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

Avenging Spider-Man #21

Hey OSGuys and OSGals, it's your favorite blogger, JT, with my second review of the week. The last issue of Avenging left off with Spidey about to face to Hulk, while pursuing Chameleon, as he wore a dead Doctor's face.

Avenging Spider-Man #21

Summary: In this issue, Spider-Man frantically tried to find Chameleon while the Helicarrier was attacked by Russians and guys that wore masks and could burn you with their hands. Superior Spider-Man was delayed by The Hulk, but Hulk was soon distracted and then blown off of the Helicarrier by a missile from the Russians that attacked from outside. With Hulk out of the way, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury make short work of the attackers, which allows Spidey to pursue the Chameleon, still posing as a Doctor. Spidey tries to talk to Chameleon, saying he was never this blood thirsty and that he's his responsibility, but Chamaleon gets the drop on a distracted Spidey and stabs him with a syringe. Spidey goes after him and runs into one of the mask-wearing Russians, and manages to knock him out as well as Chameleon. Spidey uses the communicator that the Russian was wearing and sends both unconscious men, the Russian and Chameleon, to the base where he's holding his other former teammates. He then tells Fury that the Russians got Chameleon and teleported him to a nearby enemy ship, so they blow it out of the sky, leaving everyone to think that the Chameleon is dead.

Thoughts: This arc really didn't do it for me. I just couldn't get into the secrets and the Russians attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. and Chameleon only wearing one face for the entire time. It's just odd to me that for the issues with The X-Men team up or the one with Thor vs. Electro, we basically got one issue, self contained stories, but for this story it was two issues, which didn't really seem necessary. But That's my opinion. All in all, this issue wasn't bad but it was far from great or memorable for me.

Score: 5.5/10

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

Uncanny X-Men #6

Hey comic fans, JT here with my second review of the week, Uncanny X-Men. After the last issue where Dormammu pulled Magik and the rest of the Uncanny team and students to Limbo, let's see how they deal with mounting an escape...  And that's about as far as JT got with this review...  Hey all, X here to finish this review off.  Mi amigo wound up hurting his hand, and as such wasn't able to finish this review off.  Poor JT also won't be joining in on tomorrow's Best of the Rest post, nor will he be able to get a Throwback Tuesday post up.  That means it'll be all X, all the time, at least until JT's hand heals up.  Hopefully for Wednesday and New Comic Day.  So hey, I get to review an issue of Uncanny X-Men.  Huzzah...  Or something.  I wasn't a fan of the prior issue, and the way Bendis decided to make Dormammu into Magik's bitch.  Here's hoping the Dread Lord Bendis does a better job writing the Dread Lord Dormammu here.

Uncanny X-Men #6

Summary: Dormammu properly treats Magik like HIS bitch in Limbo this time around.  Lord Summers tries a full scale optic blast on the Dread One, but it does no real damage.  All the while, Dormammu taunts Magik, telling her he was going to kill her friends, because Dormammu is awesome!  Dormammu finally has enough of Lord Summers' band of X-Men, and unleashes the Mindless Ones on the group.  The Evil X-Men put up a valiant effort, but end up overwhelmed by the endless hordes of the Dark Dimension.  Also, Dazzler joins SHIELD as their mutant adviser.

Thoughts: Way, way better than the last issue.  Dormammu was treated properly here(as a God!!), and shrugged the Evil X-Men off.  Let's face facts, Dormammu doesn't rule a country, he doesn't rule a planet, he doesn't rule a galaxy, he commands an entire DIMENSION!  Magicians invoke his name and use his power when crafting spells!  Sorry, there's NO WAY Magik should be able to spank a being with a resume like the Dread One has.  So I was really happy to see Bendis rectify last issue's follies.  Of course, this IS Bendis we're talking about, so there were naturally parts where I could only scratch my head in confusion...  Dazzler as the mutant adviser to SHIELD?  For real?  I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Dazzler and all, but why would SHIELD hire an ex-disco singer to advise them on all things mutant?  That would be like the US hiring Lady Gaga as their British ambassador!  It just doesn't fit!  So yeah, while there was some good here, it was still a Bendis comic, meaning it was far from perfect.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Superior Spider-Man #10

Hey blog readers and true believers, JT here with my first review of the week, and keeping up the trend, It's Superior Spider-Man! In the last issue we saw a battle of the minds, literally, between Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Otto Octavius, The Superior Spider-Man. Now that we have a clear winner for the battle of Peter's body, let's see how things go from here.

