Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet #4 Review

Written by: Ralph Garman and Kevin Smith
Art by: Ty Templeton
Cover Price: $1.99
Release Date: July 2, 2014

The Heroes Fight Back

I was down on this book when it first started, but I have been warming up to it.  Maybe I expected too much from Garman and Smith right off the bat because each issue is getting better and better.  A warning to new readers, this is not a Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman book with Batman in it,  it is a Batman '66 book written by Garman and Smith.  The two of them (especially Garman) respect the material too much to make it otherwise.  This issue continues the upward swing by giving the most "TV Ready" script of the series and some of the best use of the motion comic medium  I've ever seen.

Aquaman and the Others #4 Review

Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Lan Medina
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 2, 2014

Drop It Like It's...Not So Good

I have not liked this book from the get go.  I keep waiting for each issue to change my opinion, but it only solidifies my position.  I don't like the team, I don't like the story and I don't like the art.  The "epic" story of the stolen Atlantian gold is four issues in and seems like it's been going on forever.  Listen, I'm not like my Weird Science cowriter, Eric, who has been accused of hating for hates sake.  I love Aquaman and enjoyed the Others when they first appeared in his book.  However, I don't like this book at all.

I really don't know what else to write about this issue.  So, I put my review in Sonnet form.  Shakespearean rules, yo.

Batman Beyond 2.0 #24 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins
Art by: Thony Silas
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: July 5. 2014

It's so Hard...

Well boys and girls, it all comes down to this.  The end of last weeks Justice League 2.0 set up an epic battle royale and Kyle Higgins doesn't disappoint.  Did you think he would?  Of course not.  For those with bad memories or (for shame) haven't read it, Lord Superman  depowered the Justice League, but right before killing them off, Terry McGinnis showed up in his alt-timeline Kryptonite powered Batman Beyond suit looking all badass.  Let that run on sentence sink in.  Depowered Justice League.  Alt-timeline Kryptonite powered Batman Beyond suit.  Badass.  Shit is about to go down.

Terry and Lord Superman don't waste any time starting up round two of their fight.  While Lord Superman taunts and boasts (he does that alot), Terry just stands there.  Remember...badass.  I'd like to say it was a great battle, but it really wasn't.  Don't get me wrong, I really liked it.  Any opportunity to see Lord Superman get his ass handed to him is okay with me, I just hoped it would have more back-and-forth.  However, the finishing move was great.  Not the move, but who delivered it.  Game over, man.

Smallville: Chaos #5 Review

Written by: Bryan Q. Miller
Art by: Agustin Padilla and Daniel HDR
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: July 4, 2014

Family Affair

The last few issues of Smallville: Chaos have been so good.  Three awesome cliffhangers followed by one of the grimmest issues in the series yet.  The thing is, I would enjoy this comic if the characters just sat around playing pinochle on a Friday night.  That may sound ridiculous, but Bryan Q. Miller nails the characters and dialogue so well that it would be like watching an episode from the TV show. An episode taking place during a Friday night pinochle game.  Now I want that episode.  I'm not kidding.

This issue pulls back the overreaching story of Chaos and focuses on two plot lines.  Superman and Lois Lane on Earth Majestic and the Eclipso situation.  One has been my favorite in this mini series while the other has been at the bottom of my list.  If you have been reading my past reviews you'll know which is which.  Here's a hint...my least favorite rhymes with Twolipsohh.

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Patriotic Heroes In DC Comics

Happy 4th of July to all our American readers and anyone elsewhere that has an affinity for American holidays.  Since this Top 5 Friday happens to take place on America's Independence Day I figured we take a look at the top patriotic characters to grace the pages of DC Comics, and when I say top I mean my own personal favorites because taking an unbiased approach to this just seems like way to much work, and it is a holiday after all.  So if you'll excuse my laziness, I hope you can sit back and enjoy a look at the heroes that have donned the red white and blue from the beginning of World War II, to the present day.  Let's get started with Top 5 Patriotic Heroes In DC Comics.

Swamp Thing #33 Review

Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Javier Pina
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 3, 2014

Blah, Blah, Green

Last issue ended a cool side story with Aquaman with Lady Weeds attacking Swamp Thing.  Yes, it was nothing more than symbolic, but that didn't stop Alec from getting symbolically pissed off.  Actually, he's really pissed off.  No symbolism needed.

