Posts tagged Young Justice

There’s a shameless self-plug at the end of this post!

June 23, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Relatively small week, well, in comparison to what we’ve had lately. Seven books, and I’m only genuinely looking forward to three. Possibly four. No, three. Zoom is a dick. Shall we?

As always, I’ll be addressing the Flashpoint stuff in one go, because frankly, I don’t care much about or for it.
Sorry, James Robinson. You no longer have any entertaining value for me. I’ll always think of you fondly when I read Starman.
Lois Lane and the Resistance, however, is totally fierce. The Amazons have turned the United Kingdom into something akin to Nazi Germany. Men and women are seperated, all possessions are surrendered. Women are reprogrammed while men are seemingly transformed. Brilliant writing, really. A few complaints, though. Having Jimmy Olsen be a part of Cyborg’s resistance, ace. Killing him so that Lois has a guaranteed way in, not so ace. Also, what the fuck is Artemis wearing on that last page? Was she late for bondage night at Lashina’s house? Not very battle-compatible.
Okay, the Reverse Flash book is, predictably, an origin story. An origin story that ignores everything before Flash: Rebirth, apparently. Oh dear, this is just…really bad, to be honest. I liked the origin Eobard Thawne had in The Return of Barry Allen, that one was ace. And what’s this ‘never killing Iris’ bullshit? Uh, her death is kind of extremely important and…forget it. I’m not going to rant.
The Kid Flash book, on the other hand, is a work of art. Great plot, excellent art…DC, this is why Bart needs more spotlighting. He’s grown as a character since his days as Impulse, and too many people seem to forget that he’s not just the distracted kid with the great hair anymore. In this mini, Bart needs to figure out a way to jump-start the Speed Force…or he’ll die. He’s joined by the woman with the perpetual boner for Barry Allen, a deceptively youthful looking Patty Spivot, who is now using the guise of Hot Pursuit. I actually want to see how this one turns out.
We now return you to your normal programming.

In the tradition of other youth teams, this month’s issue of Young Justice takes place around a campfire! Seriously, this plot? Done to death. The New Teen Titans had a 4-issue origin mini set around this plot, the 7th issue of Young Justice had a campfire plot, even the short-lived Teen Titans Go! had a campfire-based origin issue. But hey, new Earth, new rules. Wally’s origin pisses me off. It’s widely accepted that the day Wally became Kid Flash was pretty much the happiest day of Barry’s life. He finally had someone who understood the power, someone to fight beside. What’s this bull about Wally having to convince Barry to take him on as a sidekick?! Ugh, I just…no.

I don’t know how he managed it, but Adam Beechen made me laugh. A lot. And I actually enjoyed this issue of Zatanna…until his legendary lack of research came into play. Zatanna can affect people. Hell, her most famous storyline of the past few years has involved her morphing peoples memories and personalities. It’s her cousin, Zach, who can’t affect people yet. Long story short, it’s an issue that’s good on one-liners, bad on pretty much everything else.

Batman: Gates of Gotham is a great book in many ways, and a terrible book in others. The writing and art are superb, it’s submersed in the history of a city we all think we know but really have no clue, and it’s not just a Batman book; it’s a Batman family book. Cass, Tim, Damian, and Dick are all working with Daddybats to discover who is dismanteling Gotham bit by bit- and why. My one complaint, the thing that makes this a bit of a bad book to me, is Damian. Y’all know me, I love that little brat to bits. But his attitude towards Cass…what is that? He’s shown to be nothing less than worshipping towards her very existance, and now he wants to beat her up? Sorry, I thought we’d moved past Morrison-era Damianby now. I’m still looking forward to how this series comes together, but not as much as I once was.

And that was this week in comics for me!
Hey, any of you guys Floridians? If so, have I got an idea for you! Stop on by Tate’s Comics this Saturday for the first-annual Swap and Sale! It’s from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday June 25th, and I have a booth! Hope to see you!

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Teddy/Billy shippers, hold onto your shit

March 17, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Somehow, I managed to wrangle myself ten books, and not all are from DC! One of these is a total surprise to me, mainly because I had no clue that a new Young Avengers mini was running, let alone it having a spinoff one-shot. I’m excited, but also sad. Because Knight and Squire ends today. Ah, well, let’s get to it, shall we?

