Blue Beetle #11 Review!

Cover to Blue Beetle #11 by Paul Renaud

Blue Beetle #11

Written by: Tony Bedard

Art by: Ig Guara & J.P. Mayer

Issue title: "All That Glitters"

So normally I don't buy this series, obviously, but I can't resist buying an issue with Booster in it. So without further wait, I present my review of Blue Beetle #11.

Summary:

• The issue opens with a newscaster lady named Connie Burnett is interviewing a guy who is anti-superheroes named Thaddeus Miller and Booster Gold who is promoting supers, obviously
• Blue Beetle becomes the main focus of the conversation
• Booster announces that he wants to meet with Beetle and help him get his super-hero career together
• Meanwhile, Jaime is walking down the street in NYC and is talking to the Beetle scarab thingy and decides he wants to meet with Booster and has the scarab set up a meeting
• Later, when Beetle and Booster are set to meet, Booster seems kinda pissed since Jaime arrived late
• Booster begins fighting Beetle and explains why he did so, which is the fact that Booster knows his 25th Century History and mentions an invasion from the Reach Empire (which is where the scarab came from) to Earth and he wants to wipe Beetle out before the Reach gets worse
• Eventually Booster takes down Beetle, but Jaime's grandma (????) steps in between and stops Booster from killing Jaime
• (This will be continued in the Justice League International Annual next month apparently)

Thoughts

I really enjoyed this issue. Not enough that I'd spend another $2.99 monthly, which is a shame because if I had the money I would buy it. I really need a job... Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this issue and I now can't wait to see what this annual is all about. I kind of hope to see the Blue & Gold become best buds again, and hopefully since JLI is getting cancelled we can see more of Booster here in Blue Beetle, but in the meantime, it was a good impulse buy. Good writing, good art, solid cliffhanger for the ongoing series. 8/10

I have to say, Beetle did put up a good fight against Booster there for a while.

Teen Titans #8 Review!

Teen Titans #8
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Art by: Ig Guara & JP Mayer

Summary
The issue opens with Red Robin being turned into, well...a bird. Apparently, the Titans launched an assault on N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s (that is a lot to type...) base on the North Pole and the team has seemingly been captured and is being tortured by Omen. It turns out that, at least one of, Harvest's (the big bad guy running N.O.W.H.E.R.E.) powers is to be able to turn the teenaged metahumans against one another. Wonder Girl is trying to free Red Robin, while Solstice and Bunker take some time to relax and think things through. Omen decides to stop transforming Red Robin into a bird and even reverts him back to human form for some reason. Then after Omen rants to Tim for a little, she sends him off to Harvest. Since I'm feeling lazy, the rest of the Titans get taken down one by one. The main interesting thing that we find out in the issue is that Wonder Girl's powers aren't actually her's, it's her armor and such that give her the metahuman abilities and also that she saved the life of "someone close to" her by getting the armor. Aaaaanyway, we also find out (as Brett Booth said the last time I talked to him which you can read here and I'll be talking to him again after the last issue of the Culling crossover is released next month) that Bart can survive without the suit on for limited periods of time and that somehow the fact that he is having weird memories and the injuries he got from fighting Superboy are related. Interesting. At the end of the issue, the entire team is in their New 52-Superboy-esque outfits (also: Superboy was missing entirely from this issue. Just saying) get taken by a guy named Leash(???) who looks exactly like Bunker(!?) but it isn't him. Same color scheme, though. And he's got the little hat thing, too. Weird... Anyway, he ties the team up and they teleport away to wherever Harvest wants them to be. And to cap off the issue, Omen simply states "Hail Harvest."
Thoughts
This issue was really good...for a filler issue. It certainly set up well for the crossover that starts in a week(!!!). I liked it, it set up some interesting stuff that I would like to find out answers for if not in the Culling story, then in the months following soon after. I have a feeling some of the questions about Wonder Girl and Kid Flash's back stories will be answered soon enough. Which is very good. My only gripe with the issue (which will be the same for next month) is the fact that Brett Booth's art isn't here. Not that Guara's art is bad, which is definitely isn't bad at all, it's just that Booth is one of my favorite artists and I think he works really well on Teen Titans. Can't wait til next week for Teen Titans Annual! This issue gets a 9/10!

And speaking of next week, I'm getting Teen Titans Annual #1 (with Brett's art! YAY!) and Earth-Two #1 which I have literally been waiting MONTHS for! Oh and Justice League International #9 and Red Lanterns #9 will both be coming out. But they aren't as cool as EARTH TWO AND TEEN TITANS ANNUAL WILL BE!!! See you all in less than a week!!

                                          Lol. Get it? Because his name is Red Robin, he's turning into a bird? ... Me neither.