Teen Titans - #43 Review

Teen Titans - #43

Synopsis: Nightwing is talking with Ravager and Jericho and tells them that if they ever need him, he'll be there for them. :)

In the "Robin Cave", Robin and Wonder Girl try to get Raven to use her powers to bring back Superboy from the dead. However, Raven says that it's not possible and Superboy's soul has moved on. :| Suddenly they are attacked by Inertia who beats them around a bit until Match (Bizarro Superboy) shows up to join in the fun. :O

Meanwhile, Cyborg and Miss Martian go to a prison to visit Bombshell and interrogate her. :O While talking to her they're attacked by Risk and Batgirl! Batgirl slashes Bombshell's throat with a Batarang!!! :OOO Joker's daughter and Riddler's daughter then attack followed up by Sungirl who badly burns Miss Martian! :(((

Kid Devil is in the rafters of a church, following the sermon, hoping for redemption from God for his deal with Neron when he's attacked by Kid Crusader. :O

Robin wakes up in the "Deathstroke Cave" where Deathstroke and Batgirl are. Deathstroke says that Robin took away his family (Jericho and Ravager) and he wants them back or he'll change the Titans like he changed Batgirl! He then reveals that he's been giving Batgirl the same drug that he gave Ravager orginally that drove her insane and had her rip out of her eye to be more like her father! :O

Meanwhile in New York, Jericho and Ravager are walking along the harbour when Jericho points to something! Ravager turns around and sees a giant T, much like the Titan's tower, but it's made of wood and looks very ominous! O_O;;;

Review: I actually rly enjoyed this story! :) I had some issues, but they weren't very big ones. :D

I still rly like Miss Martian. I love how happy and sunny she is! :) It seems like they're trying a little hard to force her into the role of the "cute girl" (esp since in her short bio at the beginning they call her a "sweetheart") but I still do like her! :D She's like me!!! Her skirt's a little too high for my tastes tho. :| I hate the comic skirts that seem to make it like the girls have no private parts. :( Just legs coming out of their waist. :\ Srsly, I have short skirts too, and they are smexy, but they're not THAT short. :O Just a LITTLE longer plz? :D Not much.. just a *little* more to be believable ^-^

I like how one of the villains described her as the "Hello Kitty" hero! XD Hehehehe.. I totally want to be the Hello Kitty hero! :D I <3 Hello Kitty!! :3 I'm not ashamed of saying that either! ^-^;;;

It's been a year. I wish ppl would just get over the death of Superboy alrdy. :\ MIND YOU, in the comicverse where EVERYBODY comes back to life, I guess I'd feel it was unfair if my best friend/boyfriend couldn't come back too. XD So in context, sure, I'll accept it X3

I wish teenage girls would be drawn without C cups being the smallest size. :| Breasts dun show THAT MUCH thru clothing! I know that an A or B wouldn't show much in most shots, but you dun NEED to keep reminding ppl that they're looking at girls! I'm sure most readers know that a character is female without the obvious big boobs. :S I just find it a little disconcerting. :( Muscles on guys, I understand, you get those thru working out. You dun get bigger boobs thru working out to fight crime. :\ I just find that it kinda ruins the idea of them being regular teenagers. :(

Kid Devil is quickly becoming my favourite Titan! :O I feel so bad for him and I love that he goes to church even tho it burns him to be in a house of God. :O Kid Crusader seems to actually believe that he's doing good tho and isn't like all crazy evil or nething. :O Which also raised the question, are ALL the Evil Titans (Titans East) drugged like Batgirl or are they actually evil or do they just believe that they're doing good? :O Interesting questions! I hope there are interesting answers!

And onto Cassie. :) I think that DC rly wants to get the msg across that Batgirl is not gonna be crazy evil all the time and that her character is still intact. Why? B/c normally a reveal like this would happen in a LATER issue of the plot, not in the FIRST issue. They'd string it along for a while and ppl would wonder why Batgirl's being all crazy, and then they'd explain it near the end. *nods* HOWEVER, if they did that, MOST PEOPLE WOULD STOP READING! And I think DC knows that. They dun wanna run the risk that ppl will think Batgirl's still being written badly, so they're making sure we know now "HEY SHE'S BEEN GIVEN CRAZY DRUGS!"

Is that a cop out? Yes. Is it a necessary one? Yes.

Like, the bad writing happened. Nothing we can do about it. :\ So the next best thing is to say that it's not her fault she's like this! I mean there's no logical way to explain why she'd become crazy evil except that she's been given crazy evil pills. :] And I dun think there's nething condescending to her about this either b/c Ravager went crazy too and I'm fairly certain that if a MALE character was given crazy drugs, it'd have the same effect. :)

I COULD BE WRONG. I wasn't reading comics when the Ravager thing happened. :| Maybe the drugs dun work that way? However, it can be easily explained that maybe this is a new batch and they do work that way now? Either way she's clearly not herself. Given Deathstroke's obsession with the Bat family and Nightwing and Robin in particular, and given that in Infinite Crisis, Batman, Nightwing and Robin beat the carp out of him, it makes sense that he would want to take revenge by using one of the Bat family. :O

My thing tho is that Batgirl killed Bombshell! I know she's not in her right mind but... will they deal with that or just make it go away? Cuz it's not nothing. She's responsible for ANOTHER death now, and it's not one she did as a child. :O I HOPE that they do.

I ALSO HOPE that Batgirl brings Deathstroke's downfall by FIGHTING the mind control. I dun want her to do it b/c Robin loves her or something like that. I dun want her to do it b/c Robin's strength of will helps her defeat it. It's fine if she looks at Robin being beaten or dying or something and breaks free. But I would like it to be b/c of HER strength of will. :) B/c that's what would happen if Robin was drugged (AND MAYBE HE WILL BE!) Maybe Batgirl helps Robin break out of it! :O

I dunno, but still, until this story goes bad (IF it happens), I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt! I know some fans will not and will prolly not like this turn at all. I can see why they might not, but *I* am okay with this :)

However, what I'm not okay with is Batgirl's super puffy pouty lips. :O She looks like a geisha girl or something! Did Deathstroke give her collagen implants too? WHY ARE THEY SO SHINY RED!? Why would you need to coat on the lipstick under a full covering mask!? :O

Mind you, with Deathstroke controlling her, maybe he makes her do that b/c he's a creepy old man? That might also explain his obsession with the TEEN Titans.

I think it'd be rly interesting tho if Deathstroke used this crazy evil serum on the other Titans tho! It seems like that it might be up to Ravager and Jericho to stop them then! I just like seeing the super good teen idols not be totally invincible to this too. It'd also make what happened to Batgirl make sense if it could happen to nebody! :) Given how strong Batgirl's will is, it's hard to believe she was easy to control :O Even with drugs.

I like the coordinated attack on the Titans tho. :) That showed Deathstroke's intelligence. I know it's used (the whole coordinated attack on a group of heroes thing) but I still think it was executed well :) You can't ALWAYS be original, but if you use cliched things but do it WELL, it can come off rly great. :D

I found it very funny that nobody but Jericho noticed a GIANT T MADE OUT OF WOOD SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW YORK CITY. XDDDD

It must rly be true that nothing can freak New Yorkers out! :O

I find the fact that Deathstroke has a cave very amusing and that he keeps little capsules with ppl's costumes in it like Batman does! Bruce needs to sue him for copyright infringement! XD I'm surprised Batman doesn't seem to care what happens to Robin. :O

On an aside tho, despite the lips, I think the art for Cassie Cain was rly well done. :) She looks right to me. Sometimes artists have trouble drawing Asian features and it comes off very screwed up, but I think she looks great :) I wish I looked that great :( I think I need collagen injections to make my bottom lip that huge! XDDD

I'm very very interested to see how this turns out tho! As I said, I'm totally giving this book a chance and Johns a chance to show what he can do with the corner Cassie's been written into. :O I just HOPE that it turns out good for her and her character can be likeable again! I'm just worried (given what's going on in Supergirl) that she'll continue to be a villain or something. :(

MIND YOU, given how Supergirl's acting, maybe Batgirl's good at that point and is out to stop Supergirl!

Actually tho, given how delayed the Supergirl series is and how Deathstroke eluded to the way Batgirl's been acting, maybe the Supergirl vs Batgirl thing was supposed to have ALRDY come out by this point and we'd have more stuff about how crazy Batgirl was acting? :O

I dunno. XD I dun work at DC (sadly. :( Dan, I'll write for free!!!) XD

But still, I liked this book and I think it's worth picking up for ppl who are Titans fans or just are interested in the fate of Batgirl! Maybe it'll turn out badly, in which case I will be the first to stop getting Titans, but I rly like Johns' writing and I have faith he'll turn out something good. :)

I just want Cassie to be a hero again.

Angelwings Rating: 4 Batgirls out of 5 Puffy Juicy Full Ruby Red Lips
Recommendation: Def worth getting if you're a Titans fan. :) Worth checking out even if you're not just for the beginning of what seems to be a good story :]

Week of Jan 31 Comics and Super Short Reviews :3

Moo! :D

Hi ppls! :) I'm back with another installment of my super short reviews! :D Today was a good day for comics! At least for the ones *I* read XD I'm surprised b/c normally there are some bad ones but I think I enjoyed everything today.

The big news (for most of us neways) is Teen Titans where Batgirl returns! It seems like Johns wasn't lying when he said he'd fix her (or at least explain her crazy behaviour). I KNOW that there are gonna be ppl out there who dun like it. :\ That's their prerogative. HOWEVER, I want to say that I *DO* like it :D

It's not supergreattotallyawesome or nething, but I think Johns did the best he could with what he had. :O And there's not that many great ways to write yourself out of a corner. It's kinda obvious in a way, but at least he wrote himself out of it. :) At worst, it was a servicible way to fix things. :]

I personally hope that Batgirl goes the direction I'm thinking Johns plans. There's another way it could go, and that would be sad and stuff. :(

Now, I dunno what goes on at DC behind the scenes, but it seems TO ME, that this wasn't planned from the very beginning, that somebody had an idea for Batgirl, it didn't go right and fans got angry, and there was a decision to fix it. :| Of course, DC might claim they did this all along to screw with the fans, and MAYBE THEY DID, but since it's happening in different books, it seems like a round about way to do it. :\ Personally, I dun rly care one way or another as long as they're fixing it. :D I dun fault ppl for making mistakes, I fault them if they stubbornly refuse to do nething about it or even acknowledge other opinions. It seems that they did tho :)

Maybe there's hope for Supergirl after all! Can we get Johns or Simone to write her pretty pretty please? XD That's just my preference as a fangirl of those two! XD I'm still interested to see what Mr. Sable will do with her tho! I know nothing of him, so I bring no assumptions one way or another into his run :]

OH! I saw the SMEXIEST little Batman Beyond baby tee at my comic shop today! I alrdy have the Supergirl one which I wear sooo much it's not funny XD But this one is just so smexy. :D I'm thinking of getting it but it's like $25, so I dunno... >.>;;;

Neways onto what I got today!

52 - #39
American Virgin - #11
Batman and the Mad Monk - #6 (of 6)
Blue Beetle - #11
Ion - #10 (of 12)
JLA Classified - #33
Teen Titans - #43

So yah... 7 books :) I was pleased with all of them! WOW! This is gonna be hard to rate. :(

52 - #39 - Another fine chapter that I enjoyed except for one part that was RLY GROSS! XP OMG!!! I'll allow it tho just b/c there prolly wasn't a better way to get the same impact across without using many panels. :| Still... GAH-ROSS. x_x However, the rest of it was rly good and rly interesting and there's a new twist in the Lex Luthor plot! I dunno if the ending is a "women in the refrigerators" thing, but I didn't take it as such :) 3.5/5 Angelwings

American Virgin - #11 - More interesting things happen! Things are finally get neat and I like the way Adam's character is developing! He's becoming somewhat heroic, more assertive and not willing just to take things as they come! As well he's coming off as more of a genuinely good, likeable person that we can relate to and root for! :D Plus... the cover.. omg... I dunno what it is about it.. but... TEH SMEX! :O Why is it that big muscly guys (mimbos supposedly) dun do nething for me but... GAHHHH.... :O Srsly, a great book tho! :D 4.5/5 Angelwings

Batman and the Mad Monk - #6 (of 6) - Rly great end to the series! A bit sad and maybe not very well composed at the end (not enuf pages?) but still, I liked it. :) And it sets up nicely for the rest of Batman's adventures! It's not the BEST of series, but it's a decent ending :) Plus I think Julie Madison's portrayal is done rly rly well. ^-^ 4/5 Angelwings

Blue Beetle - #11 - XDDDDD This issue was even funnier than the last one! Jaime has some great lines that just make me explode in giddiness! :D I rly like everything that's happening and just the sheer craziness of it makes the whole book worth reading! Rly made me enjoy my subway ride home! XD 5/5 Angelwings

Ion - #10 (of 12) - :O The story was very weird, and maybe not as interesting as it hinted at. :| Still, we get the return of a character we wondered what happened to and more hints as to what's going on! I think if done right this new plotline we're heading towards could be rly interesting! Blue Beetle hinted at this too. :O The ending brings back another one of my favourite characters! There's a lot of exposition that I think bogs that book down a bit, but I still enjoyed it! :) 3.5/5 Angelwings

JLA Classified - #33 - The 2nd part of the Red King storyline is very enjoyable. :) Great interplay between the League and it's obvious why the Red King is so successful in his first attempt. :) However, I thought the characterization of Wonder Woman was a bit off, just cuz I dun think she can be so easily charmed. Just cuz she's a woman doesn't mean she'll act like a silly schoolgirl around a guy who is heroic or nething. XD Still, the good stuff outweighs the stuff that makes me go o_O :D 4/5 Angelwings

Teen Titans - #43 - Great start to the Titans East storyline! :D Honestly, I was rly skeptical about this and opened it like I would a Supergirl book (with great apprehension) but I think it's off to a good start. :) The art for the most part was good tho I think the breasts got too exagerrated for teenagers at times, but in general, I enjoyed what's going on and I think the explanation at the end, even if it rly came off as a "this is what you wanted fans" sorta thing, worked for me and I liked it. :) I think this story could be rly GOOD if done right :) 4/5 Angelwings

So that's that! :) I dun care what ppl say, I liked the comics this week b/c I had fun reading them. ^-^ And that's all that rly matters!

In depth reviews coming up soon! :)

<3 Teh Ami

Checkmate - #10 Review

Checkmate - #10

Synopsis: Pawn 502 and the other Kobra initiate meet with a Kobra agent who tells them they must pass a test to show that they truly want to be part of Kobra. The agent then cuts both their hands and draws their blood. :O

Back at Checkmate, it is revealed that many attempts have been made by various agencies to put a spy in Kobra but all of them had been discovered and killed :O The reason is that Kobra has a magician working for them who can tell who is a spy and who is not using the blood. :O To counter this, Checkmate uses Shadowpact to do another spell at the same time as the blood test. :|

Meanwhile, the Kobra initiate is visited by the other member of his group: the guy who can turn invisible. :O The invisible guy escaped captured in the last issue b/c he was... invisible XD He tells his friend that Pawn is a spy sent by Checkmate.

They go to see the magician who discovers the invisible guy who then says that Pawn is a traitor! The magician tests the blood as Shadowpact performs the ritual, and the results show that Pawn is loyal while the other two are traitors!

At that moment, Checkmate comes barging in to arrest Kobra! However the Kobra operatives escape with Pawn 502, believing him loyal! :O

Checkmate does come away with the invisible guy and the initiate however, who reveals himself to also be a Checkmate agent in disguise! The real initiate was still back at Checkmate being used for the blood ritual that Shadowpact had to do. :OOO

Sasha then reveals that their double agent was actually turned into a Kobra agent (with the snake eyes, etc) b/c he rly has to go all the way to infiltrate them, and she hopes he still remembers his duty. :O

Review: :O So did Shadowpact kill that guy? o_o;;; It seems like they might have! Checkmate plays hardball after all. :O

I was hoping that the double agent would actually have to become a snake person at the end to be part of Kobra and he did! That was rly cool and interesting that now, is he rly one of Kobra or not? Like, how much control does Kobra have?

It can't be mind control I guess tho, otherwise they wouldn't have to do the loyalty test. So maybe he just like becomes sorta bad, but still knows who he is and stuff? :O This is the end of the story arc (for now) and I can't wait to see what happens when they decide to continue with it! :O

I rly liked this story b/c it was very secret agent-ish and had both sides trying to anticipate each other and stuff! I also like how both sides use aspects available to them in the DCU like magic, etc. You get the feeling these are both organizations that could exist irl (i.e. a terrorist organization and a spy organization) but they're merely using the powers that are available to be used in the DCU. :O

As usual the characterization is teh awesome, and Sasha is just so great :D Like, Checkmate is THE book for people who want to see all sorts of different races, sexualities and genders working together. :) It's kinda like Star Trek XD None of the differences are pointed out. They're just THERE, and the characters are what's important :D

This is why I think Checkmate is the best new book of 2006. :]

Checkmate is definitely one of those books I absolutely look forward to. :)

Angelwings Review: 4 out of 5 invisible peoples!
Recommendation: Highly recommended, even for those who aren't regular Checkmate readers, b/c it'll give you a good sense of what the book is like :)

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - #26

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - #26

Synopsis: Using Supergirl's X-Ray vision, the Legion find the Wanderers and face off. :O Lightning Lad is shocked to find that his brother (and Light Lass' sister), Mekt Rannz is leading the Wanderers. :| After some talking, the Legion discovers that the robot rebellion underground has been working with the Dominators to create a giant robot to take over Earth! :O

Cosmic Boy sends Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Supergirl and Brainiac to get to Tokyo to stop them. :O They tunnel thru the ground as it's the fastest way. O_O;;

Then Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad confront Mekt while Light Lass speaks to the Wanderers. It's revealed that on their home planet, children are usually born as twins, but Mekt was born alone which made him different and lonely. :( One day, he was flying a spaceship when he crash landed on a planet with lightning people. Unbeknownst to him, his younger brother and sister had stowed away. They looked for help and got zapped by the alien ppl on the planet! Mekt was able to get his siblings to safety and they found they had powers which they used to power the ship and escape! When the twins awoke, Mekt had alrdy vanished. :
Lightning Lad had been trying to track Mekt down for years, but kept running into dead ends. Meanwhile, Light Lass tells the Wanderers that Mekt, like other single-birth children, has a death-wish and that they stowed away to protect him from himself. She says that the mission Mekt is recruiting them for is a suicide mission. :|

While tunneling, Mon-El reveals he alrdy knows Kara from the past and that she will eventually return to her own time. Superman put him in the Phantom Zone to save him from death from lead poisoning. :O

Supergirl, Mon-El, Ultra Boy and Brainy reach the robots and beat them up but then a giant robot that resembles a Dominator shows up beneath them and rises up thru the ground! They start beating it up, but Brainy realizes that it's not a fighting robot but a delivery system! It releases a large red.. something... and Brainy tells Cosmic Boy that they've lost as a red cloud covers Earth. :(


Review: "Very well... we've lost". XDDD Best line to report the end of the world evar! I just love how casual Brainy is about it.

I wonder what that red thing is tho! Maybe ppl with more knowledge about the LoS universe can tell me :O

Me and my sister were talking about Superman sending Mon-El into the Phantom Zone to save him and we agreed Superman would prolly be against abortion, euthanasia, etc, simply b/c his attitude is life at ALL costs. XD Like... the Phantom Zone is NOT a fun place! Superman refuses to use it to lock up his criminals b/c it's cruel! It's a place of sensory depravation and it's for criminals, and even Superman wun use it. :| But he'll throw Mon-El in it, leaving him there for thousands of years where he slowly goes mad!? Just so he wun die to lead poisoning. :\ For all Superman knows Mon-El might never be cured and just be there for millions and millions of years. That seems mean to me. :(

Mon-El took it remarkably well tho! He seems none the worse for wear XD

So this Supergirl is the same as the other Supergirl? :| Or maybe not! B/c according to 52, the multiverse is still here! So if that's true, maybe she's from another Earth with another Superman! In fact, maybe a lot of the books that contradict each other are actually just on different Earths! It's possible! :O

It would be nice neways if there was another, nicer, Supergirl out there XD I still dun understand how this Supergirl could be the one in the Supergirl series. :|

Good use of her vision powers! I'm glad they remember that Supergirl isn't just rly strong and can fly XD

There was a lot of exposition in the book, and it's kinda boring when everybody just stands around to get the reader up to speed on what's going on. :| But I guess it was necessary XD Mekt seems like a sort of tragic figure. I wikied him, and learnt about Lightning Lord and stuff, so it's kinda interesting that they made him a little more sympathetic than just a straight up villain. :| I wonder if the Wanderers will join the Legion now or just leave and be like.. the anti-hero Legion after? :O

I found it confusing that after all this talk about the Wanderers being needed to save Earth, they send 4 ppl (3 of which aren't Wanderers) to fight the evil robots. :| And everybody else just stands around and listens to ppl talk. :| Esp since Mekt was all about action and less talk. XD

Neways, this issue wasn't as fun as the other ones and I guess it's kinda necessary, but I thought the pacing was a little off, and it felt like there was a danger that nobody was rly dealing with. :| I'm curious to see what happens next tho! Hopefully Supergirl still sticks aruond for a bit longer! :)

Angelwings Rating: 3 Supergirls out of 5 Red stuffs coming from robots!
Recommendation: Worth checking out cuz it's an interesting issue, but not super great, so if you're not a LoS fan and you dun have the money, you might want to wait until next month :)

Week of Jan 24 Comics and Super Short Reviews! :3

Hi again! :D

Yus! I'm tired so I'll be napping soon :\ But here are my super short reviews! Today was a very lean day for me, so I only picked up 3 comics. :O That's good tho, I can't be buying 10 a week. :x

Also, DC comics editor Eddie Berganza wrote something about Supergirl, promising some changes, but also mostly putting the blame on us fans for not liking it. :\ It had a very "I'm sorry you ppl are too stupid to understand what we're trying to do" feel to it. :|

I write in detail about it in the post below! :D

I'm trying to be my usual hopeful self while being a little cynical too. :O But I hope for the best! ALWAYS :)

It's proof that our voices DO make a difference tho and that by voicing our problems with things, we will get attention. :D Also that our wallets do a lot of talking too XD

So this week I got:

52 - #38
Checkmate - #10
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - #26

Here are my super short reviews XD

52 - #38 - An interesting issue that touched on storylines that I though they just forgot about XD It's also kinda sad :( 4/5 Angelwings

Checkmate - #10 - Great move/counter-move story as usual as Checkmate and Kobra continue to try to out maneuvre each other! :) The ending was what I hoped for but didn't think they had the imagination to do. But they did! :D So I'm happy! ^-^ 4/5 Angelwings

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - #28 - A bit of a let down, esp compared to all the other issues! We find out that Supergirl will eventually be returning to her own time. Which is sad :( Esp if she becomes current Supergirl *shudder* Also, I think they packed way too much exposition into one comic, and it got a bit confusing at the end. Rly interesting cliffhanger tho and a GREAT Brainy line! 3/5 Angelwings

And yub yub. That's all!

I also got some "how to make comics" thing that is thin but seems more than just "how to draw", so I'll let you know if there's nething worthwhile in it :)

Take care ppls! :)

<3

Teh Ami

Promises, Promises...

So I turn to the last page of my DC comics this week and instead of seeing Dan DiDio's usual "why DC is so great" diatribe, I find a bit about Supergirl by Eddie Berganza. :O

You can read it here. :)

It seems that DC is indeed concerned about the general anger and dislike towards the Supergirl book and character! :O So much for ppl saying that nobody listens to angry fanmail or blogs! XD It's clear this is a response to that.

So I read it and my first time reading it sounds a bit like an apology and sorta "plz plz read our book". Which is I guess better than nothing XD

But then reading it again I think it sounds like a BACKHANDED apology. :O Sorta like the difference between "I'm sorry I'm being a jerk" and "I'm sorry you think I'm being a jerk."

Sure, some of you may not be keen that we didn't go straight into America's Sweetheart mode with her, but, hey, we know that's what she will eventually become.

That's defining the argument to suit his purposes. >.<;; I, for one, have never argued that she should be America's Sweetheart (whatever that means e_e). It sounds like I'm hoping for her to be America's Next Top Superhero. It sounds like "yah, you guys want her to be a Mary Sue, but WE actually want her to be an interesting character".

Maybe this is cynical, but the way he's singling out women as the people who dislike Supergirl, it's almost like he's telling the male readers, "hey if you're unhappy with what we do, blame those GIRLS". >:|

But maybe I'm just reading too much into it! XD I try to hope for the best but part of me is a little "once bitten, twice shy" with the comic industry >.>;;

For us, it's the hero's journey that's interesting. I compare this to what's being done with Clark on SMALLVILLE.

