Batman #698

           THIS IS MY 50th REVIEW EVER
      

           This comic was very good, except one thing that I will bring up later. This story is about a villain, who later I think will be called the Copy Cat Villain, (named by the Riddler) and Batman and Riddler were tracking him down. I do hope that the Copy Cat Villain will show up later in the Batman series. People who have just been let out of Blackgate have been murdered in the different styles of the Batman villains. Tallies, pecked to death by birds, frozen. This comic also started out with a dream of  Dick Grayson's where he was in the flying Graysons again, but instead of his parents there is Catwoman, Jason Todd, and Oracle. The art was also exceptional the sketchiness and the sketchy collar worked in such a way that was very pleasing to the eye.
           What I really didn't like is that Edward Nigma (Riddler) figured all of the clues out before Batman, and he ended up just sitting their like a dolt. Batman is the smartest person in the DCU, he can't be outsmarted by one of his own (ex) villains. I hate that Dick Grayson is Batman, and this just makes it worst, if Robin (not Batman) is playing Batman and isn't even smart, how am I supposed to like him. Although the comic was still very good, and at least he was still physically fit.



Grade: B
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Action Comics #888

            Alright, Nightwing is stuck in the phantom zone, Jax-Ur (Vohc)  has released a copy of Rao, and the world is fighting the fake god. In this issue the JSA and Wonder Woman are fighting Rao, while Flame bird is taking on Vohc. After a while of mindless brain bashing, you see Nightwing in the Phantom Zone, he dresses himself in robes, which are amazingly cool, and I had really hoped that Nightwing would become his own hero in and  that would be his costume, but instead he finds Nightwing bonds with him, and becomes totally bad a*s. My description of the synopsis does not do it justice, it is amazing, I loved this comic. It could just be because I am a complete sap for Alan Scott, and Jay Garrick, but this story was just good. I was slightly disappointed about two things, one is that Nightwing changed his uniform from his robes, and two is that when the JSA first came out Dr. Fate was there, and he was never featured again in the comic, and Dr. Fate fighting a "God" would be so awesome, but I didn't even notice this until I finished the comic, so I would still recommend the comic.


Grade: A-
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The Brave and the Bold #33

           In my entire comic collecting career the best thing that I have ever done was subscribed to the Brave and the Bold. One thing that I like about this series is that it is secluded from what is happening in the rest of the DCU, Batman is Bruce Wayne, Aquaman was alive, stuff like that. This comic is the only comic that featured something that has happened already, and they made it work.
            This comic wasn't the usual "heroing" around, but it was a girls night on the town. It showed Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Bat Girl going around to parties. Nothing really happened at these parties (so forgive me for my short review) but afterwords, when everyone is tired, Wonder Woman begins to talk about Oracles. After a while everyone goes home, and Zatanna starts to cry, this is when the comic is explained. Zatanna saw in a vision the unfolding of the "Killing Joke," and made this girl's night out so that Barbara would remember dancing.
             One thing that I thought was pretty cool was that the comic used the same panels as "The Killing Joke" just put it into the art style of Cliff Chiang. Also it was a gutsy move by J. Michael Straczynski, explaining the "Killing Joke" but he did it very well.

Grade: B+
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Green Arrow #32

           To quote the  blog, Jason Todd's comic blog "Why is the art so bad?" The cover was really good, and the inside art looks like what a five year old could draw. It had little to no detail on the faces, and the characters all looked distorted.
           The comic its self was bad. They decided to ruin the Green Arrow, by telling everyone his secret identity. That only works for people like Steve Rogers and Wally West, not Ollie Queen. In this comic, it shows how the Green Arrow killed Prometheus and went to jail for it. Until trial  when a short, tacky speech given by himself  saved his tail, although he was exiled from the city. Besides that it was all emotional hoopla. To be fair there were two good things about this comic. 1) you could pick up the comic and not be lost, this was part two of a story arc, but I could understand everything. 2) It mad it so that you can understand all fallowing issues.


