Random DC Comic Reviews

  Batman: Fear State Saga....4 Stars (Quality Art)  I find myself reading a lot of Tynion and Williamson these days, but that's okay, I'm on a comic book budget, so I don't mind picking writers close to the cream of the crop, even if both their Batman runs were lackluster.  (I find that Tynion's strength is writing about the magical realm, while Williamson is best with all american middle class heroes like the Flash) With that being said, did Tynion impress? Well yes and no. I'm giving this issue 4 stars on the art more so than the writing, but I did enjoy the story overall. I had to sit and ponder whether or not Batman would reveal some personal details to the Scarecrow on a drive to an asylum, but I did think it was a novel idea, and I enjoyed the conversation between the two. I also enjoyed the fact that Ghostface has turned good, as I thought he was an awful character at first, and that whole story arc caused me to drop Tynion's Batman run.  What really stan

 Aquamen #3....Stars So Aquamen is being cancelled after issue 6 apparently, to which I have to say....what do you think was going to happen to sales when you make an Aquaman comic where Arthur takes a back seat to the junior hero... .Duh!!! Knock Knock Jim Lee!!! According to Bleeding Cool it sounds like the DC executives are drinking the woke kool aid.  Relaunched earlier this year with Arthur Curry and Jackson Hyde sharing the lead as Aquamen in the DC Universe. Originally under former DC publisher...   Dan DiDio's plan, it would have just been Jackson Hyde as the new Aquaman of the DC Universe , but things changed . Bleeding Cool noted previously how orders crashed with the second issue , and not even a  hastily-arranged 30% overship with a free  Jim Lee  variant cover  could save the day. By golly! Orders crashed really!!! I'm stunned. Your going to replace longtime fan favourite Arthur Curry, who just had a successful movie with a relatively unknown legacy hero??? Market

 Rouges #2  ....5 Stars (Reluctantly) I have some major problems with the set up of this story arc (namely, not all the Rogues are present in this series, and have been replaced by other characters that have no connection to the Flash title)  I ranted about it in the first issue, that aside, I can't deny that Williamson isn't on top if his game in this issue, (he is) and it is miles better than the Death of The Justice League he wrote, which was also released this week.  Still, I think they missed a great opportunity with Flash fans by not giving them all the Rouges in a grand reunion. So 5 stars on the strength of the writing, but reluctantly, because of the omission of Weather Wizard and Captain Boomerang. 

 Death of the Justice League #75.....2 Stars So a disclaimer, I do not regularly read the Justice League as a result of my favourite big six member being consistently excluded from the team (Hal Jordan), so therefore my perspective on this issue might be limited, but in talking with those who do read the JLA, it would appear that my major complaint about this issue is justified, in that their is absolutely no build up to the teams deaths in the story! The story starts off with your run of the mill plotline that you get whenever there is a big bad entity threatening all of existence; ( the heroes are assembled together by some important force that explains to them that a great evil has been unleashed upon the universe, which needs to be stopped, yada yada.)  Then to my surprise Pariah (a character who played an important role in the first crisis) shows up, and at first I'm thinking cool, perhaps he will provide some Dr. Who wisdom & insight into what is happening, and lead the h

  Batman/Superman: World's Finest Issue #2........5 Stars I think I mentioned in the first review that I did on this series that writer Mark Waid is a legend in the game, and his writing on Superman/Batman World's Finest #2 shows that he still has it.  I'm always cognizant of the fact that writing a review with too many spoilers ruins the comic for those who are still eagerly waiting to read it, so I will keep it brief. In this issue Superman's life is in peril after being injected with red kryptonite by Metallo, and therefore it's up to members of the Doom Patrol to save him, inside their rustic and spooky mansion that they call their headquarters. They have but one clue to go on as to who is behind the poisoning, and this is where the master (Mark Waid)  goes to work with his pen & paper, crafting us a tale of the release of a demon from the far east as the heroes gather around the old mansion to listen to the tale. Waid therefore sets up an excellent earie at

  Blue & Gold # Issue 8 of 8......4 Stars I am probably being a little too generous here, but I'm giving this issue 4 stars based on the strength of the mini series as a whole, which I found to be both light hearted and fun, with plenty of humour to boot. There may be some bias here, as these two heroes bring me back to my youth, so I therefore hold some affection towards them, but overall I thought Dan Jurgens did a really good job. I particularly enjoyed how Booster & Beetle were filming their misadventures live to their twitter feed. Reading their fans comments was funny, and something I haven't seen done in comics before, so for me at least....it was a completely original idea. Finally, who better to write these two characters than the creator of Booster Gold himself, Jurgens obviously knows these two heroes in and out.  If your a fan of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and you missed this series, you will want to pick it up when (if) it comes out on trade pa

