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.

Voodoo #8

One more day until New Comic Day! That is actually a mixed blessing, as it means tomorrow I get a whole new crop of (hopefully) great books, but tonight I'm stuck with the bottom of my comic book barrel... Well, the best way to get through tonight is to blitz through these books, so let's do just that!

Voodoo #8:

Summary: Some members of the Blackhawks report back to their base that Black Jack had been killed by EVIL Voodoo, which causes the leader of the Blackhawks to send out a mess of Blackhawks/Black Razors to take EVIL Voodoo down. Meanwhile, EVIL Voodoo also manages to kill Agent Fallon, which leads to GOOD Voodoo attacking her EVIL counterpart. EVIL Voodoo takes on the exact look of GOOD Voodoo(to mess with her head) and the two are locked in combat when the Blackhawks/Black Razors arrive. Not knowing which Voodoo was good and which was evil, they move in to apprehend them both, at which time EVIL Voodoo attacks and kills some Razors before making good her escape. As for GOOD Voodoo, the leader of the Blackhawks walks over and offers her a job.

Thoughts: Meh. This is a series that is in desperate need of some fixing... GOOD Voodoo STILL hasn't been called Voodoo by ANYBODY, while EVIL Voodoo is called Voodoo by EVERYBODY... Which means this series is about EVIL Voodoo since the title is “Voodoo”? I guess? That just makes no sense... EVIL Voodoo needs a name change, and GOOD Voodoo needs to claim the Voodoo name as her own, although I don't see how/why she would do that... What an odd mess this all is...

Score: 6 out of 10.

That's gonna leave a HELL of a mark!

Voodoo #7

First review of the night is Voodoo... This series has been losing me for a while now... The clone reveal really hurt my enjoyment of this series a thousandfold. But maybe things will get better with this issue... I mean it can't get any worse storywise, can it?

Voodoo #7:

Summary: Black Jack takes Agent Fallon and Real Voodoo to his secret bunker hideout so they could plan their next move, which was to seemingly have Real Voodoo find Clone Voodoo with their secret wonder twin powers... Or something. Anyway, on the Daemonite ship, Clone Voodoo bitches to the Daemonite command council, wanting to know why they created her. Basically, the Daemonites tell her that since Earth was a hotbed of meta-human activity, they wanted in on that racket and as such were trying to create a human/Daemonite hybrid that would have enhanced powers and would be loyal to the Daemonites. Clone Voodoo was the greatest success for the Daemonites. For some reason or another, Clone Voodoo gets into a fight with the Daemonites again, so the Daemonites offer to make her the commander of all the Daemonite hybrids on the Earth... A position Clone Voodoo takes, thereby completing her heel turn. Meanwhile, Black Jack, Fallon and Real Voodoo head to the site where a Daemonite ship exploded and Real Voodoo screams dramatically to the heavens. The now Evil Clone Voodoo strolls out of a portal nearby, which naturally leads to Jack attacking Evil Clone Voodoo. This issue ends with Evil Clone Voodoo decapitating Jack to the shock and horror of Real Voodoo and Fallon.

Thoughts: Eh. I don't get it. I just don't get the weird direction this series has gone in... So is Evil Clone Voodoo actually going to stick around here as the main antagonist now? Because if she does she's probably going to need a new name... But then again, I don't think anybody has actually called Real Voodoo “Voodoo” yet... Which makes this all even stranger... Everybody has been calling Evil Clone Voodoo “Voodoo” all seven issues of this series, while Real Voodoo, who I'd imagine this series will eventually revolve around, has never been called Voodoo, even though the title of this series is Voodoo, which is the name of the bad guy, which......... Ugh... Forget it... I give up. I'm just going to end things here before my brain explodes...

Score: 6 out of 10.

*Cue melodramatic music*

Voodoo #6

Only seven more reviews to get through this week! And you know what that means... We're starting to get towards the books I'm really not all that keen on reading... Let's hope at least one of the next few books turns out to have been worth the money I spent on it...

Voodoo #6:

Summary: Voodoo heads to a Daemonite warship and demands an audience with the Daemonite war council, since she was in a state of confusion after learning that she was seemingly a clone. As for the real(I guess?) Voodoo, she is broken out of government custody by government agents Fallon and Black Jack. Fallon and Black Jack seem to think the real Voodoo would be able to help them find the clone Voodoo... Uh-huh... Fallon and Black Jack are successful with their breakout, and escape with Real Voodoo. As for Apparent Clone Voodoo, she fights her way through several angry Daemonites and enters the room of the war council, demanding answers to her many questions.