Grade: D+
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A brief note

My Brightest Day Review is going to be a  little late, I apologize for my tardiness, and both of the new flash comics

Marvel's Blackest Night

            I don't know what has gotten inside the head of the people at Marvel, but they need to straighten out and quickly. Hulk being red, and not Bruce Banner, Bucky being Captain America and Peter Parker being fierd. I don't know if Siege is their attempt at bringing back the old Marvel Universe that I used to know and love. (I used to like Marvel better than DC, now it is the opposite, and very, very in favor of DC) Manly I want the recreation of the Hulk, Now that Abomination out of the way, it will be easier to make him his own villain, but before we get their, Marvel has to make Bruce Banner the Hulk again. After that they have to fix the main characters of Marvel: Spiderman, Captain America. All I want, are two comic universes like the original ones.

The Terminator #1

            When I walked in to my comic buying location, I was very exited to see this lying behind and Archie comic. The movies always showed the adventures of John Connor or Sarah Connor, this is what happened in the future, where the Terminator originally came from, and I also like that these terminators are 600's like the one Arnold schwarzenegger originally played. This comic had a walking dead feel to it, a group of survivors camping out, keeping watch, and just surviving. I like a good fight scene, and this comic had one really really short one, but  it was phenomenal none the less, after there camp was blown up by 600's the survivors run to what looks like Alaska, or Green Land, and thats where it leaves off.
          The only comic Dark Horse has ever made that I really, really liked was Hellboy, this changed that. I'm very exited about this series. I have never read Walking Dead (I want to though) but I here when you see a zombie, you legitimately get freaked, this was the same with the 600's, when I saw one I froze and looked at the panel for a good 30 seconds. Although, I don't want to get my hopes up for this series, because it might be a mini series...I mean how long can they keep a comic about a group of survivors occasionally shooting at robots?

Grade: B+
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Batman and Robin #11

         This comic was good, but like in #11 I'm confused to who this "Wayne" (I think) , impersonator type person is. Normally I would say it was Jason Todd, but he has already made an appearance in this series and he looks very different. But that was only the first couple pages. The rest of the comic was not as good as Batman and Robin #10 but it was still pretty good. It started with Damian and Sexton fighting in a cemetery, after a very good fight scene, and one or two people being hit on the head with a shovel, you see Dick Grayson exploring even more of Wayne manner that nobody knew about. After finding a demonic figure, and year old paint on the wall, Grayson, continues down the halls and out where Sexton and Robin are.  While Batman is exploring the tunnels Robin figures out that Osborne Sexton is not english and nor is he a writer, and then not a heart beat later Robin knocks  Sexton out, and threatens to kill Batman.
                   I love the exploring of the mansion, and I love the fight scene in the cemetery (which was next to Thomas Wayne's grave, which is also the door that Batman used to get into the cemetery) and I liked the fact that the person actually controlling Robin (physically) was not his mother, but Death-Stroke, making Robin deadlier than usual. Besides that there really wasn't much else to say about this comic, except to complement the simplicity which I Just mentioned, I'm exited to see how this concludes.
               But I'm even more exited to see the six issue series coming in May: The Return of Bruce Wayne. Every time I see an ad for it I get more and more exited. When he comes back, I am concerned that it will disrupt this series, which is pretty good, but it will be worth it.


Grade: A-
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Red Robin #11

            The combination of Batman & Robin and the Red Robin was next to brilliance, I just wish it had the writing to back that up.
            This particular issue started with a fight scene that I have seen before, Batman has many moves and the fight scenes are always entertaining, Red Robin has around five moves in his arsenal, There has only been 11 issues and I have seen him do a flying kick off his staff approximately eight times. Anyway after the fight scene, Drake and Pru go to the top of a building and interrogate one of the Seven Deadly Assassins. (the villains that were in the original fight scene, who work for Ra's Al Ghul)   when I say interrogate, I mean beat the living crap out of. They continue this until the member of the S.D.A  tells them a list of people close to Tim Drake that they are planning on assassinating. While this is happening, Tam is outside of Wayne manor with Vicki Vale, who is trying to get answers out of her, until they are almost killed by an assassin, after they get away nothing else really happens. Except when Batman and Robin come down and talk to Red Robin, overall the comic was really dull, and in the beginning when I said the crossover was next to brilliance, I did not say the comic was next to brilliant.
             One thing that I saw in the comic that was not really included in the comic (Advertisement) for a comic that was the return of Bruce Wayne By Grant Morrison, I just really hope that this is not false hope, where we find out that Bruce Wayne is gone forever, but I am really happy for the hope, and probability that Bruce Wayne will come back.

