, the Raven portions make little to no sense!  He left Raven's mother alive so she could teach Raven humanity and love?!  And then he STILL expected her to be all, "Yeah, cool.  Let's destroy the earth and other relams, dad!"  How does that even make sense!?  Oh, and to top it all off, it looks like he also retconned the prior issue where Raven was controlling Tim, shifting that instead to one of Raven's brothers.  So either a) editorial stepped in and told Lobdell he could no longer run with that story thread(and with DC's editors, that's a very real possibility), or b) Lobdell himself forgot he even did the Tim/Raven thing(also a very real possibility) .  Anyway, Trigon's backstory somehow sets up next issue's confrontation between Trigon's sons and the Titans and Raven.  This is such a headache to read every month...  Score: 5 out of 10.

A+X #8: The first story is about Shadowcat and Spider-Woman trying to keep a magic meteorite away from AIM, Hydra and the Absorbing Man.  Kitty actually allows Absorbing to touch the meteorite, thus gaining it's abilities, only so she could defeat the now powered Absorbing Man.  Thus proving my long-time point that Kitty is an egotistical bitch.  The second story has Hawkeye and Deadpool teaming up to rescue a restaurant owner from Captain Barracuda.  Honestly, I should have hated this story, but I didn't...  When it started I was thinking, "Hawkeye teaming with Deadpool?!  Bah!"  And yes, I did think, "Bah!"  But by the end, the story had won me over.  So yeah, not bad.  Score: 7 out of 10.

New Comic Day! May 23rd edition

Hey guys and gals, JT here after a brief absence since Sunday, with the New Comic Day Post! As always, this is where X and I will list the comics we plan on picking up, which comics we'll do single reviews for and which comics will get the Best of the Rest treatment. So, let's get to the books, shall we? This week I plan on picking up Green Lantern #20, Justice League #20, Bounce #1, Scarlet Spider #19, Superior Spider-Man #10, Uncanny Avengers #8AU, Uncanny X-Men #6, and Young Avengers #5. So with a total of eight comics this week, you can expect full reviews for Superior Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men, and probably BOTR posts for Scarlet Spider-Man and Justice League, plus I'll review a Super issue for the Throwback Tuesday next week. Now I'll pass things off to The Conductor himself, The Irredeemable X-Man.

Thank you, Wicked JT.  Yes, my name is X and I am a comic-holic.  Here are the books I'll be picking up today.  Arrow #7, Teen Titans #20, A+X #8, Daredevil #26, Scarlet Spider #17, Superior Spider-Man #10, Uncanny Avengers #8AU, Uncanny X-Men #6, Young Avengers #5...  Huh, this is a REALLY light week!  Weird...  Anyway, I'll be doing a review for Young Avengers #5 on Thursday, and one for Uncanny Avengers #8AU on Saturday.  Everything else will find it's way into the BotR post come Monday.  And there you have it, another NCD in the books.  Until next time, X out.

Throwback Tuesday: Featuring Teen Titans #7

Hey there, X-Maniacs!  X here with the latest Throwback post.  And yes, this post really is a weekly thing!  Seriously!  JT and I have managed to keep it going for like 5 weeks now, so yeah, Tuesday=Throwbacks around here.  As for this week's comic, I dropped a hint in last Wednesday's NCD post, it will indeed be mad...  Yes mi amigos, we're going to set the wayback machine for England in the late 1960's...  It's Mad Mod time!!!  This blog will never be the same again...

Teen Titans #7(Jan/Feb 1967)

Summary: Hey, cool, this issue is in chapters for some reason!  So yeah, I'll break this post down by chapters.  First up, Chapter 3!  Wait, no...  That makes no sense...  Ah, I got it.  First up, Chapter 1!  The US government has been having problems with international smuggling lately.  And for some reason, the clues the government have gathered point to famous teenage rocker, Holley Hip.  Naturally, when you find yourself having smuggling troubles, you turn to a bunch of teenage super-heroes to do your job for you!  And that's just what the government does, as they call the Teen Titans in to assist them in solving this problem.  The three boys aren't exactly fans of Holley, but Wonder Girl loves him, and since the Titans would never say no to a request from the government, they agree to go out on a tour of England with Holley...  Take that, you stinking, government hating hippie bastards!!!  Oh, and the Titans end their visit to the government offices by saluting a PICTURE of JFK...  Who salutes a picture!?  From there, the Titans meet up with Holley, hop aboard a jet and fly out to London.  Upon arriving, the Titans and Holley are hoisted in the air by the joyous English kids.  Dick Grayson sadly doesn't scream out, "Holy ass-grabbing, Batman!" in that scene, but by god, he should have!  Holley's swinging digs(or "clothes" for us born after the 1970's) are then trucked to a famous clothing designer named the Mad Mod.  I haven't the slightest idea why he's called the Mad Mod, but whatever.  Kid Flash follows the clothing, and sure enough, the Mod is using Holley's clothes to stash various items, getting them past customs.  Helpfully, the Mod makes sure to point out that Holley knew nothing about the Mod's actions, which Kid Flash overhears.  Kid Flash goes to radio the other Titans, but he notices one of Mod's men sneaking around, so he rushes to the front of the Mod's shop, directly into a pillory...  Yep...  

Chapter 2!  Since Kid Flash had been cut off in the middle of his transmission, Robin and the Titans head to the Mod's shop to investigate.  The Mod helpfully shows them around the shop, at which time Robin notices Mod's men carrying a manikin outside to a truck.  Suspecting foul play, Robin and the Titans head out front where Wonder Girl stands in the street and halts the truck's progress.  Unfortunately for her, the Mod(who is now in the truck) orders his men to put the truck in reverse, which somehow leads to Wonder Girl smacking her head on the truck's fender and passing out.  With that, the truck drives off.  The truck stops at the Thames River where the Mod orders his men to toss one of the manikins into the drink.  Aqua-Lad, who had been stowing away on the bottom of the truck, realizes that the manikin was actually Kid Flash and hops into the Thames to rescue his partner.  The Mod spots Aqua-Lad jumping into the water, grabs his special scuba gear(never leave home without it!), snatches a harpoon and climbs onto his giant robot fish...  Why was he riding around with a robot fish in his truck in the first place?  I mean, I guess it's good that he did, but still, that's a weird thing for a clothing designer to have with him...  Aqua-Lad swims Kid Flash to the surface and winds up getting chased around by the Mod's robo-fish.  Aqua-Lad manages to disable the robot fish, but the Mod is saved by his henchmen, who fish him out of the water.  Aqua-Lad reports back to Robin, who has no evidence of the Mod's wrongdoing, which at this point includes, international smuggling, attempted vehicular manslaughter, assault and attempted murder.  In order to get some evidence, Robin tells Holley the whole story and Holley agrees to ship the Titans to his next gig in a clothing box.  While on board the plane to Paris, Robin manages to get some incriminating pictures of the Mod with his mini camera, but the plane hits some turbulence and he falls out of the box with Wonder Girl, alerting the Mod to his presence.  On a positive, when he falls out of the clothing box, Robin screams, "Holy suitcases!".

Chapter 3!  Damn is this review turning out to be longer than I expected...  This is like a JT review now!  Upon seeing WG and Robin, the Mad Mod fires knockout gas at them and kicks them out of the plane!  Wow, that seems kind of extreme!  Falling through the sky revives Robin and WG, and WG flies over and catches the original Boy Wonder.  However, the Mod leaps out of the plane with a parachute and Wonder Girl's magic lasso!  Okay, I have to give the Mod some props for that!  The Mod ties Robin and WG up, in mid-air(!), with the lasso.  He then pulls off Robin's utility belt and tosses it away, correctly figuring that Robin's camera was in it.  Unfortunately for the Mod, while falling through a cloud, WG manages to free herself and Robin from the lasso, slipping away from the confused Mod.  The Titans meet up with Holley in Paris and Robin finds out that the Mod wanted one of Holley's outfits in order to alter it.  Figuring the Mod had stashed something on the outfit, Robin instructs Holley to not turn the outfit over to the Mod.  Instead, Holley goes through with his concert in Paris.  While preforming, the lights in the arena go dark and the Mod and his men rush the stage and try to strip Holley of his threads.  The Titans turn the lights on and swing out of the rafters, knocking the Mod's men out.  The Mod grabs Holley and puts a gun to his head, but the Titans swing around Mod in a circle(?!), causing the Mod to become dizzy(!?!).  Holley, apparently unaffected by the Titans' antics, smashes his guitar over the Mod's head, knocking the Mod out.  The French police then take the Mod and Holley's clothes into custody.  Things then get even weirder as Holley realizes he had to finish the concert, but didn't have clothes or instruments.  To rectify this, Robin strips out of his clothes(and then stands around in a barrel!), and Holley puts them on.  As for music?  Holley uses Wonder Girl's lasso and a board...  Groovy!!

