My Two Cents: New Creative Teams for Batman, Detective Comics, and Batman and Robin

Art by Tony Daniel

 

Recently DC Comics has been heavy on new Bat-News and three announcements caught my interest. Tony Daniel is confirmed as the new writer and artist on Batman, Scott Snyder named as the new writer of Detective Comics, and Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are taking over the creative reins of Batman and Robin. 

The Batman and Robin announcement has me giddy with excitement. I LOVED Pete and Patrick’s run on Green Lantern Corps. Unfortunately we have to wait till November for their run, but I have a feeling it will be worth the wait. I haven’t bought an issue of Batman and Robin on the day it was released since issue#3. Pete Tomasi has had a good amount of experience in the Bat-Universe, so I’m confident in his abilities on writing chores. Patrick’s art is always a treat to look at, so I’m have no worries here. 

Unfortunately Tony Daniel has once again taking over as the writer and artist on Batman. I was not happy with his previous run on Batman and was certainly not impressed with Battle for the Cowl. So this is one thing I won’t be  buying. Sorry, but I won’t be doing any clever reviews for it 😦 Maybe I’ll read it in the store… I am not a fan of Daniel’s art. It’s very inconsistent and his use of shadows is too much and very lazy, since he doesn’t have to draw any features if he just adds a bunch of shadows.  See this picture to see what I mean: 

This is one of the most lazy drawings I've ever seen...

 

 Yeah… that’s what Mr. Daniel is capable of… 

Anyway, Scott Snyder is going to be the new writer Detective Comics. I have a good feeling about this because I like his stories in American Vampire. I’m actually really excited about this because his stories tend to spook me. No word on who the artist is yet as far as I know, but hopefully it will be a good one. That’s all I really all I have to say about this. Scott begins his run in November. 

Well 2 out of 3 isn’t too bad DC. I look forward to buying Detective Comics and Batman and Robin in November. I also look forward to avoiding Tony Daniel’s Batman. Good times 🙂

It’s a sad day for fans of good comics

I have just been informed that the Marvel Comics monthly Atlas written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Gabriel Hardman is going to be cancelled at issue#5. So why is it being cancelled? Take a guess…. if you guessed A). It wasn’t selling very well, then you pretty much guessed right! Apparently the total copies sold were in the low 20k area, so Parker decided to pull the trigger on Atlas. Parker said that one of the options he had to boost sales was to create a tie-in for an event. Why does everything need to tie-in to an event at Marvel nowadays? It almost seems mandatory. As much as I’m sad to see this book go, I’m actually kind of glad Parker didn’t force the book to tie-in to an event. It just goes to show you that events sell and creativity doesn’t.

So why do I love the Agents of Atlas so much? Well for one thing all the characters have their own voices. They all have different roles to play, unlike in Bendis’ crappy Avenger books were everyone has the same voice and only the big guns get to do anything special. Secondly, they work together as a team. Do you see teamwork in Bendis’ Avenger books? If you said yes then I suggest you get your eyes checked because they don’t work as a team. All the Avengers do in a Bendis book is talk, eat, get their butts handed to them time and time again, talk, make awful jokes and played-out jokes, eat some more after eating, and talk. Third thing, is all the heroes in Agents of Atlas/Atlas all have morals and reasons to be there. They don’t just say, “Oh, I guess I’ll be on the team if you want me to…” like in that double page splash of Avengers#1(the one that just came out). Fourth thing, I have quickly fallen in love and have deep emotional connections to all the characters in Atlas. In Avengers Forever#4, the last page is the Avengers of the 50s (now known as the Agents of Atlas) appeared I was filled with joy.

So why does this book not sell? I’ll tell you why. Because Marvel shoves all this crap down your throat, such as a million tie-ins to a FIVE ISSUE MINI-SERIES and 5-6 different Avenger books and a billion X-books. So people who work/want to work for Marvel: If you want your book to sell all you have to do is tie it into an event. Simple as that. Also there is going to be an issue of Deadpool Team-Up where Gorilla Man is going to guest star in. Jeff Parker said that the sale numbers for that issue have been pretty good and that he thinks that Gorilla Man was the legs of the Agents of Atlas. I’m sorry, but that’s not the reason it’s selling well. It’s because it’s a Deadpool book. Fanboys can’t get enough Deadpool!

