Reviews sort of on time.

Superman: Secret Origin is a six issue series by Geoff Johns which retells Superman’s origins in order to make it more cohesive with the current continuity. Johns takes the liberty of making Clark Kent’s origin the most tear jerking-est comic this year. I was really impressed with the emotional spin they put on Clark’s youth and the explanations for how the classic elements of Superman came to be are the best I’ve seen. The opening where Clark is playing football was done really well especially in the first page with Clark looking to the sun while a off panel voice says, “Why are you here?” which is the perfect way to start a story about self actualization. I was really impressed with the part where the Kent’s show their son the rocket ship he came to space on. Clark’s reaction to the message from Jor-El was phenomenal, it was the most real reaction of a teenager learning that he is a space alien, which would be horrifyingly bad news during a time when you’re learning how you fit into the world and the scene where Jonathan Kent tells Clark, “You ARE my son.” was really moving. Secret Origin is a tremendously good book that proves just how amazing of a writer Geoff Johns really is. My hope is that Hollywood reads this and bases the new Superman movies off of it.

Now that Wednesday Comics is over this review will be an over view of each story.
Batman – Classic tragic crime Batman story.
Kamandi – Great adventure tale in the style of Prince Valiant. It had a fantastic start introducing Kamandi and a moving finish which introduces possible future adventures that really have great consequences to Kamandi’s world.
Superman – A great introduction to the character and made even more awesome with the appearances of Batman.
Deadman – This was a great story that does a fantastic job of straddling the grey area of cosmic balance. Boston tries to use his powers to do what is right but his perspective doesn’t give him the whole picture that his boss does, but his humanity prevents him from taking the drastic actions required to keep the balance of the universe.
Green Lantern – Seems to be dead set on showing how cool Hal Jordon is out of costume without much conflict coming from him being inside the costume.
Metamorpho – Metamorpho started off fun but the majority of stories were repetitive and lame.
Teen Titans – FIRE THESE PEOPLE!
Strange Adventures – Best story from all of Wednesday comics. Paul Pope really knocks it out of the park with his art work and re-imaginings of Adam Strange and Dr. Fate.
Supergirl – This story was surprisingly good. At first I thought it was going to be nothing but a cutesy story, then it started to branch off and add characters like Aquaman and Dr. Midnite who were explained through Supergirl’s perspective which was a refreshing take on the characters.
Metal Men – The tongue in cheek writing for this story is spot on and I was impressed that Dan Didio could actually write a sold story, I thought he was just an editor.
Wonder Woman – This was a cluster fuck with neat ideas but with no actual Wonder Womaning.
Sgt. Rock – NOTHING HAPPENS!
Flash – On par with Strange Adventures for being the best story from Wednesday Comics. I loved how it started with the Flash dealing with Gorilla Grodd and then perfectly transitioned to Iris West dealing with Barry Allen. This was a very touching story that I hope gets a continuation.
The Demon and The Cat – This was very mediocre, nothing about it was all that enjoyable.
Hawkman – I didn’t know how lame super heroes could be until I read this story.

Two Days After

Batman and Robin #4 was exceptionally brutal this week with the introduction of Red Hood and his blood lusty sidekick Scarlett. Now Batman and Robin are in a race with Red Hood and Scarlett to catch the bad guys before Red Hood kills them. Red Hood and Scarlett are also working hard to use the media to their advantage in their campaign to ruin Batman and Robin. In one shocking turn of events Scarlett films the Penguin pleading Batman for help and the Red Hood spins it so that it looks like Batman and Robin were protecting Penguin then begins what seems to be a murderous attempt on the Dynamic Duo’s life.

Blackest Night #3 gets personal with a mix of cheese. It was interesting to see Johns introduce lesser known characters like Firestorm, set them up so that the reader knows exactly how lame they are and then subject them to a fate worse than death. I was really impressed with how personal and hateful the Black Lanterns are, it’s really good writing on the part of Johns.