Superior Spider-Man #10

Summary: This issue starts off with Doc Parker waking up and ready to start his day with no further interruptions from Peter's consciousness, now that he's purged his memories. He then goes onto stop a gang war between The Owl and White Dragon and their respective thugs. It turns out Owl and White Dragon are two of the six bosses of the main gangs of New York, and while taking down the bosses, some of the thugs escape and are led to safety by thugs wearing a Green Goblin insignia. Interesting. From there we see Doc Parker heading to class when he runs into Mary Jane, but since he doesn't know how Peter would act, considering he no longer has his memories, he avoids her and says he's busy, which makes MJ even more suspicious. While this is going on, Carlie Cooper and Capt. Watanabe, who has returned from leave, questions the officers on duty about Spider-Man shooting Massacre, but they all cover for him and say they weren't looking, but Carlie reveals to the Captain that she did the autopsy and Massacre was killed from point blank range, not a stray shot like the officers claimed, so Carlie will have to find another way to prove her theory about Spider-Man. We eventually see The Green Goblin (!) rewire the tech in a Spider-Bot which makes it not pick up on him and his thugs as a threat, and uses this to send some of his goons to MJ's nightclub to burn it to the ground. While this happens, MJ is trying to remain calm, certain that Spider-Man will be there to save her and her employees, but Spidey is across town, having just stopped my main man, The Tombstone, and his gang, saying that the fire across town seemed beneath him so he dispatched it to the fire department, who manage to save MJ and her employees. The issue comes to a close as Superior Spider-Man reflects to himself that everything is under control and everything else is beneath him, unknowing to him, we see The Green Goblin surrounded by an army of thugs as he proclaims himself "The Goblin King!"

Thoughts: I am SO happy the Green Goblin is back. He popped up a few issues back but seeing him here and outwitting Superior Spider-Man was great. I'm excited for a few meeting with Superior Spider-Man and Goblin is right up there with Venom and Scarlet Spider-Man, both of which are coming up in the year. I really enjoyed him basically building an army while Spider-Man preoccupies himself with other people, and Goblin is really keeping a step ahead of him. I also like that the women in Spider-Man's life were featured here, with Carlie and Watanabe investigating him, MJ starting to realize something was wrong, Aunt May being proud of him about to become a doctor, and his date with Anna which ended in a kiss before he was called back to action. Add in a brief appearance by Tombstone, and I'm a happy camper. While I enjoyed this issue, the thing with the dude named Pedro who looked like Peter seemed a bit blah for me, as did Mary Jane's wait-and-see approach. I know Spidey always saves her but she could at least TRY to get out instead of waiting around for him. That annoyed me, especially when it wasn't just her life on the line but her employees as well. But besides those things, I enjoyed this issue and I'm excited to see what both Doc and Gobby have up their sleeves. 

Score: 8/10

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23

Hey comic fans, JT here with my second review of the week, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. In the last issue we saw Miles proclaim he would be "Spider-Man No More!" after losing his mother due to a battle with Venom. Let's see how Miles copes with no longer being the Web Slinger.

 Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23

Summary: Surprisingly, this issue starts off a year after the Venom story arc. We quickly learn that Miles is older, taller, and looks more like Donald Glover. We also see that he's still afflicted by his mother's death due to him being Spidey, and we also learn he's dating a girl by the name of Katie Bishop. (Shout out to Hawkguy and Hawkeye!) We also see that Ganke hasn't changed much, as he's upset because he's missed out on Limited Edition Legos, and he's also waiting for Miles to take the mantle of Spider-Man once again, but Miles says he's done. Miles is thinking of telling Katie who he was and Ganke is against that idea, but the argument is cut short when he Miles gets a text from Jessica Drew asking where he is. Miles meets up with Jessica as she tries to give him something and asks when he's going to be ready to return, but Miles says he's done and she needs to respect that, before leaving. Miles heads home and meets with his dad, who seems way more calm and less uptight since losing his wife, Rio. They decide to go out for dinner, and when Miles heads to his room to get ready, he finds a briefcase on his bed. He opens it to find a new costume for him as well as some S.H.I.E.L.D. issued web shooters and a note that says "A year is a long time. How many people could you have saved? You fall off a horse, you get back on." Miles puts the suitcase up as Jessica Drew watches on from an outside rooftop. As Miles and his dad walk to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, they discuss the settlement their lawyer expects they'll get since Miles' mom was shot by an officer while trying to help people, and Jefferson is already planning to use it to pay for Miles' college and take a vacation. At the restaurant, Miles and Jefferson talk about Miles' girlfriend, as Jefferson says Miles' mom thought he and Ganke may have had something going on, not that there's anything wrong with that, when they're interrupted by the waitress, Gwen Stacy. Miles excuses himself and he and Gwen talk about how Miles has stopped texting her and if she needs help, she's there for him. Miles says okay, and his dad notices he's upset and asks if he wants to leave, and Miles says yes. They get ready to leave when Miles' spider-sense goes off and there's a huge explosion. Miles and Gwen run to the window and see Bombshell (throwback from Ultimate Spider-Man!) fighting with Cloak and Dagger!

