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.

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! 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!

Best of the Rest! Week of 3/27/13.

Hey all, X here to finish this week off with a BotR post!  Last week I was joined by my king, the illustrious JT.  This week?  This week I'm not sure if JT is here or not...  So yeah...  If he does decide to add a few comics, you'll know it's him by the blue text.  If he doesn't decide to join in?  Then just ignore everything I just typed...  Okay, with that taken care of, let's get into it.

Fantastic Four #6AU: This was the obligatory Age of Ultron tie-in issue.  Now, I'm sure you're wondering, "But X, aren't the F4 doing the whole Swiss Family Robinson thing?  How are they involved in this event?!"  To that I respond, "Marvel wants money!!!  And event crossovers equal cash!"  Basically, Black Panther somehow contacts Reed through space and time and tells him that Ultron had attacked the Earth.  The F4 leave the kids behind and return to Earth, where they are killed one by one by Ultron's droids.  Only Sue survives, and she ends up with the resistance.  I actually enjoyed this issue.  But I think it was the Ultron fan in me who enjoyed this and not really the F4 fan.  I can't help but enjoy a comic that sees Ultron masquerade as Dr. Doom, and then proceed to kill the Thing.  Yeah, there were some holes and the F4 being a part of this event felt a bit forced, but still, I liked it.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Teen Titans #18: Ah Scott Lobdell...  This issue opens with five pages of Tim Drake crying over Damian Wayne's death.  He literally cried for FIVE straight pages!  I don't know when Tim and Damian became so close, but there ya go.  From there, Tim heads to the Titans and complains about them not doing enough to protect teenage heroes.  To that end, Tim and the Titans attack the Suicide Squad since Amanda Waller had captured a teenager with powers.  But wait, it turns out Waller did no such thing, and that Tim only went after the Squad to make a mysterious deal with Waller.  And then Trigon flew through the sky on a three-headed horse.  Really!  I don't even know what to make of this series anymore...  Last issue Tim was possessed by Raven and making out with his female teammates left and right.  This issue Tim wasn't possessed by Raven...  Maybe...  Unless he was when he was with Waller...  Possibly...  So by this point, I have NO clue as to whether Tim is possessed or not...  But Trigon DID fly around on a three headed horse. Of that I am sure.  Score: 6 out of 10.

I, Vampire #18: This was the penultimate issue of this series.  All I can really say about this is that it looks like Tig finally died(YAY!!!) and Mary came back from the dead.  Again.  This issue just flat-out didn't click for me.  Of course it didn't help that Constantine-lite was hanging around.  So yeah, sadly, I didn't enjoy this one.  Still, I'll miss this series when it's gone, because the early issues were great.  Score: 4 out of 10.

Thunderbolts #7: The "team"(and I use that term as loosely as possible) are now on-board a submarine.  Flash wants to mutiny against Rulk because Rulk hasn't been forthcoming with information...  Or something.  Rulk beats everybody up, and then tells them that he had been using them to clean up areas where there were gamma bombs.  But wait!  It turns out Rulk was wrong and that somebody has been creating gamma batteries instead of bombs.  Meh.  I'm giving this series two more issues, if it doesn't improve?  I'm done.  Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.

A+X #6: Two stories in this comic, as usual.  The first one stars Wolverine and Captain Marvel.  They're playing poker, they argue a bit, a villain attacks, but ends up joining the game.  The second story gives us Thing and Gambit beating the Yancy Street gang in poker...  Yup, two stories, two tales about poker...  And yes, that is indeed very weird.  I enjoyed the Wolvie/Marvel story more out of the two, but I can't say I'd recommend either story unless you're a hardcore fan of the four characters here.  Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

FF #5: Hey look, it's another FF comic!  In the same post!  Madness!!  This comic has nothing to do with the Age of Ultron storyline, which is especially weird, since it would make more sense for this team to deal with Ultron since they're still on Earth and all...  Anyway, Old Torch goes crazy after some guy touches his coat and tries to torch a neighborhood.  Scott and the gang end up defeating him and let Herbie watch over him.  Alex heads to Latveria to seemingly warn Doom of Scott's plans.  The reveal at the end shows us that Medusa is secretly working with Wizard...  Damn it!  This is a series that I would drop without a second thought...  If it would get bad!  Instead, I find myself enjoying this series, when I know I shouldn't!  If I'm being honest, I can see myself dropping F4 before I drop this title...  How weird is that!  Score: 8 out of 10.

Hey crew, JT  here with two reviews for the BOTR post so we can end things on a good note. So here are my reviews for Scarlet Spidey and Morbius, The Living Vampire. 

 Scarlet Spider #15: This issue featured Aracely running from Los Lobos, but she's eventually caught by the sibling Werewolves. Before they can do anything, a blood thirsty, six eyed, freaky looking Kaine shows up and engages Los Lobos. Kaine manages to rip out the brother's eye, and stabs him through the chest with his... spider...leg or whatever their called. He then pulls a Superboy Prime and rips the Werewolves arm off, causing the sister to pick up her brother and run. Kaine goes to attack Aracely but she somehow connects with him, through her powers and I guess Kaine's memories, and he sheds his horrible skin and is himself again, with a long beard and shaggy hair. From there, Aracely helps Kaine get back to his normal self by cutting his hair, going to get his tattoos redone since they've been removed due to his full body healing, and he gets back to his life, but now he knows he doesn't have to wonder if he's a monster, he definitely is. From there we see Julia Carpenter, still in her coma, whisper Kaine's name, as well as see someone else saying The Culling will soon began. No one tell Marvel that DC did a story called The Culling like a year ago. The issue comes to a close with Aracely being possessed and the Male Werewolf being killed by some old dude with a beard. (This review was way longer than I expected.) So basically, this entire story was pointless, everything is how it was before except now Kaine has given into The Other, knows he's a monster...for now, and Aracely is possessed. Score: 4/10