Wednesday Comics #11 Batman sees a woman jump through a window like a bad ass. Kamandi experiences the fridge. Superman must prevent the same. Deadman escapes from the underworld where he learns that the ghost chicks were the demons. The Green Lantern beats the crap out of aliens. Metamorpho finally starts getting cool again with the foiling of alien plots and the faking of deaths using chemistry. Adam Strange straight up kills a monkey. Supergirl gets shot. Shit blows the fuck up in Metalmen. Wonder Woman becomes readable. The Flash does great work with the use of panel design.

Kind of Meh

Secret Six #13 by Gail Simone wasn’t anything but a load of flashbacks without much actually going on. Jeanette lets us know exactly why the French Revolution was awesome when she gets into what it was like to be extremely rich. Catman saves some bitches, Deadshot has homicidal thoughts and is left with only Ragdoll to continue the mission of working with the prison warden as the Secret Two. Scandal Savage has claws and Bane is religious. Whoopie!

Adventure Comics #2 avoids all tension between characters for a happy beginning, but on the plus side Conner has a lab partner! While in the world of LoS I am reminded why I don’t read LoS, because it’s lame.

World of New Krypton reveals that the universe seems to be working hard on taking a cosmic dump right on the Kryptonians and a real “Tyr” jerker occurs when Kal-El reveals that Tyr has been working for Zod the entire time and is not allowed to be friends with Kal-El anymore. Definitely the best book this week.

Nomad 1 of 4 gets into the sad life of the Bucky from another universe as Black Widow reveals that she is a bitch who doesn’t want Bucky stepping in on her Captain America squeeze. While inspiring class politicians insight bullying for kids who don’t follow school regulations and are revealed to be in league with werewolves. Seriously, this book kicked ass.

In Wednesday Comics #10 Batman Bat-Beats dogs. Tigers and Lions shoot the shit out of apes in Kamandi! Superman finally gets to beat dudes up. Deadman kills the shit out of demons and gets the chicks, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! Hal Jordon proves to the reader why he’s the manliest American with super powers as he prepares to take on an entire alien invasion fleet by himself. Adam Strange and Supergirl get my nods for best art this week when they display heavy amounts of azure, blended in with different hues, and splashes of yellow to make the most visually appealing two pages I’ve ever seen. The Metal Men embark on life risking mission to stop Chemo from exploding all over New York. The Flash is still on an acid trip and a half where the line of good decisions and bad decisions gets horribly blurred. Hawkman has the lamest fight with a T-Rex ever.

I’m so hip!

Mostly indie comics this week Incognito #6, Irredeemable #6, Greek Street #3, and Wednesday Comics #9.

Incognito #6 ends the series on a high note. Zack Overkill’s origin is delved into and his downward spiral towards what seems like his demise wraps up perfectly with a twist that has me excited for a sequel.

Irredeemable #6 continues it’s tradition of shocking revelation with news that even makes the Plutoniun stop in his tracks as the world is revealed to be even more sinister than previously thought. However the opening is confusing.

Greek Street #3 blends in more with Greek tragic plays sacrificing the indulgence within the story.

Wednesday Comics #9:
- The manipulative nature of people is exposed in Batman.
- Kamandi, Superman, Deadman, Green Lantern, Strange Adventures, Supergirl, Metal Men, and Wonder Woman set up for exciting finales.
- Metamorpho, Teen Titans, and Sgt. Rock can feluta eum.
- The Flash does a stunning issue with Barry flipping out and living through different art styles, it’s crazy, it’s awesome, it’s Flash!
- The Demon and the Cat still isn’t very engaging but it’s not terrible either.
- Hawkman takes an unexpected turn for the awesome as he get ready to take on a fucking T-Rex with a flail!

Belfry

This week was huge in terms of Batman! Kevin Smith is starting a six issue story called, Widening Gyre. Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly finish the first Batman and Robin arc. Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams dissappointed me with the latest Detective Comics. Buck Rogers #3 was unexpectedly grim in the best way possible, and Wednesday Comics had the most uneventful issue in its eight week history.

