With the Justice League disbanded, the Titans are the world’s premier superhero team, and thus deserve a proper big event book! And Tom Taylor deliverWith the Justice League disbanded, the Titans are the world’s premier superhero team, and thus deserve a proper big event book! And Tom Taylor delivers here with Beast World.
After attempting to defend the Earth from a super Star Conqueror, Beast Boy gets corrupted as a Starro and his spores invade the Earth, turning everyone exposed to them into rampaging animal monsters.
Tom Taylor’s writing here is familiar and very reminiscent of his work on DCeased and it’s exciting to see him flex his muscles on a main universe event like this. But you can tell that the writer would have gone even further if his hands weren’t tied by being in main continuity. I had hesitations about this but it turned out to be an entertaining event that showcased the Titans’ work as a team and it further sets the stage for Amanda Waller’s plans for the DC universe!...more
Oliver Queen is stuck traveling through time and dimensions after the events of Dark Crisis while his Arrow family attempts to track down Amanda WalleOliver Queen is stuck traveling through time and dimensions after the events of Dark Crisis while his Arrow family attempts to track down Amanda Waller to find him.
This plot was way too similar to the one that happened in Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run not too long before this with Batman, Vol. 2: The Bat-Man of Gotham and only served to give me a headache. ...more
Although I’m very familiar with the characters from reading about them in other stories, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never read a Teen Titans book!
But thAlthough I’m very familiar with the characters from reading about them in other stories, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never read a Teen Titans book!
But this one was pretty fun with adorable team dynamics and enjoyable action. The Titans are stepping up to replace the Justice league as DC’s premiere team after Dark Crisis, but they have no time to celebrate as they have to deal with the return of Brother Blood, shenanigans involving Amanda Waller and Peacemaker, environmental terrorism, and trying to solve the murder of a future Wally West.
I got the sense that much of this is leading to something bigger in the universe.
The beginning story, “Mind Bomb,” bringing the Joker back into Zdarsky’s Batman is an okay story with Batman still trying to fight Zur-En-Arrh. But I’The beginning story, “Mind Bomb,” bringing the Joker back into Zdarsky’s Batman is an okay story with Batman still trying to fight Zur-En-Arrh. But I’m not sure why the Joker is even there though…
I reject any idea to flesh out the Joker’s backstory, so when I saw that this volume features a story that expands on the Joker’s history following Absolute Batman: Zero Year and the flashbacks in Batman: The Killing Joke, I had a feeling this wouldn’t be for me. Although I enjoyed Killing Joke, I see that as just a possible origin and tend to side-eye anything that would attempt to further expand on that and try to make it canon. This book does that and I’m not quite sure why it’s necessary....more
This major Superman crossover brings the return of Superman ultra-villain Brainiac, who invades Metropolis, kidnapping all of the superpowered people,This major Superman crossover brings the return of Superman ultra-villain Brainiac, who invades Metropolis, kidnapping all of the superpowered people, for another nefarious plan, and he reveals that he had a secret Czarnian army the whole time ready to strike! So it’s a team up between Superman and Lobo to save the day!
This event provided a surprising amount of entertainment, given how lackluster both Superman books have been during Dawn of DC. There is lots of menacing Brainiac, cool Lex Luthor shenanigans, funny Lobo, big references way back to Justice League: No Justice, and a crazy reveal of what Brainiac is planning, leading into Absolute Power.
Hal Jordan searches for a way to get past the quarantine on Earth and in Sector 2814. But when he does he falls deeper into the conspiracy with the UnHal Jordan searches for a way to get past the quarantine on Earth and in Sector 2814. But when he does he falls deeper into the conspiracy with the United Planets and the resistance against them!
There’s some good intrigue here that involves our favorite lanterns and a plot that will probably change the Green Lantern mythos forever. But why they had to do my boy Kyle Rayner like that though!?...more
Sector 2814 has been quarantined by the United Planets and Hal Jordan is stuck on Earth, having quit the Corps. But Sinestro is stuck on Earth as wellSector 2814 has been quarantined by the United Planets and Hal Jordan is stuck on Earth, having quit the Corps. But Sinestro is stuck on Earth as well since the Dark Crisis and is causing a bunch of ruckus trying to get back to Korugar.
This is a good start to the new Green Lantern title during the Dawn of DC era with pretty good Lantern action, although Jeremy Adams and artist Xermanico take a lot of liberties with the way Lantern mythos works and using the fact that “there’s something wrong with the emotional spectrum” to their advantage. But okay, I’ll roll with it this time.