Thoughts: Wow... I expected to be done with this series once "No More" started because that storyline seems rehashed and never lasts. But the idea to jump ahead a year was great, because now it seems like that decision was important, plus there's been so much character development and things we missed, I'm interested to see what happened. I loved seeing the change in Miles' demeanor, seeing how different Jefferson was after losing his wife, as he's clearly trying to be more of a friend to Miles and have a closer relationship. This is probably my favorite issue of this series in a while because everything feels so new and reinvigorated, plus Cloak and Dagger seemed pretty damn interesting here, and that's the first time I've EVER said that!

Score: 9/10

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

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

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

All New X-Men #11

Hey comic fans, JT here with my second single review of the week, All New X-Men. Cyclops' team crashed the Jean Grey School's campus and offered an open invitation to anyone who wants to jump ship, and someone has. We already know who... as of last week, but if you don't read Uncanny X-Men, I guess you're about to find out.

All New X-Men #11

Summary: We kick things off with everyone getting upset that O5 Angel, Warren, has decided to join team Cyclops. Everyone tries to talk him out of it but he says Cyclops and his team are the only people making sense here. Jean, because she's been acting like a bitch since she discovered her new powers, tries to mind control Warren into going back into the school. She's quickly shut down by the Stepford sister, per Emma's orders, and taught a lesson about entering people's minds until Present Cyclops has her stand down, so Emma has the Stepford sister's stop. Warren takes his place next to Cyclops and his team and they all leave, leaving Wolverine and his students confused. We also see Mystique put a plan into action by posing as Pepper Potts and infiltrating his financial portfolio, then convincing someone working there that the X-Men are attacking the facility. Back at the Jean Grey School, Jean is comforted by Kitty Pryde, but told she needs to keep her emotions and powers in check, and that if she uses them to infiltrate someone's mind again, she will find a way to send her and the O5 back. Jean promises to use her powers for good and Kitty accepts her apology. From there, they decide to pursue Mystique, when suddenly Wolverine, Kitty, and the O5 (Minus Warren) are stopped in their tracks as the Quinjet is taken down. The issue ends with the team being told to surrender by none other than Captain America, Havok, Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Rogue, The Uncanny Avengers!

Thoughts: I don't understand why this issue came out after we already knew who was going to join Cyclops' team. It just seemed odd that It was built to be such a shocker when we've known for like two issues if you read Uncanny X-Men. I'm sure everyone doesn't... but yeah. That aside, I enjoyed this issue. I loved seeing Emma have the Cuckoos take Jean down a peg, it was a great moment for Emma and Jean needed it the way she was using her powers to make Warren do whatever she said. I also enjoyed Mystique's exploits, I don't know what her plan is, or if she just wanted Tony's money, but I'm enjoying her taking the main baddie role of this series. The ending with the Uncanny Avengers showing up was a surprise, but now it feels like the whole logic is put Team A in Book B, and repeat. I mean, we've seen the Avengers in Uncanny X-Men, The Avengers in All New X-Men, the Uncanny X-Men in All New X-Men, the Uncanny Avengers in All New X-Men, The Uncanny X-Men in Cable and the X-Men...it's getting old fast. That aside, I'm interested to see what Captain America and his team will say during the first five pages before they leave the next issue with no fight.