Kevin Smith’s Widening Gyre is hilarious. Kevin Smith’s characterization is spot on, especially when it comes to the interactions between the other characters and Batman. In one shining moment of Dick Grayson writing, Nightwing says to Batman, “It’s okay to smile, Squidward.” The action of Widening Gyre is classic Batman stuff with more of an Elseworlds feel to it. The art in the story is mediocre, it fits well but isn’t outstanding. Widening Gyre is definitely worth four dollars.

This weeks Detective Comics was dissappointing. The animal people that were seen at the end of the last issue weren’t hallucinations they were real. When Kate meets one of the shapeshifting animal people at a party, she threatens testicular violence. Way to disappoint with cliche lesbian writing Rucka. Also the Question still isn’t interesting.

Batman and Robin ends it’s first arc well although I’ll have to read them all over again because of the distance between the releases it took me a while to figure out what was going from the last issue to this one. All together the Bat stuff is dark and I like how brutal Damian is, it’s like a build up to 666. Pyg has proven himself as a messed up individual quite well in his opening arc, and the chick who is still sane after having the Pyg mask put on her is looking to turn into a character that might be even more ruthless than the Joker.

This weeks Wednesday comics was highly uneventful. The plot thickens in Batman as killers are let free and conspiracies are glimpsed at. The Flash does some crazy science stuff but not much is really explained. Every other comic is only setting up to do something, except for Gaiman who lets you know that the next issue is going to be equally as boring.

Buck Rogers #3 was pretty cool. I really wish they wouldn’t focus so much on his past, all the good from this book comes from the extremely dark future in which Buck finds himself in. This book definitely was made to appeal to Sci-Fi fans, especially with all the nameless guys in flight suits dying.

Reviews as late as they come.

This week I picked up Wednesday Comics and Blackest Night: Superman.
This week’s Wednesday Comics is officially moving faster than previous books and with five books left, things look like they’re going to get even better. In Batman the situation is becoming more dire as the Dark Knight works his way into a lethal fight over inheritance. Kamandi, Superman, and Deadman are building up towards what seems like certain doom. Green Lantern finally gets into some action something that hasn’t been seen from the strip since the first strip. This week’s Metamorpho was hilarious. Teen Titans is getting better but that’s not saying much. It’d be better if they took the time to explain who the characters on the team are. Strange Adventures takes a turn for the amazing as Dr. Fate makes a cameo appearance to help out Adam Strange, Paul Pope’s Dr. Fate is another stellar work of character design. The Flash is getting confusing but I’m truly intrigued as to what is going on, on one hand it looks like the Flashes are going to save the day, on the other hand most of the comic seems to lean towards Grodd winning. The mixing of Flash and Iris West without the break for titles was interesting as if it was trying to drive home that Barry Allen and The Flash’s world mixes together no matter how hard he tries to prevent it from happening.

Blackest Night: Superman is an awesome book. It’s full of chilling. Kal-L is truly frightening as he dwindles down Smallville’s population. On page four there is a great scene where the people of Smallville look up to the sky and see Kal-L flying in the clouds eerily, they say the usual “Look up in the sky” shtick however it’s perfectly paced so that something feels terribly wrong. All of the Blackest Night books are about dead characters coming back to emotionally assault the living before ripping out their hearts, this book pulls this off in spades, there are scenes where mixes of emotions flow through the same character.

ADVENTURE!

