Blog Archives
Upcoming Plans For Jyger’s Rant + DC Rebirth Questionnaire
So, just thought I’d keep everybody up-to-date with what I’m doing for the next little bit. First off, if you’re wondering where the updates to my Nuzlocke run are, I’m still playing the game and getting screencaps of myself, but updates are gonna be kinda sporadic. This is because of two things that are happening that I’ll get into in a bit, but for now, don’t worry, the adventures of Mikey, Oswald, and the rest of my team will continue soon.
One major reason why the Nuzlocke updates will be spaced out, though, is because of Marvelous May. Speaking of, today is the cut-off date, so as of right now, I’m no longer taking votes. That means that tomorrow, I will be posting the finalized roster for the fan-vote tournament. Please remember that voting on individual match-ups won’t occur until May, when said match-ups are posted.
As most long-time readers of my blog know, N. Harmonik is my proofreader, and the two of us have done vlogs where we watch the newest Death Battles as of late. However, for this week, her and her mother have gone to Disney World. As such, I’ll be doing the Death Battle vlog solo this week (which is actually cool for me, since I don’t need to wait a few days to see it). But, when she gets back, N. Harmonik has agreed to do an article talking about her time in Disney World, along with photos she’s taken, so look forward to that. ^_^
On top of all that, expect there to probably be a quick vlog and/or slideshow of me going to Free Comic Book Day, as I am prone to do, and don’t be surprised if there’s some coverage of news regarding the upcoming DC Rebirth. Speaking of, I’ve been meaning to ask everybody here, if you were Geoff Johns and looking to steer the ship that is the DC Universe in a specific path, what would it be and what books would you want running as part of this new direction? Just something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is all. Oh, and lastly, sometime within the next couple of months, I plan to do a How To Drop The Ball In Comics about The New 52. Just one last look at everything that went pretty alright and horribly wrong with the reboot.
And in regards to my writing, after all of this is out of the way, I plan to go back and finish J.A. Phillips Presents Batman and Robin. After that, I’ll probably get to work on either Primal Strife or the long-awaited Season 2 of Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia.
Anyway, that’s all I can think of at the moment in terms of future plans. Lemme know if you have any thoughts on my current gameplan and projects, and I’ll try to get back to you. Ja né!
DC Rebirth – Action Comics And Detective Comics Returning To Their Old Numbering
… … …Kinda. lol
Okay, here’s what’s happening: While every other book in DC’s line-up will be getting brand new #1’s as part of the big DC Rebirth event, Action Comics and Detective Comics will not. Instead, their previous numberings from before the New 52 (Action Comics was at 904 and Detective Comics was at 881) will have the books from the New 52 and onward line-up added to them, meaning we’ll see Action Comics #957 and Detective Comics #954 in June…which is kinda cheating, but whatever. They’re still technically the 957th and 954th issues of said books, not counting #0’s and Annuals…I think. lol
I should also note that these two comics will be among the books getting two issues per month…which may or may not screw with plans I had, but whatever. The point is, if we assume they’ll both be shipping 24 issues per year, then that means they’ll both hit #1000 in a mere TWO YEARS. That is kinda fucking insane, and probably a big part of why they went back to the old numbering. As far as I know, we’ve never seen a legitimate #1000 in comics EVER, so this will be a big history-making moment. And if Scott Snyder really IS going to Detective Comics, I can’t wait to see what the frickety frackity hell he’s got planned for #1000. XD
As for the other books in the line-up, here’s a link to the rest. I’ll be giving my overall thoughts on it soon enough, but for now, you can check it out. I should note, though, that at least two books have been announced to be released post-Rebirth that are not shown in the line-up, so if you don’t see your favourite comics on this list, or ones you were hoping to see, don’t worry just yet. For now, though, lemme know what you think of all this, and we’ll see how things develop. Ja né!
…Also, I wanna know right now which one of you mother fuckers keeps buying the Red Hood books to the point where RHATO is getting relaunched. lol j/k
Happy Valentine’s Day! Batman and Catwoman – Wrecking Ball by Madilyn Bailey
Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody! And, in honour of that, let’s look back to the days when a bat and a cat as a couple was the most romantic thing EVER. ❤
A Question About Individual Comics vs Collected Trades? (FEEDBACK HEAVILY REQUESTED)
So, as I’ve brought up before, I’m currently having to go on welfare and cut corners wherever possible to use up less money. This is why I pretty much had to cut the number of comics I buy in half. However, there’s an option I haven’t considered until it occurred to me today. So, I’m curious as to which is the better idea for saving money: Buying individual issues of comics, or the collected trades?
