Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Batman #9 Review



Batman #9
Written by: Scott Snyder; Back-Up Story Written by: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Art by: Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion; Back-Up Story Art by: Rafael Alburquerque
Issue title: “Night of the Owls”

Summary
The issue opens with Bruce, in his “Iron Giant” Batman suit fighting off like 10 Talons in the Cave. The Cave’s temperature is steadily dropping so that the Talons will slow down and be unable to fight back eventually. He is throwing out the freezing batarangs and taking down Talon after Talon. But then the Talons fight back and knock him down(!). They’re about to kill him, when the giant T-Rex comes to life(!!!) and begins stomping on them. Ha! Sure, those Owls might be able to fight Bats, but can they fight T-Rex’s??? The Talons stab the armor and are about to kill him, when a horde of bats fly out and somehow that scares the Talons and confuses them enough that he can kick their asses enough so that Alfred can come out and put a serum in their blood stream to keep them “on ice.” One Talon begins to escape, but Bruce hops in the Batmobile and knocks him out. We find out that all around the city, the majority of the Talon’s targets have been killed, but Robin, Nightwing, and the rest of the Bat-family are fighting to protect the city. Apparently there are two targets that are unprotected but still alive: One is Jeremiah Arkham & the other? Lincoln March, Bruce’s new friend and Gotham mayoral candidate. Apparently if you read Detective Comics #9, you can see Bruce defending Arkham from the Talons, but they skip ahead to when Bruce goes to help Lincoln. He walks into the room, Lincoln shoots a gun, and we realize he shot a Talon in the head that was about to kill Batty-Boy. Lincoln has a message for Bruce Wayne, which is that he found several names of the Court members, but he dies soon after since he was stabbed with a knife by the Talon. Bruce declares that he is going to take the fight to them now. The back-up story was all about Jarvis Pennyworth (Alfred’s dad) and how he came across the Talon and how it was hunting him down. The story ends with the Talon of his time standing above him, knives at the ready.

ThoughtsThis issue was really good. The first half was almost entirely fighting, and then Bruce went and found Lincoln about to die and this time, Lincoln saved Bruce’s life from a Talon. The art was amazing as always. I was sad to see Lincoln go, but I suppose that it’s just even more motivation for Bruce to fight. I cannot wait for next month’s issue, as always. This issue gets a 9.5/10.
Alfred: “Master Bruce. The Talons have been contained. I have news on the other assassination attempts, as well.”
Batman: “I know where they live, Alfred.”
Alfred: “But, sir—”
Batman: “They came to my house…now I’m going to burn theirs to the ground.”
Batman is such a fuckin badass!
Check out my review of Green Lantern #9 and my many other Opinions, Reviews, and Previews here on OPR. Next week, I will have reviews for Justice League #9 and in two weeks I will have reviews for The Flash & Teen Titans #9. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Green Lantern #9 Review!


Green Lantern #9

Written by: Geoff Johns
Art by: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin, & Tom Nguyen
Issue title: "The Secret of the Indigo Tribe" part 3

Summary
The issue opens with Sinestro being transformed into a Tribesmen and we see him remembering something from the past...his wife, who happens to be Abin Sur's sister, dying. Then we cut to the entire Tribe pinning Hal to the ground. Hal pushes them off, asks why the Tribe is attacking him and Indigo-1 states that they are trying to send him home but Hal will only leave with Sinestro. He leaves the Tribe behind and goes off to find the Indigo Central Battery, which is apparently in the "Forbidden Jungles." Then we see the Guardians killing Starstorm (the guy who helped Sinestro get the Book of Black in #6) since he doesn't know where the Book of Black is. Hal finds the battery and with it a man who isn't a member of the Tribe, but has their markings all over him. A lot of talking occurs with many revelations about the Tribe, which I won't reveal because of the fact that this issue is definitely worth reading asap. I will tell you, however, that the Guardians of the Universe will cause the "End of the Corps." Natromo (the old guy with the markings) tells Hal that once Abin returns to lead them, that they will attack the Guardians. Hal tells him that Abin is dead, and then Natromo simply states "It is over." and destroys the Indigo battery, at which time the Tribe appears and the entire Tribe goes "off-line." Sinestro wakes up as a GL again and we see the entire Tribe, without their power rings, as hardened criminals about to attack.

