Green Lantern 75th Anniversary: Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Green Lantern Villains

Welcome back to our Top 5 Friday: Green Lantern 75th Anniversary edition! This is the second Top 5 of this celebration, so if you didn't see the first one, click HERE ! This week we'll be covering what most consider important to every superhero; their supervillains! The Lantern corps has an entire galaxy filled with villains, so I apologize if there isn't one you the readers want, but this is my list and my opinion. ENOUGH CHATTER! LETS BEGIN!

New Suicide Squad #12 Review

Written by: Sean Ryan
Art by: Philippe Briones and Blond
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

Road to Ruin

When we started our site a couple of years ago, we did so with one mission statement...read and review every DC Comic that comes out each week.  Kind of a crazy thing for two guys to take on, but nobody has ever accused Eric or myself of being sane.  While that policy has been good to us as a site, it's been a bit of a hell for us as individuals and has led to each of us having to read books we would normally not read.  However, it also has made us fans of books we normally wouldn't have picked up otherwise.  New Suicide Squad is one of those books for me.  Sure, I have to read and review it each month, but it has become one of the books that I look forward to each month.  Sean Ryan has really kicked ass with this story of Task Force X infiltrating  the Isis-like fanatical group called the League.  While it's had plenty of action, it's the characterizations of the leads that has made it shine.  This month gets the story (and maybe some of the Suicide Squad members) closer to an end and if that means the introduction of the newer New Suicide Squad team, I'll be a sad fellow.  Does this issue continue the fun we've been having for months or is it D.O.A?  Let's find out...

Gotham Academy #10 Review

Written by: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art by: Karl Kerschl, Serge Lapointe and Msassyk
Cover Price: $2.99

*Spoilers below, no spoilers at the bottom along with the score*

Toil and trouble!

Gotham Academy continues with the mystery of Olive and her mother. The previous issue we had Olive thinking her mother was catching the school's theatre on fire. Once the fire was put out, the director informs Olive that most of the cast was hurt and will not be able to perform their production. Olive volunteers the detective club so they can get a closer look at the theatre ghost. 

Starfire #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art By: Emanuela Lupacchino, Mirco Pierfederici, Ray McCarthy, Trevor Scott, Hi-Fi
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

Making Friends

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

When we last sauntered down to Key West to check in on our favorite Tamaranian Princess, she was busy as hell dealing with a hurricane and even after that she really didn't have time to breathe...... you know, because of the subterranean monster that has come a ground and is tearing the town apart.  It's a good thing that bars are the best places to find new friends because Kori finds herself with someone else who is special in the form of Atlee, a woman from the underground world of Strata, who now that she's on the surface works as a waitress at Ye Olde Watering Hole....... yeah, that's not the name but I'll go with it if you do.  We discover that the monster is after Atlee and if you hit it......... it only makes the monster bigger.  I didn't have a lot of faith going in because of Starfire coming off as a nitwit lately and the idea that it would take brains over brawn to take down this baddie, but let's jump and see if I can be pleasantly surprised.  Let's check it out.

Catwoman #44 Review

Written by: Genevieve Valentine
Art by: David Messina and Gaetano Carlucci and Lee Loughridge
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

Back in Black

I'd like to dedicate this review to all the haters out there who claim I'm too negative in my reviews and need to dish out better scores on a daily basis.  You know who you are...coming to our site under the guise of "unknown" and/or "anonymous, leaving negative comments and then running off to the dark corner of the Internet you hide out in.  Well, come out from the darkness and rejoice my brothers and sisters because I am turning over a new positive leaf where we can all hold hands, sing kumbaya and drink RC cola until the day turns to night and then day once again.  Why am I so happy?  Because I get to review Catwoman and it's just so damn good.  That's all it takes, really. A great creative team writing a kick ass book.  No gimmicks or artificial hype needed.  So, does Catwoman #44 continue the trend?  Of course it does, but let's talk about it, shall we?

Action Comics #44 Review

Written by: Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder
Art by: Aaron Kuder, Howard Porter and Tomeu Morey
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

The Final Setup

I know I sound like a broken record, but I have not been enjoying the Truth story.  There are a boat load of reasons, but I think it boils down to the non cohesiveness of the books in regards to each other and the actual stories not being that interesting in the first place.  That being said, Action Comics has been my favorite book in the story and while it hasn't been perfect, I liked last issue because we at least got a villain.  Shadow Monsters may not be an all-time great, but it made sense in the story and I was looking forward to how this Truth book ended it's story.  Well, now that I read the issue, is this still my favorite Truth book?  Let's find out...

Harley Quinn: Road Trip Special #1 Review and *SPOILERS

Written By: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti

Art By: Bret Blevins, Moritat, Flaviano Armentaro, Pasquale Qualand, Jed Dougherty, Mike Manley, Paul Mounts

Cover Price: $5.99

Release Date: September 9, 2015

On a Hellway to High

  

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It may be after Labor Day, but we’ll allow our favorite roller derby girl with the porcelain complexion to wear white anyway—mainly because she frightens the crap out of us! Summer hijinx continue with one last caper for Harley Quinn and her buddies Poison Ivy and Catwoman as they travel cross-country in a classic Airstream trailer with a dead body in tow! There’s indecency, violence, and drug use in this special oversized issue that’s timed perfectly to welcome kids back for a new school year. Is this comic like cutting Study Hall to make out or having Myron Shneebly for a lab partner? Read on and find out!

