An Idea On How To Shake Things Up In DC Comics

So, I’ve been thinking lately about ways DC could keep things interesting in their comics. More often than not, their ideas include reboots or big epic crossover events or stuff like that. And not to say that plan doesn’t work, but I don’t really think it’s necessary all the time. Instead, I had another idea on how to shake things up: Rotate villain rosters a little. Add variety to the different antagonists that show up in the books. Give us some new dream matches of heroes vs villains we either haven’t seen before or don’t see often.

For example, let’s say that some of the villains in Gotham City actually wised up and realized “Hey, this city sucks and Batman is always kicking our asses! Let’s leave this shit-hole!” Like, what if Poison Ivy decided to find her own home away from everyone to continue her research and whatnot, only to accidentally end up on Themyscira and become a recurring character in the Wonder Woman books? Or if Penguin realized he had an opportunity to become the kingpin of crime in Star City and thus became a villain in the Green Arrow books? Or Bane could go to Detroit to test the power of muscle (with illegal strength enhancement, lol) against metal by fighting Cyborg in his book? And none of these would HAVE to be permanent, so those worried that Batman would lose some of his precious and continuously expanding villains roster wouldn’t need to panic.

But hey, Batman’s not the only hero with villains to go around. And maybe everyone could just kinda swap one or two with another. Maybe Parasite could go try to absorb Flash’s connection to the Speed Force or Shazam’s incredible strength. Perhaps the Injustice Gang could try their luck at their enemies’ teenage counterparts, the Titans? Conversely, what if the Justice League had to engage in a battle of wits and strategy against arguably the devil himself, Trigon, to keep him from rising? What if Nightwing was forced into a situation where he’d have to occupy space with the man who killed him, Lex Luthor? Or hell, why not have Deathstroke, a guy with a healing factor, fight Cyborg, an old enemy from pre-Flashpoint and a guy whose body was saved by technology?

 

Lastly, there’re a few villains that haven’t appeared in a really long time that could be brought back under the right circumstances to fight new heroes. What if Composite Superman returned to fight the Super Sons, Jon and Damian? Perhaps Roxy Rocket could decide to try her luck at becoming a Green Lantern and become a rogue for Jessica Cruz? Or hey, Wally West is back now; how about bringing back Inertia as a rival for him?

 

Anyway, that’s all I got for now. If you think of any other good ones, lemme know in the comments. Ja né!

My Own Answer To My DC Multiverse Questionnaire – The Villains

So, as you saw in an earlier post of mine, a few days ago, I sent a number of people on Tumblr a sort of questionnaire, asking what they would do with their own world in the DC Multiverse. I guess with Multiversity being out (and being AWESOME, btw), with the possibility of the return or integration of the previous continuity on the horizon, and with other stories involving multiple universes being told in other books across DC and Marvel, it’s just really hitting me the mass potential that can exist in stories like these. But, just because I sent the questionnaire out in the first place does not mean that I am exempt from giving an answer myself. As I said before, I’ve done stories with my own take on the DCU, but that was more-so becoming my idealized versions of the characters. So, I guess this is how I would do my own world in the DC Universe, who would its heroes be, and who would its biggest villains be (besides alternate Earth villains or singular entity enemies like the Anti-Monitor or Darkseid). And since I did the heroes already, let’s take a look at the villains, starting with arguably the most memorable of all, Batman’s rogues gallery.

Batman’s Rogues Gallery

Of course, I’d want the big names like Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Black Mask around, but I’d also wanna introduce lesser-known villains and tweak some of the more well-known ones. For example, what if Victor Fries was actually an ally of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s, and the man to become Mr. Freeze was none other than Joe Chill, the man who killed Batman’s parents? What if Roxy Rocket, originally conceived for the 90’s animated series, was the one who played cat and mouse with Batman the most in Catwoman‘s absence (we’ll get to her in a bit)? What if Mirror, from Gail Simone’s run on Batgirl, was trying to kill Bruce Wayne for surviving when his parents didn’t? And then there’s the Joker. I think I’d want him to be more akin to Heath Ledger’s Joker in terms of, rather than having his skin bleached and hair turned green by falling into chemicals, he’s just a guy in make-up with no traceable fingerprints or identity. Also, I think I’d give him a bit of an Alex DeLarge Clockwork Orange twist on him in leading the Jokerz, though perhaps toned down a little from that in terms of…*ahem*, ‘Singing In The Rain’. After all, Joker should still keep that part of him that you can laugh at and/or with while still being frightened of him.

