Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 38

Book Review: Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold: The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 2

Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold: The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 2 by Bob Haney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 88-108 of Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups. All but one are by Bob Haney.

Rather than detail each team up , I'll offer some highlights both good and not so good.

The good:
Jim Aparo takes over the art. While the art in the book was always solid, Jim Aparo took it to a new level as he did the art for nine of the final eleven stories and began an epic run on this title with legendary art.

Wildcat Returns (#88)

Dennis O'Neill only appearance sends Batman into the House of Mystery with art by Neal Adams (#93).

Batman is sent on a mission to recover a wealthy woman's missing husband and brings back a character who hasn't been since the Golden Age of Comics. (#96)

Batman has to deal with ritual sacrifice and discovers the chilling truth about a late friend's family. One of the most disquieting Batman Comics I've read from this era. (#98)

Metamorpho returns to rescue his girlfriend from an assassin and Bob Haney retcons his horrible conclusion to the Metamorpho solo series with something far better. (#101)

A good youth activism story as Batman helps kids positively clean up their neighborhood. (#102)

The Metal Men are feisty because of "robot lib." (Hilarious) (#103)

Batman teams up with mod Wonder Woman to deal with intrigue in a Latin American country. (#105)

An heiress has sold shares of her estate, yet the shareholders are being killed off and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) is on the list. (#106)

A great team up with Black Canary as they try to foil a $3 million skyjacking. (#107)


The Bad:

Adam Stranges uses a Zeta Beam to accidentally time travel (that's not how Zeta beams work and then hands Batman a news article from the future announcing Batman's own death as casually as one might share a cate photo on Facebook. (#89)

Bob Haney totally disregards the centrality of Batman's parent's deaths and Bruce's many visits to their gravestone for a ghost story about a Portuguese sailor possessing Batman. (#99)

Batman is wounded in a Wheel Chair and decided to play Ironside to bust a drug ring. He gets a team of four heroes to help him. However, Black Canary almost ruins his plan when she goes inside to keep her hair dry. (Horrible treatment of the character.) Denoument ends up disappointing as well. (#100)


The So Bad It's Good:

In a youth rebellion story, teenagers hold Gotham City hostage with nuclear weapons and orders powerful adults thrown in concentration camps and Batman acts like we need to be more understanding. That's our problem. Not a nuclear terrorist juvenile delingquent. (#94)

Batman falls into a well, panics, screams he'll sell to get out, is rescued by a man who claims Batman's soul for evil. Batman finds out that Sergeant Rock believes that the man who bought Batman's soul is Hitler who is still alive.

Overall,there are some great team ups unlock with a few klunkers and some unintentional hilarity. Still, there are far more than good stories than bad . The art is good throughout,, although it goes to another level when Aparo steps in.



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Book Review: Gambit Classic, Volume 1

Gambit Classic, Vol. 1 by Howard Mackie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 265-267 of Uncanny X-Men along with Gambit's first mini-series.

Gambit's first appearance is Uncanny X-Men #266. The biggest annoyance in this book was Issue 265, the inclusion which was unnecessary. It didn't really set up Gambit's appearance and most of the book was about other things. Before the mini-series, the editor summarized two years of Gambit being on the X-men. The relevant of #265 could be summarized in a paragraph or less.

However, the actual initial appearance of Gambit is pretty good. It establishes who he is as a character, and he's both instantly cool and likable. The art is mostly okay, with a few iffy moments, but also some great ones.

The mini-series finds Gambit returning to New Orleans with Rogue when he finds out his ex-wife was alive. This story is chocked full of character development and drama. Gambit is a man trying to do the right thing. He was raised dealin with the warring guilds of thieves and assassins. He's stepped outside that world so he sees somethings more clearly than his family, but he can't escape it entirely. It'a a story with a lot of conlfict that really serves to flesh out Gambit's character.

Overall, this is a good read for Gambit fans.



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Book Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Volume 4: Fracture

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Volume 4: Fracture by Robert Venditti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 22-29 and contains two separate stories:

The first half of the book shows the inevitable crumbling of the alliance between the Green Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps. It's a story that's full of emotional moments and puts several characters including Kyle Rayner, Soranik, and John Stewart through their paces. It's a story that has some great twists and some stunning emotional moments. I have troubling a couple of scenes including one character switching to a villain. Still, it's a well-told tale.

