Weird Science DC Comics: 2014-09-21

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Batman Beyond 2.0 #35 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel
Art by: Thony Silas
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 27, 2014

Call Me When You Have No Class

I've already gone on and on about how much it sucks that this great book is ending. I love the DC Animated Universe and will gladly throw money at DC to get my fill of it. My aim better get real good, though, since there is not much left to throw at. It would hurt a little less if I thought canceling Batman Beyond 2.0 was part of a greater plan that would make the world a better place, but I know that's not the case. Granted, I don't know the reasons, but that's because no one is talking. Oh well, at least we have this issue and five more after that for Kyle Higgins to finish up his Batman Beyond story. I'll try to be thankful for the little things, but it still sucks. You know what doesn't suck? This issue.

Written by: Geoff Johns
Art by: Scott Kolins
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 1, 2014

Paranoid survivalist. Wanted fugitive. Damned soul. Meet the newest member of the Justice League: Jessica Cruz, a.k.a. Power Ring! With the most dangerous weapon in the universe in her possession, Jessica has been transformed into a dark prophet – one who will force the other members of the League to confront their greatest fears in preparation for a horrific new threat. Meanwhile, Batman and Lex Luthor continue their mission to cure the world of super-villains – but will the extremes they’re willing to go to threaten even their closest allies? Lex hopes so.

Justice League Dark: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: J.M. DeMatteis, Len Wein
Art By: Andres Guinaldo, Walden Wong
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The Most Exciting Day In Years

It's time we look at the JLD and with it my final review for the Futures End event. It's been a strange month filled with awful futures for our favorite heroes and I really don't know how I feel about that. Yeah some bad shit is bound to go down in Five Years and I understand that the DCU has gone through a hellish war that rivaled Darkseid's initial attack that created the Justice League, but damn does everyone have to be down in the dumps and appear be in a living hell? Just damaged characters that for the most part don't have any right to call themselves heroes anymore and that really makes me sad. Their Five Years From Now have actually depressed me and that's not what my heroes are supposed to do. Was that the purpose of this event? To make all the fans depressed so that when the timeline reverts back, we're all be so grateful that we go out and buy our hero's books in abundance because while it still might be dark; at least it's not Five Years From Now dark. I guess we'll have to see when October's sales come out; but until then let's take a look at what the JLD are up to Five Years From Now and see if they share their colleagues grim future or if they've found a spell to brighten their days. Let's check it out.

Smallville: Continuity #5 Review

Written by: Bryan Q. Miller
Art by: Ig Guara
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 27, 2014

Promises, Promises

I am two things...a gluttonous jerk and a Smallville fan. Right now I'm eating a Cheesesteak Pizza and reading and reviewing Bryan Q. Miller's Smallville: Continuity #5. That, my friends, equals Heaven. What's even better is that Continuity is turning the corner and getting back to the high quality read it was during the middle of the Chaos arc. Don't get me wrong, a bad issue of Smallville is better than 99% of the comics out there, but when everything is clicking, it's hard to top. Almost everything is clicking this week. There is action galore, an awesome guest appearance and a Lois and Lex team up. That last one is the highlight of the whole arc so far, I just wish it lasted longer...actually, everything about it was perfect.

Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman #7 Review

Written by: Sean E. Williams
Art by: Marguerite Sauvage
Cover Page: $0.99
Release Date: September 25, 2014

Feel the Hotness

Sensation Comics has been a great addition to DC's Digital First line of comics. I've mentioned it before, but to me it is the perfect replacement for the (unfortunately) canceled Adventures of Superman. Like that book, Sensation is a celebration of it's featured character and who deserves a celebration more than Wonder Woman? No one, that's who. Well, probably a couple heroes with Super and Bat in their names, but that's up for debate and doesn't fit this intro very well. Where was I? Oh yea...no one, that's who. After six good issues, the book hits a bit of a snag this week. Keep reading to find out why.

Green Lantern #35 Preview (Godhead)

Written by: Robert Venditti
Art by: Billy Tan

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: October 1, 2014

“GODHEAD” Act 1, Part 2: That shudder you felt was the New Gods declaring their intentions against all ring-wielders! Having staked their claim to the emotional spectrum, the New Gods set about redefining the universe in their image, starting with Metron, who’s determined to steal the secrets of the Corps’ Citadel. But Hal and the Corps have something to say about that. Good luck trying to make yourself heard when you’re talking to a god!

