Overall- The last issue of this comic book will go down as one of the more infamous moments in DC history. I made my feelings pretty clear on the whole situation here, http://xmanscomicblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-feelings-on-infamous-rape-of.html, so now this comic should deal with the fallout from last issue...
Apparently Dick has gone somewhat crazy due to the murder of Blockbuster, and his subsequent rape, pardon me, I mean "nonconsensual sex" at the hands of Tarantula. Dick is now traveling with Tarantula, but is obviously not in his right mind, as proven by him repeatedly spacing out. Dick almost gets himself killed while battling some common hoodlums with Tarantula, but is saved by her. After returning to their hotel room, Dick collapses into the bed babbling nonsensically, while Tarantula leaves him to go shopping. On the way back, Tarantula roughs up some thugs and finds out some villain named Copperhead is planning to kill a drug dealer later on during the night.
Returning to the hotel, Tarantula finds Dick gone, and is attacked by Copperhead, who seems to have followed her home. Copperhead manages to poison Tarantula, but is chased away by Dick, who was returning to the room. Dick gives Tarantula the antidote to Copperhead's venom, but refuses to help Tarantula hunt down Copperhead. Tarantula goes after Copperhead alone, while Dick sits alone in the hotel room, ending this issue.
Before going any further, I can't help but rant about the term, "nonconsensual sex". By definition, "nonconsensual" means :not involving consent :not consented to. The definition of "rape" is :any act of sexual intercourse that is forced on a person. Now to me, the two terms are the EXACT SAME THING! Why am I harping on this? Because of the fact that DC and Nightwing writer at the time, Devin Grayson refuse to call what happened to Dick by what it was, and that is a rape. If you want some proof of this, read Devin's interview, found here, http://www.comicboards.com/devin.php. I mean, come on! No matter how much make-up you put on a pig, it's still a pig! I guess DC wanted to pretty up what happened to Dick, but if you want to write a story about a rape, then CALL it what it really is, a rape! Nonconsensual sex... Please.
Anyway, with that finally out of my system, I can write about this issue. This comic was OK, but it kind of pisses me off that Dick is now travelling with Tarantula, considering the events of the prior issue. I guess Devin is trying to show that Dick is at least partially insane with guilt over what happened, and doesn't really have any idea as to what is going on around him. For a score, I'll give this issue a 5 1/2 out of 10. The story itself was good, but the treatment of Nightwing himself is pretty lousy right now...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Post #200!
So, what should I do for my 200th post on this blog? How about post a picture of classic Captain America, Steve Rogers? Although I've really enjoyed Ed Brubaker's run on "Captain America", as well as really liking Bucky, Steve Rogers will now and forever be the one true Captain America to me. Here's to your eventual return Cap!
Can anyone PLEASE answer this X-Men related question???
My all time favorite character is Nate Grey, AKA X-Man. That's a given. But, there has always been one question that has haunted me about Nate ever since I'd become his #1 fan... One question that I can't explain, even though I own every single comic book Nate has EVER appeared in. If someone could give me a logical answer to this question, I would be forever in their debt, and possibly build a monument to them... Well, probably not, but I'd still be appreciative.
Now for the question that has haunted my days and nights for years now: Why is Nate Grey listed in the Official Marvel Handbook as standing at a height of 5'9", while Nathan Summers(Cable) is listed at 6'8"???
For those who do not know, Nate was created in a laboratory in an alternate dimension by Mr. Sinister using the genetic material of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Cable was born to Jean Grey's clone(who was created by Mr. Sinister)and Scott Summers in the main Marvel dimension. Now, from my understanding, that would mean that they were both created from the same exact genetic material, Scott Summers and Jean Grey, so therefore should be identical.
So, why is Nate a full foot shorter than Cable? It can't be age related, because when Nate died, I would figure his age to be between 18 and 20, so he would have been practically done growing by this point. Yes, I know that this is a pretty weird thing to obsess over, but I would think that anybody who has read any of my blog would realize that I am a pretty weird person. So, PLEASE, anybody who can shine some light on this strange situation, do so right away, so I can sleep a little easier at night! ;-)
Now for the question that has haunted my days and nights for years now: Why is Nate Grey listed in the Official Marvel Handbook as standing at a height of 5'9", while Nathan Summers(Cable) is listed at 6'8"???