Thoughts: So yeah, this was a thing that happened...  I'm going to overlook the sheer weirdness of the last page, with Robin giving Holley his speedo, because maybe people did things like that in the 60's.  I don't know.  Looking past that, we have the Mad Mod...  Honestly, he was a genius for the most part!  His smuggling operation was brilliant(even though I don't know why a famous clothing designer would turn to international smuggling...), he correctly deducted that Dick had taken pictures of him while on the plane, AND he got rid of that evidence.  So yeah, he was pretty smart...  At least until the end of this issue...  His best idea to get Holley's clothing was to rush the stage of a crowded concert and steal the clothes right off of Holley's back!?  Even though he knew the Titans were watching Holley's back?!  I mean, there wasn't another more opportune moment to get those clothes?  Sad...  Besides all that, Mod also wracked up a hell of a lot of crimes!  In 22 pages, he smuggles things into three separate countries, had a Kid Flash assaulted, tried to run Wonder Girl over in a truck, tried to have Kid Flash drowned, personally tried to kill Aqua-Lad with a harpoon, had Wonder Girl and Robin tossed out of an airplane, tied Robin and Wonder Girl up so they wouldn't be able to save themselves from the fall from said airplane, destroyed property, tried to steal clothes, and held a famous musician hostage at gunpoint!  Eat your heart out, Lex Luthor, the Mad Mod makes you look like a chump!  Overall, this issue was more than just a comic book story, it was also very educational to me.  From this point forward, I'll always remember to salute pictures of JFK.  I now also know that English people can't pronounce the letter "H".  They also carry celebrities on their shoulders, which is nice, I guess...  Oh, and they seem to get dizzy faster than Americans do.  I'll keep that one in mind in case I ever travel across the drink, as they say.  Finally, if I ever happen to see a person wearing nothing but their undergarments, I'll happily give them my clothes, provided there is a barrel present for me to slip into.  See that, you DO learn something new everyday!

# of times Robin said "Holy...": 5

# of times Aqua-Lad made an aquatic alliteration: 7

# of times Mad Mod said, "'aw!": 19.

Best of the Rest! May 15th edition.

Hey all, X here to kick off what looks to be a pretty slim Best of the Rest post.  Both JT and I had lighter than usual comic weeks, meaning we really don't have a load of books to look at.  So yeah.  But hey, JT(whose reviews will be in blue text) will probably grace us with more than the measly one review he gave us last week...  Probably...

Nightwing #20: After some digging around, Nightwing manages to find the Prankster, who he suspects will be able to help him find Tony "The Man Who Killed Dick Grayson's Parents!" Zucco.  However, the two get off on the wrong foot when Nightwing interrupts Prankster trying to kill a corrupt businessman.  After a bit of a tussle, Nightwing ends up getting trapped in a glass box(really), with Prankster telling him the only way he'd escape was to remove his mask, thus revealing his identity.  This comic was okay, I guess.  I still think Prankster has some potential as a vigilante, even though he was coming dangerously close to becoming just another run of the mill villain.  On the positive side, Tony "The Man Who Killed Dick Grayson's Parents!" Zucco only appeared on two pages, and that makes me happy.  Score: 6 out of 10.

X-Factor #256: The team heads after Mephisto in an attempt to send him back to Hell.  Meanwhile, Tier kills all the Hell-Lords Mephisto had locked up.  Mephisto kills Shatterstar and Rictor before he is attacked by Tier.  Before Tier can kill Mephisto, Guido kills Tier, which makes Guido the new king of Hell.  Guido brings Monet back to life and then banishes her from his sight.  So yeah, wow...  This was a big miss for me...  Guido as the devil?  Tier, Shatterstar and Rictor dead?  Mephisto unable to figure out to teleport away from Tier when he was attacked?  Tier killing like 6 Hell-Lords in a small room?  Yeah, bad, bad stuff here. Score: 4 out of 10.

FF #7: Wizard and his newest incarnation of the Frightful Four(himself, Blastaar, a brainwashed Medusa, and Bentley-23, who doesn't want to be there) attack the FF.  Bentley-23 predictably betrays Wizard, which frees Medusa from Wizard's mind-control, leaving Wizard and Blastaar as the Not-So Terrible Two.  After Wizard is defeated, Black Bolt takes him into custody for brainwashing his wife(AGAIN!) and decides to have words with him...  Meh.  The story didn't really do much for me, but dammit do I LOVE Mike Allred's artwork!  Seriously, it's like the perfect art for a comic book, and you all know I don't usually care about art in a comic!  So yeah, oddly enough, if not for the artwork, I'd probably have scored this comic lower.  Score: 6 out of 10.

Thunderbolts #9: Hey, check it out, I'm still getting this comic!  Weird...  A mystery man is constructing gamma powered Crimson Dynamo units to be used in terrorist activities.  The T-Bolts manage to take down a few of the units and are able to trace the units back to the man behind them, Elektra's brother.  So yeah, I don't get why exactly I'm still collecting this series...  I don't think I've given any issue a score over a 6!  Methinks I'll be rectifying that when I get to the comic shop on Wednesday...  Score: 5 out of 10.

Avengers: The Enemy Within #1: Yon-Rogg sends Captain Marvel and her teammates after various menaces to keep them distracted so he could steal the piece of the Psyche-Magnetron that CM had stored at her apartment.  After saving her elderly neighbor from dinosaurs(way cooler than I just made it sound, actually), CM returns to her place with Spider-Woman and realizes that she had been burgled.  Spider-Woman promises revenge.  Finally, a good comic!  Huzzah!!!!!  Man this week has been brutal comic-wise for me... I enjoyed this one, and think it set-up the upcoming Avengers Assemble/Captain Marvel crossover nicely.  This feels like an Avengers story should feel, which is a nice change of pace from Bendis and Age of Ultron...  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Iron Man #10: 451 tells Tony a story about how he first met Tony's father before Tony was born.  Basically Tony's dad went searching for 451 after learning that he and his wife were unable to procreate.  451 then makes vague comments about Tony having more parents than he knew of...  UGH!!!  What the hell is happening here!?  THIS is the story they think are going to grab movie-goers who just saw Iron Man 3?!?  Really?!  Come on, Marvel, this is a DC-esque bungle!  You're better than this!  Yeah, in case I haven't made it clear, I think this entire storyline is idiotic.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  All I know is that we better discover that 451 was lying the whole time to be an ass or something.  Anything else will be horrible.  Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

Or, maybe JT won't review anything at all...  Huh, go figure!  I'm sure he'd blame his lack of reviews on me taking Nova #4, but don't buy JT's lame excuses!  He's a slacker!!  Slacker!!!  On the plus side, unless he somehow manages to do -1 reviews next week, he'll definitely have more reviews next week than he did this one.  But enough about that guy.  Check back tomorrow for a Throwback post by yours truly.  Until then?  X out.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #20

Hey Todd Squad, JT here with my first review of the week, James Tynion IV's second issue as writer of Red Hood and The Outlaws. After the last issue where Jason gave up his memories completely, by mistake of course, Roy and Starfire are trying to help get them back from S'aru, aka Aang, because I forgot his name while doing this review.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #20

