DC Comics Review: Blackest Night #4
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
I’m a bit disappointed in this issue. After the first three issues blew me away and I proclaimed that this series was a future classic in the making, writer Geoff Johns stumbles a bit with this month’s issue of Blackest Night. For me, some of Black Lantern Firestorm’s dialogue was written poorly in the opening pages. We also jump to Gotham City for no reason other to see Jean Paul Valley aka Azrael resurrected as a Black Lantern while The Scarecrow whines about admiring the fear that the Black Lanterns are able to invoke (he can’t get scared because he’s used too much of his fear gas). Poor baby. He does have one fear of course - The Batman (cue dramatic Batman music).
This issue mostly focuses on Barry Allen - the Flash and his quest to take the reigns and try to “hold down the fort” here on Earth against the Black Lanterns. He’s with the Atom and Mera of Atlantis and he gives them a good pep talk to try to get them to step up and fight back against the Black Lanterns. The Flash then runs across the Earth continuing his pep talk and informing the other heroes of the situation. He tells them that Green Lantern is off trying to destroy the source of the Black Lanterns’ power and they have to keep fighting until that happens.
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DC Comics Review: Justice League of America #38
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
has had its share of ups and downs over the years.
The Justice League has had its share of ups and downs over the years. Over the past ten years we’ve seen the resurrection of the JLA under the guidance of Grant Morrison with great success. That title went the way of the dodo a few years ago and was relaunched under the helm of writer Brad Meltzer. His year run on the title was okay, but not as good as I would hope it would have been. I haven’t collected the title since Meltzer left, but I decided to pick this issue up as I’ve been reading James Robinson’s Justice League: Cry for Justice. This series has also had its share of ups and downs, but I wanted to give Robinson a shot and see what he could do with the regular series. I’m glad I did.
The Justice League is falling apart. Batman, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter are dead. Superman is on New Krypton and Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash are off doing their own thing. The League consists now of mostly second-tier characters with Vixen at the helm. Our story begins with the character Blue Jay being chased by an unknown assailant. He’s looking to warn the Justice League of impending danger. Unfortunately he doesn’t make it and he’s killed.
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DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Batman #3
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2*
The Blackest Night: Batman mini-series ends here and it’s very good. The dead have been rising thoughout the DC Universe and in this series we saw the parents of Dick Grayson and Tim Drake rise to face off against their sons. In our last issue we saw Batman, Robin, Red Robin, and Deadman rescue Jim and Barbabra Gordon from the threat of the Black Lanterns at Gotham Central. The Black Lantern Graysons and Drakes strike and we begin our story with that showdown.
Batman and Red Robin decide to face off against their parents themselves and tell Robin to get the Gordons to safety. Robin begrudgingly agrees and it is here that writer Peter Tomasi finally writes the character of Damian Wayne more along the lines of the way he’s supposed to be portrayed. Deadman decides the boys need more help and heads off to recruit Jason Blood aka Etrigan. Blood is unwilling to assist, but Deadman jumps into his body and possess him in order to bring out the demon Etrigan.
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DC Comics Review: Batman #691
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2*
A great issue by Judd Winick to close out his run on Batman. One of the problems I had with Judd’s first run on Batman was the inconsistency. He would write a very good issue of Batman and then a very bad one. In this short run, he started off with a great issue; followed by some mediocre ones and then this great issue.
We pick up where we left off with Dick Grayson as Batman returning to the Batcave after the alarms went off. He finds out that the intruder is none other than Two-Face himself and he’s now at his mercy. Two-Face has pumped Batman with some drugs and he’s hallucinating. He sees Two-Face in some weird Batman-like costume, but it turns out to be all in his head.
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DC Comics Review: Batman and Robin #5
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2*
Another great issue in Grant Morrison’s run on Batman and Robin. The issue picks up right where we left off in the previous issue with Red Hood and Scarlet confronting the new Batman and Robin. Some very cool dialogue between the current Robin Damian Wayne and the second one The Red Hood Jason Todd. It’s funny. Even though I’m on the side of Batman and what he stands for, the Red Hood makes a good point when he says that after killing all of these criminals, they will think twice before setting foot in Gotham.
Damian is being his normal arrogant self here, and decides to try and take Jason out, but Jason proceeds to catch him and ram his face into the ground. Batman not being too happy about that, returns the favor. Scarlet grabs Damian in retaliation and holds him at knife point. Batman backs off of the Red Hood and allows them to escape as they need to turn the Penguin over to police.