For those who do not know, Nate was created in a laboratory in an alternate dimension by Mr. Sinister using the genetic material of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Cable was born to Jean Grey's clone(who was created by Mr. Sinister)and Scott Summers in the main Marvel dimension. Now, from my understanding, that would mean that they were both created from the same exact genetic material, Scott Summers and Jean Grey, so therefore should be identical.
So, why is Nate a full foot shorter than Cable? It can't be age related, because when Nate died, I would figure his age to be between 18 and 20, so he would have been practically done growing by this point. Yes, I know that this is a pretty weird thing to obsess over, but I would think that anybody who has read any of my blog would realize that I am a pretty weird person. So, PLEASE, anybody who can shine some light on this strange situation, do so right away, so I can sleep a little easier at night! ;-)
Nightwing: The Target
Overall- This comic took place I'd guess around Nightwing #60 or so, so it's older then the Nightwing stuff I'm currently reading. The story revolves around Officer Dick Grayson, as opposed to his alter-ego, Nightwing. Upon arriving at work one night, Dick is told by his partner, Sgt. Amy that he'll have to go patrolling solo, due to the fact that she has a load of paperwork to catch up on. Dick goes out, and at sees some of his fellow officers chasing 2 suspects. Dick decides to assist and winds up following his fellow officers and the suspects into an underground lair at the Zee Moores project building. As Dick goes underground, he witnesses 4 cops beating the hell out of 2 people. After watching shocked for a moment, Dick jumps in and pulls the crazed cops off. For this action, he gets smashed in the back of the head by one of the cop's guns, and awakens in the hospital.
While there, he is told one of the people getting beaten had died, and the 4 other cops were saying that Dick was the cop responsible. So, Dick gets suspended from the force, and has to try to find a way to clear his name, without connecting Dick Grayson to Nightwing. Dick decides to create a new masked vigilante named the Target, and goes about trying to clear his name. As luck would have it, the men the cops were beating to death weren't the guys they were trying to catch, so Dick tries to find the original suspects the cops were chasing down that fateful night. While investigating, Dick learns the 4 dirty cops were working as muscle for a local drug lord named Binh Dan.
Binh sent the cops to kill the original 2 suspects, because they were stealing drugs and money from him. The Target confronts Binh at one of his bases, and gets him to implicate the dirty cops by threatening to torch Binh's drug money. After getting the information he wants from Binh, Dick torches the money anyway, and starts a raging fire at the drug warehouse. Meanwhile, Dick's partner, Sgt. Amy, winds up finding the original 2 suspects hiding out, since she believed Dick was innocent from the start.
Upon arriving at the warehouse fire, the dirty cops and Binh's men start to fight, after Binh blames them for his lost money, and the Target manages to keep them all from killing each other. After some time, other cops arrive on the scene, thanks to the fire from the burning warehouse, and take in both Binh's men as well as the 4 dirty cops. With Binh, as well as the 2 suspects in custody, Dick's name is cleared, and he is reinstated to the police force, while the 4 dirty cops wind up getting charged with the murder. With that, we have our happy ending.
I liked this comic. I didn't love it, but I did like it. It was a fun read, which is the important thing. I have NO idea why this wasn't actually in the Nightwing series, but whatever I guess. I liked when Batman stopped by after Dick is released from police custody, and #####es about Dick getting involved in this whole situation. I wonder what exactly goes on in Batman's head sometimes. I guess he must feel that he never does anything wrong. Anyway, I had no real problems with this comic, besides how neatly everything wrapped up, so for a score, I'll go with a 7 1/2 out of 10.
While there, he is told one of the people getting beaten had died, and the 4 other cops were saying that Dick was the cop responsible. So, Dick gets suspended from the force, and has to try to find a way to clear his name, without connecting Dick Grayson to Nightwing. Dick decides to create a new masked vigilante named the Target, and goes about trying to clear his name. As luck would have it, the men the cops were beating to death weren't the guys they were trying to catch, so Dick tries to find the original suspects the cops were chasing down that fateful night. While investigating, Dick learns the 4 dirty cops were working as muscle for a local drug lord named Binh Dan.
Binh sent the cops to kill the original 2 suspects, because they were stealing drugs and money from him. The Target confronts Binh at one of his bases, and gets him to implicate the dirty cops by threatening to torch Binh's drug money. After getting the information he wants from Binh, Dick torches the money anyway, and starts a raging fire at the drug warehouse. Meanwhile, Dick's partner, Sgt. Amy, winds up finding the original 2 suspects hiding out, since she believed Dick was innocent from the start.
