SpartanNerd…The End of an Era (Convergence)

February 24, 2015 by spartannerd

Back in 2011, I was getting interested in comics again. I had discovered “Comixology,” and was reading Conan the Barbarian and other titles lightly. This was new to me…I had never read this stuff before. But I thought it a good alternative to Marvel, who’s take on Spider-Man had pushed me away, and from DC whose universe seemed so large and old that I was intimidated by it.

When the news that DC was going to relaunch it’s whole lineup and re-number to #1s came down, I thought, “now is the time.” I began getting the digital copies, and enjoyed it really too much, probably. So I subscribed to the physical copies of the titles I liked best, Detective Comics, Batman and Robin, Batman, Justice League, Action Comics, and Aquaman.

Eventually I pared this down to only the Batman titles, and Masters of the Universe, of course. And Batman has been a part of my life for several years. I didn’t mind that his universe wasn’t completely re-booted. I figured they would have alienated a ton of fans if they did. I had little trouble getting into his universe…most of his enemies and allies did receive new treatment. The only thing that jarred me at first was Damien, and I think he grew to be my favorite Robin, though. I really felt wronged though, when they killed him off in the only title I wasn’t reading, “Batman Inc.” And I wrote about that here on SpartanNerd.com extensively. (I also think they gave haven’t written Tim Drake correctly.)

Still, this wasn’t enough to make me stop reading. And I have enjoyed “Forever Evil” “Gothtopia”and all of the other “events” that involved Batman. Also, Batman snd Superman has been a really good title, tying back to the beginning of the New 52 with connections to the Justice League story. I wouldn’t know as much about Wonder Woman, Supergirl (Power Girl) or Huntress.

Finally, I thought the resurrection of Damien was really good. And am happy, even ecstatic that he is back, and that he has super powers now as a new twist.

But DC Comics is voicing dissatisfaction with the New 52 universe. I don’t know why…I guess just re-naming it wouldn’t be enough. I heard things like they are out of ideas. Or there are continuity errors. The idea thing is a croc. But there is no denying there are continuity errors. Batman Eternal is busting with background noise from the Robin Rises story…for instance, this past week Raj Al Ghul referring to Batman’s leaving him in a frozen ravine…and in the same issue Batman looking longingly at one of the future Batmen and saying “Damien…” Other continuity errors have come up as a result of writers leaving and other problems. Geoff Johns just needed to keep a tighter reign on everyone.

And maybe that is what’s going to happen. I have been lightly reading “Multiversity.” I actually have the first issue and the guidebook. What “Convergence” is supposed to do is do away with the Multiverse, and leave only the continuity established by the DC New 52. They will use this event to correct some inconsistencies.

I am OK with this, but I feel a little bit of loss. With the end of the Multiverse, that will take those Earth 3 “Heroes” out of the picture. And what about the “Obama Superman.” He will be gone. No more Earth 2. I never even read Earth 1. The Multiversity guidebook presents a lot of cool characters. Are these all going to be gone? DC never has explained how Masters of the Universe fits into the New 52 universe. He-Man “killed” Superman for crying out loud!

I think it will be cool to see the Flashpoint universe characters again. I think it might be cool to see the old universe characters again. The Convergence is supposed to bring these popular ideas back. (I read the Flashpoint Batman stories after getting into the New 52…creepy!)

But I think I might just step off after the Convergence. Maybe cherry pick the stories that interest me rather than subscribe. Already I am forking over to get to the end of Batman Eternal and Future’s End. I have a ton of comics now. And I will have a complete collection of New 52 Batman books. I hear that Marvel is doing something similar, and if they give us a clean starting point with Spider-Man, I will be back to reading that again.

Spoiler Free SpartanNerd

December 29, 2014 by spartannerd

DC Comics made me REALLY MAD. (again)

I have thoroughly enjoyed “The New 52.” Many people are down on it. But I like it because it is accessible to me. Moreso than the old continuity of nearly 1000 issues of Detective and Action comics. And “Crisis” after “infinite crisis” after “crisis on Earth 27” or whatever ridiculous intimidating thing they could throw out there. No wonder I liked Marvel better.

When I jumped into the New 52, when it really WAS NEW, I was surprised how easily I took to Damien being Robin. I didn’t even know there was a Batgirl other than Barbara Gordon, and was fine just seeing the familiar redhead. Superman was reset, as was Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, the Justice League. And so on. Wonder Woman was even cool to me. And all of these guys continue to keep me entertained.

But DC has burned me, too. A subscriber.

