Week 4: Final week of ones1!

I am a little late on this one, but what is new. Again, like last week, I will be putting these in the order of my favorite to my least favorite.

Teen Titans: First up we have this. I was really hoping to like this book (I swear I'm not fooling myself here) and it turned out really well. It followed in the foot steps of Justice League by only really introducing some of the team, but I feel it did better because it intro-ed the most prominent cover characters and left the rest to cameo on a computer screen. So it at least gave you a little of each character. I really loved this book because it has my long time favorite character Tim Drake as Red Robin setting up this team, and I still have the smart kick ass Tim that had been developing for the last while in the old DCU. The only draw backs of the issue are that I don't like Kid Flashes cowl on the cover (does not make sense for arrow dynamics), how does Red Robin's wings stop 50 cal shells and protect his head and spine (it doesn't), and what is up with the fanboyish picture of Batman and robin he has? That stuff was just weird, easily fixed, or forgotten with coming issues. Over all though this was my kind of first issue, it gives you enough to get you invested, without giving so much that you are inundated.

All Star Western: Great western book, and I am a big fan of Jonah Hex. Great first issue It was a little on the pricey side, but I think it is worth it. My only gripe with the book it that Gotham is not a western city. It is east coast, maybe mid-west at best. I was strange seeing Hex team up with Arkham at first but his inner monologue about Hex was interesting enough, and I grew to like it and the book a great deal.

Justice League Dark: This is another one out of left field. When I read the title for the first time I immediately jumped to Dark Avengers in my mind, and I was not to far off. These are not bad guys in the role of the JL but magical alternates, but they are taking on a witch in the first ark, much like the first ark or Dark Avengers. Any who, this was a really cool book and it was an interesting first look at the big three together (Failing), since we have not seen them together in Justice League yet. The introduction to the Dark Leaguers has definitely got me interested and I think Superman said it best, "This smell is insane," because this book is crazy in a very good way. Sups being taken down by a hurricane of human molars, a bunch of mindless clones walking into traffic (Yea DC is stretching the T rating), and allusion to cows giving birth to machines (they didn't show that). While it was nice seeing the big three in this book, but it felt like they were just there and then beaten very quickly without any smooth transition from the other magics guys, it felt clunky. Needed though it was, it did not take away from the book and it made its way to the upper end of the week.

The Flash: I have been waiting for a flash book that is both good and is not weighted down with the like 50 years of back story and this did it. I have no qualms with the book at all it was just a good comic. The art was really great and the different shots in here were very cool, the splash page on 5 and 4, the falling on page 10, and the overhead shot on 21. These were very unique and well placed. I hope to see more issues like this.

Green Lantern New Guardians: I did not know what I was getting into with this book, and i kind of still do not know. Of all the Green Lantern books out this one does the best of explaining and or showing what is going on. It doesn't develop much of the story, but it has me intrigued with what will happen.

I, Vampire: This was a good book, but I am not much of a fan of vampires. I might check out the second issue just to see what is happens. I really liked the way this book played with the timeline of the story though.

Batman The Dark Knight: This was a sub par Batman book overall. A bad mirror image of Batman issue 1. The art was kind of weird on Bruce Wayne's face half the time, he looked like a duck in every other panel. It told the same stuff we already know from Batman 1 and it felt a Little over the top. Then you have the end with one-face?!

Superman: I am not a superman fan and this reminded me why. It was not very interesting and it was a very wordy book. Superman did not seem like he was the focus of this book and the villain he was fighting was as easily forgotten as he was easily beaten. the only redeeming part of the book was the final page of sad Clark leaving Lois and her boy friend in her apartment. I might only find this part enjoyable just because I don't really like Superman as a character.

Voodoo: This was a bad book. It is all talking and then a killing, and we don't really learn anything about anyone for sure. Its only redeeming quality was it was pretty to look at and it took place in a strip club the entire time (i guess that's redeeming).

The Fury of Firstorm The Nuclear Menmercs break into school looking for super science stuff that is defended by kids (kind of like home alone 3). Also the science if poorly explained and the nerd just happens to be super smart out of nowhere at the end.

Aquaman: I have never been a fan of Aquaman, and this book didn't turn that around. It was a long Aquaman joke and there was not real action.

The Savage Hawkman: I felt the same way about Hawkman coming in as I did Aquaman, and this did even worse than that. first Hawkman is pissed at his costume, so he sets it on fire then, in turn, it sets him on fire, and he wakes up later with the Hawkman (?) inside him.(Just think a rally lame Venom)

Black Hawks: Bad Jokes go: "Black Hawks? more like Lack Hawks", "Sweet, I didn't know DC got the rights to G.I. Joe", and "I don't always read bad comics, but when I do I make mine Black Hawks."

WEEK THREE!

Week three has been read, and I will try something new for the week three comics. Instead of posting in alphabetical order I will put them in order of best to worst, in my opinion. Here we go.

First we have Batman. This was not a far departure from the Batman we know and love. I am impressed with how the book starts off by not so much telling us, but showing us Batman's rouges as he kicks most of there asses. Some of them have been through changes and the new Blackmask looks pretty different, I hope they have also changed his story because I never really liked the whole 'just another crime boss' thing he had. I loved the interaction between Damian and Tim, priceless. Over all it was just another Batman book, but the best Damn Batman book out!!

Catwoman. That is right, the controversial book of the week. Though, I think I literally fell in love with it, more specifically Catwoman. I know what everyone is saying, but I think this book isn't as sexist as all that (just wait till I get to Redhood and the outlaws.) For one I feel like Catwoman is a well rounded character in this book and her sexuality that is portrayed was just a facet of her character. To say that the book is sexist is to not be looking at the book in its entirety. Yes, Catwoman is very sexual and she has your typical comic book female figure, but the other prominent woman in the book is not your typical comic book amazon. Lola the former show girl could have been just another piece of eye candy, but instead was a mature woman whose age showed. Second, Lets face it. Batman and Catwoman had to get it on sooner or later. And weather or not they are doing it in the last panel is questionable. On the cover, page 6, and 27 you can see that the zipper on her cat suit does not go low enough to facilitate coitus. I also loved that Cat's faces while she was leaping out of the building.

Green Lantern Corps: Much better than GL in my opinion. They made Guy seem like less of an jerk, and John was cool. This book also told you a lot of what you needed to know with out hitting you over the head with it.