Summary: This issue continues where we left off, with Roy and Kori trying to get this floaty magic guy that looks like Aang from Avatar to give Jason his memories back. He tells them when Jason said he wanted his bad memories removed, that counted as all of them, since they're linked. He shows them Jason's bad memories but Roy said Jason would never have wanted this, and demands his memories are returned, but Aang says no. He shows them one of Jason's memories, where we see Roy getting beat up outside of a bar in Gotham when he was a junkie, but Jason shows up, introducing himself to Roy as Robin, Version II, and saves Roy from the goons. He tells Roy that if he needs a friend, he's there for him, since his predecessor said he was a good friend before Roy became a Junkie. Roy says friends always let you down, but Jason keeps the invite out there before taking off into the night. From there we see Jason and a gang of mercenaries (including Cheshire) doing what Jason thought was the right thing until he realized they were there to steal an artifact and felt betrayed. Roy tells Aang that although they were far from perfect, this is why the team got along so well, and Aang says Starfire has more secrets than them all. Starfire gets defensive as he says Starfire has selective amnesia, and remembers far more than she lets on. He pulls up one of her darkest memories and we quickly see her shooting energy blasts at Nightwing for some reason, before she stops him from showing the memory. Jason, still with no memories, says he's sick of everyone fighting over him, and if he did this he must have had a good reason. He asks Roy to respect that but Roy says no dice, and shoots him with a tranquilizer in the neck, causing Jason to pass out. Roy threatens Aang to return Jason's memories but he's nowhere near intimidated by him and banishes him, Starfire and Jason to outside in the snow. While recovering, Roy starts to breakdown, feeling betrayed by Starfire's lies about her memories and getting no answers when he asks her about Grayson, as they crouch over an unconscious Jason Todd. Unknown to them, Ducra, Essence and Aang are above them, as Essence says that she won't stand by while Jason and his friends are attacked by the evil coming their way, but Ducra and Aang says they know what they're doing by putting the Outlaws through this. The issue comes to a close as Green Arrow finds out that the baddest assassins from around the world are coming to collect a bounty on the heads of the Outlaws, and he says he'll have to save Roy once again.

Thoughts: Man... I enjoyed this issue a lot! It was cool seeing Jason's memories so we can still get a sense of what's happened and what hasn't in this not so New 52, and I really liked the addition that he's saved Roy before. It shows why Roy is so loyal to Jason, it shows how optimistic a younger Jason Todd was, and it was just a great scene with those two that adds to their friendship. I also really liked that they put out there that Starfire can remember things and has been playing dumb this whole time. It makes her more interesting and makes me wonder what she's been hiding and why she attacked Grayson at some point. Plus, seeing Green Arrow, Cheshire, Deathstroke possibly and a host of other people popping up in this comic is definitely a plus in my book.

Score: 8/10

New Comic Day! May 15th edition

Wow, it's already time for a New Comic Day post!  That's... surprising, actually...  I mean, I STILL haven't finished off last week's books!  Mainly because I have next to zero interest in reading about Batman and Clayface, but still...  Huh.  Let's see what this week has in store, and hope we have some good books coming out...  Nightwing #20, Red Hood and the Outlaws #20, Fatale #14, Age of Ultron #8, Avengers: Enemy Within #1, FF #7, Iron Man #10, Nova #4, Thunderbolts #9, X-Factor #256.  Cool, only 10 books this week!  I needed that, especially after last week's suck-fest.  I'm required to do two reviews around here, on Thursday and Saturday, so expect a review for Age of Ultron #8 on Thursday, mainly because JT is a jerk!  Seriously, I tried to push this title on him, but he was all, "Hell no am I reviewing that garbage, X!" and here we are.  So yeah, expect a rather dour review of that comic on Thursday.  As for Saturday...  I honestly have no clue what I'll be reviewing...  I'm thinking either Nightwing, Nova or Iron Man.  Whichever strikes my fancy, either good or bad.  Most of the rest will be in Monday's Best of the Rest post.  As for Tuesday, I'll be busting out a Throwback review that's absolutely mad!!!  And yes, that's actually a hint!  That'll do it for me, now I hand things over to the Dean of Mean, the Master of Disaster, the Reel Joker himself, JT.  As for me?  X out.

Hey, hey, hey comic lovers! JT here with my half of this week's New Comic Day post. After beating that jabroni X last week and having more comics than him for the first and probably only time ever, I felt I should say something, as a wise man named Nelson Muntz once said, "Ha Ha!" Now that I've done that, let's get to the comics! This week I plan on picking up Regular Show #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #20, Age of Ultron #8, Iron Man #10, Nova #4, and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23. Hm... small week. Of those six comics, you can expect single reviews for Red Hood and Ultimate Spidey. If I chime in the BOTR post it will be to review Nova and possibly Regular Show. Til then, this is JT, signing off!

Throwback Tuesday: Featuring Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #106

Hey guys and gals, JT here and it's that special time of the week! The day after the Best of the Rest and before the new comic week starts, Throwback Tuesday! This week we've got a doozy... yeah I said doozy, shut up, as I stumbled into a goldmine known as "Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane." So yeah, get ready for a few of those for my next few Throwback Tuesday's. Anyway, this issue features Lois becoming a Black Woman for twenty-four hours... so.. yep.

Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #106

 

Summary: This issue starts with Black Lois, who I'll call B-Lo for the rest of this because why the hell not, asking Superman if he'll marry her now that she's black. Really? This didn't have anything to do with the issue because on the next page Lois is white and hasn't turned black yet. Anyway, in this issue Lois head's to the black community of Metropolis, known as Little Africa, because that's what black people would call it apparently. Lois goes around Little Africa (Ugh) and tries to talk to everyone but no one will talk to a white person. She finally gets an old woman to talk to her, but it turns out she's blind and when she hears Lois' voice, she gets up and walks away. HA! Superman checks in on Lois and she has him fly her to the Fortress of Solitude where she uses a machine called the Platimold, which when Superman pulls the Transformoflux pack (THESE ARE NOT WORDS!) it turns Lois into a black woman.

B-Lo has Superman fly her back to her apartment so she can change into her hoop earrings, head wrap scarf and Dashiki, cause apparently white women keep those in their closets just in case they become black women. B-Lo quickly learns how different things are when her favorite cabbie won't stop for her because she's black. B-Lo eventually finds a woman to interview, and this woman has it rough, she even has a rat in her daughter's room that's so brave he'll come out during the day! Also, plaster is falling off the roof because the building is basically owned by a Slum Lord. B-Lo sees how this woman is living and starts crying, then heads around the city to further investigate...sigh... Little Africa. She comes across a black man named Dave that spoke ill of her while she was white but is very friendly now that she's black. Before Dave and B-Lo can talk, Dave chases after some criminals that are selling drugs to the community! Black Dynamite...I mean Dave, doesn't want people selling drugs to the community! Dave quickly learns that he should mind his own damn business, when he gets shot by the two drug peddling criminals. Superman arrives, literally a second late, and melts their guns but didn't stop Dave from getting shot for some reason... Superman then knocks out the criminals and picks up Dave and Lois to fly them to a nearby hospital. They determine that Dave will need a blood transfusion and he's type O-Negative, which causes Superman to state that he can't help, because he's not his blood type and even if he COULD, no needle could penetrate his skin. Well why even say that?! Luckily, B-Lo is Dave's blood type, so they pull a reverse Archie Bunker/Sammie Davis and she gives him some blood. After giving up blood, B-Lo plays the race card when asking Superman if he'd marry her if she couldn't change back, he tries to play the Alien card, but sorry my brotha, the race card trumps all! Luckily for the Son of Krypton, B-Lo's pigment lightens up as she turns back into a white woman. Dave wakes up and asks for the woman that helped him, as Lois goes to see him, Dave is obviously shocked but then smiles and shakes Lois' hand as this issue ends.

Thoughts: How did this make it to 106 issues?! How did it make it PAST 106 issues?! How did it make it past SIX issues?! Also, she gave him blood, they shook hands and that was it! That seemed like such a weird ending, they literally said nothing. He didn't ask her why she was basically in black face or anything! And whoever named the black community "Little Africa" should be slapped. That just sounds... wrong. Anyway, this absurd issue had it all, white women as black women, Dave saying stopping criminals was Man's work, Superman being a dick and saving Dave literally RIGHT AFTER he got shot, and of course, Lois proposing to Superman. So yeah, this was an enjoyable and very stupid comic, which is exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to Throwback posts!