I would’ve given this one 4 stars if it wasn’t interrupted by all the Knight Terrors tie-in bullshit that was derailing all the books during this time.
This entire story hinges on what I think is a ridiculous premise, the idea that the majority of the Bat-family would be okay with Catwoman training alThis entire story hinges on what I think is a ridiculous premise, the idea that the majority of the Bat-family would be okay with Catwoman training all of Gotham’s henchmen to be burglars, thus stopping violent crime. I think it’s a silly idea and goes against all that we know about Batman and the values that he has taught his family, especially people like Nightwing and Tim Drake.
Plus, to make matters worse, the story is also boring and to top it off, there’s some Vandal Savage silliness to go with it. ...more
I keep being reminded with each book I read that I’m not a fan of Joshua Williamson as a writer. This start to the Dawn of DC run of Superman has someI keep being reminded with each book I read that I’m not a fan of Joshua Williamson as a writer. This start to the Dawn of DC run of Superman has some good ideas, like Lex Luthor understanding that Superman can always hear him, so decides to constantly pester him. But on a whole it’s just badly executed, with terrible villains (including yet another incredibly dull use of Parasite), an aggravating Lois Lane, and a silly Jimmy Olsen love development. At least Jamal Campbell is drawing the book and proving again why he’s one of the best comic book artists working today. ...more
I’ve never been a big fan of the growing superhero “families” in DC Comics. Things like the “Bat-family,” “Flash-family,” “Shazam-family,” etc. To me,I’ve never been a big fan of the growing superhero “families” in DC Comics. Things like the “Bat-family,” “Flash-family,” “Shazam-family,” etc. To me, this idea dilutes the narrative and character-based focus of the stories and seems like a lazy way to deal having no idea what else to do with the characters. So this one already started off with strikes for me as it feels like there are way too many Kryptonians and Super-people running around. It makes my eyes glaze over. But there are some cool developments here, like the rise of an anti-alien terrorist group and the return of a couple of Superman’s staple villains!
Keep in mind, even though this is the beginning of the Dawn of DC initiative and supposed to be an easy jumping on point, as usual for writers that continue writing the book during these intitiatives, Phillip Kennedy Johnson is continuing his overarching story so it would help to know previous events in his run....more
While Kurt Busiek was releasing the “Camelot Falls” storyline and questioning whether Superman was doing harm to humanity by constantly saving it, GeoWhile Kurt Busiek was releasing the “Camelot Falls” storyline and questioning whether Superman was doing harm to humanity by constantly saving it, Geoff Johns came around and crafted a story celebrating the good impact that the Superman Legacy has on the world.
In this story, he reintroduces the futuristic Legion of Superheroes and reestablishes their connection with Clark in his Superboy days. This was a popular Silver Age concept and it’s kinda cool that Johns brought it back in full after giving us a little tease near the end of his JSA run.
The League transport Clark to the year 3008 when people are spreading lies about Superman to fuel their anti-alien agenda. And with the Earth now sitting under a red sun, a powerless Superman must do all he can to stop them. It’s a fun, sci-fi-heavy tale bringing back loads of the League of Superheroes mythos and also marks the beginning of artist Gary “Crazy Eyes” Frank’s work on the title. ...more
Haha. Now I totally understand why some people feel the way they do about Chip Zdarsky s Batman run.
This has the unfortunate disadvantage of coming oHaha. Now I totally understand why some people feel the way they do about Chip Zdarsky s Batman run.
This has the unfortunate disadvantage of coming out in a time when there’s heavy multiverse fatigue in superhero media. So while it’s a pretty okay story on its own, it doesn’t feel fresh or original at all, especially given how similar the story is to Grant Morrison’s Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, with Batman stuck in an alternate dimension and trying to get home. It ends up feeling derivative. I was okay with the references in the first volume because that was a creative action rollercoaster ride, this just feels like an uninspired re-tread.
But I really appreciate the respect put on Tim Drake’s Robin, a character that has been sidelined in recent years, and deserves to be recognized as Batman’s best partner....more
Why does this almost always happen to every decent comic book run?! They start out fresh, with creative energy , and then as they get near the e★★★1/2
Why does this almost always happen to every decent comic book run?! They start out fresh, with creative energy , and then as they get near the end, they start to whimper, fall off the rails, and threaten to get bogged down by crossovers and guest writers and artists.