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Simpsons Comics #158: Chuck Dixon and Phil Ortiz
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Independent,
Chuck Dixon has been responsible for some of the manliest comic books in the direct market. From his work on Airboy to Punisher and Batman, his characters know how to take a punch and keep punching back (sometimes accessorizing with big guns).
Dixon is now at Bongo Comics where he writes Simpsons Comics. When you’re working on corporate comics, you’re always answerable to the corporate owners about how best to handle their characters. When you’re working a licensed property—whether it’s Farscape, Star Trek, or Terminator—there’s yet another corporate layer added into the “Please me” mix: the corporation that controls the license. Sometimes the actors step in as well. A well-known Star Trek actor had it in his contract that artists couldn’t draw the top of his bald head too pointy. That’s right: he had baldness approval. So it’s never easy working on licensed properties and I admire those who do it and do it well. Like Chuck Dixon.
At first glance, he might seem an odd choice for The Simpsons universe—the Batman writer tackling America’s favorite yellow cartoon people—but he’s a professional writer and that’s what they do: write. In Simpsons Comics #158, Homer is outraged that his newly won hot tub violates the Homeowner’s Association rules so he’s convinced to run for President of the Association in the conveniently upcoming election. Once he wins, it all goes horribly awry in the best Simpsons manner.
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Marvel Turns Tim Gunn Into Superhero
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Interviews, Marvel Comics,
Leave it to Marvel to branch out into yet another pop culture obsession (I mean, they had me hooked with Marvel Zombies): fashion. This time, they’ve actually appointed a nontraditional, real life hero, Project Runway‘s Tim Gunn.
Ridding the world of fashion crimes in real life, Gunn lends his likeness to Marvel‘s limited series Models, Inc. in the first issue of the series, “Loaded Gunn.”
And boy is he thrilled:
“Isn’t it just utterly and totally surreal? This is one of those make-a-wish things that could never happen… There are lots of debates about how much it looks like me. I said, ‘Gentleman, this is your business. This is not what I do. I do not even want to remotely weigh in on it or micromanage it.’”
With a little help from Iron Man, Gunn comes to the rescue when a special superhero museum is attacked.
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Retro-Reimaginings of The Dark Knight Trailer
Posted by Kris Madden Categories: Movies, DC Comics,
2008’s The Dark Knight was not the first time Batman faced off against his archenemy Joker on the big screen, or even the small screen. Thanks to YouTube’s community of film-editing hobbyists, there are three trailers for previous Batman films replaced with the audio track from The Dark Knight trailer. Enjoy.
Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
The best treatment of The Dark Knight trailer’s audio is a clip made from episodes of the early 90’s TV cartoon Batman: The Animated Series. The cartoon becomes a Gothic “Hanna-Barbera” nightmare and seamlessly goes along with soundtrack as if it was meant to be that way all along.
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DC Comics Review: Batman and Robin #4
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2
A little bit of a letdown with this issue relative to the three previous ones, but it was still very good. I think the letdown for me came more with the artwork by Philip Tan. The previous issues with artist Frank Quitely were very good because he tells a good story visually with his artwork. Tan’s, however, doesn’t do much for me in the issue. Some parts of the story are too dark and I didn’t enjoy the panel-to-panel storytelling. Quitely’s artwork gave me a grand epic feeling. Tan’s work seems cramped and jumbled. However, the story of this opening arc is still very good.
We open with a villain by the name of Lightning Bug collecting some money from a club owner. Just as he’s about to pop this guy, the Batmobile swoops in and hovers right behind him. Lightning Bug makes a break for it and crashes through an apartment window. He makes his way out of the apartment into the hallway and meets up with who he thinks is Batman and Robin, but is instead the Red Hood and his new partner Scarlett. The Red Hood has decided to go a different route to fight crime and instead of handing this guy over to the police, the Red Hood cuts his throat and kills him. “Let the punishment fit the crime” is his new slogan for punishing criminals.
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Michael Uslan: The Boy Who Loved Batman
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
Michael Uslan has had a very interesting career in comics - he went from fan to comic book writer to producer of the modern era Batman films. Uslan has been called one of the 25 Most Influential People In Comic Book Movies.
Now Uslan has just signed on to write his autobiography for Chronicle Books. The book, The Boy Who Loved Batman, traces Uslan’s journey “from a comics-obsessed childhood in 1950’s New Jersey, to the fulfillment of his vision of the Dark Knight over the course of six Batman films.“ The book will also feature “comic reproductions, photos, and illustrations.”
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