# of words they made up for this issue: 2
# of Times "White" appears (sans cover): 9
# of Times "Black" appears (sans cover):11

Best of the Rest! May 8th edition.

It's Monday, which means it's time for a brand spanking new Best of the Rest post.  As usual, I'll bust out a few reviews, followed by JT, who will bust out a few reviews of his own, but in blue text.  Considering the relatively small comic haul for both JT and myself, this post shouldn't be as long as the past couple of been.  Okay, let's see which comic is up first for me...

Walking Dead #110: Rick takes a group of people to the Kingdom to meet Ezekiel and his group.  Meanwhile, Jesus prevents Kal from betraying everybody to Negan and the Saviors.  Michonne is initially pissed by Ezekiel's king act, but the two have a nice little heart-to-heart and seem to get along very well.  Once we got past the Jesus stuff, this issue slowed way down.  It does turn out that I like Ezekiel now!  Kirkman did a great job of filling out his character, which means one of two things...  Either a) he's going to die next issue, or b) he's going to betray Rick and company to the Saviors.  Hopefully neither thing happens, but after reading as much of this series as I have?  I would not be surprised.  Score: 7 out of 10.

Secret Avengers #4: AIM sends the stolen Iron Patriot armor loose, at which time it begins attacking individuals who had been targeted by America.  To avoid a diplomatic incident, SHIELD sends Hulk to destroy the renegade armor.  On top of that, SHIELD sends Nick Fury Jr, Mockingbird, Black Widow and Hawkeye to AIM Island to assassinate the Scientist Supreme.  Meh, meh, and double meh.  I swear, the name Secret Avengers is cursed for me...  Regardless of who the writer is, or how much I enjoy their work, without fail, I can never get into this series...  This one is getting dangerously close to the chopping block...  Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Superboy #20: Dr. Psycho enlists Superboy's help in dealing with HIVE, which had sent agents after Psycho, who has gone rogue from them.  Yeah, and that's it.  Nothing much to say about this one, actually... It seems as if SB randomly bounces from one clandestine organization to another.  Plus we all know Psycho is going to betray SB!  There's one of the failings of the New 52, introducing a brand new character would work way better than slotting Psycho here, who will undoubtedly turn of SB.  Score: 6 out of 10.

Ultimates #24: Cap learns that the leader of California was planning on blowing Sacramento up and heads there.  Meanwhile, Iron Man escapes from the Californian leader and meets Cap in Sacramento   Finally, Thor and Invisible Woman join the two and the four(okay, mainly Thor, Sue and Iron Man) manage to prevent the Stark Space Station from obliterating the city.  This one ends with Cap deciding he didn't want to be president anymore since he was a soldier, not a politician.  I enjoyed this one.  We still have a threat in California and the West Coast Ultimates, and Cap has stepped down, which was pretty much a given.  Good stuff here!  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Avengers Assemble #15AU: This takes place in Jolly Ol' London, where the only heroes left are Capt. Marvel, Capt. Britain, some woman named Excalibur, who is a healer, a guy named Computer Graham, who can enter computers, and a girl who has magic soccer(or I guess in this case, football) powers...  Yep, really...  Poor, poor London...  Anyway, I've already wasted enough time on this rubbish(hey, when in Rome...).  Basically Ultron kills everybody who tries to fight him.  The end.  Yeah, I picked this comic up on a whim and am now cursing myself for wasting the money...  This comic was all sorts of terrible...  A girl with magic soccer powers...  Yeah, that's all for me...  Score: 2 out of 10.

Avenging Spider-Man #20: I can't believe this series is at issue twenty already! Anyway, let's do this. This issue features Superior Spider-Man visiting the SHIELD Helicarrier after he stops a bunch of A.I.M. soldiers/scientists/nerds. It just so happens he's done so while Black Widow and Hawkeye are there for Secret Avenger stuff, while Dr. Bruce Banner is on board, and while the Russians have sent people to kill Chameleon so he doesn't leak government secrets. Spider-Man is there to free Chameleon because he's collecting real life Sinister Six trading cards, and sends his Spider-Bots to find him and cut the power. Before he can get to him, the Helicarrier is invaded by two dudes with skulls for faces that can burn you with their touch. Spidey heads to find Chameleon and finds bodies in his wake, and blames himself for their death's since he freed him, but quickly backtracks, saying if those guys hadn't invaded, he'd have had time to get there and stop Chameleon. We see Chameleon running to his freedom, wearing the face of his Doctor as Spider-Man heads off to find him and is confronted by none other than The Hulk! This was an interesting issue for me because I never really got into it. It just happened and here we are, I have no feelings either way which is kinda... bad if you think about it. Once again, this comic wasn't bad but I doubt I'll remember it this time next week. Score: 6/10

I know! I'm shocked too!!! I know you guys expected more reviews from me but hey, I'm a busy dude! Plus X took all the good books! :P Either way, expect a Throwback review from me tomorrow, and until then, this is JT, and my buddy X, signing off!

Batman and Red Hood #20

Hey guys and gals, JT here with my second review of the week, something I've been waiting for since I'd heard about the changes to the Batman and Robin title. So, without further adieu, Batman and Red Hood!

Batman and Red Hood #20

Summary: This issue starts off with Batman investigating some criminals when Alfred tells him he has a guest. Bruce heads upstairs to see Carrie Kelly, and after talking about Damian missing and Bruce saying he's studying abroad for a few years, Carrie returns most of Bruce's money, saying she doesn't take what she doesn't earn. She notices Titus and shows she has a bit of knowledge about dogs, but Bruce doesn't wanna hear this and tells Alfred to show her the door. Alfred offers Carrie a job taking care of Titus for a few days a week, as well as covering her food and gas, and she accepts. Jason eventually runs into Bruce, as he was there for one final check-up by Alfred to make sure he was fine after the recent Joker events, and Bruce invites him to go stop some criminals with him. Batman and Red Hood make short work of the cartel of snipers, considering a few targeted Damian when Talia put a bounty on his head, with Hood only shooting for the knees, elbows and hands, per Bruce's request. They eventually take them all down, with Bruce paralyzing the nerve endings in one guy's hands so he'll never be able to use them again... well damn.

Jason asks Bruce why he asked for his help, he had fun but Bruce didn't need him there. Bruce reveals he did want to stop those guys but he had other motives, as the two drive, Bruce reveals that they are at the place where Jason died. Jason is obviously pissed about this, saying this is not somewhere he wants to be, as that was the worst day of his life, but Bruce says if he can help him erase the worst day of his life and bring Damian back. Jason attacks Bruce, saying he wants to move forward and not worry about his past and how Joker and Bruce have tainted his life, and the two beat the crap out of one another. Bruce says he needs to bring Damian back, he earned the right to grow up and he wants to give it to him, but Jason says Bruce has nothing else to give. Jason says he was ready to forgive Bruce and stand beside him and he threw it all away. He tells Bruce to take off his mask so he can kick his ass and Bruce does, and knocks Jason down. He tells Jason that he trained him better than that and to get up and hit him. Jason does just that and delivers a few stiff punches to Bruce's face, but Bruce says he's still standing while he stumbles. Jason grabs his helmet and says he's taking the car, then tells Bruce goodbye as he leaves him standing there. The issue comes to a close with Two Face holding a gun in a dark room, flipping a coin which lands on heads, then saying "No."

Thoughts: I loved this issue. Not just because Jason was in it, but of course that helped. I loved the way this was set up. Bruce was so upset, he was willing to let Jason shoot these guys, in a none lethal manner but that shows how angry he was. Also, Bruce fried the nerves in a man's hands because he was willing to kill a kid, which worked for two reasons, one, It shows how pissed off he was, which made a lot of sense, and it was something he could've only done WITH Jason. Dick would've done something or said something about that, as would Tim, but Jason didn't even bat an eye. Also, Jason was finally the bigger man here, and not only was he the bigger man, Bruce was in the wrong here. And seeing them fight over the place where Jason died, no masks, no tricks, just a fight between father and son. And Bruce clearly wanted to lose here, as much as I am a fan of Jason's, it was fairly obvious Bruce did this to punish himself on his second destination through the five stages of grief. I'm excited to see what happens with Two-Face now that they've shown he'll be popping up soon, as well as seeing how Bruce interacts with Babs after not only Damian's death but the Death of the Family stuff. I'm even a bit interested in seeing what they do with Carrie Kelly, plus hearing Bruce yell at Alfred when he finds out about her new job.