Morbius The Living Vampire #3: In the last issue we saw Morbius bite a chunk out of Noah the gangster's neck. He's immediately shot at but dodges the bullets until Noah's hideous girlfriend shoots Morbius in the neck. Once Morbius wakes up from...being shot in the neck, she tells Morbius to use his doctor skills to save her boyfriend or she's going to torture Morbius and kill his friends, a girl by the name of Becky, and the kid she babysits, Henry. Morbius agrees to help and fights his blood lust to do so, but Noah wakes up halfway through and attacks, so Morbius slams him down and kills him in the process. Oops! The issue ends with Noah's ugly girlfriend entering the room to see Noah dead then yelling that Morbius and his friends are dead!!!! Well...this issue was not as strong as the first two. Nothing happened in this issue either really, it was kind of filler. Morbius bit a chunk out of a dude's neck in the last issue, he tried to save him and he died in this one. So you literally could've skipped this issue if issue two ends with Morbius biting Noah and issue four starts with Noah being dead. So... yeah. Score: 3/10

And that's it for us, thanks for dropping by the check out the best of the rest post for this week, and be sure to check out my review tomorrow for Injustice: Gods Among Us #3. On behalf of my buddy X, and myself of course, this is JT, signing off!

Teen Titans #17

And we've made it to my final review day of the week! (It was torture wasn't it? Hey everyone, JT here to salvage this sinking ship!) Yep, in two more days, it's another new comic day! Crazy how time flies. (When you're having fun...right? Ugh... still can't believe you said that.) Anyway, tonight I have two team books to get through, the first of which is from DC.  It's Teen Titans time!!

Teen Titans #17:

Summary: This issue gets underway with Red Robin moving the team into a new base, a massive yacht. (Big money!) Tim shows the team around before everybody splits up and does some bonding. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Tim decides to take the whole "team bonding" thing a step further and makes out with first Solstice and then Wonder Girl...  (But.... those are women.) The hell?!  But wait, it seems(with "seems" being the operative word, 'cause things get a tad confusing) that Tim is possessed/influenced/controlled by Raven, thus explaining his odd behavior. (Wait...so does that make Raven gay?)  This issue concludes with Tim looking all Joker crazy at his control center.

Thoughts: Yeah, that summary was quick and all, but I have to say, this wasn't a terrible comic! (Liar! It's by Lobdell for Grant's sake!) There were a few other little odds and ends going on here(vague half page and full page snippets setting up for future events), but what I typed out was the gist of this one.  This issue was a step in the right direction.  We've finally gotten away from the Bat-books and seem to be setting up a few Titans-only stories.  Yeah, surprisingly, no huge complaints here. (Very surprising considering how much you hate the Raven/Trigon/Evil-villain-has-evil-kid-that-turns-good-eventually dynamic.)

Score: 7 out of 10.

That's not Conner... (HA!)

Teen Titans #16

Oh good, it's another Scott Lobdell written comic...  I literally have no idea what to expect out of this issue...  Maybe the Teen Titans will be in it, maybe they won't...  Maybe Red Robin will be in it, maybe he won't.  Hell, maybe Red Hood will be in this issue!  It's not like he was in the comic that has his name in the title!  Well, here we go.  I'm really hoping for a pleasant surprise here...

Teen Titans #16(Death of the Family tie-in):

Summary: This issue opens with Red Hood and Red Robin trapped by the Joker.  Joker wakes them up and shows them that he had caught their fathers(who were wearing hoods), telling them if they wanted the two men to survive, they'd have to fight to the death.  Because Joker is SO trustworthy!  Red Robin wants to think up a plan, but Red Hood decides to attack, even though his father had died in prison...  The two fight for a while, until Red Robin is positive the man who is supposedly his father is a fake, at which time he shatters the window Joker was watching the fight from, leading to Red Hood shooting Joker a few dozen times.  Finally!  But wait!!  It turns out that wasn't the real Joker, but a dummy filled with Joker toxin.  The two Reds pass out and Joker drags them to a cave.  This issue ends with Joker revealing not one, but TWO silver platters to the two.

Thoughts: Hey, here's some good new, Lobdell didn't do the script for this issue, the infinitely more talented Fabian Nicieza did.  Honestly, Nicieza SHOULD be the guy writing this series, but c'est la vie.  This issue was okay, but man were there a mess of holes in it...  Why would Red Hood, of ALL people, even entertain the thought that Joker was really holding his suddenly alive father captive, and would let him go if he DID kill Red Robin!?  I'd believe a politician before I'd believe Joker!  I was happy to see that Jason was going to kill Joker in this issue, because SOMEBODY should, but did anybody really think that Joker was going to die in this issue?!  However, that would sure make Batman #17 an interesting read...  Jason: "Hey Bruce, guess what?  Joker's dead!!"  Bruce: "Already?  Now what do we do..."  All in all though?  This comic was miles better than Red Hood and the Outlaws #16, so that's a win for me.

