A Lonely Place of Dying (Batman/Robin #2) ★★★★☆

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Title: A Lonely Place of Dying
Series: Batman/Robin #2
Author: Marv Wolfman

Artist: Jim Aparo & Tom Grummett
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 116
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

After the death of Jason Todd, aka Robin, Batman is starting to lose it. Instead of calculating and smart, he's beginning to rely on violence and brute strength. This leads to him being wounded even by minor thugs, taking extremely risky actions and generally acting like he has a deathwish.

Tim Drake has been following the exploits of Batman & Robin for years now and has figured out that Dick Grayson was Robin, which led him to figure out Batman is Bruce Wayne and that Jason Todd was the new Robin. He also put together the fact of Todd's death being the catalyst for Batman's change in behavior. Drake tracks down Grayson, now known as Nightwing and convinces him to help Batman in his current fight against Two-Face. Nightwing agrees even while knowing he can never go back to being Robin.

When Batman and Nightwing are overcome by Two-Face, it is up to Drake to put on the uniform of Robin and to save them both. He does this successfully, even against Batman's wishes to have nothing to do with another Robin, as the guilt of Todd's death rests heavily upon him.

However, since Drake was successful in rescuing him and he knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne, Bruce must decide what he'll do. Is it safer to avoid the potential for the death of another young man by cutting Drake off, which would lead to Drake running around out there knowing Batman's alter ego and having no control over that? Or should Bruce take the chance, properly train Drake and retain control of his secret identity? This is how the book ends.

My Thoughts:

Page 5 and the America hating begins. Comics are still run by people who hate America, don't forget it. Makes me sick. But then for the rest of the book, which was 5 or 6 comics, nothing. It was like Wolfman stuck a splinter in my big toe and then pretended that nothing had happened. It was rather surreal and just weird to me. I don't care who the President is, you don't call him unprintable names.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, as a sequel, not necessarily on its own. Batman's struggle was very evident and I thought the writers/artists did a great job of portraying his descent. But holy toledo Batman, when Nightwing came on stage, it was “The 90's Have Arrived!” with all hands on deck! It made me grin a lot because I remember those costumes, as that's what I grew up seeing. Sometimes it's just a shock though, you know?

Tim Drake was portrayed in a really good light. After Todd's rebellious, angry and down right stupid behavior, Drake is shown to be intelligent, patient and willing to do what Batman's says, even when he doesn't want to. He was very raw material, but he was shown to be good material from which a really good Robin could be molded.

The overall plot wasn't as dramatic as A Death in the Family but there were still some really comic'y parts. Dick Grayson investigating a circus murder and buying half the circus to keep it afloat? Not as silly as the Joker being a UN Ambassador but definitely fluff material. And the Teen Titans? Man, it just made me laugh.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read as a Robinread and am really looking forward to the Robin graphic novels next.

★★★★☆ 

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• A Death in the Family

A Death in the Family (Batman/Robin #1) ★★★★☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Death in the Family
Series: Batman/Robin #1
Author: Jim Starlin

Artist: Jim Aparo & Mike Decarlo
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Batman has taken Jason Todd under his wing and trained him as his new Robin. Unfortunately, Jason lost his mother to illness and his father to crime and so he's got a lot of anger and he lets it out while on the job.

Going through some papers of his parents one day he comes across his birth certificate where he finds out that his “mother” was actually only his step-mother and his birth mother is still alive and either in the Middle East or Africa. After “quitting”, in a note no less, Todd runs off to Israel to check on the first of three possible “Mom” candidates and then ends up in Lebanon.

At the same time the Joker has broken out of Arkham Asylum, again and with most of his secret funds being not so secret and impounded by the US Government, heads to Lebanon to sell off a nuclear cruise missile. Batman is tracking him down and runs into Todd. It turns out the people they each are looking for are connected. So they team up, foil a bunch of arab terrorists who want to launch a nuke into Tel Aviv and find out that the Israeli Secret Agent isn't Jason Todd's birth mother. The Joker is out a million dollars with no more missiles to sell and a large grudge.