Score: 7.5/10

Superior Spider-Man #9

Happy Iron Man release day! JT here with my first review of the week and it's a big one, Superior Spider-Man #9! With Doc Ock aware that Peter's still in his head somewhere, he sets out to remove the lingering remnants of Peter Parker.

Superior Spider-Man #9

Summary: This issue starts off with Ock getting ready to erase the remaining brain waves of Peter Parker, but first tells his pet robot to erase Peter's remaining memories from the Gold Ockbot that we all remember from ASM #700. He tries to erase Peter's memories remotely but Peter fights back, so Doc decides to go into his mind, where we see Peter and Otto face off. Peter uses his memories of MJ, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy, Jameson and his other friends and family to fight Otto, but Otto uses what he knows of Peter's villains and insecurities to combat them. He even has a burglar shoot Uncle Ben, which causes Peter to forget his name, and others as those memories are killed. An enrages Peter rips his face away to reveal Spider-Man, and takes Doc down. He cites that a hero would have given Peter his life back, the hero Doc promised he'd be, but his first reaction was to get rid of Peter when he found his consciousness, as well as killing enemies. Otto, down but not out, rips his face away as we see the Superior Spider-Man, and the two Spidey's fight one another. Dock says Peter's no saint, as Doc's been cleaning up his messes. He notes that if Peter had killed Massacre, he wouldn't have hurt the people he did when he got out of prison, if he'd done away with Vulture, he wouldn't have used kids to do his bidding. Lastly, he mentions that Peter's interference almost stopped him from saving a small girl during that surgery and asks Peter why he did it. Peter said he was afraid Doc would mess up, but he tells him he can see his thoughts and to stop lying. Peter says he knew Doc would find him and dispose of him if he got the helmet and he couldn't have that. Doc says Peter is no hero and no one to lecture him, and he defeats Peter, then his world comes crashing down around him as Peter forgets everything, even his name, the suddenly it's just blackness. The issue ends with Doc Ock once again in Peter's body, saying that he's free.

Thoughts: I REALLY enjoyed this issue. I know some people didn't but I loved seeing Peter lose, because for one, it's far from over, and for two, we get what we expected from issue one, Doc Ock is Spider-Man now, simple as that. I'm interested in seeing what happens when he runs into Green Goblin now. Most importantly, this causes two questions, one, with Peter's memories gone, is this Doc's downfall? Does he remember anything of Peter's now that he didn't already know? Because if so, this could lead to him messing up in the near future. Secondly, how does Peter come back? His thoughts aren't in his body any more, and the Ock-Bot was supposedly erased, so how will he come back? Slott obviously has a plan up his sleeve, and unless he's in the robot now, I have no idea what it could be. All in all, I enjoyed this issue and I look forward to seeing what Doc Parker will do now that he has 100% control of his actions.

Score: 9/10

Uncanny X-Men #5

Hey comic fans, JT here with my second single review of the week, Uncanny X-Men. Cyclops' team has been one of my favorite things to come out of Marvel Now, so let's see what the Mutant Martyr and his team are dealing with this month.

Uncanny X-Men #5

Summary: This issue focuses on Magik, as we see what happened in the last issue when she broke down screaming. It turns out she'd been pulled to Limbo by none other than Dormammu, who planned on killing Magik and ruling Limbo. He said she was a broken little girl and he'd end her now that she was broken by the Phoenix Force. His attack is put on hold when Illyana becomes Darkchilde and makes quick work of Dormammu's demons and sends him running. Back in the present, we see her explaining this to Scott, who says they'll go o Doctor Strange for help, but Illyana doesn't think that'll work since he's an Avenger. They decide to go anyway and inform the team when suddenly the whole team is pulled to Limbo, but Magik says she's not the one doing it. The issue ends with Scott asking Illyana who did this, as she says it's not her and turns around to show she's now Darkchilde.

Thoughts: This issue was pretty much all about Magik, and while I've never cared for the character much before, since joining Scott and giving a mysterious bad girl vibe, I've come to enjoy her. The stuff with Dormammu was interesting, and I'm wondering what the team will do to help Magik deal with her powers, since they seem to be even more messed up than the rest of her teammates. We also saw some other character development in this issue with Triage trying and failing to hit on the Triplets, Angel and Magneto talking which seems like it should be weird by itself, and Eva apparently having a crush on Cyclops, which seemed to rub Emma the wrong way. All in all, this was a fine issue, and I'm looking forward to how Team Cyclops will fare in Limbo.