Grade: B
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Detective Comics #863

                      This comic was not as good as its two predecessors. It concluded a predictable pot, the            
        other two made the predictable plot much more intresting. Batman and Batwoman hit  two different        
        people both doing the same thing, the Batwoman hit the Cutter, and Batman hit someone who was          
        never really explained, but I am assuming he is in cahoots with the Cutter. Of course they were
        repairing an old woman who had lost her looks with parts from other girls. During the two big fight
        scenes (which were happening simultaneously, which was pretty cool) Batwoman saw that it was
         her younger cousin who was kidnapped by the Cutter, this eventually led to her releice. Then at the
         end you found out the the cousin of Batwoman, wanted to be a superhero herself. [her costume
         looks exactly like hawks]
                   The best part about this comic was the lead up to it. Without the two previous issues this
        comic would be crap. It wasn't horrible, even without the first two issues, but it was bad. I am            
        exited to see what Greg Rucka puts together for the next sotrey ark.
        Oh, one more thing! I did like that the Batman used the old Bat-mobil, it was in one small panel, but
        it was pretty cool

      Grade: C+
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Green Hornet #2

            Alright, I know I trashed Green Hornet issue one for having their main character retire in the first issue, but I had no idea that this was going to be the return of the Green Hornet. I loved this comic, I usually don't like it when the personal life of a hero takes over the story, but Kevin Smith made the personal life so interesting that the comic was intriguing. There was only one fight scene, but the comic was "action packed." The only thing that I didn't like was that the original Kato is not to be heard from, but most likely the people who read this series did not see the original show.
           In this issue it was mainly the conflict between Britt Reid and his son. It also included the stress of his failing news paper, the Sentinel. At the same time Reid is being a huge part of a campaign for mayor (not himself) and supporting an " insta-millionare" game creator, who is the sun of the yakuza boss that the Green Hornet battled in the previous issue. Then at the end while Britt is hosting a fund raiser a girl sneaks past the guards and into the party, she then she fends off ninjas that randomly brake in. (weird) Based off the cover alone you can tell that the girl who broke in is the new Kato, which is going to be good. So I have high hopes for this series.
             There are many Green Hornet series out, and Dynamite is going to be very successful after the Green Hornet movie comes out, and you can tell that they expect a huge amount of comics to be sold, so I am hopeful that Dynamite, becomes tied with Image or Dark-horse, and maybe someday Marvel and DC.

Grade: A
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Batman #697

             I know a couple heroes pretty well, Superman, Flash, and Batman. Bruce Wayne is Batman, not Dick Grayson, i'm sick of Nightwing playing dress up as the Caped Crusader. If Bruce Wayne came back to the Batman series I would subscribe in an instant. That is the only thing that appeals about Grant Morrisan's Batman and Robin is that they are on the way to bringing Wayne back. I'm sorry for my venting, but I had to say that.
              The comic its self was almost acceptable. I would not read this unless you have read the Arkham Reborn series first, and if you haven't don't read any further.
              Of course the past several issues have been about the Black Mask, who is a villain I like, one thing I like about this comic that this comic took away was his classiness, he was a regular "Don Corleone"

This comic made it look like Ra's  Al Ghul wearing a skull mask. Flaw one.  Another thing that I didn't like is that this comic was just Dick Grayson, not Batman, beating the living crap out of every one who stood in-between him and the Black Mask. I do understand this is the last issue in a comic of a series that could be called the conclusion of Arkham Reborn, but Batman does not just use fists and immunity to beat the villains, he has to use a couple gadgets, if it's overdone it is not good, but neither if it's underdone. Once he got to the Black Mask, he dogged bullets and punched him, and that was it, that is how he beat one of his toughest enemies. The part that I liked is that when he got the skull mask off the Black Mask's face, it was Jeremiah Arkham. When the Jester made him go insane he must have taken over for the Black Mask. Although Black Mask was featured in Arkham Reborn so maybe Arkham was insane before the end of the series. Also, Arkham began talking to himself, one voice being himself, and the other in the Black Mask's, the was almost exactly like Two Face, which I thought was not good. Don't copy another villains thing.
                 I just have to say the one good part. The end, when Grayson was giving a monologue it was like the end of a movie, he started to get inside the process of passing the banner, which has happened many times in all villain families. That was the only good part.