While Batman and Robin go after Candidate Number 2, the Joker makes a run for Ethiopia and blackmails Candidate Number 3, who is in charge of large amounts of medical supplies from the UN. The Joker doesn't know she's Candidate Number 3 of course. Candidate Number 2 turns out to be Lady Shiva and she wants nothing more than an all out, one on one fight with Batman. After defeating her and doping her up with sodium pentathol, it is revealed that she too is not Todd's mother.

The Joker not only blackmails Candidate Number 3 but drops off a load of his lethal laughing gas in the place of the supplies he takes. This will kill off whole camps of refugees. Bruce and Jason discover that CN3 IS Jason's mother and there is a tearful reunion. At least until Jason discovers what the Joker is doing and informs Batman. Batman chases down the tainted supplies and Robin goes in to rescue his mom, against Batman's express orders, only to discover that she's been dipping into the medical funds and is as dirty as a sewer herself. She delivers him over to the Joker who beats him bloody with a crowbar and leaves him and his mother to die in a bomb blast.

Batman is devastated and returns home, vowing to never take on another apprentice. The Joker is caught by the Iranian Secret Police and given the job of UN Ambassador for Iran by the Ayatollah. As such he has immunity for all past crimes and Batman can't touch him without setting off WWIII. Superman delivers the bad news to Batman and keeps him from going thermonuclear. The Joker has his time at the UN Assemblage, sets off a gas bomb and when that is foiled by Superman, a regular bomb. Batman chases him down and it ends in a fight in a helicopter, which crashes. Batman escapes but the Joker's body is not recovered.

My Thoughts:

My first thought on starting this was “What a jerk Jason Todd is”. While he's angry about his parents being dead, how does that excuse his going against Batman's direct orders to wait on the police to break up a criminal ring? And then his actions in going after his birth mother? Leaving Gotham, stealing credit cards, breaking into secret bases, compromising secret agent identities? And then again ignoring Batman's direct order to stay away from the Joker because he's too dangerous? You would have thought that being taken out so easily by Lady Shiva would have shown him some of his limits, but no, Jason Todd was a selfish, arrogant jackass who brought his death upon himself. I have NO sympathy for him and was rather glad he died. He's the kind of person that leads into the Watchman universe and the fear of Superheroes/Vigilantes. Jason Todd is a Taliban Fighter to Superman's United States Marine.

My second real issue is the handling of the Joker as the Ambassador for Iran. I'm sorry but that is NOT how Ambassadorship works. It would be like saying that Osama Bin Laden could have become Afghanistan's Representative and gotten off scot free. We still would have put a bullet in that bastard's head. I realize this is a comic book and played up for drama, but come on!? My real issue is that I can see the kind of attitude that allowed this to happen in the comic book happening in real life. It makes me sick because it could happen for real.

Now I'll talk about why I still liked this story and gave it 4 Stars.

Batman. With the recent movies, Batman has become just another vigilante. Willing to kill if it's convenient. In this book Batman is back at his “I won't use a gun and I won't kill people” attitude. When he goes after someone, he drugs them, cuffs them and then lets the Authorities dole out the justice. That ethos is sorely tested here and I found that inner battle quite well displayed. It was fascinating to watch Batman realize that Law does not equal Justice and how that tore him apart. Batman is a Hero with strong internal ethics and not just doing whatever he wants because he can.

Superman. He played a very small part but it was interesting to see how he was portrayed in the late 80's. I didn't really get into Superman until the mid-90's and by then some things had changed. Here he's portrayed as acting upon the orders of the United States Government. Not quite what I'd call a government Stooge, but only one decision away from that status. His decision to side with the “Law is the Law and so it is Right” way of thinking was a bit disturbing. Yet at the same time how many people in the nation thought that way? Today, with the scads of laws promoting perversions, that are knee jerk reactions to special interest groups, that are passed with no intention of ever being enforced, I find myself being cynical. It simply wasn't quite that way 30 years ago. It was eye opening to be reminded of how much of a sea change in attitude has gone on in our nation and in the whole world.

