Comic Reviews

Batman #2 – Review

Batman is the best series out of the new 52, and hopefully we can all agree on that. The second issue is just as good as the first, and offers up a decent amount of answers while posing some new ones. Last issue we see that Dick Grayson’s DNA was under the finger nails of the corpse found by the authorities. Did Dick kill the man? No, obviously not, and we find out what really happened early in this issue. It’s a cool scene between Bats and Nightwing, and Snyder does a good job of showing the relationship these two characters have with each other.

Fear Itself #7 – Review

The final issue of Marvel’s current cross-over event. I realize you may have missed my reviews on the previous six issues of the series. That’s probably because I did not read them. Still, I thought, hey, how about coming in right at the end, why not? I think it’s fairly obvious that Marvel’s latest pull for sales has gone largely unnoticed here at Player Affinity what with being overshadowed by DC’s New 52. Well, maybe there’s a reason for that.

Batman: Odyssey #1 – Review

Wow, there is a lot of Batman out and about at the moment. I think he’s ranking somewhere below zombies and above Spider-Man in terms of over-exposure at the moment. I think he’s shown up in roughly fifty-two of the New 52, has a movie in the works, and just got a new video game. Of all the Bat-ventures available, why pick Batman: Odyssey? Maybe because it is one hundred percent out of its metaphorical mind.

Justice League #2 – Review

The Justice League has always been the flagship of the DCU.
How could it not be? The team consists of all its major heroes. It’s always
awesome seeing your favorite characters teaming up to fight a common cause. In
Justice League #2, the heroes aren’t exactly working together yet.

Batman and Robin #2 – Review

Batman books of the New 52 have been incredibly solid. Batman and Robin #1 was a good introduction to the relationship Damien and Bruce share and the dynamic of their adventures. The action was solid, and the pace was consistent. Unfortunately, issue #2 slumps a little in all departments, though that isn’t to say it wasn’t a good read.

Suicide Squad #2 – Review

This issue of Suicide Squad shows just how inadequate and unnecessary the first issue was by being even more action-packed, having the storyline pick up its pace and showing just how much fun the characters are to watch. This is one of the best second issues I have read so far and shows how much potential this team of fierce villains previously on death row has, with only a few minor drawbacks.

Super-villains Deadshot, King Shark, Voltaic, El Diablo, Harley Quinn and Black Spider were recruited onto the Suicide Squad. All have bombs implanted in them, forcing them to listen to whatever their leader, Amanda Waller says, and she says they have to find a woman in a stadium full of zombies. The team risks life and limb to get to the woman before their time runs out.

Red Lanterns #2 – Review

 The Red Lantern Corps is hilarious to me. Honestly, if I did not know otherwise, I would think that they were some sort of parody of the Green Lanterns. Maybe they are. This is a group whose primary characteristics are being constantly pissed off and spewing blood. You don’t need a pussy cat or an oversexed alien chick (surprisingly not Starfire) on the team to get that idea. Still, they and their ever so subtly named leader, Atrocitus, have their own book now, and it just happens to be written by Peter Milligan, who also wrote Justice League Dark #1, which I loved. That being the case, let’s take a look.

Aside from an incredible couple of opening pages featuring Dex-Starr, the most bloodthirsty Red Lantern and most genius running joke in DC, Red Lanterns #2 has a lot more going on than the exposition-heavy introductory issue. Basically, Atrocitus, leader of the rage-fueled Red Lanterns and only member capable of some rational thought, is having a dilemma. See, he used to be really super-duper pissed off, but, ever since Hal Jordan killed the guy responsible for all Atrocitus’s anger, the big angry red guy is just going through the motions. In an effort to boost his emotional state from moderately-pissed back to the ravenous psychosis of yesterday, he’s started bombing around the galaxy, honing in on the rage of others. He ends up looking like a cross between the Silver Surfer and the Spectre. Atrocitus flies around the galaxy looking for epic wrongs to right and then violently murders those wrongs in the name of justice.

Green Lantern #2 – Review

So the second issues of the relaunch keep rolling in, and they haven’t disappointed yet. Hal may have started this new series without his powers, but I think it’s safe to say most readers didn’t expect that to be the case for long. Green Lantern #1 ended with Sinestro talking to Hal about getting his power ring back. Issue #2 starts with Hal understandably feeling very uneasy about the “former” villain offering “help”.  After a short but heated discussion between the two, Sinestro gives Hal a Green ring of his own making.

Justice League International #2 – Review

After a solid if not immensely entertaining first issue, the second issue of Justice League International is where the real action starts and the characters have to work together. Almost all the characters are memorable, mostly in positive ways but there are some issues. The artwork is great and the story has good pacing. The series is no where near the best issue of the New 52 but is definitely in the running for one of the most promising new series thanks to this issue.

Batman Detective Comics #2 – Review

So the New 52 is slowly becoming not as new, as the second
issues are beginning to emerge.  I’ll
start this the way I’ve started every DC relaunch review so far. For those that
were worried your favorite character would be ruined due to the New 52, stop
worrying. The fear of first issue flukes can be put to rest. Clearly these
writers know what they’re doing, and Tony Daniel gives us another example in
the form of Detective Comics #2.