Score: 6 out of 10.

So Jason Todd doesn't appear in the comic with his name on it, but DOES star in this series...  Weird.

Teen Titans #15

First things first, there's a bit of a change in plans review-wise for me this week.  After a bit of a mistake at the comic shop on Wednesday, I didn't end up getting Iron Man #5.  I probably won't see that comic until next Wednesday, which means I won't be able to review it this week.  Instead, I'll be reviewing American Vampire #34 on Tuesday.  It also means my first review this week is Teen Titans from both my AND JT's least favorite writer of 2012, yes, none other than Scott Lobdell.  Will Lobdell become a better writer in 2013?  HA!!  Yeah, I doubt it.  Regardless, here's the Teen Titans portion of Batman's Death of the Family.

Teen Titans #15

Summary: Joker has kidnapped Red Robin off panel because why not.  The Teen Titans come to Gotham and find Batgirl #1, who first tries to scare them away, and then tells them to hit Joker's previous crime scenes since he's reliving them in this storyline.  However, Joker was expecting that(because he's Batman-smart now!) and has it set up that Kid Flash accidentally spreads Joker Gas to the various bums of Gotham City.  Before the Teen Titans find themselves swarmed by Joker-fied bums, Arsenal and Starfire show up to pitch in.  Oh yeah, and Joker was back to his whole, "I know who you really are!!!  Maybe!!!" routine with Red Robin.

Thoughts: How's that for a quick review!  This issue was... well, it wasn't horrible!  And for a comic book written by Scott Lobdell in the 21st century, that's about as good as I could possibly hope for.  However, it wasn't anything new or interesting either.  Joker talked to Red Robin a lot, and the Teen Titans got into trouble.  That one sentence sums up this entire issue.  However, Joker didn't reveal himself to be Red Robin's creator, nor did the All-Caste show up, so hey, I'll count that as a win for me!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Yep, Joker is STILL playing the name game...

Teen Titans #0

Oh boy...  So I've been extremely negative on DC's zero issues.  They have been, in my opinion?  Almost universally terrible.  Especially the ones where the writers decide to take liberties and alter/wreck/destroy otherwise good origins.  And that's exactly what I'm expecting here.  Well, no sense delaying this any longer...  Let's see how Scott Lobdell destroys the origin of one of my favorite characters in all of comicdom...

Teen Titans #0

Summary: This issue is actually pretty close to Tim's original origin in some ways, which is a good thing.  Basically you have Tim trying to figure out who Batman is.  He's realized that the prior Robin(Jason Todd) had vanished and that Batman hasn't been the same(although Bruce is kind of meh about Jason being "dead" in this one).  He sets up a way to meet Batman(something about gunrunners and other weirdness), so Bats shows up, telling Tim that he had tolerated him digging around for long enough and to knock it off, before pulling the famous Batman vanishing act.  Tim takes that as a challenge(which you think Bats would have realized) and ends up making himself a target of the Penguin, forcing Bats to rescue him(and his parents, who were nearly killed in the crossfire...).  With that, Tim's parents end up going into the witness protection program, while Tim doesn't...  For some reason.  So Tim says adios to his folks, and Bats takes him in(some how...).  From there, Tim decides he doesn't want to be Robin, out of respect to Jason dying, and becomes Red Robin('cause that's so much different).

Thoughts: First things first...  This issue seems to give us another case of Bruce being forced to take in yet ANOTHER Robin!  Anyway, this was about 7,000,000 times better than Jason Todd's origin story, and was better than Dick Grayson's as well.  Still, I don't know why we didn't just stick with Tim's original origin story...  For me, Tim's original story was better than this one, due to the weird things that happened here...  Why did Tim's parents go into witness protection, but not Tim?  Why would Tim put his parents in such mortal jeopardy if he's supposed to be so smart?  How did Tim end up with Bats?  Was he taken in by Bruce?  And if he was, wouldn't Tim still be a target of Penguin?  Plus, it appears that "Tim Drake" was the name given to him by witness protection...  Maybe...  Even that wasn't made 100% clear, especially since everybody was calling him "Tim" prior to the whole mess with witness protection.  All of that was glossed over.  The way Tim ended up being adopted by Bruce in the pre-New 52 DCU made a lot more sense than the way he ended up with Bruce here...  If he did...  Eh.  I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.  Things could have been SO much worse(as we saw in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0).  It's funny how low I've set my standards for anything written by Scott Lobdell nowadays...  So I'll say this was an okay comic and move on.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

So Tim's first Robin costume was the Superboy RIP one...  And why are they on the cover of a newspaper?!

Taking a breather...

After some thought, I've decided not to review the rest of the comics I picked up last week, mainly due to a) being tired as hell from work, and b) the comics not being particularly good... So, for the record, the comics I won't be reviewing are Journey Into Mystery #638(which I'd give a 5 to), Voodoo #9(which was probably a 5 or so), Mighty Thor #14(which was around a 3), Secret Avengers #27(which I'd go with a 0 for), Teen Titans #9(which was about a 5 1/2) and Batman Inc #1(which I'd give about a 6 to)... So yeah, not exactly anything to write home about there... With the scores for those books being as lackluster as they were, I just couldn't get myself to spend the time punching out reviews for them. On top of all that, the blog has been feeling more like work and less like fun as of late, which is always a sign that it's time to take a step back and reconsider things... Anyway, I'll be back (after a very short break) on Wednesday with a fresh New Comic Day post, but until then? Vampire X out.

