Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 35

Book Review: Batgirl, Volume 3: Summer of Lies

Batgirl, Volume 3: Summer of Lies by Hope Larson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Summer of Lies reprints Issues 12-17 of Batgirl.

Issue 12 is a one-shot that finds Batgirl investigating the alleged presence of ghosts at the local Y. This is a fun short mystery that gives Batgirl a chance to show her intelligence and detective skills.

Issue 13 is another one-shot. "The Truth About Bats and Dogs." Batgirl helps a little girl whose looking for a famous missing dog and ends up teaming up with Batgirl whose looking for her missing cat. There's some light banter and the storey has some and cute moments.

Issues 14-17 is, "Summer of Lies" and it takes us back to the beginning of Batgirl's presence in Gotham and when she first met Dick Grayson. It's also about a friend and a mysterious tragedy coming back to haunt them. This is a fun story for adding in a layer of backstory and also forwarding the Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson relationship. It's a fun story.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable book and felt Batgirl was better-handled than in previous volumes. Overall, a delightful read.



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Book Review: DC Meets Looney Tunes

DC Meets Looney Tunes by Tom King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Six sections featuring six separate meet-ups between DC Comics and Classic Looney Tunes characters. Each features a 30 page comic in DC Comics style and then an eight page Looney Tunes piece:

Legion of Superheroes/Bugs Bunny: Easily the weakest story in the book. The Bronze Age Legion tries to bring young Clark Kent to the future to save Supergirl but grab Bugs Bunny instead. The story has a lot of one note humor about angsty teenager superheroes are. Bugs has a few good moments, but the story feels mailed in, not helped by a back up feature that retells the main story in Looney Tunes form.

Martian Manhunter/Marvin: The Martian: Marvin travels to our dimension to destroy the Earth and the Martian Manhunter is determined to stop them. I liked the enhancements to Marvin. They took the classic design and made the character more awesome and battle-ready without altering the basic look. However, beyond showing how the Martian Manhunter is noble, the main feature doesn't have much to it. The back up feature which had Marvin wondering why he didn't have powers like the Manhunter was a lot more funny.

Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil: The story does a good job of making Taz fit into the DC Universe and providing a plot where Wonder Woman tricked him in the past and needed his help to defeat Circe. It's a fun tale, followed by a weird little romp where Wondy Tells Taz a mythical story.

Lobo/Road Runner: This is when the book gets awesome as Wild E. Coyote and the Road Runner are introduced into proper existence with a backstory that's totally plausible for the DCU and it explains everything about their origin and why the Coyote has been tracking him for so long. I even love that they identified how he was a dead-ringer for the Ralph the Wolf in another cartoon. He decides to hire Lobo to kill the Road Runner, but the Coyote has to take Lobo's current contract---killing Kilowog. It's ludicrous but wonderful as the Coyote's efforts to kill Kilowog go as you'd expect, but Lobo and the Road Runner are hilarious. I love the ending which gives hope for the Coyote, if not to have a happy ending, then to at least get a new beginning.

Jonah Hex/Yosemite Sam: Yosemite Sam is introduced as a prospector who has hit rich but needs Jonah Hex to play bodyguard. This is a fun Western and wriiter Jimmy Palmiotti does a great job finding a way to make Sam likable. But the highlight of the book is Foghorn Leghorn, who still looks like a rooster but is a fighting circus freak who steals the show.

Batman/Elmer Fudd: The Crown Jewel of this entire effort finds Elmer Fudd as a hitman who sets out to kill the man who killed his beloved girlfriend, "Bugs the Bunny" but Bugs puts the finger on the man he claims really killed Silver St. Cloud---Bruce Wayne. It's a noir story told in Elmer Fudd's speech impediment with all the Looney Tunes characters written as people. Elmer Fudd is legitimately imposing and tragic, but there's a lot of humor and imagination in that. If every story tried this hard, this book would have five stars.

Overall, the quality fo the book varies, with it moving from the painfully mediocre start to the brilliant conclusion. If you do love DC Comics and the Looney Tunes characters, there's plenty in here to enjoy.



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Book Review: Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Rise of Alpha Flight

Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Rise of Alpha Flight by Michele Fazekis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects the first five issues of the post-DeConnick run on Captain Marvel. Kelly DeConnick began her previous run by giving Carol Danvers command of her own starship and consciously made her a female take on Captain Kirk. In this volume, she's given command of a spaceship, so now she's the Marvel Universe's Captain Sisko or maybe we're going with Babylon Five and she's Commander Sheridan.

