What I Bought Today – The Fearless Defenders #9, Batman: The Dark Knight #23.1, Red Sonja #3 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Yep, it’s Wednesday once again, which means it’s time to check out…

Thankfully, this week turned out to not be as expensive as I thought it would be, and I probably won’t be getting any more comics for this month. Reason being, I’ve made the decision not to buy any more of Villains Month (aside from what I got today since it was minus the 3D cover and had been set aside for me anyway), and I don’t really have any interest in Battle for the Atom (seriously, what is it with comic book crossovers involving books that aren’t even a year old yet lately?). So, with that in mind, let’s start with Cullen Bunn before we move on to the one-two punch from Gail Simone, here’s Fearless Defenders #9.

This issue was just straight up funny in all kinds of ways. First off, just the cover. HILARIOUS. Second, the Defenders having their friendly banter between themselves and the criminals they’re fighting (The Enchantress, Chondu, Arthur Nagan, Ruby Thursday, and Quicksand). Third, their (sorta) boyfriends getting together to plan an intervention for the women at the Luck O’ The Irish Pub, saying it’s because they lack guidance as a team, only to have Molly Fitzgerald dress them down and cut to the meat of the matter: They’re jealous they aren’t on the team, and don’t believe an all-girls team will work. Fourth, we get a little insight on how Valkyrie and Annabelle are handling their little “time-share” situation, especially as it pertains to their individual love lives. And, of course, when the two groups meet up to beat down the baddies and the men get told to piss off and let them do their jobs. Also, that Clea wants a divorce because Doctor Strange is kind of a twat. Anyway, good stuff, and with the kick-ass action to accompany it, just tons of fun.

Batman: The Dark Knight, AKA Ventriloquist, AKA Why The Hell Isn’t This Batgirl, Especially When She Actually Gets Mentioned In This Book And Batman Isn’t? This book’s already been out for a week, so there’s not much to say on it that hasn’t already been said. Thus, I will keep it simple: Ventriloquist’s origins are kinda cliché (another jealous sibling story?), but at least she remains thoroughly messed up to the point that some ambiguity is still present for her. Overall, it’s good, but I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of her, ‘cuz if it is, then she’s not really going out on so much of a high note.

Red Sonja, holy shit, this book continues to be awesome. And I love that every time I think I know where this book is going, it slaps me in the face and goes “No you don’t.” We get a little look at Red Sonja’s origins, which I honestly don’t know if they’re revised or not, since the only thing I saw of Red Sonja before Gail’s book was the sorta shitty movie (thought I will admit it’s not as notoriously bad as Arnold claims it to be). Either way, we learn a bit about how Sonja got to be the person she is, the tragedy of her life, and in the end, we’re teased with the possibility of her being dead, just before her ‘bodyguards’ return with news of a cure for the plague she’s been infected with. Overall, great stuff, can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Anyway, that’s it for this week. As I said, probably won’t be buying any comics for the rest of the month, but there MIGHT be a game I’ll be buying this month, we’ll see. Ja né!

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What I Bought Today…And Last Week, lol – Batman #21, Batgirl #21, Batman and Robin #21, Nightwing #21, Li’l Gotham #3, Supergirl #21, Superman Unchained #1 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

What’s that? It’s Wednesday? Then I guess I better take a look at…

…and last week, since I kinda got caught up doing other stuff and didn’t talk about it. lol My bad. Anyway, let’s start with Batman #21, the beginning of Zero Year.

How many people thought Zero Year was gonna suck? C’mon, be honest, a lot of people thought this was gonna suck. And honestly, I don’t know why. Is it because we already had Year One and this was just a retelling of Batman’s origins while sweeping Year One away? Well, the thing is, even if that were true, which I’m not sure it is, that’s not really Scott Snyder‘s fault. The universe was rebooted, and I get why that sucks, but all Snyder wants to do is tell Batman’s origins within this rebooted universe. In other words, judge it based on its own merits. If you still wanna say that Year One was better, go ahead. That doesn’t mean this sucks by default. And frankly, I really liked this book…with the exception of Bruce telling Alfred to shut up in one scene, but otherwise, it works.