Poison Ivy’s Rogues Gallery

For Poison Ivy, who I envision as being akin to Greg Pak’s interpretation of Storm in this world, her villains would be a mix of wealthy tyrants (Veronica Cale and Knightfall in particular come to mind), other elementally-based baddies (Volcana, Killer Frost, and Livewire), and general villains for hire (mercenaries and assassins like Deadshot or Bane). And of course Floronic Man…’Cuz, duh. And, just for the hell of it, SNOWFLAME! XD Otherwise, though, most of what Ivy would do is just help people out and get into conflicts with governments that either distrust her or don’t want her involvement, even though she’s just trying to be of assistance to people that could use it.

Doctor Fate’s Rogues Gallery

For Doctor Fate, since Khalid hasn’t really been around long enough to earn a Rogue’s Gallery, save for Wotan, I’m thinking he would fight a lot of the mystical/paranormal threats to the world. Mordu, Enchantress, and Morgaine le Fey were easy choices, but I also wanted to bring in villains that hadn’t necessarily gotten much in the way of attention. Then I remembered an old enemy of Batman’s, one that even pre-dates Joker, that was vampiric in nature, and hadn’t been seen much in years: The Monk. Surely someone like that could prove a sufficient threat to the newest person to claim the Helm of Nabu.

The Rogues

Yeah, not much of a shocker, huh? Of COURSE it’d be The Rogues. They’re pretty much THE trademark villains of anyone carrying The Flash mantle since just a little while after Barry Allen took up the role. All the really great ones, like Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Golden Glider, Mirror Master, and so on. Also, as a sort of take-that to how he was portrayed in Countdown as unapologetically homophobic, I think I’d want Trickster to be gay (seriously, suck it, Countdown). I’m thinking they could perhaps take a bit more directly antagonistic role with the female Flash, in that she has little time for their quirks and wants to shut them all down. And of course I’d need to include a Reverse Flash, and other villains like Gorilla Grodd.

Green Lantern’s Rogues Gallery

In addition to other ring-bearers like Sinestro, Black Hand, and Atrocitus, I’d like to see some of the classic Green Lantern villains come back. Solomon Grundy is of course a great pick, and a fairly well-known baddie, what with his appearances in the Justice League animated series, Batman: Arkham City, and Injustice: Gods Among Us. Doctor Polaris is another good one, since he’s pretty much Magneto, only in an even dumber costume. Although technically, I’m pretty sure neither one is a rip off of the other, since they both made their debuts a couple of months apart from each other. Not really enough time to cheat off the other person’s test sheets, if you get my drift.

Wonder Woman’s Rogues Gallery

Since Diana would be Queen not only of Themyscira but of Atlantis as well with Mera, I’m thinking her rogues could be a blend of her usual enemies and Aquaman’s. So, on one hand, you’d have the typical Wonder Woman enemies like Cheetah, Circe, and Giganta, and on the other, you’d have people like Ocean Master, Black Manta, and King Shark. Of course, as a result of that, Mera would naturally get in on the fun of taking them down from time to time, because hey, she can’t just stay behind sitting on the throne ALL THE TIME, right? 🙂