At any rate, she's in command and the crew are members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight. And there's a ghost ship arrives and she sees the Hala Star she wears on her chest on the ship.

This isn't a bad book. It's got a nice little mystery and some imaginative art to capture all the alien species. But it's not a good book either. The plot isn't mind-blowing. It's comparable to maybe an average episode of Deep Space Nine, but with far less characterization. The only character that really is memorable at all is Lt. Commander Brand who is Carol's second in command and a bit of a foil to her. The rest are pretty forgettable. The book just doesn't have time to focus on characters because even though Carol's in space, she has to be involved in the next big ultra mega company crossover, Civil War II. The result is a story that has some good elements, but is pretty well disposable.



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Book Review: Tales of the Batman: Len Wein

Tales of the Batman: Len Wein by Len Wein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Len Wein's Batman work is collected in this book. Included the book are a variety of stories written for Detective Comics during the 1970s and 1980s, an Issue of World's Finest, Wein's nearly two-year run writing Batman, the Legends of the Dark Knight Mini-series, a DC lost story publication from the 1970s era that was released in 2011 and a story from Batman: Black and White:

Detective Comics: Wein's first Batman story was Detective Comics #408, drawn by Neal Adams. it's atmospheric piece with Batman wandering around a mystery house. Many more Detective Comics stories are featured. Highlight include the Bat-Murderer saga where Batman is framed for the murder of Talia Al-Ghul and the police believe he did it, and he ends up on the wrong side of the law for a multiple issues and meets up with the Creeper. There's a great Signalman story that was surprising how good it was because it's Signalman. Last issue had Batman meeting a knock off Grizzly Adams.


World's Finest #207: Clark Kent is hiring thugs to kill Superman. Why? A good issue with a nice fight between Batman, Superman, and Doctor Light, but a somewhat disappointing solution to the mystery.

Wein's Batman run: A very serviceable run. The big highlight is the introduction of Lucius Fox. Also during this time, Selina Kyle had reformed and has a relationship with Bruce Wayne. Among the villains Batman battled were Two-Face, Mister Freeze, and Calander Man. The stories were mostly good (save for the Joker's 40th Anniversary Issue which didn't really rise to the occasion.) The book's biggest fault is that the comics seemed to be trying to imitate Marvel too hard such as when Batman has a relationship failure and responds to moaning from a rooftop. Bat-Spider-man!

Untold Legends of the Batman: DC's Second limited series took all the information about Batman's origin from comics over the decade and collected them in a single volume while Wein fleshed out Batman's origins in his own way. It's a really solid Batman story, easily overlooked because Crisis on Infinite Earth wiped out. The plot finds someone messing with Batman, destroying his dad's Batman suit, and even trying to blow up the Batmobile. The events require Batman to retrace his life story. The writing is really good and the art by John Byrne (issue 1) and Jim Aparo is superb.

DC Retrospective: Batman: The 1970s #1: An untold tale from Aparo's time on Batman. He gets to pick up some threats that were never fully explored during his original run. The writing is as good as it was back when he wrote the original series, which is pretty good, and features a new version of the Terrible Trio.

Batman: Black and White #5: A Two-face story that's short but has a really good twist. My one complaint? Didn't care much for how the artist drew Batman (insanely bulkly.) Still Wein's last Batman tale is a quick enjoyable short story.

Overall, a good mix of stories. Most are quite solid and there are some really gems here that make this a worthwhile read for Batman fans.



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Titans Vol. 3: A Judas Among Us

Titans Vol. 3: A Judas Among Us by Dan Abnett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Psi-mon reveals to Omen that there's a traitor among the Titans. But who is it? This is the titular question of the book, but not the only one. The book deals with questions left over from prior adventures like Bumblebee's missing memory, Donna Troi learning she's not human, and Wally West's bad heart.

It deals with all of these plot points without feeling over-crowded and gives all the characters something to do. I also feel like this is a reward for reading the previous books as they're able to move everyones' story ahead quite nicely. The characters are likable, the action is good, and the story moves at a great pace with some good character moments and everyone has something to do. It's a very solid team book.



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Book Review: Teen Titans (2016-) Vol. 2: The Rise of Aqualad

Teen Titans (2016-) Vol. 2: The Rise of Aqualad by Benjamin Percy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This collects five issues of Teen Titans and centers around a new Aqualad and his quest to join the team as the team has two story arcs involving sea based villains, the first involves King Shark and the second has Black Mantis who has a special interest in Aqualad.

