New Comic Day!

Hey X-Maniacs, I figured I should take some time away from my studies to throw a quick New Comics Day post up. One more day of summer school and then I have 10 days off before the fall semester starts up. However, tomorrow is my sixth and final Spanish test, and it looks to be the most difficult one of all. So yeah, today has been all about the studying for me... But even the most dedicated student needs a break, which is exactly what this post is for me. A slight refrain from the Spanish flashcards that have come to dominate my summer.

But you're not here to listen to me detail my study habits(at least I doubt you are...), you're here to see what I picked up today at the comic book shop! First off, I decided to give Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1 a shot, after very nearly not bothering to... If not for my sister, I honestly doubt I'd have brought that comic at all. Maybe DC will shock me and Emerald Warriors will be worth reading. Me? I doubt it. Moving on, I also picked up Batgirl #13, Invincible Iron Man #29, Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #1, Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #2, Thanos Imperative #3, Zatanna #4, Booster Gold #35 and X-Men #2. I also grabbed the Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 2 hardcover, which contains issues #14-24 as well as a few extras. Yes, after the third Invincible tpb, I am officially hooked. Maybe one day this coming week I'll try to do an Invincible post to explain why the third trade was SO amazing. Then again I still have a half finished Robin post sitting in my files, so I wouldn't hold my breath on an Invincible post... Anyway, let me know which comics you want to see reviewed here(and whether you'd like to see a Picto-Review for them), and that'll do it for me tonight. It's time to throw on my headphones and get back to those flashcards. Until tomorrow, X out.

Picto-Review: Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1(of 3)

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1: Writer: Cary Bates. Artist: Renato Arlem.

Before we get to the story a little background information first... This is an Elseworlds tale that looks into what would have happened if Superman's mother and father had managed to escape the destruction of Krypton along with baby Kal-El.


So the family El land on Earth and bust out the awesomely clichéd, “We come in peace” line to a bunch of skeptical soldiers.


However, the El's prove to the planet that they do indeed come in peace as they go around preventing death and destruction, becoming model citizens beloved the world over.


In time, Superman's mother, Lara, decides that young Kal should see first hand how an Earth child lives, and after some deliberation decides to send him to Martha and Jonathan Kent, the ideal Earth couple. Supes father, Jor-El is not exactly enamored by his wife's decision.


With Supes away, Lara writes a best-selling book on Raology, the religion of Krypton, while Jor-El starts up Jorcorp, a massive think tank.


Growing ever apart, the El's end up having a massive argument, which ends with the couple getting busy on the sun.


And as is often the case when unprotected sex on the sun is involved, Lara becomes pregnant and winds up giving birth to twins, ending this issue.


What I Thought: Well, if nothing else, this comic was interesting. With that said though, I'm a sucker for alternate reality stories(I grew up a HUGE What If... fan), so going in I knew I'd at least be intrigued by the premise of this story. On the plus side, it almost read like a bizarre Fantastic Four type of comic. You had Jor-El as the distant scientist(ala Reed), Lara as the media darling(like Sue)and little, powerful Kal-El(taking the role of Franklin). The more I read, the more of an FF feel I got off of this comic, which I did like. On the negative side though, nothing really happened... I mean, this was a big $4.99, 64-page comic, and all we really got was the El's establishing themselves on Earth. There was some slight conflict between Jor-El and Lara, and an barely developed sub-story about Kal wanting his father to accept him, but that was that. There was no bad guy(although Lex Luthor as a child did appear), no real conflict, nor even anything set up for future issues, as this issue ended on a positive note. Weird. In the end though, this issue did interest me enough to convince me to pick up the rest of the mini-series. Here's hoping we get a bit more action next issue.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

The Random Scan of the Week!

Hey all, it's Sunday night, which means it's time for the “Random Scan of the Week!”(trademark pending). After not putting up a Random Scan last week(as I unveiled the surprisingly popular Picto-Reviews), I've decided to put up not one, but TWO(not so)Random Scans this week! I know, it's madness!! Before I get to the scans though, some housekeeping is in order. First off, I've surpassed 30 followers, so a huge thank you to those of you who have decided to follow this unpleasant little blog! 30 plus followers is pretty amazing, so you all have my genuine thanks.