Teen Titans Annual #1

Okay, I'm back on my regular schedule tonight! Well, that's not exactly accurate as I actually typed this review up yesterday and set it to post now... But that's neither here nor there. What is here is the comic that I'm fairly certain I picked for my Runt of the Litter this week! That probably didn't need an exclamation point actually... Eh, anyway, I'm hoping this issue turns out better than I'm expecting, but I'm not holding my breath.

Teen Titans Annual #1:

Summary: You know what happens when two super-hero teams meet up for the first time, don't you? The Teen Titans and the Legion squad from the Legion Lost series have both been captured by Harvest for THE CULLING(!!!) which is now getting the over-the-top treatment since we STILL don't know what it's all about/why Harvest does it/how long it's been going on... Anyway, the Titans think the Legionaries are Ravagers for Harvest, while the Legionaries believe the same thing about the Titans. If you can't figure out what happens next, you REALLY need to read more comic books... After the obligatory super-hero misunderstanding© ends, Harvest sends his major troops out to... um, CULL(!!!) the two team, I guess.

Thoughts: Sarcasm aside, this wasn't a terrible comic book. To be honest, I was expecting way worse. Yeah sure, this NOWHERE/Harvest storyline has gone on way too long for my tastes(which seems to be a running theme regarding Scott Lobdell written comics), but this comic was just good, dumb fun. You really didn't need to think much while reading it, it was straightforward(or at least as straightforward as a Teen Titans comic has been post-reboot), and most importantly, Red Robin wasn't a half bird/half boy creature in this issue! Hey, I have to look for the good wherever I can find it!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Oh no, they're CULLING(!!!) each other!

Teen Titans #8

It's Monday(I think...) so we're reaching the end of the comic week, and as such are starting to get near the bottom of the comic pile. We'll start off the night in DC land with the latest issue of Teen Titans. Now, if history is any kind of indicator, this comic should be bad. The only question is how bad...

Teen Titans #8:

Summary: This issue starts off with the Titans locked up and being tormented by Omen, one of Harvest's MANY goons. When the hell was Omen introduced anyway... Did I miss an issue or block something out or something? Anyway, Omen plays evil mind games on the team like making Tim think he was a real bird, making Skitter think she was split into two different beings and making Bart think he was running around in his boxer briefs... The horror!!! In the end, the team finds out that none of that really happened(or at least I don't think it did...) and Harvest has Omen hand the Teen Titans over to yet ANOTHER random goon of his, this one named Leash.

Thoughts: Yup, this issue happened alright. That's really about all I have to say about it actually... Nothing of any major importance happened here. If you missed this issue? You really didn't miss anything. The Titans are still in the clutches of Harvest, and are no closer to getting free. So while this comic wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, it was kind of a big waste of time.

Score: 5 out of 10.

What can I possibly say to THIS?!

Teen Titans #7

Slight change of plans! I was going to review X-Men Legacy #264 here, but JT asked that I read/review Teen Titans instead, which is a pretty good indicator that it was either really, really good, or really, really bad. But either way, now I'm curious, and as such, can't help but check it out!

Teen Titans #7:

Summary: Red Robin convinces the Teen Titans to rescue Superboy from NOWHERE, since their whole deal was to take down NOWHERE and rescue the kids NOWHERE were capturing... Now, I'm not sure why Red Robin thought SB needed rescuing, since the last time the Titans saw SB he was mopping the floor with them FOR NOWHERE, but whatever, I'll let that one pass. So Red Robin manages to get the Titans to NOWHERE's top secret base thanks to the help of Danny the Street, who is, apparently, a street with teleportational abilities......... Yeah. So Danny the Street(the teleporting street), takes the Titans to NOWHERE's base where they engage NOWHERE's forces and ultimately rescue SB, who was being tortured by NOWHERE for disobeying them. The Titans go to leave(why not just have Danny the Street, the teleporting street, teleport them to safety?), but are confronted by the head honcho of NOWHERE, some creepy looking freak calling himself Harvest.

Thoughts: Well, if you overlook Red Robin walking around the Titans unmasked, Red Robin telepathically knowing Superboy needed rescuing and was no longer working for NOWHERE, and the whole Danny the Street(the teleporting street) thing, this wasn't a horrible comic. Now, I can overlook one, maybe two things, but come on, a teleporting street? Really?? How the hell can I turn a blind eye to THAT?! What's next, a telepathic wall? A spunky dishwasher? A burly building? Methinks Scott Lobdell had either gone totally insane or is REALLY scratching the bottom of his idea barrel... Okay, I've GOT to get off the teleporting street thing... Yeah, moving on, ignoring the deus ex machina that is Danny the Street(the teleporting street), this issue wasn't horrible. It did the thing that I've been waiting for since the first issue dropped, and that was get Superboy one step closer to joining the Titans and becoming more like the pre-reboot Superboy. The Titans rescuing SB SHOULD force SB to join the Titans due to them risking their own lives for him, even after he beat them up. So, in closing, while there was a teleporting street here, the story moved along in a way I liked, which was a good thing.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

That's probably one of the most hilariously awful pieces of dialogue I've read in some time! Oh, and to answer Templar's question? For me it was last Monday.

Teen Titans #6

I've got work EARLY tomorrow, so the three(that's right, THREE!) reviews for tonight are probably gonna be on the brisk side... If you want any extra details, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to fill you in. Okay, let's get moving here!