Oh that's a good way to prove quality storytelling. Compare yourself to Smallville. >.>;;; The Smallville hero's journey for Superman has been HORRIBLE. And honestly, I rly dun think that a hero's journey needs angst and relationship break ups, etc... Smallville is a teen drama. I do enjoy watching it (sometimes, depending on the episode XD) but it's not rly a superhero show. And if Kara is gonna go that route... ugh. D:

After a very serious conference call that involved Joe, our amazing penciller Ian Churchill, and my then Assistant Editor Jeanine Schaefer (she was pivotal in giving us a woman's point of view on the character—like, can Supergirl gain some weight, please?), it was decided to have Kara just try to be a real teenager.

And how's that working out for you? XD

She gained weight? from 95 to 98 pounds? o_O

But I'm annoyed that you feel that a "woman's point of view" was necessary to know that Supergirl was emaciated. Like, SRSLY, without her help you wouldn't have known!?

I know MANY MANY MANY guys who had a problem with Supergirl's look. This is what I mean when he's acting like it's just us gosh-darned feminists mucking things up. :| This speaks volumes about what's going on behind the scenes that they need to bring in a "woman's point of view" to tell them the obvious!

It also makes it sound like that all guys agree with them and it's just women who would notice the problems. Thom Wade would disagree with you I think.

We were gonna make Kara a typical teenager, which meant she wouldn't listen to the grownups (in her case a guy named Kal) and wouldn't appreciate being given chores (killing Kal for her dad, Zor-El). She'd just be a girl trying to find her place in the world.

Uh yah. "Typical teenager". So I was an atypical teenager b/c I wasn't mean to everybody and b/c I wanted to help ppl? So teenagers who read superhero comics wanting to be superheroes who save ppl and are good ppl are ATYPICAL teenagers!?

Again, this is a stereotype. When they think "girl" they think the girl they're staring at at the mall and who they ASSUME her personality. They think 'hey she looks superficial and a shopoholic, she prolly wouldn't want to save ppl'. The average teenager is NOT Paris Hilton! The average teenager is NOT what you see on the OC or on TV in general! >:O If the various Robins can be good responsible teenagers who just want to do good, why can't Supergirl?

But again, this is just saying "hey we're doing GOOD writing, but if you want lame writing, that's fine, whatever YOU want, idiot fans who know nothing". That's what it sounds like. :\ It's "we're doing nothing wrong, but we'll give you philistines what you want."

Now, she has a new love interest in Power Boy, a "hero" that Ian designed, keeping in mind the great attributes that are usually associated with female characters…and the reason most women don't like the super-hero genre. Like the chest window of his costume? His constant posing? Yes, he's a mimbo, but he'll be a lot worse to Kara when issue #15 hits.

Honestly, why does she NEED a new love interest? Is she Nightwing? XD Srsly tho, if this is their idea of a "clever" turnaround on the bimbo thing, it fails. I dun like Power Boy. If he's supposed to be female cheesecake, he fails. And honestly, two wrongs dun make a right. I've always believed the solution to treating women poorly, is not to treat men poorly too, it's to treat both genders well! But yah... he's not a mimbo. How is he ne more of a mimbo than Superman? Maybe if he had the bare legs or chest or something... Now Aquaman in his beard days.... mmmmmmmmmmmm

:D

He'll be a lot worse TO Kara? Umm... I know that that issue has him holding her cape in a "I just beat her down" way. So... plz plz plz dun have an abusive relationship. Even if you have Kara go nuts and smack him down... plz dun do that. I'm tired of abusive relationships being a staple of writing women's characters (as Thom Wade so satirically pointed out).

Then things heat up for the last daughter of Krypton with #16, when Joe is joined by new artist Ale Garza (as Ian will eventually be going on with Joe to one of my other books) and co-writer Mark Sable for a story arc that runs through issue #19, which will delve further into the fragments of Kara's past and give us a new understanding of the character.

This is finally where the admission that something isn't right with the book shows up. Ian Churchill is being reassigned, and they're giving us a co-writer! THIS is what we want to hear, that there are changes. If Ale Garza draws Supergirl like he drew her story in the Holiday Special, I'll be pleased. But this HAS to include the writing to back up the art. That is CRUCIAL. But I hear that some writers write for the artists. Given Churchill's drawings, I can understand if writers get flustered about how to portray Supergirl XD I just hope that we dun get more of the same, and Supergirl still ends up as some horny fantasy girl (Garza's art on Witchblade worries me). :|

I HOPE I'M WRONG THO!!

I know it sounds like I picked on it a lot. But I'm glad that at least they've admitted there's a problem (even if they're acting like we're just nuts for wanting a better Supergirl). And I appreciate that they're listening to fans and happy that we ARE getting our msg across. :)

The last part sounds like a beg for us to buy Supergirl tho. I feel that ppl should still be skeptical until they PROVE that things will be different. We're not gonna buy just cuz you say "in 10 issues she'll be wonderful, WE PROMISE". Give us changes now, not "gradual changes that will conveniently ask you to buy 20 issues to see".

Also, it sounds like she's gonna be an annoying prissy beauty contest winner at the end when they say "America's sweetheart". MY Supergirl isn't nebody's sweetheart. She's just her, a decent, good person. She's lost her home, she's lost her family, and she finds herself in helping people on her adopted planet. :) She's not perfect. She might be silly sometimes, but she still comes thru in the end. She doesn't try to kill ppl or fight heroes or act like a jerk all the time to everybody.

As my sister said, Supergirl is basically about a bad person. XD It's not about a villain, just a bad person.

She's right.

Kara doesn't need to be America's sweetheart. Just a good person.

Let's get that message out. And let's let DC know that it's not just women who dun like Supergirl but men AND women. :)

At least this msg from DC is a start (not a great one, but it's better than nothing). But words mean nothing if there aren't ACTIONS that follow. Hopefully they will deliver. :) As for the message, I'm glad that they've noticed the dipping sales, but I reject their arguments about why the book isn't broken.

I'm HOPING that this is a sign that things will change for our beloved Kara Zor-El. ^-^

In closing:

So, ladies, I hope you'll come out to the stores and give SUPERGIRL a shot.

-E

Enuf talk E. You want our money? It's time to put up or shut up. Give us the Kara we want, not the one you think we want.

-A(mi-cat :3)

JLA Classified - #32 Review

JLA Classified - #32

Synopsis: Dr. Destiny, that JLA supervillain who has powers in the dreamworld, is fighting the JLA in the dreamworld! :O He is winning cuz he has the dream energy of all 6 billion ppl on Earth. :| However, in the real world, J'onn is able to find his body and distract him long enuf for the JLA to beat him in the dreamworld!

Meanwhile, a regular guy named Darrin Profit catches the dream gem that Dr. Destiny was using to power his scheme. When he wakes up, along with the rest of the people in the world, he still has the gem. :O

It turns out he's a "loser" who works at a deadend job that he's not sure what he's rly doing, and is just kinda bluffing his way thru it. o_O;; He has a girl he likes but who doesn't remember his name. :S When he goes home he hears Dr. Destiny inside the gem. :O Destiny brings him in and explains about the gem, that it houses 6 billion different realities (one for the dream energy of every person on Earth).

Profit decides to take the power for himself. Since he now has access to 6 billion different possiblities, he keeps trying different choices in life. For example he bets on all 12 horses in a race in 12 different realities, and "keeps" the reality in which he wins. He keeps this up until he's rich, famous, has the girl of his dreams, and the life he wants. :O However, Dr. Destiny goads him into wanting more: world conquest.

Profit sees this as a challenge to his awesomeness and accepts! :O He uses the different realities to gather the greatest minds and research different ways to give himself power! At the end, he has the plans he wants, but he failed to realize that every time he uses (and destroys) a reality, he has one less. :O He only has 6 billion, and by the time he's done, he's used up all but 3, much to Destiny's amusment. XD

He says that 3 is all he needs, since it'll give him 3 chances to defeat the Justice League and rule the world! He renames himself the Red King and prepares for his first attempt...

Review: At first I thought this was gonna be another Dr. Destiny story, but it wasn't! :O I found the concept of having 6 billion tries at your life rly interesting! It's like groundhog day! You become God b/c you can try every possiblity!

I also found the character of Darrin Profit rly interesting too! Like, it's sorta used, in that he's a "loser" who gets power, but I like these stories, b/c it shows that not all villains are crazy psychopaths or even sociopaths! And that many villains start off like heroes, regular people who dun have great lives. The difference is that heroes see their power as a chance to improve other ppl's lives while villains see it as something they deserve to improve their own! And the problem with power, is that if you want it, you can never have enuf! Greed will never be satiated. :|

So while Profit has the life he wants, he still feels he wants more. :
I feel bad for him in a way. I think we've all been in jobs that we feel we rly dunno as much as we SHOULD to do it, and sometimes we're like "OMG I HAVE TO TALK TO THE BOSS WHAT DO I SAY I BARELY KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!!!" And it makes him very human, more so than if his wife left him, his dog died, etc etc... It's a more realistic sort of bad life. :( But then when he gets powers he shows that he doesn't deserve them b/c he's so selfish with them! Also that he destroys the realities that doesn't get him what he wants! He doesn't have to, he just decides that if his life isn't as good in that one, it's gone! And that comes back to hurt him :O

I think what was rly key tho, was that in his reality where he was rich, famous and had the girl of his dreams, it wasn't enuf for him. He wanted to trade her in for a famous actress and then spent many realities figuring out how to do it and still be liked. Ultimately he did a lot of charity work and slandered her and used the sympathy to get the actress. :\ It shows how little he rly cares about ppl, it's like it's a game to him.

Which I think is why I like these kinds of stories. :) They highlight the differences between heroes and villains. Both have bad things happen to them in life (usually) but each reacts to it differently, like I think in real life ppl react to things differently. Some ppl with a good life appreciate it and use their advantages to help others. Others get spoiled and ignore ppl in need. :\ Then there are ppl with bad lives who appreciate the difficulties in life and want to help ease other ppl's problems, while other ppl with bad lives just get angry and upset and bitter and when they have a good life, they only want to feel better than other ppl. :(

Also, we're back to stories that aren't political! YAY!!! :D

Neways, I rly can't wait for the next issue! I rly like JLA Classified b/c it tells stories that are set in the past, and so you can use teams and heroes from other eras. I rly like the big 7 era and tho I wish this book had Kyle Rayner instead of John Stewart (nothing against John, I just <3333 Kyle XDDD), I'm still happy that it's them (and Plastic Man XDD)

So, yah, I recommend ppl to give it a chance :D

Angelwings Review: 3.5 out of 5 dream crystals!
Recommendation: I think this will be a good arc, and something to check out if you just like a good, fun superhero story :)

Birds of Prey - #102 Review

Birds of Prey - #102

Synopsis: Manhunter is still outside the Mexico prison. She's been captured by the resident big strong prison guard. :O

Meanwhile, Lois Lane shows up to have dinner with Oracle, and Oracle is scared b/c she knows of Lois' reputation as a great investigative reporter and that Lois will expose her. Oracle starts wondering if she'll have to leave the country now and hide. o.O

Misfit takes over Oracle's control room but is unable to use her computer skills (or lack thereof) to help the Birds who are held at gunpoint by government agents. :O She realizes that they dun need nething more than a distraction and she teleports into the fray, giving the heroes the chance they need to fight back!

In the melee however, the girl they were protecting is captured, and her father, who was trading his daughters safety for his testimony against the mob, is shot. :(

Manhunter has now been brought into the prison to be interrogated. There are American government agents there as well. :O Manhunter beats them all up and reveals that she only allowed herself to be captured! o_o Gypsy shows up too having been invisible all along and they beat up the guards. :O

Oracle, feeling pressued by Lois Lane, prepares to show her a photo of Lois kissing Superman, as leverage, but Lois draws her a picture of Oracle's computerized image mask and leaves, saying she doesn't see a story here. :|

Oracle then gets a call from Spy Smasher telling her that Manhunter is beating ppl up in Mexico. Oracle says that Manhunter was supposed to be finished there and thinks that Manhunter must have gone rogue! :OO

Review: I thought that Lois Lane knew all the heroes and their identities! At least that's been the implication they keep giving us, that Superman doesn't hide nething from Lois. :| Like, if Superman told her Batman's identity (and Batman's extremely paranoid about his identity) then she HAS to know Oracle's. :O Oracle herself seems unaware that Lois is Superman's wife. Tho it's possible she knew but was just rly scared neways. :o

The whole thing is silly tho! Like srsly! I thought all the heroes and their family knew each other! If Jean Loring knows their identities, then Lois has to! :O And like, it makes me giggle thinking about what would happen if Lois was to publish a story blowing open all the heroes and their identities. Like.. imagine Clark's reaction! XD He walks in, "hi honey, what are you doing?" "Oh just working on a story that will unmask that sneaky Oracle person and destroy her organization!" "Um... Lois honey, I ... dun think you should do that..."

>.>;; So yah... everything about that rang false. :|

I rly liked the rest of the book tho! The Manhunter stuff was a bit cliched... like it was obvious she threw the fight b/c no hero would get whomped by some random tough. XD I dun think she's AWOL tho. Tho it does add a layer of intrigue. :O Like, maybe Barbara doesn't know as much as she thinks she does? :o I rly hate it when characters are showing up in multiple books tho! Like, if she's in Mexico, when do the events in Manhunter take place!?

I didn't rly like Misfit when she first showed up b/c I thought she was just there to say "HA there will be no more Batgirls!" but she's grown on me XD I'm amused she calls herself Misfit, and I like how fun loving and happy she is! XD She's kinda like how I wish Supergirl was: helpful, cute and enjoying being new to the superhero thing! :D

Her expressions and poses are marvelously drawn and convey a lot about her. :)

Barda still seems to be missing her chestplate tho. :( That's sad. Like, it's kinda important since it's ARMOUR and not just decorative. :\ And as a former Fury and a warrior, wouldn't practicality trump showing off her breasts? :o

It's like Huntress and the bare stomach. :| She's human, and like Batman, she outfits her suit with kevlar to protect herself. So why isn't an important part of her body covered? Not like being stabbed or shot in the stomach doesn't SUCK or nething XD

Still, I think the good parts outweighed the bad and Misfit outweighs everything XD I'm kinda interested to see how things turn out. :) I just thought the Lois Lane part was rly confusing and seemed to contradict things we alrdy knew about the DCU. :|

Go Misfit! XD

Angelwings Rating: 3/5 missing costume pieces
Recommendation: Worth checking out, esp if you're a Birds of Prey fan :)

Catwoman - #63 Review

Catwoman - #63

Synopsis: Catwoman and Holly are watching the door to Holly's apartment building. A pizza delivery boy shows up as Catwoman has ordered a pizza to that address. Suddenly the cop who is after Catwoman for killing the Black Mask bursts thru the door (literally through) and grabs the guy! :O

Catwoman tells Holly that that's why she can't go home. However, since Holly can't live with Selina FOREVAR, Selina thinks of a way to clear Holly from the computer database. She doesn't want to approach Batman or Oracle however as she doesn't want to admit to them that she killed Black Mask, so instead she asks the Calculator for help. :|

Meanwhile, the cop who is obsessed with Catwoman killing Black Mask is summoned to his superior who yells at him for being obsessed with Catwoman killing Black Mask and to go do his job and work on other crimes. :o

Catwoman goes to see Calculator who sends 3 wannabe supervillains to fight her. She beats them and then Calculator says that he'll do her job if she steals a snowglobe off of the desk of Lex Luthor! :O


Review: The opening scene actually made me laugh so hard XDDD Like.. srsly.. what was that cop planning to do, wait behind the apartment building door and break thru it for EVERY person that came by? :O It's not Holly's HOUSE, it's her APARTMENT BUILDING. How many ppl live there? :O And this is his plan to catch her? XD Like... he can't stake it out or investigate or ask people questions or even OPEN the door? HE HAS TO BURST THROUGH!?

XDDDD

I'm sorry...


XDDDD

And given that the rest of the police force doesn't care about Catwoman, then why are they worried? He's clearly a crazy cop and he wun last long on the job being crazy. XD And the crazier he is, the less likely nebody will believe nething he uncovers on Selina or Holly.

I still dun get why she doesn't just ask the heroes for help. Manhunter will help her at the very least. And she's a lawyer and also.. Manhunter. Wonder Woman will DEFINITELY help her and currently she's like.. a super spy. Both of them have the resources to help Catwoman. And like, is she going to keep this from the heroes and Batman ALL the time? Batman will eventually find out who killed Black Mask neways, and then what? The writers can't avoid this FOREVAR. :|

I still dun like how other heroes kill or injure and ppl have a problem with it, but everybody around Selina is like "yah it's okay, no problem!" >:|

I didn't like the fight scene where Catwoman beats up the 3 guys cuz it's very... ugh. :( She didn't have to snap the guy's arm and they didn't have to DRAW THE BONE STICKING OUT OF HIS ARM!! EWWWWW :| I'm okay with violence and gore, but like smex and nudity, it shouldn't be used just for shock value. :( I found it unnecessary. o_o;;;

I also thought it was odd that Catwoman would automatically assume that Calculator wanted smex in return for doing her a favour. Does she rly think that every guy is a horndog and that every guy wants her body? :| But it was just a throwaway line so that's okay XD

The challenge is interesting! I like it cuz it's kinda pointless. Tho since Calculator has OCD, it would make sense that he might want something strange like that. :o Is Lex still the most powerful guy evar or not? :O I'm soooo confused! Some books (like Superman/Batman) seem to imply that he is. While other books (like Action Comics) imply that he's a fugitive now and doesn't own a company. So.... o_O

But I think it's a good fun challenge for Selina to try to steal something small off the desk of Lex. :) So for that reason, I'm interested to see how the next book turns out! Yes it's arbitrary, but it's a fun kind of arbitrary :) And her being sneaky means using her brains and not having to snap ppl's arms. :3 I've always had a soft spot for espionage and stealth. :)

I dunno if this book is worth getting for non-Catwoman fans, but the next one might be! :)

Angelwings Rating: 2 and a half Pizzas out of 5 Broken Doors
Recommendation: If arbitrary violence and crazy cops aren't your thing, you might want to pass on this, but the next one promises to be interesting! :)

52 - #37 Review

52 - #37

Synopsis: Supernova and Rip Hunter work on their invention to stop Skeets when Skeets finds them in the bottle city of Kandor and announces that they must come out or be destroyed. :| Hunter tells Supernova to confront Skeets and buy him some time. Nova grows big using Atom's belt and reveals himself to be....

Booster Gold!

Yay! :D

Booster then stalls for time by telling Skeets how he's still alive. Way back when he found Rip Hunter's lab and the pictures that pointed to Skeets as being the one who caused all the time problems, Rip Hunter showed up and told Booster what happened. Booster, knowing that he couldn't operate freely with Skeets around, faked his own death by teleporting his future corpse to replace him. He went back in time and became Supernova! :O The whole Booster/Supernova rivalry was set up to throw ppl off the scent. His "powers" were created using the phantom zone projector to teleport things. :O

Rip Hunter then grows big and shoots Skeets with the phantom zone projector to suck him in! However Skeets.. um... eats the Phantom Zone... o_O And then Rip and Booster try to teleport out but Skeets eats them too! :O Or at least tries to.

In space, Lobo, serving as minister, performs last rites on Animal Man's corpse, and he parts ways with Adam Strange and Starfire. :| They leave Animal Man's body on an asteroid and go away. Animal Man then wakes up and screams for them not to leave him! He then sees that he is surrounded by the aliens who granted him his powers. :|

Review: Yay Booster! He's alive!!! But then... so is Animal Man? :| And Question isn't dead either... so... nobody's rly dead!? o_O You know that saying that nobody who dies in comics stays dead? I guess now there's a new saying. Nobody that dies in 52 stays dead... in 52. XD But at least our favourite b-listers aren't dead! :D

*cheers*

When Supernova showed up everybody thought he was Booster, so it's kinda nice that DC didn't decide to do a Monarch-esque swerve XDDD For those unfamiliar with the reference:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_2001#Response_and_last-minute_changes

:)

But yah.. the problem with this "mystery" is that since it involved a time travelling Rip Hunter, ne theory could be possible b/c when you can time travel, Supernova could rly be nebody. XD What I find funny is how by deducing the use of the phantom zone projector, did Ralph Dibny figure out that it was Booster Gold under the mask. :| It's not like the PZP and Booster are intrinsically tied together. :|

Oh.. and I wish I wrote this down before, but I guessed that Supernova was using the projector! Mainly b/c of the Ruin storyline being so recent. Ruin was a Superman villain (who turned out to be Emil Hamilton) who used the PZP to simulate teleportation and light effects too! So that wasn't rly that big a deduction :)

BUT AT LEAST IT MAKES SENSE!!

TY FOR SUPERHERO MYSTERIES THAT ACTUALLY HAVE REVELATIONS THAT MAKE SENSE!!!

None of this Hank Hall or Jean Loring carp! >:|

I think it's more important for stories to have logical and satisfying conclusions than to do illogical stuff just b/c you dun want the attentive fan to be able to figure out the ending. :|

Neways... I rly liked this issue and it raised many interesting questions.. like.. who is Skeets rly? Booster hinted in this issue that Skeets isn't rly Skeets, which is good cuz I like Skeets and I'm glad he's not evil! XD But now I wonder who he rly is. :O

Maybe he's the love child of Hank Hall and Jean Loring!!!

XDD

Also, how can this Skeets impersonator eat the phantom zone? :O How do you eat phantom zones? And what do they taste like? XD And did Booster and Rip manage to escape? :O I hope they did!

At least Booster being a jerk was just a lie :) I'm glad to see that! I dun like Booster being jerky :(

It was almost dissapointed to see Animal Man come back just cuz... ppl keep.. like.. not dying! XD And when they kept the frames on his dead body you just KNEW he was coming back. :| Still at least he's back! And him meeting those aliens is interesting! I just hope that they have enuf issues in 52 left to deal with ANOTHER storyline now. :o

But neways, this book starts to finally wrap some mysteries and stories up and that's good :) I enjoyed it, and it feels good to finally have a pay off after following a series for 36 issues. :| Wow it's been that long? XDD

Neways... I can't wait to see the resolution of the other story arcs! :)

Angelwings Rating: 4 Booster Golds out of 5 Animal Men
Recommendation: A good issue to get, esp if you want to see some light finally being shed on Supernova :)

Week of Jan 17 Comics and Super Short Reviews :D

Hi! :) I feel teh tired right now :(

So today I got:

52 - #37
Birds of Prey - #102
Catwoman - #63
Green Lantern - #16
JLA Classified - #32
Spider-Man Reign - #2 (of 4)
Welcome to Tranquility - #2

It's a bit of a slow comics week for the books I read cuz rly none of these were the titles I rly like. :| However some did surprise me :) But some were just blah. :(

Here are my super short reviews! :D

52 - #37 - So I guess not only does nobody in the comic world stay dead, but nobody in 52 stays dead... in 52. XD Finally we see who Supernova is! It's actually the first person everybody thought it was way back when he was introduced! I'm glad it made sense tho :D I'm pleased with the issue, b/c finally we get some resolution :) It seemed a little rushed, but I'm not complaining! ^-^ 15 issues left! 4/5 Angelwings

Birds of Prey - #102 - The stuff with Manhunter was pretty well written, even if it was VERY cliched. :\ Misfit is teh AWESOME! I think she's rly fun and I love how happy she is when she helps out!!! XDD The scenes with Lois rang rly false to me tho :\ And it left me a bit confused about what Superman's told her and what he hasn't. And what Batman's told Barbara and what he hasn't. :| Still, more of it was good than bad. :) 3/5 Angelwings

Catwoman - #63 - They're not letting this go :\ Catwoman seems to like causing her own problems too and I rly hate that she's avoiding asking the heroes for help. She doesn't HAVE to ask Batman, there are many other heroes who could help her. :( However, the set up for the next issue is interesting and it might be worth it just for that! 2.5/5 Angelwings

Green Lantern - #16 - I'm finding it hard to care about Hal, esp when he's in like a gajillion comics at once XD And like, the JLA fighting Rocket Reds? :\ There was no easier way to help Hal? They rly didn't have to resort to violence :| I didn't rly like this issue very much :\ 2/5 Angelwings

JLA Classified - #32 - I thought this issue was pretty neat :) It's got a new bad guy who's got a cliched background, but the idea behind him is interesting! Also, it's a good old fashioned type of JLA story where they're not being political and stuff :) I think it could be a good story if done right :D 3.5/5 Angelwings

Spider-Man Reign - #2 (of 4) - I rly hate how hard they're trying to be The Dark Knight Returns. :| Spiderman rly isn't suited for this. But I did find the book's story sorta interesting even tho some elements are very blatant. I wish politcal commentary would be subtle. :( Worth checking out tho! 3/5

Welcome to Tranquility - #2 - I <3 this book so much! :D I like the little throwback comics and I LOVEEEE THE EMOTICON!!!! He's teh smex! :D Hehehehe I wish I had a mask like his! :D *bops* But srsly, this is a great new series, and it's not too late to jump on board! The characters are very lovable and the plot seems interesting! Also a small commentary about rape in comics. Make of it as you will. 5/5

Neways, I'm rly tired so I'll put up bigger reviews later!!! :D TTFN :)

The All New Atom - #7 Review

The All-New Atom - #7

Synopsis: Dean Mayland is sitting in his home watching tv when he gets a call from Dwarfstar who is still stuck as the size of an atom thanks to his fight with the Atom. :| Dwarfstar begs Mayland for help but if rebuffed :O

Ryan is also sitting on his couch watching TV, but is with his friend Panda and the giant floating Waiting head. The head is apparently enjoying television and also wants more orange soda. :O

Ryan goes into the kitchen to get some when he hears Panda cry out that there are cowboys in the living room! Ryan checks and there are indeed cowboys and they want to capture him! Ryan changes into the Atom and fights them! He defeats them but then this weird green guy called Ryak shows up o_o;; Ryak kills the 3 cowboys and says that he sent them to find Ryan. He says that he's one of the Linear Men and that a man named Dr. Hyatt will seek Ryan out for help and that he must contact Ryak when this happens. If he does not, Ryak will wipe out all of Ryan's family from existence, as he is a time traveller. :O

With all this on his mind, Ryan still has a job to do, and rushes off in the morning to teach his class when he runs into Dr. Zuel who, no longer mind controlled, still wants to date him. :O Ryan gets to class, but his students still do not listen to him. After they've left, he hears somebody calling for his help behind some curtains and it's revealed to be Dr. Hyatt except that Dr. Hyatt is missing half of his body!!! :O

Review: O_O;;; Okay that was gross. At least it wasn't bloody, gory gross, but STILL!!! HE'S MISSING HALF HIS BODY!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW x_x

Ew ew ew...