Score: 10/10

Batman #20

Hey comic fans, JT first review of the week, none other than the flagship series of the Dark Knight, Batman. After Bruce Wayne's likeness was stolen by Clayface in the last issue, let's see how he deals with taking his name and image back!

 Batman #20

Summary: I have no idea why that cover is red... mine is not but that's the one DC had listed. This issue starts with Clayface revealing his plan to kidnap Bruce, pose as him wearing Batman's gear since Bruce is his benefactor, then the real Batman will show up to stop him and he'll touch Batman then he can post as Batman and get Batman arrested and thrown in Arkham. He throws Bruce into a room with Lucius Fox after supposedly suffocating him for seven minutes, but Bruce is still alive because apparently he can hold his breath for that long. Bruce and Lucius are in a compactor and about to be smashed when they stumble onto a prototype that Lucius had gotten rid of because it wouldn't be cost effective for twenty years. We then see Bruce and Lucius freed as Bruce dons the Batman Beyond suit for the first time ever. From there, Bruce says he's going to inform Batman and leaves Lucius to go get checked out. Clayface, still masquerading as Bruce, is eventually caught by Batman, but Clayface can't be stopped in the usual ways. Batman makes a cell to hold Clayface once he steps into it that will only open for Basil Karlo, and since Clayface no longer has his own DNA, he's trapped. Batman says now that he's stopped Clayface, he'll get Mr. Wayne to the hospital, but Clayface has some words about Wayne. He said Wayne cares about no one, not even his own son, stating when he touched Wayne to get his DNA a few weeks back, his son was with him, but while his son talked, Wayne looked distant and uninterested. Batman yells at Clayface as he turns into Damian Wayne, until Commissioner Gordon stops Batman as Clayface smirks on as Damian Wayne. The issue comes to a close with Bruce telling Alfred he doesn't want to shut down the way he did when Jason died, as he and Alfred watch the Cowl patrol footage of Batman and Robin, together.

Thoughts: Hm... this issue seemed kinda average for me. I get that Snyder is doing shorter arcs now before the big Zero Year, but this seemed kind of unnecessary. I like that Clayface was evolved further but he was already made a threat in Detective Comics (or one of those other twenty Batman Books) not too long ago. I did like the little nod to the Batman Beyond suit, as well as using Clayface to show us Bruce being taunted by Damian, which was an awesome moment. I really believe that Damian was gonna die in Death of the Family, and Grant decided to use his death instead in Batman Inc. and this kinda confirmed that for me. Anyway, this wasn't a memorable issue but it wasn't bad either.

Score: 6/10

New Comic Day! May 8th edition

Hey Guys and Gals, Happy Comic Day! As of the time this goes live, I should just be walking out of the movie theater after seeing Iron Man 3, which I'm hoping is awesome. So, while that has nothing to do with this, I used it as a buffer to make the beginning of this seem more like an intro until I stalled long enough to tell you guys what books I decided to pick up. See how well that worked? Anyway, I plan on picking up Batman #20, Batman and Red Hood #20 (Hell...yeah.), Smallville Season 11 #13, Walking Dead #110, Alpha: Big Time #4, Avenging Spider-Man #20, Thor: God of Thunder #8, Uncanny Avengers #8, Uncanny X-Force #4, and Wolverine #3. So with a total of ten comics this week, expect single reviews for Batman and either Batman and Red Hood or Avenging Spider-Man, as well as Best of the Rest reviews for the one I don't pick, Wolverine, and maybe some other stuff. Well, that's it for me, I'll pass things over to my cohort, X, til Friday, this is JT, signing off!

As astutely pointed out by my crony, JT, I am indeed X!  And this is indeed the New Comic Day post!  Sounds like JT has himself a nice day lined up...  What with seeing Iron Man and getting new comics and all...  It sure would be nice if JT gave us his thoughts on Iron Man 3 in a post...  Yep, that would sure be nice indeed...  *ahem*  Anyway, here are the books I'll be snagging today: Batman #20, Superboy #20, Walking Dead #110, Alpha: Big Time #4, Avenging Spider-Man #20, Secret Avengers #4, Thor: God of Thunder #8, Ultimates #24, Uncanny Avengers #8.  That gives me 9 books?!  What the hell?!?  I can't remember the last time my haul from the comic shop was under 10!  Huh...  Maybe I'll snag Batman and Red Hood #20 if I see it, just to get to 10...  I'll definitely be reviewing Uncanny Avengers #8 for Thursday, and probably Alpha: Big Time #4 on Saturday, because Alpha is the greatest comic book hero of all time.  As for the rest?  You know the drill, they'll be in the BotR post on Monday.  Oh, and JT should have some retro Bat goodness on Tuesday for us.  And that's it for me.  Until next time, X out.

Throwback Tuesday: Featuring World's Finest Comics #113.

Hey X-Maniacs, X here with the third Throwback Tuesday post to grace this blog.  That means this feature has stuck around a full two weeks longer than I anticipated...  Go figure!  Anyway, as promised way back in the NCD post last Wednesday, this week's throwback does indeed feature arrows.  However, you can't tell that from the cover of this comic, which doesn't AT ALL mention the story I'm about to recap...  So yeah, ignore the cover...  Anyway, let's get into some old school Green Arrow madness!

World's Finest Comics #113(November 1960)

Summary: We open things here with Bonnie King winning the Miss Arrowette competition...  Which must have been a thing back in the day.  Anyway, the Miss Arrowette competition is, for those of you who are dying to know, an archery competition for women in which the winner wins a little crown and a sash...  Wooo!  After winning, Bonnie decides it was time to fight crime, because really, what else is left after accomplishing your dream of winning an archery competition between yourself and three other women?  A few days later, Green Arrow and his trusty sidekick, Speedy, are alerted to a daylight jewel robbery by the Arrow-signal, which isn't at all like the Bat-signal.  From there, they hop into the Arrowcar(huh, writers back in the 50's weren't very creative, were they?) and head to the scene of the crime.  Upon arriving, they spot the crooks' getaway car and hop out of the Arrowcar to...  I'm not really sure why they hopped out of the Arrowcar, actually...  But here we are.  The two archers decide to rush the getaway car(wait, why would anybody do that?!), and end up tripping on a partially open manhole cover...  Yes, that most definitely deserves a HA!!  Before the two end up in Arrow-heaven, they are saved when a...  And I shit you not, a powder-puff arrow sails by the getaway car's window, causing the crooks to swerve into a post.  It turns out the arrow was fired by Miss Arrowette herself(I know, shocking), who didn't bother to change her clothes from the Miss Arrowette competition, or, you know, put a mask on.  The groggy crooks get out of their wrecked car, which leads to Miss Arrowette firing a hairpin arrow at them, which pins two crooks to the wall.  GA and Speedy take care of the other two crooks with good ol' boxing glove arrows.  But by this time, Miss Arrowette has run off.  GA is disappointed because he wanted to tell Miss Arrowette that crimefighting isn't a game for girls...  Wow, sexist much?  The next day, GA and Speedy head to the scene of another burglary, as does Miss Arrowette.  GA and Speedy decide to charge the crooks(they do realize they have arrows, right?), just as Miss Arrowette fires the multi-purpose lotion arrow(my favorite arrow!) at the crooks.  But wait, disaster occurs when GA and Speedy are struck by the lotion coated shaft...  Eww...  Our two heroes end up sliding INTO the back of the robbers' truck, which leads to the robbers locking GA and Speedy inside...  Again, HA!!  The crooks hop into the truck and drive off, figuring they were scot-free, never realizing that Miss Arrowette had fired a hair-tint arrow at the back of their truck and managed to follow it back to their hideout.  Once they reach their destination, the crooks take GA and Speedy's arrows and force them into a huge empty oil tank, as opposed to killing them, or selling them out to the mob or something that would have made sense.  Miss Arrowette sees all of this go down at a safe distance thanks to her mirror arrow...  After the crooks have left, Miss Arrowette climbs up to the top of the oil tank and tells the two guys she'd save them.  However, she falls into the oil tank instead...  Clumsy woman!  She does avoid injury thanks to her kerchief arrow, which serves as a parachute...  What the hell is a "kerchief"!?  Moving on, Miss Arrowette is depressed that she was now stuck in the oil tank, while GA figures that he can use her arrows to free them.  Thanks to a needle-and-thread arrow, GA ends up escaping the oil tank with his two allies.  The crooks somehow get wise to GA's escape and come at him guns blazing(if they wanted to shoot him, why not do that from the start?!), but are captured in a hairnet arrow.  With the crooks captured and the heroes safe, Miss Arrowette decides to stop fighting crime because, "Crime-fighting is not for girls like me!"  Yep...