Score: 7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy #2

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my first review of the week. I decided to swap out Ultimate Spidey and review Guardians of The Galaxy, but I plan on reviewing Ultimate Comics Spider-Man in the Best of the Rest post on Monday. Now, let's see what the Guardians are up to in this issue.

Guardians of the Galaxy #2

Summary: We kick things off with the Guardians trying to call for help with the Badoon ships that are attacking Earth, but their communication systems have been blocked. The Guardians (sans Groot because he's still a toothpick at this point.) and Iron Man head out to take on the Badoon forces, with each person taking on one ship.We see a quick flashback and see that Peter's dad, J-Son, as well as the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree, Gladiator, Young Annihilus, Queen of the Brood, Asgardian All-Mother Freyja, and Y-Gaaar of the Badoon have all come together and deemed The Earth as too dangerous to join the larger community of Space. J-Son cites the fact that Earth has been visited by The Watcher many times, defeated Galactus time after time, has destroyed the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force, and has even defeated Thanos, but the All-Mother says Earth is one of her realms, and warns J-Son to stay away from destroying it. J-Son says fine, and declares the Earth off-limits, with a smirk. Back in the present, we see how formidable the Guardians are, with Drax destroying, Gamora...gamoring... (Shut up...) and Rocket Raccoon repeatedly saying "Blam. Murdered you!" whilst murdering. After taking care of the Badoon forces, the Guardians are approached at gunpoint by Spartax's forces, who place the Guardians under arrest as Prisoners of War.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this issue! I loved seeing the team in action, and we got a lot of it here. I'll admit, I found myself laughing at Rocket's "Blam! You're murdered!" type of catchphrase while taking care of his enemies. I also really liked the dialogue here, especially between Quill and Iron Man. Even the meeting with J-Son and the other bigwigs was interesting and didn't seem like it slowed the issue down. I'm interested in seeing how the Guardians deal with being arrested by Peter's dad, since this was obviously his plan from the beginning. Plus, I can see them being broken out by Groot, since he's the only one that wasn't there for the fight/arrest. All in all, this was another really good issue, here's hoping the series continues to be this good.

Score: 9/10

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with today's review, RHATO #19(X here as well!  I'm crashing this bad boy and JT has no clue!  MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!!). This is the first issue with the series' new writer, James Tynion IV so let's see how Jason, Starfire and Roy fare under his pen(They have to fare better now that Lobdell is gone!).

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19

Summary: This issue basically focused on Starfire and Arsenal going after Jason, as he's heading to the old home of the All Caste. On the way there, they run into a bunch or drama(HA!  Love the in depth review here!), including a woman who tells them to turn back, but they don't listen because they're adamant that Jason needs their help.We then see that the woman was actually Essence in disguise, another member of the All-Caste(Yeah, that part was pretty weird...). On the way there, Roy gets sick from the cold...he's with a girl that has hair made of fire... how... whatever(Dude's a junkie, JT!  Obviously he has trouble making good decisions!). Anyway, Essence invades Roy's dreams to deter him by posing as people in Roy's life like Ollie, Hugo Strange (interesting), Killer Croc (Yep...), and his former dealer. Roy beats them all and wakes up refreshed and feeling great(I also wake up feeling great after I dream about beating up Killer Croc and Roy Harper's former dealer.  And Dan Didio.  That's a big one for me.) as he and Kory arrive at the All-Caste home base. They find Jason but he doesn't know who they are. The issue comes to a close as we see that Jason went there to get his bad memories, like Joker creating him(Boo-ya!!), removed, but instead S'aru removed them all.