The second half is the Fall of the Gods, and it finds the survivors of New Genesis hunted and the Green Lanterns having to save them. This story is a great action piece and each of the major human lanterns plays a key role.

It should be noted that the art throughout this volume is just great. The stories come to life and it's skillfully used to add emotional impact. Another great read from one of DC's greatest series.




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Book Review: Black Lightning: Year One

Black Lightning: Year One by Jen Van Meter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This Year One book updates Black Lightning 1977 origin story to 2009 with some key changes: Jefferson Pierce is a principal instead of just a teacher and he's not divorced as he moves back to the town of Southside near Metropolis. The book also addresses why Superman doesn't clean the city up as well as giving some weight to Talia Al-Ghul's presence. Other than that, the story remains the same, but Van Meter also beefs up the supporting cast, and the art is generally very good.

Overall, this is a solid book that does what a Year One book should. It respects the original story while filling in a few gaps and adding just enough extra details to make this a good read for fans of Black Lightning.



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Book Review: Superman: Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World by Dan Jurgens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 977-984 of Action Comics and features the two-part story New World and the six part story Revenge.

After the events of Superman: Reborn, Post-Crisis Superman has been combined with New 52 Superman, though he doesn't recall that, but he has a vague sense of something being wrong, so he flies to the Fortress of Solitude to have the Fortress to give him his new and improved origin story. New World is a necessary story that's fairly well executed as it explains how this world has worked, though I'm dubious about Lois and Clark being given a "Sabattical" from the Planet that lasted a decade, but anyway...

Revenge is a story of the Superman Revenge squad, assembled by Hank Henshaw (Cyborg Superman I) along with the Eradicator, Mongul, Metallo, Blanque, and Zod is added to the mix and quickly takes over. This is a good action story, a very prolonged fight. While there are some parts that lag, there are enough plot twists and character moments to make this a worthwhile read.



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Book Review: Star Trek: The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2: Complete Dailies and Sundays 1981-1983

Star Trek: The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2: Complete Dailies and Sundays 1981-1983 by Sharman DiVono

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects the second half of Star Trek's Newspaper strip run from 1981-83. The first story, a four-month epic that begins with the Enterprise chasing Klingons and ends up with them battling Cyborgs under the control of the Omnimind. While I think the similarities to the Borg are oversold by the Introduction and the back cover copy, there are similarities there and the story is truly an enjoyable one.

The next two stories by the same creative team (writer Sherman DiVono) are both good space opera stories at the same quality level as the previous volume. The final seven stories are another matter. While they're not universally bad, many are plagued by bad artwork, sloppy writing, and illogical plots. Some are wretched, and the best of them could be said to be average with a few interesting features.

The last story is enjoyable though. It's about the Enterprise slipping into a Universe where they exist as stars of the TV show Star Trek as they travel back in time 1983 and two young boys Joey and Malcolm end up on the bridge of the Enterprise. The story has several logical flaws and some dubious plot twists. However, it's such a lovely bit of fan service, so I can forgive its faults.

Overall, this is an uneven collection, but the lead off story may make the entire book worth reading for die hard Trek fans.



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Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner, Vol. 2

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner, Vol. 2 by Bill Everett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 5-8 of the Golden Age Sub-Mariner series. It includes eight full-length Sub-Mariner stories, four Angel stories, as well as humor strips and back-up features.

The Sub-Mariner stories are not as good as in previous volumes. Creator Bill Everett left the strip to go fight in the war and other artists took over including some who didn't get how the Submariner worked. (One actually wrote that the Submariner had to go on land when it started raining.) There are plenty of Sub-Mariner wartime adventures, fought mostly against Japan in this volume with some good action sequences. He also got into more traditional comic book territory as he fought underwater Zombie pirates. The stories in this collection are not great, but I would say are above average for Golden Age material still, though being World War II, there are a couple of cringy moments.

The Angel reallys hines as he takes on some really bizarre and creepy foes. His one war-related tale has his against a villain who uses people's dreams to get them to commit murder. He also faces another foe who uses skeletons to commit murder, as well as a frustrated writer who turns to murder so he can write about it realistically.

The humor features are mixed. The Pop's Whoppers feature in the first three issues is about a cop who tells lies to impress people. It's a bit repetitive. The Tubby and Tack story in the final issue is really a cute little kids comic strip that was fun to read.