Grade: D+
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New Ultimates #1

              I have admired Loeb for a while now (see 1, 2, 3, 4?) I thought he was the Geoff Johns of the Marvel universe, until now. Mind you I have never read the Ultimates before, and I don't mind that, my main issue with this comic is one panel long, and that is, a hellish type woman forcing herself on Thor. I can tell that the reason Jeph Loeb made that happen is just to be edgy, and I hate that kind of thing. All this comic is, is just Hawk Eye and Iron Man fighting, Tony Stark talking about drinking and that scene I discribed with Thor, plus a little with Loki at the end.
            Actually I have another bone to pick with this comic, when DC came out with there hero the Shield, I was disappointed with them for completely copying Captain America, now I see Hell Cat and Night Hawk, who were both characters before, but now they have been edited to look exactly like Cheetah, and Batman, I understand that isn't as bad as the Shield, Captain America thing but it is pretty bad.
                   Normally a comic could make up for these mistakes in quality of writing, especially when you have Jeph Loeb, but the writing simply wasn't good enough. This is a horrendous start to the New Ultimates series.


Grade: C
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Justice Society of America #37 The Winds of War

                    As Mr. Terrific continues his memoirs, you see the story of how the world has been taken over by the Fourth Reich. The earths former protectors conspiring in the corner of a concentration camp. It does go back to a flash back in the middle of the comic, but that part wasn't as good. In the flashback it was Wildcat fighting the Hunter, Mr. Terrific fighting Doctor Demon and Captain Swastika, Mr. America and lightning fighting White Dragon, and finally Jay Garrick fighting the Shadow of War. The,  Fourth Reich finally put an end to the JSA's retaliation when the Shadow of War unleashes the ultimate weapon, a bomb that can take away the most powerful hero's powers. Obsidian in bomb form. After removing the JSA's powers, the comic goes back to the concentration camp. This is where we see, Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, and other broken heroes, who all plan an escape plan, or something like that.
                        I like this comic, its like a superhero version of MAUS, just not quite as graphic, this is not that great as part of the Justice Society series, but I think it will make a great TPB. I want to see how DC is going to keep the series going, now that all of the beloved heroes are old and broken, some even dead. It will be interesting and I really want to see what happens.


Grade: B
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First Wave #1 of 6

           This story is less about the Spirit, and Batman, and more about Doc Savage. I like Doc Savage, but I bought the comic for the Spirit and Batman. Anyway, the comic is about Doc Savage finding out how his father died, meanwhile having the press criticize him for not showing up to the funeral. Then there was a little side story about the Spirit, and no real mention of Batman, although I suspect that, there was a man in the comic who was "shaggy" and I suspect that, that man is Bruce Wayne.
            I was looking forward to this comic, I had seen adds and previews in so many of my comics (I'm a DC fan) it was so promoted and I was very exited to see Batman and Spirit, who are two of my favorite heroes, and I was also exited to see Doc Savage, but I didn't want a complete comic just about the Man of Bronze. To be fair the Spirit part was good, just short. Otherwise, I liked the art,  it reminded me of the Blackest Night Green Arrow.

Grade: B-
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Superman #698

                First off, at the beginning of the comic it says, "Read Supergirl #51 Before Going Further!" You don't have to, the comic was enjoyable with out it. In this issue, Superman has been captured by Brainiac and Lex Luthor. Mon-El is fighting his way to save him, and on New Krypton, Zod, Ursa, and all of the citizens, are fighting Brainiac's drones. This comic was OK, enjoyable, but just OK. In the beginning part of the book, Lex Luthor and Brainiac, are talking to Superman, this scene looks slightly like the cover of Geoff Johns's: Superman,  Brainiac.  I thought there was going to be a huge monolog here that would change the course of the Superman comic line, but I was disappointed, even if Lex Luthor made a funny joke. Then we go back to Mon-El, who by the way is hearing voices, and he is about tho fight some huge wolf looking lion things, and I have no idea why. Sure you got one cool fight panel, but huge wolf, lion things? After that, something rally predictable happened, but equally exiting, Superman broke free. The event was short lived, because Luthor put a gun to the side of a bottled city. I won't go any further with the plot, because I don't want to be a person who gives out spoilers.
           As usual, I have to comment about the art. Superman comics are always drawn with a sort of rounded edge, no edge is sharp, if you know what I mean. After reading several, action packed comics, it's easy for my eye just to see almost softness in art.
            Read this comic, not because it's the best thing you will ever read, but read it because it will  be important later.