 Suicide Squad Blaze #2 First of the art in this comic is incredible! Kudos to Aaron Campbell, and Simon Spurrier's writing is golden. I often find that British comic writers are very dark and gritty, and he definitely brings the grit, but what I like about his writing the most is his ability to nail down these characters personalities, and shine a light on their eccentric behaviours. His take on Harley Quinn and the Peacemaker are great, and to get me to like Harley Quinn in no easy feat, but I am loving her in this comic. There is some classic humorous lines in here, that I won't spoil for you, and some naughty language (Definitely not one for the kiddies) but all around this is a really good comic.  DC has been putting out some great elseworlds comics of late, DC VS. Vampires, The Human Target, add this one to your list, but please don't stream it. It is worthy of your dollars, you won't regret it.  ****1/2 Stars

  Green Lantern #12  I must confess that I dropped Green Lantern after issue 3 or 4, as I wasn't overly impressed with Geoffrey Thorne's writing, but...after reading this issue, maybe I dropped the title prematurely.  I picked up this issue because I heard they were doing something transcended with John Stewart and boy did I hear right. I really enjoyed this issue because the source showed up, who is pretty much the Jehovah of the DC Universe, in short god, and I like the whole heaven and hell mystic side to the DCU, but to add to that, it appears that Thorne undoes the decades of guilt John has had to endure as a result of unwittingly perpetuating an intergalactic genocide (the destruction of Xanshi) by saving his friends and resurrecting life on OA? (I'm speculating here, as I haven't been following along) If so, that has been a long time coming.  It does now appear that John Stewart has been bestowed with god like powers which will make him more powerful than the oth

  Batgirls #5 When I saw Batgirls #5 at the comic shop I was generally intrigued, for it is a rare occasion that I find myself liking a legacy character as about as much, or more so than the original incarnation, (okay original since 1967) but this is the case with Cassandra Cain, whose first Batgirl run I thoroughly enjoyed back in the day. It should be noted that I was an even bigger fan of the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, but not as Batgirl, but as Oracle, who for 20 some plus years had been confined to a wheelchair as a result of the fall out from the 1988 Killing Joke comic, which every DC fan is quite aware of.  But alas, like the fate of most legacy heroes, the original always seems to return, so now we have two Batgirls, did I just say two, actually there is three because former vigilante Stephanie Brown (aka Spoiler) is also Batgirl. Confused? Well don't be, as this is the general state of DC comics these days, where there are three Batgirls, Two Aquamen, three Flashe

  Aquamen: Issue 2 It's no secret that both DC and Marvel have been taken to the woodshed by Scholastic and Manga of late, when it comes to selling comics or graphic novels that are marketed towards pre teen and teen readers, but here at least, is one area where DC is outselling Marvel. When one reads Aquamen 2, one gets the sense that the writing is targeted for younger teenage readers, which in theory isn't a bad thing, except one major problem... Aquamen is designated for the direct market, and I'm unaware of where comics can be bought for younger readers these days outside of comic stores, for the days of finding a plethora of comics on the twirling magazine racks at your corner store is long gone, so I'm not sure how much of these printed issues are going to get in the hands of 12 years olds, which brings us to problem two.... It is clear that the narrative resolves around Jackson Hyde as opposed to Arthur, but the problem with this is,  unless you've been tuni

 DC VS. Vampires #6   If your looking for DC VS. George R.R. Martin, than you will love this series, because DC's heroes and villains are dropping like flies. It's a fun and fast paced read, but just make sure you've got your garlic and crucifix on hand, because some notable DC heroes have joined the ranks of undead.  DC VS Vampires is an elseworlds story, which is great because it gives the writer James Tynion a lot of leeway to do things that he would never be able to do in the DCU, most notably kill of major heroes and villains, so if you haven't started reading the series yet, than ALAS read this blog no further because there are major spoilers below. Here is the kill count of just my favourite heroes and villains so far, and were only half way through the series!!! (Lex Luthor, The Riddler, Flash (Barry Allen), Zatanna, Captain Boomerang, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) Red Hood (Jason Todd) and Batman??? I'm not so sure about Batman, even with his heart ripped ou

Rogues; Issue 1                                                  Joshua Williamson is an excellent writer, his Flash run was one of the best in years, so I was really looking forward to this, however there are some technicalities I cannot get over, the first being.... There is no Weather Wizard!!! Nor Captain Boomerang for that matter, as we learn that they both died some years later, so which classic Flash rogues are brought in to take their place? (Dr. Alchemy? Pied Piper? Abra Cadabra? The Top? Rainbow Raider? ) Nope. It's Bronze Tiger and Magenta. WTF!?! Now Bronze Tiger happens to be one of my favourite characters in the DCU, but when have either of these characters been Flash villains? To my knowledge never, so what are they doing here? My brain can only think of two things, 1) Williamson is a big fan of these characters or 2) this is some weird editorial decision to ensure more gender and racial diversity in the comic? I know the latter conclusion must make me sound like a