The two page text stories are above average. Two of them are good suspense tales by future Mike Hammer writter Mickey Spillane. In addition, the book features an introduction by the great Roy Thomas, which is always a highlight.

Overall, this is still a good read if you're a fan of the Sub-mariner or Golden Age comics in general.



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Book Review: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Volume 2: Source Code

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Volume 2: Source Code by Julie Benson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 7-13 of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and three stories:

Soldiers of Fortune (Issue 7): After the first big arc, this is a nice one-shot that has the team fighting Zodiac but more or less its character focused. It establishes the dynamic between the team of Batgirl, Black Canary, and Huntress. It also answers why Barbara's realtors keep coming by her house and reveals their funny specialty, selling properties supervillains owned. Nice one and done. Grade: B+

Blackbird (Issues 8-10): Black Canary goes undercover in mmetahuman cage matches to stop Blackbird, a methuman who makes other metahumans far more deadly and gets an upgrade of her own. Overall, not a bad arc. There's a team up with Green Arrow and Nightwing and they manage not to overwhelm the story with costumes. Grade: B

Source Code (Issues 11-13): They uncover the truth about Gus, the young man who has taken on the role of Oracle and his relationship to the original Oracle (Barbara) enemy Calculator. To help Gus, they have to help Calculator's family and to do that they'll need to track down an item stolen by own of Gotham's most noted anti-heroes, Catwoman. It showscases the team's toughness but also their compassion and features one of the most hilarious Catwoman splash pages ever. Grade: B+

Overall, I continue to enjoy this book. A nice read.





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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol. 7: The Terror Beneath

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol. 7: The Terror Beneath by George Mann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the first four issues of the twelfth Doctor's Third year.

Up first was the three-issue story, "Beneath the Waves" which finds the Twelfth Doctor reunited with punk rocker Hattie Monroe and she wants to get away and so the Doctor takes for a vacation in a 1979 small English village that's being terrorized by seaweed monsters.

This is a fairly traditional story and that's fine. It works because these the Twelfth Doctor and Hattie are a great combination and enjoy each other. On top of that, the art is gorgeous particularly in the undersea scenes.

The one issue story, The Boy with the Displaced Smile finds the Doctor travelling to a small town that has an alien entity about as well as a lonely boy. This story wasn't bad but it felt rushed. The writer to get into too many themes and ideas for this short of story. I also thought the art was only so so.

Still, the first story makes this book worth reading on its own.



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Book Review: Batgirl, Vol. 4: Fists of Fury

Batgirl, Vol. 4: Fists of Fury by Kelley Puckett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 15, 16, 21, and 26-28 of Batgirl with Cassandra Cain. The first three issues were cut from the previous book so Volume 3 could conclude with her mother Shiva.

Issue 15 finds her seemingly help Batman take on the Joker after some random murders. This is somewhat deceptive and for it to be sold that way with references to a fight with the Joker on the back cover is a bit deceptive.

Issue 16 finds a little boy appealing to Batgirl to stop her Dad from hurting someone in a crime. It's a good story and also shows her growth as a character and her compassion.

Issue 21 is a tie in to a story where the Joker has turned criminals out and set them on a rampage and Oracle has Batgirl and Spoiler stay inside for safety but Batgirl has to go into action against Shadow Thief. It's a solid issue that shows how cool she is.

Issue 26 has her worn out by her battle with Shiva and someone needs to go back to the temple of Shiva. It's a Spoiler story with her imaging Batgirl with her. It's an okay story.

Issue 27 is a story that ties into Bruce ayne being wanted for murder. Batman tries to get her to beg off, but she looks into it on her own with a method that no one else would use.

Issue 28 saw Spoiler wanting to train with Cassandra and a guy's coming after Cassandra with robots because.

Overall, I liked the book, but it feels very disconnected. If you were reading this when it first came out along with all the other Batbooks, you might have gotten it, but we have up to three crossovers involved in this book. Issue 28's ending is due something that was going on in Robin's book that we don't know about. A really good comic book should mostly be able to stand on its own. Yet, I feel like I'm missing something just reading Batgirl.

It's a shame because she's a great character. She does grow in this book as a person. She is unpredictable both in battle as well as how she navigates life. She's fun to read and I can only hope that other books give her a more independent storyline.



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