Lady Shiva. I simply liked seeing her because I recognized her from the Knight Fall/Quest/End storyline from later in time. Just one of those interesting tidbits.

Finally, I like the cover a lot. At a time when Superheroes did not die, but simply stopped having their stories told, seeing a Robin undeniably dead is shocking. It shows Batman being vulnerable, it shows just how murderous the Joker truly is and it gets at the pathos of the human factor in a Superhero story. Much like the iconic cover for the Death of Superman years later, this cover will always mean more to me than just the story.

On a side note, I read the original 1988 edition that JUST had the 4part “A Death in the Family” storyline. Later editions of A Death in the Family do include a A Lonely Place of Dying. I'll be reading and reviewing that next.

★★★★☆ 

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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (The Dark Knight Saga #1)

^{This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Series: The Dark Knight Saga #1
Author: Frank Miller, et al
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback

Synopsis: Spoilers

Batman has retired, all of the other superheroes have been forced into retirement by Superman, who is now a secret stooge of the United States Government.
But with Gotham getting worse and worse, Batman comes back. Lots of things happen, the Russians nuke a south american ally of the United States and Superman kills Batman, who has in turn killed the Joker. Except obviously Batman doesn't die but goes on to become the worlds biggest boyscout to a bunch of misfits. Oh the irony.

My Thoughts:

If you're not a fan of Reagan, you might like this more. If you're not a fan of Superman, you might like this more.

I own this and have read it before, but never logged it or reviewed it. I remembered up through part II where Batman takes down a gang leader to stop them from taking over Gotham. Everything else I did not remember.

There is a reason I blacked it out.

Superman being a collaborator to shut down super powered heroes. I didn't buy it for a minute. Superman being stupid enough to detonate a nuclear missile in the earth's atmosphere. I didn't buy that for a minute. If this had just been about an old Batman, I would have bought that a lot more. But screw Miller. You don't mess with my Superman.

I also apparently own the sequel, The Dark Knight Strikes Again. I'm already dreading it. If it's like this one, I'll be looking into giving these away somehow.

Also, this is the first comic where it is apparent that I'm getting old. I had to take OFF my glasses several times and bring the book close to read the bloody text. There were quite a few times where the text was very squiggly, cursive'y, irregular and it made it bloody hard to read. Goodness, I'm in fine fettle with this book.

I'm being very generous with my star rating here. If I was just judging this on enjoyment alone, it would have gotten a HALF star.

Robin 3000 (Elseworlds: R3K #2)

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Title: Robin 3000
Series: Elseworlds: Robin 3000 #2
Author: Byron Preiss, et al
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 53
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Tom Wayne begins chasing down some of his robot clones to prove to the rebellion that he isn't collaborating with the Skulp. During the process he allows himself and his group to be captured by the head honcho of the Skulp intellligence. Who has a time machine.

Tom escapes, visits just desserts upon the head skulp, gets visited by a robot Robin from Earth [which has been teleporting around the galaxy looking for Tom] who convinces him to take on the costume of Robin and continue the fight against the Skulp.

The End. Or is it?

My Thoughts:

Ok, I knew going in this was going to be a mess. Vol 1 was a great disappointment and this did no better. Once again, this was not a Robin story. This was a Super Smart Science'y guy has adventures, In Space! Tom just jets around, as Tom, and does things and what not.

The way things were presented on the back covers was cool and made it sound like this would be a kick butt action comic. But it isn't.

And the stupid Robin robot teleporting all over the galaxy looking for Tom just to give him the costume? That made NO sense nor did Tom's taking of the costume. He's the last Wayne. He should be taking on the Batman mythos.

But nothing about this 2 part series really made sense. And that "or is it?" ending. That reeked of desperation to get this turned into a regular series. Thank goodness it failed and we weren't subjected to more of this pablum.

Ugh.