For instance, I reported how mad I was that they killed off Damien Wayne suddenly. Pretty much at the end of “Death of the Family.” I had every issue I could get my hands on. Even the side titles I wouldn’t normally have read. But they killed him off in “Batman Incorporated.” A book I wasn’t reading, because the art wasn’t that good and it was kind of an “old 52” story.so I could focus on the Joker. One reason why I subscribed was so I wouldn’t MISS ANYTHING.

Another reason for subscribing though, was to have something fresh and new to read, to look forward to. To think about. To predict.

DC blew it. Longtime Hub City Geeks know that I have written extensively about who was going to take over as Robin. What was going to happen. Etc. I REVEL in not knowing. I like to be surprised. I don’t read spoiler sites. I avoid blogs and commentary. (Odd. Isn’t that what The SpartanNerd Blog is all about?) But I do that because I want to be surprised. I don’t want stuff spoiled.

But it is hard. So hard. Especially when DC Comics puts THIS IMAGE AND ARTICLE in the back of every comic.

No more conjecture required. Damien DOES LIVE AGAIN. And he has super powers too. No more wondering if Stephanie Brown from Batman Eternal will replace him. Or if Carrie Kelly will. Or if maybe Red Robin comes back. Or Jason. Sure, we knew the Robin from a few years in the future is a new different guy. No more wondering about Collin Rowe, or Harper Rowe. No more mystery. I know, the series was called “Robin Rises.” But that still could have had a mystery ending. Instead, we see Damien busting Kalibak upside the head. No Hellbat suit required. No Justice League required. He might be Superman level, from the looks of it.

I am just disappointed that DC decided to go ahead and spoil this. Why not do like Marvel did with AGE OF ULTRON, and black bag the cover? Why not do what they did leading up to the death of Damien, and spoil out fake covers?

They make an excuse for themselves. They say something like “You’ve read “the internets.” Or something. NOPE. I DIDN’T. How many others out there are like me?

So thanks a lot for taking some of the fun out of it, DC.

Batman and Robin has been the best written Bat book consistently. I have to say, I am looking forward to seeing Damien back. I like the little guy. I was sad to see him go. I think it would have been cool to have Carrie Kelly or Stephanie Brown. But we didn’t get that. I’m cool with that. I just am not cool with the spoilers.

SpartanNerd Comics Commentary…He’s BAAACK!

November 27, 2014 by spartannerd

“No. No. Not HIM!” Batman utters this line pretty often. Is it poor writing?

He says this as Superman grins a Joker-ish grin at him.

Yes indeed. The Joker returned before Robin has been claimed. BIG SURPRISE!

Back in Summer 2013, as the “Zero Year” storyline was hitting the shelves, and the “Death of the Family” story fresh in our minds, not to mention Damian’s sudden death, there was an innocuous “Batman Annual #2” issue promising a blurb from Zero Year. To me, I read this issue and enjoyed it, but thought the Zero Year part of the story was just added as hype to sell the book and maximize money from that particular story event.

But here we are. November 2014. A year and a half later or round about. And all this time, sitting in my comic book storage box and yours too, was a secondary character named Eric Border. A nice guy. Someone who cared for the patients…a truly caring doctor.

And he was the Joker. Biding his time! (I dug through my comics to re-read “Annual #2”. Oh the planning that went into this! There were hints in that issue we would have never seen!)

This twist had me reeling! When I read this in Batman #36, I was shocked! Not real clear entirely how he got his new “mug.” But he has one, and is looking younger and more current. (He also has his old face, so what has “Joker’s Daughter” been wearing?)

This storyline, “Endgame,” has been a little disjunct so far. For instance, suddenly without warning, the Justice League starts attacking Batman. He is prepared to neutralize them all, but when he spits the “kryptonite gum” in Superman’s face, we don’t really see it making Superman suddenly crash. A tiny dose of the stuff was enough to beat him? And because Batman Eternal hasn’t been completed yet, we are having to infer where and why Batman has set up shop by reading the tiny details between the lines. And we keep seeing a couple of sidekicks, one “Lark” and the other “Bluebird.” These haven’t been explained sufficiently. At least “Lark” hasn’t. (Isn’t Lark the Penguin’s lackey?)

(I’m starting to think Stephanie Brown may be the next Robin. I’m thinking the “Damian Resurrection” story might be a bait and switch.)

So, I’m not the least bit worried about Batman being stuck in that cell paralyzed by the Joker and being poisoned by gas. This is the classic Batman scenario. Classic like in “1960’s” TV show! Batman will get out of it somehow in issue #37. Can’t wait!