Nightwing: I have wanted my Nightwing book back for so long now, and they didn't disappoint me with this one. This was a very well rounded book. It had a little introduction, a little exposition,and a little action. Dick going back to the circus is a little played out, but it helps new readers know his background and I wouldn't have gotten the best circus clown line in the book. "How do you think I've been...I'm a clown doin' a show in Gotham. Terrible."

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Despite the controversy, I really really want to see where this book is going. I also have no defence of what was going on with Star Fire. I guess she is just really easy in the DCnU now. To that point, I feel it is just very gratuitous what they seem to be doing with her. It would make a lot more sense if they gave her her own reasons instead of having Jason explain everything. They could have fixed her, in my mind, if they only had her say something like "On my planet BLAH BLAH BLAH free sexuality BLAH BLAH BLAH wanna do it?" and be done with it. You don't have to show the fan service and sexual aftermath. Despite all that they grabbed me. I like seeing good guys doing good the bad way, but they didn't tell me enough, in this one books, for me to even know that is actually going on. I'm hoping Roy and Jason are kind of scorned side kicks, doing what their respective teachers would not. I think the red bat symbol on Jason's chest is a big FU to Batman and Dick (the first robin.)

DC Universe Presents: Deadaman: Cool book. A Superhero quantum leap. I do not know how this will play out but I might check it out in the cheap bins later.

Wonder Woman: this was an interesting book, very creepy and kind of a horror book. It seems as though Wonder Woman is not on center stage of her own book now, but I think this could be the change up the book needs, seeing that Wonder Woman has been a low seller for years and years with her in the spot light. If they do it right and get a good balance of more mysticality and a little less Wonder Woman I think it could work.

Blue Beetle: Another alright book I thought I would dislike, but this was not all that bad. I like how they go with a classic origin story first issue, with the main guy getting his powers on the last page with setup for a potential villain. It was also good to see Fatale again, a ridiculous C list villain I first saw in Nightwing the original series.

Captain Atom: This book didn't really do much for me, and they seem to be changing Captain Atom into Doctor Manhattan.

Birds Of Prey: This is another book that did very little for me. This was just a very average book. You only see half the new team, and that half of a team we learn nothing about despite being introduced to them by a nosy reporter.

Legion of Superheroes: This book was just plain bad. Unless you now the Legion history and story lines already, do not pick up this book. You are introduced to like 6 main characters then like 15 more for about a split second each. It has a very unfocused story then the book just ends. I kept flipping past the back matter stuff expecting to find more story (for real!)

Supergirl: Last and actually least. Nothing of interest happens. She fights the same guys the entire issue and has inner monologue.

Review of second week of New 52 DC

Second week of books go!


Batman & Robin: This book seems to pick up where the other Batman and Robin left off, but with Bruce in the big bat costume. I myself am ok with this. I liked what was going on in the bat universe (as Morrisinian* as it was) and wanted it to continue. We get more interaction between Bruce and Damien which is cool and it seems they are trying to get the Batman character refocused, less on death more on feature. I guess this will be the new softer side of Batman. Over all I thought it was a cool issue, I would probably be lost if I came in cold though, but I am disappointed I wasn't able to see more Russian Batman.

Batwoman: This was a book I loved to just look at. The art was really good and also interestingly done, and I don't think you get the non-mainstream art much in a batbook. This is another book that seems to pick up where the old arc left off. We last saw Batwoman in a mini arc in Detective comics. Batwoman seems to be fighting some more supernatural creatures when I would much rather see her fighting normal humans. For some reason I felt like there was a lot of fan service in this book with the two changing scenes, not that it was graphic or anything, just that it was unnecessary. I want the next issue for the art and the first interaction between Batman and Batwoman.

Death Stroke: While reading this, I thought it was alright. Will I get the next issue? Probably not. It was described on CGS, very aptly in my opinion, as the first five minutes of an action movie. Its got the action but not a lot of the story.

Demon Knights: This was a book I expected not to like, but was pleasantly surprised. Fantasy Comics usually are not my cup of tea, but the set up of this got me. The way the cast comes together I am hoping this is a kind of middle ages super hero team, or the like. Again, aptly described by the CGS guys as a DC meets D&D

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.: This was a book I expected not to like and it did not disappoint me there. It was not terrible, but the story was not very interesting and I did not like the art here. Similar to the art in Animalman but instead of look intentionally rough it just look rough. The story was just a big monster fight basically, with a lot of text on who what where when and why. I do not need another secret international superhuman police/assassin/hero/fireman team book.

Green Lantern: Alright book, art felt off to me some how. I would say the book was more than alright if it did not seem to dump you into the middle of a GL story completely unfamiliar to non gl readers. The art was good but the faces just did not look right to me, page 18 with Hal smiling at the bottom just looks creepy to me. Overall though, I would like to see where this story goes especially with Sinestro.

Grifter: This book has me intrigued and I want to see where it goes. Man is kidnapped drugged and now random people are tyring to kill him. I want to know why.

Legion Lost: This book was just confusing. I have never been a Legion fan and this book does not help. I do not know if it is me or what but I just found this book to be really rough. Kid alien guy in hospital explodes, kids fall out of portal from somewhere, they complain, girl vomits,people run away, people fly away, bug guy falls out another portal, people fly back, them we move onto page 6 and I do not know what is going on. I think they were just trying to tell to much story in this first book, and it suffered.

Mister Terrific: This was a book I was looking forward to. Now, I feel liek this is the book they had in mind when they said they were bringing diversity to the DCU. I mean this, in that they seem to go out of the way to tell you this is a "black" book. (staring a black man, with black people, on black subject, written with black ink, on black paper.) It isn't as bad as all that but in this first issue they make so many overt acknowledgements of race it just seems forced. I think I like the book though. I would like it more if it left the ham fisted acknowledgements of race out and toned down the Reed Richards/Hank Pym Marvel slant they have going for MrT. (He has his own dimension, that is straight out of marvel)

Red Lanterns: I didn't expect much, but it gave me a little more. still not very good. I didn't think you could make a book about a alternate lantern corp comprised of beings that are all so pissed they cannot speak. Apparently you can it just won't be any good.

Resurrection Man: As I was writing about this, before I deleted it, I realized this is almost exactly like grifter. Both men are being hunted by an unknown group, they both get thrown of air planes after fighting a deadly lady, and they are both on the run.

Suicide Squad: This was awesome. I want to read more. The way they introduce the characters and why they bring them together along with the twist towards the end. It was all great.

Superboy: This is not the Superboy I remember from the 90s, I will tell you that right now. That got old quick. This Superboy is more like the one from the Young Justice tv series, but more so. Very interesting.