As always, we start off with Fail Train. I just can’t get into Firestorm storylines. I have no attachment, no affection for the character. Except, apparently the White Lantern is very pleasant to them. Wait, what? What just happened? Heroic sacrifice from..? Okay, the White Lantern? Is a dick. Whatever happened to J’onn?! Is that storyline just…over? I demand the end of that story! No one cares about Firestorm!

The Flash in Superman is Barry, not Wally. Either way, pie is had. Moving on.

So Shrike is really…? Oh man, oh man. This was supposed to be a funny title, what happened here? Do they really have a naked hero called Birthday Girl? I mean, seriously? England, I love you. Never change. Oh my god. Squire, you’re amazing. Brilliant. Remember the truce magic at the pub from issue #1? Well, not even American villains are immune, it seems. You were a hoot and a half, Knight and Squire, I can only hope you’re given another mini, or better yet, an ongoing, soon as possible.

Ever read a comic that just causes you to sigh and shake your head? I haven’t seen any of the new Young Justice show since the third episode, and I’m okay with that. I don’t watch a lot of TV. But this comic is just…confusing to me. The entire other issue, both of them, really, was just a dreamlike state brought on by a G-Gnome that has a crush on Superboy? Well, okay. We’ll go with that. I think I’m going to try and catch up on the show before the next issue, just to be sure.

Adventure Comics as a Legion Academy book…I wasn’t sure how I felt about that before, but I guess I can roll with it well enough. This Hadru kid, I jut want to smack. Glorinth is about as naive as Teen Titans Go Starfire, with about as much power to make her dangerous. And Dragonwing…her look is seriously the only thing about her that I like. The rest of this particular arc seems like it’s going to revolve around Hadru and his genemod, and saving his family from baddies. Eh, I can keep reading, see what happens. Not particularly enthused, though.

Okay, so, this is a story set after Generation Lost? You couldn’t do a couple of stand-alone issues first, Judd? Because some of the dialogue and all of the events are kind of a gigantic spoiler alert. Though Superman initiating a conversation about Kara’s breasts is kind of funny, so you’ve got points for that. The pseudo-sexual dialogue between Kara and Nicco, however, made me squirm uncomfortably. Like, really uncomfortably. A man and a woman can interact without being realted and be friends, Judd. This has happened in the past, you know.

I’m going to be perfectly honest here. Marcus To, your art is ridiculously pretty. Anyway, to the story. This is the conclusion of that Uternet thing and in it, Tim fights the Madmen. Remember them? Psychos that fought Blue Beetle back in the day? Anyway, in the last Crisis, Darkseid got ahold of them and made them into living servers for the Uternet. And apparently, he also made them really…yeah. By the way, the cover with a bunch of men and two women throwing themselves at Tim has nothing to do with the story. It just exists to make people raise eyebrows. Ooh, but what’s this? The Uternet has been shut down…or has it? Lonnie can’t really exist in the real world, but in the Uternet, the coma patient is king.

If Marcus To’s art is too pretty, then Claude St. Aubin’s art is too sexy. I mean, he draws the absolute hottest Lobo to ever roam the hallowed halls of DC. Tony Tony Tony, why’d you have to go and change Lobo’s origin like that? Czarnians were supposed to be peaceful people, and the trait that made Lobo so different was how he was prone to violence. Ah, well. The fact that they all dressed like KISS rejects kinda makes up for the re-origining. Kinda. Man, I just had a thought that gave me chills. In this new origin, all Czarnians can regrow themselves from a single drop of blood. So…what happens when a female Czarnian goes through menstruation? Yoof. And with that thought, I’ll move along.

My first thought upon seeing the team shot in the Young Avengers Children’s Crusade one-shot: Where’s Billy? And Kate and…Tommy? Oh, the shippers are gonna shit. Anyone else pissed that we got to see Billy give Nate mouth-to-mouth before we get to see him kiss Teddy? That’s just kinda messed up. To me. This is a comic that I literally spent half the time leaning back away from the page I was reading. I’ve freaked over YA comics before, but goddamn. Now I need to find backissues of the Children’s Crusade issues before next month. I need to know what happens to my babies.

Twilight Guardian is a consistantly good book. I’m sad that it’s a mini, and that it’s an issue from over. This time around, the Guardian is going over comic samples of a comic based on her, that a publisher has been sending her. Frankly, each is more terrible than the last. Obviously, they’re trying to parody the Big Two’s take on comics, and I find that pretty amusing.