Now, as far as that would affect the blog, well, I might or might not still post early previews for each issue if I buy the trades if I can remember. However, as a fair trade, I might decide to give full reviews and thoughts on the collections when I get them. So, I’d still be covering the books I get on here for everyone, because I like to promote good reading. ^_^
Anyway, let me know what you all think in the comments section. If I do make the switch, though, it won’t be until after the current story arcs are done, since they’re usually what are collected for the trades in the first place. But yeah, tell me what you think of this, and we’ll see what happens. Ja né!
The Official Cover For Poison Ivy #1 #PoisonIvyLeague
Poison Ivy League, UNITE! Here is the cover for Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life And Death #1, written by Amy Chu and illustrated by Clay Mann! 😀
Feels like only yesterday, myself, Rosen Rose, and a number of dedicated Ivy fans were raising awareness for this character and doing all we could to get her a series. And granted, this is only a mini-series, but it’s still progress. 🙂 Are you a member of the Poison Ivy League? Tell me your own tales of the struggle to make this happen, and let’s all make sure to see what happens when the book comes out early next year. Ja né!
Spider-Gwen #1 Preview
…Screw it, I’m linking to previews of the comics I get from now on. lol Well, I don’t really have time to do full reviews for new comics, since I go get them on the same night I go to play Dungeons & Dragons at Heroes’ Beacon (Oh yeah, I’m finally getting into D&D, thank goodness, lol), and I wanna encourage people to read comics, so here we are. This is the preview for Gwen Stacy: The Insert-Cool-Sounding-Adjective-Here Spider-Woman#1………..Oh, sorry, Spider-Gwen #1. 😛
SPIDER-GWEN SPINS INTO HER OWN SERIES!
• BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! The breakout hit of the biggest Spider-Event of the century is taking comic shops by storm this winter with her own new ongoing series – SPIDER-GWEN!
• Gwen Stacy is Spider-Woman, but you knew that already. What you DON’T know is what friends and foes are waiting for her in the aftermath of Spider-Verse!
• From the fan-favorite creative team that brought you Spider-Gwen’s origin story in EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE, Jason Latour and Robbie Rodriguez!
Spider-Gwen Announced – THANK YOU, MARVEL! :’D + News On Upcoming Wonder Woman Books + The Difference Between Marvel & DC
No, your eyes do NOT deceive you, Marvel has in fact listened to the fans and decided to give the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman her own book. Apparently, it’ll be launching in February, under the name Spider-Gwen. Now, the name of the book is a little weird, but I’m guessing it’s because they already have a Spider-Woman book coming out, and unless they name it ‘Gwen Stacy: The Insert-Cool-Sounding-Adjective-Here Spider-Woman’, it’s gonna confuse people (actually, I think that would be the most awesomely hilarious name for a book EVER). So, I don’t mind the name.
What’s hilarious about this is that this news broke at the same time as myself and a group of my friends on Twitter were ranting about a cover advertised for an upcoming Wonder Woman book, as drawn by David Finch, where she looks…well, look.
…Yeah, pretty dumb, huh? And really shows why the Finchs are probably people that shouldn’t be doing Wonder Woman, because they don’t get the character. Although, on the flip side, check out the cover for the upcoming Wonder Woman ’77 book, drawn by Nicola Scott.
Pretty frakking epic. Really shows the difference between DC and Marvel. DC has these AMAZING digital first books that people love, and they take ZERO advantage of them, instead pushing the bleak as all heck New 52 books. Marvel sees that something sells well, they go “Hey, we’ve got a new product that sells great! So, let’s roll with it!” And maybe it won’t do as well as they hope, but the point is they’re giving it a try. They’re giving Silk a shot too. So we’ll have, on the Marvel side of things, female led books like Storm, Captain Marvel, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Adjectiveless X-Men, Squirrel Girl (…no, seriously, it’s happening, lol), and so many more. In DC’s main line, their female led books are Supergirl (has been kind of a confusing mess lately), Batgirl (new team doing the book does awesome work in my opinion, but I’ve noticed that reaction to the new book is pretty divisive online), Gotham Academy (looks cool, but not my cup of tea), Harley Quinn (ruined Poison Ivy in the New 52, has an upcoming drug-scented book), Batwoman (was forced out of getting married and turned into a vampire anti-hero), and Wonder Woman (see above image, and the God awful relationship with Superman). Meanwhile, they have a HUGE roster of women they could push in their books! Aside from the ones I mentioned already, they have Raven, Wonder Girl, Troia, Stargirl, Spoiler, Bluebird, Poison Ivy, Mera, Aquawoman, Jesse Quick, Jade, Huntress, Power Girl, Fury, Equinox, the list goes on and on! And yeah, some of them are in books currently, but they’re hardly marketed by DC. They don’t know how to market their products, unless said product is involved with Batman, and they don’t know how to get people pumped for new stuff.