Marvel is CHOKING the industry with all of their glut of books. Not only are they are they choking the industry, but they’re choking you, the fans, the people who give Marvel their precious money. Marvel is slowly pushing me away from them. I’d be more than happy to not buy anything from them, but fortunately for them they have good books like Atlas, Invincible Iron Man, and Shield. I want books that challenge me and books that get me emotionally invested in the characters. I want to CARE for the characters. I want to get more than just visceral thrills. I want to expand my horizons, but unfortunately it seems that fanboys don’t want any of that. By fanboys I mean the kind of people who will yell at you if you disagree with them and the ones that NEED their variant edition of Deadpool Corps bagged and boarded at 10 AM.

All I know is that when Atlas is gone…. I’ll need my Jeff Parker fix, dangit!

This is a day where fanboys truly, truly suck.

Agents of Atlas… I’ll miss you.

To read the article that informed me of this tragedy, CLICK HERE.

my thoughts on Sins Past

Yes, this is that story. I read it recently read it and would like to share my thoughts about it. Here we go.

This is the story where two siblings named Sarah and Gabriel threaten Peter Parker and his family’s life. It is soon revealed that these two are Gwen Stacy’s kids. The father is then revealed to be non-other than Norman Osborn. So MJ tells Peter the story how Gwen and Norman… y’know and why Norman really wanted to kill her. You then find out that after Gwen gave birth to the kids in France, the kids stay in France and after Osborn “raises from the dead” he goes to Europe to train the kids to kill and hate Peter (who the kids believe is their father and that he killed Gwen and abandoned them). Here is my problems with that:

1. Those who’ve read Marvel Comics in the past year or two know that Norman Osborn has been ruling the USA (not anymore, yay!). My problem is that Spider-Man wouldn’t sit on his ass with the Avengers eating Chinese food and standing around watching T.V. The Spider-man I know would’ve stormed into Norman’s “Avengers” Tower and beat the crap out of Osborn. I find it hard to believe that Spidey would let the man who slept with his girlfriend, got her pregnant, then murdered her, ruined Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn’s life numerous times, and raised Gwen’s kids to ruin Spidey’s life, would let him walk away with all the power that he had been given.
2. The given reason why Gwen slept with Norman was that his presence “overwhelmed” her and that he felt lonely. Bullcrap. If that’s true that means that Gwen didn’t love Peter. I’m sorry. I know that’s harsh, but it’s the truth.
3. The original pitch for the story was that Peter was the father (I would’ve been ok with that), but then Joe Quesada had to taint get his stink all over the story and have Norman be the story. I don’t know about you but having Norman being the father is a million times worse than Peter being the father.

 

Ok, that aside…. I actually kinda liked the story. The first half was great, but the last half was alright. The story held my interest. I finished Part 4 of the story, then looked at the clock and realized it was 1:30 AM. The Deodato artwork was nice to look at. Maybe that’s why I liked the story… because I’m a big fan of Mike Deodato (his Dark Avengers art was terrible, though). J. Michael Straczynski did a great job getting me to feel sorry for Spidey and Gwen’s kids. Towards the end of the story Sarah is shot and needs a blood transfer, so Spidey sacrifices some of his own blood to save her life. The end was kinda stupid and clichéd. Gabriel gets Green Goblin garb and tries to kill Spidey, but his glider explodes and he falls into the river and is carried to a beach where some people rescue him, but he doesn’t remember who he is. Will we ever see from him again? I doubt it.

Well that’s what I thought of it. I’m just going to ignore to that Gwen slept with Norman, so my love of Gwen’s character doesn’t get poo-poo’ed on. (I should make a list of characters that Quesada, Millar, and Bendis ruined my liking for).

Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment! I look forward to them!