One more thing…there is a backup story going on, which evidently will give us new information about the Joker and his origin. A bunch of minor sickos have kidnapped Maureen, (who was dropped off by Eric Border,) and are telling her the stories the Joker told them to tell her. All different crazy takes on who the Joker is and where he is from. The first one in Batman #35 about the Joker being a demon rising out of the swamp on a mystical crossroads was pretty freaky. Actually really disturbing. And then #36’s story about him being an alien robot, also weird. We the readers know for certain that these stories can’t be true.

Time to go back and read Zero Year again, and get a look at that chemistry teacher who was loading tanks for the Red Hood gang. (was this in issue #24?)

SpartanNerd Thoughts…How did the “Junk Aggro” do, and “Arkham Manor”

November 4, 2014 by spartannerd

Sorry no posts for awhile. Like I said in my last post. Life is happening! Maybe not an excuse for not blogging for over two weeks. But still. I been drained!

In my spare time, I have continued reading comics and nurturing my MTG skills. I did OK at the big box tournament. Not spectacular. But OK. I didn’t win or anything. My “junk aggro” deck is really fun to play. Way more fun than Mono Black Control was. Some of my issues are deck design. I can’t decide how much of what to put in there. And I played a lot of goldfish, solitaire, challenge decks, etc. One concern is that in order to have a consistant mana-base to support the three colors, The land hurts you! I prefer to skip the Tri-Lands. What good are they on the turn they come out? Instead I am running “Mana Confluence.” I am running three “Windswept Heath” so that is three more points of damage. Two “Caves of Koilos” and one ” Llanowar Wastes.” See what I mean? Add to that “Herald of Torment” stinging you for one each turn, and “Thoughtsieze” hurting you too. And you can drain yourself just to maintain a board presence. Maybe I should re-think the Tri-Lands. I have rethought “Thoughtsieze.”

I have been surprised by some cards as well. “Abzan Charm” has ALWAYS WORKED. As well as “Abzan Ascendancy.” But how much of each to run? I like hitting “Phalanx Leader” with the charm, boosting everyone else. Then there is “Siege Rhino” and “Anafenza the Foremost.” These guys are stars.

I haven’t really found a place for “Wingmate Roc” yet. I like him, though. I am finding that “Bile Blight” is really just about only useful as a one off removal spell most of the time, with the exception of the chumps that a few cards continually make. I only own one copy of “Brimaz, King of Oreskos” as well, which isn’t really enough. I don’t think he made a show even once last week.

Some of my problem was luck. (A certain player played basically the exact same thing against me, only he had the right stuff at the right time to finish me quick. Frustrating!)

I drew one match. I was surprised that my deck could hold up. It was the first full on control player I have played since the rotation. I overran this guy on turn six in match one. But match two he held me off. But surprisingly, I was able to keep the pressure on him for like, thirty minutes or longer. He was running three “Elspeth, Sun’s Champion.” I downfalled one, overran another. But couldn’t stop number three. Match three went to turns and that was all she wrote.

As far as comics, there is something bothering me, and not bothering me at the same time. Does that make sense? The “Batman” title has moved onto stories that surpass “Batman Eternal.” So the cat is out of the bag that Alfred is OK. And Julia Pennyworth is still “Penny-Two.” Oh yeah. Arkham Asylum was destroyed and so the operation moved to…Wayne Manor!

(Dumb Idea. Only belongs in the comics. Oh yeah!)

Issues dealing with “Arkham Manor” have begun coming out. And it has its own title now as well.

But Shouldn’t DC have waited? I would have preferred it to be so. They make us wait for other important stuff. Like for instance WHAT ABOUT DAMIAN?! Some other things haven’t been revealed, (I don’t think.) Like who is police commissioner. Is Jim back? I didn’t read “Arkham Manor #1.” I have too much other stuff to read. Maybe I’ll change my mind?

But what is left for Batman Eternal to reveal? I’m thinking it’s “Hush” who is talking to Bruce in Issue #1. Maybe I’m wrong. I suppose there is no resolution to the Nano-Virus problem. (This keeps being brought up, but we don’t really see how bad of a problem it must be.) Catwoman is becoming “Selena the Lion.” Spoiler is dropping hints to Batman. Ok, Stephanie Brown must just happen to be a natural, like Tim Drake.

What are my other thoughts? In playing Final Fantasy VII again…(This game has been going for over a year and a half. I rarely play,)…anyways I am at the part of the game where you breed the chocobos. Whenever I complete this game I am going to hunt down FFX again, and maybe even FFX-2.