This week I managed to get my hands on Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, Booster Gold, and Wednesday Comics.
Adventure Comics was pretty awesome. Geoff Johns has an uncanny ability at taking characters and events that are meaningless and then giving them meaning. Superboy is a great example of this. Superboy is Conner Kent the clone of Superman made by Lex Luthor. In his previous incarnation Conner was an ironic character of the nineties, rebelling against the Superman mythos. Johns’ Superboy however is trying to understand where he comes from. He begins by establishing the similarities in his life with that of Superman and indeed Johns is able to create a modern parallel with the classic Superboy. However Conner was also created by Lex Luthor and in a shocking reveal we learn that not only is Superboy trying to figure out what makes him like Superman, but what makes him like Luthor. Clearly Superboy’s adventure of self-discovery is a little more complicated then in previous incarnations. This book even has a well meaning child super scientist, Simon Valentine who has a run in with The Swamp Thing of Alan Moore fame. Behind the Superboy story is that of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the Twenty First Century. Starman is hilarious in this story and the preview of what is to come looked very promising if not still too continuity heavy. The art in this book is very simple, yet it does a great job at setting the tone. The panels and bubbles are extremely easy to follow as the book sticks with the nine panel format with a minor variation that is created by a blend of the same sized panels.
I give up on Booster Gold. The book has gone too far from comedy and too far towards continuity. I did like when Booster Gold told Raven that in the future he’s the most famous super hero in history, however that was only in one page. There’s just too much Rip Hunter lately and not enough Booster Gold. I’m sick of having Booster relive other character’s previous story arcs and the antagonist the Black Beetle is lame and seems to cheapen the feel of the book. The Blue Beetle follow up story is extremely uninteresting as well, it seems to only add to the continuity of lame.
Blackest Night Two of Eight paints a grim picture for the heroes of Earth. The first book saw the death of the Hawk family and this issue seems to be the end of the Atlantians. The Black Lanterns have proven themselves to be a great horrifying force. Their banter during fights is specifically aimed at causing the most about of emotional turmoil while ripping out people’s hearts. Even when they are not fighting the Black Lanterns manipulate the emotions of the heroes by acting like their friends, which I predict will make it difficult for the heroes to trust one another in the coming Blackest Night. In a truly doom filled scene, Aqualad is seen being hopeful for the salvation of the Dead Lanterns only to have his heart ripped out, displaying how uncomprimising the Black Lanterns are in their fight against everyone who is alive. The scene where Flash and Green Lantern fight a living dead Martian Manhunter was great. The two were a great pairing that used their abilities together masterfully against their living dead enemy using his living weakness against him. However Geoff Johns is able to deliver another crushing blow to the cause of the living as the undead Martian Manhunter is unaffected by fire, leaving the reader to truly question how the Black Lanterns could ever be stopped.
In issue six of Wednesday Comics, shit gets real!
Batman swings into action and gets the drop on some thug who confidently shoots back. The art in this story was pretty good in its use of shadows to show just how fearsome Batman can be, however the backgrounds are non-existent.
Kamandi gets a lot darker and shows that the Last Girl on earth just as capable as the Last Boy, although Tuftan isn’t in such a great position.
Superman stops the history of Superman lesson, to go back to the alien invasion story from the beginning.
Deadman continues his visually rewarding trek into the after life.
Green Lantern might just be the story that gives Hal Jordon character as in this week it shows how being the man without fear is also being the man who gets people hurt.
Metamorpho is going no where but has some funny meta stuff.
Teen Titans was surprisingly racist this week as the Blue Beetle is not only trapped in unremarkable continuity but a lame fight that just keeps going forever.
Paul Pope’s Strange Adventures takes a name sake twist when Adam is Zeta-Beamed back to Earth and his original body, which is a much older Archeologist.
Supergirl has a hilarious meeting with Aquaman, who is portrayed as a very strange person because of his busy schedule protecting the Earth’s oceans and his lack of involvement with the human world. I like where the Supergirl series is headed, it’s a more human examination of the DC Universe.
In the shortest issue of Metal Men to date the team is set up for an encounter with their first super villain, Chemo.
Wonder Woman is still unbearably cluttered. Sgt. Rock is still nine panels of nothing. Flash comic takes a turn for the nerdy awesomeness that is Flash Facts, however Iris West is replaced by a Gorilla Grodd story about how he actually creates a utopia in his pocket universe. I’m hoping that next week’s Iris West is going to return.
The Demon and The Cat just started going places. Hawkman is still lame.

Get that shit outta my comics!

Nick and Gene Simmons sell, sell, sell!