This was a good week. The good books were really good and the bad books were not as back. So i would say this week was better than the first. My favorite book of the week would be Suicide Squad.

*Morrisinian: Adj. used to describe a story by Grant Morrison that is particularly confusing, and may draw on obscure, even, overlooked details of past history.

Review of First Week of the New 52 DC

Here is a quick review of what I thought about the first week of books to come out.

Action Comics: This was a cool book and I would recommend the read. I like this retro superman beginnings type thing. Instead of the big blue boyscout you have the big blue man of the people, sticking up for the little guy.

Animal Man: First thing that jumped out at me (after the full page of text) was the art. Some of the dudes at CGS didn't dig the art, but I thought it was cool. I like seeing something different in my comics, if it is all the same art it just would feel very plain to me. Even though I am not a big art guy when it comes to books, it still strikes me when its new. The story overall was cool, I like how it seems like Animal Man is going to not be so much the "Animal" as much as the "Man." Then the ending made me be like "huh what?" in a good way.

Detective Comics: Was just a cool Batman comic. I feel that if you were looking for a new Batman in this DC you are not gonna get that much. He is still the G** D*** Batman. Another good ending this time I went "WTF."

Batgirl: Another cool book. I like how they handled her walking retcon. Then how they have her dealing with the repercussions of that, mentally, add an interesting element. Art was cool and the ending makes me want more.

Batwing: This book in my mind came out of left field. I was expecting a cheap "Black Batman" knock off, but this book is actually REALLY GOOD. Art is a kind of photo realistic digitally painted thing, and the story is written well. This also isn't your typical generic "Africa" where we have the shots of plains animals and people living in huts. This feels like a glimpse into a real modern part of Africa, yea it has its serious problems, but still modern. Story goes you have a cop, chosen by batman, who wants to curb corruption and crime in his country. This is one thing in the United State, and then a completely different thing in a small African country.

Green Arrow: This was not that good to me. The art was ok, the story was meh, and the characters were forgettable. This is really more of your Smallville Green Arrow than anything.

Hawk & Dove: Another forgettable book. Again art was ok, the story was less than meh, and the characters were not doing much in the book.

Justice League International: This was a fast paces book. It quickly got the story behind the team introduced, it got the team introduced, then it got them on there first mission. I think i need to wait to make a judgment on this one. I liked it but I'm not sure if it is just because it didn't give me time to think about not liking it.


Men of War: Another book out of left field. I liked it a lot. Never new I was a war story comic guy till I read this. I went in thinking they were not going to overlap the super heroes with the heroes of this book, kind of that old DCU thinking, but with that element in play that can make for a really interesting book. The book is a little pricey, but what can you do.


Omac: This book I did not not like. It looks, feels, and SHIRKS retro. I was not feeling it. If you dug Kirby stuff from back in the day, you will love this. This one is not for me though.

Static Shock: This book was cool. It could have been better but it was cool. It still feels a lot like a static book, even with him out of Dakota. I love how they incorporated Hardware into this book and the little ploy he has going to keep Virgil's identity secret.  Though the villains could use some work, but maybe they will surprise me.

Stormwatch: With this book I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was happy I got into it. It was great. It told a multi layered story without stepping on its own toes, and it made me want to know more about these really interesting characters. I thought having J'onn on this team now would feel forced, but it actually felt pretty alright.

Swamp Thing: Another good book that made me go "WFT" at the end. This one jumped out from left field on me too. I might have to move forward with this book.


And there you have it. One mans opinions on the new DCU week one. Overall I would say it was a pretty good first week. Some titles were a bit weaker than I would have hoped DC put out in its first week, but other book more than made up for it in my mind.

Missed One Sorry: Sale at Worlds Greatest Comics, Westerville

Like I said before, I will be trying to post comic book sales in Columbus Ohio as I hear about them, but unfortunately I missed one. It was today at Worlds Greatest Comics in Westerville. They seem to have them on holidays so, you can probably expect the next one to be around Christmas time with the same deals they usually got: 10% off your final purchase and this is on top of your 50% off  select back issues and all trades plus the 50 cent books. Also remember Capital City Comics for there Christmas Sale. They got a tiered system where (don't quote me) dollar books are 50 cent, 2-5 dollar books are like a dollar, 5-10 are half off and so on. then they got deals on trades and sets. I am not quite sure on the system cause it has been a year but it is similar. Both of these places are great shops and you should check them out.

Jusice League 1

NEW 52 is here, and I am going to spoil it so here it goes


***Spoilers***








This was a cool first issue, with some of DC's best heroes up front, that is, Batman and Green Lantern. They do a team up type thing in this issue where GL swoops in as Batman is chasing a PARADEMON (That's right got it in one check 8/18/11 post where I called it). Hal is being really f--ing cocky while Batman is being Batman (>Badass). There interaction reminds me of the stuff that happened in All Star Batman & Robin Boy Wonder, except this time GL doesn't get is wind pipe caved in (I kinda wanted that to happen though). This is a flashback story and the heroes are relatively new to this world and also have not all met. Batman and GL deside they need to find the only other alien they know about, and that is Superman. It ends with the tag Batman VS Superman, and that I am always up for. I am defiantly in for the next issue.

Thus end my 30 day challenge

Its over, and I think I did alright. I missed a few day, but I made up for them. Overall I am happy with how I did.

31 - Flash Point Finally

It is done and this is the end that starts a new beginning. The Final issue of Flash Point did not let me down like I thought it might. The reveal really caught me by surprise and was the big thing I was looking for in the comic series that is the jump off point for the rest of the universe. I was also afraid what might happen was that some important bits of the story would leak out into the roughly 97ish extra spin off book, but that didn't seem to happen and I am glad I did not get sucked into all that stuff. I do not know if I should say anymore about the book because I do not want to spoil it for anyone, but then again a lot of people are just going to get the new number ones and forget about this series (needless to say I don't get a whole lot of traffic on this side of the internet super highway). So, what the hell, THE FLASH DID IT, but then he undid it and hopefully made the world a much better place in the process. Thumbs up.

30.4 - Tomorrow is a new day

Tomorrow starts the new DCU and I am super excited. I will be at the comic shop as soon as possible getting my Flash Point 5 and JLA 1. Flash Point has been interesting so far, but looking back I feel like not much has happened. I am really hoping they wrap it up with something big, and I really hope Barry doesn't wake up and it was all a dream. Though, it will probably be disappointing because these things can never live up to the hype unfortunately. The small preview of JLA that has made the rounds though has got me real intrigued. I like that Batman is back to being an urban myth and Jim Lee can do it well in my opinion. I am on pull for all 52 first issues and I cannot wait to read the pile as its coming. We will see if I can make posts on them as they come.