Don’t get me wrong, Tom Taylor’s run on Nightwing is still enjoyable, but it’s starting to lose the flair that it had in its first four volumes. It’s starting to seriously meander through DC events, crossovers, and bonus stories that don’t really push forward the story that we’ve been following since the beginning, while every now and then giving us a little tidbit of info that slightly pushes the story forward.
In this one, Nightwing goes on a pirate adventure with his old girlfriend Bea, which follows up on the secret society that we were introduced to earlier in the series. But then he also investigates a Heartless copycat cat murder. All fine but the focus and dramatic evolution really isn’t there anymore.
*This is still one of the best books I've read this year and it's NOW AVAILABLE! Read it!*
She Rides Shotgun was one of my most anticipated releases fo*This is still one of the best books I've read this year and it's NOW AVAILABLE! Read it!*
She Rides Shotgun was one of my most anticipated releases for 2017, after reading author Jordan Harper's stellar collection of short stories in his debut, Love and Other Wounds, possibly one of the best collections I've read in a while, and becoming an instant fanboy. And damn if his first novel doesn't disappoint!
Through a series of unfortunate events, no-good ex-con Nate McClusky lands a death sentence from the white power gang Aryan Steel right before his release. Now a target is not only on his head but also on his ex-wife and his young daughter Polly. After Aryan Steel murders his ex and her new husband, Nate manages to grab Polly just in time, essentially kidnapping her and sparking a desperate trip through Southern California, trying to stay one step ahead of the Steel and the Law, as Nate tries to make up for his mistakes and save the last good thing in his life, all while Polly is forced to grow up faster than she could have ever expected.
This novel really solidified why I enjoy Harper's writing so much. He not only has an effortless way with words and prose, but he's also an accomplished television screenwriter, which probably helped him hone his skills in the way he economically and efficiently details character and themes, with almost no wasted time. And his character work here is great, with the star being young Polly. It's always a real tightrope walk when it comes to writing a child's POV, but I thought that Harper nails it and avoids making her feel too adult, allowing her to exist as a child, but at the same time doesn't treat the character with kid gloves. The way her relationship with her father grows and blossoms is another tricky maneuver that Harper scores. It could have easily felt forced and inappropriate, especially with all the violence and death, but he makes it all believable. It's all in the little details. The fact that he does all of this in under 300 pages is another success. And I'm not really sure how Harper was able to get me to care so much about the safety of a nameless teddy bear, but for that feat alone this book deserves a bunch of love!
Even aside from all of that, the novel moves at an action-packed pace, with scenes that'll have you gripping your copy tight. I believe that Harper is one of the brightest rising stars in the crime fiction world and here's hoping that this novel shows up in this year's best lists with heaps of award talk.
*This novel will be released in June and I received an Advanced Review Copy from Ecco through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Merged review:
*This is still one of the best books I've read this year and it's NOW AVAILABLE! Read it!*
She Rides Shotgun was one of my most anticipated releases for 2017, after reading author Jordan Harper's stellar collection of short stories in his debut, Love and Other Wounds, possibly one of the best collections I've read in a while, and becoming an instant fanboy. And damn if his first novel doesn't disappoint!
Through a series of unfortunate events, no-good ex-con Nate McClusky lands a death sentence from the white power gang Aryan Steel right before his release. Now a target is not only on his head but also on his ex-wife and his young daughter Polly. After Aryan Steel murders his ex and her new husband, Nate manages to grab Polly just in time, essentially kidnapping her and sparking a desperate trip through Southern California, trying to stay one step ahead of the Steel and the Law, as Nate tries to make up for his mistakes and save the last good thing in his life, all while Polly is forced to grow up faster than she could have ever expected.
This novel really solidified why I enjoy Harper's writing so much. He not only has an effortless way with words and prose, but he's also an accomplished television screenwriter, which probably helped him hone his skills in the way he economically and efficiently details character and themes, with almost no wasted time. And his character work here is great, with the star being young Polly. It's always a real tightrope walk when it comes to writing a child's POV, but I thought that Harper nails it and avoids making her feel too adult, allowing her to exist as a child, but at the same time doesn't treat the character with kid gloves. The way her relationship with her father grows and blossoms is another tricky maneuver that Harper scores. It could have easily felt forced and inappropriate, especially with all the violence and death, but he makes it all believable. It's all in the little details. The fact that he does all of this in under 300 pages is another success. And I'm not really sure how Harper was able to get me to care so much about the safety of a nameless teddy bear, but for that feat alone this book deserves a bunch of love!