Robin 3000 (Elseworlds: R3K #1)

^{This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Robin 3000
Series: Elseworlds: Robin 3000 #1
Author: Byron Preiss, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 59
Format: Digital scan

Synopsis:

It is the year 2999, Earth has been taken over by the Skulp and Bruce Wayne's descendant continues the fight for freedom using the Batman mythos. Unable to escape the Skulp, Wayne passes on the torch to his nephew and assistant, Tom Wayne, aka Robin.

Escaping from the Skulp, Tom must hook up with the resistance. The Skulp however, have created a cyborg of Tom and have it publicly collaborating with them and decrying the Wayne name.

My Thoughts:

This was a big disappointment. Batman the 30 eleventieth talks for  2 pages about being a martyr, then gets blown up. But he has enough time safely set Tom down.

Tom is not Robin. He gets a cyborg hand part way through this volume, but he's not a detective, he's not martial and he certainly hasn't been trained by a Batman, any Batman. He's just the Wayne heir. And no costume.

This was simplistic in the bad way. Things just happened, because. Meeting the scientist who gave him his new hand was the perfect example.

Tom's pilot friend:"My friend needs a new hand, here's our crashed spaceship in payment."
Dr: "Ok"
Tom upon awakening: "I am Tom Wayne, I can figure this hand out easily".
Dr: "Drat, a Wayne. But don't worry, I won't turn you in to the Skulp, because I don't feel like it."

That is a slight exaggeration, but not much and the whole tone of the book felt like a Hardy Boys in space. And no costume.

There are 2 volumes to this little Elseworld story, but after making it through this volume, I need a week before I want to tackle the next volume.  I'm disappointed in the simplicity of the story [with all the attendant weaknesses and lack of full bodied thinking] and the fact that "Robin" doesn't show up in his phracking costume!

Even this guy would have been better:

 

Red Son (Superman: Elseworlds)

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Title: Red Son
Series: Superman: Elseworlds
Author/Artist: Mark Millar, et all
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 160
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Superman lands in the Ukraine and a Communist Collective instead of in Smallville, USA.

The Man of Steel promotes communism and once Stalin dies, takes over as President Superman. Lex Luthor, last hope of the Free World, makes it his mission in life to bring down the Man of Steel, even at the sacrifice of his marriage to Lois Lane. Superman is being guided by Brainiac and can Wonder Woman, Boris Wayneski, a newly minted core of Green Lantern US Marines and even Superman himself stop Brainiac from completing his nefarious plans?

My Thoughts:  Spoilers

I enjoyed this the first I read it but I never recorded that I read it, so this is my first time rating and reviewing it.

I always enjoy the Elseworld stories because they do what all the phracking ridiculous and completely unnecessary reboots attempt, and miserably fail at, doing. IE, bringing us the characters we know in new ways with new stories and new variations. In fact, I would say that is the main fun of these, seeing the familiar turned at a 37° angle, just enough to skew everything but still the same enough for you to recognize.

First off, lets get through the bad. Stalin. For all that Hitler is vilified and made the devil incarnate, Stalin was truly worse. He was a butcher, plain and simple. So, for Superman to admire him was a bit of a let down. I'm not talking about Superman and communism, but Superman and Stalin.  Then there is Boris Wayneski. I don't even know if that was his name in the book, he was simply the Russian Batman. He was almost a caricature and I would have enjoyed the story more if it had been someone else. However, the frenemy status between Supes and Batman goes way back, so it makes sense why it was included.

The good stuff.

Superman looked good. He looked good in his suit and with the hammer and sickle on his chest. I'm pretty picky about my Supes, as I liked Dan Jurgens version from the 90's, but this was a creditable job and the art didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Lex Luthor. He is portrayed as the smartest man alive here. While his quest to overcome Superman takes the lead, the advances he makes in doing so drags humanity upward, in all ways. In fact, his name becomes so great that his descendants take on his name, as L, or eL. You can see where that is going.

And that brings me to the ending. I loved it. I can see it pissing people off though. Superman is NOT from Krypton. He is from Earth, sent back in time to try to change the future created by Lex Luthor and the House of L. Of course, the story ends with his little craft landing in the Ukraine, hence beginning the whole cycle again.