30.3 - IDW puts out new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Its got Eastman! Sure it has like 9 different covers, like a 90s book, but its a good book (they opted out of the holo-foil variant). I was really excited when I saw this book on the stand at my shop. I really feel like the comic book gods have been watching me recently. I start trying to collect Milestone/DC Static books then he gets a place on the new 52, I start trying to collect the original Eastman/Laird TMNT and now there is new book out that is serious, color, and has one of the original guys on it. I could not ask for more. They are taking a different take on the turtle's origins, but it seems pretty cool so far, and I am interested.

30.2 - Ultimate Comics The Ultimates 01

Ultimate Comics The Ultimates issue 01 is great and is the reason why I read the ultimate line of comics. This book follows Nick Fury through a normal morning. This morning includes him overseeing events across the globe that could potentially start world wide conflicts (least of which is a bear that keeps stealing all the beer).

This is what I want from all my comic books, it takes a bad ass book to make a story about a glorified manager an awesome book (yes i called Nick Fury a manager). You are seeing everything from Nicks side as he deals with three high level threats, one dealing with encroaching Norse gods, another dealing with troop build up off the south American coast, and the last is a southeast Asian country on fire. Of course all these situations are being handled, but of course none go as planned, and All this is going down at once. This book left me wanting way way more in the best way.


PS was that last panel of Nick Fury a little racist caricature looking or was it just me?

30.1 - New Old DCU I Will Miss

I really dug Batman Beyond, which is ending on its 8th issue (supposedly). If they really do stick with only the new 52, I will really miss this book. It took what was great about the show and made it great for the new grown up me. Like most people I watched the show when I was younger and thought it was great, I mean who doesn't like seeing a future version of stuff (props to Back to the Future II), and that was great then. As an adult I want more from characters, especially ones that I grew up with. This book was doing just that, and the last issue was the epidemi of that. It is going to be very unfortunate if this book gets cut off for real with the New DCU.

29.1 - (Im a lil behind) Found Nonplayer by Image

Finally found the first issue of a Nonplayer by Nate Simpson (writer/artist) and I am happy with it. I first heard about this on CGS and thought the premise was cool. It is a story that takes places in a future world where you can play in a virtual MMO that is projected into your brain. The first issue follows this one girl through a mission in the game, for the most part, then goes on to show some of the real world she lives in. I am sad that there seems to only be one issue out so far, but I'll be waiting around for more of the pretty art.

25.2 - Why I Am Excited About The MR. T On Going

That is the Mister Terrific on going series starting next month as a part of the DC relaunch. I am anticipating this book in particular, like I have said before, because I have wanted Mr. T to get an on going since the OMAC Project mini series in the lead up to Infinite Crisis. I felt this way, at the time, because I liked his power set and I had seen him before and wondered who that was. Now I continue to feel this way because of my quest to find more good black and/or multi-cultural characters in comics, especially new ones ("new is always better" ~Barney Stinson).

As I said before Mr. T just has a cool power set, a "natural aptitude for natural aptitudes" as it is put. He is a genius and is able to pick up complex physical or metal tasks easily. This has made him a millionaire, tech company owner, and Olympic athlete, who also has at least 14 Ph. D's in a wide array of subject. He is considered the 3rd smartest person on the planet, and if I had to guess it would be behind Batman/ Bruce Wyane and Lex Luthor. With only these back round facts, this is a pretty cool character to me, and if you combine this with the tech he has, this is the perfect super hero character.

He is also one of the few relatively well known black superheroes in the DCU that has not had his own book, this is behind John Stewart Green Lantern (probably most well know), then Jefferson Pierce Black Lightning, John Henry Irons Steal, and the newer Firestorm Jason Rusch. Seeing how he has been established in book like JSA and Checkmate I feel he can support a good on going series.

Plus, he is also a very complex and pivotal character within the DCU. He has been chairman of the JSA and White King of the United Nation's Checkmate. He became a hero after contemplating suicide, because of the death of his wife and unborn child, but deciding to take up the mantel of the golden age hero Mister Terrific, a man with a similar story as himself. He seems to continue to be just as much a political figure in the DCU as a hero, and it is this kind of complexity that can drive a very serious book.

Lets leave it at I am looking forward to this book.

25.1 - missed my post for yesterday, Here Is A creepy picture of Joker

23.2 - Supreme Power

I have read issue 3 of 4 in the series, and it does not seem to be going to far. Like the other Supreme Power books it looks like this one will be cut off too, although intentionally. If the story continues that could be cool, but this part is kind of useless. These are characters that have been established in 67 individual issues in 8 different series and they waste half of this new series establishing the characters. That just does not make any sense. marvel is really dropping the ball with me in there non ultimate universes. I think I am going to have to call it quits on the Ultimate Supreme Power Squadron from here on out. I still blame Straczynski.

23.1 - Still Reading Black Panther: Man Without Fear

I do not know why I am still reading it. Wait, no that is a lie, I know why I am reading it and that is only because I am a Black Panther fan. My dad got me collecting the series as a little kid and those early issues of the original Black Panther series are some of the first books added to my collection. Now I am reading the book almost out of habit, or for my father, or for the semi vague hope that the book will turn around.

Most everything about the book is bad, in my opinion, at least in every way that counts. I guess you could say the lettering is good and the editor seems to have caught any spelling or punctuation mistakes. The art though is not very good, and the writing is horrendous. I have nothing against this David Liss guy, but it kind of shows that this is his first on going comic. It really feels like he has taken everything cool about the BP and gotten rid of it, try and think of what batman would be like if he had no money, ran a dinner, and could barley protect a small section of a city. Oh yeah, and Hate Monger is back, but this time its just a random racist dude who got his possessed mask off ebay or something.

Then the art, I don't know if Francesco is rushing or the inker is muddling the thing up, but I feel his art is sub par. I have seen what he did in the recent Detective books (774-780) and it was cool, but when I look at Man Without Fear everything looks cramp and indistinct.

I am not one to over analyze my entertainment, I like to veg out and enjoy, but when something so glaring is done to a character I love, I'm generally quick to notice. Despite all I have said I will probably still get the book seeing as I am insane a collector and a fan of the character.