Thoughts: Alright, well when I first read this issue, I hated it. I think we'd all agree that this team should be doing more things like The Outsiders did, more street level stuff with maybe a big power person to keep Starfire busy(Yeah, like in Judd Winick's AWESOME Outsiders run!). This team isn't the kind that belongs in Space or doing magical stuff, that's like Dick Grayson finding a Genie's lamp(Named Gene Nee!  HAHA!!!!!  Sorry, Inside joke...) or something. Jason and Arsenal work better as street level heroes doing street level things(Screw you and your logic, JT!  DC doesn't deal with that crap!). So when I saw this issue was about the All-Caste, I was disappointed because I expected to get away from that when Lobdell left the book. But while talking to X(Hey, that's me!), he pointed out that by erasing Jason's memories (we all know he's getting most of them back) that he can kind of retcon the stuff with Joker creating Jason, Jason's face almost being burnt off, as well as all of the All-Caste stuff(That X guy is a damn genius!!!  Seriously, that guy...  He should be named king of the universe or something.  He is the man!). Even if Jason doesn't forget that stuff, he was told by S'aru he wouldn't be welcome there anymore anyway, due to the fact erasing memories is against the All-Caste stands for. So, I'm reluctant but I'm pulling for Tynion to give me some good stories starring my namesake and his band of Outlaws(Well he sure can't do worse than Lobdell.  And that makes me happy.  Much like when people mention me in their reviews...  I like that sort of thing...).

Score: 6/10

Jason Todd: My butler would kick your ass all the way back to Gotham City.

Superior Spider-Man #8

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my first review of the comic week, the always entertaining Spectacular Spider-Man. This is going to be a pretty brief review due to the fact Injustice and comic books have consumed my life even more. So, let's get to it!

Superior Spider-Man #8

Summary: In this issue we see the Avengers take Spidey down long enough to do some tests on him, and much to Peter's dismay, they clear Superior Spider-Man, saying he's not a Skrull. Apparently that's all they searched for, but Doc notices something off with his brain patterns and asks for the scans. Black Widow pulls Spidey aside and says she knows he's probably feeling bad about Silver Sable's death and that's pushed him over the edge, so they bond a bit about how your first kill changes you. She offers Spidey an ear if he needs to talk, and Peter takes advantage of Ock's distraction to write a crude drawing of an Octopus pointing at Spidey, but Widow dismisses it as random scribbles. We also see that Carlie Cooper has brought someone else into the fold to investigate if Spidey is who he claims, but we don't see who it is just yet. From there, Doc Parker decides to head after Cardiac to get his device back, but finds out Cardiac needs it to help cure a girl that was hurt during Ends of the Earth. Ock feels terrible about this and offers to help the girl, doing the surgery himself since only he can understand Dr. Octopus' designs. Doc manages to help cure the girl, causing her to give him her favorite toy, which warms Doc's heart. Back at his lab, he uses the helmet on himself and while being taunted by Peter he let's him know (referring to it as Peter's memories taking a life of their own) that he's aware he's there now, and he plans on removing them once and for all.

Thoughts: I was conflicted about this issue. I enjoyed it, especially the end since it seems like Doc may be around longer than some of us expected after Peter's return in issue one. I also enjoyed the scene with the little girl giving Ock her toy, it was very sweet and helped show that he's not a total heel. Hell, I enjoyed most of this issue but the thing that annoyed me was how stupid the Avengers came off here. Spidey's acting weird so all you do is see if he's a Skrull? You don't bring in Strange or a Telepath or anything to even see if he's a clone or something? They explained it by saying Pym and Stark weren't there, so the rest of the team didn't notice Doc's brain anomaly but it still seemed odd to me. I mean, if you're willing to fight him to make sure he's who he says, giving him the Skrull test only didn't seem like enough.

Score: 7.5/10

Doc Parker: Ready my equipment. I'm going to perform a Parker-Ectomy.

Uncanny X-Men #4

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my final review of the comic week, and this time it's the Uncanny X-Men. In the last issue, Cyclops and Friends visited the Jean Grey School in hopes of recruiting some news students, let's see how they fared. Also... WOO INJUSTICE RELEASE DAY!!! Ahem...sorry.

 Uncanny X-Men #4

Summary: This issue actually takes place at the same time as All New X-Men #10. While Scott is talking to Wolverine and the Jean Grey Staff/Students, we see Emma is having a psychic conversation with the Stepford Sisters. The Sisters quickly realize that Emma doesn't have her psychic powers, so the more malicious of the three invades Emma's mind, seeing what happened.They see when Scott ripped the Phoenix Power from her, which caused her to lose her psychic powers as well, and they apologize although Emma says she expected it from them because they're basically younger versions of her. She asks them to join the school because she needs this, to teach and help someone. From there we jump back to the New Xavier School and see the new students pick their dorms, as well as seeing Triage the healer start to hit on Tempus. While walking around looking for a phone, the kids accidentally trigger the Danger Room and end up in over their heads until Cyclops and the rest return and shit it down. This soon leads to Cyclops introducing the newest members of the team, The Stepford Sisters and Angel from the Original Five X-Men. (Saw that coming!) The issue ends soon after with Magik suddenly being hit with an immense pain, something that's gotta be related to her having the Phoenix Force during AVX.