But anyway, I just wanna thank Marvel Comics, Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and everyone else involved in Spider-Gwen for bringing this to us. Lemme know your own thoughts on this upcoming book, and we’ll see how awesome this gets when it hits in February. Ja né!
What If DC Did An Inversion Like In The Upcoming Marvel AXIS?
So, in the upcoming Marvel event, AXIS, there’s going to be what’s being referred to as an Inversion. Basically, several good guys will become bad guys and vice versa. Now, the idea is actually not a bad one. In fact, it’s actually a rather neat idea, provided it’s executed well. One of these changes is the teased Superior Iron Man (don’t worry, no Doc Ock possession this time), wherein Tony Stark is reverted to his pre-Iron Man persona, but has all of the tech and resources of the present day one, thus making him a far more ethically darkened individual, if not just plain evil. On the flip side, I’ve heard rumours of villains like Hobgoblin and even Carnage of all people being turned to good, which would be an interesting scenario, or at least it is in theory. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, and if these changes will last for very long. Personally, I’m not necessarily against them turning Iron Man evil, but I kinda hope that they either make it temporary or split his good side from his bad side, which would also leave us with a Tony Stark that would NOT make clones of Thor or have Captain America mind-wiped.
Regardless of how Marvel pulls this off, though, I can’t help but wonder something: What if DC ever did something similar? An event, series of events, or just an Elseworlds story where several key players on the good and bad sides changed alignments, some temporarily, others permanently. Now, this isn’t me saying that DC SHOULD do this. As I’ve alluded to before, both DC and Marvel have been caught copying off each other’s notes in class a few too many times, if you get my drift. I’m just saying that if they DID ever choose to do this, these would be the people I would be most interested in seeing them do an Inversion with. You are, of course, free to disagree, and open to leave your own suggestions as to who you’d like to see get changed, or if anyone should be.
#1 – Bruce Wayne
Admittedly, this one probably works best as an Elseworlds story, but it’s still an intriguing idea: What if Bruce Wayne just snapped and turned evil? And I don’t mean that he was always evil, I mean Bruce Wayne as we know him now just turning. It’s an idea for a story that, to the best of my knowledge, DC hasn’t really done. Hell, a lot of times, it’s Superman who turns to evil and Batman who has to stop him. Can I simply ask why that is? You’d think that someone as paranoid, living on the edge, and constantly in the darkness as Batman would be the MOST likely member of the Justice League to turn evil. And, let’s be honest, he’s probably the one you should be the most thankful doesn’t. He knows the weaknesses of every member of the Justice League, and while they would likely pull punches against him in a fight because of their history, if he actually wanted to kill them, they would be in serious trouble. Add onto that his wealth, influence, skills, and equipment, and an evil Bruce Wayne could very well turn out to be the greatest villain of all. Plus, with him as a villain, it would add all kinds of additional scenarios, like what his enemies would think, would they side with him or against him, would his allies stand up to him or fall in line, and would he still be Batman or would that title get passed on to Dick Grayson or the like?
#2 – Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy has been more or less tip-toeing across the line between good and evil for a while now, but what if she actually went all the way good? What if she was cured of her mental ailments, granted the full control of her body without being a harm to herself or anyone around her, and was able to use her powers as a force for good without any forms of misguidance? Honestly, I think she would make Justice League in no time flat. And frankly, just the mere idea of Pam being on friendly terms with Diana and the kinds of conversations they could have are just AMAZING to the feminist in me. ^_^
#3 – Cyborg
Before anyone mentions it, I will say that we kinda have an idea of what this would be like from Forever Evil, wherein Cyborg’s robotic parts were infected and split apart from him to become Grid, who possessed all the same access to technology as Cyborg does. Also, in JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative, we see Cyborg becoming Cyberion and more or less inadvertently almost causing the end of the world. However, what if it wasn’t just the machine that turned evil, but the man as well? What if Vic decided to use his tech for selfish gain, and tried to take over the world through hacking everything with a computer chip in it, all for his own benefit? As we’ve seen various times in various medias, it’s a lot easier to overcome the human or the machine half of Cyborg on their own. Both at the same time, though? Near impossible.