Teen Titans #6:

Summary: Kid Flash is injured from last issue's battle with Superboy, so the Titans take him to STAR Labs, where Static is working as his alter-ego. While Static is trying to figure out a way to slow down Kid Flash's molecular destabilization, Bunker, Skitter and Wonder Girl end up running afoul some dweeb named Grymm. Grymm manages to take control of the bodies of the three Titans, but Bunker is able to knock Grymm out since Bunker's powers were psionic based. From there, Static's solution to Kid Flash's unstable molecules is to put him in a new costume... Um, okay... This costume will keep Kid Flash from vibrating himself to oblivion, and with that, this issue ends.

Thoughts: We also got some set-up stuff for the upcoming Teen Titans/Legion Lost x-over, with who I'm guessing was Chameleon Kid/Lad/Boy/Girl/Whatever recognizing Kid Flash as somebody who was supposed to still be in the future. Anyway, this issue was okay. There wasn't anything great or horrible about it, it was just a nice, easy way to waste a few minutes. We'll see what next issue brings, but I honestly wouldn't mind if next issue was similar to this one.

Score: 7 out of 10.

So this is how the Legion Lost/Teen Titans x-over is going to start...

Teen Titans #5

Huh, check it out, I'm already reading a DC comic this week! Usually the DC books I pick up reside at or around the bottom of my new comic pile, so it's nice to see that I'm actually somewhat interested in giving one a read. The past few issues of this series? I have to admit, I've enjoyed them. Greatly. This is on the very short list of DC books that I read that I enjoy, so here's hoping that trend continues.

Teen Titans #5:

Summary: With Superboy prepared to take Wonder Girl back to his masters at NOWHERE(yep, that would be ANOTHER evil government agency...), the other Teen Titans(roll call! Red Robin, Kid Flash, Solstice & Bunker) step in to stop him. The Titans fight like the black ninjas in those old martial arts movies, attacking SB one at a time, and as such, are dismissed with relative ease. Eventually the only Titans left standing is Solstice, and she tells SB that the forces at NOWHERE aren't interested in protecting the world from teenage meta-humans, but want to... I don't know, do something EVIL with the captured kids instead. SB knocks Solstice out, but her words haunt him so he dumps the NOWHERE truck that was monitoring him into a river and heads off in search of Templar and some answers. As for the Titans, they are all left laying.

Thoughts: Sheesh, the Titans sure looked like crap in this issue, didn't they!? Superboy defeating the team CAN be overlooked however, mainly because they AREN'T a team yet. They haven't had a chance to train together, and as such were overwhelmed by their stronger opponent. That makes sense. My problem with this comic comes more from the fact that it spent the entire issue telling us that the Titans needed more training... It was kind of boring. This entire issue consisted of a random Titan attacking and getting a slight advantage on SB, and then SB defeating them, before the next random Titan attacked, meeting with the same results, until the entire team had lost. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I don't know if we needed to spend this entire issue on that.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Teen Titans #4

The first review for this Friday night? How's about we switch things up and take a gander at a DC book? In this case, the forth issue of Teen Titans. I'll admit, the first two issues of this series did NOTHING for me, but the third issue actually grew on me. Now the question is will this issue be like issues #1 & #2 or like issue #3?

Teen Titans #4:

What Happened: Wonder Girl ends up being confronted by EVIL Superboy in Times Square on New Year's Eve. It should go without saying that this leads to a fight. Meanwhile, Red Robin has invited Bunker and Skitter to his... um, back-up home(?) and we learn some more about Skitter(when she's in her bug form she remembers what she's done but has little control over herself). Somehow, Kid Flash and Solstice end up at Red Robin's door, and I literally mean somehow, since Kid Flash and Solstice were in Antarctica last issue. Back in Times Square, Superboy and Wonder Girl have a relatively even battle until SB unleashes all of his powers, sending WG for a loop. Red Robin and the rest of the Teen Titans(well, they aren't OFFICIALLY the Titans yet, but let's face it, they will be by the next issue) see the battle raging in Times Square on the TV and head out, arriving just in time to prevent SB from putting any more of a beating on Wonder Girl.

The Good: For the most part, this comic flowed along nicely. There wasn't anything that I could point at and say that I really disliked. The cliffhanger, while something that we've known was coming for like four months now, was still fun to see. I liked that we got some more background on Skitter. As usual, the art here was nicely done.

The Bad: What the HELL was up with Kid Flash, Red Robin and the clothes?! Seriously, did the two of them go from being 16-ish to being 6-ish?! That was just weird... If I'm being honest, I'd rather Superboy DIDN'T join the team next issue(or any issue for that matter). It's enough that we have moody Wonder Girl, do we really need broody Superboy here as well? I say leave him as a villain/occasional ally of the Titans and let him do his own thing in his own series. What the hell was the deal with Kid Flash and Solstice suddenly arriving at Red Robin's front door? With NO explanation?

The Verdict: Thankfully, this issue was more like the third issue than the first two. To be honest, I think Scott Lobdell has done such a good job with the characters he has here that THIS series may just be the DC series most primed to have a great 2012. And trust me, back when I read that first issue I NEVER thought I'd be saying THAT! But I can give credit where credit is due(occasionally) and yeah, Lobdell has done WAY better than I'd have expected here. Once some of the more confusing aspects of the story get sorted out, this could very well morph into my favorite DC comic.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.How odd...