Thoughts: I have mixed feeling about this issue. On one hand, I'm an avid Emma fan, but I could care less about the Stepford Sisters and considering most of this issue was her talking to them in her mind, I was pretty bored. That aside, I did like Triage, who finally has a codename now, talking to Tempus and being a bit flirty to give him somewhat of a character, as well as Angel joining the team. I'm interested to see how that plays out in All New X-Men, considering Angel wanted to go home and was forced to stay thanks to the rest of the team. All in all, this wasn't a bad issue, but I just couldn't get into the Emma/Stepford parts.

Score: 6/10

Cyclops: Allow me to introduce you to Warren Worthington The Third.

Avenging Spider-Man #19

Hey blog readers! It's a JT day so don't worry, you won't have to deal with X unless he unceremoniously crashes this review after I've set it to post. I wouldn't doubt it because he's become a thorn in my side, much like Peter to Doc Ock currently. And that beautiful segue was to get us here, so I could say, It's Avenging Spider-Man Time!

 Avenging Spider-Man #19

Summary: This issue gets underway with Spider-Man waking up in the middle of the street of an abandoned city. He quickly realizes things are not what they seem as he sees a version of himself as a child, Aunt May in a wedding dress, and he's suddenly attacked by a ghostly version of Peter Parker. This is interrupted by a giant Octopus attacking and the Superior Spider-Man is surprisingly afraid and tries to run away. As Spidey has this nightmare, we see in the real world he's basically being controlled while asleep, as he's fighting the Sleepwalker, as he desperately tries to wake Spider-Man up. In his dreams, Ock decides to try to attack this Octopus, which turns into a dark outline of Doctor Octopus, and reveals himself to be Doc Ock's father. The Superior Spider-Man in so scared he can't move, but he's saved by The Sleepwalker enters his nightmare and saves him, while also fighting Spider-Man's demon infested body. Yep... Turns out a Fear Worm (Yep...) had taken control of Doc while he was saving people from someone else it was controlling, and now The Sleepwalker has come to help him. Sleepwaker asks Spidey about all the Doc Ock stuff in his dreams, and Spidey quickly says it must be from guilt from not being able to save Ock before he died. When the Fear Worm returns, wearing Norbert Octavius' face, Doc Ock almost contemplates giving up because he's so afraid of his father, but fights back, saying Otto may have been afraid but he's not Otto, he's the Superior Spider-Man, as he beats the Fear Worm to a pulp, causing it to beg for mercy. Yep... Sleepwalker and Spidey destroy the worm and Sleepwalker apologizes to Spider-Man, which leads to Spidey saying it was his fault it happened and to do a better job keeping those things under control. The issue comes to an end with Ock remarking how he'd beaten that dream, but some things seemed so real, as we see the scene of Peter trying to take his body back from Doc Ock.

Thoughts: This issue was really miss for me. Maybe it's because I don't know much about the Sleepwalker, maybe it's because I immediately realized the fat kid was Otto but he didn't recognize himself as a kid until halfway through the issue... some genius. This issue just fell flat for me. It seemed kind of unnecessary, where at least the other issues Ock was rebuilding the Sinister Six, nothing really happened here. So, I can see some people enjoying this issue, I just wasn't one of them.

Score: 4/10

Spider-Man: Doctor Octopus was one of the greatest geniuses...
Sleepwalker: The Fat Guy with the arms, right?

Batman #19

Hey comic readers and true believers, JT here with my first review of the week, and it's Scott Snyder's Batman! The last issue dealt with the recent death of Damian Wayne and Bruce getting a pep talk from Harper Row, now let's see how Batman is reeling now.