Even aside from all of that, the novel moves at an action-packed pace, with scenes that'll have you gripping your copy tight. I believe that Harper is one of the brightest rising stars in the crime fiction world and here's hoping that this novel shows up in this year's best lists with heaps of award talk.
*This novel will be released in June and I received an Advanced Review Copy from Ecco through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*...more
Tom King’s Batman run had its high highs as well as pretty deep lows, but the subsequent James Tynion run was painfully bland. So I was totally elatedTom King’s Batman run had its high highs as well as pretty deep lows, but the subsequent James Tynion run was painfully bland. So I was totally elated when I broke open this first volume in the latest run by new writing superstar Chip Zdarsky and discovered that it’s one of the more exciting and engaging Batman stories I’ve read in a while.
While it borrows much from past popular comic book ideas, it’s still pretty clever and fits well with the character. It’s basically a Batman “Age of Ultron” but I think it works so much better here as a Batman story than an Avengers one, as it works to highlight Batman’s paranoia and over-preparation. And in turn, Zdarsky also borrows heavily from the popular JLA story JLA: The Tower of Babel - The Deluxe Edition and Grant Morrison’s Batman: R.I.P.
I can see how people may feel that it makes this story feel derivative but I feel that Zdarsky puts it all together in a great way to create this action-packed opening to his run, with Bruce having to fight against his own intelligence. On top of all of that, Jorge Jimenez shows us why he’s not only one of the best Batman artists but one of the best superhero comic artists in general. It gets wild and crazy here but I really enjoyed it!...more
Busiek’s earlier “Up Up and Away” arc was pretty great and showed a lot of promise for the character moving forward. But this storyline was blo⭐️⭐️1/2
Busiek’s earlier “Up Up and Away” arc was pretty great and showed a lot of promise for the character moving forward. But this storyline was bloated, messy, and frankly all over the place as it starts out as a story about Supes trying to fight Intergang but then that’s forgotten about and it’s all about Supes fighting a magic guy that’s trying to prove to him that Superman’s constant saving of humanity will ultimately lead to its downfall. While I like the conversations this notion might spark, it’s sort of built on a silly idea and the story itself doesn’t really work all that well.
But there are some bright spots, like the fantastic issue with an old lady who believes that Superman is an angel from God and will always save her when she tries to stop evil as a vigilante. Might be one of my favorite single issues of Superman. ...more
The book (along with a volume 2 coming soon) collects all of the Superman material that Kurt Busiek wrote starting with old issues of World’s Finest CThe book (along with a volume 2 coming soon) collects all of the Superman material that Kurt Busiek wrote starting with old issues of World’s Finest Comics and his fantastic miniseries Secret Identity. But then the majority of the book includes the beginning of the Superman era that he wrote alongside Geoff Johns right after Infinite Crisis.
The series picks up one after the event. Superman has lost his powers and is actually quite content with just living a regular human life with Lois Lane. I loved seeing this focus more on Clark Kent and the human side of Superman, and what makes him a hero even without the cape and powers. But we all know that won’t last right? And the return of the superhero is thrilling to see.
The story and writing feels unashamed with its comic book structure, and reads like classic Superman complete with a Lex Luthor at his most mad scientist, wacky heroes that challenge Superman, and Jimmy Olsen being a real pal.
Then the book ends with the first part of the Camelot Falls storyline (full storyline reviewed here), which isn’t as good as the previous material. ...more
Saga is still going strong with this new volume that feels a bit more focused than the last. Our favorite make-shift family is stuck on a war-torn plaSaga is still going strong with this new volume that feels a bit more focused than the last. Our favorite make-shift family is stuck on a war-torn planet without their tree-house, living in a tent and working at Amazon.
I’m loving seeing Hazel and Squire Brobot come of age and their growing agency makes the story even more interesting as they start to take decisions into their own hands. The supporting cast here continues to be stellar, although I hope we get to see The Will regain some of his previous vitality....more
This takes place after the events of DC’s Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, where Nightwing was crucial in saving the world, and he’s been aske⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
This takes place after the events of DC’s Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, where Nightwing was crucial in saving the world, and he’s been asked to really step up as a leader. He has also brought the Titans in to help protect Blüdhaven. The first part of this book is essentially a decent Titans arc as they rush to protect young Olivia from demons from Hell claiming her soul. It’s only until the final issue where we return to the ongoing conflict with Heartless in a cool first-person POV story....more