Batman/Superman #12 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Tom Raney and Ken Lashley
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 3, 2014

Deja Vu All Over Again

I have enjoyed the last few months of Batman/Superman.  Granted, they were an awesome Jeff Lemire one-shot and a Doomed tie-in, but I was looking forward to this issue nonetheless.  Unfortunately, this was not the book I was looking for.  It's not quite a First Contact issue and it doesn't start a new arc.  it's kind of stuck in the middle of something and I just want to get the hell off.

Green Lantern #33 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Robert Venditti
Art By: Billy Tan
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 2, 2014

Cry Havoc!  And Let Slip The Dogs Of War.... Or Something

We're winding down to the final battle where the fate of the universe will either continue to be protected by
the Green Lantern Corps, or be subservient to the Durlan race.  As we've seen the Durlans plan on taking on the Daxamite form, but in order to maintain their Superman like powers in this form they will need to consume a large amount of energy, and that comes from eating the living lava people of Zezzen.  Last issue of Green Lantern Corps we saw that the Durlans had already taken over Daxam, and after John Stewart attempted to stop them, they blasted off into space on their way to Zezzen to finish their plan of Universal domination.  Hopefully Hal Jordan will be able to stop this threat and we can finally see the Universe at a point where it isn't threatened for a change.  Let's check it out.

The New 52: Futures End #9 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Patrick Zircher
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 2, 2014

SPACE ZOMBIE!

Doing a recap from each previous issue is getting harder and harder, so I think I'm just give you the basics to understand what's going on to help you remember and prepare you for the current issue for now on.  So for our very basic jump to Five Years From Now.  We saw last issue that Grifter was getting to know the terrifying uber powered Fifty Sue, Superman's a jerk for sabotaging Jason Rusch and his colleague's teleportaion machine, Ray Palmer cut off the dead Hawk Man's arm to put on Frankenstein, and a mysterious god that had Brainiac's symbol all over it's temple killed a bunch of treasure hunters that were seeking fortune and glory.  I hope that catches you all up, and that you understand it, because doing a recap for a year long continuous story was getting ridiculous.  So let's check out what the world Five Years From Now has in store for us this week.

Superman Unchained #7 Review

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Jim Lee
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 2, 2014

Batmobile Attack!

An issue of Superman Unchained?  Holy Shit!  It's like going to your Uncle's funeral and during the eulogy, in walks...your friend, Chad from college.  Man, I haven't seen Chad in years and even though I heard he was doing okay, I never thought I'd see him again.  While I'm horrible with metaphors, I hope you get my drift.

Last issue of Superman Unchained (I think it came out sometime in 1845) ended with General Lane threatening to bring down Hell on Superman and the Fortress of Solitude. That's where we pick up here.

Earth 2 #25 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Nicola Scott
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 2, 2014

No Disintegrating People At The Table!

Last time we hopped the Einstein Rosen Bridge to Earth 2 we witnessed the daring rescue of The Flash.  His rescuers Green Lantern and Hawkgirl then had to out fly a horde of Parademons, and the corpse looking god Beguiler, who wasn't about to let her torture pet go so easily.  Elsewhere the surviving Wonders regroup in Amazonia with the World Army to figure out their next move, besides for the whole dying plan they had before because that wasn't really working for them.  So let's jump into this story where Hawkgirl has called in for reinforcements, Val-Zod showed Jimmy what he had on under his hoodie, and Superman and Red Tornado/Lois are sitting down to a nice meal with Ma and Pa Kent.  Yeah nothing could turn awful there.  Let's check it out.

Action Comics #33 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Aaron Kuder
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 2, 2014

Everything Isn't Better in Space

The Doomed story has been many things so far.  Exciting, action packed, touching, confusing and things I can't think of right now.  With so may creative teams involved, it's bound to have it's up and downs and lefts and rights.  Even with all that, it's still the best Superman story we've had in the New 52 so far.  I've enjoyed Greg Pak's contribution so far for one main reason, action star Lana Lang.  She's in full effect this month, but even with that and some good Superman/Doomsday dialog, this issue feels a bit off.  Action Comics #33 is the closest to a filler issue we've gotten in Doomed up to this point.

Old Time Tuesday: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?

In what might be the worst idea ever, this pilot was for the proposed show, "Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?".  It tried to recreate the fun of the Batman '66 show and was commisioned by William Dozier.  Stanley Ralph Ross did the rewrite, but from what your about to see, it still sucked.  I can only imagine what the script looked like before he "fixed" it.  It would have been the first Wonder Woman TV Show so thank God it wasn't picked up for series.  I'm sorry for what you're about to see.  Enjoy!