Batman #19

Summary: In this issue, we start things off with a bank robbery stand off with the police and none other than Bruce Wayne. Bruce has a hostage with explosives and uses her to make his way out of the building while Commissioner Gordon tries to talk him down. When he asks by a billionaire is robbing a bank (excellent question...) Bruce throws the money and smoke comes out of it. He then climbs on his motorcycle, shoots Gordon in the chest with a shotgun, then rides over him while driving away, all the while managing to not somehow get shot in the head by a bunch of officers, since no one shoots him in the head. For the record, I would've shot him in the head. Anyway, we jump back to six days ago and see Batman watching footage of Damian on his cowl visor that he recorded from when they'd go on patrol. He's interrupted by Alfred, and Alfred tries to talk to him about it but Bruce doesn't want to hear it. When Alfred mentions one of Bruce's friend's has committed suicide, Bruce finds it strange and looks into it. While looking at the dead man's house, Batman finds a very alive version of him and manages to get a bit of blood to sample before he can escape. While sampling the blood, Batman discovers it's Clayface (duh) and that his DNA has started to mutate, so he's no longer Basil Karlo, instead of being an actor and trying to mimic people, he can now fully become them from their DNA. While in his office discussing a new suit Batman needs (Batman Inc. is in continuity now, remember) with Lucius Fox, Lucius attacks Bruce, revealing that he's actually Clayface. The issue ends with Clayface saying he doesn't want Bruce's money, he wants to use him to end Batman, once and for all.

Thoughts: First things first, I'll say I enjoyed Alfred trying to talk to Bruce about Damian's death and mentioning Jason's death. I also really liked that Bruce was watching videos with Damian from hos Cowl, that's definitely something I can see Batman doing. Now that I've said what I liked, let's get to the stuff I didn't enjoy. Okay, well I saw the Clayface thing coming a mile away. It was either that or Ivy was controlling Bruce. I hated that no one felt the need to gun down Bruce, rich guy or not, when he not only shot the Commissioner with a freaking shotgun, but then rode over him as well with a motorcycle. Also, he was wearing Batman gear under his shirt. So is that on purpose? Clayface clearly doesn't know Bruce is Batman, so is he trying to say he is? Then the entire thing of doing a bank robbery, when he could easily just go on TV, say he's disbanding Batman INC. and that Batman is a criminal that shouldn't be trusted that threatened his life, and boom, Batman is vilified at Wayne's hands. Robbing a Bank then realizing, "Oh yeah, I don't need this money. My Bad!" just seemed unnecessary. Yeah, this issue just didn't do it for me, which is a rare miss for Snyder.

Score: 5/10

Bruce Wayne: Yeah, well, sometimes being a hero gets old.

All New X-Men #10

Hey Guys and Gals, JT here with my second review of the week, my All New X-Men review. Considering this has been one of my favorite series since Marvel NOW started, which should be obvious since I haven't let X review an issue yet, let's see how the Jean Grey School deals with Cyclops and his team showing up on their front lawn.

All New X-Men #10

Summary: In this issue, Cyclops and his X-Men offered a spot to any of Wolverine's students that wanted to leave the Jean Grey School and join Cyclops at the New Xavier school, which enrages Wolverine. Team Cyclops decide to leave and let the Students, Staff, and Original Five talk it over, and tells Young Cyclops to ask about how they got the Phoenix Force. Young Scott asks Beast and he explains how Stark caused the Phoenix Force to inhabit most of Cyclops' team. Young Scott is upset, saying Beast didn't tell him the full story, and starting to defend his future actions, but the conversation is cut short when Cyclops and his team return. They ask who's going with them and of course the weird psychic triplets join to be with Emma. The team waits and it seems one of the Original Five has taken Cyclops up on his offer but we don't see who. Obvious money is on Jean or Angel. Also, we see that Mystique and Sabretooth, along with female Mastermind have used her abilities to rob banks and such, and Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. are aware of this and warn the X-Men to be on the lookout for them.

Thoughts: This was a pretty average issue but I still liked it. I really liked Mystique and her team robbing people but making it look like it was Wolverine and the Original Five, that's genius and a great way to villainize the X-Men. I also liked Scott defending his future actions to Beast upon learning the whole story. The best part was watching Scott then show the leader that he is by turning around and arguing with future Scott and defending why he and the other four Originals had decided to stay in hopes of changing things. Like I guessed above, Jean will probably go undercover for the team with Cyclops, which would be interesting with Emma around, I'd enjoy that. I could easily see it being Angel though, considering he doesn't want to be there. Either way, I'm continuing to enjoy this comic, and that's always good.

Score: 7/10

Young Scott: You wouldn't take a second chance if you were given it?
Emma Frost: No one gave you anything. You're stealing it.