Seriously?!  Gene Simmons and his kid get to have their comics published?!  What the hell, man?!  Truly there is no justice in the world.  Tyrese has a comic, Tori Amos has a comic, even Gerard Way has a comic and none of them are good!  All these celebrities bring to the comic world is their name.  Nick and Gene Simmons clearly wikipedia’d some shit before the interview, it’s like they’re not even people they just sell whatever they can and people have to eat it up because these people are “celebrities”.  Pah-leeze!  Tyrese?  What the hell is he even famous for?!  Tori Amos, same question.  I youtubed her after some people in my comic class kept saying how awesome Tattoo was, her music is shit.  She’s famous for an emotionless, talentless cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit.  Gerard Way is even most noted for being the head of a really crappy band that sells out to little girls.  How come these morons get their own comic books?!  Nick Simmons’ favorite character is Spawn for christ sakes.  He’s clearly never reads comic books, and still tries to cover that fact by spouting blaintantly incorrect trivia about Watchmen.  That’s not all folks, Gene is in on the act too, “I like the Spirit and the Question.”  Who told you to say that Gene, did you have a marketing team tell you to say that you like the Spirit so you’d seem like an older reader?  Nice name drop asshole.

However there are a few celebrities that have entered the world of comics marvelously.  For one Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen is hilarious and very cleverly written, Stephen Colbert also happens to be a real D and D player, yee-ah!  Method Man has a comic as well and guess what?  The dude grew up reading Green Lantern, he knows his stuff!

I’m a DC

Wednesday Comics #5:

-Batman: This week we see a typical Batcave scene which does a marvelous job at setting up Batman’s current case.

-Kamandi: Week after week, Kamandi never fails to amaze and this week is no different as he and his friends get captured by the Apes.

-Superman: Lee Bermejo displays his great artistic design in this week’s Superman.  If you liked his Batman from issue two, you’ll love his Krypton in this week’s issue.

-Deadman: Kind of neat to see Deadman having to use his non-supernatural abilities in a fight with demons.  I’m just worried that the book will never return to the murder mystery.

-Green Lantern: Even though this story is slow moving, I like how it’s exploring who Hal Jordon is as a person.

-Metamorpho: Neil Gaiman  seems to be following a formula which parodies the typical comic strip.  Gaiman uses his entire page to not only tell a goofy adventure story, but to add in a lot of secondary narratives that give a random glance into the lives of minor characters.  His formula works really well.

-Teen Titans: This strip really has the potential to be about the meaning of heroism mixed with awesome super hero fights.  However it’s Teen Titans.

-Strange Adventures: Paul Pope takes time away from Adam Strange to tell the story of Rann and show off his artistic abilities via the Watertree Grove and a super hairy coconut with red insides, yay!

-Supergirl:  Wraps things up with the super pets which are nothing but trouble for the cousin of steel.

-Metal Men: Gets personal!

-Wonder Woman:  She’s still losing in her dreams, yet still winds up on top of things.

-Sgt. Rock and Easy Company: Still nothing happening.

-The Flash and Iris West: Gorilla Grodd beats the Flash so bad that he uses the Flash to make himself a tiny universe.  Barry quits being the Flash for Iris, little do they both know that he’ll have to break that vow if he wants to stop Grodd’s nefarious plot.

Greek Street #2: Last issue is retold, we learn that there is no low the inhabitants of Greek street won’t sink to, and confusingly enough the Sirens drive a van.  If you didn’t pick up the first issue of Greek Street this isn’t a bad point to jump in on since they repeat what happened last issue.

Superman: World of New Krypton #6, This series continues to get better with every issue bringing more and more layers of complication to the life of Superman.  The art continues to astound me although the panel set up can be a bit confusing as more two page spreads are used in this issue.  It seems as if the last issue of World of New Krypton is going to silent with all two page splash panels.