Superman’s Rogues Gallery

And finally, we come to Superman’s enemies. Of course, Superman has some of the most powerful opponents, as well some weaker-yet-varied ones, which makes sense. I mean, let’s say you’re Lex Luthor, calling in villains to kill Superman. Sometimes, when you’re evil and you’re trying to bring down a man as powerful as Superman, you gotta just throw random shit at him to see what works and what doesn’t. I think I’d wanna bring Ultra-Humanite back as one of his primary enemies, since he was his arch nemesis before Luthor came around in comics. Others would likely include Mongul, Brainiac, Atomic Skull, Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Toyman, and so on. As for his most notable and recognizable enemy, though…well, we’ll get to him in a sec. One thing I’d probably change is that Brainiac in this universe DID cause the destruction of Krypton. Why? Because otherwise, it makes the Kryptonians look REALLY stupid for not being able to tell (save for one or two scientists that they considered babbling madmen) that their frakking PLANET was about to blow. Seriously, why is it that in every single continuity, they NEVER believe it?! They never for one second suspect that the world is about to end…until right before it ends?! At least in the Superman animated series, we were given the semi-believable excuse that Brainiac lied to them about it!

Justice League’s Rogues Gallery

I’m thinking Justice League level threats, bad guys that are so powerful that they require the League’s attention instead of just one member’s, would be ones that are so powerful and dangerous that no single member of the team can take them down. Amazo‘s a good example, since it can replicate the abilities of anyone it interacts with. Mongul’s another good one, as he’s been shown to be able to be a match for even Superman. Starro would of course be a must, as the first villain the Justice League of America ever battled. And I think I’d want to re-establish Doctor Light as a credible threat to the team, minus…erm, certain things they did with him over the years (see Identity Crisis, unless you have a weak stomach). I suppose, depending on the situation, you could see supervillains like Brainiac, Grodd, and Black Hand as being League threats, and of course groups of villains would require the team’s attention…speaking of whom…

The Legion of Doom

The Legion of Doom are typically recognized as being the ultimate group in opposition to the League. As such, I’m thinking that only the most dangerous, powerful, and brilliant villains of the DCU would form its inner circle. Lex Luthor, Riddler, Grodd, Vandal Savage, those kinds of villains that are a tad bit more devious, diabolical, and dangerous than the average rogue. Also, to round it out, I think I’d want people like Enchantress, Floronic Man, and Lion-Mane to be members, as villains with personal vendettas against members of the League.

Task Force X

Task Force X I think would basically be a mixture of Secret Six and Suicide Squad, in terms of some of the people that have been on both teams. Also, I think it’d be a well-balanced team of strength, speed, and varying skill-sets. In that case, I think Catwoman would be a must for the team. Also, I think I’d want to include Yo-Yo. No, not the one King Shark ATE that time, but the one from Flashpoint who, I’m not 100% sure, but I think was supposed to be Harleen Quinzel in the altered timeline. Again, not certain, but would certainly explain a bit. Otherwise, the obvious members include Deathstroke, Deadshot, King Shark, Scandal Savage, and possibly Bane at some point.

Whew! That’s the end of that! Got your own ideas on who would be the heroes and villains of your own world in the DC Multiverse? Lemme know in the comments below, and I shall see y’all next time. Ja né!

How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? – Everyone’s Rogues Gallery

Yep, that time again, where I told about How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch. This time, we’re talking villains again, but I’m doing something a little different. Basically, I’m gonna be showing who belongs in whose’s roster of villains. Now, I know that these are all pre-established villains that have been paired with superheroes before, but this would basically be me trying to shake things up and keep things fresh. So, by pairing different heroes and villains, or by bringing back older villains that were forgotten in time for one more go, it keeps things new while also experienced. On top that, I’ve found that some heroes have far too many iconic villains to try to count, *COUGH!*Batman*COUGH!*, while some heroes don’t have enough. Also, this doesn’t mean that someone on Batman’s roster would never fight Wonder Woman or anything like that, it’s just who they would generally go up against.

Superman’s Enemies

Superman’s powers make him not only arguably the world’s greatest superhero, but also one of the more adaptive. Naturally, his villains need to either be able to match his strength, be unique enough in their abilities, can combat him on an intellectual level, or have access to one of his weaknesses.
Examples: Atomic Skull, Brainiac, Doomsday, Dyna-Mind, General Zod, Lex Luthor, Magpie, Metallo, Parasite, Solomon Grundy