#4 – The Joker
This one would pretty much have to go alongside #1 to be at its most effective. Basically, Batman turns evil, and Joker, upon learning that this has happened, that Bruce Wayne is Batman, that the moment he’s worked so hard for, to make Batman finally snap and become a criminal like him, has the following reaction: “I need to fix this, NOW!” He wouldn’t necessarily be all the way good right away, but as he fought to try to put things as they should be, he starts to take notice of all the things he’s done through the actions of Bruce Wayne, and finally feels regret for them. Now of course, a story like this could only conclude with either the two reverting back to how they’ve always been, or one or both of them tragically dying. Still, it’s everything in between the two, how it gets from point A to point B, that matters most. Would he call upon allies like Harley to assist him, or would he actually try to seek the Justice League’s assistance to stop Bruce? What does a mind like The Joker’s do when his intent isn’t madness, death, and chaos, but to try to put things right again?
#5 – Starfire
Y’know, other than temporary brainwashing, Flashpoint, or her turning into an anti-hero in the New 52 (which actually isn’t all that different from brainwashing, now that I think about it), I don’t know that we’ve ever seen Starfire turn evil. We’ve seen her do morally ambiguous things, but to the best of my knowledge, never outright evil. And let’s be honest: Her power levels, while not necessarily at the level of, say, Superman, are high enough that she’d do some SEVERE damage if she turned heel. However, more-so than any other reason I could come up with, I have another reason for wanting to see what would happen if she turned evil: Science…………..Hear me out. There’s a theory that Linkara came up with a while ago, and I’m almost certain he was joking when he came up with it, but it stands to reason that when superheroines turn to evil, their body temperature rises, hence why when most heroines turn evil, they wear less clothes. Now, if you’re a male superhero, the reverse happens, and you wind up wearing more, darker clothes. However, this brings me to Starfire, who barely wears what I would consider clothes to begin with. Would her turning evil have an opposite effect on her, to where she would wear ACTUAL clothes, or would she just run around naked? Comic writers, artists, and deviantArtists, YOU DECIDE! LOL
…Oh, yeah, and if her body temperature increased, and she gets her powers from the sun, would that actually make her even stronger?…Yeah, that’s a much less insulting reason to wanna see this. XP
#6 – Darkseid
Don’t look at me like that! I’m serious! What if Darkseid, one of the biggest bads of the DC Universe, was suddenly and legitimately turned to good? If some otherworldly force suddenly changed his alignment to good? Would he still rule Apokolips? Would they even accept him as their leader, or continue with their ways? Would he try to return to New Genesis? What would he do with his ability to enter any of the alternate realities of the Multiverse in a quest for good? How would relations with the Justice League change? Now, of course, a change like this could only ever really be temporary, be in an Elseworlds story, or end with him either becoming depowered, killed, or replaced by some other, more evil force, perhaps the Anti-Monitor. Why? Because while I prefer to see stories where the heroes emerge triumphant, evil should probably still have a chance to win at least. And let’s be honest, could any force of evil truly continue to be an imposing force in the face of such power when used for good?…Well, perhaps there is one…
#7 – Batgirl/Oracle
If you don’t get why this is absolutely horrifying, you clearly didn’t read Birds of Prey. To be blunt, Barbara Gordon is the world’s most talented computer hacker bar none, with the multitasking ability to coördinate all of the world’s greatest heroes, a keen detective’s deduction skills, is one of Batman’s most trusted allies, and has the ability to be a physical threat even when she was confined to a wheelchair. Now imagine those skills being used for evil. Basically, someone able to coördinate the worst villains in the world, hack Batman and the Justice League’s databanks, and has access to their names and weaknesses. Starting to get it now? Yeah. Now be glad she never does turn to evil, or the world of DC heroes would crumble and fall.
#8 – Bleez
Before I start, I’d just like to note how hard it was to decide what the most decent photo of Bleez prior to her becoming a Red Lantern was. Was crazy. Anyway, back to point, what if Bleez was healed of all the physical, mental, and emotional scars that the Sinestro Corps inflicted on her, and could finally move on from her anger? What would she do with her life then? Would she try to be a heroine? And if so, would she join one of the other Lantern Corps, or just act on her own with her own abilities? Perhaps she would join the Birds of Prey, utilizing her gift of flight to help cover them from the sky. Hell, either way, it would just be nice to see her in a position where she can finally live her life free of rage.
#9 – Booster Gold
Finally, let’s tackle a long-standing argument in comics: Is Booster Gold really a hero, or is he just in it for the money? In my opinion, and I think in the opinion of anyone who has really paid attention to the character, while he DOES like the attention, he still legitimately means well and wants to be a hero. But what if he wasn’t? What if, instead of trying to be a hero in the past, he was using knowledge of the future to pull off the perfect crimes, and possibly even using future tech to try and take over the planet? And, more importantly, could anyone stop him with such advantages?
