Browsing: Review

Or – “They Also Serve Those Who Mostly Stand And Snark…” The REAL trick of writing these Hero Histories is finding my inner fanboy for each and every lad, lass, kid and queen of the Legion, from their flight-belt heydey, through the salad days of the 70s & 80’s, through Giffen’s blotches, Lightle’s mullets, the Archie Legion’s tongue fetish, and the strange melange that was the 2003 revamp.  Heck, I even found the time to feel the love for the Legion’s very own Isaac Hayes stereotype (Jus’ talking ’bout Tyroc… Awww, yeaaah!) so, you’d think that no Legionnaire is beneath my…

Or – “I’m Starting To Wonder If I Can’t Cull My Pull List…” Each month, Marvel puts out three Avengers titles. (I mean this in the ideal sense, as Mighty Avengers is actually more of a bi-monthly or quarterly title in practice.) I really don’t like the underlying premise of Avengers: The Initiative, nor do I have much use for many of the primary characters. Mighty Avengers is beautifully drawn, but the story so far has been a series of inexplicable happenings marred by duplicitous thought balloons and the fact that we haven’t been given any reason to like the…

Don’t drink and time travel Some of you may be old enough to remember Crisis on Infinite Earths that featured heroes from the present fighting along side heroes from the old west. Only in comics could something like this play out and play out well. We haven’t seen this kind of crossover for a while, and with the word Crisis being tossed around the offices of DC Comics, it seems like a perfect time to bring the two together again. I like my westerns, and I like my superheroes, but do I like superheroes in my westerns? It’s two great…

Jokester we hardly knew ye Bounding from universe to universe is bound to wear you out and make you vulnerable to attack. So might swimming in waters infested by mythical beasts, being on the run, and going crazy with power. One might also say reading Countdown week in and week out, complete with jumbled tie-in attempts, is enough to weaken your defenses and make you vulnerable to being brainwashed to believe everything is okay.

Or – “More Members Revealed, But Secrets Still Abound.” The mystery that began promisingly in New Warriors #1 is still out there, and while we keep finding out the identities of some of the Warriors (all of whom are former X-Men or Generation X members) we still have no real clues as to who the mysterious Night Thrasher may be. Is he Donyell Taylor, the brother of original Thrash Dwayne? The Black Panther, source of some of their technology? Former Gen X member Synch? At the rate we’re going through former X-Men, we’re about down to the point where he’s…

Or – “My Newest Summer Blockbuster Fave-Rave…” Most comic writers have a certain thing that they do really well, well enough that you think of it as “their thing.”  For Brian Bendis, it’s the rapid-fire-Joe-Friday-vulgar-conversation.  For Judd Winick, it’s the moment of tragedy in the middle of goofiness.  For Robert Kirkman it’s the completely unthinkable Holy $#!+ moment.  And, in my mind, Warren Ellis really shines in a setting where his characters have completely hit rock bottom, only to find that there are sublevels of unpleasantness yet left to descend into.  Wanna guess what happens this issue?  (Be warned: it…

Or – “Living Proof That You Shouldn’t Throw Everything On The Dryer…” Here at Stately Spoilers Manor East, I have a few rules of thumb that serve me well. Always buy just enough gas to get by, because by Friday, the Kwik Shop on 45th street will have dropped their price 10 cents. Writing is best done while watching ‘Scrubs’ on DVR. Don’t argue with the little girl when she wants to eat at ‘Pirate Hat Store.’ And when I get home in the dead of night, I tend to drop my stuff in the kitchen. This seemingly aimless tangent…

Turbines to speed! Every once in a while you have the chance to get in on the ground floor of something big. I think Atomic Robo from Red 5 Comics is one of those titles just waiting to bust out. Atomic Robo has Nazis, explosions, and a robot that wears pants and cracks wise. What’s not to like?

Or – “Treat The Other Man’s Faith Gently…” Even knowing what a good writer Bryan K. Vaughan is from Runaways, Y: The Last Man, and various and sundry other works, I have to admit that I was a little concerned to hear that other writers would be handling parts of the Buffy: Season 8 series.  I am officially thrilled to know that (at least in the case of BKV) the characters and mise en scene established are strong enough to make the change with aplomb, and that Vaughan has a lock on Whedon-esque dialogue and a knack for drama, not…

Or – “Lethal Force From A Green Lantern Seems Like A Contradiction…” I’ve mentioned in previous coverage of the Sinestro Corp War that I think the Guardians of the Universe may be making a mistake in releasing the ‘No Lethal Force’ directive on the GLC’s power rings. Yes, it’s a hoary old cliche, and yes, the Corps is facing the most deadly threat of their history, but I’m honestly troubled by Green Lanterns becoming killers. Of course, the Sinestro Corps is bringing the pain on a global scale, and they’re shooting to kill, but isn’t giving GLC members additional power…

A Countdown tie-in? Really? Paul Dini is an incredibly busy guy. He’s got his Madame Mirage stuff over at Top Cow, Detective Comics, and that Countdown thing you might have heard about. Countdown seems to a preoccupation with Mr. Dini; he’s even gone so far as cram as many Bat-characters into the title as he can. So why not take an entire issue of Detective Comics and make it a tie-in issue? Sounds like a great idea, but is it? Is it really?

Or – “Han Solo With Superhuman Strength…” In his brilliant series “I Should Write The Legion,” Christopher Bird pointed out the inherent awesomeness of today’s entrant, the local Rimborian boy who made good.  He’s a rogue who went straight, the Legion’s most street-smart member, and although he may not be a Rhodes Scholar, he’s still a clever kid who knows what really makes the world go round.  As tough as Mon-El, as strong as Tom Welling, as fast as Dawnstar, he also has a very specific weakness (if you can call having Kryptonian level powers a weakness) in that he…

A Countdown tie-in issue that is actually worth it If you’ve read my other reviews of Countdown, you know my general complaint with the myriad of tie-in issues is the release schedule is so screwed up some issues arrive before the events in Countdown happen, or they are so delayed that it isn’t even worth picking up to see what happens. Fortunately, this isn’t the case with The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society. The issue came out a week after the introduction of Earth-3’s evil version of the JSA, and the Jokester, a perfect follow up to the answer…

and guest starring General Zod as Superman Another week and another trip down the rabbit hole that is the DCU Multiverse. Last week it was all about meeting the Crime Society and the Jokester, this week it’s all about the What Ifs? and mighthavebeens. What do I mean? Take the jump for this week’s review.