That’s this week. I’m as amazed by the early post as you guys are, honest. But I’m going to be hanging with a friend tonight, so I wanted to post before he got to me. Catch you next week!

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Kill me. Kill me now.

February 17, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

I must really like you guys. I’m sick as a dog and twice as miserable, but here I am, picking up eight books for reviewing. Well, that’s a lie. I’m only gonna pick up seven, and read one in-store. Can you guess what that one is?

Oh Fail Train, you never cease to disappoint me. It’s an Aqua-issue! Seriously, does Brightest Day take place before The Hunt for Raven? Because Lorena is supposed to be missing, along with Bombshell. Aw, Aqua-incest! Not the best time, Jackson, really. Also, not to nitpick, but if Jackson is an electrical hero, how the hell is he using his powers underwater in close range to Aquaman and not frying him? No, what? If his life was returned, why did he vanish? Ending each issue on a confusing cliffhanger is not good writing, it’s just irritating as hell, Geoff.

So, I want to know who the hell this Alex creep is. Meanwhile, these two civilian kids are proving that men everywhere are morons. Oh my god, Damian is just precious. As much as the kid hates to admit it, he really does have a great deal of concern for Kara. No, really Alex. Who are you? What are you?! Augh, I must know! Wait. Please tell me this isn’t the Luthor/Brainiac clone. That would be just too convenient.

Oh god, Brainy is the new (deputy) leader of the Legion. I forsee shenanigans. The art in this issue is just amazing, by the way. Brainy’s design is reminiscent of the design he had in the mini comic at the end of the recently released Jim Lee artbook, and just generally stunning. Dawnstar and Yera’s designs are stunning as well. Yildiray Cinar is really going above and beyond lately, and I love it.

See, that’s the great thing about a book by Giffen and DeMatteis. From the opening writer/artist credits to the final page, you know it’s bound to be amazingly funny. I really love this kid, y’know. Rani is just the most precious little snowflake ever. Oh no, little Skeets! Rip, you’re an asshole. “Just a machine”, indeed. Oh my god, they through in a Producers reference. There’s a reason Booster Gold is one of my favorite books, you know. And this is it. Clever writing, decent art, little references thrown in for people that know the history…it’s just a damned good book. Wait, Booster’s in jail? For real? I, my faith in all good things has been shattered.

Visually, Green Lantern has produced some pretty creepy shit recently. Parallax-Flash, Ophidian-Hammond, and now Krona? Nightmare fuel unleaded, I think. Yeah, sorry Hal. One-punch doesn’t work on rogue Guardians. I’m gonna make one of my predictions at this point. In the upcoming mini War of the Green Lanterns, John Stewart or Jade is going to die. Think about it. Hal obviously lives, Guy is running his own series, and Kyle almost died already. Jade is like a GLC reservist, and John Stewart hasn’t really done anything notable since he was the only GL for Earth, in his fancy Mosaic uniform and everything. One of them is going to die. I kinda hope it’s Jade. Since her rebirth, she’s done nothing. I haven’t heard anything from her. She just…exists. And I think she’s existing to die.

Green Lantern Corps is consistantly an entertaining book. The relationships between characters feel real, the action is always intense, and it’s just an overall intelligent book that doesn’t try to talk down to its readers. This month shows the conclusion to the Weaponer storyline and, goddamnit. Why’d you have to…hgh. See, this is the reason I really love and hate Sinestro. He’s smart. A tactician. He sees a problem and immediately seeks a solution, no matter the cost. And his solution to having the Weaponer as an enemy? Make him an ally. The Sinestro Corps has got the greatest weapons master the universe has ever seen on their side, Hera help us all.

…please tell me that’s not supposed to be Earth-16 Snapper Carr. Yup, it is. Oh god, I think I’m gonna like the new Young Justice comic. I take it back. What the fuck is up with that Joker design?! It’s like, Joker meets Mad Mod meets…a hepcat or something. Terrible, terrible design.