However, the story was good. :) And interesting XD It was fun to see Ryan still learning how to be a hero and how very very bad he is at saying "heroic" stuff while fighting. His one liners are AWFUL XD But they're a fun kind of awful. Srsly, how many of us would say good one liners if we were heroes >.>;;;

I think there was an implication that the cowboys were racist and were hostile towards Ryan not just cuz they were sent to capture him but that he was Asian. Altho they didn't say nething overtly racist, Ryan felt that they were treating him "like I (he) wasn't fit to walk the streets". :| It makes sense tho, and I think that was a pretty good way to walk the fine line between characters who would be racist, and actually using racist terminology which would get ppl angry at the writer. It does work for me tho, b/c these are bad guys, and bad guys from an era where they would look down on an Asian person.

Ryak was an interesting character. :O I just noticed that his name is very similar to Ryan. Maybe he's an alternate Ryan or some sort of future Ryan? :O He claims to be a Linear Man, but he doesn't seem like a good guy even tho he says he is. I think Ryan picked this up too b/c he notes that Ryak casually killed 3 ppl without remorse. :( I like how aware Ryan is of things and how he seems to pick up the same things the readers do. :)

The Dr. Zuel part is confusing XD She's Giganta... right? Isn't she bad? At least in Wonder Woman she's pretty bad. But here she seems okay. :O I'm confused XD I hope she's not bad tho b/c I find her amusing XDDD

I'm very interested on where Ryan's adventures lead him. :) Just... guy with half a body... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Angelwings Review: 4/5 full bodied ppl
Recommendation: Definitely worth reading :) And a good jumping on point for new readers!

JLA Classified - #31 Review

JLA Classified - #31

Synopsis: The UN allows JLA interference into South America now that it's been revealed that the Dutch representative was corrupt and working with Cristoffel's company to create a metahuman army.

The JLA arrest the leaders of both warring nations in South America, and then fight Cristoffel's superhumans and the giant monster that he created. They arrest him (after Batman gives him a hilariously unnecessary kidney shot). All guilty parties are tried and convicted by the world court and everybody goes away happy. The President of the United States is angry to discover that the special mineral deposits in the area have been stripped by the time his agents get there and angrily calls the JLA demanding answers. Batman and Aquaman tell him that they took them so that they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands and then hang up on him.

The JLA rebuilds the affected cities and their infrastructure.

Review: :| The idealist in me would have liked this story a LOT if it wasn't so political. :\ I like the idea of Superheroes helping ppl rebuild their infrastructure, etc, but this story was very pro-American. :\ And it wasn't pro-American in the Superman way about freedom and truth and stuff, but about how American military intervention is always a good thing and how those scummy European countries are weak and worse, corrupt, trying to stop Americans from doing the right thing. :|

Please leave your politics out of my comic books :(

I rly hated how thru this entire arc the JLA were working with the President of the United States and how if the UN refused American intervention, then the JLA couldn't interfere either. :| I hate how the president was their boss and allowed to listen in on their mindlinked conversations with J'onn. WTF. They may be the Justice League of America but they're not attached to America in ne official way! The "of America" thing is something that's a holdover from the past comic book ages. I like to think that my heroes are above politics. They do the right thing, not the things that are right for ne government, American or otherwise. :(

My sister's big problems have been that it portrays a very lopsided view of the world, that South American countries are all corrupt, anti-democratic and evil. I saw this too in the book, but I'd be more okay with it if the story was better. These Dutch superpeople just popped up after being introduced last issue and were beaten up just as fast. The giant monster showed up and was defeated. Nobody ever explained why Cristoffel has a giant monster!

ARGHHHHH!!!

And I honestly dunno why the JLA would get involved. J'onn's a Martian, Diana's Greek, Aquaman's the King of Atlantis and Batman fights street crime. None of these ppl have ne reason to be involved in an American political venture. The problem with toppling a dictatorship and the reason why they dun do it on a regular basis is that it's not that simple. Superman HAS the power to topple every regime. If he did that, he'd be god, or at least King Superman. And if he stops some corrupt regimes, does he stop every one then? Why isn't he in Africa? Or the Middle East? Or China? And who decides who gets overthrown?

It's stuff I rly dun wanna deal with in my comics b/c it's complicated and something you can't write easily, as this attempt has shown. :| A head of state of a sovereign nation (Wonder Woman and Aquaman) being personally involved in overthrowing another country's government? I can't even begin to guess what the fallout from THAT would be! :|

It seems that they tried to balance it out a bit at the end with the implication that the President wanted to benefit from the whole thing by taking the minerals. But even that seemed wrong. Like... so it's not okay for a Dutch corporation to have it... and it's not okay for America to have it... but it's okay for the JLA to have it? Who decided that they have the right just to take potentially dangerous minerals and keep it for themselves?

BLAHHHHH

I'm reading the JLA, not the New York Times! I dunno... I just didn't enjoy this comic. I think some ppl did, and that's good, but I didn't. :\ I like JLA classified b/c it tells stories about the JLA that I rly liked, the big 7 JLA, and their stories can be simple without needing to be tied in with current continuity. So it's dissapointing when the story isn't simple or fun at all. And this issue just seemed very rushed with plot elements being brought in out of nowhere and then removed just as fast. :(

Angelwings Review: 2/5
Recommendation: If you like political comics and this arc in general, you should get it, but even those who like politics in their comics will be dissapointed by how rushed this story is and how there's very little explanation to what was rly going on :(

Nightwing - #128 Review

Nightwing - #128

Synopsis: Nightwing heads back to the cemetary where he was buried last issue, trying to find I-Pod guy, but he gets a call from his tech guy that Raptor is back :O Meanwhile, the 3 ex-LexCorp project heads have fixed the Raptor suit which supposedly doesn't have the flaws the first one did. They send him out for a test run so that they can tape it and show their potential buyers.

Nightwing fights Raptor, and the scientists working with the project heads realize that the reason they couldn't find the flaw in the Raptor suit was b/c it wasn't there until the person using it discharges the weapons. When they do fire the weapons, the suit leaks, causing radiation to flood into the person's body! :O

Finding no way to penetrate the suit, Nightwing forces the Raptor pilot to fire on himself, rupturing the suit and killing the person. :O However, it turns out that lucky for him, the pilot had died from the radiation poisoning and not the blast. o_o;;

The project heads get a call from their buyer and they try to weasel their way out saying that there have been some problems and that they'll cut the price as a gesture of good faith. However, the buyer turns out to be none other than Lex Luthor himself! Lex informs that they he doesn't like ppl stealing from him and the only reason that he kept them alive was b/c he was hoping to get the suit back! He then activates a bomb that destroys the whole floor of the building, killing everybody there. :OOO

Meanwhile, the family of the original Raptor grieves for him at his burial plot, but his wife is relieved that her husband wasn't a murderer and it was the project heads who were killing the ppl to try to recover the suit. :| However, his son still hates him and walks off. Nightwing promises to keep an eye on him. While walking down a street, the boy is asked by a lady in an S&M type bridal outfit what the time is. He answers and she seems pleased.

Behind her, in a room, out of sight of the boy, is a woman tied up and gagged. :O The "bride" says that there's less than a minute and she wonders how "groom" is doing with his kill. :O

Nightwing stands atop a rooftop and finally decides that the most important thing in his life now is that he's still alive, even tho he should have died during Infinite Crisis, and that he must never give up. :O

Review: Blegh. At least this plotline is over. :\ I was hoping that with Wolfman writing Nightwing, he'd finally get a decent story, but this story has been as bad as the last one! Now he's getting beaten up by mysterious ppl wearing I-Pods!

Last issue was silly enuf with this I-Pod guy coming in and thoroughly trouncing Nightwing (who was trained by Batman!) and then burying him alive. And Nightwing wasn't even tied up! He was just lying there being buried and too scared to fight back!!!

I joked with my sister that Nightwing does a good job hiding his identity XD Dick Grayson is a brave, fearless acrobat while Nightwing is this cowardly, fearful individual who apparently can't beat the villain of the week. XD

And this villain doesn't even show up again! And apparently wun be in the next arc either! So who is he? Apparently he knows Nightwing's identity and can beat him, but he's not important or interesting enuf to show up again? >:O

I fear that by the time he returns, I wun be buying Nightwing. In fact I might stop with this issue now that the plot is over. This new "bride" and "groom" killer duo dun seem interesting at all. :|

I never understood why ppl who can figure out Nightwing's identity can't figure out Batman's considering once you figure out that Dick Grayson, former Robin and former ward of Bruce Wayne is Nightwing, then it wouldn't be hard to figure out that Batman is Bruce Wayne. :|

And Nightwing killed somebody! Like, yah, it's convenient to say that the guy was alrdy dying from the radiation of the suit, but if he WASN'T then Nightwing just killed him! >:O

Nightwing and Supergirl rly should just like.. get it on... and marry or something >.>;;; Both are being written SO horribly and have become these whiny, dislikable characters. :(

Considering how every issue now seems to be about Nightwing thinking about the women in his life, I think my sister is right that he's becoming Spiderman. XD He's even being drawn to move like Spiderman XDDD

Altho my sister thinks Jurgens is a terrible artist that never grew from the 80s, I dun hate him. I think his art is a little stale sometimes, esp since Dick Grayson looks like Jurgens' Superman, but I think the art is prolly better than this book deserves. :|

What rly bothers me tho is I feel gypped. :\ This arc finished without tying up the loose ends that were raised when Wolfman started this book. Namely:

1) Dick Grayson needing a new job.

2) The 2 girls that showed up in his life. Neither of which factored into the last 2 issues.

3) Who is that I-Pod guy!? :O

So yah, maybe they're hoping to string us along for more issues with those questions, but they're not interesting enuf for me to keep reading just for that. :( I might be done with Nightwing now. We'll see. :
Angelwings Review: 1/5 I-Pod Assassins
Recommendation: Not worth it even if you were following the plot

Batman Confidential - #2 Review

Batman Confidential - #2

Synopsis: The Waynetech rescue robot thing rampages out of control, apparently trying to kill Lex Luthor! :o Bruce Wayne changes into Batman and attempts to stop it but everything he has doesn't seem to faze it. :| Eventually it gives up and goes away.

Back at Waynetech, Commissioner Gordon investigates and finds that the person controlling the robot is dead. He wonders if it's foul play and Bruce assures him that it has nothing to do with his company. Lucius Fox informs Bruce that the technician was dead BEFORE the robot went out of control.

Batman steals the corpse and takes it back to the Batcave to be studied. :O He discovered that a little device was in the person's heart and that it could be used to simulate a heart attack! He finds that the device is made only by Lex Corp.

At night, the rescue robot is at a construction site about to open a barrel of toxic waste. Batman shows up and informs the robot that he's figured out that the technician was being paid off by Luthor to sabotage the project but was double crossed and killed. However some of the technician's mind was transferred into the robot and that's why it wants to kill Luthor! Batman asks for his help, but the robot attacks him! Apologizing, Batman pulls out a remote control kill switch and shuts the robot down. :\ He says he feels like he just killed a man, but hopes that in the future they can rescue the person's brain. :(

Review:This is my 50th post! WOOHOO!! :D I know it's not my 50th review, but it's nice to know that my blog is getting a work out. :) I rly like writing here cuz it destresses me and makes me feel productive when I feel lazy ^-^ Neways on to the review!

Both Batman and Superman Confidential aren't rly coming along that well. It SOUNDS like a great idea, telling stories about their past and their first encounters with stuff, but the stories haven't been so great. :(

THIS is Batman's first encounter with Lex Luthor? A crazy rescue robot that has the mind of a scientist trapped in it? o_O It doesn't seem up to par with Lex's usually more subtle schemes. I guess they had to put some action, but I would prefer it if it was more about wits and business since Lex would most likely try to take Gotham by buying out Waynetech. I know he was sabotaging the project but it was still kinda over the top. :(

However, there will be more, so hopefully the Luthor/Wayne conflict will be more interesting! I hope they change artists tho. :| The art is not very good and Lucius Fox looks bad :( Also Bruce Wayne is drawn VERY inconsistantly and Lex Luthor has these deep hollowed out eyes that make him look like he hasn't slept for years. :\ Blegh.

Neways, this issue was okay. At least Batman used his brain to figure out what was going on (tho how he made the leap and figured out that the person was stuck in the robot was never explained) and used the remote control to beat the robot. That's the Batman I like seeing, the person who prefers to win a fight without throwing a punch. :)

Angelwings Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: I dun rly think you should get this one unless you got the first one, but the next issue might be worthwhile to check out :)

Martian Manhunter - #6 (of 8) Review

Martian Manhunter - #6 (of 8)

Synopsis: FBI agents burst into the home of the head of the secret Martian researching team. She casually greets them. During interrogation she is calm until they reveal that they have proof she was involved in various murders which shocks her as she believed she was well protected. They release her and follow her to see where she leads them. She goes to her boss, killing one of the guards and accuses him of setting her up but he says it's not him. :O

Meanwhile, J'onn confronts his fellow Martians that one of them is a traitor. He gets the girl that he rescued (who conveniently is a scientist) to set up a lab to research what's wrong with the Martians. He asks for Batman's help but Batman refuses him. Alfred goes behind Batman's back and provides J'onn with the name of the person behind it all.

J'onn tracks him down and forces him to tell him what they did to the Martians. The man claims they did nothing and that J'onn doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. Superman stops J'onn from doing nething bad and J'onn leaves to return to the other Martians sensing something is wrong.

The scientist discovers that the blood of the other Martians is unlike J'onn's. J'onn, not knowing this yet, tries to help one of the Martians who claims to be under mind control and is acting evil. He then bursts out and fights J'onn, turning into a White Martian! :O

Review: Given how often Green Martians are being revealed to be White Martians, you'd think that J'onn would have stopped being so trusting of Green Martians. >:O So they're all White Martians? That means that everybody was right about J'onn trusting ppl just cuz of their skin colour. Way to go J'onn, you've proved that prejudice isn't just a human trait. >:|

I rly dun like how J'onn is acting like he was written by Mark Millar in Civil War. He's TOTALLY out of character. He's rude, mean, untrusting and violent. :\ Also, I dun like that Batman refused to help him. Or Superman too. Like, by what J'onn was saying, his friends had been trying to warn him all along. If this is true, they could do a better job about it than just like "sorry wun help you".

Then again maybe they thought J'onn should know better? XD

The opening panel with the naked head of the organization in bed when the FBI burst in was gratuitous but not in a sexist way. Why? First off she was drawn well and had good musculature. Secondly, EVERYBODY in comic books sleeps naked. >:O I have a comic book where Peter Parker gets out of bed naked as a rippling mass of muscles. o_o;;; I just wonder why everybody sleeps naked XD

And srsly, when you arrest ppl, unless they're like.. holding hostages.. you dun need to burst thru the window of their apartment! Use the door! XD

Thie story arc is still annoying me. I dunno why everybody's acting like this and this isn't a good reason for J'onn to be mean and not join the Justice League! I'm very sad that this is gonna be the first Justice League WITHOUT the Martian Manhunter! :O He basically IS the league.. not to have him is sad ;-;

There's still 2 more issues to go which shocks me b/c it seems like next issue would prolly be the end. I guess there's still a mystery here but I think it's kinda obvious by now that it wasn't a plague that the Martians were injected with, but that they're White Martians but "turned" into Green Martians by the government to experiment with or something. :|

Neways, it's still boring :(

Angelwings Review: 2/5 naked sleeping ppls
Recommendation: If you're alrdy reading the story and interested in the outcome, it's still worth picking up I guess, but if you dun rly like the story, this is the jumping off point. New Readers shouldn't bother at all.

Batman - #662 Review

Batman - #662

Synopsis: Bruce Wayne talks to Amina Franklin and learns that her brother is not dead, that he faked his death but in doing so horribly disfigured himself and then hurt himself more using the I-Gore. Grotesk attacks again, going after his sister. Batman shows up to stop him but Grotesk shoots Amina with some poison that will kill her. He escapes and Amina, dying, tells Batman to go after him. :O Batman chases Grotesk down while he is trying to escape on a boat and the two fight! Batman defeats Grotesk and the boat explodes. Batman cannot find the body but assumes that Grotesk was killed in the explosion or was caught in the frigid waters. The last scene shows us that Grotek is in fact frozen in a block of ice that's washed up on shore. :O

Review: >.>;;; Honestly, I think I missed some stuff up there but I rly dun care. :O I know I didn't review the other 2 issues in between 1 and 4 so I'll sum up the entire plot now:

A villain named Grotesk is killing ppl in Gotham City. Batman links the ppl being killed to enemies of Wayne Franklin who is the brother of a woman he used to date. The Russian mob and the Japanese mafia are owed money by Wayne and use his sister to draw him out. Grotesk traps his pursuers and kill them all. He kills his sister. Batman defeats him. The boat they are fighting on explodes. Grotesk is revealed to have survived.

*rolls eyes* That was teh awesome wasn't it? XD No twist, just... bad guy does bad thing, is beaten, explosion, bad guy is still alive.

This was the least imaginative story I've ever read. Srsly, it even had the explosion at the end! The whole story didn't make much sense and it was never rly explained. It appeared that Wayne Franklin ripped all the skin off his face (ew btw) and now he's just a skull. o_O Okkaaay... how did he survive? I mean, last I checked, having a skull for your head and no flesh would mean... like.. you can't survive right!? :OO

Did we rly need FOUR issues? The only bright spot is that the 4 issues came out over like 8 weeks, so we didn't lose 4 months over this. :| Still, the story was rly bad. And the big winter storm thing never rly played a big factor. I <3 the use of natural disasters as a way to make a plot more interesting or inject elements into a story that are out of the control of the characters, but the storm didn't do nething. This could have happened on a warm spring day and it'd be the same. :|

And I still wonder where Gotham is that it can be struck with winter storms AND massive earthquakes AND still be on the East Coast.

Neways... this whole series was just awful. :( Very forgettable. :(

Angelwings Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: At $2.99 US, it's pretty expensive for bird cage lining

Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator - #1 (of 2)

Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator - #1 (of 2)

Synopsis:In the mountains in South America, some researchers are approaching a volcano that will erupt soon to do some research when they are killed. :O

In Gotham, Batman is spying on a mob deal when he hears some noises. :O Investigating, he sees some Predators. They knock him down and escape!

Superman is investigating a weird device under Metropolis and he sees some Predators there too! They also escape before he can apprehend them. :O

At the Daily Planet, Clark Kent is sent to investigate the volcano deaths and Lois takes vacation time to go with her husband :O

They reach the moutain but Clark hears signs of danger and sends Lois and the sherpas back down! He becomes Superman and finds some special ops agents in the volcano but they are dead! Batman appears and says that these agents are a government force that was put together to fight the Predators. He says that he traced the volcanic ash that was left behind by the Predators in Gotham to this volcano! :O

Superman and Batman's conversation is interrupted by an explosion that sends Batman falling into the crevice! Superman rushes to help but runs into some Aliens who are lurking underneath some rocks! :O Superman fights the Aliens as he recognizes them. o_o;;;

Batman, meanwhile, is okay b/c of his special suit that he was wearing, but he also runs into Aliens! Before the Aliens can kill him however, they are killed by Predators! Batman surrenders to them as he is no match for them currently. :O They take Batman into their Volcano base where he meets their big Alien chief! He slaps the Chief, challenging him to a duel and uses a gadget to disable the Chief and win!

Superman senses that the volcano is about to erupt and escapes, lamenting that the Aliens and Predators will both die in there. However he hears Lois' screams for help and finds that some Predators have captured her and are taking her away! He rescues her but she notes that they seem to want him to follow :O He follows and meets Batman who has made friends with the Predators! :D

He has convinced them that Superman is a Sun God and they apologize for taking "his female". They then sit down and have a little campfire talk. :) Batman explains that these Predators are an ancient tribe of the Predators and aren't the current types of Predators. :] They crashed on Earth long ago during the Ice Age. Predators apparently dun like the cold, so they went into the volcano and made their base there. They brought some Alien eggs with them b/c hunting Aliens is part of their culture. The Aliens and Predators have existed under ground for thousands of years since until the volcanic activity forced them to find a new place to live which is why they were in Metropolis and Gotham looking for a new home! :O They were surprised to see humans and how much the world has changed which lead to them killing cuz they were scared (I guess?) XD

Superman and Batman agree that the Predators and Aliens cannot live among humans as they are too dangerous, but that neither deserve to die either, so Superman tells the Predators that their God is making a convenent with them! They will not kill humans and Superman will fix their ship and help them leave Earth and find their home :)

He then leaves the volcano to bring his Fortress to them to fix their ship :D However, they do not have much time as the volcano will explode soon and shadowy government agents are watching from afar, planning their next move to kill the Aliens and Predators! :OOO


Review: XDDDDD Honestly I dunno why ppl dun like this book! I think it's b/c they expect some sort of fight! And I'm glad there ISN'T one! Srsly, I'm tired of fan-service books which is just A vs. B! I'm not interested in seeing who would win between Movie Franchise 1 and Movie Franchise 2. It IS nice to see a change of pace like this and I'm glad that there's an actual plot. :) Also, if you take this book srsly, you wun like it. :\ If you allow that this is a silly concept in the first place, then you'll like it b/c it's fun. :)

I kinda miss the days when comics were about FUN and not about dark brooding serious storylines all the time. This story isn't canonical, so I'm not super critical of it :) And I like that the dialogue is kinda cheesy and Superman says "nuts" XD The dialogue is a little unusual for those two characters, but I like it, cuz as I said, this book isn't supposed to be serious! Batman is friendlier than usual and Superman is a little more goofy than usual, but it's a nice turn from the angry Batman and egotistical Superman that we usually get. This is Batman and Superman as friends, and I miss when they WERE friends and not grudging allies. :)

Also the fact that the Aliens are basically mindless pets and the Predators are friendly (if a little violent) individuals is amusing too! It's like, Superman and Batman help Predators and hey! there are Aliens!!! XDDD

The real villains here are man! And for once, given that humans are usually victims in Alien/Predator stories, that's a refreshing change. :) These Predators just want to live their culture and leave this crazy planet!