Overall, most of the characters receded into the background. Robin (Damian Wayne) was irritating. His problem as team leader is that he believes every single member of the team needs to fight and do everything to the smallest detail in the way he says it. While I had some empathy for him in the first volume, here he's irritating and in the later story, he effectively has a quiet inter-team Coup launched against him.

Most of the other characters didn't stand out to make room for the new Aqualad, who was essentially a paint by numbers outsider. The only character who stood out was Starfire, who subtly took charge of the team later in the book.

Overall, not a bad book, but not a series I'll be continuing.



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Discover the Better Sixth Doctor in Big Finish's 99p Sale

Big Finish's 99p sale is back (use password: redballoons) through April 30th. All of the original items I recommend to meet the Eighth Doctor are there except for the Destiny of the Doctor Release.

This is a great opportunity to get into some Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas. This post will focus on the Sixth Doctor. Colin Baker was really dealt a bad hand on television. His costume was obnoxious and his personality was abrasive. To be clear, I don't think his time on television was nearly as bad as detractors indicate. I like most of his stories and appreciate Colin Baker's efforts, but he was really hampered by a bad first impression and some poor creative decisions influenced by a script editor who thought he wasn't a worthy Doctor.

Big Finish has allowed Colin Baker to really write a new chapter for his Doctor. The ego and bravado are still there, but it's also been tempered with more kindness, compassion, and introspection which makes the character feel more like the Doctor. Colin Baker is the best Big Finish Doctor in my opinion and with the first fifty Big Finish releases on sale, now is a great chance to see what kind of Doctor Colin Baker can be if you give him the chance:

1) The Marian Conspiracy: One big change Big Finish has brought to the Sixth Doctor is new companions. Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables) is the first and she played a big part in softening the Sixth Doctor's image. She's an elderly instructor who the Doctor visits because she's at the epicenter of some time travel shenanigans. The Doctor takes her back to the time that Queen Mary is on the throne in England and the two have an adventure. The details of the story are okay, and the story does show the tragedy of how during this period, many sincere Christians killed each other over interpretations and what a tragedy that was. But what the story is ultimately about is the Doctor and Evelyn getting to know one another. Their chemistry is great. The Doctor only took her back in time to sort out the problem in her timeline but to paraphrase Bogie, "This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

2) Spectre of Lanyon Moor: The Sixth Doctor didn't properly meet the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) on television, but they team up in this audio adventure to investigate a strange mystery on the moor. This is the type of story Doctor Who did back at its height and it really plays out well over audio. Colin Baker, Nicholas Courtney, and Maggie Stables are all in fine form and just a delight to listen to.

3) The Apocalypse Element: The Apocalypse Element represented Big Finish’s most ambitious production at the time as we’re given a massive tale of a Dalek plan to invade Gallifrey and take over the Universe.

This time of thing has been tried since, but the Apocalypse Element works exceptionally well because it manages to really create the feeling of a true space epic where the galaxies burn and the Universe itself is at stake. Lalla Ward’s return as Romana makes this story a standout, particularly her brilliant monologue in Episode 2.

While there are some slow moments in the first part and the soundscape could probably stand being remastered, this is a very well done space epic, and listened to in light of the new series, this story can also be seen as a prelude to the Time War.

4) The One Doctor:

The Sixth Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) find themselves in the vulgar period of time where all the secrets of the Universe are known including that of the existence of the Doctor. It's so well know that a con man and his girlfriend have set up a racket impersonating the Doctor and his companion in hopes of collecting money from grateful citizens. The two impostors succeed in thwarting the Sixth Doctor's attempt to expose them. However, when an alien cylinder issues an ultimatum requiring the Doctor's action, only the real Doctor can do it.

Colin Baker and Bonnie Langsford are both superb. Gareth Roberts' writing is effortlessly funny, so he doesn't have to have them act out of character for cheap laughs. The result is a story that showcases hol the Sixth Doctor and Mel can work together. Christopher Biggins is a great foil for Colin Baker as the fake Doctor Banto Zane, and the best scenes in the story are when they got at one another. Look out for future companion actor Matt Lucas who plays two roles in this one.

Overall, this is a delightful story full of clever dialogue, fun characters, and a few well-done audio gags. The only comedy better than this in Doctor Who is City of Death.