You know what the Lantern books need? A crossover event. I think DC has a big book of rules that demands that the Lantern books can't go more than a couple of issues without a big event. Luckily, Godhead looks pretty damn cool. Enjoy the Preview.

With the recent announcement about Supergirl getting her own television show, I realized what a great time it is to be a superhero fan. Eventually the program guide on your television will look like someone's collection of back issues at an estate sale and I'm not ashamed to say that I love living in a world I could only dream of as a child. Yes with all these superhero shows we might have the issue of oversaturation, but nothing is going to stop that until the entertainment big wigs squeeze every damn dime out of the property and then kick it to the wayside. That's just entertainment and it's been that way since sequels and syndication were created and who are we to stop them? Well maybe we could stop them, but damn are we to lazy after sitting around and watching our favorite superheroes on the big and small screens all day. This is kind of getting away from me here, all I wanted to say was that with Supergirl getting a show at some point, it made me think of all the other DC properties that would just be perfect to make their way onto the small screen and really not interfere with any DC movie universe that may or may not come down the line. It's all up to whether or not people flock to Batman V, Superman: Dawn of Justice the way they flocked to Avengers. It's really strange to think that they wouldn't, but man are people hating for hate sake on the interwebs. Okay time to quit rambling and get to this week's Top 5 DC Characters That Are Perfect For TV. Let's check it out.

Grayson #3 Preview

Written by: Tom King
Art by Mikel Janin

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: October 1, 2014

A secret mission. A partner in danger. Dick Grayson draws his gun. Will the heir to Batman pull the trigger? Also featuring the stunning, not to be missed debut of a new key player in the DC Universe: the world’s greatest spy, the Tiger.

If I wasn't such a huge Dick Grayson fan, I may not give this book many more issues, but I am so I will. It's not that it's a bad book, I just want Nightwing back. I've heard some people complain that Grayson is DC's attempt at turning Dick into Nick Fury (Dick Fury, he he) and this cover isn't going to convince them otherwise. It looks a lot like a Steranko cover of Nick Fury Agent of Shield (Here). I hope this is the issue that grabs me in that special place and doesn't let go until I say the safe word. Enjoy the preview.

Superman: Futures End #1 Review

Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Lee Weeks
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 25, 2014

And Knowing is Half of Something

For Superman fans, this Futures End thing is a bit of a weird Event. If you're not reading the main Futures End title, you may not know what I'm getting at, so close your eyes if you don't like spoilers. Superman is gone. Yep, the Man of Steel is out of the picture. So...Shazam has stepped up and taken his place. The world needs a Superman and it could do a lot worse then good old Billy Batson. In this issue, Dan Jurgens takes the reigns of Superzam (not so catchy, but I'm going with it) and tells a pretty good story of the how and why of it all that actually ties-into and even enhances the main title. The art is snazzy as well, I just wish that the dialogue and characterizations were a bit more on the mark.

Sinestro: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Cullen Bunn
Art By: Igor Lima, Ruy Jose
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The End and The Beginning

Okay we've dealt with all the Lanterns so far and if you've been keeping up, the only one of them to have what would appear to me to be a happy ending was Guy Gardner. Now I don't know, maybe John Stewart gets some kick out of being in the Indigo Tribe, but that just seems like a living hell to me. Compassion...... Bah. Putting my awfulness aside, today we'll be looking at our final Lantern; the Fuhrer of Fear himself Sinestro and up until today I guess I wasn't looking at the cover properly, because I never saw that the future Sinestro had a jumpsuit on. I seriously thought that Sinestro was like Jambi from Pee Wee's Playhouse with hands. I guess I can put my Jambi fears aside as we jump Five Years From Now and see what he's up to. Let's check it out.

Superman: Doomed #2 Review

Written by: Greg Pak and Charles Soule
Art by: Ken Lashley, Szymon Kudranski, Cory Smith, Dave Bullock, Jack Herbert, Ian Churchill,
Aaron Kuder, Vincente Cifuentes and Norm Rapmund
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The Ripple Effect

Well, it's been almost six months and the Doomed story is finally over. Superman becoming Doomsday seemed like a gimmick at first, but it actually became so much more. What I thought would just be a huge beat 'em up became a look at the the psyche and vulnerability of the Man of Steel. It didn't hurt that we also got a huge ensemble cast including all the heavy hitters of the DCU. Greg Pak and Charles Soule get the honor of ending the story and they do so in a way that is consistent with the whole event and sets up a crazy future for everyone.