Thoughts: Wow, that was one hell of a sexist comic!  I love that the moral of it was, "If you're a girl, stay in the kitchen, where it's safe!"  The irony of Green Arrow stating that a woman like Miss Arrowette shouldn't be fighting crime, while standing next to his teenage sidekick, who was nearly run over by a car, wasn't lost on me!  I especially loved the fact that Miss Arrowette couldn't even be trusted to save the heroes!  She fell INTO the frigging oil tank!  That naturally led to Speedy making some snide comments about Miss Arrowette, because that's how we roll in 1960!  Plus, Green Arrow saves the day by using Miss Arrowette's arrows!  She couldn't even be help GA and Speedy escape with her own arrows!  Ugh...  However, on the plus side, I got to work "lotion coated shaft" into a post, and that, my friends, is a win for me!

Pages in this story: 6

# of trick arrows used: 9

# of times we were told crime-fighting wasn't for girls: 2

New Comic Day! May 1st edition

Oh, hey!  X here to start up another New Comic Day post!  Huzzah!  It's the beginning of May, and before long we'll be in the midst of a hot summer.  Speaking of hot(holy segue, Batman!), here's hoping I'll be picking up a few hot books from the comic shop!  Let's take a look...  Hypernaturals #11, Stormwatch #20, Age of Ultron #7, All-New X-Men #11, Hawkeye #10, Indestructible Hulk #7, Iron Man #9, Superior Spider-Man #9, Thanos Rising #2, Ultimate X-Men #26, X-Factor #255.  11 books for me.  That's right where I like to be too.  So kudos for me!  I'll be reviewing Age of Ultron #7 on Thursday, and Hawkeye #10 on Saturday.  Everything else will be dumped in the weekly Best of the Rest post on Monday.  As for Tuesday, I'll be putting up a Throwback review.  Probably involving arrows...  And that's it.  Now I'll tag out to that JT guy and give you all a hearty X out.

Hey everyone, Happy May and all that stuff! JT here with my half of the New Comic Day post. This is is usually where I'd stall for a bit, but who needs that? I plan on picking up Detective Comics #20, Earth 2 #12, Green Arrow #20 (may be my last issue), Age of Ultron #7, All New X-Men #11, Hawkeye #10, Indestructible Hulk #7, Iron Man #9, Superior Spider-Man #9, Thanos Rising #2, and Shadowman #0. Of those books you can expect for me to review Superior Spider-Man and All New X-Men on Friday and Sunday respectively. I'll probably review a few of my remaining books in the Best of the Rest post as well. So that's it for me, X and this post, til next time, this is JT, signing off!

Throwback Tuesday: Featuring Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7

Hey X-Maniacs, Todd Squad or whatever you guys prefer to be called, JT here with the second edition of Throwback Tuesday! After the warm reception X got with the inaugural post last week, I've been pretty excited to get my shot at this feature. Just like last week when X let me choose his book, I decided to let him choose what I would review, and I immediately regretted that decision when I saw the cover of this issue. So, let's take a trip back to 1955 and see what the Man of Steel and the Boy of annoyance, Superman and Jimmy Olsen, are up to.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7

Summary: This issue starts with Perry White announcing how the Daily Planet is covering the Marble shooting contest that Superman will judge for some reason. He says they'll market it like Major League Baseball, which is sad considering how little people seem to care about baseball now. Anyway, Perry means serious business, because this is the biggest headline ever, as it takes up the ENTIRE FIRST PAGE of the newspaper, and there's not even room for a picture. Perry then announces one of the competitors got sick and they need a replacement, and instead of having someone earn that spot, they give it to Jimmy, because why the hell not? Jimmy is told by Perry to put on a shirt that says "MIB Masters" and he'll enter him officially, because they apparently gave Perry a shirt to give to whoever he deemed worthy of flicking Marbles. Perry gives Jimmy multiple afternoons off to practice, because if you have employees that are there to learn, just pay them to play marbles. Great business skills Perry, you must still be smoking those whacky cigars. Superman sees Jimmy practicing and helps because Jimmy is outmatched by competing against people who have practiced for weeks. So... because they worked hard to win a contest they care about, Superman is going to help Jimmy who literally JUST FOUND OUT THIS EXISTED! Jimmy wins the first round and he and Superman scout out the competitors because Superman has nothing better to do with his time or powers, and Perry doesn't give a fuck what his employees do when they should be working. They come across the kid that will inevitably face Jimmy in the finals...since it's on the cover of the comic, and his manager, Cyrus Colby, who makes Target brand marbles. Not that Target. Anyway, Jimmy and Target kid, who must have given up his name and image for this, since that's all he's called for this issue and he even wears a shirt that says "Target Kid", meet up to face for the Marble championship. Jimmy's favorite Aggie, which Google says is a glass Marble, is stolen and replaced by the dastardly Colby! Aw hell naw! Before the finals, Superman shows he's a dick and steals their thunder by shooting marbles with super speed and shooting one through a heavy plate of steel. He then flies to space and brings back meteors and plays marbles with those... thanks Superman... I'm sure the finals will be super interesting after watching that. After further showing off, Superman breaks one marble with another, and the marble he got from Colby has a small bead of metal inside it, so instead of calling him a cheater, Superman takes some time to ponder what this could mean! In the finals, it comes down to 56 points for Jimmy Olsen and 56 points for Target Kid. (It actually SAYS that!) Jimmy misses two shots and Superman notices something fishy and uses his X-Ray vision to find a magnet underground which is messing up Jimmy's shots... cause... Colby went through all this trouble to do this. Superman melts the magnet with his heat vision, but not the grass or ground or anything because THAT would make sense, and Jimmy wins. Superman calls Colby out for cheating, then takes him to jail, because apparently rigging Marble games with a magnet is a crime punishable with Jail time in Metropolis. ("What are you in for? Cheating at Marbles?! You're the third guy this week!") Afterwards, Jimmy sees the former Target Kid crying like a chump because he knows he only won those other rounds because Colby cheated, so Superman flies over and picks him up (?!) and informs him that in Colby's confession he said he only needed the magnet in a few key matches, so the kid has skills. But if you had to win them all, aren't they ALL key matches?! The issue ends when Perry White slips on some Marbles and yells at Jimmy, as we find out their actually sour balls that the marble people sent Jimmy as a thanks for some really stupid reason.

Thoughts: Really Superman? You flew to SPACE....to get METEORS... to play marbles. THIS is what you did with your time? Do you know how many people Parasite is killing while you play these games?! This is why Batman resents you. Also... How the hell do you go to jail for rigging a MARBLE contest?! This is a contest Jimmy got into by putting on a shirt, yet if you're clever enough to make marbles with metal in them, slip them onto your opponent, and use a fucking magnet that you can turn on via remote in 1955, you're going directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect your 200 dollars! Also, who is stupid enough to cheat in anything when you know for a fact Superman will be there to judge the event?! Anyway, if we learned anything from this comic, it's this, Don't waste your life practicing for things or having goals or trying to be good, because Jimmy Olsen will come along and beat you with minimal practice, and even if you decide to cheat, he'll STILL beat you, because he has the most powerful being in the planet in his back pocket, then after he beats you and destroys your dreams, he's going to go fuck up Perry White's coffee order, because while he may be a Demi-God when it comes to winning stupid games, he still can't remember four sugars and two creams.