Batman’s Villains

Batman is the World’s Greatest Detective, has peak physical conditioning, and near endless gadgetry. Naturally, his opponents have to be the type that challenge him from an intellectual angle, or can take advantage of the simple fact that, for all those advantages, he’s still a human with no super-powers. Also, given his own issues with vengeance vs justice, his foes might likely have similar problems.
Examples: Bane, Clayface, The Joker, Killer Croc, The Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, Ra’s al Ghul, The Riddler, Two-Face, Victor Zsasz

Wonder Woman’s Villains

Wonder Woman’s mission as an ambassador of her people can be considered as trying to show the world of man it can be a world of compassion, equality, and peace. So, it only makes sense that her enemies would be the types of individuals that are in direct contrast to that vision: Villains that seek to oppress, create chaos, or outright destroy. Also, Wonder Woman is no stranger to magical or Godly villains, so they would fit in as well.
Examples: Ares, Captain Nazi, Cheetah, Circe, Giganta, Gorilla Grodd, Poison Ivy, Trickster (New 52 Apokolips version), Veronica Cale

Cyborg’s Villains

Cyborg’s advanced tech, enhanced strength, and history with the Titans makes his choices relatively simple: The bulkier opponents of the Titans in the past, villains that can circumvent his circuitry, or other technologically advanced individuals.
Examples: Amazo, Cinderblock, Deathstroke, KGBeast, Overload, Plasmus, Prometheus, T.O. Marrow

The Flash’s Villains

As I mentioned before, I would make Wally West the Blue Lantern Flash, so his opponents would occasionally be evil Lanterns out to snuff out the Blue Light of Hope. Still, that doesn’t mean his classic enemies, The Rogues, can’t pop in from time to time. 🙂
Examples: Bleez, Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Magenta, Mirror Master, Reverse Flash, Pied Piper, The Top

Green Lantern’s Villains

Naturally, Green Lantern would face other Lanterns, like the Sinestro Corps, or the Red Lantern Corps, but what about some of the classic GL foes from before the various Lantern Corps started going at it? Don’t really see many of those much anymore, huh? I think I’d wanna bring some of ’em back, but with modern takes on them to make ’em more threatening.
Examples: Atrocitus, Hector Hammond, Javelin, Krona, Larfleeze, Major Force, Puppeteer, Sinestro, Weather Wizard

Justice League’s Villains

Since the Justice League of America is made up of the greatest heroes in the world, the villains to oppose them have to either be galactic threats, foes that a single hero would need aid in defeating, or teams of villains that require an equal and opposite team of heroes to beat.
Examples: Black Hand, The Crime Syndicate, Darkseid, The Legion of Doom, Neron, Paragon, Starro the Conqueror, The White Martians

Batgirl’s Villains

As a heroine inspired by Batman and occasionally trying to earn his trust, it’s only fitting that Batgirl’s foes would be villains inspired by other villains, or just some of the villains he doesn’t always have time for. Plus, y’know, some of his female rogues, since…Okay, I know I wrote Batman kicking the new Copperhead in the face, but I wasn’t exactly all that comfortable doing it, know what I mean?
Examples: Calculator, Condiment King, Harley Quinn, Matilda, Roxy Rocket, Twiddledum and Twiddledee, The Ventriloquist (New 52 version), The White Rabbit

Teen Titans‘ Villains

Like I noted before, the Teen Titans would be going back to their roots as a response team to distress calls from teenagers, so a lot of their villains would be the types that try to corrupt the youths of the world. Also, plenty of their enemies would be enemies based out of Jump City, or foes that even the Justice League need the extra help taking on.
Examples: Billy Numerous, Doctor Light, The Fearsome Five, Goth, Harvest, The H.I.V.E., Johnny Rancid, Mister Twister, Terra

Batwoman’s Villains

Batwoman operates out of Gotham City, and is usually (in my canon, anyway) investigating the ties between secret organizations and trying to bring down mob bosses. As such, her enemies are mostly mobsters, criminal syndicates, and hired guns, usually from around Gotham.
Examples: Alice, Black Mask, Deadshot, Firefly, The Great White Shark, Intergang, The Penguin, The Religion of Crime, Rupert Thorne. The Secret Society

…Okay, I think my tags are getting a bit insanely high, so I’m gonna hafta stop there. lol Lemme know what you think, if there’s anyone I should switch around, and I’ll see ya next time! Ja né!