Booster Gold: Futures End #1 Review

Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Ten artists I'm too lazy to write down but includes Brett Booth, Moritat and Dan Jurgens
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 29, 2014

The Golden Boy

Booster Gold is such a fun character. Seriously, everywhere he pops up (and pop up he does) instantly becomes a crazier place. Well, after a few New 52 appearances (Justice League International, All Star Western...) he is back and looking for trouble. Actually, trouble seems to find him and this issue is no exception. Dan Jurgens uses the Futures End Event to bring Booster back into the folds of space and time and while this issue is more setup than an event book has any right to be, I love what it sets up and where we find out it's going.

Red Lanterns: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Charles Soule
Art By: J. Calafiore
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

A HAPPY LANTERN ENDING!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!

Okay it's Five Years From Now and we've seen Guy go from Green Lantern to a Red Lantern and a whole bunch of stuff in between that I'm not even sure is still canon, but here we are and as we see from the cover, Guy has gotten pretty blue in the future. That's a play on words son.... It's a joke. Foghorn aside, it seems that Guy has found some hope in the years we've missed and with it we all hope to see a happy ending for one of our Lantern heroes, because by my count it's 0 and 3 for happy so far, not including Sinestro because I haven't read that yet, but nonetheless it's time for some happy so let's dive into this issue and see Guy Gardner Five Years From Now.

The Flash: Futures End #1 Review

Written by: Robert Venditti and Van Jensen
Art by: Brett Booth
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The Quick and the Dead

Okay, we finally get to the Futures End issue that I've been waiting for. Robert Venditti and Van Jensen must have read the writing on the wall (or have a crystal ball) and prepared for this Event for months. The fact that we are used to time hoping Flash makes so much sense for Futures End, but is also it's biggest drawback. In the end, we get an overcrowded book that looks great, but falls a bit short of it's potential.

He-Man and The Masters of The Universe #17 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Pop Mhan
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

Yeah........... She Done Slit He-Man's Throat.... What's Up With That?

That's right I just spoiled the last issue's cliff hanger right off the bat, but that's what we do here at Weird Science........ Well that's what I do here at Weird Science. Last issue we saw our sibling heroes make their way to the forbidden island Anwat-Gar, where Adora chased Swiftwind into a haunted forest and He-Man made himself at home among the Gar people. Well it all went to hell when the Gar people betrayed the bloodline of Grayskull once again and gave him a paralyzing agent and we saw that Tri-Klops has already made a deal with the Gar people to trade He-Man for their safety when Hordak eventually takes over all of Eternia. Now if that scenario alone wasn't bad enough, eventually Adora comes back to the village and with the snake blade that Teela gave her, we watched our not yet She-Ra slice He-Man's throat and kill him........ It's not too presumptuous for me to think that someone slicing a throat would lead to their demise is it? Well let's find out as we jump into this month's issue and hopefully have a resolution that leads to our favorite Eternian hero pulling off a resurrection. Let's check it out.

The New 52: Futures End #21 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Cully Hammer
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The Word On The Street

This week's recap is going to be an easy one. All you have to know going in is that Emiko and Diggle have led Big Barda to Green Arrow Island where we learned our hero Green Arrow is still alive and apparently isn't any better at naming his things. Come on, Green Arrow Island? So our Emerald Archer has put together an army and is planning on taking on Cadmus Island. What's up with Cadmus Island you ask, well for awhile they've been holding the heroes of Earth 2 prisoner there and lately they've been taken over by Brother Eye and now it's an island full of puppet super heroes being controlled by the villainous Eye in the sky. Cool thing about this issue is that normally we're jumping about to different characters, but here it's a straight forward story letting us in on what happened to Earth 2 and the war that ensued after their arrival here. I mean here as Prime-Earth because I obviously have reality issues. Let's check it out.

This may or may not be Jim and Eric

Yea, Eric and myself got together with Mike Blanchard of GeekCast Radio to talk about how we got into comics. While we were both pretty nervous (and I may have been a little too drunk for my own good), I think it went well. It went well enough to inspire us to start our podcast that we've been talking about for a year now so you can either thank or curse out Mike for that. Listen as we talk about Shrimp Dip, Futures End, Infinite Crisis and more Batman Beyond 2.0 than I was ready for (remember, the whole drunk thing). If you are a Marvel fan, I apologize in advance.