Superman totally accepting his godhood is funny to me also b/c usually Superman acts like a jerk and then claims he doesn't want to be a god XD In this case Superman acts like a NICE guy but doesn't mind being a god and making convenents :) AND BATMAN MADE FRIENDS! XDD That's all he rly needs, Predators! It's just us humans he can't stand XDDD

Neways, I think the story is cute, esp given the subject matter. :) It doesn't have bad intentions and seems to be just focussed on giving the readers a good time. :) The no advertisements thing is a nice addition too and the painted art is rly pretty :D The only problem would be the price tag. :\ It's like 8 dollars CDN, but since my comic store loves me, it was only like 5 for me :)

It's a 2 parter tho, so ultimately, I think it's worth it. If it was like 4 or more parts, that would get expensive, but the book format and the no ad thing makes the price tag worth it. :)

I think that if you're a HUGE Alien and Predator fan, or a big VERSUS crossover fan, you wun like this book. This isn't a book meant for ppl expecting their big dream fight. But if you're a casual reader who's tired of comic books taking themselves too seriously, this is the book for you. :) It's light, it's fun and Batman makes friends with Predators and has a campfire circle with them! XD What more could you want? :D

This book rly should be called Superman and Batman and Predators with Aliens (Oh My!) :DDD

Angelwings Rating: 4 Predators out of 5 Aliens
Recommendation: A little pricey, but worth it if you're looking for a fun story, great art and a change of pace :)

52 - #36 Review

52 - #36

Synopsis: Question is apparently not dead, but is barely alive. The monks from Nanda Parbat send herbs with healing properties to Renee but they die when they're removed from their native soil and they're always dust by the time they reach her. :( She decides the only thing to do is to take Question back to Nanda Parbat despite the objections of Batwoman who wants her to stay. :
Lobo, Animal Man and Starfire are taken to Lady Styxx who sends her guards against them. Lobo asks for his money but Styx refuses him. Fishy tells Lobo that Styx is insulting him and calling him a coward and a pacifist. Finally snapping, Lobo goes against his pacifist oath and kills all the guards and then attacks Styxx! Animal Man, rejecting the cult's calls to believe in Lady Styx declares he believes in his family and then calls for Adam Strange (who has apparently been lying in wait) to shoot at Styx :O The Emerald Head of Akron then bursts in and begins to fight Lady Styx. :O Lobo reveals that he waited until the Sun Eaters had begun their migration for a reason and The Head flies into one of the Eaters with Styx, killing them both (in theory neways).

In the aftermath, Animal Man lays dying in Starfire's arms, the victim of the zombie toxin that Styx's followers use. He says that his family knows he loves them and tells Starfire not to let him be a zombie. :\ Back on Earth his wife looks up into the sky and starts to tear up, knowing her husband is dead. :(

In Khandaq, Osiris is upset that the world has branded him a killer and that the Teen Titans said that if he showed up they'd have to arrest him. :( Sobek comes in to console him.

In an unknown laboratory, Rip Hunter and Supernova are together. Supernova says that he's brought Rip Hunter all the objects he asked for: The Starman Staffs, Luthor's Kryptonite Gauntlet, and many more and asks if Rip can make something of them. Rip, who is not totally there, is incomprehensible in some of his responses. Nova assures him that altho Skeets is looking for him, they are in a place where Skeets will never find them. We zoom out to see that they are in the Bottle City of Kandor in Superman's fortress but Skeets unfortunately is there watching them. :(

Review: Yay a storyline is over! :D The Styx storyline ended rly fast tho o_o;; Almost like they realized they didn't have many more issues left and had to get something out of the way. :\ Poor Lady Styx, we barely got to know her :( It's funny that it seemed like Fishy was lying to Lobo just to get him to help. :O Yay Fishy! I'm sad Animal Man died tho :( I liked Buddy b/c altho he didn't have great powers and wasn't a top tier hero, he was a genuinely nice guy, and a family man who left his family to fight with the heroes in Infinite Crisis even tho he rly didn't have to. He's a true hero in that sense and he deserves a better fate :(

I'm surprised Question is alive tho! I thought he died 2 issues ago. :O Montoya definitely is a very loyal friend and I like the evolution of her character in this sense :) I'm confused about her relationship with Batwoman tho. It's like... 2 lesbians, broke up, then meet up again and are back together? :o I dunno... the Batwoman stuff has still been confusing. :( I fear for Batwoman now :\ Since Mannheim is still alive, that means her prophecized fate is still possible! I fear that Renee leaving her means that she'll be dead when Renee returns :( Hopefully she wun die before we finally get some characterization for her!

Poor Osiris! WTF is wrong with the Teen Titans!? It seems unfair that the heroes protected Wonder Woman but the Titans feel they HAVE to arrest Osiris? :\ That's a double standard! Poor Black Adam's family :( So persecuted... :| I WANT a happy ending for the ppl in 52, but it seems like none of them are gonna get one. :(

I think the plot that is most interesting to me is the Skeets/Supernova/Rip Hunter plot. :O I think this might very well lend credence to the Supernova is Booster Gold theory. Booster knew from reading Rip Hunter's notes that Skeets was the bad guy, and he didn't tell Skeets about what was in the lab, so there must have been a reason for that. And if he knew that Skeets was evil or had his own agenda, then he must also know that he couldn't do nething as long as Skeets was his partner, so he faked his own death. :O Maybe! It makes sense :) But Supernova could also be other ppl :O

It's scary that Skeets knows where Rip Hunter and Supernova are tho :( But hopefully the next week will be an interesting one that follows up on this! :)

This is definitely an issue that improves greatly over the last one and I'm glad that some stuff is finally wrapping up :) You can sorta feel that we're winding down now and that plots are finally moving towards their conclusions :) I just want SOME happy endings! >:|

Angelwings Rating: 3/5 Angelwings :)
Recommendation: Definitely an issue to read :]

Week of Jan 10 Comics and Super Short Reviews :)

So today's comic day again! :) Yay! :D

I didn't get much today:

52 - #36
Batman - #662
Batman Confidential - #2
Gen 13 - #4
Martian Manhunter - #6 (of 8)
Superman and Batman VS. Aliens and Predator - #1 (of 2)

Neways... what amazed me so much was just how shoddy the editting this week was o_o Like, in 52, a piece of dialogue meant for Osiris was said by Sobek instead. :O That was rly confusing and it took me a while to realize that the word bubble was attached to the wrong person >:O Sloppy!

And in Martian Manhunter there's not one but TWO cases where "you're" is used instead of "your". >:|

For a professional company this is very dissapointing. :\ I know mistakes happen, but that's why we have editors.

Neways here are my super short reviews :)


52 - #36 - Well the Lady Styx thing ended as soon as it had begun. o_o;; Another week where apparently nothing happened to the other major characters. :\ Still at least a plotline is finally closed and a major character has died! (not the one you think tho) More importantly, the ending is very interesting! Finally 52 is picking up again :) 3/5 Angelwings

Batman - #662 - The Grotesk storyline is over! :O It wasn't very interesting and this issue was basically one big, long, confusing, fight. No twist ending, no twists at all actually, this story was just very straightforward. :\ 2/5 Angelwings

Batman Confidential - #2 - It's nice to see Batman use his brain occasionally XD The ending seemed rushed and confusing, but I'm interested to see where it goes with him and Luthor. I hope Superman show up too since this would be one of the first meetings between the two heroes (this being a year one or two story). 2.5/5 Angelwings

Gen 13 - #4 - It still seems kinda like the characters have read the previous Gen 13 and alrdy know who they are XD But I like the ideas raised and I think Simone's take on the Gen 13 story has been very interesting. Grunge finally gets character development and I rly like it! :) 3/5

Martian Manhunter - #6 (of 8) - More J'onn being mean to other heroes. I thought Batman stopped being a jerk after Infinite Crisis? Could the other heroes be MORE vague about something that J'onn badly needed to know? :\ The "twist" ending is also kinda spoiled by Teen Titans earlier PLUS it seems like they use this "twist" whenever the plot involves J'onn and his past. And why does everybody in the comic world sleep naked? XD 2/5

Superman and Batman VS. Aliens and Predator - #1 (of 2) - A very charming story :) Very fun, a little violent, but no gore, tho there are body parts. :| But the story itself is cute and I like that the actually "vs" part is just the title and not actually a fight thing XDDDD The dialogue seems wrong for Superman and Batman, but it's a fun little story :) 4/5

:)

So neways, those are the stories this week. :] Nothing too bad or too good, which isn't that bad I guess xD

I'll be posting more in depth reviews later! :) Also I'll be putting up a little something in my rant blog. :D Just something I wanted to write about the appeal of Superheroes and why they mean something to me.

Take care!!!

<3 Teh Ami

52 - #35 Review

52 - #35

Synopsis: Heroes are falling out of the sky all over Metropolis on New Years following Lex Luthor deactivating every hero's metagene that he activated using his Everyman gene therapy! :OO The real Superheroes show up and start saving ppl including Supernova who teleports a bunch of ppl away!

In the aftermath, Lex claims that this was a result of an unknown side effect. :| He "tests" all the members of Infinity Inc and says they're all clean but they need to work extra hard to regain the cities trust in the Luthor heroes :O Natasha Irons realizes her uncle was correct and asks Skyman to help and he says he'll do nething for her.

In space, Adam Strange confronts Lobo who admits that he's still a Bounty Hunter and is actually delivering the heroes to Lady Styx who put a bounty on their heads. Adam believes that they can use this to their advantage b/c inside the machine, they can do a lot of damage. Lobo says like it or not they're going to meet Lady Styx.

Review: So Luthor did exactly the obvious: he deactivated all the genes of the heroes. :\ Given that Steel said that he couldn't do that but that the powers had a time limit, that's weird... :| Unless the time limit was New Years Eve? But I thought he pressed a button or something...

Oh well. :\ The whole issue was devoted to that and Natasha Irons doing the cliched "omg my uncle was right" thing. *sigh* I just wish she had a little more indepedent thought rather than "I listen to Steel" "No I listen to Luthor" "K, listening to Steel again". :|

It's also a bit silly that given Luthor's criminal past, that ppl should automatically suspect him when all the people *HE* gave powers to suddenly lost them. :O Like, that should be the first thought everybody has on their minds, that it's cuz of HIM.

And he rly can't just leave well enuf alone XD I guess that's always been Luthor's weakness, that he can't just be successful and liked, he has to do something and feel he got away with it. :( But at least that's consistant with his previous portrayals. :)

The Lobo storyline is actually sorta interesting... sorta... but it doesn't tie into the rest of DC very much. I'm sad that he didn't actually reform cuz reformed Lobo was funny XD Also Fishy is amusing and I want him to stick around cuz a talking flying space-Dolphin is teh smex! :D

This wasn't a great issue and felt like it was just there to do its job and no more than that. :
Angelwings Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: It's hard to say "dun get it" when it comes to 52, b/c if you dun, you're lost, but this wasn't a particularly strong issue, and if you want to save money on an issue this week, this isn't a bad one to skip :\

Superman - #658 Review

Superman - #658

Synopsis: Arion of Atlantis continues to tell the story of the post-apocalyptic future:

The remnants of the Earth heroes including Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, Parasite and a new hero called Sirocco prepare to face off against Khyber's forces. :O Lex instructs Lois to stay in the base and operate the defences. Sirocco, altho injured, joins the heroes as he reveals that part of Khyber is in him and he must atone for Khyber's sins. :( Lois tells Parasite that if he's dying he needs to absorb somebody else's energy but Parasite refuses as he's using Clark Kent's energies and is afraid if he gives that up he'll lose his identity. :|

Khyber's armies attack and the heroes battle them, many dying, including Parasite who refuses to absorb new energy. :( Luthor's robots and creations however help them achieve victory over the villains, until Khyber shows up and kills Wonder Woman and Green Lantern! :( Luthor challenges Khyber, wanting to spare the heroes further deaths by fighting Khyber one on one. :O However before they can duel, Superman appears and fights Khyber! He is badly damaged from being underground all those years but is still powerful!

They battle and Superman takes the upper hand but cannot bring himself to kill Khyber who takes this chance to beat Superman! However, Sirocco shows up and stabs Khyber with his spear, killing him! All 3 fall to the ground dead :(

Time passes and without Khyber the remaining villains fight for power. :\ Luthor is eventually killed trying to find supplies for the remnants of humanity. He is buried next to Superman as a hero. ;-; Eventually Lois dies leaving only Jimmy and he too dies, the last of humanity. :(

Back in the present Superman is aghast at what he hears but says it somehow sounds truthful. :| He asks what they can do to stop it, but Arion says nething he does will only make things worse. He says that it is a natural part of life that civilizations rise and fall and that outside elements like Superman and Martian Manhunter only delay the inevitable and b/c humans use them as a crutch they are unable to fend for themselves when disaster finally strikes! He finishes by saying that Superman has to stop helping ppl if humanity is to survive. :O


Review: o_o;;; I actually kinda liked the Elseworldsishness of the story actually! :O What I didn't like was that it was just some story that Arion was telling and I dunno why Superman needed Perry and Jimmy there to hear XD I would have brought the Justice League, or at least Batman XD

The characterization of Luthor rly needs to be consistant. Is he a good person that is evil only b/c Superman makes him feel unimportant, or is he actually a bad person? :\ Some writers seem to believe that without Superman, Luthor would be a hero. And then some dun. As Superman pointed out in an earlier issue, during the one year that Superman was gone Luthor could have done good things but instead chose to do evil ones. :O Since 52 shows that to be true, then how come he would do good things in a future where Superman was defeated? :\ Shouldn't he still be selfish and manipulative? Khyber threatening Earth is not different than Darkseid threatening Earth, and Luthor never misses and opportunity to try to exploit a threat to Earth for his personal gain. :\ But here he's geniunely good and dies doing good things. :( Him challenging Khyber could be chalked up to his pride, but at the same time, he would never sacrifice his life for others just for pride. According to SOME characterizations neways. But in some he would! So which is it? :o

Mind you, I *like* it when Luthor is portrayed as not being wholy bad and that he would be a hero like this if it came down to it. :O Luthor has always struck me as one of those villains you could count on to help the heroes if there's a threat bigger than everybody combined. So I dun mind. I just found it strange that in the same book (Superman) we would have it pointed out that Luthor is still bad without Superman, and then a couple months later, shown that he's good without Superman. :o

The ending was confusing. :| It's the end of "book 1"? o_O Also... like.. this is just it.. it ends here? :\ *confused* I guess they'll continue it later and give Superman something to think about? What Arion said is interesting b/c it's something ppl have thought of before and something that Luthor himself as stated, that Superman makes humanity lazy and weak, that we start depending on being saved by ppl with superpowers that we forget how to save ourselves. :|

It's an interesting argument. Does Superman serve as a beacon to inspire us or merely as a crutch? Are we more likely to help each other b/c of Superman's example or less likely b/c we just expect him to save other ppl? Unfortunately Arion doesn't rly get too much into that instead choosing to wax on about civilizations rising and falling. :\ It's a very biological view of civilization, like interfering with evolution, except that Superman is NOT playing God. He's NOT choosing who lives and who dies. He's doing what's in his nature and helping when he can. He IS part of our civilization, not an outside force. So I can't really agree with that.

Still it IS interesting and if this changes how Superman operates or makes him think about if he's rly helping, that would be interesting. But future plots aside, this issue wasn't as fun to read as it was to write about, and that's rly what's important. Was this issue WORTH IT? And sadly, the answer is no. :(

Angelwings Rating: 1/5
Recommendation: Dun pick it up. :( However, the next issue is about Krypto the Super Dog! So you might want to pick that one up! :D

Civil War - #6 Review

Civil War - #6

Synopsis:

Henry Pym and Commander Hill are watching the "Champions", one of the 50 new supergroups created by Ironman to patrol the 50 states, train in Arizona. Dr. Pym is called away by an unnamed SHIELD agent.

Meanwhile, Reed Richards is operating on the cyborg Thor and talking to Ironman. Ironman informs him that crime is at an all time low thanks to their iniatives and Reed informs him that the President has given them 12 immunities to use to protect their friends on the rebel side. :O Ironman says that he'll talk to the President and get more.

At the same time, Punisher is sneaking into the pro-registration side's base and getting what information he needs on the negative zone superhero prisons. :O

Sue Richards visits Namor in Atlantis and asks for his help but Namor refuses saying that it's not his concern. He also suggest that Sue has feelings for him, a charge she refutes but he claims that her heartbeat in the water betrays her.

In the rebel base, Captain America is planning the rebel attack to free the negative zone prisoners when the villains Goldbug and Plunderer show up and offer to join the rebels since it's in the villains best interest to defeat the government heroes as well. Punisher promptly shoots both in the head. O_O;; Cap loses it and punches Punisher and then beats him to a pulp but Punisher refuses to fight back. Cap finally stops hitting him and tells the rebels to get rid of him and burn his guns. Spiderman remarks that Punisher prolly didn't attack Cap b/c he respects him but Cap says it's b/c Punisher's insane.

The mother of one of the children who was killed in the Stamford disaster is talking to Tony Stark who has built a garden in honour of the dead children. The mother thanks Tony for what he's doing and apologizes for all the problems that Ironman's had supporting the registration. Tony says it was all worth it if it makes people safer. :)

In the North Pole, Dr. Strange is meditating in his sanctuary when the Watcher appears and asks him why he doesn't just end the Civil War with his powers. Dr. Strange says that in this war there is no right or wrong, simply a matter of perspective and he cannot take sides. The Watcher asks him who he's cheering for and he says whichever side's victory that is best for mankind.

The rebels attack the prison with the help of Black Panther and his new wife, Storm who have decided to back the rebels after the death of Black Goliath. However they are intercepted by Ironman and the pro-reg heroes. Ironman says that the rebels have walked into a trap and that he's had a mole on their side all along but Cap reveals that he's known all along that Tigra was a double agent and the rebels have had their own mole! :O Ironman believes this is impossible b/c only him, Henry Pym and Reed Richards new about Tigra.

Pym then admits that he's the traitor. However, it's not actually Pym but Hulking, the Young Avenger's shapeshifter! :O Hulking was apparently the SHIELD agent from earlier and he replaced Pym. :O Reed Richards then realizes that if Hulking can imitate Pym's voice and retina patterns (!???) then he had access to everything.

At that moment all the heroes in the negative zone escape and join Cap. Both sides face each other and Cap tells the pro-reg heroes to "close your eyes gentleman, this might hurt."


Review: Whatever. >.>;; At least things are happening XD So little has happened in the main series of Civil War that I wondered why they were calling it a "war". >.<;; I like this issue b/c things happened. :) I dun like this issue b/c ppl are STILL acting out of character. As the IGN reviewers said in their review, Cap is acting totally out of character and that he would never employ Punisher knowing that he's a repeat killer. Also, I'm kinda dissapointed that Spiderman joined the rebels. I was hoping he'd join nobody. :|

Also, the Hulkling thing I find a bit suspect. I know it's a comic convention for heroes with certain powers to be able to extend those powers to even the smallest detail (Magneto being able to control the metals in ppl's blood to control them, etc), but no shapeshifter can imitate somebody's retinal patterns just by looking at that person. Shapeshifting is a superficial power. He could imitate the look of the eyes, but not the little details in it. :\ But whatever.. it's a comic book XD I'm just saying it seems implausable to me, even in the realm of comic fiction. :O

Ironman making a mistake like that also seems implausable. The whole story has been about Ironman and Reed being super smart that I guess something like this had to happen eventually, esp given that the general public loves seeing smart people get their come uppance (tho I dun see why... I *like* smart ppl!) but this seems like something that Ironman should have been rdy for b/c there's lots of shapeshifters in the Marvel world. o_o;; The threat of infiltration is a likely one. And if Henry was only kidnapped earlier in the day (as stated) then it's unlikely that he would have been privy to knowledge about Tigra as it seems unlikely to me that she would have just come up in conversation (how would that go neways if Hulkling didn't have that knowledge? "oh our spy tells us that the rebels are going to attack" "um... what's his name again?" "her" "oh yah.. what's her name again? sorry my memory's a little fuzzy...") >.>;;; Captain America made it sound like they knew about Tigra all along. o_O;;;

Whatever XD It seems like they just need to end it, so they're just finding a way to get from point A to point B... which is ... I guess a big fight? XD All the superheroes in the room with each others. All friends, some are family, and yet they're rdy to fight!? Ppl! This is the time to NOT fight and TALK it out! You're ALL there, you ALL have great powers and if you start fighting ppl WILL get hurt and/or DIE! So why dun you try to find a compromise? Plz? Pretty plz?

At least they look rly good in their rdy to fight poses xD The art is still great, so I'm not complaining on that front (except for those smexy lips xD). :) I just wish they didn't have to fight. Civil War has rly tarnished my opinion of all the heroes b/c they seem so eager to use violence to solve their problems. :( I always thought it was the villains who FORCED them to fight, instead it just seems like they're violent ppl who dun understand what compromise means. :| Also democracy. >.>;; Let the people decide what's best for them. I thought heroes were protecting the PEOPLE not telling them what laws they should and shouldn't enact. >.<;;

Bleh... the scene with Ironman and the mother struck me as odd. The mother has shown up quite a few times as the sparkplug for all this and thanks Ironman for supporting HER idea. So this is HER idea? o_o What if.. she's evil? Maybe she's a villain who's manipulating the whole situation? :O That would certainly give Marvel an "out" and allow every hero to come out of this more or less intact since it wasn't totally their fault.

Altho that's a bit of a cop out I still prefer that to the alternative which is that I just can't respect these so-called heroes (except the Thing and Dr. Strange!) again. :(

Neways... I'm hoping so much that #7 will blow everybody's minds and make this a rly worthwhile series. :) I have no expectations cuz rly, maybe they are just planning something rly crazy. Or maybe not. :\ We'll see! :D

Angelwings Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: Get it if you're alrdy following Civil War b/c we've come this far haven't we? Otherwise this isn't one of those issues that is so great you have to read it even out of context :(

Angelwing Awards! :D

Angelwing Awards!

Yub yub, these are my awards :D They're pretty and fancy and shiny! At least, in my mind they are XD And hopefully in YOUR mind too! :D I'm kinda making them up as I go along, so this is def not one of those lists that's like planned out and well balanced. This is just the stuff I found notable this year :D

The Mary Supergirl Award

This award is named for who would have won last year: Supergirl. It's for the character that best embodies the traits of a Mary Sue. Def, last year that was Supergirl and her beating up EVERY SINGLE HERO IN THE DCU and constant whining about how much her life sucks. >:O

This year, it is NOT Supergirl as she's been pretty much kept away from beating up other heroes. XD This year's winner is.....

Spider Woman!

Yus fanboys! The girl that Brian Bendis says that you have a shot at! XDDD But her 5 part Origin mini-series was ALL about her being a Mary Sue. NOTHING could stop her and she just kept destroying everything and nobody, not even Nick Fury (who for some reason looked like a kindly father) could stop her or track her down! I'm surprised they didn't give her beautiful emerald eyes and a talking raccoon XD

C'mon Supergirl, you can't let this go! It's YOUR award! Time to beat up Batman and then smex him!! XDDD


The Rob Liefeld Award of Artistic Excellence

For the worst artist >:O This isn't just who can't draw, but who just doesn't seem to care, or draws in a way that makes me want to puke. And you know who that is XDDD

Ian Churchill

Congratulations Ian!!! Your tireless efforts to draw the same female face and the same bony female body, day in and day out, have won you this pristigious award! Umm... now can you just retire? :)


The Best New Superhero

This is actually a non-mocking award. :D This goes to the best new superhero of 2006! And I do have nominess :D They are, The Atom, The Blue Beetle and Batwoman! The winner is...

The Atom!

This was a hard choice b/c I rly like the Blue Beetle, but I think the Atom wins b/c he doesn't have a super powered suit to do his bidding and uses his brain to solve problems. :) He's not just "new" in the sense that he just showed up, but he's "new" also that he's different than other heroes. :)


Best DC Comic Book

OMG this one is HARD. Here are my choices:

Checkmate
The All New Atom
The Blue Beetle
Manhunter
Detective Comics
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes

And the winner is...

Checkmate!!!

It's sad b/c Checkmate and Manhunter are prolly the 2 best books that ppl aren't reading. :( Both are EXCELLENTLY written and are more nuanced that most superhero comic books. However Checkmate gets the nod as it's consistantly intriguing and has very interesting and diverse characters. :)


Worst DC Comic Book

Sorry Nightwing, you lose.

What about Supergirl you ask? XD Supergirl's annoying, but at least her book didn't have a scene where Jason Todd turns into this giant bubbly flesh monster that eats ppl up and vomits green goop.

YUCK


Best Marvel Comic Book

This one's a bit hard cuz as I said, I dun read much Marvel. :| However, I'll give it to:

Amazing Spiderman

It's prolly the only book in Civil War that's rly been telling a good story and imo, tells a better story than Civil War itself. :D I actually ENJOY this book and you know how I feel about Civil War XDDD


Worst Marvel Comic Book

Sorry Miss Marvel, but tentacle porn is not something I like seeing. :(


The Superman Fashion Sense Award

You remember when Superman had a mullet? And later when he became electric Superman? XDD Well this award is given to a hero that's had a similar costume change this year that was panned by most readers and we all knew that it wouldn't last.

That is..

Spider-Man!!!

XD Yus, Iron-Spidey! Who has THREE extra arms instead of 4 so that he could say.. have 8 arms... >.> XDD


Best Writer Award

That's kinda self explanatory, and despite my problems with how he writes Teen Titans, I'm giving it to

Geoff Johns for Infinite Crisis and writing like a GAJILLION books at the same time! :O


Worst Writer Award

This of course goes to Bruce Jones for his FANTASTIC work on Nightwing and giving us that wonderful Jason Todd monster thing that spit out green goop. UGHHHH >:O


And uhh... I dunno if I have more awards XD I'm not much of an award person, I just found these shiny little things while doing my weekly pillaging of ppl's houses.. I mean.. uhh... >.>;;

NEWAYS so I need to give them out!