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What I Bought Today – Detective Comics #18, Earth 2 #10 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Well, one week has passed since Damian‘s passing, and I’m still feeling kinda down about it, but it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time to look at…

So let’s kick off by getting back to Batman with Detective Comics #18.

Poor Bruce. First his parents, then Jason, now this…:(

Okay, first off, while I appreciate the Requiem bits that are gonna be in every Bat Family book this month, it’s very clear that it was kinda tacked on with Detective Comics, and honestly it just invites WAY more questions than DC is willing to answer regarding timelines in the books. By the way, if you’ve been following along, they don’t ever try to attempt to explain how these events fall into a timeline. I think the closest we’ve ever come to that was Snyder leaving mention in Batman #13 that it had been a year since Joker had disappeared at the end of Detective Comics #1.

Okay, mini-rant over. As for the story itself, awesome. Penguin manages to get himself set free after getting roped up in Joker’s plans in Death of the Family, and then finds out that Ogilvy screwed him over. Meanwhile, after spending a moment to mourn the loss of his son, Batman returns to the Batcave to learn that apparently Joker let one of the inmates loose: Zsasz. Frakking ZSASZ! Also, he has run into Ogilvy, who has given him a Court of Owls blade and set him on Penguin’s allies. The good news is, when Batman catches Penguin causing a fracas after going to the zoo for weapons he’d stashed there, Penguin tells him his lawyers will get him out of this, only for Batman to reply that Zsasz murdered them. However, it seems that Emperor Penguin has decided Batman has served his purpose and now seeks to get rid of him. Oh, I know, big scary mob boss wants to kill Batman, how terrifying. Well, it seems he’s got a trick up his sleeve. Remember that woman who was part of Casey’s group in Talon? The one who left the League of Assassins? Well, in exchange for protection from Talia al Ghul, she gives Ogilvy the FRAKKING MAN-BAT SERUM! OH GOODY! That’s gonna go over so great, especially if Batman ever finds out the connections with her and Casey’s group. And he’s already keeping an eye out on Calvin’s operations.

Before I talk about this month’s issue of Earth 2, I thought I’d bring up some info I heard. Apparently the current plan is to plant seeds for an eventual crossover between the events of Earth 2 and the JSA and the mainstream universe of DC. When is this gonna take place? 2014. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be late 2014. WOW. I don’t know if that’s brilliant or stupid. I guess it’ll just depend on how this is set up. Although this makes World’s Finest all the more pointless a book since we now know that they aren’t getting home any time soon. Also, it furthers my point that there needs to be more than one book telling this story, like one focusing on the JSA and another focusing on the stuff involving Sloan and Steppenwolf.

So yeah, Earth 2 #10 is…well, it’s weird, but it’s fun weird. We get a little bit of background involving Khalid, who is Dr. Fate before he becomes Dr. Fate, and Kendra, where we see her get her wings and Khalid obtain the Helmet of Fate. Cut back to the present where Jay Garrick, his mom, and Khalid are held in the Realm of Nabu by Karel Wotan who talks WAYYYYYYY too much to be perfectly honest. The gist of what’s going on is that Wotan is making Flash and Khalid go find the Helmet, which Khalid sent away due to the effects it was having on his sanity, or Wotan will kill Jay’s mom. So where did Khalid hide the Helmet? The frakking Tower of Babel! Oh, and at the very end is this freaking monster that’s apparently guarding the Helmet. Khalid, you were one of those kids who tried way too hard and got way too creative playing hide and seek, weren’t you?

The other thing going on in this book is that Green Lantern is in Wuxi to see Sam’s father, who, while he disapproved of Sam’s relationship with Alan, at least saw how happy he was with Alan. Alan feels guilt over what happened to Sam, feeling that Sam only died because someone detonated the train Alan was on, but it seems that Sam’s father did some digging. The target was never Alan, it was Sam all along. This sets GL after some gang (I’m assuming the Chinese Triad, I don’t know), who, I guess, were the ones who set the bomb, but none of them know why the hit was placed on Sam. As such, Alan goes to Louisiana to meet with Hawkgirl, who is cleaning out a Parademon cell she’d been looking for, and tells her that he may have been wrong before and that he needs her help.