Upon arriving at the warehouse fire, the dirty cops and Binh's men start to fight, after Binh blames them for his lost money, and the Target manages to keep them all from killing each other. After some time, other cops arrive on the scene, thanks to the fire from the burning warehouse, and take in both Binh's men as well as the 4 dirty cops. With Binh, as well as the 2 suspects in custody, Dick's name is cleared, and he is reinstated to the police force, while the 4 dirty cops wind up getting charged with the murder. With that, we have our happy ending.
I liked this comic. I didn't love it, but I did like it. It was a fun read, which is the important thing. I have NO idea why this wasn't actually in the Nightwing series, but whatever I guess. I liked when Batman stopped by after Dick is released from police custody, and #####es about Dick getting involved in this whole situation. I wonder what exactly goes on in Batman's head sometimes. I guess he must feel that he never does anything wrong. Anyway, I had no real problems with this comic, besides how neatly everything wrapped up, so for a score, I'll go with a 7 1/2 out of 10.
Justice League of America # 26
OK, I'll admit it, I've been avoiding this comic book like the plague. I'm sorry, but the last issue was really horrible... Anyway, this is it, there's no turning back now, the only thing left to do is read on...
Overall- Well, the best thing I can say here is thank God this storyline is over. I'd like to explain what this issue was about, and what happened here, but I think it would take either a much smarter person then me, or maybe a madman...
I guess I'll try my best to muddle through this. Vixen is stuck in an alternate dimension thanks to an African trickster God by the name of Anansi. She decides to assemble the alternate world's version of the Justice League and with the alternate JLAers, takes the fight to Anansi, in his realm, which if I understood correctly is in Vixen's totem... I think... ANYWAY, Vixen forces Anansi to return the true JLA by threatening to destroy her totem. Anansi does as he is told, and the true JLA battles with their alternate counterparts, who Anansi has turned evil. Vixen and Anansi talk for a while, and Anansi reveals that he was testing Vixen the entire time, before sending her and the JLA back to their restored reality.
Hmph... I guess for me, reading this comic was like taking a trip to the dentist. You dread going, but it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. That's not to say that this comic wasn't sucktacular, but I was expecting a lot worse. The alternate JLA was barely involved, which was kind of strange, since they were featured so prominently on the cover, and put over so strongly last issue. I'm sure I missed the main point to this entire storyline, because, to me this whole story was kind of pointless. Vixen and Anansi have a nice little discussion while the 2 JLA's are battling, and then everything is suddenly back to normal? What? Huh? Why? Anyway, like I said earlier, I'm glad this storyline is over. For a score, I'll go with a 3 out of 10.
Overall- Well, the best thing I can say here is thank God this storyline is over. I'd like to explain what this issue was about, and what happened here, but I think it would take either a much smarter person then me, or maybe a madman...
I guess I'll try my best to muddle through this. Vixen is stuck in an alternate dimension thanks to an African trickster God by the name of Anansi. She decides to assemble the alternate world's version of the Justice League and with the alternate JLAers, takes the fight to Anansi, in his realm, which if I understood correctly is in Vixen's totem... I think... ANYWAY, Vixen forces Anansi to return the true JLA by threatening to destroy her totem. Anansi does as he is told, and the true JLA battles with their alternate counterparts, who Anansi has turned evil. Vixen and Anansi talk for a while, and Anansi reveals that he was testing Vixen the entire time, before sending her and the JLA back to their restored reality.
Hmph... I guess for me, reading this comic was like taking a trip to the dentist. You dread going, but it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. That's not to say that this comic wasn't sucktacular, but I was expecting a lot worse. The alternate JLA was barely involved, which was kind of strange, since they were featured so prominently on the cover, and put over so strongly last issue. I'm sure I missed the main point to this entire storyline, because, to me this whole story was kind of pointless. Vixen and Anansi have a nice little discussion while the 2 JLA's are battling, and then everything is suddenly back to normal? What? Huh? Why? Anyway, like I said earlier, I'm glad this storyline is over. For a score, I'll go with a 3 out of 10.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Final Crisis:Rage of the Red Lanterns.
Man, I am TIRED! Once I read this comic, I plan on sleeping for at least 12 hours straight... HA, like that will happen! Anyway, nobody wants to listen to me talk to myself, so on with the review.
Overall- Maybe I have no idea as to what was going on in this comic book because of the fact that I've barely slept this past week, well, either that, or this comic book was just very confusing. Apparently, the Green Lanterns have captured Sinistro and are bringing him to a world he attacked to execute him there.