(But maybe I should nurture my Destiny game instead)

And then there’s the big Christmas looming ahead. I shouldn’t be so selfish, and feel guilty as such. But I really want the new Battle Ram with Man-At-Arms, Snake Armor two pack, Duel Deck anthology, and maybe a Fantasy Crate subscription.

TALL ORDER!

(And I need a new phone 😦 )

Probably all of this won’t happen. (HO HO HO!)

SpartanNerd Scoop!…Batman and Robin #33

July 30, 2014 by spartannerd

Being a cheapskate, I get a subscription in the mail to most of the Bat-titles, including Batman and Robin. So generally I don’t get to read the stories until as many as two weeks after they come out.

But once in awhile, the moons and planets align, and I get a comic on the day it comes out…even more rarely even a day early…

This is why I have a SCOOP today. Batman and Robin #33 came right on time! (I would point out that Batman #33 hasn’t arrived yet. I don’t fully understand how the comics come so irregularly to my mailbox!)

Here are the details, and my review…

The cover shows exactly what this book is all about. Tension between Batman and the Justice League. I don’t like that Lex Luthor is a part of the Justice League, and am getting used to seeing him with all of the good guys. And is Captain Cold a League member too, or is he just hanging out with Luthor?

The story left off after “Robin Rises:Omega #1”, where Shazaam just “saved Batman” from flying through that portal to Apokalips hanging onto that flying Paradaemon. Batman then proceeds to beat him. I detailed my delight in all of this here!

So the league is having a meeting. Batman is trying to justify going to Darkseid’s dimension/planet, reminding the league that Darkseid had already tried to invade once before. Luthor sums it up. “It is all about Robin.” SO Batman does this…

I thought…”Oh man. He just hacked Cyborg to force him to Boom tube.” Not exactly. Batman was thinking very clearly. He went up to the Watchtower Satellite, where he has some gear stashed. Not just any gear…

“The Hellbat.” Is this the same suit depicted in the pages of Batman and Robin before? If so, I didn’t know its title, and I think this is the first time the origin of the suit is explored. The Justice League forged it to help Batman with his weaknesses. (He is the only Justice Leaguer with NO POWERS!)

I like how we get this old school style page, summarizing the creation of “The Hellbat.”

This is old school…I mean, we could have had a mini-series about the creation of this suit!

Apparently, Batman plans on taking this suit to Apokalips. I would like to point out that Batman has already been to Apokalips once before, when Darkseid invaded Earth….And then he didn’t have this suit, and was successful!

So the rest of the league catch up with Batman, and Captain Cold puts his Cold Gun to Batman’s head…Poor Cyborg gets one pulled on him AGAIN!

Batman goes home. He says he’s “tired.” Yeah right. He goes home and smashes Damien’s tombstone.

Superman shows up…Where has he been? Why did we have Shazaam before when Glorious Godfrey showed up? Batman and Superman have one of the warmest conversations we have seen in the New 52. (And they even have their own joint title, where they mostly put each other down.)

Batman asked Superman to come down…His neck hurts. I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not. I kind of thought he might be up to something else. But we don’t see anything happen…

Batman and Superman apparently part ways. Batman shows up in the Batcave, greeting the entire Bat-family, (sans Dick Grayson.)!!!

They are all going to tackle this.

I like how this is an issue about issues…The Justice League values vs. their personal values. Batman directly asks Aquaman if he would feel the same as him if it were about Mera. I like that. Arthur has no reply, except “That isn’t fair.” But it was fair.

I don’t like how Cyborg got hated on so much. And really, he was just kind of a bystander…(Same as almost always.) The hacking of the teleport system as well as becoming the target of redirection for the cold gun were just wrong. I guess I wish it were Shazaam that was the target, or Lex Luthor.

So the next issue of Batman and Robin will be about Batman relating to Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl. This title should be about the Bat-family. I hope this brings them closer together…The Joker has fragmented them so, and then with the loss of Damien and the seeming loss of Dick they have been at odds with one another.

I rate Batman and Robin #33 at 5/5. This read kept me on the edge of my chair. The whole “Hellbat” thing was a great bonus. Batman bested the Justice League, another great thing. We saw a warm conversation between Clark and Bruce, something we almost never see anymore, and finally we saw the Bat-family assembled, ready to work together on something! The art is great as well, showing a tortured Bruce Wayne as the story progresses. Really, this book deserves every bit of the 5 points. What would you give it, oh Hub City Geeks? Comment and let me know what you think!