Superman: Doomed (Superman)

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Title: Superman: Doomed
Series: Superman
Author/Artist: Greg Pak, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 544
Format: Paper graphic novel

Synopsis:

Taking place in the New52 timeline. Doomsday has been kept in the Phantom Zone and somehow is allowed out by somebody. He is literal poison to the world and his very presence kills. Superman tears him in half, gets infected and begins a battle with Doomsday over who will control his body. And it all turns out to be a masterplan by Brainiac to get control of everyone's minds so he can "change the perception of the universe" and hence, change the universe. Because he misses his dead wife and son. Who he killed.

Yeah...

My Thoughts:

This was first foray into the New52 reboot universe and I didn't like it. It also relied on the reader knowing the storyline from Reign of Doomsday. At least to explain why Doomsday is still around. Goodness, I hate these reboots.

This was a very messy read for me. The characters I knew were suddenly completely different. Superman and Wonderwoman? Superman and Lois Lane are just friends, not married? I felt like I was reading one huge Elseworlds storyline. Sadly, I wasn't and this is where things are.

This is a big, glossy book with some gorgeous art. Unfortunately, I had a hard time reading the text and trying to follow the action. There were so few panels used that I had to guess where I was supposed to look next to follow what was happening on ONE SINGLE PAGE. And half the time I couldn't tell if I was looking at a 2 page spread meant as one, or if I was actually supposed to read it as 2 pages. 

The storyline itself just went all over the place and made me wonder WHO was in control at the helm of this idea. Superman and Doomsday argue with each other, Clarke gets angsty, Supes and Wonderwoman are all lovey dovey while making promises of mutual destruction, Brainiac is putting the whole world in a coma while whining about his dead family and there is so much more. It wasn't a clear, concise storyline. It was a soup with about 67 different cooks all trying to make it "their way".

It took me 6 months to finally finish this. I just didn't want to read about it. If this had been from the library I probably would have abandoned it very near the beginning. However, I bought this in February so I was going to get my money's worth, even if I had to suffer for every page of it. Yankee thrift and all that.

I could probably write a bunch more but it would just be more complaints. To end, I didn't like this, I didn't like my foray into the New52 and it will be quite some time before I try out new comics again. 

Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey (The Death and Return of Superman #4) 1...

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Title: Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 151
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Doomsday is not dead, nor doth he sleep, but he shall fail while Supes prevails [ha!]
Yeah, Doomsday isn't dead and with what Superman finds out about him, it appears impossible that Kal-El will be able to defeat him again.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this. Which came as a surprise to me because I remember it being the weakest of the 4 books and hence "remembered" not liking it nearly as much. Man, me and my Remembering.

While it was much shorter than Return of Superman, it still managed to pack in a lot of info and action. The Cyborg is back as well and sadly, his part was WAY too short and was almost a plot device just to keep him around for later use.  That was to bad because I think the Cyborg is one cool bad guy.

I think my nitpick was how Superman kept trying to deal with Doomsday. With the revelation of Doomsday's evolving nature, it seemed kind of stupid that Superman just kept on hitting him, just like in the previous encounter. Find a blackhole and toss him into one of those. Mother Computer's solution of sending him to the end of the universe and time, where Entropy would destroy him, felt like a copout but at the same time really manifested just how powerful and dangerous Doomsday was.

The action was good. Even while I was mentally tsk, tsk'ing Superman for just hitting Doomsday, it was still pretty cool. And Superman's little Kryptonian battle gear, sword and all, definitely made the visuals better. Nothing like Superman as a knight.

Blood Ties (Batman versus Predator #3)

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Title: Blood Ties
Series: Batman versus Predator
Author/Artist: Chuck Dixon, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
Pages: 136
Format: Digital scan







Synopsis:
Yet another Predator comes to Gotham, this time bringing a protege to train.
Tim Drake is the current Robin and he is now in the sights of the young Predator.
Can the Dynamic Duo put a final end to the Predator's interest in Gotham and its Champion?

My Thoughts:
Now I know why I never bothered to buy this book back in the day.  This was pure pablum and a complete failure as a story.