I guess I have one more. :D

Best Thing That Happened to Comics in 2006

And the winner is...

ME! for reviewing them!!!

YAYYYY!!!

XDDDDDDDD

<.<

>.>

:D

Alsothebestheroof2006isBatman.

*runs off with award*

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: Diversity in Comics! :D

Diversity in Comics

Despite being a slim year for women, it's been a good year for diversity in comics! DC made a deliberate decision to have more diverse heroes and altho some of it seems like pandering, the writers have made ALL the difference. :) Jaime Reyes and Ryan Choi, both young new characters, both minorities, and both following in the footsteps of an established hero (Blue Beetle and Atom) are both written very well. Neither of them are tokens or stereotypes of their race, but neither are they just regular white American characters coloured a different colour. :)

I rly dun like it when ppl think that diversity is either using a stereotype or NOT acknowledging the person's background or culture b/c everybody IS different and our backgrounds and cultures DO affect us! But they are not ALL we are. And I think both portrayals get this. Giffen writes Jaime and his family excellently and they dun come off as Hispanic stereotypes tho they are clearly living in a Hispanic populated area in Texas and aren't treated just like a normal white suburban family. ^-^

Ryan is an immigrant and from Hong Kong and he has a point of view shaped from that. Since I've worked around a lot of immigrants from Hong Kong (medical research) and a majority of my friends have been of that background, I'm impressed that Gail Simone seems to have captured that without making Ryan too over the top. :)

Adding to the mix is Renee Montoya, an alrdy established character who happens to be a lesbian, whose portrayal is one of the highlights of 52, things look good in DC land. :) Hopefully 2007 will build on this with more character development of the other lesbian characters: Holly Robinson (Catwoman's protege) and Kathy Kane (Batwoman). Furthering to that hopefully will be other characters of different sexualities, without it looking like their sexuality is ALL they are.

Other established minority characters also leapt to the forefront for DC in 2006 those being Mr. Terrific, Black Lightning and Vixen. Despite the fact that Vixen has annoying stereotypical "African" powers, she's being portrayed well and will be part of the justice league along with Black Lightning. :O That's good representation for the top flight superhero team. :) I rly enjoyed the conversation Black Lightning and Mr. Terrific had during Infinite Crisis where Terrific asks if Lightning RLY calls himself Black Lightning. And Black Lightning said that back in the day he was the only black superhero and wanted ppl to know that he was black and proud of it. :) That's a GREAT explanation for a character name that originated b/c back in the 70s black characters just had "black" in front of their name like Black Vulcan and Black Manta. :(

Also adding to this list are Black Adam and his family, Isis and Osiris, all Arabs. :O They've rly done a lot to help the world during 52 and despite ppl still seeing Black Adam as a terrorist (not for being Arab but for being evil in the past) he's proven to have reformed and the three of them are rly fun to read. I'm sad about watching their downfall cuz we know it's coming. ;-; Speaking of which, Isis is a great female character (forgot to mention this earlier) XD

And OH, there's Checkmate!!! Checkmate is teh AWESOME when it comes to minority representation as there's a bevy of different characters from different backgrounds involved. It IS an international spy unit after all and they only care if you do your job, so the top brass includes representation from many different countries and cultures and given the dialogue in the latest issue, there's also at least one gay character (and I think Jessica Midnight is gay too so that makes 2 of them at least) XD But it's a lot like Star Trek in that nobody cares what background you have or nething else about you, as long as you're an effective teammate. :)

On the Marvel side, race representation isn't rly a big issue b/c of Civil War, altho they did kill Black Goliath, but not cuz he was black XD EVERY character is involved, and altho all the main characters are white males, there are minorities involved xD And Black Panther has shown himself to be a very important character to the Marvel U (*sigh* does every character need "black" in front of their names? XD I'm surprised Storm isn't "Black Storm"). Plus he and Storm got married, not that that rly has nething to do with nething XD

And yes it's also the return of Wildstorm which includes Midnighter (who will still be gay), Grunge (who is still Asian, tho he still doesn't LOOK Asian) and Rainmaker (who's still a lesbian as the first issue shows). :)

If you add to that American Virgin's bevy of gay, lesbian, trans and other characters, (esp Alexis), it's been a VERY good year for minority representation in comics, mainstream and otherwise. :) And I hope this trend continues. We're well beyond tokenism now (at least we should be) and I think that having different types of heroes and characters is just becoming the norm (at least I hope so). :)

Come on 2007, be an even better year than 2006! :D

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: Women in Comicbooks :O

Women in Comics

This is my look at the year as it was for female characters in comics. Again this is going to be mostly about DC since I haven't followed that much of Marvel (except for Civil War).

For DC, at least, this hasn't been the greatest year for female characters, at least IMO. First off, Wonder Woman, the foremost superheroine in the DCU had her flagship title delayed so much that only 3 issues have come out all year! :O Adding to that is that her portrayal has been very different from the "warrior princess" Wonder Woman we've grown to know and love, and that doesn't sit very well with me. :(

They've also screwed up SEVERAL previously strong female characters, including: Wonder Girl, Ravager, Batgirl and Lady Shiva. :O I'll quickly run thru what happened to each:

Wonder Girl went from being a strong girl who chose to help Wonder Woman and become a hero to "Superboy's girlfriend" to "that crazy girl who can't let go of her dead boyfriend, joins cults and kisses random heroes when she's upset". Teh Awesome. >:| I rly hate what they've done to her character and now she just seems like the poster child for the unstable teenage girl stereotype. :|

Ravager was the villainess daughter of Deathstroke who, thanks to Nightwing, has reformed some. And now she's part of the Teen Titans and is the opposite of Wonder Girl so that they can hate each other and have little catfights! >.<;; She's a typical bad girl now complete with trying to smex up all the boys, romping around in nothing and smoking cigarettes. You'd think in this day and age they wouldn't show heroes smoking in a book meant for teenagers! >:O

Batgirl was one of the strongest female characters DC had. She was strong, powerful and not sexualized. She's one of the few female heroes period that wears a full suit AND covers up her hair. And then OYL, she showed up as a femme fatale, interested in killing and smexing up Robin. All her previous characterization and morality went out the window, including her regret of having killed once before. :O PLUS despite being one of the top martial artists in the DCU and having BEATEN Lady Shiva (who is arguably the top martial artist), Robin beats her! And she acts like a little girl during the fight >:O Writers HAVE to keep remembering that you're writing WHO the character is NOT WHAT the character is. Just cuz she IS a teenage girl doesn't mean she THINKS or ACTS like one, b/c she grew up differently and is NOT just another teenage girl stereotype. >:O The argument from one of the DC writers is that people who do bad things, like drugs, may reform for a while, and then slip back into their habit. Um yah. She killed ONCE and like.. now she's "slipped back" into being a murderous crazy person!? She was never a murderous crazy person!!!! >:OOOO Johns claims that she'll get good characterization in the new Titans, but I'm not holding my breath since she is after all teaming up with Deathstroke, the guy who BLEW UP her adopted city.

Lady Shiva showed up in Birds of Prey for One Year Later and basically acted tough and then got pwned in one hit by Prometheus. :| *sigh* That was stupid. She's the top martial artist in the world. She TRAINED Batman. Even if Prometheus had all her moves on tape in his brain, she can still fight him to a standstill. *sigh*

Honestly tho, I think this all goes back to who's writing the comics and who they're writing them FOR. Guys can easily accept that a woman is weak and that even a trained one is "still just a woman" and that they'll break down and cry or get beaten easily once their training is negated. And that's why I think the standards that women hero writing is held to is much lower than with a male hero b/c ppl expect less and the fanbase will stomach more. :(

However, these aren't the only characterizations that annoyed me. Sue Richards in Civil War leaving her husband at night bothered me too, not b/c she didn't stand by him, but b/c she did it in the way she did. Sleep with him, cook him a nice meal for when he wakes up, and slink out at night leaving her children there. It's like 3 stereotypes in one! And b/c she didn't face him and say "k, you're dumb, I'm gone" it doesn't come off very well. :( But mind you NOBODY in Civil War is being written right, so it's not just HER.

And of course there's Supergirl and her insanity. I wun get into that b/c I've written tons about how much I dislike her XD

However, there have been some GOOD portrayals. :)

Altho I'm not that big on Black Canary having a child just b/c "having a child" seems to be something they want to do to EVERY female character, it's been handled well and she's been able to be both a good role model and a good superhero without it seeming like either is being compromised. Also she took Sin in to protect her from Lady Shiva's mother who wants to train Sin to be an assassin and that's a worthy goal. :) Batman would do the same thing (and has done the same thing with Jason to prevent him from going to crime).

Also, Checkmate has been GREAT for female roles, altho none of them are rly superheroes xD Sasha Bordeaux has been SUCH a great character, female or otherwise, and she's rly stepped out of Batman's shadow. She's no longer Batman's bodyguard, she's one of the leaders of a top secret government organization. It should be noted that there are MANY female characters in Checkmate, and that none of them are treated as nething other than their rank. :) Sasha sleeping with Mr. Terrific never came off as a fanboy fantasy but 2 adults having smex in a relationship. That's all. It wasn't a Catwoman, freakout smex scene that "just happened". And Sasha is apparently using contraception since she's not pregnant. :) Nothing bad here! :D

Another good portrayal is Renee Montoya in 52. She has been the bright spot of that series and another strong character that's fun to read and doesn't come off as a token "you go girl!" character. :)

In general tho, I've been unhappy with what I've seen from the big 2 this year when it comes to representation of women. It's not a conscious thing, it's that when you're reaching for a character, most writers prolly just automatically pull a male one out to use and only when yelled at by an editor do they sigh and put in a token female. :| I think it's silly that the main protagonists of Civil War are all male (Capt America, Spiderman, Mr. Fantastic, Ironman, Punisher) while the females seem to be just followers (tho Sue saving the rebels from Ironman was a good scene).

Oh yes, and I forgot about this xD Marvel had been pushing 3 of it's female superheroes in 2006: She-Hulk, Spider Woman and Ms Marvel. I never read She-Hulk b/c the incredibly sexualized covers turned me off, but I did read Spider Woman and Ms Marvel. Spider Woman seems capable and strong enuf but her character never grabbed me. :\ She came off as a Mary Sue in her origin books and it was annoying to read. :(

I tried Ms Marvel but when it degenerated into tentacle porn I couldn't stomach it nemore. I rly hated also how she was obsessed with fame, looking pretty, and was portrayed as being pretty weak for a character with Captain Atom's powers! :O I stopped reading, so maybe it's gotten better? I dunno, she keeps being drawn with ridiculous amounts of flesh showing, and that turns me off. :\ So those were my experiences with Marvel giving female characters their own books.


Neways, I expect that 2007 will be a good year for representation of the other 50% of the human population and I am optimistic. ^-^

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: Civil War! >:O

Civil War

Civil War, imo, should have come out this year and 2006 should have been used building it up. As it stands, it feels like Marvel rushed Civil War along (with only 3 issues of Spiderman to set it up) to compete with OYL and 52. :| It had an interesting premise, that being how the Superhero world would react if there was a disaster that was indirectly caused by a superhero and the government suddenly decided that all heroes should be registered. :O However, I think the implementation has been flawwed and that the characterization of the characters involved has been totally off base. XD As one reviewer said, this is like a Marvel "what if" story: "what if everybody in the Marvel Universe was a jerk?"

What I like:

Believe it or not, I do like the general concept. It's not a bad one and handled correctly it could turn into a real study on what happens when heroes have irreconciliable differences with each other. However, the way it is, it's coming off as a fanboy's dream of all the heroes fighting each other.

Still, I like that some characters are taking stands based on their principles, notably Ironman, who believes that in order to have the public faith, the heroes must side with the elected government and register. I like Spiderman's character, who at least gave a good reason for changing sides. It's clear that they want Spiderman to be the focal point, and in general, they've done a decent job of showing the war from his POV.

The art has been FANTASTIC, and altho it seems that many scenes are constructed JUST to give Steve McNiven an excuse to draw every member of the Marvel Universe, it's still very pretty to look at. :) My only knock on his art is that he puts so much emphasis on the lusciousness of the lips on the women that every female character has a "come screw me" look to them no matter their situation. >.>;;;

I think some rly good points are raised and that if the main series had focussed more on that, we could have had a fine series.


What I didn't like:

How every hero in the Marvel Universe is suddenly acting like a jerk. :\ Captain America is sucker punching ppl? Captain America is trying to kill the Punisher? Captain America is WORKING with the Punisher!??? Ironman is locking heroes up in a super prison? Buh? o_O

*sigh*

Honestly, this is my belief on the difference between heroes and villains and MAYBE this only applies to DC, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. Heroes fight b/c they HAVE to. Villains fight b/c violence is how they express themselves. Villains are sociopaths and psychopaths, they can't function inside a civilized society and thus they're subject to their base emotions, anger, hate, fear, etc. They use violence to get what they want and they dun care who they hurt.

Heroes, however, use violence only to defend themelves and the people they protect. They are good people who only fight as a last resort and would prefer a peaceful resolution. So... put a bunch of heroes who disagree with each other together in a room and SHOULD you get a) a discussion leading to an agreement or compromise or b) a war.

According to Marvel it's B.

I hate to do the DC vs Marvel thing, but leading up to Infinite Crisis the heroes were in disagreement as well. Batman had created a super satellite that was being used to kill heroes o_o;; and Wonder Woman had murdered Max Lord. :\ The former Justice Leaguers were revealed to have been mind wiping ppl and changing personalities. Yet, they didn't go to war, they chose to agree to disagree. Altho they didn't trust each other or like each other, they still focussed on helping people rather than fighting each other.

There's only one person in the Marvel U I agree with right now, and that's the Thing. He's refusing to go along with either side b/c he disagrees with locking up heroes but he also disagrees with fighting the elected government and so he's decided to leave America. That's more or less what I'd do XD He's right, the war is petty, it's silly and it's HURTING ppl. All both sides seem to care about is WINNING. :|

In a previous review, I've stated that I believe Civil War is the teenage boy rebellion fantasy come to life, and I still believe that. :\ It's the angry teenager's "down with the government" thoughts put on paper. There's NO reason given that they should work AGAINST the government, rather than WITH it, except that "government = bad" DOWN WITH AUTHORITY! It's totally knee-jerk.

Honestly, the grown-up thing to do would be to go with it and do what Tony Stark suggested: work WITH the government and change the bill. Convince the people that the government is wrong and to vote the bums out. Isn't that what happened during the mid term elections this year? This isn't a dictatorship no matter what angry teenagers may say after taking a philosophy class. It's a democracy. It's not PERFECT, but VIOLENCE is NOT the answer.

I rly rly rly do not like the idea of heroes fighting each other and HURTING innocent ppl in the process. I do NOT like the idea of going to war just cuz you disagree with the other side and when you have powers of the magnitude they have, they have a responsiblity to use it properly. What ever happened to "with great power comes great responsiblity!?"

But the characterization has sucked neways. Sue and Reed rdy to duke it out!? Sue LEAVING Reed after a good night of smex and cooking him food? XDDD That was SOOOO stupid. "I'm gonna leave you Reed, but first I'll give you some smex and cook you a nice meal so when you wake up you wun be hungry." Oh and she abandoned her children. Teh Awesome.

Maybe if they had a year of build up to show why the characters are acting the way they are, but they're not. What's worse is that the actual series CIVIL WAR, has been more like a very loose summary of the story. Marvel swore up and down that we wouldn't have to get the other series to know what's going on and Civil War is the only one we'd need to get. Well... I've only been getting mostly that and I keep having to check out the other books to know what's is going on >:O


Final Thoughts:

Characterization. Characterization. Characterization. To me that's the MOST important thing for a good story and esp a good SUPERHERO story since superheroes are very character oriented and each have unique characteristics and their own fanbase. So it annoys me when characterization is thrown out the window just to make a square plot fit into a round hole. >:O

I rly hope that 2007 brings a brilliant conclusion to Civil War which reinvigorates the Marvel Universe and encourages me to read more. :) Right now, I'm just very dissapointed that the heroes are fighting each other and seem intent on war. :| I'm also worried that everybody will villify Ironman, when, imo, he's trying his best to keep the peace.

Neways, it seems like I hate it, but what I rly hate is that the potential for serious ideas to be dealt with has been crushed by the need to pander to the fanboy want of heroes vs heroes. :(

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: One Year Later! o_o;;;

One Year Later

After Infinite Crisis, the whole DC universe jumped foward 1 year, with the missing year to be covered in 52. :O The only real problem with this is that OYL started while Infinite Crisis was still going on, so the stories in the OYL books kinda ruined the ending of 52. :|

ALL the books jumped ahead OYL, so this isn't an event per se. Still, we were promised big changes to the stories, and in some cases we got them. :O I'm not going to review EVERY hero here, but I will note the ones I have something to say about. :)

What I liked:

Batman and Robin - Of all the characters OYL, I believe Batman and Robin got the best out of this deal. :) Batman has become a nicer person and is more along the lines of the 80s Batman, or the Animated Series Batman. He's still brooding, but he does care about ppl and has friends and family. :] Harkening back to the "good old days", he's adopted Robin and they have a much more functional partnership than before. Robin himself has gotten a makeover, a less colourful costume, and has been written to be a good successor to Dick Grayson. No longer unhappy about his role as Robin, Tim Drake has fully embraced it and become the perfect sidekick to Batman. :o

Superman - Altho I RLY do not like the return of his "super intelligence", I do like that he's back to being a simple, do-gooder hero. :) He sets a positive example for ppl and saves ppl with a smile on his face. ^-^ THAT is Superman, not the angsty character he was before Infinite Crisis. And I think that's made him enjoyable again. :) I just hope they dun bring back the "super ventriloquism" XD

Green Arrow - Poor Ollie. Post Identity Crisis and Pre Infinite Crisis, he was the most abused character in the DCU (except for maybe Ralph). He went from basically the Left-Wing Liberal Batman, to Deathstroke's whipping boy, and everything that's wrong with the Justice League. :\ In his return in OYL, the writers set things right by having him defeat Deathstroke (who Meltzer seems to think is a GOD) and become mayor of Star City. Altho I no longer follow his adventures due to lack of money, I did like what I read for the first few issues. :)


What I didn't like:

Wonder Woman - It's hard to like or dislike Wonder Woman right now b/c the book's been so incredibly delayed as of late that we still have no idea what's going on with the character! And she came back as secret agent Diana Prince for no apparent reason except she wanted to try something new. Considering how Wonder Woman is one of the most recognizable faces in the DCU having NEVER had a sekrit identity, it seems implausable that she could suddenly get one. :| However, the plot has pretty much sucked and I still have no idea what Wonder Woman's character OYL is supposed to be. So I'm very dissapointed with this. :(

Nightwing - You knew this one was coming XD Nightwing has not just been a dissapointment OYL, it's been one of the WORST books of either company this year. This is what you get when DiDio wants to kill you off but your fanbase saves you from death I guess. xD Srsly, he gets beaten up by like EVERYBODY, the art makes his face look like an old catcher's mitt and Jason Todd turns into giant monster to end his first arc. o_O Ew. The stories have been bad, his characterization, worse, and there's still no explanation of why he's no longer engaged to Barbara Gordon. :O My guess is that since they planned on him dying, they never thought they'd have to address it, and now that he's alive, they have no idea what to do.

Catwoman - Catwoman ended pre-OYL on a strange note. Selina found out that the only reason she's a good guy is b/c Zatanna cast a spell on her to make her good. That in itself trivialized her entire appeal. Catwoman was an incredibly powerful figure, woman or otherwise. She was a villain who reformed and did something good with her life. She was bad for her own reasons and now is good for her own reasons. But apparently, she only turned good b/c the heroes wanted her to help Batman. W. T. F. >:| When she realized this, she killed Black Mask since she no longer feels like she has to be a hero. That's also silly. >:| OYL, nothing's been resolved. She seems not to feel bad about killing Black Mask and all her friends dun feel like she has to be held to account for this. As well, Catwoman seems to be out of the Batverse now, and I liked it when she was a clear head that could deal with Batman on his own level. Only 3 ppl in the DC Universe can talk to Batman as an equal: Nightwing, Superman and Catwoman. So it's sad to see that Catwoman and Batman seem to be seperated now. :( Hopefully 2007 will be a good year for the Cat :)


Final Thoughts:

One Year Later is essentially done now. The novelty is over, and it's no longer about "omg what happened to them!" In general, I think it came off OKAY, but aside from a few good things, most of the "changes" have either been dissapointing or unneccessary. :( DC definitely tried to make 2006 their year, but unfortunately OYL didn't come off as strong and impressive as they might have hoped. :\

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: 52! :)

52

52 is still on going so I can only talk about what's happened so far. :) 52 is basically DC's "great experiment" to tell a story for an entire year with one issue every week (to a total of 52 issues) in "real time". So if it's Christmas week here, it'll be Christmas week in the DCU. The story fills in the missing year between the end of Infinite Crisis and the beginning of the One Year Later (OYL) books. :o

What I liked:

That it's been on time. When 52 first was announced that was basically the only thing on everybody's minds and lips, that it would be a success if they just got to the finish line. We're not 35 issues in and they haven't missed a week! :O Mind you, it makes sense. Like, the other books have been kinda delayed sometimes, but that's prolly b/c DC knows it HAS to get 52 out, so that's everybody's priority. It's okay if SUperman is late by a week or 2 b/c they never promised to get Superman out on time every week. :| 52 is the priority and I think it's smart business that DC is making it that. :)

It's also been well written in general. With DC's top 5 stars, Morrison, Waid, Johns, Rucka and Giffen, on it, it should be no surprise :) The characterization has been nuanced and altho there have been some characterizations that seem off base (Booster Gold *cough cough*) in general it's worked well. :) There's a lot going on and the plots seem to be leading up to big things. :O In a way it's almost sad to see it end b/c it was rly fun following some of these stories, esp the Black Adam one. I feel bad it looks like his happy family life is going to be shattered. :( I rly hope that they go with their characters intact rather than become evil and villainous. :
In terms of what I've rly liked is the characterization of Renee Montoya. It was a bit weird hearing that she was going to be one of the main characters given that she's not a superhero, but they've done a rly good job of it, tho they could tune down the "slutty lesbian" thing a little xD But in general, they haven't played on it as much as they could, and I rly like her development. :)

All this story rly needed to do was get the issues out on time, and it's done that AND more. There's something in this story for everyone. There's so many storylines that everybody's bound to have some they like and some they dislike, and b/c of that this is as mainstream and accessible a comic as you can get. :)


What I didn't like:

What did they do to Booster Gold!!!!!!!???? :O Srsly! If there's one thing that DC seems to be doing lately, it's sacrificing characterization for plot. :| Like how Max Lord suddenly became a villain (when in JLI, he clearly did care for the ppl under his charge) and how everybody suddenly hated Blue Beetle and abandoned him to die alone, Booster Gold suddenly regressed and became a selfish baby again so much so that his death seemed pointless :( I'm HOPING that he returns (maybe as Supernova?) and redeems himself, esp since Skeets is now a villain xD But it was still sad to see him act that way, esp how he was portrayed leading up to Infinite Crisis.

Also, I still haven't warmed up to Batwoman b/c she still has no character. :\ The only thing we know about her is she's a lesbian and she and Renee still have feelings for each other. o_o;; But that's all. :\ WHY is she fighting crime? How did she get training to fight crime and swing around the city? Just cuz she's rich like Bruce Wayne doesn't mean she has his abilities or drive. We know NOTHING about her and it's like DC's just proud of the fact that they have a lipstick lesbian character. :
I WANT to like Batwoman, but I know nothing about her :(

Natasha Irons is another character I think that's being mistreated. She's a Geoff Johns' typical teenage girl portrayl: she's egotistical, self centred, and doesn't think for herself. :\ I hate that she's bad when she listens to Luthor and good when she listens to her Uncle. That's IT. Like she can't make decisions on her own. This isn't just a feminist rant. If a male character did that, I'd have the same reaction >:| It's silly and basically makes her choices neither moral nor immoral since they're not HER choices.