As the convoy moves through space, the GL's are attacked by the yellow ring wearing Sinistro Corps members, who have arrived to spring Sinistro. While the Green and Yellow Lanterns battled, a new group of Red ring wearing aliens arrive on the scene, and state that they will have the pleasure of killing Sinistro. With that said, the Red Lanterns tear into all the other Lanterns, Green or Yellow, and capture Sinistro.
Hal Jordan nearly blacks out, but awakens as his ring doubles in power levels. Hal looks back to find Saint Walker, the Blue Lantern, whoever THAT is supposed to be. This issue sets up the next big Green Lantern comic event, which is cool and all, but it had pretty much nothing to do with Final Crisis! Why did this comic have the Final Crisis banner? I don't get it... Maybe in the main Final Crisis series these Red Lanterns will show up? That seems unlikely, since they next show up in Hal's Green Lantern comic. What I really got out of this was that there were a whole hell of a lot more power rings in the universe then I would have thought possible... Geez, pick a color, and I'm sure that color has it's own ring somewhere in the DCU!
This story was pretty good, if a bit confusing to a novice Green Lantern reader. I am interested in picking up the next issue of Green Lantern to see what happens next, so if that was the purpose of putting the misleading Final Crisis banner on this comic, then they tricked me good! For a score, I'll go with a 7 out of 10.
Overall- Maybe I have no idea as to what was going on in this comic book because of the fact that I've barely slept this past week, well, either that, or this comic book was just very confusing. Apparently, the Green Lanterns have captured Sinistro and are bringing him to a world he attacked to execute him there.
As the convoy moves through space, the GL's are attacked by the yellow ring wearing Sinistro Corps members, who have arrived to spring Sinistro. While the Green and Yellow Lanterns battled, a new group of Red ring wearing aliens arrive on the scene, and state that they will have the pleasure of killing Sinistro. With that said, the Red Lanterns tear into all the other Lanterns, Green or Yellow, and capture Sinistro.
Hal Jordan nearly blacks out, but awakens as his ring doubles in power levels. Hal looks back to find Saint Walker, the Blue Lantern, whoever THAT is supposed to be. This issue sets up the next big Green Lantern comic event, which is cool and all, but it had pretty much nothing to do with Final Crisis! Why did this comic have the Final Crisis banner? I don't get it... Maybe in the main Final Crisis series these Red Lanterns will show up? That seems unlikely, since they next show up in Hal's Green Lantern comic. What I really got out of this was that there were a whole hell of a lot more power rings in the universe then I would have thought possible... Geez, pick a color, and I'm sure that color has it's own ring somewhere in the DCU!
This story was pretty good, if a bit confusing to a novice Green Lantern reader. I am interested in picking up the next issue of Green Lantern to see what happens next, so if that was the purpose of putting the misleading Final Crisis banner on this comic, then they tricked me good! For a score, I'll go with a 7 out of 10.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Final Crisis:Resist
Overall- OK... This comic book has left me confused and conflicted, two things I don't really like to feel. Basically, the planet has gone to hell, and only a very, very select few people still have the willpower to fight off Darkseid and the anti-life equation. Mr. Terrific is working with Checkmate, but the entire Checkmate base winds up being overtaken, except for Terrific, Snapper Carr, an AI construct called Thinker, a woman, who Terrific seems sweet on named Sasha Bordeaux, who seems to contain the OMAC virus and some other guy, who doesn't really do much. Sorry, I'm really foggy about what Checkmate is so alot of this story kind of went over my head.
Mr. Terrific along with his motley crew hide in a bunker at the Checkmate base, while the Darkseid possessed anti-lifers try to get in unsuccessfully. Snapper Carr is apparently a teleportor now(huh?)and has been travelling the globe looking for help, and destroying any weapons Darkseid's forces might be able to get a hold of. While Snapper is out, looking for help, he runs into the criminal Cheetah, who thus far has been able to avoid being contaminated by the anti-life equation.
After a few friendly run ins with Cheetah, Snapper sleeps with her, hey, why not, the world's gone to hell anyway. After their tryst, they are discovered by a possessed Gorilla Grodd who attacks them, but they manage to teleport back to Terrific, at the cost of Snapper teleportation powers. Without Snappers ability to teleport, Terrific and company are basically stranded and surrounded by possessed Checkmate officers.