Grade: B-
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Green Lantern #52 & Blackest Night #8

               I thought this comic (Green Lantern #52) was going to be amazing, and the first half was. The second half: "Not so much." The first half was cool, Sinestro was one with the white entity, he was one with life. He showed how each of the emotions came into existence,and how he was connected to all life. But right after the first eleven pages, Nekron takes his scythe and chops him in half. Come on! The reason I bought this comic is because I wanted to see Sinestro as the white lantern. This is happened way to much in the DCU the cool thing, or reason I bought the comic, is killed off in the first couple pages. While all this is happening, John Stewart takes a small group of lanterns in to the power source of the Black Lanterns. Then finally Sinestro mends himself. This comic was good, but not as good as I thought it would be. I will say that the writing was great when Sinestro was explaining his connection to life. Plus the panels were just as good, if not better. Otherwise the only great, stand out thing about this comic was that it almost concludes Blackest Night.

            Blackest Night issue eight was allot better than Green Lantern #52. Although before I start the review I have to say  I don't like the fact that if you read Green Lantern #52 and you are subscribed to it, you don't just have to wait for the next issue, you have to go and buy Blackest Night issue eight.
           Ok, I just had to get that off my chest. This comic was twice as good as Green Lantern 52. Sinestro is the White Lantern again, and is battling Nekron, when pow, Sinestro rips out Nekron's heart.  The a load of Black Lanterns come, and the many corps battle them. Then Nekron comes back. (Dead, ripping out of the heart can't effect him.) He rips Sinestro from the white entity. All hope was lost, until Hal Jordan, flies into the white entity, and gives all ring holders (plus, ex-superheroe black lanterns) white rings. They bring the Black Hand back to life, which cuts the cord between Nekron and the physical world. To add one more good thing, the Anti Monitor brakes out of the Black Lantern Battery and declares that he wont be their prisoner nor power source anymore. Then the rest of the comic is people being reacquainted with dead superheroes. (Since they all got white rings, they all came back to life) One thing I didn't like about that is Dead Man got caught in the crossfire and is now a living Boston Brand. I hope and think they will kill him off again, so he can resume his role as Dead Man. This comic was well drawn, story was good, and the writing was very good, all together a recipe for a good comic. Plus, Blackest Night is over!

Grade: (Green Lantern 52) B
Grade: (Blackest Night 8)  A
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Heroes/villains who are back: (note, not complete list)
 Zoom
Fire Storm
Martian Man Hunter
Aquaman,
Hawkman
Hawkgirl
Osiris
Hawk
Maxwell Lord
Jade

Captain America #604

              This issue was good, but not as good as the others in the Two Americas story arc.
In this issue, Bucky and Falcone are already kidnapped by the Watchdogs and "Bad Cap." Falcone is on a train with a huge supply of bombs, and Bucky is being forced to dress up in his old costume and fallow "Bad Cap" around. (A little strange, I know) The "Bad Cap's" plan is not unlike any plan I have seen a super villain plot [spoiler alert] he is going to try and blow up Hoover Dam. This was just a little annoying because Bukcky's face looked like this was going to be a complete original, destroy the whole of America, kind of plan, which it  wasn't.
             The writing was done very well. It captured exactly what an insane, or just arrogant man would sound like. It also captured what people who were kidnaped by an insane or just arrogant man would sound like. They didn't sound angry, just frustrated.
             The art was done especially well in this issue, again, the colorists have been on a roll. It was the crispness of the art which made this issue very special, The way Falcone was really red, and the Watchdogs were really white.
             But there was one thing that was better than both of those. The fight scenes. Especially when Falcone does a backflip on top of a moving train, it's just...WOW!
             I have high hopes for May's and the concluding issue of The Two Americas



Grade: B+
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