The 52 format hasn't rly lived up to expectations when it comes to the "real time" thing tho b/c most issues focus merely on 1 or 2 days and only on a few characters, so basically it's like a regular comic book. Which adds to the confusion b/c then if some characters (like Booster Gold) doesn't show up for 6 issues, it means 6 weeks has passed. So, what has he been up to? Nothing? o_O;; That's kinda been the problem with 52. Way too many plotlines, not enuf story. :(

And the Borg made an appearance! I'm still not sure if this is good or bad XD But srsly, cube ships, turning ppl who resist them into members of their mindless army? Having a "queen" in charge of everything? It's THE BORG!!!! XDDDDD And they get to fight Animal Man, Adam Strange and Starfire! XD


Final Thoughts:

In general, I still rly like 52. It has flaws, but it's so expansive that there's always something to like for everything there isn't to like. :) Also, now that we're finally getting some stories about where Batman's been and stuff, it's getting interesting ^-^ My only fear is that with 17 issues left, there's too many plotlines to wrap up :\ Esp since we still have to deal with World War III, and what type of world war can be crammed into only 17 weeks!? I still very much recommend this book tho, and I look forward to what 2007 has to bring! :)

Ami's 2006 Year in Review: Infinite Crisis! :O

Infinite Crisis

For those that dunno, Infinite Crisis was DC's big once in a decade type event. :O This wasn't just a crossover, it was THE crossover, supposedly building over 2+ years. :| It started in late 2005 and finished in May 2006 and was 7 issues long. Basically the idea was that the DC universe over the past few years had gotten very dark and the heroes weren't acting like heroes nemore. :| B/c of this, the survivors of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman Earth-2, Superboy Earth-Prime, Alexander Luthor from Earth-3 and Lois Lane Earth-2 returned. :O

However it turned out that Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime were behind many of the problems plaguing the DC universe as they sought to remake the world in their image, finding the "perfect" Earth. At the end, the DC heroes united together to stop them and our Superboy as well as Superman Earth-2 sacrificed their lives to stop Superboy Prime. :(

What I liked:

There was a lot to like about Infinite Crisis, esp the first few issues. :O The story began on a very low note, with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman no longer being able to agree on nething, and Batman's infamous line to Superman that the last time he inspired nebody was when he was dead. :O Issues 1-4 rly left us going "wow" and wondering what was going to happen. For a while it seemed like NETHING could happen, NEBODY could die, and that DC was rly going to make huge changes. sadly, they didn't. :( But I'll address that when I talk about what I didn't like. :
I thought the writing was rly good as well and Johns did a great job capturing the different characters, esp given that he was basically tasked with writing for EVERY character in the DCU. The art was generally good too, tho the last few issues suffered from what looked like incomplete pages and multiple artists. :(

I rly liked having Superboy Prime and Alex Luthor be the villains as Superboy Prime is extremely powerful (possibly the most physically powerful entity in the DCU) and Alex is extremely intelligent. But both are also sympathetic villains. They were taken away from their homes and when they saved the universe, they lost their homes forever. :\ Superboy never got to enjoy his life and Alex never got to have a childhood. It's very clear that both are not evil in the traditional sense, they're just wounded. :( However, they go further and further towards the "dark" side as the story progress and as they become increasingly desperate. :| It's actually a very well written change and at the end we rly do want to see them defeated b/c of how malicious they've become. :o

Having all the heroes band together was nice to see too given how much they seemed to hate each ohter before. :\ I rly rly liked how Johns made the plot in a way that made it SEEM like all the screw ups and bad plot decisions DC's made in the past decade or so, were INTENTIONAL. Like "see we did the rape plot on purpose!" XD The whole series read like an acknowledgement of their bad writing. :O It was a bit refreshing and also clever. :)

It was great to see Batman trusting other heroes again and working with ppl. :) It was nice to see all the heroes support each other and working to save INNOCENT PEOPLE as the world was falling apart around them. :o It's nice to know that even as they face the end of the world they care more about the regular people than themselves. :) And I think that was the "message" of Infinite Crisis, that being a hero is about helping others, not about having super powers, and that in the end, real heroes will put aside their differences and work together for the common good. :)

What I didn't like:

The ending. Altho when I first read it, I rly liked it, on hindsight, it was rushed and unfortunately DC didn't go ahead with everything they wanted to do. :| Like kill Nightwing. :O Imo, the whole story was leading up to killing Nightwing. His character had rly plateaued and he was never going to become Batman, so there rly wasn't nething else for him to do. :\ He had finally admitted his love for Barbara Gordon and proposed. He wrapped up everything in his life, and when he went toe to toe with Superboy Prime, I thought, this is it. :o But sadly, he didn't die. :| I have nothing against Superboy dying (except he acted like he had an IQ of 90 even in death), but I think seeing a man with no powers fighting the most powerful person in the DCU would have been very inspiring. :)

Issues 5 and 6 were also very dissapointing, esp 5 where NOTHING happened. :( The appearance of Diana Prince from Earth-2 was a very deus ex machina move that made no sense and seemed to be there just to get Wonder Woman to help Superman. :| And rly, all she did was tell Superman Earth-2 to stop being stupid. >:| There wasn't a lot there and sadly it seemed like they just needed some excuse, ne excuse, to get Superman E-2 to stop fighting E-1. :
Of all 4 plots (Villains United, The OMAC Project, Day of Vengeance, Rann/Thanagar War) only the OMAC project seemed to RLY play an important part in IC, while DoV barely had NETHING to do with it! :O That was sad. :( It was rly interesting when it seemed like all 4 plots would be extremely important to the story.

Given that there's been some internet outcry about the death of Phantom Lady to Deathstroke in an incredibly disturbing scene (she is impaled on a spear and most of her clothes are ripped off), I'd like to point out that Panthra was also the first killed by Superboy Prime (beheaded). :| Now, I dun think there's nething OPENLY misogynistic about this. I dun think Johns has snuff fantasies or WANTS this to happen to women. Actually I believe he DOESN'T want this to happen to women, which is why it does. :|

Women are an easy target in comics and fiction in general, not b/c the male authors hate us, but b/c violence against women is generally accepted as being BAD and rape esp. These are things where there doesn't need to be context, it's just BAD. You can't rape in self defence, you can't rape by accident and you can't rape to feed your family. So there doesn't need to be context or explanations, you can put it there and everybody will go "OMG THAT'S HORRIBLE" and the villain will be hated. 100% No arguments. So it's more a symptom of lazy writing, and an audience filled with guys whose biggest fantasy is to protect helpless women. So I think having 2 women (Phantom Lady and Panthra) be killed in exceptionally gory ways isn't that Johns hates us, or that he even consciously thought about it, it's just the comic convention of adding a little more 'emotional impact' to an emotional scene by making the victim female.

I'd like to point out also that since a lot of MEN died and were maimed as well in IC, I'm not going to just point to those 2 examples like they're the only things that happened.

So neways.. altho the story started out great it was a bit sad that it kinda died at the end. :( Issue 7 almost saved it as it was packed with stuff and lots of heroic sacrifices and twists and turns, but it was still rushed. :| Like why did Doomsday suddenly appear out of nowhere and why is he stupid and mindless again? And why did he get dispatched in 1 page? It was very confusing ;-;

Oh and one last thing I didn't like: Superboy and Wonder Girl's smex scene. Why? Cuz it read like a teenage male fantasy, complete with girl being in the boys clothes afterwards. :| Superboy was written EXTREMELY accessibly, so that every guy reading it could pretend they were him, and Cassie (I've just realized there's an awful lot of girls in the comicverse named Cassie XD) was written like the head cheerleader every guys wants. :O And.. yah.. it was kinda unnecessary. :| I dunno.. I'm not against smex in comic books, but the way it was drawn and portrayed didn't read like it was there as nething other than cheesecake and to give Cassie a reason to join a cult later. *sigh* Emotionally fragile girls, yub yub. When my boyfriend dies I'm gonna join a cult too! *rolls eyes*


Final Thoughts:

I think that 2006 will still be remembered as the year of Infinite Crisis b/c despite it's kinda dissapointing finish, it was still huge in scope and rly attempted to tell a story that encompassed all of DC history. It was a good attempt and I think Geoff Johns did his best with 7 issues and a whole lot of story to deal with. :) I still do break out all 7 issues and read it, and it still does enthrall me. It rly is a story that drags you in and you rly do care about what happens. :) I think it's out in TPB now (or will be soon if it's not), so nebody interested should check it out ^-^

Ami's 2006 Year in Review :)

Ami's 2006 Recap and Angel Awards! :D

*bops*

Hi and welcome to 2007! :) The end of 2006 marks the first full year that I've been following and buying comics XD Yus, I'm kinda new at this but I catch up fast :D I've read stuff well before 2005 and I've caught up on everything important I need to know :)

First, before I begin, I want to say that when I talk about comics I refer to the "big 2" mostly, i.e. Marvel and DC, and mostly DC. The reason for my limited scope is a practical one: money. :| In 2005 and early 2006, I still had a full time job, so I bought more books, now I dun, so I have to watch what I buy. That means I have to limit myself, and I chose mostly DC books. Previously I chose mostly Marvel books, but House of M burnt me pretty bad XD And I'm a bit jaded about them now XD So just so you know, this is a mostly DC review, with some Spiderman and Civil War thrown in :)

So the big things that happened last year are obviously the end of Infinite Crisis, 52, One Year Later and Marvel's Civil War :O So let me address those in order :)

The All New Atom - #6 Review

The All New Atom - #6

Synopsis: The battle between Chaos/Magic and Science rages in Ivy Town as various villains from each side battle each other. :O Dwarfstar walks among the carnage and knifes a couple of police officers. :O He apparently composes a poem for each person he kills, but notes that as he expects a lot of ppl to die tonight, he composes one poem for both officers.

Ryan speeds back on the bangstick from Washington DC where he just saved the President's life from The Waiting. :) He recaps what has happened so far including his battles with the microscopic insect villains, The Waiting who represent science and his confrontation with M'Nagalah who represents chaos, as well as hearing about Dwarfstar, a villain who has a size changing belt like Ryan has and who threatened Ryan's friend Panda (sadly he's a real person, and not a little panda bear xD).

Ryan reaches Ivy Town to find it overrun with monsters fighting each other :O He dives in and attacks some Waiting before being confronted by Dwarfstar! He attempts to reason with Dwarfstar but the villain attacks him and beats him up a bit, revealing that he knows that altho Ryan is a martial artist, he's not a very good one. :O Also Dwarfstar tells Ryan that he's a philosophy major and that he doesn't care about what happens in the war between Science and Chaos. :O

After being stabbed in the shoulder by Dwarfstar, Ryan flees. He starts to give up hope as he flies away on the bangstick, but his deceased mother appears to him and encourages him to continue. Re-energized, Ryan decides to change tactics and heads for M'Nagalah. He reasons that since the war is happening due to Ivy Town being a nexus for Science and Chaos that if The Waiting call off their attack, then M'Nagalah should have no reason to fight back. M'Nagalah appears to agree with these terms.

Ryan heads out to find The Waiting, but is attacked by Waiting-controlled dogs! However, his own dog, Copernicus, defies their programming and saves Ryan! :D Yay!!! XDDD Unfortunately, as Ryan escapes with his dog, Dwarfstar attacks Ryan again! :( Ryan knows he cannot win in a physical fight and instead goads Dwarfstar into chasing him by getting smaller and smaller. :O

When they are the size of atoms, Ryan pretends to surrender. While to Dwarfstar it appears that Ryan is reaching out to him in desperation, on his knees, begging not to be hurt nemore, he is infact, grabbing for Dwarfstar's belt! He then begins to grow again as Dwarfstar realizes his belt has been stolen and is now trapped forever the size of an atom! :O

Ryan then finds The Waiting and theorizes that since The Waiting's technology is based on the biological make up of insects, especially ants, that by repeating harming one of the insectoid ships, it would release phermones that in great enuf quantities would drive the other ships into a frenzy, shooting everything, including each other. He tries it out, and it does indeed working, giving him the leverage to force The Waiting to accept the truce he proposed to M'Nagalah. :O With both sides now agreeing to disagree, they retreat and Ivy Town is saved! :D

The next day, Ryan returns to the campus and is approached by Amanda, who says that Dr. Zuel was right that students shouldn't date professors but she wants to be friends with Ryan. Ryan agrees and Amanda reminds him that she wun ALWAYS be a student. XD

Entering his classroom, Ryan tries to start his lesson, but his students wun listen to him as they dun respect him b/c of his young age. :O His father then comes into the classroom and yells at the student as only a Chinese father can XDDD and scares them into paying attention! :O

Back at home, his father packs to leave, and admits that Ryan would have been able to keep the classroom in order without him, but he just wanted to relive his glory days. xD Then he says that he's not going to try to convince Ryan to come back home to Hong Kong and that while he doesn't believe Ivy Town needs a superhero, he believes they need a good teacher like Ryan. :) Ryan gets a cab for his father, and the cabby, like in issue 1, says a strange cryptic msg to him. Ryan goes home and unjumbles the letters in the msg and finds out that it says "Not Ray Palmer's Belt".


Review: I rly liked this issue! :) But I've liked almost all the issues ^-^ I rly like how this is the first real test of the new Atom, and it's a very superhero type test. Warring villains and an arch nemesis with similar powers! However, I like his solution to both problems. :) It's very much a testament to how this new Atom series is in that Ryan is not a fighter, and altho he has some martial arts training, it's evident that fighting and physicality is not his forte at all. He is however, a scientist and a professor. He's very intelligent and can think up solutions quickly. :) He's like Batman without the fighting XD

I rly like that he was able to stop the war without using violence, and instead got them to agree to a truce. :) It's rare that a superhero uses diplomacy to solve a problem rather than brute strength. ^-^ It says a lot about what type of hero Ryan is. But what I rly like is his showdown with Dwarfstar. Altho Dwarfstar isn't rly a great villain, since we barely know him except that he's a murdering philosophy major who writes poems, he comes off as a big threat here and a legitimate nemesis to Ryan. The philosphy major part seems to have been thrown in to make him the equal and opposite of Ryan, both being intelligent and having similar abilities, but one having majored in science and the other in philosophy. I'm hoping this isn't a dig at arts students xD But it doesn't seem to be. :)

Neways, the showdown was rly well written, and I liked how it was raining during the whole thing. It was a good backdrop for Ryan's first supervillain battle! And it was a good battle :D The art was very dramatic and I like how Atom stood his ground despite being injured, and that he defeated Dwarfstar by out thinking him ^-^ It's always nice to see a hero use his brain :)

I thought it was cute that Ryan's parents play such a big part in his life. It IS very Chinese of him, and altho my sister would complain about stereotypes, to me, it's very true to life. :] I AM Chinese after all, and I have many Chinese friends XD It is a different culture and I'm born in Canada, while Ryan was born and raised in Hong Kong :) Besides, it not like he embodies other Chinese male stereotypes such as being ineffectual with women (quite the contrary, he seems to be very popular with the women), or being meek (he's definitely not meek!). :) Personally, I rly like his character and I like that his parents are important to him. After all, Superman's parents are important to him (so are Batman's!) and nobody says that's a negative stereotype! :) The Atom is an intelligent superhero who just happens to be Asian. It's part of him, but it is not ALL of him. :)

And I think it's rly good that he has other professors who help him and give him advice and analysis during his adventures. :) He seems to be somebody who works well with others, and I like how at the end he says that it was a team effort that won the day. :)

This is why I'm sad that the new Justice League didn't take a chance on some of the newer heroes like the Atom and the Blue Beetle and even Supergirl, b/c I think that their personalities would benefit from interaction with other heroes, and also that I think it would be rly interesting. XD I can just imagine Jaime ogling Kara XDDD These are new heroes and it'd be nice to see them grow together. :] After all, we're hoping that they stay for a long time (well maybe not Supergirl XD) and if they ARE going to be around 5 or 10 years into the future, it'd be nice to have some stories NOW with them interacting when they're all still new at this so that we can compare them when they have adventures later :)

Also... GO DOGGY! :D YAY!!! I rly liked when his dog saved him! B/c we knew from issue 1 that his dog had been controlled by The Waiting, and it was great to see him resist the programming and fight back! :D Esp since he hadn't known Ryan for that long. :) That scene made me happy ^-^

I think the only thing I didn't like about this issue was this panel.



There. :| My problem is that it was TOTALLY unnecessary. You could have cut that page out and went straight to Dwarfstar knifing them and it would make no difference. Or you could have the policewoman come thru the radio, or have her NOT LOOK LIKE SHE WAS A PORNSTAR PRETENDING TO BE A POLICE OFFICER XDDDD But I'm not THAT angry about it. I just hate being jarred from reading a comic by an image that's clearly cheesecake. :\ That's one tight uniform o_o;; It's just unnecessary.

But other than that, it's a good issue, and a rly good way to end the first arc. :)

I definitely think that ppl who LIKE superheroes, but are tired of Superheroes who just punch and carry a "might makes right" mentality, would rly like this book b/c it's a refreshing change of pace, and Ryan is a rly likeable and interesting character and it's fun to see him learn to be a hero. :) Also, I rly like how little quotes are thrown into the book that are sorta relevant to what's going on and they quote scientists and philosophers. :) Also, Lex Luthor and Jor-El, which I find funny XDDD But I guess in the DC world, Jor-El is just as much of a scientist as Einstein was XD

Angelwings Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: A very good issue and if you've been following the arc, you should check it out. :) Even if you're not, it sums up the first 5 issues at the beginning, so you can catch up. :)

American Virgin - #10 Review

American Virgin - #10

Synopsis: Continuing where we last left off, Adam and his step-sister Cyndi are stuck in the water after their plane crashes into a lake just south of the Miami International Airport. :O Adam hears the voice of Cassie, his dead girlfriend, while he struggles underwater. :\ Cyndi attempts to save him, but Cassie says that if she does, she'll die. :O Before she can reach Adam, another survivor grabs Cyndi and swims her to the surface where she cries out for Adam.

Adam, meanwhile, with Cassie still talking to him, manages to free himself and grab another passenger. Cyndi then asks Adam if he rly is anxious to die and join her in heaven. :O She takes him on a flashback journey of his life and how he became who he is now. o_o;;

We start in 1984 when he was born in the backseat of a car. Apparently he was the child of his mother and a Mexican guy. :O They decide to marry after Adam is born despite their different backgrounds. Three years later, Adam's biological father leaves his mother despite her protestations that she loves him. We discover that her father, who is wealthy, didn't want her Mexican husband "tarnishing" the family name and paid him handsomely to leave. :(

Two years later, Adam's mother is engaged to his future step-father, and Cyndi and Adam are now living in the same house. Adam walks in on Cyndi taking a bath, and both being very young, decide to take a bath together cuz it'll be fun. :) They get curious about their little bits (nothing sexual at all, just childish curiousity) and Adam's mother catches them. She violently yanks Adam away and spanks him for being sinful. :(

Back in the present, Cassie scolds Adam for lying to her as Adam had told her she was the first to see his penis. :O But in reality it was Cyndi. o_o Adam says that it doesn't count b/c they were just children, but Cassie says it's the same in the eyes of God. Cassie then says that Adam's mother was alrdy pregnant with his baby brother at the time of the incident which Adam disagrees, but the flashback reveals that at the wedding, his mother was indeed alrdy pregnant. :O

We flashback again to when Adam was 9. While complaining about how he doesn't like having siblings to his mother, he mentions something related to how babies are concieved that he overheard. :O His mother angrily washes his mouth out with soap (literally), again scolding him for being sinful. :(

2 years later, his Uncle becomes Governor of Florida and hands his television ministry over to his brother-in-law (Adam's step-father). While at the celebrations, Adam is confronted by his two step-brothers who are angry at him for telling on them for drinking alcohol! They literally urinate on him in retaliation. :(

His mother finds out about this and in anger kicks all 3 step-children out of the house, including Cyndi. :( While Adam's brother Kyle is happy about this, Adam appears to miss Cyndi. :O

When Adam is 13, he and his brother are taken on to his step-father's television show to be baptised on tv. :O Adam refuses to b/c he's scared of water and ends up wetting himself. :\ Two years later, a party is held by his uncle, who is still governor, at Adam's house. Peaking thru the bushes, he sees a lot of old men (presumably politicians and their supporters) having "fun" with young women. :O Adam starts masturbating but is caught by his uncle! His uncle says that what he did is a sin, but if Adam doesn't mention it to nebody, he'll talk to God and get it "taken off his permanent record". :S

Cassie points out that if his uncle hadn't caught him, Adam would have watched all night. Adam retorts that sight isn't a sin, but Cassie says that lust is. Adam says that he felt lust for Cassie when he first saw her, and that's how he lost his fear. Cassie says that he's remembering wrong.

Adam is now 16 and one of the judges of the Miss Teen Miami Beach Pageant due to his uncle's profile as Governor and his step-father's fame as host of a TV evangelical show. That's when he met Cassie, who was one of the finalists. Back in the present, Cassie says that that wasn't the moment Adam lost his fear, but a year later when he went to a party he never told her about! :O

It's Senior Skip Day and Adam is out with his friend Dmitri. He's glad to be out of the house as he hates living there with his family. At the party is a giant campaigne bottle with a stripper dancing in it. :O Adam is entranced and says he's getting aroused watching. Then the stripper turns around and he sees that it's Cyndi!!!!! :O Feeling extremely guilty, Adam runs onto the set of his step-father's show and demands to be baptised to clear him of his sins. O_O;;

Right on stage, in front of everybody, he steps into the water and it is there where his famous meeting with God takes place. :O God tells him:

"You shall speak against sin when you see it and you shall be with one woman and she shall be a woman you have only recently seen for the first time and your heart will know her as your loins will know her and you shall be hers forever and no other shlal have your heart and..."

Adam gets up from the water and announces he's saved.

In the present again, Cassie says that she knows Adam ratted out his uncle to the press about his sex parties which led to his resignation. Adam is shocked that she knows, but Cassie then asks Adam how he knew God meant her when he told Adam that there would be one person meant for him in his life. :O Adam says b/c she was the one he had just recently talked to. Cassie points out that God didn't say it was somebody he had "talked to" but somebody he had only recently SEEN and that at the beauty pageant there were many girls there.

Led by Cassie, Adam swims out of the plane and breaks through to the surface, cradling an unconscious girl, wondering aloud that if this was true, was he not meant to be with Cassie after all? :OOO


Review: YES!!!! :D Finally, an issue that moves Adam's character development forward and actually raises some questions! This was kinda what everybody had hoped for the book when it first came out. Sadly, the first 9 issues were mostly about Adam trying to find the terrorists who had killed Cassie and exact his revenge. :\ For a book supposedly dealing with smex, it seemed mostly about violence. :| However, this issue finally makes everything before worthwhile. :) We finally find out why Adam is who he is, why Cyndi and him have such a close relationship even tho they're on opposite ends of the moral divide, and why his family is the way it is. :O

And it's an interesting backstory! Admittedly, it's a little over the top, but given that this is Vertigo, and it is a comic book, it's okay to be a bit dramatic! It also makes sense that Adam's obsession with smex and denouncing it would come about due to a history of being confronted by sexual situations that led to nothing but pain and guilt as a child. :( Sadly, and most notably, his few happy moments seem to involve Cyndi. o_o;;

I think what's even more compelling tho is the story of how his mother became the very dislikable and manipulative character that she is now. :| Her early portrayals of a girl in love, and actually quite nice to Adam, is actually quite sad as we know how she turns out, and then to watch her heart get broken and her life be controlled by her father is very upsetting. :( Seeing Cyndi get kicked out unwillingly, also shows us why Cyndi is who she is, and takes away some of her tarnish as we see that it wasn't necessarily her fault that she lived the life she lived.

And we find out that Cassie was a beauty queen (or at least, it's implied she won b/c Adam picked her) while Cyndi was a stripper. :| Given how much I'm mentioning Cyndi, I'm sure you've all alrdy figured out where I'm going with this and how I interpreted what God told him. :O

I think that Adam's one and only is going to be his step-sister! :O They're not biologically related so it's not like it's an actual problem. They were essentially brother and sister for 6 years. :| But it makes a lot of sense that this would be the ultimate destination his life is taking, at least after 10 issues b/c Cyndi has been the one character that has consistantly stood by him, helped him and cared about him, and he too has done the same for her. Despite the fact that they haven't seen each other in so long, and that Adam considers her a sinner and a slut, and she considers Adam a Christian Puritan, they still seem to rly like each other. :)

That could just be the brother/sister thing but after this issue I'm rly not so sure it's JUST that nemore. :] After all, Cassie said that Adam remembered incorrectly that he lusted for her at their first meeting, while he says in the comic that he lusted for the stripper before finding out it was Cyndi. :O His guilt stems from the previous incident where his mother spanked him despite his protests that he and Cyndi were not related (when they were children, before they were even step-siblings).

And I think it's also important to note that it was in fact his guilt about lusting for Cyndi that drove him to conquer his fear of water and get baptised and become the courageous and determined individual he is now. It was CYNDI who drove him to do this, not Cassie. And I think that's an important thing that the authors put in. His one and only is the source of his strength, and he's believed that that's been Cassie when that's untrue. :O Which again makes me think that Cyndi will ultimately be "the one".