21.3 - Check this web comic

It has great art, its smart, and its Funny. you should check it out.

21.2 - I'm going to start trying to post sales as I find them

I am a comic fan, but I also don't have a lot of money, and I wish there was one place to get information on sales on comics around town. There is not so I think I will try and be that place, when I can.

I know a couple things going on soon. First we got a "Geek Out Weekend" next weekend 26th, 27th, and 28th at Half Price Books at 5070 North High St., Columbus only. They have 20% off all of there single issue comics along with board games and RPGs. They have a pretty good selection and you may be able to find some good stuff. The single issues are not always in the best condition but for 80 cents an issue they can be worth it, and the "high value" issues may be worth it at these prices, but probably not.

Then Tim's Treasures at the Southpoint Marketplace Antiques and Flea market is have a going out of business sale 50% off everything. I guess they sell collectibles and this includes comics. I have never been there but I will be checking it out.

21.1 - Manga Time: Gantz

Time for a Little change of pace, I'm going to talk about a manga called Gantz. Now, I do not normally read manga, and I have nothing against the Japanese comic form, but this series just grabbed me by the throat. I got into it first by watching an anime series based on it, I think it was like 12 episodes, and I thought it was really amazing to watch. My friend told me the series was made as a big F U to the Japanese censors (yeah, it was). The only down side to the series was the ending, as any anime fan knows a series based on a manga that has to end before the manga, they wrapped it up terribly.

So, I did some internetting and found the series, all 250 chapters in like 13 volumes up to that point (they are in the 300 chapters now,) and I found it started to diverged heavily around chapter 50 or so, with a lot of little missteps along the way. To make a long story short this series is awesome and it goes on great. You should read it.

It is a story about a kid named kurono, who is killed in a train accident (head came off) along with a childhood friend. They wake up unharmed and in a room with others, who seam to think they have died, and a big black ball in the center. This ball gives them weapons and tells them that they will be transported to a game field where they will fight for their lives against "aliens."

Basically they are put into a real life or death game, and if they win they get there life back. I really feel that this description does not do it justice, just please believe that it is one of the most awesome comics I have read. The characters that survive have such great development and interesting interaction, but there is so much super violence and action. Its a great and strange interaction.

Dark Horse owns the rights in the US and is putting it out now.

18.2 - LOL Gutters 174

If you have not read the web comic The Gutters you should. They are a great comic that show a really satirical view of the comic industry, whether it be the stories or whats going on with the real people involved.

Just read 174, great stuff.

18.1 - still excited for New DCU

Apparently I am one of the few patrons of my comic shop that is actually excited for the new books next month. That's kinda sucky cause this is gonna be a really cool unprecedented thing that DC will be rolling out, and I hope this is not how fanboys feel out there in general.

I am kinda upset about what they will be doing with Red Robin (Tim Drake), because they only just really grabbed me in his series, and now it seems he won't have his own title.

I think it is great that Mr. Terrific is getting his own book. Ever since I saw him kick ass in Omac Project mini series, I have wanted him in his own book.

The new JLA preview looks cool. I like that Batman has actually gone back to being semi myth. Plus, I think he was fighting a parademon in there, so that's got me interested.

Not to sure about the Batwing guy. But, woohoo more black super heroes.

Real woohoo for Static. I recently finished my 90s static run and I feel its fate that this is coming out now, maybe it will be a hit.

In general I think DC has balls to even try something like this. Hope it does well.

17.1 - Worst Ultimate Book Since Ultimate Hulk Annual

Yeah just finished Ultimate Avengers 3. Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2 were pretty sweet, but 3 was pretty bad. Luckily I dropped it at issue 2. I got the last 4 for a buck each at buckeye comic con because of my completest nature and so I actually have room to say it was bad. I hate it when people declare something bad that haven't even taken the time to read/watch/experience the "bad" thing. Any who, time for work. Two posts today.

15 - I'm wondering what is going to happen to the Ultimate Marel Universe

Let me preface this by saying that I am going to free style my thoughts on this as I go, so hopefully it makes sense and is semi interesting.

So, I'm a big fan of the Marvel Ultimate line of books and have been for a long time. Since issue 30 or so of Ultimate Spiderman i was hooked on this part of marvel. I got everything except Marvel Adventures, whatever that was. Today I have almost full runs of every Ultimate book  in issue form except Ultimate Marvel Team-ups and Ultimate Vision. I think what drew me toward these books was the completest in me, with this universe just starting I actually had it within my reach to own entire runs of stories, and this was something I could not do with the normal Marvel U. Anyway the last few years there has been a lot of contraction in the UMU where in years before they grew by adding new characters through mini series, guest appearances and what not. Now since Ultimatum they seem to have done nothing but kill characters off. I do not know how I feel about this yet because I have to read in order to judge. So ill have to see how it goes as it it is coming a long. My buddy thinks that they are trying to kill off the Ultimate line, which kind of makes sense, but now I am seeing solicitations for essentially a new line of Ultimate books which kinds of blows that theory out of the water.

**spoilers**
I am sad to see that Peter Parker is dead though, but they seem to have just remade him into, supposedly, a black/Latino kid, and from what I read in the Ultimate Fallout series he seems to be the exact same character while in costume. That is, he has all the one liners fully loaded. I am super sad to see Pete go and I really do not know how you replace him, but ill probably read every issue trying to figure that out.

I did not plan on continuing with the new Ultimate X book because the premise was weird to me, but since so few issues have come out I picked it up anyway. I find it hard to really see where it is going and it seems like they are really dragging out the story by developing each new character in their own issue. I will keep getting it now to see where it is going cause I am interested in what they are trying to say, but if it suck I'll be happy anyway because they are comics.

As for the UMU overall I still love it even though most of the characters I loved are dead, and this is because even my not favorite characters are still pretty awesome.

14.2 - I Should Have Checked the Inside Cover

Let this be a lesson for any one reading this. When you are collecting comics, always check the edition of the book. The difference between first printing and second can be very very drastic for a collector. I bring this up because recently I bought, at what I thought was a steal of a price, issue 2 of TMNT the original Mirage run. It was the over size book with the indie looking cover I had seen on the early editions of TMNT, then the dude told me 20 bucks and its yours. I said 15 and he agreed. One week later I'm looking into it and I find that this book is actually a second print and I paid VF prices. Not the worse purchase I have ever made, luckily, but I thought I really had something.