Batman: Eternal #12 Review

Written by: James Tynion IV
Art by: Mikel Janin
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

Trial of the Century

Batman Eternal started out like it a bat out of hell, throwing more plot lines than any reader could possibly digest.  Unfortunately, most of them stalled out to move on to the next.  James Tynion to the rescue.  This issue puts the bus back in drive and we're finally hitting the road again.  This isn't my favorite issue of the series, but it's one that was needed so much to get this book back on track.

Injustice: Year Two #13 Review

Written by: Tom Taylor
Art by: Bruno Redondo
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: July 1, 2014

I'm Quivering

Last week in Injustice, Superman decided what to do with the Green Lantern Corps while James Gordon started forming the Gotham resistance.  The issue ended with what Gordon called a "Game Changer", the super pill.  A major fight is going down, but this issue takes a little breather before diving into the pool.  Bummer, huh?  Not when Black Canary and Harley Quinn are involved.  The two are part of my favorite Injustice trio, but now that Ollie is gone...on second thought, I'm so bummed.

Larfleeze #12 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis
Art By: Scott Kolins
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

Ending With A Laugh

We've finally come to the end of Larfleeze, and as much as I hated this title when it started I have to say that it certainly grew on me over the past six months.  So walking into this issue the things you'll have to know are that Larfleeze, G'Nort, and the rogue member of The House of Tuath-Dan; The Wanderer are teamed up to take out the rest of The House of Tuath-Dan, on a robotic world known as Sorrow.  If that wasn't enough story for you let's add some romance because The Wanderer due to a ancient law is now betrothed to Larfleeze for being the only person that could defeat her in fair combat, so after this series we might have a wedding on our hands whether Larfleeze likes it or not.  We also have a stargate that the extra-dimensional gods built as a trap for Larfleeze out of the bodies of Sorrow's robotic people.  But after the consciousness of one of the robotic people it's made of decides that she's taking over the portal, and plans on killing everyone if her ex-husband doesn't pay her the back alimony he owes her, we might just have the death of everyone on the planet Sorrow.  Let's check out this last issue of Larfleeze and see if our Agent Orange lives to tell the tale.

Secret Origins #3 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Robert Venditti, Jeremy Haun, Scott Lobdell
Art By: Martin Coccolo, Trevor McCarthy, Tyler Kirkham
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

Double Secret Origin Probabtion

Here we are again with this strange title telling us it promises secret origins when at most we get a New 52 reboot origin, and it's really the same thing we already know.  For this issue we'll be taking a look at the origins of Green Lantern, Bat Woman, and Red Robin.  Now Green Lantern is just ridiculous, hell I think for the most part anyone who's in the Justice League is should just be passed over for a "Secret Origin", but I do have to admit I think the other two origins in this issue are a good choice for what this book is supposed to be.  I can't say I'm a big Bat Woman fan, and I'm curious to see what I might learn from this issue.  Red Robin has to be the reason to buy this if you happened to miss the Teen Titan #0 issue that told of Red Robin's beginnings.  Tim Drake's origins are strange since the New 52 started, and I hope this issue enlightens us to his new status-quo.  So let's take a look at a title I can't say I'm a fan of, but maybe one of these days I'll actually learn something from it.

Sinestro #3 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Cullen Bunn
Art By: Dale Eaglesham, Rags Morales
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

It's The Power Of Fear..... Can Ya Feel It?

Last time we looked at the leader of fear he was getting his house in order by whoopin' the asses of all the Sinestro Corps who opposed his rule.  So pretty much everyone, and after the fight was over Sinestro was the true leader of the Yellow Lanterns once more.  Now that that was taken care of it was time to find a suitable home for the Korugarian survivors he's collecting, and also a new base of operations for the Sinestro Corps.  It seems that a abandoned prison planet is suitable for both, and all Sinestro needs to do is clean up before his people move in.  That means slaughtering all the leftover prisoners, and while he's there he gets some loyal Corpsmen to brutally kill some questionable ones to prove a point to anyone else that might want to revolt against him in the future.  So the Korugarians get the planet and the Sinestro Corps will set up shop on the planet's moon.  So if everything goes smoothly all our characters should have a nice place to live.  That is if the cult of emotion killers doesn't find them first.  Let's check it out.

Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse #7 Review

Written by: Dan Abnett
Art by: Javier Garron
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: June 30, 2014

Ground Zero

Infinite Crisis has slowly become a book that is not only good, but one I look forward to reading every week.  This book is one that needs crazy characters and Worlds and that's just what Dan Abnett is giving us.  He's also giving us destruction, as in the elimination of an entire Universe.   Last week ended with the Monitor sending Team Batman to Earth-17 and their arrival starts this issue.