It was formulaic, lacking in any and all intensity and felt like the money grab it was. There was hardly ANY fighting and Batman "capturing" the older Predator to shame all the Predators so they'd leave Gotham alone felt like an idea that someone had at 4am after about 8 cups of coffee.

There was nothing bad about this, but insipid is the best I could call it. To continue the coffee thing. This was a cold cup with generic creamer that's congealed in a paper cup. Ughh.

Bloodmatch (Batman versus Predator #2)

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Title: Bloodmatch
Series: Batman versus Predator
Author/Artist: Doug Moench, et al
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
Pages: 144
Format: Digital scan







Synopsis:
A rogue Predator comes to Gotham to take on Batman. A group of Rule Keepers [for lack of a better word] is after the Rogue Predator.
At the same time, a group of Super Mercs have been hired to take out Batman.
So you have Predator versus Predator, Predator versus Batman, Predator versus Mercs and Batman versus Mercs.
If that isn't complicated enough, the Huntress is hunting down the criminal who hired the mercs and gets involved herself.

My Thoughts:
This wasn't as enjoyable as the previous battle. Part of it was the novelty was gone but part was the story itself. The Huntress just didn't fit in and it made things awkward.
Also, I had forgotten just how sexualized women usually are in comics. My goodness, talk about a lot of cleavage, leg and butt.

The "bad ass" rogue Predator wasn't. He just kills a lot.
*wave hands and make scary ghost noises*

This was just 'meh' for me. It didn't appeal. I didn't hate it, but I sure wasn't loving it.

The Return of Superman (The Death and Return of Superman #3)

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Title: The Return of Superman
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 480
Format: Paper Graphic Novel




 


Synopsis:
4 Supermen have appeared in Metropolis. One is a young clone with all the attitude and haircut of the 90's. One is a man encased in steel who makes no claim to be Superman. One is a violent vigilante who has Superman's powers but not his heart. Finally, one is a cyborg who claims to have been mysteriously rebuilt from kryptonian tech.
One of these is a traitor bent on the destruction of Humanity. Can they figure out which one of them is the traitor and stop him?
Only the real Superman can stop the destruction of the world [again].


My Thoughts: Spoilers Ahead Matey!
A fitting conclusion to the whole story arc.

The first thing that struck me when I pulled this book off my shelf yesterday was just how the garishly primary colors dominated everything. Nothing but Blue, Red and Yellow. That is one thing that makes comics stand apart from graphic novels.

My second impression was just how fast things developed. Now given that I read this in one afternoon from one book definitely helped that along. But all the pretenders are revealed and while the world is still reeling from trying to figure out which, if any, are the real Superman, the Cyborg suddenly is about to turn the world into a new War World?

Third, the utter ridiculousness of it all. The pure absurdity. However, that level is needed to pull something this big off. This story arc spanned multiple comics for months. It HAD to be over the top to keep the teens interested and wanting to spend their money.

Fourth, I still enjoyed this. It was fun, it was explosive, it was garish, it was high octane. It was everything I expect a comic book to be in other words. I don't expect comic books to be on the same level as The Count of Monte Cristo. Reading this also brought me one step closer to reading Superman: Doomed which I bought back in January. I have not read that before. It is just as big and I think I'll be able to judge it more objectively than I did Return of Superman.

In conclusion, this was just as big as I remembered while definitely belonging to my younger days.

Batman versus Predator (Batman versus Predator #1)

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Title: Batman versus Predator
Series: Batman versus Predator
Author/Artist: Dave Gibbons, Andy & Adam Kubert
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
Pages: 128
Format: Digital scan







Synopsis:
A Predator comes to Gotham and starts hunting the top dogs. Batman gets involved and it comes down to a brutal finish between a wounded Batman and a wounded Predator.

My Thoughts:
I own this in paper. I bought the collected edition when it came out in the 90's and my teen self was amazed at how amazing amazingly amazing this was. What could be more amazing than Batman, in amazing bat armor,  fighting an amazing predator?