So yeah, this was a fun week comics wise. Next week…oh boy, next week we get into some awkward territory as we look at Batman #18, Batgirl #18, and Batman and Robin #18. Ja né!

…Does anybody else hear Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave when they see this? Is it just because it’s the saddest theme I can think of? 😥

What I Bought Today – Nightwing #14 and Catwoman #14 + HeroClix!

So yeah, this week’s comics were…well, I kinda suspected this was gonna be the odd week out. The comics aren’t overly bad, just one is filler and the other is just plain weird. Let’s start off with Nightwing #14.

Not really sure why they’re fighting in rain on the cover since they don’t in the comic, but hey, still an epic shot.

Again, this is not a bad comic, I can see the good in this book. The problem is that this is very much a filler story to try to keep the reader’s attention until the Nightwing tie-in with Death of the Family. Lady Shiva kicks the crap outta Nightwing because he’s still hurt from his fight in Nightwing #12, but he manages to stop her from assassinating her targets, a group from the S.E.C. having a meeting (which happens to include his new love interest), only to find out that she didn’t have to kill them, only delay their meeting and force them to call it off. For some bizarre reason, Dick thinks that it was Joker that hired her…I don’t know why. Yeah, it was kind of a swerve to learn it was really Penguin that did it, but Joker would make ZERO sense. I will say that the ending is actually an effective cliffhanger that leads into Death of the Family and will make Dick’s own part in that story quite personal. Not much else to say, really.

…In hindsight, I probably should’ve known this would be a weird ass comic just from this cover. lol

Catwoman #14…Yeah, I think I’m gonna be dropping this one. Admittedly, it’s WAY better than when Winick was writing it, but I’m honestly not sure what to make of this. It’s just…WEIRD. It’s not as bad as Catwoman #13, and we at least see that the weird ass chess game was Joker’s idea, which makes it a bit more forgiveable if we know a psycho thought it up, but it’s still weird. I will say that it’s great seeing the Joker flashback where he talks of his past and you don’t know if he’s telling the truth, if he’s lying, or if his mind is making it up. Classic Joker. Otherwise, it came of as a very strange title to me, but I suppose it’s possible it’s just me, so if you feel like checking it out, by all means. Again, the quality has grown by leaps and bounds since Anne Nocenti took over, so that should entice people to check it out.

Speaking of Catwoman, I picked up one of the Batman HeroClix today, and lo and behold, it was in fact Catwoman. I’m still hoping to get ahold of the Stephanie Brown Batgirl figurine, and of course I also need to learn to PLAY the flipping game, but still, I find the figurines kind of neat and at least make for cool collectables.

I could seriously kiss the person who decided to include her Electro-Magna-Gooperangs as an ability. XD

Anyway, that’s all for this week. Next week promises to be FAR better as Batman Incorporated #5 and Talon #2 come out. Until then, ja né!

Earth-2 #6, World’s Finest #6, and Detective Comics #14 (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Yeah, decided to do all three comics I bought today at once. Otherwise, it just feels like I’m whoring these out for more views…which, don’t get me wrong, I can at times be something of an attention whore, but even I have my standards. So anyway, let’s start off with the book I couldn’t seem to put down every break at work today, Earth-2 #6.

One issue I always have with the covers for Earth-2, Hawkgirl‘s weapons. SHE DOES NOT USE A PISTOL IN THE COMICS.

I am continuously baffled by the fact that A) This remains the best comic I read the first week of every month, and B) That the person who wrote this also wrote Cry For Justice (or as I like to call it, Gay For Vengeance), James Robinson. I guess it just goes to show that anyone, ANYONE, can create pure crap sometimes. But yeah, this one concludes the battle with Grundy, which really, the only problem I have with that is that it ended rather quick. Just three issues. Then again, maybe that’s just the perspective of someone who actually really likes Scott Snyder‘s habit of doing LOOOOONG story arcs. Also, I gotta admit, the way that Alan Scott defeats him is REALLY clever: He flies him into orbit and hurls him to the moon where The Grey can’t reach him, and because they invested so much in Grundy, that screws their whole plans.