Teen Titans #3

Seeing as that I JUST reviewed Teen Titans #2, I really don't have anything else to say to introduce this issue... Um, please don't suck, I guess.

Teen Titans #3:

What Happened: Kid Flash manages to escape from the NOWHERE holding facility with Solstice. Upon getting outside, the two discover that they were somewhere in Antarctica. Oh, and they end up falling down a mountain. Meanwhile, Red Robin(posing as a hobo on a train and traveling with Skitter, who was in a cocoon on the roof of the train) meets up with another young meta-human going by the name of Bunker. Bunker is excited to see Red Robin and explains that he had been following Red Robin's blog(yeah, okay, but what about MY blog?!?) and was interested in joining up with Red Robin to combat NOWHERE. While Red Robin is trying to explain to Bunker that there was no team(the title of this series would beg to differ), their train stops and they are confronted by a mess of mind-controlled people from whatever small town they were passing through. Red Robin tells Bunker to hold off the crowd while he headed to the highest point in town, figuring that would be the best spot to mind control a town of people from. Sure enough, Red Robin bumps into some big junkpile calling itself Detritus, who was intent on conquering humanity, one small town at a time, I guess. Detritus forces Red Robin to forget about him before releasing his mental hold over the townspeople since his experiment had been a success. Red Robin heads back to the train to meet Bunker, who shows Red Robin that a decidedly non-monstrous looking(and mighty confused) Skitter had emerged from the cocoon. Finally, this issue ends with Kid Flash waking up and seeing a snowy town laying in front of him, which is weird seeing as that Kid Flash was in Antarctica and all.

The Good: I can't say there were any characters here that I actively didn't like... From the little I've seen of Solstice, I think she'll be a great addition to the team(hell, I already like her more than her pre-reboot version) and Bunker and Red Robin had a great banter going right off the bat. Now it's just a matter of Scott Lobdell making each different personality fit when the team finally assembles. This comic was extremely fast paced and engaging. I enjoyed the parts with Red Robin & Bunker as well as Kid Flash & Solstice equally. I was happy to see that Lobdell isn't going to keep Skitter as a wild, rampaging beast. Again, just like the last issue, I enjoyed the artwork here. Wonder Girl was only on a single page here, and Superboy was on none!

The Bad: The whole thing with Detritus was strange. I guess it'll set up a battle down the road, but it seemed so out of the blue. I also didn't see how Red Robin was mind controlled into forgetting Detritus that easily. You'd think having worked with Batman would have taught him some anti-mental tampering techniques.

The Verdict: Wow, so why the hell doesn't THIS Scott Lobdell also write Red Hood and the Outlaws and Superboy?! This issue actually gave me some serious hope for this series. I mean it was that good! Hell, I can't believe this is the same series I was so down on only a few minutes earlier(after finishing off issue #2). This issue also clarified to me why I wasn't that high on the first two issues... Four words... Wonder Girl and Superboy. I legitimately don't like either character. I may have liked them in the pre-reboot DCU, but post-reboot? Neither one is likable in the least. So, and I'm as surprised about this as anybody, here's hoping SB and WG aren't major cogs on this team, because they actively hurt my enjoyment of this series... And no, I never thought I'd be typing those words out. I'm actually looking forward to getting the forth issue of this series, something I wouldn't have imagined prior to reading this one, so kudos to Lobdell and company for pulling me aboard.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.It's taken three issues, but I can finally say it... I like the post-reboot Bart Allen! Huzzah!!!

Teen Titans #2

And now, to close out the week, I FINALLY get around to reviewing Teen Titans #2... Only about a month or so later than it first came out. But the important thing is that I finally have it, right? Although, considering how little I've enjoyed Scott Lobdell's work at DC thus far(Superboy, Red Hood & Teen Titans have all been sub-par for me) maybe it would have been better if my comic shop never got this issue in stock for me... Naturally, after I post this review, I'll be posting TT #3 to get myself completely caught up with this series.

Teen Titans #2:

What Happened: Kid Flash is locked up in some jail cell, while Red Robin and Wonder Girl talk about NOWHERE running around kidnapping teenage meta-humans to either force them to work for NOWHERE or kill them. Red Robin is surprised that NOWHERE hadn't made another attempt at capturing WG, but that's because Superboy has been told by Templar, the head honcho at NOWHERE, to study WG and be ready to take her down the next time Templar makes a move on WG. From there, Red Robin learns about another teenager with powers, some creepy girl named Skitter. After talking to Skitter's sister, Red Robin finds out that NOWHERE was also on Skitter's trail, meaning he had to find her first. A search of the sewers brings Red Robin into battle with three NOWHERE operatives, who are eventually downed by Skitter herself. Red Robin tries unsuccessfully to reason with Skitter, who moves in to attack him. However, Red Robin is saved by Wonder Girl, who claims that she only helped out to even the score with Red Robin, seeing as that he assisted her last issue. This issue ends back with Kid Flash, who manages to escape from his jail cell and can't find any other captive teens(he was speaking to one through his cell wall earlier). After a quick search of the now empty prison, he finds some girl named Solstice who was... well, I'm not sure what was up with her, but she was asking for help, so it was probably something not very good.