Secret Six #12: In this issue Jeanette’s Banshee-ism is explained in gruesome detail which makes the character much more enduring, Bane however sunk to another level of lame. Amazons still have really badly written dialogue with Wonder Woman being no exception.  The team is split with Deadshot, Catman, and Ragdoll at the center of the worst place imaginable with Wonder Woman as a prisoner and the rest of the team running for their lives.

Mogog Preview:  ”I’m a tragic character from Kingdom Come…I kill stuff!”

Irredeemable #5: The Plutonian is hiding among the people of Earth, he could be disguised as anyone, and he lets everyone know, in order to stop the people of Earth from trusting each other.  Revelations from the Paradigm also show that the team can’t even trust each other, let alone their own spouses.  Issue five is a damn good introduction to the irredeemable actions of Earth’s mightiest hero and if this issue is any indication the Paradigm weren’t great people either.

The Anchor Preview:  This looks like it’s going to be an awesome series.  A kid who dies in the destruction of the city he lived in travels around with a super strong morally righteous character who kills demons.  The advertisement after the preview seems promising as well, “God’s own Leg-Breaker”.

Wednesday and Detective Comics

This week I picked up Wednesday and Detective comics as well as Dracula but Dracula will be for another post.

This week’s Wednesday Comics was spectacular.  Batman and Superman moved their stories along quite nicely with Bruce getting himself into some out of suit plots and Superman returning to Smallville so that the reader can understand this modern take on the character.  Kamandi the last boy on Earth, this week was damn good, ending on an extremely negative cliff hanger.  Deadman come out of no where with a page full of action unlike anything seen from the strip before, the ghostly acrobat fights for his soul as various demons try to kill him and send him to hell.  Green Lantern managed to take a step backwards to explain how much of a dick Hal Jordon is.  Metamorpho plot just thickened with the introduction of Federal Agent…female…Metamorpho…and a shadowy figure, although this issue really should have been last week’s issue instead of the repeat of the week before that.  Teen Titans is getting a bit over formulaic without actually changing a lot of the scenery or explaining who’s on the team.  Strange Adventures continues to be pure awesome with Strange’s love interest showing herself to be one of the most hardcore damsels to ever cause distress.  Supergirl remains to be pretty solid although I’m hoping she’ll start getting into more serious adventures in the future.  Metal Men continues to be absolutely perfect.  I don’t think Wonder Woman is actually going to be doing superhero stuff.  Sgt. Rock still manages to be boring.  Flash comics is getting better with each issue.  Both the Iris West and Flash stories get more intense as Barry Allen and the Flash from the future try to go back in time to make things right with Iris and beat Gorilla Grodd.  I just hope that Barry has more luck with Iris then the Flash did with Gorilla Grodd.  The Demon and Cat Woman shows of Etriggan’s demonic powers.  Hawkman is finally getting good with the introduction of the JLA to his world and Hawkman’s cheesy personality gets to shine with the strip’s final line, “Looks like I’ve got a plane to catch.”

Detective comics just keeps getting more and more stunning with each turn of the page.  It’s like the classic Batman animated series turned up to eleven on the messed-up-stuff-o-meter.  Alice the main villain of the story can dish out a lot of turmoil, she even caught me (and Batwoman) completely by surprise when she pulls off one of the most vicious tactics in street fighting.  Batwoman is a damn good replacement for Bruce Wayne, hopefully she gets her own full fledged series, maybe even her own Robin, since her version of Alfred (her father) completely proves himself in this issue.  I’m truly interested in finding out who Batwoman is  as a person, her hallucination/flashback really sparked my interest.

I only have two complaints about Detective comics.  The Lewis Carroll referencing is lame and will always be lame, there is no getting around it, Lewis Carroll referencing is one of the most pretentious, air-headed things in pop culture these days and I’m fucking sick of it.  Second, the Question story that comes after Batwoman is still a piece of crap that needs to be removed.  What’s even more disappointing about the Question story is that in Batwoman there is an image of how Kate Kane sees the Question in her mind, which almost had me excited about the character, then I got done with the Batwoman story and read the Question story, only to be disappointed again.