If I had one legit complaint about this comic, it’s that after the battle, GL tells Flash and Hawkgirl that when the real threat they’ve all been warned about appears, he doesn’t need them. Kinda seems at odds with the character. The only thing I can figure is that this first victory has made him overconfident, which I suppose is perfectly natural, or it’s a smokescreen to hide that he doesn’t want to risk anyone else’s lives. Either way, suppose it’s a minor hiccup, and I’m still very much intrigued to see what happens next.

Sadly, the cover’s somewhat lackluster…kinda like the fight.

Next up, World’s Finest #6…Okay, here’s a problem I’ve had with World’s Finest. It’s not that I don’t like this comic, I really do, but if I had to isolate my issues with the comic, it pretty much centres around Power Girl. And no, it’s not the costume, I’ve already given my 2 cents on that matter. MY problem is that she’s constantly mentally undressing men, dressing all sexy to get their attention and use their talents to try and find a way home, and despite her wearing a less revealing costume, it’s CONSTANTLY being ripped to shreds. There’s sexy and she knows it, and then there’s THIS kind of thing.

Fortunately, this issue doesn’t focus on her all that much, instead focusing mostly on a confrontation between Huntress and Robin. Unfortunately, it’s somewhat underwhelming, considering. I do like the point where Damian notes that Huntress’ style resembles an odd cross of his father’s and Catwoman‘s and you can feel the gears in his head start to turn as he’s starting to figure out just who she is. Of course, I had to facepalm hard at the end when it appears that Huntress is going to tell him everything, leaving me to wonder “If you’re just going to tell him everything now, why the secret to begin with?” Anyway, it was okay, but I’ve seen better out of this series and I’m hoping they go in a better direction soon.

…Lucky bastard…T_T

And finally, Detective Comics #14, wherein one of the villains/supporting characters in this arc is Poison Ivy…and I’m just going to say this right now, you know how a lot of guys that watched Batman: The Animated Series had major crushes on Harley Quinn? Well, I kind of had my eye on a different villainess then, and I gotta admit, every time Poison Ivy shows up in something Batman related, even that stupid-ass Batman & Robin movie (Bat Credit Cards, anyone?), my interest increases. A LOT. XD

Anyway, this issue picks up after an assassin tries to kill Bruce Wayne. Although he’s perfectly capable of defending himself while still making himself seem weak and lucky, Penguin takes out the assassin for the good publicity. Naturally, Bats isn’t all that happy with that, but soon finds he actually needs to return the favour in a sense when he discovers that Poison Ivy, who recently was booted off the Birds of Prey after threatening to kill them all, is going to attack a paper mill partly owned by Cobblepot, thus endangering lives, including her own.

Naturally, Ivy tries to use her mind control kiss to make Batman do her wishes, but he has long since prepared a defence against that. However, it seems that Penguin has set them both up and kidnaps Ivy. What follows is a REALLY bizarre twist as Clayface arrives later to demand that Batman tell him where Ivy is, and what he’s done with his wife…HUH? We see in a back-up story afterwards that shows that Ivy did in fact break into Arkham to break Clayface out, saying they were going to get hitched, but…HUH?

Seriously, WTF?

Anyway, Detective Comics has proven to be much improved the past couple of issues, and a lot better than what Batman: The Dark Knight has provided, but it can still be better. Also, I have a slight issue with the story, but it’s actually not a problem contained within this one issue of this one series, so I’ll save it for another time. World’s Finest, I really wish they would write Power Girl a little less like an object. And finally, Earth-2 proves to be one of the best comics going right now. The team needs to form and form soon, but otherwise it’s just a TON of fun. And next week promises to be a ton of fun too, as next week I look at Batman, Batgirl, and Batman & Robin #14. And NO, I will NOT be picking up Suicide Squad, I am not quite THAT desperate to pick up as many Death of the Family tie-ins as possible. Ja né!