5) The Sandman:


A good concept where the Doctor is viewed as a monster by a race he stopped long ago and is playing up to the reputation for his own reasons, but he finds the aliens have strange goings on for which the Sandman is being blamed.

Overall, this is a very fun story. Evelyn is the perfect companion for the Sixth Doctor in this story where he’s trying to be an over the top menace. There are some clever ideas here. I particularly like the idea of the Doctor’s multi-colored coat actually being a weapon.

6) Jubilee:

Rob Shearman's story tells of a dystopian world where humans destroyed the Daleks with the help of the Doctor and then became an autocratic society is brilliant and chilling. The actors are all on point with Colin Baker turning in a fascinating performance, along with Briggs as the Dalek.

The story has a great combination of dark comedy, piercing social commentary, and memorable characters. The release is known for being the basis for the TV episode, "Dalek," but it's more influential than that. The story has shaped the way most Doctor Who writers deal with the Daleks. Easily a must-listen.

7) Doctor Who and the Pirates:


A historical that finds the Doctor and Evelyn telling a story of adventure and piracy on the high seas. The basic plot of the pirate story is fairly standard. The Doctor and Evelyn arrive on a ship just as its raided and most of its crew is impressed into the service of the mad pirate Red Jasper, who is seeking a treasure on the Ruby Island.

However, it's the telling of the story that makes it so good. Throughout Evelyn and the Doctor telling the story, it's clear that something is troubling her. In the third part, the Doctor tries to alleviate the tension with song and comedy, turning the whole affair into a Gilbert and Sullivan musical, one of Big Finish's earliest and most ambitious musical pieces. In addition, the biggest mystery is why Evelyn is telling the story to a former student.

The result is a tale that manages to mix hilarity with poignancy while portraying the sweet friendship between the Doctor and Evelyn and also showcasing Evelyn's heart.

8) Davros:

This story is the definitive examination of Davros in Doctor Who in a Dalek-free story that finds Davros revived to work for an intergalactic corporate mogul.

The moments between Davros and the Doctor are superb and one of the best explorations of their relationships ever recorded. Colin Baker is perfectly matched with Terry Malloy in this one. Wendy Padbury's character of the historian wife of the company's CEO is fascinating. Her actions in getting her husband to revive Davros is guided by a sort of amoral view of history that focuses only on what a genius Davros is and how mankind could benefit from his genius.

Beyond that, most of the characters are somewhat stock, but it really doesn't matter. Davros is a bold and absolutely brilliant exploration of one of the Doctor's greatest foes.

Bonus recommendations:

Jago and Litefoot: Big Finish made thirteen box sets and three specials centered around Jago and Litefoot, two characters who appeared in the classic Doctor Who story, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." If you're wondering how you got that many stories out of two characters who only appeared in one episode together on television, check out the Mahogany Murderers. It's their first ever team up for Big Finish and it will give you a taste of the awesome series that came out of that.

Eighth Doctor Adventures: The first series of Eighth Doctor Adventures is also part of the 99p sale. The Eighth Doctor Adventures was a series starring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller. They were given a new Who vibe with a 21st Century companion and (mostly) self-contained hour-long episode. The best parts of the season are two-part opener Blood of the Daleks and the two-part finale Human Resources. All eight episodes are worth a listen, though you could skip Phobas and not really miss anything.

Sherlock Holmes: Check out Roger Llewellyn performing audio versions of his one man plays, "The Last Act" and "Death and the Life."

Book Review: Doctor Who - The Twelfth Doctor Vol 8: Time Trials: The Wolves of Winter

Doctor Who - The Twelfth Doctor Vol 8: Time Trials: The Wolves of Winter by Richard Dinnick (Author),‎ Brian Williamson (Illustrator),‎ Pasquale Qualano (Illustrator),

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects two stories.

The first is the three issue titular story, "The Wolves of Winter," which throws a lot of elements in. The Doctor and Bill arrive to find Vikings fleeing from other Vikings and they encounter Ice Warriors who are on the trail of the Flood (the monster from Water of Mars.) The book also throws another mystery villain from Classic Doctor Who. Usually, when Doctor Who comics throw in a bit of continuity, it doesn't work. This book is an exception. Nothing feels really extraneous and the story is well-paced. Good luck understanding it if you're not a Doctor Who fan, but this is a good story.