Batgirl #21…Okay, I’m gonna repeat what I said to Gail Simone after reading this book: If I didn’t already have a nightmare about gigantic mutated dinosaurs coming to life in my town, this book would’ve scared the shit outta me! O.O The new Ventriloquist is frakking terrifying. And no, we don’t get an explanation for how she controls the puppet, or her dead parents for that matter (oh, did I skip that part?) when they engage Batgirl in a VERY bloody ordeal, but frankly, I like it better that way. It adds to the horror element that there’s this terrifying force we can’t understand or reason with. So if you like being scared, by all means, feel free to pick this up. My only complaint? Commissioner Gordon continues to be an idiot. Sadly, I don’t think that’s gonna end any time soon.

Batman and Robin #21, or rather Batman and Batgirl as it’s called this issue, is the bargaining phase. However, Batman isn’t the only one bargaining here, as we see him try to convince a group of criminals to take him hostage as opposed to the civilians…which is a far more noble endeavor than we’ve seen outta him the past few issues of this book, but we then see Batgirl trying to reason with him in his current state of mind. She even tells him that if he needs a Robin with him so badly that he can’t function right without one, all he needs to do is say the word and she’ll don the costume in a heartbeat…Um, Babs? I get the sentiment and all, but I think you’re a little old and established for that. I mean, I know I said once that Huntress could do it, but looking back, I was wrong about that. Anyway, this is a better book than the last few, as Batman’s a bit nobler in the field, and even when he freaks out at Babs, it’s not really a physical confrontation and is a bit more understandable. My only complaint? No Carrie Kelly. Not necessarily a big problem, but they could definitely serve to bring in more development for her if I’m right about her role in this story in the future.

Nightwing #21 might be the best book I got last week, even including Zero Year. Why? Because dammit, I love seeing Dick Grayson be a snarky bastard. lol Seriously, there’s a scene where he’s got Prankster up on a roof, who is just waking up after he knocked him out, and Nightwing’s just sitting there with a cup of coffee and a box of donuts just chillin’. It’s hilariously awesome. Unfortunately, this was Brett Booth‘s last issue drawing Nightwing, and I know a lot of female fans will miss the beefcake. I keep hearing this rumor that a certain arch-nemesis of mine (Dan Didio) wants to kill off Dick Grayson, and that he’s actually been wanting to kill him off for years now. I hope it’s not true, because at this point, even the editors would tell him that’s stupid.

Li’l Gotham #3 continues to be hilarious, albeit I’m on the fence if I liked the Robin/Katana section simply because Damian says and does a lot of stuff he wouldn’t be caught dead saying…Y’know, when he was alive………..I’m gonna get it for this. I do think that’s one of my favourite parts of the book, that Damian is still very much active in this book. And let’s face it, plenty of people still miss the little bastard (don’t look at me like that, his parents aren’t married).

Supergirl #21 was pretty neat, as we see that Kara, who is dying from Kryptonite poisoning, comes across a planet full of people under attack by a renegade monstrosity made from their tech, which apparently allows them to craft their buildings however they see fit and auto-repair them. In fact, they even like to rebuild their city and planet and their culture into that of destroyed worlds, so Kara gets the idea to ask them to do so for Krypton. Unfortunately, not all is as it seems, as someone is actually dangling this idea to use Supergirl for their own schemes. Who is this individual?

GRANNY GOODNESS! DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!

…Nah, I’m kidding, although that’d be funny considering her pre-Flashpoint origins. No, it’s Cyborg Superman!