Pages in this story: 8 (All that review from eight pages?!)
# of Times "Marble" appears: 34
# of Times "Aggie" appears: 9

Best of the Rest! April 24th edition.

X here with the final Best of the Rest post of April.  Yep, we're almost in May!  Which is kind of surprising, because it seems like the winter JUST ended...  But yeah, summertime and all that stuff.  Anyway, this isn't a weather report, it's a comic post, so I should probably get to that.  As always, I'll toss a few thoughts on the various comics I picked up this week, followed by JT the Great, who will post a few reviews as well, only in blue text.  Um, other than that, get ready for a new Throwback Tuesday coming up tomorrow, typed up by none other than JT himself.  I'm sure he'll have something more to say on that coming up.  Okay, enough delaying, here's the first comic.

Teen Titans #19: Wonder Girl leads the Titans against Trigon, who's attacking New York.  This surprises Raven, since she was randomly brainwashing Beast Boy(seriously, where the hell did THAT come from?!), and hadn't been told an attack was coming.  Raven and Beast Boy join up with Trigon and attack the Titans, while Trigon gives Psimon(who was caught in the crossfire of this fight) enhanced powers.  The army shows up to deal with Trigon, and somehow this all leads to Psimon killing the army guys with a mind blast.  Trigon then magically disappears, while Raven seems pissed that he committed murder...  As for the Titans, they seem to think Trigon did all this to make them look bad in the court of public opinion...  First off, a confession...  I read this comic right after I read Young Avengers #4, and in plain English, the writing in YA makes this series look like crap.  Literal crap!  But, even if I hadn't read a series that's everything THIS series SHOULD be, I'd still call this issue garbage.  It made NO SENSE!!!  Trigon, the ruler of his own dimension, staged a fake attack on Earth to discredit the Titans?!  And Raven was angry that this led to murder?!  Wasn't she just mind controlling Tim a few issues back?!  In a battle between Trigon and the Titans, PSIMON is the guy who's instrumental in the finish?!  What the hell is wrong with Scott Lobdell?!?!?  Score: 3 out of 10.

Invincible #102: Thragg attacks Nolan, and we learn that Nolan was the rightful ruler of the Viltrumites by blood.  However, Nolan tries to tell Thragg that he has no interest in the throne.  That falls on deaf ears though, as Thragg is determined to kill Nolan.  However, the other Viltrumites randomly appear on the moon and attack Thragg, having heard his admission of guilt.  Nolan tells the Viltrumites to let Thragg go, and he takes over as their king.  Plus, Mark proposes to Eve.  What a weird issue...  SO MUCH happened!  I was chatting with JT, and he said it best, imagine if you missed this issue?!  You'd be SO lost come issue #103!  So yeah, Nolan is suddenly king of the Viltrumites(where did THAT come from!?) and Mark is getting married...  Okay then.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

I, Vampire #19: Last issue!  Mary comes back to life empowered by Heaven(I think...) and helps Andrew defeat Cain and Lilith, as well as save the planet.  Cain ends up with Lucifer, who intends on tormenting him for the rest of time.  Tig is still alive(WHY?!?), and still evil, and leaves with another evil vampire.  Mary dies, having fulfilled what she had to do, and redeemed herself.  Andrew pledges to go after the evil vampires with his vampire dog.  I liked this issue.  Everything wrapped up kind of quick, but this was the last issue, and that happens in finales   I'll miss this series, and I'll definitely miss Andrew and Mary.  Joshua Hale Fialkov did a good job here giving us some interesting characters.  Score: 7 out of 10.

Morning Glories #26: So I was going to review this comic, but when I was done, I legit had no idea what I had just read...  And I don't mean in a "It sucked so bad I was confused" sort of way, I mean I literally don't know what I just read...  This is a series I should probably start reading 6 issues at a time instead of monthly, 'cause it's confusing as hell!  Score: NA

FF #6: Dragon Man realizes Bentley and Medusa are gone, so Scott sends She-Hulk and Ahura to inform the Inhumans.  Meanwhile, Scott and Darla humble the Yancy Street Gang.  This one ends with the Baxter Building being teleported to the Negative Zone.  I liked this issue.  It makes me feel like I kept the right Fantastic Four series.  I like the main characters, I finally like one of the kids(Ahura), and I'm hoping this Yancy Street Gang junk goes way on the back burner now.  Score: 7 out of 10.

A+X #7: First story sees Iron Man and Beast have to face an out of control Hulkbuster(that was reprogrammed by a slick Bruce Banner), while story #2 has Iceman and Thor battling Frost Giants.  Hey, you know what?  This issue?  It was actually GOOD!!  Like, both stories!  That may be the first time that's happened since this series kicked off!  I personally liked the Beast/Iron Man tale more, but both were solid, so hey, a win for this series!  Huzzah!  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Injustice: Gods Among Us #4: This issue starts with Superman confronting Batman about not helping find his parents in the last issue, with Superman ripping the cowl off of Batman's face in a moment of rage. Their conversation ends when Aquaman starts attacking some hunters that are hunting whales. Green Lantern, Shazam and Wondy show up, but so do the Atlanteans, and they make the major mistake of attacking Wonder Woman. They engage in a fight which leads to Aquaman calling the Kraken to deal with his allies, but Superman shows up and makes Arthur call it off, while holding him by the neck. Aquaman calls it back but makes a power play bu having his forces stand at every beach around the world, to show Superman who runs the sea. Superman retaliates by having Hal encase Atlantis in an orb which Superman, Shazam and Wonder Woman lift and move to the Sahara desert. Well damn. Aquaman meets with Wonder Woman and agrees to pull his forces back if they return Atlantis, and asks her to tell Superman he's sorry about what happened with Lois. The issue ends with Wonder Woman telling Superman of Aquaman's deal, but not mentioning his condolences for Lois, further driving a wedge between the two men. I enjoyed this issue, it really goes a long way in showing how unreasonable Superman has become, how powerful Aquaman is, and how far this Wonder Woman will go to get what or should I say who she wants. Score: 8/10

Scarlet Spider #16: This issue opens with Madame Web, Julia Carpenter's letter to Kaine from a few issues back that he never received. It basically says he should leave and go to Mexico like he planned because "she" is going to kill everyone, whoever that is...maybe Aracely? The rest of this issue takes place at the Rodeo with Kaine and his wacky cast, with Kaine mistakenly hurting Annabelle's feelings by saying they can't be together. This is interrupted by a drunk hero-turned-villain named The Armadillo (Think Rhino...but as an Armadillo..) who shows up, breaks down the walls (Jericho style!) and cries about how his girlfriend, Daisy, left him. Scarlet Spider tries to stop his reign of terror by telling him he needs to let her go, because sadly the monster's never get to be with the girl, but she surprisingly runs up and takes him back, saying she didn't think he loved her anymore because he was distant. This inspires Kaine to try to be with Annabelle, which he does after knocking out her meathead ex-boyfriend and plants kiss on Annabelle, but unbeknownst to Kaine, Kraven and his daughter are watching from afar. The issue ends with a flashback to two days ago, as we see Annabelle burning the letter for Kaine from Julia. I really enjoyed this issue, they're still doing the monster card but this was better and we got some growth for Kaine, but we see Kraven is still in the game, and Aracely's powers are being used more. And I didn't see the ending coming at all, maybe Annabells is bad news. Man, these are supposed to be short reviews!!! Score: 8/10

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #22: In this issue, Miles tries to convince Maria Hill that he's not Spider-Man, but once word comes in Venom is attacking the hospital where his dad is, she tells him he'll get there first, and to save people but wait until the Ultimates are there to face Venom. He takes off, scaling a building in front of her and pursues Venom while his mom watches on. Venom manages to absorb Spidey but Miles' mom, Rio, starts shooting Venom with a gun she picked up off of a unconscious officer, telling Venom to give back her son. Venom grabs Rio but that upsets Miles enough for him to power out, sending the symbiote flying everywhere, leaving the man in the suit vulnerable as he's gunned down by police. Surprisingly, Venom is not Eddie Brock, but a black man named Marcus Conrad. Miles checks on his mom but finds that she's been shot very close to her heart, she's clearly proud of Miles but with her dying words tells him not to let his father know, as she dies in his arms. The next day Miles wakes up at Ganke's house as reality sets in that his mother is gone. He cries and rips up his suit, yelling "No More!" as the issue comes to a close. I really enjoyed this issue, with Hill knowing Miles' secret, seeing how proud Rio was of her son, you could see her face, excellent job by Sara Pichelli. The only problem I had was the fact that the villain was basically a no one but held a grudge against Spider-Man and his family, that seemed...odd but I'm sure they'll explain why he hated them so much. We've seen Peter throw the costume away a few times, but this seemed different, although we know Miles will stay Spidey. Score: 9/10

 Man.... I really gotta make these reviews more brief! Ah, what can I say, I like to paint a picture with my words. Anyway, that's it for this week's best of the rest post. I'll be back tomorrow with a comic picked by mi hermano, X, for Throwback Tuesday, and If you thought Perry White's Magic Cigars were crazy...wait until you see what the Man of Tomorrow was doing like sixty years ago. Anyway, til then, this is JT, signing off!