On the personal front, this coming week marks the end of my summer school experience, which has gone quite well, if I do say so myself. I am cruising towards an “A”, and unless something horrible happens during my final exam on Thursday(I lose my mind, a giant anvil falls on my head, etc), that vaunted “A” should be mine. Then I have a full week off before it's right back to school as the fall semester gets underway. Huzzah... Alright, enough about me, let's talk comics! I posted a Picto-Review for WW #601 right before this post, so you might want to check that out(especially if you like bad jokes and Rambo references), and tomorrow I should have a Picto-Review up for Superman: Last Family of Krypton #1. Okay? Alright! Let's get to the(not so)Random Scan(s)!

Ahh Batman... Only you would endanger your own ward to suddenly do a public service announcement in the middle of a fight! By the way, does this make Batman one of the first comic book characters to break the forth wall? From Batman #1(Spring 1940).

Picto-Review: Wonder Woman #601

Wonder Woman #601: Writer: J Michael Straczynski. Art: Don Kramer

We kick things off with a big ol' flashback sequence, as Wonder Woman demands that the Oracle-ish character shows her exactly how her mother died.


Which leads us to action sequence #1, which is written as if it came from every bad, over-the-top action movie from the past 5 years.


Eventually the Amazon's lose the battle, and instead of allowing herself to be taken prisoner, WW's mom hops in a big fire and gets to do the whole dramatic death scene thing, complete with overly dramatic, “Dianaaaaaa!!!!!”


With WW's mother dead, some faceless bad guy takes the burning hot magic lasso and keeps it as a keepsake.


Now that she's seen her enemies, WW sets out to find them and make them pay for their transgressions. After a bit of searching, WW finds the men responsible for the death of her mother(including Magic Lasso Guy), but is forced to choose between preventing the evil army guys from massacring a bunch of hidden Amazons or getting righteous vengeance against Magic Lasso Guy(WW forgoes vengeance... For now!).


So WW stows away on the top of an airplane and dreams about herself, as regular, non-JMS Wonder Woman.


This issue ends with WW arriving seemingly too late to save her Amazon sisters.

What I Thought: Heh... You know, I'll say this much about this comic, it did make me laugh a lot. The only problem there is that I don't think I was supposed to be laughing... I mean, as I read this comic, it just kept getting more and more overly dramatic! If a soap opera and Rambo had a bastard child, it would have been this issue! So yeah, I did get a good chuckle. As for the story itself, it was okay I guess. It seems like a simple revenge type story right now, but as things unfold, I'm sure there will be more to it. Eventually we'll have to discover how/why WW's origin has changed(Mephisto had better not be involved!), which to me is the way more interesting story. But for now, I'll have to suffer through the uber-drama that is the current storyline.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Picto-Review: Green Arrow #2

Green Arrow #2: Writer: JT Krul. Pencils: Diogenes Neves.

We kick things off with BFF(!) Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen shooting the breeze in Star City's enchanted forest.


After Ollie shows Hal around and the two talk for a bit, the heroes are attacked by a goon squad sent by the new head of Queen Industries, which sucks for Hal, since his GL ring doesn't work in the enchanted forest.


Eventually Ollie realizes that he has to get Hal out of the enchanted forest, and catapults Hal high above the trees.


Away from the forest and charged up again, Hal makes quick work of the helicopters, while Ollie mops up the goons below.


With the threat over, Hal tries to convince his friend to return to civilization, but Ollie is too stubborn, and decides that forest living is the life for him.


This issue ends with some cad shooting Ollie in the forehead with a black arrow.

What I Thought: Man, it seems like ages since I read the first issue... With that said, once I started reading this comic, I was drawn into the story rather swiftly. Ollie and Hal have that type of chemistry that always makes their appearances together fun, and this issue was no exception. The establishment of the head of Queen Industries as Ollie's major enemy seems like a good idea, and the cliffhanger was also out of the blue and interesting, so all in all, we had some pretty good stuff here. Oh yeah, it seems that Thor was hanging out in the enchanted forest, I guess to pay Ollie back for appearing in an issue of Thor a while back. See, it's Thor!
Score: 8 out of 10.

Green Lantern #56

Green Lantern #56: Writer: GEOFF “I'm gonna party like it's 1959!” Johns. Pencils: Doug Mahnke.