14.1 - Cool New Book Witch Doctor

So, I have been excited about this new book out by Skybound an imprint of Image, called Witch Doctor, since I read the preview in Walking Dead issue 85. I has a cool premise which can be summed up by saying that it is House MD meets Hellboy; They say "House meets Fringe," but that doesn't make sense to me because Fringe deals with super science not the super natural. For 2.99 you can't beat it though. I'm on issue 2 and I'm waiting on issue 3 of this 4 part series, and I am really hoping that they can make this an ongoing series because so far it is funny and very interesting.

I love the way this comic approaches the super natural aspects of this world, even though I am not a big fan of fantasy. It doesn't just chalk everything up to magic and leave it at that, it explains things in a semi naturalistic way making it seem that the "demonic possessions" and "fairy baby kidnappings" are things that happen in the real world, normal people just don't experience these things everyday, and thus have chalked them up to magics over the years. The "possessions" are parasites and the "fairies" are humanoid insects who replaces human babies with there own in order to be reared.

As far as new comics go this is the topps and like I said I really hope this gets an on going, so I can add a new book to my list of non-superhero books (this is a very short list).

The writer, Brandon Seifert, is new to comics but worked with and for Brian Bendis at Portlan State University. I found a pretty good interview with him here and he talks a lot about the comic. The artist, Lukas Ketner, is just as new to the comic scene with doing a variant cover on Walking Dead.

I love hearing about new guys to the comic industry because it is always good to get new blood in the system. Check out the book!!

12 - Last Issue of Red Robin

You may or may not know that I am a great big Robin fan, Tim Drake specifically, and I have been since I came across issue 85 years ago. I just finished the "last" issue of Red Robin, a series after Robin that follows Tim Drake under his new persona. Overall I hadn't been to impressed with Red Robin until late in the series.

It was only in the second to last issue that they started to tease me with a bigger picture story, the whole thing with them introducing a thousand year old "villain" looking for his replacement in Tim, was awesome. It just makes me wonder if they will pursue this thread in the coming new universe. The last issue of the series was alright, but kind of a week story to end it on. It's not a real end though, right?

One issue I had with the series in the beginning besides that it spun out of the whole "Bruce was lost in time thing" was that it was Tim trying to prove Bruce was not dead. Some how he proved he was not dead by solely travelling the globe and beating up assassins while doing a surprisingly small amount of detective work. I guess they just left that part up to the readers to fill in between panels or something, but I may have just been reading too disjointedly. I'll probably go back and re-read it some time cause it is only 26 issues and I want to make sure I didn't miss anything. If I do ill probably post about it.

11.2 - Read a little further in to two books

The first is Irredeemable, by Mark Waid. I had gotten the first trade of this a few months back and thought it was pretty interesting. It has an interesting story of a Superhero going bad and what this means to his old team and how they will try and stop him. I thougth this ws a pretty good hook for the book but once I read it it did not strike me as much, it was cool, but I wasn't clamoring for the next trade. I found this second trade for 50% off at the Buckeye Comic con, and now that I have read on it definitely has me more excited for Irredeemable. The art seems better and the plot points make it more interesting than just seeing the good good guys run from the bad good guy.

The next book was Avengers Academy issues 3-5. I picked up 1 and then 2 when thy came out and they didn't hold my interest. Now I got some more and I am still thinking about the same. Just seems like an angsty emo teen team book. I might pick up more if I can get them cheap but probably will not continue with this series.

11.1 - Still Gonna Be DC Guy

Its gonna be another double post day. I'm not very good at this 30 day challenge thing, but I am achieving my true goal of just posting more regularly.

Anyway, like the title says I am a DC guy and will more than likely stay a DC guy on into the coming relaunch. Unlike most I have been kind of excited for this whole thing since I realized what they were trying to do. Initially i thought that this was a whole Zero Hours-esk thing again and I kind of blew it off, but the I started hearing more and more about the all #1 and relaunch/retool talk. I think that I am excited because of my nature to be a collector and completest. Since they are putting an end to everything essentially I have a good stopping point for my collection, and since they are going to keep putting out books with my favorite characters, I can still get new stuff which is always awesome.

oops gotta go to work.

9 - JLA: Tower Of Babel

Just finished the JLA: Tower Of Babel arc, issues 43 to 46, and I thought it was alright. I picked this up on a recommendation from CGS, they have mentioned this story a few time in the show. I say this arc is only 'alright' because the idea was very cool, but the execution could have been better. The editing took me out of the story a few time, but these might just be nit picks, when they say Ras is an Asian and when wally freaks on GL about mentioning Hal. I thought Ras was middle eastern and I would think Wally wouldn't care so much cause Hal was Barry's friend not his so much. But any who, over all I thought the idea behind the story was cool and it was a fun old read. I never really read JLA when it was coming out, and I will always pick up a story with Batman predominant in it.

8 - More "Black" Superheroes Movie in Next Decade?

First let me explain my title. I ask the question because in the last 10 years there have been more live action superhero movies in America than in the previous 50 years (not sure on accuracy got it from wiki wiki). With only a hand full of them staring a black or a non-white main character. (one of them was catwoman *yikes*) I quote "black" because I am talking about non-white characters in leading roles, not just black characters in leading roles.

Let me start by saying that there is no magic number or ratio that I need to see in order for me to be happy with the representation of minority characters in comic book movies, I would just like to see more than I have seen. The decade started with X-Men and ended with Jonah Hex (*yeah I know great book ends*), and of the 30 or so comic based movies that were released 3 of these movies stared a legitimate minority (not counting Hellboy), and two of those were Blade (granted, they were pretty kick ass). The only other examples of minorities being portrayed were in the X-Men movies co-staring storm (who didn't get her due till 3) and then Nemo in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (lets face it, no one got there due in that one).



It just makes me sad to not be able to see some superhero characters that look like me and I can relate to up on the big screen. I am hoping that in the future we can get maybe some John Stewart Green Lantern, T'Challa Black Panther, or Luke Cage Powerman on the big screen. With all the sequels comin out I really don't want to see continuations of Blank-Man or Meteorman in the next decade(lol).

7.2 Loot from Buckeye comic con

I'm just gonna give the highlights of the cool stuff I got. My best find was an issue two of TMNT first print of the Mirage run. A book like this is selling for well over 50 on ebay and I got it for 15 smackers, talked down from 20. Woot. I also got some earlier issues of Invincible, 14 17 and 18 for five bucks each. They are in great condition and just what I have been looking to add to my collection. All I need now are issues 1-13, and that will probably cost me. I also finally got issue 33 of Brave and the Bold featuring Zatanna, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl (Barb) which is pretty hard to find and also hard hitting with the twist on the end. Thank to the CGS guys for recommending it. I also got a we bit of Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and Ultimate Avengers 3, with a lil chunk of Green Lantern to fill in some holes. Great show and looking forward to the next one.