The other issue is, "The Great Shopping Bill" which finds the Doctor, Nardole, and Bill having to make an emergency shopping trip after the dimensional stabilizer in the Vault fails endangering its occupant. So the Doctor, Nardole, and Bill go to the Ubermart where Bill runs into a lost little girl and tries to help. This is a fun cute little run around that's a pleasan diversion and a nice little one-shot. Overall, this is a fun little volume.



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Book Review: Superman, Volume 4: Black Dawn

Superman, Volume 4: Black Dawn by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 20-26 of Superman.

The six-part Black Dawn story brings the Kent family's time in Hamilton County as mysteries are unfurled that have been raised throughout the run. The story features the return of an old enemy and also features highlights like Batman and Robin sitting around the dinner table where we learn that Batman doesn't like pie Also, Lois Lane drives the Batmobile. As usual, there's a lot of cool art in the book and the Kent family shines through.

The final issue is the one part, "Brains v Brawn" which finds the Superman-Superboy team running into conflict about how Jon uses his powers. It's a good story with a mostly true but somewhat flawed moral that brings up the importance of respect.

Overall, I found this another strong Superman book by Peter Tomasi.



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Book Review: Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years

Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects nearly 400 pages of Comics in celebration of Lois Lane. This is a challenge because Lois really isn't the main character most of the time and so ideally we're looking for stories where she steals the show and for those rare solo works. Here's a list of highlights and lowlights:

Highlights:

---Action Comics #6. Of course, the book reprints the first story featuring Lois Lane (the oft-reprinted classic Action Comics #1 and #2) but #6 is a trip as it predicts the coming of Superman-merchandising and licensed media, though it involves a racketeer and Lois using her brain. This is just terrific.

---Lois Lane, Girl Reporter: We get back up three stories of Lois Lane, Girl Reporter in which Lois stars as the protagonist and solves things herself. These are simply marvelous. I wonder how many were made and if all these Golden Age Lois Lane tales could be collected in a book rather than just the three here.

---Story of the Century (Man of Steel #2), At first glance, I thought DC had reprinted the over-reprinted Superman #2 by John Byrne, but this is far better. This is a nice introduction to Lois for the post-Crisis world. The story manages to have fun with Lois in her quest to get an interview with Superman. It's funny, but in a more relatable way than the Superman's girlfriend stories. Also, I liked Byrne's back up Lois Lane script from Action Comics #600 which shows her conflicted feelings about Superman, how his work overshadows her own journalism and her feeling of inadequacy during a time when Superman and Wonder Woman were thought to be a thing.

---Superman Takes a Wife (Action Comics #484): This tells the story of how Golden Age/Earth 2 Superman finally got married to Lois. A sweet story I hadn't seen reprinted before.

---All-Star Superman #2 and #3-Grant Morrison's brilliant All-Star Superman makes an appearance with the two most Lois-centric stories. Great story and a nice update on the Silver Age.

The lowlights:

Modern stuff is problematic because of decompressed storytelling, so many comics are multi-part stories, so we're given a single part of a longer arc that may not say a whole lot about her character. Probably, the worst example of this is Adventures of Superman #631 which is part five in a multi-part story and doesn't do a whole lot with Lois and ends on a cliffhanger. Then there's "Secrets in the Night" which contains Superman revealing his identity to Lois, but is mostly about a battle with Silver Banshee and ends without us finding out his reaction. One exception to this is, "With This Ring" which is part of a larger story arc but features Lois prominently and manages to highlight the relationship between Lois and Clark in such a way that I felt satisfied.

One other consequence of modern stories is that the book has some one-shot tales like a special Lois Lane comic from 1998 and a 10-page story from an annual that are mediocre at best, but are included because they're actually self-contained.

I will say that reading, "She's a Wonder" in here reduced by distaste for it, if only slightly. It's about Lois going with Wonder Woman for a "day in her life" report. It's still a boring overly-speechified preachy story. It still has a big error right on the big panel that introduces Wonder Woman (Lois' narration describes Wonder Woman as wearing no make-up despite the fact the artist drew her with lipstick and nail polish.) Yes, Wonder Woman does make a ridiculously goofy number of wardrobe changes in a single day (and often for arbitrary reasons). Yet, as a Lois Lane story, it works as a kind of follow up on Byrne's tale of her insecurity about Wonder Woman. It's a bit of a clearing the air session between them at the end that at least makes, "She's a Wonder" slightly more tolerable.

Overall, these aren't all great, but there are some really fun reads in here, particularly from the Golden Age, but there's even some modern stuff that's very good, and a few that are at least enjoyable and worth a read. Overall, a nice collection.




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