Anyway, that’s all for now. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments section below who you’d like to see have their alignment inverted, either as a short-term, long-term, or Elseworlds story.
What I Bought Today – Red Sonja #6, Harley Quinn #1, Batman and Robin #26 (WARNING – SPOILERS)
Thank goodness Mom and Dad decided to go out tonight, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell you all about…
‘Cuz it was a freaking snow storm out today, the second one we’ve gotten in the past few days. Nonetheless, let’s talk about the three books I got this week (X-Men wasn’t there due to a mail order error of some sort), starting with Red Sonja #6.
The finale to Gail Simone‘s first arc on the book, this issue managed to wrap up all the plot points of the previous five issues pretty well. I don’t wanna spoil too much, since there’s one or two major twists. Suffice to say, Annisia won’t be a threat anymore, and I think the kingdom is left in decent hands. And when all was said and done, when the comic ended, and one of Red Sonja’s bodyguards asked if there was anything they could do to repay her, all that Sonja could say in response was “Re-open your taverns, dear one, because I’m going to get drunk in legendary fashion.”
Seriously, if you haven’t read this book yet, go and find it. If you can’t find all six issues of the initial run, it’s going to be collected in trade paperback in February as “Queen of Plagues”. Gail Simone and Walter Geovani more than earn your money with this one.
Harley Quinn #1 sadly did not have any fourth wall breaking, but it DID have a ton of dark humour and insanity from Harley, over-the-top violence and mayhem, roller derby (thus explaining the costume), a little stuffed beaver buddy that talks to Harley in her own mind (I’m so not kidding), and tons more. It’s still not quite Harley Quinn as I remember her, and it does go a bit too over-the-top at times, but it’s still a ton of fun. I will say this, though: If yer not a fan of dark comedy, this probably isn’t for you. Fortunately, I DO have a sick sense of humour, so I’m able to enjoy it thoroughly. ^_^ I will say that, for those complaining about the lack of plot in #0, you can relax. The plot here mostly revolves around Harley getting a new place in Coney Island, but learning that, to keep it, she needs to collect pay from the tenants in all of the other apartments, and get a job. To further complicate matters, it seems that someone has put a bounty on her head, meaning there’s gonna be assassins looking to take her out. And yet, for all her psychotic faults, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Chad Hardin manage to capture Harley’s more vulnerable and loveable side, so you kinda want her to make it through all of this. A good read, and I think will probably stay on my pull list from here on out.
Batman and Two-Face (really Batman and Robin #26) was great, and I love how they’re telling the tale of Erin McKillen, her sister, and their history with Harvey Dent in reverse order, where they tell what happened, and then discuss WHY it happened. My one complaint, however, is that, as great as this arc has been, this entire book has suffered a lot from changes occurring in other books, tie-ins, crossovers, etc. Here, it’s clear that the book was originally gonna lead into a story where Carrie Kelley was gonna become Robin while also telling a story about Two-Face and Erin. I’m fairly certain of that, especially considering that, since the hints started popping up that Damian was coming back, Carrie just kinda faded into the background and hasn’t been seen since. Maybe she still will become Robin and the hints are just a fake-out, but even if that is the case, it’s clear this was supposed to happen earlier and it got forced back. Still, this IS a good story that Peter Tomasi is writing. However, I really hope this book gets back to being about Batman and Robin, fast.
Anyway, that’s all for this week. Next week, I get to tell you all about What I Got For Christmas, though I may wait until I can use whatever gift cards I obtain first. Ja né!
Related articles
- Village Comics in Bedford, NH Reviews Harley Quinn #1 (villagecomics.net)
- Red Sonja #6 Brings the Queen of Plagues to a Close (whatchareading.com)
- New Comics Day: Our December 18 Pull List (theimprobablechuck.wordpress.com)
- 15/12/13 Batman (toddalevel3media.wordpress.com)
- Batman, Harley Quinn top November comics chart (digitalspy.co.uk)
- Controversial ‘suicide’ scene doesn’t appear in ‘Harley Quinn’ #0 (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
- Harley Quinn #1 (comicvine.com)
- Gail Simone Continues Red Sonja’s Rollicking Rampage [Interview] (comicsbeat.com)
- Preview: Red Sonja #6 (graphicpolicy.com)
- THE BAT SIGNAL: Palmiotti Talks “Harley Quinn,” Gothopia & Jonah Hex in the Modern DCU (comicbookresources.com)
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