Review: This issue begins with that strange little hooded character(the one who's been stealing the Entities)freeing Hector Hammond(he of the freakishly large head)to go after Hal Jordan. Hal is in Minnesota, where the town is having a Larfleeze problem(which is just about the worst type of problem I could possibly think of!). It seems that Larfleeze has taken up residence there, and has been writing a list to Santa Claus, since Larfleeze figures that Santa would bring him anything he wants. Hal tries to explain that Santa isn't real(unless you're reading this and you're under 7, in which case, he is!), before informing Larfleeze that his Orange Lantern Entity could be in danger. Larfleeze disregards that, since he had safely imprisoned his Entity in his Orange Lantern, and just as he says that, his Lantern is pulled away by Hector Hammond. Hal and Larfleeze join forces to rescue the Orange Lantern, but Hammond decides to just eat the thing. Well that's one way to make sure nobody can have it! This action frees the Greed entity, and it bonds with Hammond, granting Hammond vast powers, and ending this issue.

What I Thought: Hey, even though Larfleeze was prominent here, I liked this comic! If only the Brightest Day story was relegated to just this series... But that's neither here nor there I guess. The main story was pretty good, the back story with that weird little character, who's been collecting those Entities is interesting, it's like the real GEOFF Johns is still writing this, while some other, evil Bizarro GEOFF is writing everything else...

Score: 8 out of 10.Huh, and here I thought Hector Hammond couldn't get any uglier!

Red Hood: The Lost Days #3

Red Hood: The Lost Days #3: Writer: Judd Winick. Artist: Jeremy Haun.

Review: In this issue we find Jason Todd being trained by a German killer who was teaching Jason the types of fighting moves that he never learned from the Batman. While Jason is spending his time being beaten up and learning how to be a deadlier combatant, Talia Al Ghul is still trying to figure out what to do about Jason, since she had hidden him from her father, and couldn't return him to Batman. Meanwhile, after doing some sleuthing, Jason learns that the killer he was learning from was also involved with a child slavery ring. Deciding he could not allow this to continue, Jason waits for the killer's men to begin to take the children away, before ambushing the truck and freeing the kids. From there Jason returns to the compound to confront the killer and decides to take him on in hand to hand combat. This goes about as well as can be expected, with the killer getting the upper hand on Jason, until Jason reveals that he had poisoned the killer's drink earlier in the night, which leads to the killer collapsing and dying. Jason then burns the entire compound to the ground to erase any traces that he was there, and heads off to meet with Talia. Jason explains what he did, and rationalizes the death of the killer, which causes Talia to smile, as she remarks that Jason was finally learning.

What I Thought: Man, this mini is one of the front runners for best mini-series of the year! I've enjoyed each issue, this one included. You can see how Jason is slowly transforming from the sad, rage-filled kid he was when he first came back, to the cold and calculating character he was when he first ran into Batman as the Red Hood. The only real downside with this comic is the fact that there's only three issues left! If only we could get a Red Hood ongoing series...

Score: 9 out of 10.I bet that isn't the first time somebody called Jason a "little bastard"!

Picto-Review: Brightest Day #7

Brightest Day #7(of 2,000,983): Writer: GEOFF “I'm gonna party like it's 1959!” Johns & Peter Tomasi. Artists: Too many to mention.

This is the issue that basically reveals why the characters brought back at the end of Blackest Night have returned(besides that fact that GEOFFY wanted them back).

First off is Deadman, who is supposed to embrace life.


Then we have the Martian Manhunter who is supposed to become forest burning pyromaniac.


The Firestorms need to stop Black Lantern Firestorm, who inexplicably seems to still be around.


Hawkman can't allow “them” to leave Hawkworld...


...while Hawkgirl has to prevent Hath-Set from killing Hawkman.


Aquaman is ordered to find the new Aqualad.


As for the rest, Capt. Boomerang needs to throw a boomerang at Dove, Jade has to “balance the darkness”. Osiris has to save his sister, while Max Lord has to kill Magog. Reverse Flash doesn't have to do anything... And finally, Hawk has to prevent Dove from getting struck by Capt. Boomerang's boomerang. And that's pretty much that.


What I Thought: What a load of garbage! If you wonder why Marvel has been gaining more and more of the comic book market share, while DC has remained stagnant, look no further then this series... “Throw a boomerang”?!?! THAT'S why Capt. Boomerang was brought back to life?! And the Reverse Flash! He had accomplished his goal BEFORE Blackest Night EVEN took place, and yet he was brought back too! I mean give me a break! Yeah, yeah, I'm sure some people did enjoy this comic(I'm pretty sure my good friend JT did), but I was pretty much disgusted by the whole thing. “Embrace life”??? That's why Deadman was brought back to life?! Well whoop-dee-frigging-do! And why the hell is Black Lantern Firestorm even alive?! Sad. A few short months ago, DC was far and away my favorite comic company, but now? Make mine Marvel!

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.