Listen to the Podcast HERE

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Batman: Eternal #24 Review

Written by: Ray Fawkes
Art by: Andy Clarke
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 23, 2014

Spoilers Ahead

Of all the Batman: Eternal plots that have neglected, the Stephanie Brown/Spoiler story has been the one I want more of. Seriously, fans had been yelling for Stephanie since the beginning of the New 52 and now that DC has given in, they are really taking their time with her. This issue rectifies that situation in a big way with a heavy does of Spoiler with a side of Cluemaster. It isn't my favorite issue of Eternal, but it pushes the story ahead in a pretty fun way.

Batman/Superman: Futures End #1 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Cliff Richards, Jack Herbert and Vicente Cifuentes
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 17, 2014

A Friend in Need

I am sick and tired of this Futures End Event. To me, it's been overwhelmingly lackluster almost every step of the way. Maybe it's the fact that DC never really defined what they were going for in these books or they're just plain bad. I actually think it's both. I could use this issue of Batman/Superman as exhibit A to support my argument. It has very little connection to the Futures End story and I really didn't enjoy reading it. In fact, no matter what book or books you read, you can skip this issue and be no worse for wear. If I were you, I'd do just that.

Trinity of Sin: Pandora: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Ray Fawkes
Art By: Francis Portela, Tom Derenick
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 17, 2014

Confusion At It's Finest

I guess it's up to all of you to decide whether this issue counts as Pandora's final issue. When the last issues of the six titles that were cancelled came out last month, I had it in my mind that those were the last and Futures End wouldn't count. That might sound silly to you, but fuck you I'm silly. Here's the problem, out of the six titles I review three of them and I now count Phantom Stranger's Futures End as his last issue and still think of Superboy #34 as his final issue. This probably has no bearing on you but for some reason I need to have these things figured out in my strange brain and as far as I see it now, Pandora's Futures End isn't it's final issue and if it is I'm completely lost. To understand what I'm saying........ or to have somewhat of a clue about what I'm saying let's look at Pandora Five Years From Now and see what the cursed immortal is up to. Let's check it out.

Green Lantern: New Guardians: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Justin Jordan
Art By: Diogenes Neves
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 17, 2014

Rockin' The Paradise

While you might find meaning in the long run for the header I've decided for this issue, it's really a way for me to exorcise the demons of STYX from my mind, because I can't stop singing this song to myself. So with this act, I cast the song out unto you so that I may finally have some peace or until Too Much Time On My Hands replaces it. Okay let's get to some Green Lantern talk. As we've seen from Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, our GL's haven't been having the best time Five Years From Now and going in with those kind of stats isn't really reassuring towards the well being of Kyle Rayner here. But with a power like the White Lantern ring what could possibly go wrong? Let's check it out.

The Flash: Season Zero #2 Review

Written by: Brooke Eikmeier and Katherine Walczak
Art by: Phil Hester
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 22, 2014

Freak Show

I can't wait for the Flash TV Show to start so when this comic was announced I was pretty hyped up. I'll take any Flash comic I can get my hands on and mix in a prequel to my most anticipated show and you got yourself a sweet deal. Unfortunately, the first issue was a bit of a letdown. It seemed to suffer from an identity crisis and struggled to find it's footing. You'll probably never see me write this again, but it was too cartoony for my tastes. This issue does a better job, but adds a couple new problems to the mix. It's not a bad comic, but it's leaving a lot of potential on the table.

Booster Gold: Futures End #1 Preview

Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Will Conrad, Brett Booth, Ron Frenz, Mark Irwin, Stephen Thompson, Steve Lightle, Moritat, Dan Jurgens
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2014

Trapped out of time on a world that defies reason, Booster Gold struggles to escape the fate that has held him and so many forgotten heroes captive!

The New 52: Futures End #21 Preview

Written by: Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire, Brian Azzarello
Art by: Cully Hamner
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

Discover what happened during the war with Earth 2 as we set the stage for DC’s next weekly epic: WORLDS END!

Harley Quinn: Futures End #1 Preview

Written by: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by: Chad Hardin

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

Harley and The Joker make it legal at last! Follow the happy couple to their secret honeymoon spot, where it’s literally till death do they part!

Red Lanterns: Futures End #1 Preview

Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Jim Califiore

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 24, 2014

The ranks of the Red Lanterns have grown to monstrous numbers, and with no Blood Lake to restore their sanity, they’re terrorizing the universe. It’s up to Blue Lantern Guy Gardner to correct the deadly mistake he made!