Terrific, in a desperate gamble decides to try to reactivate the OMAC's in the hopes that they will battle Darkseid's forces, since a Darkseid victory does nothing to help the OMAC's. Ultimately, Terrific activates the OMAC's after they agree to help, and with his army of meta-human killing OMAC's, Mr. Terrific escapes the Checkmate base, hoping to go on the offensive.
OK. I will say right upfront that I know practically nothing about Checkmate. I'm guessing they serve a similar purpose as to what SHIELD does in the Marvel Universe. This wasn't a bad comic, BUT, I thought all the OMAC's were destroyed... As a matter of fact, I can remember reading a mini-series not that long ago about a character named Michael Costner, who's entire mini-series revolved around the fact that he was the last OMAC. The key word in that last sentence is LAST.
If Mike Costner was the LAST OMAC, where did Mr. Terrific find all these other OMAC's. Either my definition of LAST is way off, or DC doesn't understand what the word LAST means. In case anybody at DC Comics is a little confused about what the word last means, I'll try to define it. Last means the only one, final. If there are millions of OMAC's running around out there, well then, Michael Costner was definitely not the LAST OMAC.
Little things like that really bother me. Don't promote a series as containing the last of something, and then have a million of the last something show up soon there after. The other thing that disturbed me, was since when did Snapper Carr become a teleporter? I guess I missed something somewhere, because when he was with Young Justice, all he could do was annoy people by snapping his fingers incessantly. These weird gaps in logic really hurt this comic for me, so I'll give it a 4 1/2 out of 10 as a score.
Mr. Terrific along with his motley crew hide in a bunker at the Checkmate base, while the Darkseid possessed anti-lifers try to get in unsuccessfully. Snapper Carr is apparently a teleportor now(huh?)and has been travelling the globe looking for help, and destroying any weapons Darkseid's forces might be able to get a hold of. While Snapper is out, looking for help, he runs into the criminal Cheetah, who thus far has been able to avoid being contaminated by the anti-life equation.
After a few friendly run ins with Cheetah, Snapper sleeps with her, hey, why not, the world's gone to hell anyway. After their tryst, they are discovered by a possessed Gorilla Grodd who attacks them, but they manage to teleport back to Terrific, at the cost of Snapper teleportation powers. Without Snappers ability to teleport, Terrific and company are basically stranded and surrounded by possessed Checkmate officers.
Terrific, in a desperate gamble decides to try to reactivate the OMAC's in the hopes that they will battle Darkseid's forces, since a Darkseid victory does nothing to help the OMAC's. Ultimately, Terrific activates the OMAC's after they agree to help, and with his army of meta-human killing OMAC's, Mr. Terrific escapes the Checkmate base, hoping to go on the offensive.
OK. I will say right upfront that I know practically nothing about Checkmate. I'm guessing they serve a similar purpose as to what SHIELD does in the Marvel Universe. This wasn't a bad comic, BUT, I thought all the OMAC's were destroyed... As a matter of fact, I can remember reading a mini-series not that long ago about a character named Michael Costner, who's entire mini-series revolved around the fact that he was the last OMAC. The key word in that last sentence is LAST.
If Mike Costner was the LAST OMAC, where did Mr. Terrific find all these other OMAC's. Either my definition of LAST is way off, or DC doesn't understand what the word LAST means. In case anybody at DC Comics is a little confused about what the word last means, I'll try to define it. Last means the only one, final. If there are millions of OMAC's running around out there, well then, Michael Costner was definitely not the LAST OMAC.
Little things like that really bother me. Don't promote a series as containing the last of something, and then have a million of the last something show up soon there after. The other thing that disturbed me, was since when did Snapper Carr become a teleporter? I guess I missed something somewhere, because when he was with Young Justice, all he could do was annoy people by snapping his fingers incessantly. These weird gaps in logic really hurt this comic for me, so I'll give it a 4 1/2 out of 10 as a score.
Please read Nova!!!
I basically think the title of this post says it all. Nova is one of the best written comic books in print right now, period. I'd ask anyone who can afford to, to give Nova a try. Even if you remember the Nova character from the 90's and didn't like him, trust me, this comic book is well worth a read.
Basically, since the Annihilation storyline from about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have been quietly producing some of the best work to come out of Marvel Comics. Like I said, if you can afford to pick up a Nova tpb, or even the tpb for Annihilation, do it right away, and see what you're missing out on!
Basically, since the Annihilation storyline from about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have been quietly producing some of the best work to come out of Marvel Comics. Like I said, if you can afford to pick up a Nova tpb, or even the tpb for Annihilation, do it right away, and see what you're missing out on!
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