Thoughts
This issue was really, really good. I am really appreciating this attention towards the Indigo Tribe. The story is really, really good. I like that the Tribe wants to force Sinestro to be a member so as to make him atone for his sins. There were a lot of revelations in this issue and it’s really frustrating that I’m holding them back from you, but spoilers are too tempting to read if you haven’t read the issue already and, as I said earlier, this issue is worth reading. We found out that the Guardians will definitely be the enemies in an upcoming GL storyline and I can’t wait for more. This issue easily gets a 9.5/10.
Hal: “Sinestro?”
Sinestro: “Jordan?”
Hal: “You’re free. Uh. And so are they.”
Check in later for my review of Batman #9, which is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Slight Change

So there is going to be a slight change in my comic scheduling, I will be getting Justice League, Batman, Green Lantern, and two new additions in The Flash & Teen Titans starting next month with #10. But that doesn't mean that I won't be getting JLI until August when the series ends, because I certainly will. Especially #12 where we will see Rocket Red's funeral and is also the last issue of the series. The only reason I'm changing it, is because DC decided to make it so they won't send Red Lanterns or Justice League International via mail anymore.

So in the coming months, here is what I think will be my list of comics:


  1. Justice League #9-12 $3.99/issue (but free due to subscription)
  2. Green Lantern #10-12 $2.99/issue (but free due to subscription)
  3. Earth-2 #2-4 $2.99/issue
  4. Worlds' Finest #2-4 $2.99/issue
  5. Teen Titans #9-12 $2.99/issue (but free due to subscription)
  6. Batman #10-12 $3.99/issue (but free due to subscription)
  7. The Flash #10-12 $2.99/issue (but free due to subscription)
  8. Justice League International #9-12 $2.99/issue
  9. Detective Comics #10-12 $3.99/issue
  10. Legion Lost #9 $2.99 (part of the Culling)
  11. Superboy #9 $2.99 (part of the Culling)
  12. DC Universe Presents #12 $2.99
  13. Green Lantern Annual #1 $4.99
  14. The Flash Annual #1 $4.99
  15. Justice League International Annual #1 $4.99
And honestly, I've been considering getting Animal Man because of the new artist, so maybe even that series starting in August, too. I might just reboot my entire list of comics for September. It'll be the one year anniversary of the DC relaunch/reboot, after all. 

Justice League International being CUT!?

The solicit for Justice League International #12 was just released today, and the issue is going to feature Rocket Red's funeral (finally). But they also had something that surprised me in the solicit: the words of death, aka "final issue."


JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #12
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT RYAN
Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
On sale AUGUST 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE(?!?!?!?!?!)
• It’s the funeral for ROCKET RED.
• Several members resign from the team – who will be left?


The solicit says that many members quit, which is very likely that it would leave just Batman, Booster, and maybe the General-In-Iron. But why? Beyond the fact that Rocket Red died, Ice broke both her legs, Vixen's spine is probably broken, etc... Okay well actually those are valid reasons. BUT is it fair to end a series this quickly? I sure as hell don't think so. If anything, the JLI should continue on. And who knows, maybe it was a typo? One can only hope. Because I've decided that if this is the truth, I will finish out the year with DC and if there are any storylines that haven't been wrapped up, I'll finish them off. Then I'll shut down the blog and think about how badly I really want to have more DC stories. Which will probably be very unlikely. Oh well. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Justice League International Annual #1 Announcement


"...JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL #1, written by Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio on their debut collaboration.

“This is the final fate of this incarnation of the Justice League International,” DiDio teased to THE SOURCE. “There will be also be a big showdown of events that played out in the final issues of O.M.A.C. The ramifications of this will be felt across the board and will lead directly into a major event spanning across all the Justice League group titles later this year.”

Illustrated by Jason Fabok, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL #1 will tie into the shocking events of JUSTICE LEAGUE #12. Guest-starring Blue Beetle, this special 48-page issue will be available in stores on August 29th."

So...explain to me why it is that Geoff Johns and Dan Didio are doing Justice League International's annual? Not, I don't know...Dan Jurgens!? I mean at least we'll see Blue Beetle, but come on!! I mean I get that Dan Didio's book (OMAC) just got cancelled to make way for better books like Earth-2 and Worlds' Finest, but that doesn't mean he gets to take over the Annual for an already-great book. He just needs to quit. Byebye, Didio. And how the fuck is Justice League International's Annual tied into Justice League #12. What? Ugh. I might get it. Depends on how Justice League #12 is, which apparently is important to the entire DC Universe. Wow. I'm tired of crossovers, honestly. Night of the Owls and the Culling are both good thusfar, but I'm not a huge fan of this whole crossover business.