ItsJustSomeRandomGeek’s Recommended Reading List

Have you ever encountered someone who thinks comic books are dumb? But deep inside you know that they’ve never even read one, let alone touched one. If that happens just get them to try these stories:

• If This Be My Destiny… (by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko)
• Dark Phoenix Saga (by Chris Claremont and John Byrne)
• Hobgoblin Saga (by Roger Stern, John Romita, Jr. and John Romita, Sr.)
• Batman: Dark Knight Returns (by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley)
• Daredevil: Born Again (by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli)
• Galactus Trilogy (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
• Superman: Red Son (by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, and Kilian Plunkett)
• Batman: Year One (by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli)
• Batgirl: Year One (by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, and Marcos Martin)
• The Night Gwen Stacy Died (by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane)
• Batman: Hush (by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee)
• Batman: The Long Halloween (by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale)
• Daredevil: Man Without Fear (by Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr.)
• Worlds Most Wanted (by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca)
• Power and Responsibility (by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley)
• Ultimate Clone Saga (by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley)
• The Losers (by Andy Diggle, Jock, and others)
• The Tomorrow People (by Mark Millar, Adam Kubert, and Andy Kubert)
• Spider-Man: Blue (by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale)
• Underground (by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber)
• Agents of Atlas (by Jeff Parker, Gabriel Hardman, Carlo Pagulayan, and others)
• Captain Britain and MI13 (by Paul Cornell, Leonard Kirk, and others)
• Battle Chasers (by Joe Madureira, Munier Sharriff, and Tom McWeeney)
• Thunderbolts#110-121 (by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato)
• Demon in a Bottle (by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, John Romita, Jr., and Carmine Infantino)
• Magnum Opus (by Daniel Way, Andy Diggle, Paco Medina, and Bong Dazo)
• Armor Wars (by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, Mark D. Bright, and Barry-Windsor Smith)
• Weapon X (by Barry-Windsor Smith)
• JLA: The Nail (by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer)
• Brainiac (by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank)
• New Ways to Die (by Dan Slott and John Romita, Jr.)
• Superman: Birthright (by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu)
• AKA Goldfish (by Brian Michael Bendis)
• Fortune and Glory (by Brian Michael Bendis)
• Man of Steel (by John Byrne and Dick Giordano)
• Uncanny X-Men/Dark Avengers: Utopia (by Matt Fraction, Marc Silvestri, Terry Dodson, Luke Ross, and Mike Deodato)
• Detective Comics#854-861 (by Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, and Jock)
• Under the Hood (by Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke)
• Batman: The Killing Joke (by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland)
• Batman: The Man Who Laughs (by Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke)
• Batman: A Death in the Family (by Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo)
• Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run (by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Phil Jimenez and others)
• Camelot 3000 (by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland)
• Watchmen (by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons)
• Captain America: Operation Rebirth (by Mark Waid and Ron Garney)
• Green Lantern: Rebirth (by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver)
• The Death of Captian Stacy (by Stan Lee, Gil Kane, and John Romita, Sr.)
• Wanted (by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones)
• Invincible (by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, and Cory Walker)

Yikes that’s a long list! Anyway all of those stories have my stamp of approval on it. I hope you guys try out these stories if you haven’t already. Feel free to give me suggestions as well! Thanks for reading!

SUPERMAN IS A JERK!!!

What comes to your mind when you hear the name Superman? Do the words “Superhero”, “good guy”, “American hero”, and/or “nice man” come into your heads? Well I’m about to shatter all those titles of Superman right here and now.

Since when did Superman start fining people for super heroics?

There are so many things wrong with this picture...

"If I go now maybe they won't sell out of Iron Man 2 tickets..."

Poor Flash... also how is it a "surprise" guest villain if they tell you who it is on the cover...?

SUPERMAN SMASH!!! Oh wait...

"Holy weight gain Batman!"

That's a mean way to break up. Also those aliens look too happy.

Is this a normal thing to do after a break-up?

So there you have it, folks! Proof that Superman is not the nice guy you all think he is!