Just For The Hell Of It Mondays: Who Doesn't Love He-Man Playsets?

It seems that for this week I'm pushing the hell out of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe.  Oh and just so you know our weeks here at Weird Science begin on Wednesday's new comic book day, so we're still rocking last week for all of you set in your Monday is the first day of the week habits.

Batman '66 #37 Review

Written by:Gabriel Soria
Art by: Dean Haspiel
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

Give 'Im the Bat-Business

Batman '66 is not only a great show and comic, but it's a reminder of a time when Batman was wildly popular without being realistic and dark.  Mind you, I love the Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins is my favorite, not the Dark Knight btw), but nothing makes me happier than watching a couple Batman '66 episodes and letting the mindless camp take me away.  I know I'm not the only one and this comic is made for all of us fun-loving Bat fans. I hope there are still some of you out there.

Super Secret Crisis War #1 Review

Written by: Louise Simonson
Art by: Derek Charm
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014

Extraordinary Indeed

Welcome to another non DC Comic review.  While we usually stick to our wheelhouse, I like to mix things up when there is something too fun to ignore.  This week, IDW released Super Secret Crisis War #1 and I think it fits the bill.  Some of my favorite Cartoon Network villains and heroes in one family friendly book?  I'm in.  It doesn't hurt that Louise Simonson's story is so great and Derek Charm's art is appropriately charming (I'm sorry, I had to do it).  This book is as fun as it gets and I have a smile on my face as I review it.

Batman '66 #36 Review

Written by: Art Baltazar and Franco
Art by: Ted Naifeh
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: June 11, 2014

Classically Retro

I love Batman '66.  First the TV Show and now the comic.  While not every issue is a home run, they are usually good for at least a few chuckles.  In our World of grim and dark comics, that's enough for me.  However, some issues rise above a few chuckles and give something more, either through campy fun, great dialogue or zany concept.  This month Art Baltazar and Franco give us one of those issues.  Leave it to those zany Tiny Titans guys to give us such a fun issue.  I just wish the art was as strong as the script.  

Batman '66 is a book of nostalgia.  I read it to time travel back to being a kid in my footsie pajamas laying in front of the TV thrilled with the Batman and Robin that was MY Batman and Robin.  This issue is the kind of nostalgia I imagine my Father would have loved while watching the show with me.  I'd like to say, "This isn't your Father's Batman and Robin", but it's exactly that.  

Batman Beyond Universe #11 Review

Batman Beyond Universe #11 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins and Christos Gage
Art by: Thony Silas and Dexter Soy
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 25, 2014






This is a first for me.  I'm going to collect the digital issue reviews and combine them into the Batman Beyond Universe #11 review.  Hey, if DC can double dip, so can I.  Besides the selfish reasons, I'm also doing this because everyone should be reading these books. Batman Beyond 2.0 and Justice League 2.0 are so good.  The Justice Lords crossover has been stupendous and collected issue #11 has one of my favorites so far.  If you don't want to wade through four reviews then just stop right now and go buy this collected book.  Actually, buy the digital first when they are released and then go buy the collected book because it is worth it.

Weird Science DC Comic News: Week of June 25, 2014

Welcome, welcome to the Weird Science DC Comics News.  No, I will not be reviewing the Wendy's Steakhouse Jr. Cheeseburger, though I could probably eat about six of those right now.  Actually, before Eric and myself decided to do this site, I wanted to do a podcast on fast food.  Besides comics and bad movies, the two of us love shitty food more than anything.  We almost called the site "Whopper Wednesday" for crying out loud.  Why?  Because comics come out on Wednesday (of course), but mainly because we thought we could parley it into getting free burgers.  I know that makes no sense, but we were young and hungry.  Speaking of hungry, the other day Eric got dinner at Wendy's and had two regular Double Cheeseburgers and a Baconator...in one sitting.  That's 2560 calories in burgers alone.  Mind you, that probably isn't the most fast food he's eaten at once.  The guy does have an affinity to McDonald's double Quarter Pounders.  So this doesn't seem like a "look at Eric eating like a pig"  segment, I have eaten 12 hot dogs in one sitting...on numerous occasions.  What makes that even worse is that I really don't like hot dogs.  I know this has nothing to do with comics and it's making me so hungry.  What I really want to try is a Garbage Plate.  Now that seems like good eating.  But now...

On With the News