Thoughts: Yeah, I didn't like this issue much at all... I don't get why we need TWO Voodoos, especially since you KNOW one of them is probably going to get killed off, and the one to go will probably be Apparent Clone Voodoo... Meaning the character we've spent the past 6 issues reading about will be dying... And will probably be replaced by Real Voodoo, who has been around for all of TWO issues... Sure, I could be wrong, and maybe Real Voodoo will die for some reason, or hell, maybe neither one will die, but whatever the case may be, I just don't get the direction this comic has gone in.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Sooo... This is the real Voodoo? I guess? Probably?

Voodoo #5

So this is the first issue of this series without Ron Marz... I have to say, DC dropping Marz from this book greatly disappointed me because I thought he was slowly finding his groove here. But that's the way things seem to work in the new DCU... Writers change books seemingly every other issue. Oh well, let's see how Josh Williamson does. And let's see how long HE lasts on this book...

Voodoo #5:

Summary: Voodoo returns to the ship that brought her to Earth to send out the information about Earth's superhumans(she acquired that info last issue, fyi). Upon entering the ship she finds somebody waiting for her and we learn that Voodoo is a hybrid Daemonite, and that the guy in the ship was a full-blood Daemonite, who apparently hated hybrids... Um, huh... Anyway, the Daemonite goes to kill Voodoo, but she manages to use her... um, hybrid powers to kill the attacker. With that, she prepares to send out the information, but first takes a peek into the file to see what the government knew about her. In the file she learns that she was apparently a clone, and the real Voodoo was in government custody.

Thoughts: The hell?! This issue was......... something... I can't say I like the reveal that Voodoo was a hybrid Daemonite, mainly because we STILL don't know the full story behind the Daemonites yet(it's still unfolding in the pages of Grifter). And the ending? Terrible... It seemed like a really poor swerve simply done for the sake of swerving the readers. “Guess what? Voodoo is actually a CLONE!!!” Dun-dun-dun!!! The ending here just reeked of a forced move to try to raise interest at the expense of the story. And after reading what John Rozum had to say about his experiences writing Static Shock and how DC wanted to keep throwing out crazy ideas out at the expense of the story, I have a bad feeling that this series is going to become VERY light on the story and VERY heavy on the unexpected(and nonsensical) swerves...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

So now Voodoo is a hybrid Daemonite or something... Riiiiiight...

Voodoo #4

And the last review for the first night of 2012? Voodoo #4. Why Voodoo? I'm not really sure... I kind of thought I put this comic a bit lower in my comic pile, but hey, it's here now, so let's take care of it!

Voodoo #4:

What Happened: Voodoo breaks in to the government facility that was keeping tabs on the various meta-humans running around the DCU. For those keeping count, they are secret government agency #7,875,396 of the new DCU... While Fallon, her boss and that Bolton guy talk about what they know about Voodoo(precious little!), Voodoo manages to get into a room that housed the main computer containing the information about the Earth's heroes, downloads it to a flashdrive and then proceeds to crash the system. Before she can escape though, Voodoo bumps into some guards and has to kill them, at which time the alarms in the building sound. Voodoo manages to take out the power to the building, which sends the staff into a panic, at which time she makes good her escape due to her shapeshifting abilities. And that's mainly that.

The Good: This comic had a very fast pace to it. It just sped along.

The Bad: While this comic had a great pace to it, I find myself caring very little for Voodoo and/or the various government goons looking for her... I mean seriously, are we supposed to like Voodoo? Hate her? Be confused by her? Four issues in I don't know how I feel about her, which is kind of weird. While the mystery surrounding Voodoo initially helped get me interested in this series, we need to know a little bit more about her and her motivations going forward, because right now I don't know if I should be cheering her or booing her.

The Verdict: This was an okay comic book. It moved along briskly, but it also had very little meat to it. Personality-wise I have little reason to feel connected to Voodoo or the government-types who are out to get her. This is the rare comic where I'm fine with the story but could care less about anybody in it one way or the other.

Score: 6 out of 10.Voodoo's up to something here...

Voodoo #3

Next up, the third issue of Voodoo, and one of Ron Marz last ones on the series. I'm going to come right out and say that I'll be VERY sorry to see Marz off of this title, since he's a more talented writer than most of what's working at DC, especially Scott Lobdell... But enough of that, let's hit the review.

Voodoo #3:

What Happened: Voodoo makes her way to Alabama and meets with her contact, another member of... well, whatever she is. While Voodoo is discussing what their next step should be, Kyle Rayner busts in to investigate the transmissions being sent from Voodoo's contact into deep space. The contact and his associates distract Kyle, allowing Voodoo to make good her escape, but leaving her without a contact. This issue ends with one of the Daemonites from Grifter's series searching for Voodoo.