The Good: The Red Robin in this comic was a lot like the pre-reboot Red Robin, which is a plus in my eyes. You can see how this story and the Teen Titans team is going to come together, so obviously Lobdell has some kind of a plan here, even if I don't exactly like it... That's good, right? I enjoyed the art here. The fight scenes were well done. I can see myself liking this version of Kid Flash(probably).

The Bad: On the other hand, I can't stand the sassy, “Grrr, I'm a tough girl!!!” Wonder Girl. I don't really see lots of room for growth for a character like Skitter(who's obviously going to fill the Penance role on this team). Seeing as that Superboy has a series of his own, I don't get why he's pulling double duty in this series. If anything, with the popularity of the Bat-family of books, it should be Red Robin who's in this series and a self-titled book, especially as the more likable character of the two.

The Verdict: I'm trying to keep an open mind nowadays with these DC comic books, because let's face it, they are all new characters that have nothing to do with the characters I enjoyed reading about prior to the relaunch. And that's a very difficult thing for somebody who has read as many pre-reboot DC comics as I have. For example, the Tim Drake in this comic? He's not the same Tim Drake I was a fan of. He's just some other character Tim Drake that I only know from Teen Titans #1. Granted, it would have been easier if he was named... um, Dim Trake or something, that way I wouldn't be constantly comparing him to the pre-reboot Tim... Huh, I really went off on a tangent there, didn't I? Let's steer this back to this comic book... This was an okay comic book, which is pretty much as good as I'd have expected here. Seriously, I have pretty much the lowest possible expectations for this series and am only buying it because of the Teen Titans name... Well, that and Red Robin, who as I stated above, SHOULD have a series of his own... I'm still not sold on the whole “Evil top-secret government project” thing, because that is SO played out, but I do like the way Lobdell is moving the characters around here as he sets the table for the formation of the Teen Titans.

Score: 7 out of 10.Nice room there, Timmy.

Teen Titans #1

Ahhh. Now here's a series that I've been VERY interested in reading... The series that got me into DC comics was Young Justice. No, not the one based on that sucky cartoon, the REAL Young Justice. That series turned me into the DC fan I am today, so many of the characters in this series(Red Robin, Superboy, Impulse/Kid Flash, Wonder Girl) hold a special place in my heart. Needless to say, that means I'm gonna be pretty critical of how these characters are depicted, so if you're expecting a fluff piece, look elsewhere...

Teen Titans #1:

What Happened: The first scene we get here is of Kid Flash screwing up, so that sets things off on the right foot for me... Anyway, the main story here is that NOWHERE is hunting down teenage heroes, and target Red Robin in his civilian guise. Red Robin manages to escape the NOWHERE goons and decides that he'd better try to contact other young heroes before NOWHERE gets their mitts on them. To that end he manages to recruit Wonder Girl, while NOWHERE counters by releasing their Superboy creation with the hopes that SB would infiltrate and take down Red Robin's team before it got started.

The Good: I really like the story here. An evil, shadowy group is hunting down teenage heroes, so Red Robin decides to fight back. Nice, simple and clean. I like the idea of NOWHERE trying to infiltrate and destroy the Titans from within. Um, the art was good?

The Bad: Where do I begin... Kid Flash was more Beast Boy than Bart Allen. The NOWHERE goons came after Red Robin AS Tim Drake, and Tim didn't seem alarmed in the least by that. Cassie is a criminal? I don't know how I feel about that. To be determined I guess... It's a small thing, but I can't say I liked any of the costumes the three heroes in this issue were wearing.

The Verdict: While the negatives may seem to outnumber the positives in this post, the most important thing about any comic to me is the story, and the story WAS good. So while there were a lot of things I wasn't exactly fond of, the story kept me involved. I guess if I had to bottom line this issue, I'd say it was solid but unspectacular.

Score: 7 out of 10.Of course Bart was a screw up in this issue... Why wouldn't he be? *sigh*

Teen Titans #100

Well, so far this week has been a great comic reading week for me... The only thing is that I've only read Marvel comic books this week... Now I'll be switching over to the DC side of the fence... Let's see if DC can continue the streak of good comic books with this, the final issue of Teen Titans.

Teen Titans #100:

Summary: The Teen Titans(all of the ones who are still alive) take on Superboy Prime's Legion of Doom(which is apparently what they're being called now) as we begin the final issue of the series. The Legion is woefully outmatched, and are taken down by the Titans superior teamwork until only Prime and his three imperfect Superboy clones remain. Superboy tells Ravager to head to his room and find a box inside that would take care of the Superclones, and upon arriving in SB's room, Ravager finds a Kryptonite dagger. Ravager kills one of the Superclones, before handing the dagger off to Robin, who, with the help of the rest of the Titans, kills the remaining Superclones. With the Legion down, and the clones dead, that simply leaves Prime. The Titans attack Prime in force, pummeling him until he's finally unconscious. But that leaves a dilemma... Whenever Prime has been defeated, he's always come back to wreak further havoc, so the question becomes, what should the Titans do with him? Ravager and Robin want to kill him(because they're awesome), but Titans don't kill and all that jazz. SB figures that Prime would simply break out of any conventional jail, and the Phantom Zone isn't the answer, with how many criminals escape from there, so SB and Supergirl take Prime to the one place they were pretty sure not even he could escape... The Source Wall(!). With Prime taken care of once and for all, the Titans head home, do the team bonding thing, and strike a pose to end this series.