Yeah, that is a lot of amazeballz there.

Reading this now, it is a solid, if a bit short, story.  There is actually very little of Batman fighting the Predator, more like skirmishes while the Predator kills off various Gotham elites. Thankfully, right at the end, there is a scene where Batman takes a baseball bat to the Predator. I think that scene alone would make this book worthwhile.

I am not sure I'll ever be reading this again though. It had sat on my bookshelves, lo these long years, and I hadn't even thought of it until I read that silly book, Archie versus the Predator. That was just so much fun that I had to dig these out [there are 3 graphic novels in this series, even though each is a standalone story if I remember correctly] and see how they've fared over time.

I was planning on reading all 3 in a row and then review them right after the other but after this one I think I'll let it rest for a week or so before trying the second.

World without a Superman (The Death and Return of Superman #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: World without a Superman
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 240
Format: Graphic Novel








Synopsis:
In the aftermath of Superman's death, hell breaks loose. A shady government agency steals his body, which Lex Luthor buried in a very public funeral attended by the JLA and the rest of the heroes in the DC universe.
At the same time, Lois has to deal with Clark supposedly having gone missing, while she knows he is dead. Ma and Pa Kent are being torn apart with their private grief and Jonathan ends up in the hospital with a heart attack.
And then things get weird with some sort of afterlife scenario where Pa Kent has to bring back Superman from a potential hell.
And then right at the end, it appears that 4 Supermen have come back.

My Thoughts:
This was fun and as bright, splashy and soap opera'y as one could wish for. This was everything a comic should be. Larger than life characters and scenarios.

Of course, I was rolling my eyes almost the whole time. I mean, super guns being sold to gangsters is the big problem in Metropolis? And Lex Luthor being mad because HE didn't kill Superman? Ay yi yi.

I enjoyed every page though. And it brings me once book closer to Doomed, where it looks like Superman is infected by Doomsday. I am looking forward to that!

The Death of Superman (The Death and Return of Superman #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Death of Superman
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al.
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 168
Format: Graphic Novel







Synopsis:
A creature dubbed Doomsday wreaks a path of destruction towards Metropolis. Along the way he takes out the entire JLA and it is now up to Superman, alone, to stop this unstoppable monster.

My Thoughts:
This book has a lot of nostalgia built in, so my thoughts might be a bit wander'y here.

I was not much aware of the DC universe when this storyline was taking place. I accidentally picked up the next to last comic in this crossover [there are 7 comics comprising this graphic novel] and since I was used to once a month comics and not used to crossovers, I waited until the next month to pick up what I thought would be the finish, only to find that the Death arc had ended and some other storyline had started up. I couldn't afford to buy a comic EVERY week, so I pretty much gave up on this.

Fast forward about 2 years. I now had a summer job of painting and the whole Death and Return story arc had finished and was collected in 3 graphic novels. I'd been saving up all summer and on one trip to Barnes and Noble I spent my "stash" on all 3 GN's. They blew me away and made me a life long Superman fan.

So now on to my thoughts this time around.

First off, I had forgotten how garishly colored comics are. After novels and walls of text, it is kind of fun to see wicked BRIGHT primary colors.

Second, the time frame from beginning to end was less than 8hrs. I had forgotten that this was lightning fast. Doomsday just explodes onto the scene, destroys a whole slew of superheroes and then proceeds to kill Superman. He KILLS Superman.

Two titans brutally beating each other with their fists and any material on hand. While the artwork varied comic by comic [different artists obviously], the intensity just came through in each panel.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this as much as before, but I am thankful to say that my 20+ year old paper copy, while now yellowed and slightly bent from standing cockeyed on my shelf, is just as entertaining and good as it was back then.

And I think that the following 2 pictures encapsulate the feeling of this whole book.

Superman: Kal (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Superman: Kal
Series: Elseworlds
Author: Dave Gibbons
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 62
Format: Paper








Synopsis:
This tale gives a historical twist to the familiar Superman origin and setting, as the rocket carrying the infant Kal-El lands in medieval England. The regular cast appear as Dark Ages counterparts - Loisse, Jamie and the evil Baron Luther.