The Good: Ron Marz getting to write Kyle Rayner again was the best thing about this issue, hands down. The mystery in this series concerning who Voodoo is and what her plans are is actually good and enjoyable, unlike the mystery in Deathstroke concerning that damned suitcase. The story moved REALLY fast. I blazed through this comic in a few minutes. The Daemonite at the end of this one was a pleasant surprise.

The Bad: I don't get why Kyle couldn't simply return to Earth after Voodoo's contact escaped in his spaceship... With that ring on his finger you'd think he'd have been able to track her down with little trouble, but I guess not. Kyle looked rather amateurish this entire issue...

The Verdict: No complaints here. This was a good, solid, fast moving comic book that continued to establish that Voodoo is VERY mysterious. Her meeting with Kyle here was good as it seems to have left her slightly conflicted, as she had only seen the worst in humanity until he came along. While I'm eager to find out more about Voodoo and who/what her people are, I'm not annoyed by the mystery, which makes this series better than Deathstroke in my opinion.

Score: 8 out of 10.Yay, it's Kyle, the way he should be!

Voodoo #2

Here's the last DC comic book I'll be reading this week. I wasn't all that impressed with the first issue, but regardless of what I think about this series, it's safe on my pull list as it's one of the comics I'm buying for my sister.

Voodoo #2:

What Happened: Voodoo, looking like the FBI agent she murdered last issue, sleeps with the dead agents partner(Agent Fallon) to get close enough to her to use her telepathy to find out more about the feds plans against her. After discovering all that she could, Voodoo leaves the hotel room, and the Agent Fallon learns from her supervisor that her partner was found dead in the strip club, meaning she had been fooling around with Voodoo. The feds send out an armored hit squad and a super-powered agent named Black Jack(who kind of looked like Major Force) to catch Voodoo, but only manage to trap her in an abandoned building. Agent Fallon arrives and pulls rank, entering the building alone since she wanted to kill Voodoo as retribution for her partner's death. Voodoo manages to shapeshift into Agent Fallon and sneaks away again, ending this issue.

The Good: The story was fast paced and easy to follow. The last page showed us that Kyle Rayner will be showing up next issue, and the prospect of Ron Marz writing his creation, the greatest of all the Green Lanterns(by a mile) has me psyched for issue #3. Like the story, the artwork was solid.

The Bad: How in the world do the feds allow ONE of their number to enter the building to get Voodoo no matter WHAT her rank was?! That's terrible strategy! We still don't know much of anything about Voodoo except that she's an alien shapeshifter with some telepathy. Her past/mission is still unclear.

The Verdict: I liked this issue. I mean it didn't blow me away or anything, but it was a good, fast, solid read, and to be honest with you, that's the most I could expect from any comic that has the DC logo adorning it's cover. We have ourselves a super powered foe for Voodoo to face going forward(Black Jack) and a Kyle Rayner appearance coming up. This was probably one of the best DC books I've read all October, although that's not exactly saying much...

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Ron Marz writing Kyle Rayner again? That makes it feel like all is right with the DCU again...

Voodoo #1

Here's a DC series I picked up at my sister's request, since she was a fan of the old WildCATS series. For the record, I know NOTHING about Voodoo, so this is all completely new to me!

Voodoo #1:

What Happened: We find two agents(we never learn for what agency) watching a stripper named Voodoo preforming at a(where else?) strip club. They have orders to keep an eye on Voodoo, but the female agent gets tired of watching her male counterpart ogle the strippers so she leaves. The male agent manages to get a private room with Voodoo where he tells her he believed she was a shapeshifting alien with some low-level telepathy. He tells Voodoo to come with him peacefully before his agency takes her down by force. Voodoo looks into the agent's mind and doesn't like what she sees, at which point she slaughters him in her alien form. From there, Voodoo quits her job at the club, walks outside, shifts into the form of the male agent and calls the female agent up.

The Good: The story was well-paced and was a quick read. Voodoo seems like an interesting character. Ron Marz is the writer and I'm a huge fan of his work. The cliffhanger left me intrigued.

The Bad: How many sneaky government agents are running around in the new DCU!? It seems there's a secret government agency in almost half of the rebooted DC books! We really don't learn anything about Voodoo, although I'm sure that will be dealt with the next few issues. The male agent's actions didn't make a lot of sense as he placed himself in an insane amount of danger.

The Verdict: Even if I wasn't obligated to buy this comic for my sister, I'd definitely be sticking around for the next issue(s). The story wasn't great, but it was interesting. So while this wasn't one of my favorite rebooted DC titles, it was good enough to get me to come back for more next month, which is the important thing.

Score: 7 out of 10.Um, yuck.