Post 7.1 - Graphic Biography on Malcolm X and I Missed Another Post

I missed another post, but I'll do two again today, the second of which will be a rundown of my loot from the buckeye comic con.

Right now, I'll be talking about a graphic novel of Malcolm X's biography. Too me Malcolm X is just the other side of the same coin Martin Luther King Jr is on, and they both are some historical figures that I look up to. I had read this graphic novel, by Andrew Helfer art by Randy Duburke, a few years ago and found it very enlightening. Up until that point I had only had the Spike Lee movie 'X' to influence me. This book had some details in it about Malcolm's life that I did not know about, along with corrections the movie had changed. I was finally able to buy the book when I was in New York and I stopped in to an activist book store and coffee shop.

If your into American history, civil right leaders, or just true stories about tragic lives you should check this out.

Post 5 - My Favorite Comic Strip

I have never been much of a comic strip guy, excepted for Garfield in the 5th grade and now with the Boondocks. This post is about the latter.

I was and am a big fan of the show, and this inspired me to check out the source material. This stuff is pretty funny. It is very sharp witty humor about politics, society, and culture. I got a couple of the books; hilarious all the way through.

Post 4.2 - Why I am a DC guy

You may or may not be able to tell that I am a DC comic guy. In the past I have not put much thought into why, I just read a lot of Batman, Green Lantern, and Lobo (it was the 90s.) Now that I have put some thought into it, I still don't think I really know why, but I will do my best to explain.

I guess, the first reason to come to mind is because they have my favorite characters, but that's a pretty cheap reason. To me their characters were more believable in their world. I know that sounds odd because its a world with supermen and living gods, but hear me out. Marvel stories took place in New York City or at least visited regularly, and this was cool, but it took me out of it because I never saw spider-man swing through, the FF fight a Moleman, or the Avengers beat Loki in time square. See, Marvel took our world and built on top of it, where DC built their world, seemingly, from the ground up. Gotham was maybe a city I could visit and see some strung up bad guys hanging from a lamp post, or travel to Metropolis and see Superman fly by. The whole world was believable to the child me for this reason. It was a completely different world from the ground up, so everything meshed to me; real New York and Marvel New York did not.

Second, to me they had more action, and that was what I was looking for as a kid. Marvel was fine and all but all there characters were out of their costume almost as much as they were in them; this did not appeal to me. I remember reading some current random issues of Spider-man and X-men in the 90s, then I remember reading Green Lantern and Superboy around the same time and the DC stories grabbed me more because of the action.

Last, I have stuck with DC pretty well this long because it has grown with me. They have come out with those more mature stories that hook me now as opposed to the straight action that had me before. It seems the more I learn the more there is to learn, and I love that about the DCU.

Now, While I have digressed in the past by picking up some normal Marvel U books, this has pretty much been eliminated because of the Marvel price point. I'm not saying they are not good stories, I just cannot afford them.

post 4.1- leaked Batman Rising set video (spoiler footage?)

Well, I missed my first post of my 30 day challenge. I thought I would at least make it through the first week, but whatever (2 posts today). Moving on, a buddy of mine (who actually was supposed to make posts on this blog along with me) sent me a link to a Superherohype.com article that featured leaked footage that looked to be from a handheld camera on the set of Batman Rising. They say that the footage is spoiler footage, but I don't get how it could be spoilery seeing that all you get is a out of context fight seen shot from a long way off. No dialog. I mean we know he fights Bane eventually in the move, right? Though, the images are pretty cool to see, they make me ask more questions then they answer. I don't condone this type of leak usually because I like to be as surprised as possible at a movie, especially a Batman movie. I cannot not post though, you know.

Post 2 - Time for the second biannual Buckeye Comic con August 7th @10am

This is one of my favorite times of year, time for the Buckeye comic con. This is a biannual show once in March then in August. This is a cool show to for me because I can fill holes in my collection on the cheap. In past shows there have been about 50ish dealers; a couple of the larger tables deal in more classics from the silver age w/ some golden age stuff for normal wall prices; most of the tables are selling modern stuff on the cheap(don't pay more than half price for a trade at this show); then there are several dealing in toys(mostly action figures the prices are all over the place but you'll find deals); there are normally a few local creators there also.

I am really looking forward to hitting the cheap trades table. Earlier this year I found a limited edition hardback of Marvels for 5 bucks! Great deal and I picked up like 3 other trades for less than 15.

My comic shop Capital City Comics will be there, most likely with some more cheap trades (at most half price) along with half price on sets of singles issues.

Hopefully I will be able to fill in some holes in my collection, along with picking up some things that I am actually collecting not just reading. I am always looking for Black Panther Stuff I don't have, I also started trying to scoop up Eastman&Laird TMNT plus Alan Moore's Miracle Man series. I found some early issues of TMNT for 2 dollars an issue at the previous show along with issue 11 of Miracle Man for 11 ducats which I talked down to 8. Holes I'll be filling will be in Robin (haven't found much in that prior), New Avengers, 90s Green Lantern issue 51 and up with Kyle (this is my original GL), and then there is other stuff I'll be on the look out for. Its always the stuff you find that your not looking for that is the best.

Post 1 - New comic/nerdy podcast you should check out: The Black Tribbles

You should check out The Black Tribbles. It is awesome. Basically it is a podcast full of blerds (aka. black nerds) and it is sweet. They are only up to cast 13 as of right now, but it is all solid. They don't stick to straight comics but they have some pretty great not so serious episodes about anime and video games, and them some relatively serious conversations about race in nerd culture. I was hooked after listening to episode 6 entitled, Growing up Geek in Black America, and they talked about so many things that I myself had thought and felt while being myself a geek in black America.

They do their show live Fridays 10pm-12am and streaming to here and then put up in podcast RSS here. The show feels like a real radio show with live call ins and the semi regular musical interlude. This podcast is now my second favorite podcast, just under CGS, and that is only because CGS comes out multiple times a week. If Black Tribbles was put out even twice a week it would be putting up a fight for my top spot.

Post 0 - The start of my 30 day post challenge

I have not been posting as much as i would like. So, I have challenged myself to posting everyday for the next 30 days. This is post zero just explaining what I set out to do, and hopefully this will jump start me to post more regularly after this month is out.