And I gotta admit, he actually DOES look awesome now. Hopefully, his involvement in the Supergirl stories doesn’t require me to buy the other Superman family titles, ‘cuz I ain’t doin’ it. lol

And finally, that brings me to the book I skipped out on so I could grab it this week, Superman Unchained #1. Now, on the plus side, this is a LOT better than the other Superman titles out there, one in particular. Superman feels like Superman. His first appearance is flying in and saving the day using his wits and incredible powers. We see him at his new blogging job and having genuinely friendly conversations with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, who I actually don’t feel like killing for once in this book. We see Lex Luthor being the marvelous piss stain on humanity that he is and reveling in every second of it. However, I do have two gripes with this book. First off, as awesome as it looks and will look on my wall, the four-page spread is NOT NECESSARY. It just ups the price by a buck for no reason other than to be pretty. Also, while I don’t necessarily mind that the government has a super-powered individual hidden underground, the idea that this person has been working for them since World War II and was what they actually bombed Japan with…Yeah, even ignoring the possibility of someone being offended by that, which is highly likely, it’s still silly at best. But otherwise, feels like a book I might wanna stick with…which is actually a problem, and I’ll get to that some other time.

Anyway, that’s it for this week…and last week. Check in next week when I check out what’s new with the recently undead Calvin Rose, the recently Man-Bat Batman, and the recently AWESOME X-Men. Ja né!

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What I Bought Today – Batgirl #20, Nightwing #20, Supergirl #20 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Hey guys! Say, I do believe it’s Wednesday! I think that means it’s time’s to look at…

I got three books to look at this week, so let’s not waste any time and check out Batgirl #20!

And if the cover wasn’t a big enough clue, the new Ventriloquist is FUCKING CRAZY!

So Barbara is in a seriously bad place following her accidental murder of her brother and her father deciding to try and hunt her down, so much so that she removes the Bat symbol from her costume, seeing herself as no longer deserving of the honour…Yeah, kinda on the fence as to whether or not someone should tell them that James is alive again and working for Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad. But either way, Batgirl doesn’t have much time to worry, as a new, female, and far creepier Ventriloquist holds a judge at a talent show hostage. Oh, and apparently this Ventriloquist has the ability to reflect Batarangs. Not sure how that works, but I guess we’ll find out next month, as Barbara’s personal Hell continues.

Nightwing #20…Okay, I REALLY like this comic, but I gotta bring something up. You know how a lot of women in superhero comics are drawn in a way that’s done very clearly to titillate the male audience? Y’know, the tight fitting costumes, the provocative poses, the ass shots, etc? Well, I can’t help but feel like Nightwing is being drawn to titillate the female audience. What do I mean? Well, pretty much because of shots like this…

And trust me, they get worse. lol

Look, I know Nightwing has always been kind of the pretty boy of the Bat Family, but this is pushing it a bit, isn’t it? Anyway, other than that, the story continues to explore the situation in Chicago, as well as just how freaking insane Prankster is. Also, we get introduced to Nightwing’s room-mate’s possible girlfriend or bff who I’m sure will likely end up being Dick Grayson Potential Girlfriend number 5 million and something. Seriously, Dick’s love life is messed up.

Supergirl #20 was a ton of fun, and it’s awesome to see Supergirl and Power Girl not only working together, but playing off each other for comedy. Sadly, no sign of Lex Luthor, as the villain for this issue is Supergirl’s Sanctuary itself, who seems to think that Supergirl is a clone and Power Girl is the original, then proceeds to try to murder “Not-Kara” as she calls her. However, PG ain’t having any of that, and the two manage to stop Sanctuary, though it is seemingly destroyed…until the aftermath of the story when one of its robots rises from the rubble in Terminator fashion. Yeah, definitely not regretting switching from Batwoman to Supergirl, this book is just snappy as all hell. Don’t get me wrong, Batwoman remains the most interesting of the Bat cast, it’s just the actual stories and her villains roster that aren’t all that interesting.

Anyway, that’s it for today. Next week, we check in on Batman of Japan in Batman Incorporated, and see how Talon is doing now that he’s apparently kind of dead and stuff…as if that would stop him. Ja né!