So finally this book is giving us some indication of what's to come and that Adam's journey is not linked intrinsically to Cassie. It was a bit hard to see how there would be a series before this issue b/c with Cassie dead, all Adam seemed to need was revenge. This opens a lot more possiblities and also answers the question of why God would let Cassie die when Adam's fated to lose his virginity to her. :|

On the subject of God tho, it's still interesting that altho the story is very driven by God and a seemingly ghost/angel version of Cassie, it's leaving it open to the idea that Adam is just imagining all of this. Nobody else hears God or Cassie, and all she does is bring up memories that Adam has, but has repressed. So far she hasn't offered up NEW information, so this could very well be all in his mind. :O Whether it is or not tho, isn't rly that important, as it adds to the story. :)

The question now is, is the story going to stay on a small scale and be a story about Adam, or is it going to grow and become less realistic? This was, after all, advertised as being a story like The Preacher, which operates on a much more literal scale involving the Christian mythology. :O I hope it stays small, and this is a story about Adam and the people around him. :) It seems like it will be tho, and that every character he meets will recur at some point. Which will be great, cuz I can't wait to see the return of Alexis, the transgirl that Adam met in Australia! :D She and Cyndi are two of my favourite characters, and she rly won me over when she got herself arrested to save Adam from arrest despite how he feels about her lifestyle. ^___^

Actually, on that note, Adam himself is one of my favourite characters, and THAT is very important. It's very obvious what Seagle thinks about Evangelincal Christianity and it's supporters, but rather than make Adam a cliche, a hateful, hypocritical Christian who does not practice what he preaches, Seagle has made Adam a genuinely good person. He's human, and has flaws, he DOES have hate for the terrorists who killed his girlfriend but he doesn't have hate for homosexuals, transsexuals and others he believes have sinned. He wants to save them, but he doesn't HATE them, and actually seems to be able to be friends with them. :) And I like that attitude and it means that he will prolly grow, as he is open to new ideas. ^-^

That's what's impressed me the most about this book and why I still read, that the characters are handled VERY well, even when the plot is not very interesting, and that all the characters are likeable, esp Adam, who is somebody I disagree with belief-wise, but I like as a human being. :)

One more thought, it's interesting that it was implied in another issue that Cassie had smex in Africa with one of her colleagues before she was kidnapped and killed. So far Adam wun admit this to himself, still believing that she was raped before her death, but what happens when he does? Will he believe that she died BECAUSE she broke God's plan? Or will he realize that she wasn't the perfect angel he thought she was? Honestly, I think she was going to break up with him, as in the first issue, during their telephone call, she had something more to say to Adam but decided not to say it before she hung up. And I've always wondered what she was about to say. :O I hope they get back to that!

Wouldn't it be interesting if Cyndi was a virgin? :O I was wondering that too while reading this issue. o_o;; I'll have to go back to the other issues but I dun believe there was ever evidence that Cyndi had smex. She implied she did. But she could be doing that to enhance her bad girl image and annoy Adam. She has piercings and a tattoo, so prolly the assumption is "hey slut", and it would go right along with this book, that appearance isn't everything. And it would be an interesting (albeit a little cliched) comparison between Cassie and Cyndi. :O

Of course Cyndi NOT being a virgin would make her no less pure, esp since God never said that the girl had to be chaste, just Adam. I just think that she might be, just to add some depth to her character. :O And given her background, it would clearly be HER choice if she chose not to (not b/c of religion, not b/c of a want to be good or pure), so it would be no less empowering. :)

Neways, that was a long ramble, but that shows what a good series this has been and what a good book this issue was since it brought out a lot of thoughts. :) The art again is great, very cute, and very smexy at the same time, without being too much of either. It does have a lot of nudity in it (bare breasts), HOWEVER, it should be noted, that none of it seems gratuitous and is there for plot reasons (like the beach party). All of these moments were important moments that helped shape Adam, and I think the shock value helps to give us a sense of how he felt. :O

The only kinda issue I have is showing kid Cyndi naked from the top up. :O Is that child pornography or not? It's like a diaper commercial. You see baby girls naked from the top up all the time in diaper commercials. Is that child pornography? I dunno o_o But this is drawn and it was a bath scene, so honestly, it's not explicit, it's not sexual, and so, I'm not bothered by it. :| Maybe that was the point of the scene? That it's something that as an adult we're like OMG, but all of us have been at that point, when we're young and small and being naked ISN'T a problem. So that could be it, that it's an innocent scene but WE put the sexual connotations into it, but they're innocent children and there's nothing wrong with it to them.

Interesting! :D

Neways, I very much recommend American Virgin after this issue, and since this is the beginning of a new story arc, I think this is a great jumping on point. :) You can pick up the previous 9 in TPB format to catch up :) Tho I think the second TPB wouldn't be out until like a month or two >.>;;

But yah, def check it out :)

Sorry for the super long review!!! XDD

Angelwings Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: Def worth getting into the series for. :) Very recommended! ^-^

Week of Jan 3 Comics and Super Short Reviews :)

Hihi! :D So this week's batch of comics have been a bit delayed due to the holidays, but that's okay. :) I have them now! XD It was an interesting week b/c some comics rly dissapointed while others surprised me with their quality!

Also, my comic store didn't seem to get a shipment of the Atom #6, so I haven't been able to get a copy until today. :(

This weekend I plan to post my year-end reviews and give out the 2006 Angelwings Awards :D

>.>;;;

Neways, so this week I got:

52 - #35
The All-New Atom - #6
The All-New Atom - #7
American Virgin - #10
Civil War - #6
JLA Classified - #31
Manhunter - #27
Nightwing - #128
Superman - #658

Again, I'll be giving my super short non-spoiler reviews here :) And then later I'll put up more in depth reviews :)

So here they are! :D

52 - #35 - What we thought would happen at the end of #34, happens. It's predictable sadly, and so is the direction that Natasha Irons' character is taking. An interesting (but again predictable :\) twist is added to the Lobo/Animal Man/Starfire/Adam Strange arc. No "origins of" story this issue. Kinda blah-ish despite what happened. Following one of the strongest issues, this is one of the weaker ones :( 2.5/5 Angelwings :O

The All-New Atom - #6 - An excellent conclusion to the first All-New Atom arc! :D Ryan Choi continues to shine as a new face in the DCU, and his first real supervillain battle is a joy to watch. Again, he solves his problems by using his brain, not his brawn, and that's very refreshing ^-^ 4.5/5

The All-New Atom - #7 - The Atom's sophomore adventure begins and doesn't miss a beat. :D The comic continues to be very strange but also very smart. Simone is clearly focussing on the Atom being a University Professor and being very intelligent, rather than being some sort of action hero, and that's a great angle to take :) 4/5

American Virgin - #10 - FINALLY. THIS is the issue we've been hoping for since the beginning! We finally see how Adam became Adam. Altho his background is a bit over the top, the whole series is SUPPOSED to be a bit surreal, straddling reality and fiction, and I think this issue finally manages to do it well. :) The twist ending is very interesting, altho I think every reader will finally GET what's going on with Adam. This is also an issue where shippers should rejoice, b/c I think they're hinting at a great pairing :) 5/5 This is the jumping on point if you want to get into a new series that's not your regular comic book story. :)

Civil War - #6 - I had very low expectations for Civil War #6 and altho not a GREAT book (some may argue it's the weakest so far), I still liked parts of it. The characterization is still in left field somewhere, but the PLOT is finally picking up. :O I rly didn't like the "twist" ending b/c it was illogical, but I guess they just wanted to show up Ironman. However, I feel like it sets up a second twist in #7. This series is all depending on #7 to hit a home run now tho. :O B/c if #7 is filled with plot and twists and just THINGS happening, then this will have been worth it. If it's back to the status quo with a minor change like House of M #8, then Civil War has been a dissapointment :( 2.5/5

JLA Classified - #31 - The ending to the latest arc is a bit convoluted and dissapointing. :\ It's rabidly pro-American, until the last page which is confusing, like they tacked it on. My problem with this story in general has been that the Justice League acts as the President's pawns and soldiers, and that is NOT how they work. But if the ending had been solid, then I would still give it a good rating :) Unfortunately, it crams too much stuff in it, and confuses me as to what the "moral of the story" is, other than that America should send sUperheroes to arrest foreign leaders. Also, I'm still not sure WHAT just happened at the end. :( 2/5


Manhunter - #27 - The best book nobody's reading is still great. :D And I think DC is TRYING to sell it now. This is the first Manhunter book I've seen that's sold out on the first day. Usually it's sitting on the shelf in a large pile for weeks. :( The "twist" is right on the cover, so clearly DC wants to get attention and not hide it. If it's legit tho, it's yet another example of DC going back on its word. :\ But I wun judge until I see how it plays out. It's refreshing to read a comic book that doesn't portray women as sexual objects or as emotionally brittle! :) This one ups Birds of Prey and other "girl" comics b/c it has great portrayals of female characters without the "YOU GO GIRL" pandering. :D 5/5

Nightwing - #128 - Poor Nightwing. :\ They should have killed him off in Infinite Crisis. Dick continues to get mistreated by bad characterization and a lousy lousy plot. :( At least Jason didn't turn into a half monster in this finale, but almost nothing is resolved, and apparently wun be netime soon. :( Continue to avoid Nightwing like the plague. :\ 1/5

Superman - #658 - o_O A nice Elseworlds story, but sadly, this isn't Elseworlds. The "future" story is interesting, but the actual story isn't. :\ The ending is silly, and apparently will be "continued" in some future book, but not netime soon. So.. what was the point? I rly dun like having to go "huh?" all the time when reading a comic book :( 1/5


Neways, that's it for the short reviews! :D I'll be back with more in depth ones later! Have a great weekend! :)

<3 <3 <3

Teh Ami :D

Ami gets ranty >:D

I have a new blog!!! :D

It's for my opinions, rants and essays on comics. :) Basically nething that I want to talk about and aren't necessarily linked to a specific issue that just came out :]

So check it out from time to time! :D

<3

Teh Ami :D

Justice - #9 (of 12) Review

Justice - #9 (of 12)

Synopsis: The superheroes, now together in Superman's fortress, plan their next move against Luthor, Brainiac and the other villains. Because of the mind controlling robo worms, they cannot attack without protection or else they risk being controlled. :|

The Atom and Dr. Magnus work together to create some sort of armour for the heroes, while a strike force is to attack the villains. :O

It's discovered that the worms are made from technology that Brainiac stole from Dr. Sivana, Captain Marvel's villain, and that they're miniature version of Mr. Mind. :o

The heroes organize a strike force to attack the villains that includes Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. :o Arriving at their base, they encounter Grodd who wields the yellow power ring that Sinestro has! He reveals that there is more than one ring and that the villains were expecting the heroes! The heroes realize that Captain Cold, who is captured in the fortress, is infected with the worms too and they transmit to the villains. :o

Black Adam and Mary Marvel (who is under mind control) attacks Captain Marvel and during the fight Marvel is infected and attacks the fortress but is stopped by Superman and cured. :| Batman takes Superman to see Leslie Thompkins and the children at her clinic who have been cured by the villains. Superman x-rays them and discovers that the cures are actually turning them into miniature Brainiacs! :O

The heroes theorize the Luthor and Brainiac are dividing the world between them, humans and robots. They don their new super armoured suits and prepare to fight!

Review: o.O This story rly is getting weird... to me neways. :\ First it started off very interestingly.. the villains getting a dream about the end of the world and then wanting to help people by using their power to cure world hunger and disease, etc...

But then it turns out Luthor and Brainiac and Grodd were giving the dream to people and now they're being mind controlled by little robo worms! :O And the heroes are wearing suits to fight them? o_O

I'm told this is a Silver Age type story, but it doesn't have that kind of feel to it. :| To ME this feels very modern with a complicated story that twists and turns and... mechanical SUITS! >.>;;;

At least the art is delicious. :) Just dun expect another Kingdom Come... but what most ppl seem to forget is that Alex Ross only does the art, he doesn't write the stories. Mark Waid wrote Kingdom Come, but never seems to get as much credit for it as he should. :(

Neways, a lot happened that issue, and it kinda ruins things a bit. :| Like.. it gets confusing... you dun even know what's going on nemore, or why ppl are doing what they're doing. Why does Grodd have a ring? Like we know that there's more, but what's the point of having more weaponer rings? Is every villain equipped with one just to fight Green Lantern now? What's the point of mind controlling Captain Marvel just to have him be un mind controlled a page later?

And srsly... miniature mind controlling mechanical robo worms!? :O

I guess I just feel a little gypped b/c the opening concept of villains, faced with the impending end of the world, trying to HELP humanity, is such an INTERESTING one, that now that we're into good guys in suits fighting bad guys with miniature mind control worms, it's a let down. :(

Still, it's a fun romp, even if it's a little rushed, and the art is BEAUTIFUL as usually (it is Alex Ross) after all, so I'm not going to be too hard on it. :) It's a once every 2 months series, it's an elseworlds story, so it's not rly something to be rly taken super seriously I guess. :o

But I'm still left with the feeling of "what if?"

Angelwings Rating: 3/5
Recommendation: This might be the jumping off point for readers who dun want to spend 4-6 dollars an issue on this series. But if you can afford it, we're only 3 issues from the end, so you might want to hang around to see what happens. It's got good art, and that's always a reason to keep the book around. ^-^;; But if you're not into the series alrdy, this issue isn't a reason to start. :(

Batman and the Mad Monk - #5 (of 6) Review

Batman and the Mad Monk - #5 (of 6)

Synopsis: The Mad Monk and Dala are watching Batman die. Dala relates the story of how she was orphaned after war in her home country killed her family and she was found and given purpose by the Monk. Eventually their view is blocked by the walls closing in one Batman and they leave, confident that Batman will die.

Batman, however is not dead yet, but is severely wounded as the spikes have wounded him :O He uses batarangs as wedges at the bottom of the walls to slow their movement. Then he climbs to the top of the room and places explosives around the stone block that blocks his exit. Shielding himself at the bottom of the trap as best he can, he sets the explosive off and then manages to quickly escape without losing a limb. :O Batman flees from the Monk's castle, as he's incredibly wounded, but vows to return.

When he returns to the city, he is summoned by Captain Gordon who tells him that altho he likes working with Batman, he can't slink in the shadows or be all sekritive like Batman is. So he takes the transmitter Batman gave him and throws it off the rooftop! :O He then says he'll think of a way to contact Batman that's more visible. They then talk about the Mad Monk case and Gordon notices how wounded Batman is! :O Gordon remarks that they haven't learnt nething new about the Monk except that his victims have been IDed and they're all single children. Batman seems to think this is important and then leaves to be patched up by Alfred.

Batman visits Julie to make sure she's okay first and seeing her sleeping, prepares to leave, but in his injured state, he slips and almost falls! This action catches the notice of Julie's father, alrdy delusional and paranoid b/c of his run in with the Batman from before. :O

Back in the cave, Alfred patches Batman up and then sends him off to bed to sleep off his wounds. Batman ponders whether the Monk is actually a vampire or not, but points out that since Metropolis has a man who can fly, nething is possible.

Julie wakes up, incredibly weak and dizzy due to her blood being trained regularly by the Monk. Her dad calls for her and says that he is planning something dangerous and prolly will not survive. He gives her his will and all his computer passcodes and leaves to enact his plan. Julie, is too out of it to realize what's happening and just says goodbye like it's ne other day. Then, under the Monk's thrall, she heads to the castle and gives him all of her father's documents and passcodes. The Monk then commands her to fall unconscious and now that he has everything he needs, says that Julie only has one more purpose, and that it is time for Dala to become a vampire.

Batman wakes from a dream where he's lost Julie as well as his parents. Despite his wounds, he gets himself out of bed to fight the Monk. Returning to the castle, he sees Julie's car there! :O Inside Julie is in some old fashioned dress and chained up! :O


Review: Writing the plot out, I realized just how good this story is. First off, it's very simple and not trying to be too smart. There are no twists and no turns. This is Batman fighting his first real supervillain and trying to save a woman he loves. :O

It's rly sad b/c it seems like nothing good is gonna happen and we realize that this is not just a story about Batman's first supervillain, but Batman's first tragic ending. It seems like Julie's father is going to die, and that Julie herself will either die or blame Batman for her father's death. :(

I rly like this arc b/c it shows a young Batman, one who is optimistic and idealistic. He truly believes he's almost finished his war on crime, and plans to settle down with Julie and live a normal life. It's rly sad to think that he sees the end of the journey, and then it gets ripped away with the appearance of Joker and the other supervillains, and he starts to realize his fight is going to be a never ending one. ;-;

What I rly like is Batman cares a lot about Julie. He's not the super dark and brooding character he'll become later. :| This Batman makes mistakes. He has friends, and emotions. He runs away when he realizes he's overmatched, etc. He's far from perfect. :) And that makes him very likeable. ^^ It's what makes this Year One story so much better than other Year One stories, as well as All-Star Batman and Robin, b/c here Batman doesn't start OUT as a jerk. He becomes darker as the world around him gets darker, but at the beginning, he's not a bitter insane person. :)

It's going to be interesting to see how it ends tho. So far the plot has actually followed the 1938 story very closely, down to the character's names (Dala, Julie Madison, etc). But in the original, Batman kills both Dala and the Mad Monk by shooting them with silver bullets while they slept in their coffins. :O In this story, Dala is not a vampire yet, and also, Batman doesn't use guns or kill. So I'm curious to see how Wagner will end it. :O

I TOTALLY love this story tho. Matt Wagner is a gifted writer AND artist. His writing style is interesting, yet simple, and his art is filled with depth, but the drawing style has a very simple but stylistic look to it. :) Also, even tho he writes and draws his own stories, he manages to get them out on time! :O

Oh, and also, I rly like the fact that Captain Gordon doesn't want to work in the shadows, b/c that's not his style, and I like the idea that the Bat Signal is HIS idea and not Batman's b/c Batman would never want that kind of attention. But Gordon's belief is that he's not ashamed of who he is, and not ashamed of his links with Batman, and he wants ppl to know that. :) It makes me respect him :D

Neways, I can't wait for number 6! But also I'm sad b/c that means it's the end of the series :( And there's not gonna be nemore. :((((

Angelwings Rating: 5/5 :D
Recommendation: Def get this if you can :) I recommend ppl to pick up the TPB of the series when it comes out, as well as Batman and the Monster Men, which is the first part of the arc. :)

52 - #34 Review

52 - #34

Synopsis: Black Adam, Isis and Osiris are coming back from Osiris' first day as a Teen Titan. While he is excitedly talking about his day, the new Suicide Squad attacks them! :O Adam and Atom Smasher has it out, with Adam saying he's atoned for his past sins alrdy and wun turn himself over to the US government as he considers it to be hypocritical and corrupt. :O During the fight, Persuader attempts to kill Isis with his axe! Seeing this, Osiris attacks him at full speed, tearing him in two!!! Osiris begs for forgiveness and Black Adam suggests they leave before there is further trouble. :O Amanda Waller than reveals she never expected the Squad to succeed at all, and that she was hoping something like this would happen as she's recorded it all.

2 days later, the girls of the new Infinity Inc. are out shopping and talking about how hot and popular they are with Mercy (Lex Luthor's bodyguard/second in command). Mercy is being driven crazy by how vapid the girls are acting. Meanwhile, the Birds of Prey led by Oracle are sekritly following them and preparing to get Natasha/Starlight alone. They fake a credit card screw up, making Mercy annoyed and sending the girls back to the car suspecting a trap. :O The Birds waylay Natasha, forcing her into a stairwell where her uncle, Steel, shows up to confront her as she's been ignoring all his text messages. He shows her his skin, and how it's back to normal. He says that Luthor can take away the powers he gives :O She doesn't believe him, but Steel tells her to think about how Trajectory could be killed by Blockbuster if she was so fast, and to use her brain as a scientist.

A day before New Years Eve, Clark Kent is captured by unknown ppl and tortured to find out the identity of Supernova. They use a truth serum on him and ask him if Supernova is Superman, and he says he's not and he doesn't know who Supernova is! :O Lex Luthor is sekritly behind this, trying to find out who Supernova is O_O He tells them to let Clark go and let him think it was the Yakuza behind it.

It's now New Year's Eve and Question is on his last breath with Renee by his side at the hospital. :( Lex Luthor again is rejected for his own everyman project to get superpowers. Angry, he watches Metropolis countdown the New Year and says he has something planned. Question dies as the New Year rolls around ;-; and Lex brings out a remote control and presses the button as the coundown reaches 0.


Review: :O Poor question! :( I've always liked The Question, esp from how he was portrayed on Justice League Unlimited. :) And 52 rly gave him a chance to shine. It's just sad he had to die :( I rly like his relationship with Renee. Sadly, it seems like the only way to have a male/female friendship in comics is to make one of them gay. >.> At least Renee didn't go straight cuz of him or something stupid like that! Mind you, I'd expect that out of Loeb, 52 has the 5 best writers DC has working together. :)

I rly like the ending b/c it makes sense. 52 covers in real time, each week. So it starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Which means having 11:59pm Sunday be the cut off point isn't arbitrary, but how the series is set up. We'll find out what happens next week. :] This is one of the few times it's seemed like the writers remembered that 52 was meant to be set up in this format. Other than that it seems like regular writing that just ignores ppl without remembering that if you ignore ppl in this format, then they're not doing nething for weeks. You can't have non-linear progression in 52 sadly :(

I bet you expect me to be upset at Infinity Inc's girls for being so vapid and shopoholic, but I'm not. Why? Cuz they're not heroes, they're manufactured celebrities. They're acting exactly what a teenager suddenly given powers, tons of money and working for Lex Luthor to "act" as a hero would act. :) Besides, I shop like crazy too on my free time XD Just not if there was somebody that needed saving :) I like that they were arguining about who was more popular with the teen boy demographics xD That's like a jab at their own industry. All it seems comics care about are catering to teen boys and young men.

Actually, Infinity Inc in general seems to be about that. Lex Luthor killing off the old Trajectory who was a minority and replacing her with a hot white blonde girl who now is super popular among the boys is rly something the mainstream Superhero comic industry would do. :O The fact that Infinity Inc is carefully constructed to be popular among kids, with their demographic make up, etc, it's rly neat and speaks volumes about the world we currently live in. :(

Part of me wants Natasha to turn on Luthor, part of me doesn't, just cuz it seems like it'd be rly cliched for her to find out Luthor is using her and then attack him. :| I think it would be rly neat if she finds out and doesn't care, or lets the fame go to her head o_o But if she can come out of this as her OWN hero, or go out in a bang, and not be "turned good b/c of Steel" then I'll be happy. :) I just dun want it to seem like EVERYTHING good she does is b/c of Steel, and EVERYTHING bad she does is b/c of Luthor. I want her to be able to make her own decisions :)

I feel so bad for Osiris! But it was a rly well done scene and incredibly heart wrenching :( Esp since we still remember Superboy Prime killing Pantha. :\ But this isn't the same. Osiris's SISTER was about to be KILLED. Honestly, everybody would have done the same thing. I look at it like if you're fighting for your life, or somebody else's life, as just regular people. You're not TRYING to kill the attacker, you're trying to STOP the attacker. If you happen to kill him, it's terrible, but you weren't TRYING to. In a situation like that, you can't take the chance that he might kill you. So you hit him as HARD as you can. >:O If I was attacked by somebody out to kill me or rape me, I'd hit him with everything I could until he wasn't a threat nemore. If I worry I might injure him, I'm putting myself at risk!

That's the difference between what Osiris did and what Wonder Woman did. Wonder Woman had a choice not to kill. Max was defeated and altho she might not be able to keep him held FOREVER, she could certainly keep him in the lasso for hours or days. So to say that Osiris committed murder is unfair. :( Persuader made it very clear he was going to kill Isis, and he had the power to do so. Osiris didn't take him down and then decide to kill him. Osiris RUSHED HIM to stop him and it ended up killing him. That's NOT his fault.