New Comic Day! April 24th edition.

Hey comic readers, JT here with this week's New Comic Day post! As always, X and I will list which books we plan on picking up and which days we plan on reviewing them, if they get that honor! So, let's get to it. Today I plan on picking up Deathmatch #5, Injustice: Gods Among Us #4, East of West #2, Invincible #102, Guardians of the Galaxy #2, Morbius the Living Vampire #4, New Avengers #5, Scarlet Spider #16, Uncanny Avengers #7, Uncanny X-Men #5, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #22,  and Young Avengers #4. So with a total of 12 books, you can expect me to review Uncanny X-Men, and Ultimate Spider-Man. Also, I'll post reviews for Injustice, Scarlet Spider-Man and maybe a few other books in the Best of the Rest post.on Monday. So, that's it for me, now I'll hand things over to my Tag partner X, til next time, this is JT, signing off!

Adios, JT, and hello X-Maniacs.  X here with his half of the NCD post.  Here are the comics I'll be snagging in a few...  Deathmatch #5, I, Vampire #19, Teen Titans #19, Clone #6, Invincible #102, Morning Glories #26, Whispers #5, A+X #7, FF #6, Guardians of the Galaxy #2, Morbius #4, Scarlet Spider #16, Uncanny Avengers #7, Uncanny X-Men #5, Young Avengers #4.  Ouch, so 15 books for me.  That's a bit more than I'd like to see...  On the plus side though, there are a couple of really good books there, so that's good.  Thursday and Saturday are my review days, and you can expect to see reviews for Uncanny Avengers #7 on Thursday, and Young Avengers #4 on Saturday.  Everything else?  It'll probably pop up in Monday's Best of the Rest post.  Besides that, JT has the Throwback Tuesday post, so that should be good.  And that's it for me.  Until next time?  X out.

Throwback Tuesday: Featuring Action Comics #436.

Hey X-Maniacs, X here with a new feature here at the blog.  JT and I were talking the other day, and the topic of the Tuesday review happened to come up.  Since Monday has the Best of the Rest post, which usually has like a gazillion comics in it, a standalone review for Tuesday seemed kind of unnecessary...  I mean, instead of doing a post for something on Tuesday, why not just drop that review into the BotR post.  But that leaves us without a post for Tuesday...  We could have put a scan up, but that would mean I have to scan something, and that tends to be a bit of a pain in the ass at times...  We could just not do anything on Tuesday, but JT was oddly against that idea.  So in the end we've decided to review some random comic from the past.  Something from before this blog was started, and preferably something idiotic, and therefore, fun to rip to pieces.  We plan on alternating weeks, so I'll tackle this week, while JT takes over for next Tuesday.  For the record, JT chose this comic for me to review after I sent him a list of books I have.  So, as usual, if this review sucks?  It's all JT's fault!  One more thing, this post is very changeable, and we'll keep experimenting until we hit on a format that feels right.  Okay, now we can go!

Action Comics #436 (June 1974)

Summary: This issue gets underway with some alien hippies levitating a box of magic cigars up to Perry White's office at the Daily Planet.  Once their job is done, the alien hippies teleport back to their planet.  I think I'll call their planet... Um, let's go with Alieppie.  'Cause I combined "Alien" and "Hippy" you see.  Anyway, Perry learns he had won the Pulitzer Prize for a third time, and WGBS-TV wants to do a big piece on him...  Slow news day in Metropolis, I see.  To that end, WGBS-TV sends Clark Kent to get them the story, because he's working as WGBS-TV's anchorman on their six o'clock news...  Wait, so SUPERMAN is the anchorman on the six o'clock news!?  And NOBODY in Metropolis is able to put one plus one together!?  Clark and Perry get together catch a plane to New York, which is where Perry's ceremony is being held.  Unfortunately for the duo, the pilot of the plane passes out, and the plane goes into a tailspin.  Clark gets up to change to his Superman guise and save the day, while Perry sits there and wishes he had the power to do something.  After that wish, Perry leans against the wall of the plane and falls out, at which time he proceeds to fly over to the plane and manages to carry it down for a landing.  It should go without saying that Supes is rather surprised to witness THAT, as is Perry.  However, Perry White suddenly being able to fly and having super-strength isn't important enough for the two to, oh, I don't know, head to STAR Labs to get Perry checked out or something...  Instead, Perry and Clark head to the ceremony where Clark is bullied by a former college classmate.  Perry angrily wishes he could turn the tables on Clark's bully, which causes him to blow a massive gust of wind, knocking the surprised bully over.  The building then begins to shake and a pillar comes loose(Really?!), so Perry flies over and catches it before it can fall on anybody.  The people at the ceremony decide that Perry HAS to be Superman, because they're a blind gaggle of idiots or something. Perry spots something happening outside, and heads out, as does Clark, who by this time has switched to being Supes.  The two spot a massive tank with a drill in front emerging from the ground, and neither man can stop the dread drill-tank...  Really Supes?  THAT'S what you can't beat?!  Supes uses his X-Ray vision on the drill-tank and realizes that it was being powered by a nuclear energy.  Luckily for all of New York, Supes somehow knows that there was a secret nuclear generator underneath the building where Perry was accepting his award(WHY???), and Supes absorbs the nuclear energy from the generator WHAT???), which depowers the drill-tank.  Without his drill-tank, the driver meekly surrenders.  The press surrounds Perry and asks how long he had been Superman, so Perry tells them that he wasn't Superman, but for the past few hours, anytime he asked for a super-power he got it.  And the press seems to accept that as a valid answer!!!  "Oh, that makes perfect sense, Perry!  Sorry to bother you."  Perry decides to ask how he got his powers and is mentally shown the alien hippies delivering him their far-out cigars.  Perry realizes that he had smoked the entire box of cigars except for one(a whole box of cigars in like half a day?  Damn!).  This issue ends with Perry storing the last magic cigar in a wall safe in his office in the event he ever needed super-powers again.

Thoughts: So yeah, this comic really happened...  Back in the mid-70's, somebody at DC actually asked, "What would happen if Perry White smoked magic cigars that gave him super-powers?"  And an editor actually signed off on such a story!  Methinks Perry wasn't the only one smoking magic cigars...  This issue really went a long way in showing how incredibly stupid the press is though...  There are pictures of Superman.  He had been interviewed by the Daily Planet repeatedly.  We know what he looks like.  And yet, the press immediately figured Perry was Superman!  I mean, how the hell does THAT work?!  "He can fly!  He MUST be Superman!"  I mean, if they saw Wonder Woman fly by, would they automatically assume SHE was Superman too?  What a bunch of idiots!  And don't even get me started on Clark Kent: 6 o'clock anchorman...  The 70's must have been SO damn weird...  Anyway, if you're a fan of Perry White, or magic cigars, then THIS is the comic book for YOU!

Pages in this story: 13.
Times Supes exclaims "Great Krypton!": 1.
Times Perry exclaims "Great Caesar's Ghost!": 4!