SpartanNerd Comic Review…Robin Rises: Omega

July 22, 2014 by spartannerd

This is definitely one of my favorite recent books! Last month in “Batman and ~~Robin~~ Ras Al Ghul” #32, Batman beat the tar out of Ras…We see Batman beat a lot of people up. But this time was…special! He literally lost his temper and was just about to kill him for attempting to resurrect Damien in a Lazarus Pit. The book came to a sudden and unexpected halt when Glorious Godfrey arrived, from Apokalips! This is where “Robin Rises: Omega” would have begun…

Luckily, I guess for people who haven’t been consistent readers, the special “Omega” issue starts off with a series of flashbacks to bring you up to speed. The flashbacks are a wonderful summary of the saga of Damien’s life and death, and how Batman grieved, avenged, and eventually came to terms with the loss of his son. I would point out that the art here is in some cases FAR SUPERIOR to the original art that appeared in the mainstream comics! Here are some examples below…

Damien was killed by this big guy, “The Heretic.” My grainy photo here is way better than the original art of Damien’s final moment in “Batman Incorporated. #8”

Here is an example of a different kind of improvement. The original art that appeared in “Batman and ~~Robin~~ Red Robin #19″ was cool, showing Batman dissecting Frankenstein quite gruesomely. Here we get to see an even gorier picture of that same scene.

After the flashbacks, we get back into the main story with the battle between Batman and Glorious Godfrey. It seems Glorious Godfrey thinks Batman has a crystal that belongs to him…(Actually Ras used it to activate the Lazarus Pit and it is in the coffin with Damien’s body. Batman doesn’t know…)

This is where it pays off to read EVERYTHING THAT CONNCECTS TO THE STORY. If you read Batman and Superman, (I have read every issue…) then you saw this chaos crystal. “Robin Rises: Omega” gives us this momentary flashback. It seems that in the displacing of time and space that happened in the issues with Kaiyo, the Chaos Crystal was a player, and Batman’s memory was scrambled a little bit to where he knows something happened but doesn’t seem to know. It is in his subconscious. Somehow Ras has taken this piece of the crystal, and Batman hasn’t a clue because of this mind scrambling effect. But it rushes back to him in his anger!

Most of this issue is a welcome battle royale. Basically you have Batman, Titus (Damien’s great dane), Frankenstein, and Ras Al’ghul and his army verses Glorious Godfrey and his parademon goons from Apokalips. There is some humorous dialogue just before the battle, where Batman indicates to Frankenstein that right now, the real enemy is Apokalips, considering the circumstances. Batman knows Darkseid is far more of a threat that Ras.

It turns out that we get to see how much of a ninja all of these characters are. Even Titus draws some blood! This huge battle comes to “Duex Ex Machina” when the Justice League busts in.

No Superman this time (he has some sickness, “Superman Doomed,” I’ve only lightly read this.) Instead we get Cheeseball. Yep. Shazam. Shazam just does what he does. Flys off the handle making rash decisions. We see Aquaman call Orcas at just the right moment. We see Wonder Woman do her awesome thing. Cyborg calculatedly using his weapons. But Shazam just messes things up. Then, when Batman tries to go through the Boom Tube to Apokalips as Glorious Godfrey makes his hasty escape, Shazam thinks he’s saving Batman by knocking him off of the flying parademon. Then we get these beautiful scenes. (Sorry. I am leaving the profanity here.)

Everyone who reads my blog knows I don’t like Shazam. So these pictures are priceless. GO BATMAN!

The issue ends with a seething Batman declaring that he is going to bring Damien back alive!

I can’t wait for “Batman and Robin” #33! (This time no strikethrough. The title is officially supposed to be called Batman and Robin again…We’ll see what that means!)

I give Robin Rises: Omega a 5/5! The art is an improvement over what was already established in some cases. There is a tide of emotions that go with this book, mostly anticipation and excitement, then amazement, humor, and finally you are feeling like Batman at the end of the book. This is what comics should do every week! This is probably my favorite piece of this story since issue 19. (Well, #32 was really good.)

Contrasting what is going on here compared to the two weekly titles, “Batman Eternal” and “Future’s End,” where the characters and story seems to be floundering, and you get snips and pieces that don’t really move you, “Robin Rises: Omega” is a great read!

What do you think, oh Hub City Geeks? Do you agree with my rating of 5/5? Send a comment and let me know!

spartannerd

A blog about everything "nerdtainment!"

Category Archives: Batman