Just saw Captain America: The First Avenger

... and thus ends the superhero movie summer. It started with Green Hornet, followed by Thor, X-Men: First Class, and then Green Lantern. This is the best year for comic book hero movies over all. I would have a hard time saying that any of these movies were bad and there certainly were a lot of them this year. I know what your saying to your self, "hey, some of those are not that good of movies," but ask yourself were any of them worse than last years Jonah Hex or 2003's Daredevil. 2008 seems to come in for a close second for best year for comic movies clocking in at 6 again but that list includes The Spirit.

In Order from best to worse:
X-Men: First Class
Captain America: the First Avenger
Green Hornet
Thor
Green Lantern

X-men was a surprise to me because i feel like there were major flaws in the previous three or four files. Don't get me wrong they all had some great features, but over all they were not the best movie movies. First Class was just that, it was really a movie; I feel that even if i had know idea who the X-men were previous to the movie I would still be able to enjoy it and feel engaged.

Cap is next because this was just a great action flick, and Marvel Studios just keeps hitting it out of the park. This was a cool movie that gave cap the time he deserved. This is a character that should be just as big as Batman in popular culture, and its about time he got his due. While I'm not a die hard fan of the character I can truly say this movie made me want experience him more.

Yes, Green Hornet is third... hear me out. Again, like the others, this was a cool movie and i love a movie that can mix action and comedy well. I also really liked what they did with the characters and how they approached the story telling. I remember as a kid watching some of the original Green Hornet on reruns, and being under whelmed by the story and only 30 seconds of Bruce Lee fighting you got (as bad ass as it may have been.) This movie though made me want to see what was happening between fights, because it was funny and interesting. I hope they make another.

Thor was really cool. All the people were great, the action was great, and the story was great. While i feel that it was just a stepping stone to the Avengers movie, it was a really really good stepping stone.

Finally, Green Lantern. This was a fun movie, but the most comic booky of the bunch. I feel they really just told the story to fast and had to many wasted opportunities. I'm fine with the Ryan Reynolds and the all cgi costume, but the two enemies and the lack of Oa kinda got me. The fact that they had two enemies in the move is not bad, and they executed it alright, but if they really concentrated on only one instead of both it would have been better. It is about time GL got his brightest day in other media rather than just comics. for the next one i hope they take a page from Justice League and introduce Jon Stewart.

Just finished reading...

The Life And Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century. This book was recommended to me by a friend who is a Frank Miller fan. I have to say, this is quite the book. It has a great blend of action and absurd comedy dealing with a corrupt incorporated America and how Martha Washington deals with life here over the course of her's. The style of the book changes significantly from the first story to the last, seeing that the book was a compilation of stories written over the course of 20 years totaling over 500 pages. It is cool seeing how Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons styles progress over the years along with the character. The First section of the story i enjoyed somewhat more than the later stories, just because it showed a ridiculous satire of the United States (think a way less serious Watchmen) while she was fighting this dude that tried to kill her, while the later stuff was more Scifi-ee with her fighting a computer program that tried to kill her. I love seeing a character's development from beginning to end and this character literally gives me that, like you see her born and you see her death. Overall this is a really cool story about a girls journey from little project child with no prospects to someone who is a leader and has saved the world on more than one occasion.

DC!!

I know I'm am a little late on this bit of news, but did you hear about the stuff that DC is pulling in September. Yea, of course you have. i heard it from my dad first, and he hasn't read a comic in 25 years. Basically i initially thought "another DC gimic," and now i am thinking that it is something a bit different than that. It was a really short article my dad sent me that summed up to saying all new number ones and day and date digital. immediately i thought Zero Hour and went about my day. Now i have heard more about it online and through CGS, and i am getting more excited.

First and foremost, i want my kids to have funny books when they exist (the kids not comics). I have been getting more and more worried about the survival of comics because they are not pulling in the new readers they need to stay relevant. I did not feel comics or the companies that produced and distributed them could pull in noobs on there own, and that's why i take it upon myself to get comics into new readers hands whenever possible. But, now it seems DC is doing something that hasn't been done since the first Crisis, injecting new life into the DCU by not only relaunching (not rebooting) stories and making it possible to distribute a comic potentially an infinite number of times with the DaD releasing. Thinking about it now i am realizing that they have maximized the amount of new readers they could get by not only releasing the new number ones (which always sell), but doing it with the digital. I can totally see some hippster with an Ipad being like "hey Batman #1 im cool with buying that, i did just by a $200 pair of skinny jeans." But anywho. the whole digital thing can really only help, just look to Amazon with the Kindle and Barns&Noble with the Nook then ask yourself why is Borders bankrupt.

While i know old and current fan will probably get wicked upset about all this, i feel they have little right to. This is comics and continuity is somewhat of a luxury, just look into the DCU's early history and how crazy things were. For older fans continuity left DC 25 years ago, some say they fixed it, other say it made things worse. Now we have another back log of continuity that scares off new readers, confuses casual readers, and annoyed fan boys. Retelling every ones story, if done well, all at once could make the cohesive DCU we have all wanted since the first crisis. New readers I hope can look forward to a universe that makes sense and is more relevant today. If done well this can be a great thing for new fans, old fans, and potential fans alike.

Some things that i am really looking forward to is the Mr. Terrific book and i heard Barbra is coming back as Batgirl. Something that scares me is that i don't know what they are going to do with Tim Drake currently Red Robin formerly Robin. I really hope they keep him around.

But we'll see. I think i will sum all this up with a kinda quote (paraphrased) i heard on CGS. Internet 5/30/11: "DC you have completely screwed all of the DCU especially Batman, Superman, and Wonderman." DC 5/31/11: "Fine Internet have it your way, we will change everything in a very profound way" Internet 5/31/11 +1sec:"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Static Shock: Special one shot

I had really been looking forward to this book for a few months now. Unfortunately it was very disappointing. The story was way to rushed, it felt like Virgil's uncle got out of jail, hung out with his family, when exercising got kidnapped, saved and then died all in the same day. The art seemed truncated also, it really felt like there were panels missing. In more than one scene the action just seemed to skip, only showing the windup then the fly ball without showing the hit. The best part of the book was the Dwayne McDuffie commemoration in the back. I really really would love to see a new Static book become an ongoing, but if this is the jump off point, this will be a pretty bad first step.

edit: i geuss this was just a commoration thing for Mr. McDuffie and they are pushing back the ongoing to the DC relaunch