Jumping in Headfirst

Week two up. Aquaman The problem I'm having with Aquaman lately is that it's not capable of staying focused like it should.  It's trying to spin three different plates with different groups of characters in the air, and that's before you get to the other villain group.  Well, that and my other problem which is simply that this book still feels very by the numbers.  Atlantis joining up with the surface-dwellers could've been a fascinating story with interesting long-term ramifications that could've been explored for dozens of issues, but instead that was immediately shoved to the side so Aquaman can continue dealing with strife in his kingdom (a story unto itself), and Black Manta can become second-fiddle in a villain group we've never heard of. Batman Without question, the one character the writer has the best grasp of is Alfred.   And in this issue, Alfred absolutely gets the best scene.  Aside from that, the secret of Gotham is kind of a

Can I catch up?  Bitch, please.  I was made for this.* Action Comics We're something like four issues in and the one thing I've come to with regards to the latest in Action Comics is...it's fucking terrible.  It's literally been Superman vs. Doomsday Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4.  The only saving grace is the fact that it does ship every two weeks.   All these issues and we're just now getting to the whole "something bigger at play"?  The thing is, though...I wouldn't have expected this from Dan Jurgens.  Pre-Flashpoint he had one of my favorite comic books month in and month out with Booster Gold.   It could be that he just gets that character, but I'm thinking there IS something bigger at play here: Dan either wasn't prepared to do a bi-weekly comic, or there's a certain plot point integral to DC's "Rebirth" deal that he can't get to until a certain month.   We know that Superman is important to whatever's g

Let's talk roster line-ups.  Usually I don't do this but its a Wednesday and I'm trying to find a way to delay doing the three Anime Weekly columns I'm behind on, plus the latest Injustice trailer has me hyped.   DC are my favorite fictional characters after all, and the RPG-esque loot system combined with NetherRealm's penchant for offering decent-sized story modes in their games has placed Injustice pretty high on my list of games for 2017.

Crazy behind so I'm gonna shotgun a bunch of stuff.  Articles might be a tad short, but let's go. Batman For a moment, Tom King almost tricked me into thinking Bats was going to have a pair of super-powered bad-asses helping him out with crime and wasn't going to go with the very obvious "they turn evil" plot.  And to be fair, there's still time for things to turn around and surprise me...but they probably won't. In all fairness though, I didn't see the plot twist of them actually being decent people only later being brain-washed by Psycho-Pirate.  Speaking of, when you start seeing that guy regularly in the DC Universe, it means reality has recently been altered/is subject to be "de"-altered.   No, I'm totally not bouncing in my seat just thinking about it, why do you ask?

If Batman were a psychotic murderer... 91 Days 3: It says a lot that when I started looking at the episodes for the column this week this was the first series I came to; that I wasn't disappointed with my choice says even more. This third episode plays directly off of Bruno’s actions in the second. The killing of Serpente and Vanno have a ripple effect that’s probably going to lead to a war not unlike what the series' opening implies, and watching the dominoes fall is fascinating. This third episode focuses on the missing body of Serpente--which ended up in the hands of a corrupt Federal agent Scuso, who immediately takes it to the head of the Vanettis and offers them a chance to pay for it disappearing so they aren’t tossed into war with the Orcos and/or risk pissing off the Galassias. Meanwhile, Bruno manages to talk his way out of his own death when Nero Vanetti orders him to find Serpente’s body, as proof that he isn’t secretly helping the Orco family. Speaking of

New installment.  Next update on Thursday.

Second volume coming tomorrow.