Twilight Guardian rules. Seriously, if you’re only picking up one title from Top Cow, make it this one. It’s clever, well-written, and well-drawn. In all honesty, it’s like a better researched, more mature version of Kick-Ass. It’s a book that takes itself seriously, and expects us to as well. In this second issue, the TG goes to a comic convention to meet up with other heroes and…oh my god her little face when she gets all her new comics. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t recognize that expression. Careful readers will notice all the subtle cameos of Top Cow characters. An overall good read.

Well, that was this week in comics. I sound like a frog and have a hot date with a bowl of soup and maybe a really steamy bath. This is ToG the mucus factory signing off.

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Something old, something new, something cleavage’d, and little Blue

January 20, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Teeny tiny haul this week, friends. Only six books, and one of them is Fail Train. Sigh, okay, let’s get on with it. Go on and give me all you’ve got.

…but, Lorena is supposed to be lost at sea. Just before the new Teen Titans arc started up, Aquagirl and Bombshell disappeared while at sea. They’re lost. At sea. So how the hell is Mera finding Lorena on dry land?! Geoff, you have a boner as wide as the Pacific for continuity, how did you miss this? Back on Zamaron, Hawkgirl commits matricide for love! Please visualize a foofy hand flap to go with that. And Carol basically tells the shippers, “Yeah, me and Hal? Forever in the dance of UST. Just deal with it.” And then there’s sexy time! Or not. White Ring, you are the ultimate cockblocker. Seriously, that was some Shazam level cockblocking you just did. On the scale from annoying kid brother to Shazam, you’ve about passed it. That was cold, Ring. Damn cold.

Okay, I like this Nico guy. I like him a lot. I mean, he’s got a direct line to Batman, not many newbies get that. Oh, and we get a look at how the end of last week’s Generation Lost came to be. Max, I’m really starting to overlook the fact that you’re foxy and hate you again. Must be the Sami Basri art. Also, Cadmus cloned Kryto?! What could the point of that be?

For the record, Bernard Chang? I love you? You draw one hell of a great Supergirl. Aaaand we get to see just how stupid teenage boys are in Metropolis, fantastic. Ooh, and Supergirl ties almost directly into Power Girl. Remember the big cloning experiments? Well, Lois is going to be doing a story about them, aparently. Is this Alex kid a clone of Max? Because that’s the vibe I’m getting. Mind control powers, creating an iPhone app specifically to target and kill superheroes…the splash shot of it in action, by the way, was damn genius. We get to see little Iris running around as Impulse, Static in his old costume, Miss Martian out of her coma somehow…this was a good issue. I’m looking forward to the rest of this arc.

Goddamn, Sinestro. Sinestro is one of those villains that should be used sparingly. Darkseid, over time, lost his edge. He was passed around the DC offices like a bong at a frat party. But even now, especially now, Sinestro makes comic readers quake in their boots. Because when he shows up, you know you’re fucked. And Weaponer, I think you’re pretty fucked. Tyler Kirkham seems to love splash shots, and the one at the end with John and the rest of the Thunderers, holy shit. An overall excellent issue.

I like how the Legion/Adventure series’ interconnect like Legion/Legionnaires did back in the Reboot years. This issue mostly takes place on Durla and- hold on a second! R.J. Brande?! Alive? What is this sorcery?! Oh, right, Durlans. And the true mastermind is possibly Reep’s aunt? Okay, I can dig it.

Apparently, Earth-16 has He-Man. Taking a look around the shot of Wally’s bedroom, I also see a Bat-Mite doll. Oh, and I think the Superboy/Kid Flash/Robin OT3 still stands. Also, I like the little nod to the original Young Justice series with the ‘Forever Sixteen’ store. For those who are new, or simply don’t remember, at one point, Kon El’s DNA was fixed so that he would never grow up, he’d stay sixteen for the rest of his existence. Oh, and here’s another nod to the main DCU! Superboy only picked up a rack of black t-shirts with the Superman symbol. Also, I love how Kon is so totally focused on gaining Superman’s approval. That’s all he wants, his main goal. What a woobie! As much as I love the original Young Justice series, this new one is nothing like it, and I’m just going to have to live with that. I’ll try to see it for its own merits, not just the things I’m used to.

Well, that was this week in comics for me. Seeing as the Heroclix nerds are gearing up to play, I need to abandon my space and get on home. Love you all, and until next week, peace!
Oh, and I finally reread last weeks post. I’m not changing a thing, because this is one of those things I will look back on in the future and fall over laughing.

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