Thoughts: If I had a complaint here, it would be that the battle between Prime's villains and the Teen Titans was pretty anti-climatic. Within the first couple of pages, Prime's forces, (with the exception of the SB clones) had all been handily defeated. I was also kind of bothered that the Titans were so quick to murder the SB clones... I mean sure, they're clones and all, but hell, so is Superboy himself! JT Krul repeatedly stated throughout this storyline that the SB clones were imperfect copies, but so what? Maybe they could have learned and grown. I mean hell, if the Titans had no qualms with killing the clones, what was the big deal about offing Prime? Sure he CLAIMS to be from an alternate dimension, but how can they be sure HE isn't a clone, and as such deserves to be killed as well. Funky clone moral dilemmas aside, I thought this issue did a good job wrapping up this storyline. We got Prime battling against the Titans(which is something a few fellow fans had complained there wasn't enough of in the comics leading up to this issue), along with some little closure scenes at the end between Ravager/Superboy and Raven/Beast Boy(although I could care less about those two losers). I am a bit miffed at the cover price($5?! Really?!), but what can ya do? While not a perfect comic, this was a nice little issue for the Teen Titans to end on.

Score: 8 out of 10.It's too bad we'll never get that Damian/Ravager romance I was always hoping for down the road now...

Red Robin #26 & Teen Titans #99

Let's switch gears and head over to the DCU with two titles featuring Red Robin. First up is the final issue of the Red Robin series, as well as the penultimate issue of Teen Titans before the reboot. For the first time in ages I'm looking forward to Teen Titans, which means it'll probably be painfully bad...

Red Robin #26:

Summary: Wanting to get revenge for the death of his father at the hands of Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang, Red Robin concocts a somewhat convoluted plan that leads Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang into direct odds with Mr. Freeze. Ultimately Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang and Freeze do meet up and are about to come to blows(with Freeze undoubtedly winning), but Red Robin can't allow somebody else(Freeze) to kill Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang. With that, Red Robin enters the room and knocks Freeze out, which gives Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang the opportunity to escape to the rooftops. Red Robin confronts Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang on the rooftops and winds up winging the villain with a boomerang, which knocks Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang off of the roof. Instead of letting Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang fall to his death, Red Robin snares Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang with his grappling line and ends up turning him over to the cops. From there, Batman(Dick Grayson) and Robin arrive on the scene with Bats complementing Red Robin for not allowing the man who killed his father to fall to his death. After Bats and Robin leave, Batman(Bruce Wayne) emerges from the shadows and tells Red Robin that he knew the truth(of course he does...), and that he knew that it was Red Robin who drew Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang to Gotham in order to kill Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang. Bats tells Red Robin that he should never have gotten himself involved with Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang in the first place, before leaving. With that, Red Robin stands on a rooftop and contemplates his next move.

Thoughts: I actually enjoyed this comic a lot. I'd have enjoyed it more if Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang somehow died, be it due to Red Robin or even a pure accident, but I guess I should have known better. As long as Chairman Johns is living and breathing, his beloved Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang will NEVER be harmed again. With the exception of Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang surviving this issue, I can't think of anything to complain about... Tim's plan was solid, and he should have simply allowed Freeze to ice(heh) Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang. So yeah, the story was good, the pacing was fast, the art was good, my only problem was with the outcome. Instead of this issue ending with Bats berating Tim, I'd have preferred it if it ended in a cliffhanger sort of way, with Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang falling off of the roof and Tim moving towards the ledge, but ending before we saw what he did. That way we'd get both outcomes, one for people like me, who felt Tim should have allowed Not Old, Not Bald, Not Fat, Captain Boomerang to die, while people on the other side of the fence could have envisioned Tim saving the formerly old, fat and bald bastard.

Score: 9 out of 10.I agree, just let him fall!!!


Teen Titans #99:

Summary: We get things underway with the Teen Titans facing off against Superboy Prime and his Evil Teen Titans, complete with not one, not two, but THREE Superboy clones(which we learn were all cloned from Superboy's old enemy, Match). The two sides battle to a stalemate for a while before Prime suddenly leads his team away from the battle and towards Titans Tower... And I mean “suddenly” literally! One page everybody was fighting and the next the villains were flying towards the tower! One of Prime's teammates, Headcase, tears apart the Golden Gate Bridge and uses his telekinesis to turn it into a giant metal monster. The angry bridge heads for Titans Tower to destroy it while the Titans themselves are busy saving the people who had been on the bridge when it was pulled apart. Prime and his team(and the angry bridge) head for the Tower, but luckily, a who's who of former Teen Titans are standing in front of the Tower ready to defend it.

Thoughts: This actually wasn't that bad of a comic. I really enjoyed the first few pages... At least until the villains suddenly headed towards Titans Tower... I seriously thought that maybe I was missing a page or something, because we go for the Titans battling against Prime and company to the villains flying towards the Tower, with NO explanation between scenes. That hurt the flow of this issue for me, but the more I think about it, I do understand why it happened like that. Maybe JT Krul had planned for this storyline to run longer than just three issues and had to cut some stuff out due to the reboot? Besides that, and this is a REALLY small gripe, but worth pointing out, there was no title for this issue... Usually you'll have the credits along with a story title on a page somewhere in the book. This issue gave us the credits, but no title... Weird. With only one more issue of this series to go, and something like 3 issues of Teen Titans released in a matter of 4 or 5 weeks, I guess that explains the little mistakes that I found here and there.

Score: 8 out of 10.Well, it's not the real Inertia, but it's something... I guess...