Sadly, we know the DC world wun see it that way and Adam and his family will be treated as criminals again :( It's sad b/c Adam's reformation has been the highlight of 52, which has been pretty grim. And it's nice to see him and his family enjoying happiness. :) He's rly become a better person, and now, through no fault of his own, he's going to be persecuted :(

I feel bad b/c since we haven't seen Adam, Osiris or Isis at all OYL, I worry they're all gonna die :( Personally, I'd prefer them to die than to become villains :| I hope they go honourably and more importantly, together, as a family :)

I HOPE that given how they've been affected by Wonder Woman's actions, the superhero community stands together to support Osiris. If they supported Wonder Woman they should support Osiris. Srsly, if Amanda broadcasts what Osiris did all over like Brother Eye did with Wonder Woman's murder of Max Lord, the superheroes should be like "hey, it's ANOTHER out of context video villifying somebody that was know is a good person, we're not letting this happen again!" If they dun, and instead attack Osiris for being a murderer, I will have no respect for those heroes nemore :(

The Clark Kent torture scene was cute b/c we all know the interrogators asked the WRONG questions. They should have asked him if he knew who Superman is, and then ask him if he's Supernova. XD But Lex seemingly's given up trying to find out who Superman is. The idea of a serum that's "a chemical version of Wonder Woman's Lasso" is interesting o_o;;; It also kinda makes it a deus ex machina to be used whenever you need to get information out of ppl. :|

As to who Supernova is. I think I'll post a seperate entry about that XD But Ralph, 2 issues ago, said that he figured it out and that Supernova uses a device. Now honestly, ppl are guessing all sorts of heroes, but what IF it's a woman? :O I'm not saying that just b/c I want to see more girl heroes, but like.. who said it was a man? Just cuz he LOOKS like a man? If he's using a device, then who said the device can't also have shape changing abilities? Ralph said when he looked at the powers from the right angle, he figured out the device. Maybe what he meant is that aside from teleportation and flight, the device also had shape changing abilities? That would be a real swerve! :D

Also, DC has been notorious for not wanting fans to figure out their secret plans. They've gone as far as CHANGING the person behind the mask at the last second when fans find out. So DC would never risk somebody obvious being behind the mask. They would only leak hints like what Ralph said IF they believed NOBODY would find out. :O An editor at DC alrdy said it's possible to find out if you read through the issues carefully. ASSUMING he's telling the truth, then that would mean DC is pretty confident that nobody will figure it out. So maybe the big thing is that it's not a man under the mask? I mean everybody immediately would rule out all the female heroes b/c Supernova looks like a guy. :|

Neways, it'll be fun to see who's rly behind the mask! I can't wait! I'm hoping it's somebody who both makes perfect sense, but isn't expected :) I just hope it's not somebody very obscure that we're like "WHO!?"

This is getting long XD I almost feel bad for Lex b/c he can't get superpowers :( Poor Lex! He has Super-envy! I kinda want him to get powers, b/c then he'll be happy and stop being bad :) Or maybe he'll keep being bad for want of more powers O_O;;;

Neways... 52 was a pretty good issue and continued some of the important plotlines :) I'm not that happy about the Osiris thing, b/c the "superheroes killing" thing was done to death so much during Infinite Crisis, and it's gonna be stupid if the world reacts to it like they didn't alrdy deal with it a few months ago. :(

I can't wait to see what Lex did next week :) Tho I'm guessing it was some sort of bomb? Or maybe shutting off all the powers to everybody who he gave them to. I rly wonder why there's not more reaction to the fact that Lex is now GIVING away superpowers to every regular person? How come Batman isn't like "hmmm WTF!?" That should be something important enuf to pull him away from his spirit quest journey thing... :|

Angelwings Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: If you're following 52, def keep getting it :)

Detective Comics - #827 Review

Detective Comics - #827

Synopsis: Batman hears that somebody who matches the description of Catwoman has been shot. He goes to investigate and finds a fake Catwoman and he escapes just in time before the building explodes! :O On his car is a ventriloquist dummy of Robin with a note on it. :|

Batman, Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD dig up the ventriloquist's body b/c they suspect that Scarface is back and they find the grave empty! :O Bullock relates to Batman that on the night they found the ventriloquist and Scarface dead, after Batman and Robin left, Bullock went down to talk to some other officers and when he returned Scarface was gone! O_O;;

Batman goes back to his cave and disguises himself as a petty criminal and hangs out in the Gotham underworld for a week trying to find clues. He finally gets a lead, and goes to the Penguin's new club b/c Scarface is apparently going to make his reappearance there. Once there, Batman is lead into a large stage room by a beautiful blonde woman.

Scarface then shows up with the ventriloquist! But the ventriloquist is then pushed out of the way revealing him to be just a corpse and the beautiful blonde takes his place and controls Scarface :O

Scarface then shoots somebody who doubts that he's back (as usual ppl talk to ventriloquist and not the puppet). Batman thinks to himself about how this new ventriloquist is even better than the old one and doesn't make the "G" instead of "B" sound. Also he says that the blonde girl is familiar to him but he can't place her. Scarface announces that he believes Batman is in the crowd and asks who's rly Batman. :O He says that if nobody answers he'll kill everybody! :OO

Batman (having some ventriloquism abilities himself) makes it seem like somebody else is saying that he's Batman and Scarface shoots him! :O Batman takes this distraction to throw a batarang at the power, killing the lights. In the ensuing mayhem, he fights Scarface and tells the ventriloquist girl that they can get her help. Scarface says that he and the girl are the same b/c they're both damaged and points to a scar she has on her forehead. Batman manages to get the Scarface puppet off her and the girl says that it was controlling her like it was alive! :O

Batman thinks to himself that the voice switching is perfect as the girl and Scarface argue, and he just notices the ticking sound, throwing Scarface away! :O The dummy explodes!!! And the girl gets away :|

At some apartment building, the girl is talking to scarface and takes another Scarface dummy out of her closet revealing dozens of them! :O They then have some sweet talk and she lays down with him, turning off the lights. O_o;;;

Review: I apologize if this isn't totally accurate XDDD I dun have the book with me right now, so I had to write out the plot by memory. :(

Neways, this is a rly good story, and brings back the Animated Series version of Scarface, the one who said Batman and not Gatman and who is a seperate and distinct personality. The comic Scarface wasn't all very interesting and was played mostly for laughs. :| This issue is practically right out of the series, except for the new ventriloquist.

I rly like the idea of a female ventriloquist tho b/c Batman has very few female villains, and the ones he does have are seductresses or in love with him. Tho, I get the feeling that Scarface will accuse this woman of being in love with Batman in a later episode XD That's par for the course for Scarface, since he also didn't trust the male ventriloquist from ratting him out to Batman either. :O

For new readers, Batman having ventriloquism isn't an example of "super ventriloquism" or developing a new power to solve a situation like Superman did during the Silver age XD Batman's always had that ability, having been trained by Zatarra the master magician.

Neways, this is I guess what Dini meant when he said all the previous "standalone" stories weren't so stand-alone. Since Penguin's nightclub makes it's return and they address some of the previous plots as having happened. Still, this is still a very episodic and stand-alone type story, and that's what I rly like about Dini's run. :D It's like reading a comic version of the animated series :)

I can't wait to see this new Scarface return!

Angelwings Rating: 5 Angelwings out of 5! Or is that Batwings? XD
Recommendation: Def take a look at it. :)

Blue Beetle #10 Review

Blue Beetle - #10

Synopsis: Le Dama brings in Jaime (the Blue Beetle) and Paco to find out what happened to her niece and their friend, Brenda. :O

Meanwhile, Brenda's been boomtubed to New Genesis where she's found by some small little creatures who resemble ewoks. They recognize her as the "one" and lead her to their village.

Jaime and Paco discover that the box that teleported Brenda away is a boomtube and Jaime gets himself teleported to New Genesis as well! :O He discovers that the entire planet is a death trap and with the help of the Blue Beetle suit, evades the devices!

Brenda is brought to the village where there's a statue of somebody who resembles her. The creatures worship her, but then it's revealed that they dun want to take care of her, but to eat her! Their religion tells them that by feeding on the blood of the chosen one they will gain power. They start to bite her but a conan type warrior interrupts and saves her! Brenda, fights off the creatures with the help of this conan guy and then attacks him as well! But she faints due to loss of blood. :(

Jaime shows up at that point and hears her say that somebody was draining her blood. He sees the Conan guy and decides he's behind it. Telling the Blue Beetle suit that it can stop holding back now, he attacks him!

Review: Jaime's evolution as a hero continues! This is why I rly like the Blue Beetle and the Atom, b/c they're about the beginning of a hero. Both are young men who aren't heroic or nething, but inherit another hero's legacy and are learning about themselves while becoming heroes. :) It's very fun to read XD

My only problem with this issue is that you have to know what a boomtube is and where New Genesis is, etc. But it's not super important to know, it just helps xD But I think it hurts the accessiblity.

I like Jaime's inner monologue while dealing with the traps xD He's like Spiderman but more stable and less whiny. :)

I love the little twist of the creatures xD We all knew they'd be bad, but I liked how they worshipped her but wanted to devour her b/c of their prophecy XD

I also liked that we got a translation of what the creatures were saying and how they had their own politics and stuff XD And had their own division of church and state thing :D It was very cute and amusing. :O

Jaime jumping to conclusions is new for him, but I think it's an important part of the growing process, to get overconfident and just jump into action without thinking. :) I hope he learns from this :D The "holding back" thing is very much like Eddie Brock and the Venom costume. :O Does that mean that the Blue Beetle actually wants to hurt things and it's just Jaime controlling it? :O Interesting!

The art was great too, as usual. The whole book is very colourful and I rly like the colours used in the cover. :) Again the dialogue is spot on. I'm assuming Rogers is doing it since Giffen just plots but always needs a second writer to do the dialogue. :O The plotting is excellent tho, and as usual Giffen knows how to add just enuf humour to a superhero story without making a farce out of it XD Or maybe it's that he knows how to add just enuf seriousness to a humourous story ^_^;;

Neways, Blue Beetle is def one of my favourite books right now and prolly one of the best new books of 2006. :O

Angelwings Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Again, I rly recommend getting this series. :) Def one of the better ones out there, and easy to get into since it's not connected to the other heroes very much. ^-^

Superman/Batman #31 Review

Superman/Batman - #31

Synopsis: Superman stops fighting Kilowog and has flashbacks to the Kent's finding him but he doesn't look human at all and only took human form to ease their minds! He realizes that he is an alien and has to side with the aliens to destroy humanity! :O

Back at the fortress of solitude, Batman tries to reason with the now Blackrock-infested Plastic Man, but Plaz is too infected with the rock to reason with and escapes. Batman then confronts the shapeshifter who's been pretending to be all the Silver Age ppl... Zook, Martian Manhunter's old sidekick!

Zook says that he left b/c he was tired of being insulted, and then Martian Manhunter shows up. :o He says that all the aliens are hearing "the Call" which is making them realize that humanity is the enemy. He then leaves saying he's keeping Batman alive so that he can witness the end of humanity. (Wow, that's the WRONG person to keep alive if you want to destroy humanity)

Plastic Man shows up at Lexcorp and decides to keep the Blackrock for himself. :O Of course Lex Luthor is rdy for this and has his men incapacitate Plaz.

Ultra the Multi-Alien hears the Call and starts destroying things. Supergirl shows up, but instead of stopping him, she helps him escape and says that she's heard the call too.

Lex's scientists torture Plas while trying to seperate him and the Blackrock, a procedure which will kill him. Batman shows up to stop Lex but they're interrupted by Ultra and Supergirl! Apparently they want to keep Lex Luthor alive "for now" b/c whatever alien force is behind this has plans for him. Batman tries to reason with Supergirl but fails and then Superman shows up rdy to kill Batman!


Review: Wow. I rly like where this is heading. The first couple of issues of the arc were very blah, but it's built into something with a lot of scope to it. O_O;; However, I wish this was a company-wide crossover, b/c right now, I have no idea where in continuity this fits. Like, Lex has his company back? When did this happen? B/c Martian Manhunter is in his new form, it means this has to be OYL, but Lex OYL is broke and has no company! :O So.. does that mean he's going to be getting his company back soon? That kinda spoils the current arc in Superman doesn't it? :|

Neways, the idea of Aliens vs Humans in the DCU makes SO much sense and would work as a GREAT crossover event. I mean, there are SO many alien heroes on Earth, and like, it'd make sense if something made them all resent humans. Besides, Superman on one side, Batman on the other, what could be better? XD EVERY great Elsworlds conflict story has them on opposite sides b/c they're the 2 most powerful DC characters and are very much the opposite of each other. :O

It's weird that this book is called "Superman/Batman" tho b/c it seems more like a Batman book right now XD Batman is the hero and he's facing incredible odds. I'm assuming tho that Batman will smack Superman back to his senses and Superman will help Batman fight the aliens. :O Regardless of how great it is when those 2 fight, they're even better working together :)

My sister remarked that Supergirl is not acting out of character at all XD And she's right. Those were my thoughts too when I read it. XD Her anger, and want to hurt ppl is totally consistant with the Joe Kelly Supergirl. o_O;;; And THAT'S sad. My sister also joked that when Batman frees everybody from Mind Control Supergirl will still want to kill ppl and the convo will go something like this:

Batman: I thought we freed you from mind control!
Supergirl: Mind Control? I was never under mind control!

XDDD

Too bad this isn't the next big event tho :| It'd be a way more interesting idea than Civil War XD And the sides would be pretty even and Wonder Woman could be the "neutral" party trying to bring peace to both sides (not being an alien, but not being exactly human either) and that would add a whole other dimension to her character :)

I'm very curious what's going to happen, not just with the Superman/Batman fight (everybody gets up for a Superman/Batman fight XD) but about who's behind everything, what the Blackrock has to do with this, and what Lex Luthor's role in all of it is.

I rly recommend this book (and this is actually a pretty good jumping on point, the first few issues didn't rly add nething) not b/c it's funny or has excellent dialogue, but b/c the story and writing is just SO COMPELLING. This is all about the plot and it's a good one. :)

Angelwings Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Definitely check it out :)

Supergirl #13 Review

Supergirl - #13

Synopsis: Supergirl wakes up in Star Labs after having a nightmare about her dad doing some vague evil thing. Lois then comes in and yells at Supergirl for being Supergirl (i.e. immature, reckless and insane) and how much Superman cares about her and how she's hurting him by not talking to him. Supergirl brushes her off and then Powerboy shows up and the two of them go out on patrol and stop a hurricane in Mexico, but get yelled at by a police officer. o.O

In the mountains of Tibet, some mysterious person tells another mysterious person that they have to kill Supergirl so they send other mysterious people after her! Why? Who cares!

Hey, I didn't write this! XDDD

Back in her apartment, Supergirl is having a conversation with herself about how hot Powerboy is. Oh wait.. that's Wondergirl. So Wondergirl bugs Supergirl for details but Supergirl doesn't reveal ne. Then Powerboy shows up and he and Supergirl go out again. Conveniently, as Powerboy is about to explain his origins, Supergirl claims not to care, so we never get to hear how this impossible-by-current-continuity character came to be.

Supergirl flashes back to various points in the past year where she tried to kill Clark while he was sick. >.>;;

And then they get attacked by Earthquake from Samurai Spirits and some ninja girl with white hair! :O OMG IT'S AN SNK/DC CROSSOVER!!!! Earthquake guy apparently has the power to feed on ppl's hate and ninja girl can turn ppl into ghosts.. or something...

>.>;;;

Ninja girl turns Powerboy into a ghost and defeats him (!???). Earthquake beats Supergirl up by feeding on her hate. However, she does some sort of sonic scream and Earthquake says she has too much hate even for him! And she defeats both of them. o_O

Powerboy asks if he gets a second date, and Supergirl makes out with him.

Back at Starlab, Capt Boomerang shows up to see if Grace is okay. She's in several casts and tells him he has to take care of her now b/c it's his fault that they brought Supergirl into the outsiders in the first place. Boomer asks when Kara's getting out, and Grace says that she left 3 days ago and never told Boomer.

Review: You know, I gave this book a 2 b/c for some reason I thought it wasn't THAT bad. And then I read it again, and while writing this synopsis I realized it's pretty bad!

I'm amused b/c The Superman Homepage gave this book a 1 and I gave it a 2. And normally they're the ones who give Supergirl a free pass. Even after complaining about the book, they'll still give it a 3 while I hand out the 1s XD

I guess we've finally found the amount of bad issues and similarly drawn faces it takes for the crappiness of a book to outweight a hot blonde lead girl. XDDD

Like srsly, every issue is the same: Supergirl whines about how nobody understands her, she flashbacks to some crazy thing her dad said/did to her and then about how she has to kill Superman. And does she TELL Superman this? NOOOOOO.

And she has too much hate for even a hate absorbing villain to take? XD This is a HERO!?

Well, I guess, she isn't... >.>;;; It's a bit easier to take if you look at it like you're reading a story about a villain. And now she hurt Capt Boomerang! Awesome! I rly think this is Joe Kelly's adolescent issues coming out or something. Like "yah that cool guy in school that got the hot blonde girl, well I'll have him get two-timed and dumped! AWESOME!!! TAKE THAT TERRANCE!!!!"

*headdesk*

Also, we have mysterious Tibetan villains who just kinda.. showed up... and we dunno (and dun care) who they are, send out 2 new villains who we also dun rly care about, to get beaten up. And they have vague powers that can conveniently take Powerboy out of the equation.

And Supergirl kisses Powerboy for no reason! Well, she's a teenage girl, and we all know teenage girls just kiss ALL guys they're around right? :P

You know what I dun get? Ppl's defence of Supergirl is that she's a regular teenage girl. But.. she's from KRYPTON. You know that place where ppl worship science and whatever? XD She should act like a regular teenage KRYPTONIAN girl. Not an Earth girl! I think ppl just think all teenage girls act the same :P

And we never do find out who Powerboy is or where he came from. Is he related to Powergirl? If so, how is that possible (given that she's from Earth-2), if not, why does Powergirl allow him to use the name and the outfit?

This is srsly to give Kara a boy to bang.

>:O

Ian Churchill's back once more to give us more of the same-faced girls. >.>;; Lois looks like Supergirl who looks like Wondergirl. *sigh* Actually, in the scene where Supergirl and Wondergirl are talking in the apartment, there's a panel where we only see Wondergirl's face and not her clothes and I actually thought that was Supergirl! :O THEY LOOK THE SAME!

I HATE Churchill's art! The girls are STICK thin, incredibly bony, and the only differences between them are their hair and breast size. Is that honestly the only differences he sees in women? You know what, I bet it is!

I was telling my friend that actually, Churchill is perfect for DC's portrayal of teenage women. B/c it seems like they think they're all exactly the same except for hair and breast sizes! That's the only thing that differentiates one girl from another according to what I'm reading in Teen Titans and Supergirl! >:O

*flails*

Whatever. It ends the arc. Next we get to see Supergirl fight Batgirl, another teenage girl character that has been ruined as of late. :| I remember when Supergirl and Batgirl were actually strong, capable characters >:O

But at least the narrative isn't broken in this book. And it gives us some closure to the Supergirl/Boomerang thing. >.>;; It's not as bad as the last 2 issues, but it's still nowhere near enjoyable.

I'm hoping that this book is finally getting bad enuf that even the horny male fanboys who are like "OMGKARASOHOTWANNABANGHER" will tune out, and Didio will cancel it.

Mark Waid's Supergirl FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XD

Angelwings Rating: 2/5
Recommendation: No. Just... No.

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #25 Review

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes - #25

Synopsis:

At Legion headquarters, Dreamboy suddenly has a premonition and realizes that the Legion needs to get the kryptonite that's locked up in the armament. He gets through Brainy's passwords by predicting them and gets it.

Meanwhile, the "anti-Legion" now known as The Wanderers are outside and have captured Projectra. White Witch casts a spell which seals up the Legion in 2s and 3s in their HQ. :O Since they're all busy relaxing and having fun, none of them realize it. :(

Brainiac has a vision where Dreamgirl visits him and shows him the ruins of Metropolis. O_O Before she can tell him ne more information however, Supergirl wakes him up from it. :O She and the others in the room with Brainy have realized that they're sealed in by mysterious forcefields that are *just* strong enuf to resist Supergirl!

Light Lass is with some of the other Legionnaires trying to get free when suddenly she, Karate Kid, Ultra Boy and Star Boy are teleported away! :O Meanwhile, Brainy theorizes that Mon-El is trapped in the phantom zone b/c of lead poisoning which is lethal to Daxamites. He says that the only thing that can be used to create a cure is kryptonite, which he has no access to being sealed up. :|

Light Lass and the other 3 kidnapped Legionnaires are teleported to where the Wanderers are. :O Their mysterious leader (who has a cloak on, so you can't see his face) says that he wants to recruit them, and relates his story. 10 years ago, he was part of a black-ops team that did the United Planets' dirty work. They were sent to investigate reports that the Dominators were active after years of dormancy. However, there was to be no "back up" for them since they were undercover and so as they found planet after planet with Dominators, slowly the team was killed until only this mysterious leader was left. ;-; Not trusting the U.P. he made his way back to Earth as he has discovered that the Dominators plan to target Earth. On his way back he recruited various people to his cause who would do what needed to be done to save Earth and not cowtow to the U.P. as he believes the Legion has done.

He then says that he has chosen the heroes he teleported here b/c their psychological profiles indicate they are most likely to follow him. He reveals himself to be Mekt Ranzz, Light Lass' older brother!

Back in Brainy's lab, he finds out from Saturn Girl that Mon-El was imprisoned by somebody wearing the Superman 'S'. Devising a plan he lets Mon-El out and introduces him to Supergirl. Predictably, he attacks Supergirl, angry and delusional from the lead poisoning. Supergirl, forced to defend herself, fights back, and the ensuing brawl destroys every forcefield keeping the Legionnaires apart, as Brainy had hoped. Dream Boy is then able to get the Kryptonite to Brainy who creates a cure which the Legionnaires are able to deliver into Mon-El's mouth.

Eventually coming to his senses, Mon-El agrees to help the Legion when suddenly he's teleported away to the Wanderers! Mekt Ranzz then introduces him as "the most important player of all" and then announces that he (Mekt)'s in charge. :OOO


Review: This is another excellent issue of Legion of Superheroes! :D I rly liked the last one, but I liked this one EVEN more!! The dialogue is great and both serious and funny without being too much of one or the other :) I like that they actually talk like teenagers and not what teenagers are THOUGHT to talk like by adults XD They're all very capable but not fully mature yet. Brainy, like Batman, is the smartest guy in the room, but unlike Batman, he doesn't have the maturity not to constantly talk about it. He acts like the smart computer kids I know, very capable and very sarcastic. :D

Supergirl is still very likeable, which is a huge difference from how she is in her other book. *sigh* Here she's not exactly the brightest bulb in the room, but very friendly and doesn't seem angsty or angry all the time. I rly dunno how they're gonna reconcile the 2 series. I'm hoping they never do. Never explain it. And just let us have this wonderful Supergirl. :) I love how she didn't immediately attack Mon-El, but only did so after he started attacking her. *nods*

However, I'm confused what she meant when she said "Okay. Like Pa says, sometimes you can reason with a mule... and sometimes you've gotta crack him with a two by four!"

I thought THIS current Supergirl was raised on Krypton by her evil father Jor-El who trained her to be some sort of assassin. At least... that's what Joe Kelly would have us believe. So why is she acting like she was raised on the farm with Clark? Altho, honestly, if Waid wants to go that way I support him 1000% percent. I'm fairly certain they didn't have mules or two by fours on Krypton XD

I think the Wanderers are a good idea as they aren't BAD per se, in that they're not villains, but anti-heroes. They dun have bad intentions, but they're willing to break the rules to achieve their goals. The next issues says that the Wanderers and the Legion will be working together, which is good, b/c I like cooperation and I like that ppl with similar goals can work together. :) I HATE that old comic book thing where ppl are fighting each other when the world is being destroyed and even tho everybody wants to save it, they can't agree on how. Like, srsly ppl, PRIORITIES!!!

I also like how the Legion works together to stop Mon-El (to hilarious results). I'm just getting tired of meaningless bickering, and portraying teenagers and young people as whiny, immature dolts who can't work together AT ALL (I'm looking at you Teen Titans).

This issue however is about Brainy. His dialogue stole the comic and ran off with it XDDD *chases* GIVE ME BACK MY COMIC!!!! >.>;;; I'm okay! XD

Neways, I'm rly glad I chose this as one of the series to start reading after OYL b/c it rly hasn't dissapointed at all and even the slow issues are better than the stuff that's showing up in some of the "flagship" titles (esp Wonder Woman, OH GOD). Imo, this series has been one of the top 3 series in the DCU currently, and I totally recommend that ppl jump on the bandwagon now before they're even further behind. One thing that the series rly has going for it is that it's self contained. YOu can read it and not read NE of the other DC stories and not miss nething. And b/c of that the stories feel like they have more freedom to them, like they're more grandiose and can affect all things in the LoS continuity since you dun have to worry about it screwing up some other hero's book. :)

Oh and I recently discovered that in previous continuity, Light Lass and Shrinking Violet were together in a lesbian relationship. :O It seems rly sweet :) Awww.... I hope something like that happens again (if it hasn't alrdy, I'm not fully versed on everything yet) :]

So yah... I loved the story, and also the art was rly good again. I've rly liked the art, it's colourful, it's well drawn, but not TOO serious, and the characters look good. The women look like regular, attractive girls, but not like porn stars. They're a healthy size too, with ankles that dun look like they'll snap in half! XD

Neways, this is a good way to end the year. :) I hope that LoS continues to excel in 2007 :)

Angelwings Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: Very worth it :) I would totally get this book, even if you're new to the series, it's not too hard to get caught up. :) Also they have character intros of some of the characters at the beginning of every book so that helps too!