My Thoughts:
What a difference 20 years makes. I bought, and read, this when it came out in '95'ish. The idea of a medieval Superman was almost more than my teenage soul could handle.
And I can remember the crushing disappointment that this was to me. The Kents' being such caricatures, Lois being beaten to death by Luthor on her wedding night, Kal dying. The Arthurian Legend tie-in.  It was more than I could handle and I hated it.

So imagine my surprise when I read this this afternoon and I found it to be a pretty good story. Having 14 more pages than Speeding Bullets helped the overall story, as did that they weren't telling 2 origin stories. I just enjoyed this alternate "look" at Superman. Can't say that this was top quality work, in story or artwork, but I was just looking for a quick read between the novels I was reading and this fit perfectly.

Glad my reread actually bumped this up this time around.

Superman: Speeding Bullets (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Superman: Speeding Bullets
Series: Elseworlds
Author: J.M. DeMatteis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 48
Format: Paper and scan








Synopsis:
What would have happened if the infant Superman had been found by the Waynes of Gotham City instead of the Kents of Kansas? That's the question this graphic novel examines, as the child from another planet witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of a Gotham mugger and grows up to become a bat-caped avenger of the night.

My Thoughts:
I have always enjoyed the Elseworlds books, long or short, as they give us a new perspective on something we already know all about. It was pretty much DC's answer to Marvel's line of What If? comics.

Technical stuff first. I read this on my new tablet first, an 8inch asus zenpad something something something. It is a 4x3 format, so it was much better suited to reading comics on that my older nexus. I had no problems reading the text or seeing any of the comic panels. There were a couple of panels that looked hideously pixelated; however, upon reading my paper copy, it was the same there so I'm guessing it was some sort of artistic "thing".
When I reread this immediately after with my paper copy, I have to admit I found it a little big. But no real noticeable difference, for which I was glad.

The story and idea. Combining Superman and Batman into one character and bringing both those worlds together [Lex Joker anyone?] was pure genius. It was fun to see worked out.
However, at only 48 pages, this was jam packed, compressed and generally just an overview. That really made the story suffer.  Big important things happen in 1, maybe 2 pages. It felt rushed, which it was. The idea was big enough to put into a 300page graphic novel.

This is probably one of the better, short, Superman, Elseworld comics out there however.

Archie vs Predator

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Archie vs Predator
Series: -----
Author: Alex de Campi,& Fernando Ruiz
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 144
Format: Kindle



Synopsis:
Jughead wins a trip for the group to an exotic resort, where they attract the attention of a young Predator, who follows them back home.
A lot of mayhem happens and Betty and Veronica duke it out to the very end.

My Thoughts:
This was just plain fun. I've always been a fan of the Predator franchise [even the Aliens vs Predator movies] and have the Batman vs Predator I, II AND III in graphic novel form. So when I saw Dantastic's review in my feed and then read Grim's review, well, I had to read this.

Watching the characters be true to their original style while getting offed by a Predator struck my funny bone something fierce. And to be honest, watching Bettie and Veronica fight is also always a pleasure. I also found it very amusing to watch the Predators little heads up display. THAT showed some ingenuity on the writers/artists' parts.

I had several instances of fist pumping and an exclamatory "Yes!!" on my lips as someone died. The kind of humor shown here was right up my alley and meant for me. I doubt it is for everyone, but anyone who liked Predator is sure to like this. I'm not sure about Archie fans though. I am not an Archie fan and don't even know if that comic is ongoing or what these days. I remember Archie from the 80's and the few times I went to someone's house and they had them lying around and I read them.

It was also nice to read a Graphic Novel for a change, instead of a novel, or even manga. The last I read a GN was back in the beginning of '14 and this was great re-introduction. It makes me want to go back and re-read some of the GN's that I own and haven't read in years. In fact, looking at my Graphic Novel shelf, it would appear that just about all the GN's I own I haven't recorded as read or reviewed. Well, I guess that gives me something to aim for.