With the Supergirl TV show being announced that it will find a home at CBS this week, I figured that I'd take the opportunity to have a video featuring our favorite Girl of Steel. Now while I could show you something awesome like Stargirl and Supergirl teaming up from Justice League Unlimited or Laura Vandervoort rocking the Supergirl persona in Smallville, I figured I'd stay consistent and find the most boring video you could imagine. Well it's not that bad, it's the end of the documentary on the making of Supergirl the motion picture and while I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that they liked the flick, it did have a fond place in my heart as I was growing up and didn't know what a bad movie was yet. As bad as the flick was, Helen Slater will always be my live action Supergirl and I'm not ashamed to say that I had a bit of a crush on her as a child and I might still today. I have to see if I act like a complete idiot when I meet her and I'll be able to completely understand if the feelings are still there. If this is a way to prove sexual feelings for someone though, then I have a full out man crush on James Hampton who placed Michael J. Fox's father in Teen Wolf, because man did I geek out on him. But anyway check out this making of video and get a little nostalgic for our original Supergirl Helen Slater and the movie that burned us on Supergirl for many many years.

Red Hood and The Outlaws: Futures End #1 Review and SPOILERS

Written By: Scott Lobdell
Art By: Scott Kolins
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 17, 2014

Taking Out The Trash

What's there to say about Red Hood and The Outlaws Five Years From Now? Well for one thing this
cover is really misleading. I can assure you before we get into this review that there will be no Arsenal and Starfire trying to take down Red Hood, like the cover suggests. Maybe just a little Arsenal, but it's briefly glanced at and the important thing to know about this book going in is it returns Red Hood to his roots by allowing him to go off and simply kick ass and take names. While I've always liked that expression, I've never really got the whole taking names bit. I've never had my ass kicked and then the person doing the ass kicking asks me "Hey, what's your name?" and I've certainly not kicked any ass in my time....... That's what I read books like Red Hood and the Outlaws for to get it all out of my system. So let's see Red Hood kick some ass Five Years From Now and see if he's missed a step in a post war world. Let's check it out.

Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse #19 Review

Written by: Dan Abnett
Art by: Emanuel Simeoni
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 21, 2014

Awful Fate

Last week I continued my ranting about this book. My main issue is that it seems happy to just tread water. Maybe it's a problem inherent with a video game tie-in, but Dan Abnett and company seem to be more intent on introducing new characters instead of pushing the story forward. Well, this week isn't any better. Last week's ending seemed to be gearing the reader up for some real story progression, but instead we start off with a new team. Don't get me wrong, they are pretty awesome...for a bit. Then the issue ends inches from where the last one did. Lovely.

Justice League Dark: Futures End #1 Preview

Written by: J. M. DeMatteis
Art by: Andres Guinaldo
Cover Price: $3.99
Release date: September 24, 2014

An emotionally and physically scared Zatanna struggles to find a way to return her team and the House of Mystery itself to our own dimension – but the cost might doom them and our world!

Heloooooooooooooooo everybody. You think that's annoying to read, you should hear it live. Actually, you just may. It seems that Eric and Myself are going to be guests tonight on Geekcast Radio's Pull Bag Podcast. I have no idea when it will hit the website, but I know one thing...I will surely make a fool of myself. It's all about how we got into reading comics and such, but I have a feeling it will go off the rails a bit. We tend to ramble on about meaningless things so I hope Mike Blanchard, the host with the most, puts up with us. As for comics, I'm pretty sure Eric will have better stories of how he got into this hobby we all know and love. I will add stories of dancing dwarfs and eating massive amounts of hot dogs. You know, the important things in life. Well, enough of the shameless plugs (and no, I'm not speaking of Jeremy Piven), it's time to get down to brass tacks.

This week we have the extreme pleasure of having Cullen Bunn as our guest for Five Questions. Writer of Deadpool, Wolverine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Godzilla, Magneto, Sinestro and the list goes on and on. Seriously, what hasn't this guy done? Do yourself a favor and head on over to his website and check out all the great things he's doing including the awesome Sixth Gun series from Oni and the upcoming horror comic, Wolf Moon for Vertigo. Eric will be reviewing Wolf Moon since he is such a werewolf fan and his tastes in werewolf movies are exact to Cullen's (more on that below). Thanks goes out to Cullen and I hope you all enjoy the interview.

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