Justice League United #13 Review

Written by: Jeff Parker
Art by: Paul Pelletier and Jeromy Cox
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

War is Hell/Hell is War

After the first two issues of post Convergence Justice League United, I was a bit confused, but cautiously optimistic about the book going forward.  While I'm worried that the rotating rosters will cause the book problems at retail, I am warming up to the idea that this book might just be the most important one in the DC You.  If DC is going to do a "Meat and Potatoes" reboot, this is the book to get the party started.  Gather some characters, fix some anomalies and wango tango...reboot. Speaking of gathering characters, this is one hell of a gathering of characters.  Batgirl, Steel, Vandal Savage, Robotman and a couple of surprises are such a great team that I couldn't wait for this issue the minute this team was announced.  So, did the great team equal a great issue?  Let's ind out...

Earth 2: Society #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson
Art By: Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

A Super Break Up

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Ding Dong, Terry Sloan Is Dead!  Well, at least until he isn't....... but that doesn't matter right now because the hunt for his killer is on.  As we all saw in Earth 2: Society #3, Terry looked to have a few screws loose as he was screaming about some hidden threat that would use the Source Vault if he didn't act first.  Well, our heroes banded together to take him down before he remade the whole world, but out of nowhere, a lightning bolt shot down and killed Terry before Green Lantern shut the genesis machine down.  While we can never say that anyone is definitely dead in a comic book, two things that we know for sure from last issue are, the Source Vault is missing and Power Girl and Val-Zod must have had themselves one hell of a breakup.  Let's jump into this issue and see more on those two subjects.  Let's check it out.

Batman/Superman #24 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Ardian Syaf, Yildiray Cinar, Howard Porter, Dean White, Beth Sotelo and Vicente Cifuentes
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

The Lie Has to be Better

The Truth story continues this week in Batman/Superman and the big draw this issue has to be the crazy guest star of last issue's cliffhanger...Aquaman.  While I have been worried that adding Arthur into an already convoluted story might really throw things off the rails, I like Aquaman and have been holding out hope that he can knock some sense into Clark and right the Truth ship before it pulls up at the dock.  Seriously, this book may not be the best in the Truth lineup, but I'll give Greg Pak kudos for laying it on the line with the craziest entry.  The craziness continues this issue with the wrap up to the whole Subterranea/Ukar/artificial sun story.  So, did Aquaman help Clark save the day? Let's find out...

Batman #44 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Scott Snyder, Brian Azzarello
Art By: Jock, Lee Loughridge
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

Much Ado About Nothing

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's head back into Gotham and see what's going down with Mr. Bloom in this very odd issue.  Previously we saw how Bruce Wayne survived the cave collapse from the finale of End Game due to the abundance of dionesium in the area and how it remapped his brain, creating a man who never was Batman.  Yeah, it's kind of weird because in my mind that would leave him little more than a man-child who wouldn't even be able to care for himself, but he comes off as a pretty regular guy just trying to get his life together by helping the less fortunate.  We got that and Jim Gordon's Batman trying to hunt down the super power drug dealer Mr. Bloom and apparently this baddie is more than he seems when he possibly kills Penguin after turning into a Slender Man monster.  Yeah, it's all pretty odd and even though I'm sure we'd all love to see where we go from there.......... Too bad, because we're going back to a post Zero Year Gotham.  Let's check it out and see if we can get excited for this new villain.

Weird Science DC Comics Podcast Episode 35: Nightmares and Dreams

 After last week's marathon, Jim and Eric are still exhausted and Jim may have drank too much caffeine.  With less books, little news and a bad attitude, they recorded one of the shortest podcasts they have ever done.  We still find out what Eric really thinks of Wes Craven, what Jim thinks of Green Arrow and what both of them think of each other.  It's another love fest for everyone to join in on.

Justice League United #13 Preview

Written by: Jeff Parker.
Art by: Paul Pelletier and Rob Hunter
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

Description: Guest artist Paul Pelletier joins the JLU for a special storyline that sees Stargirl and the team of Steel, Robotman, Batgirl and Vandal Savage enter a war zone that's at once very familiar and utterly weird. Plus: the long awaited return of a legendary DC Comics hero.

Out of all the characters listed above, am I the only one most excited about Robotman?  While I still haven't gotten my head wrapped around this books concept, I can't wait to get a step closer on Wednesday.

Catwoman #44 Preview

Written by: Genevieve Valentine
Art by: David Messina
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

As the mob’s turf war for control of Gotham City continues to escalate, Eiko and Selina must make some hard decisions if they are to withstand the power plays of The Penguin and Black Mask. And how does Killer Croc fit into the action? 

Okay, first off I want to yell at Genevieve Valentine for making me think that Eiko was dead last issue. Worse than that, I thought that Killer Croc was taking her for dinner.  Not "to" dinner..."for" dinner. Well, I'm glad that didn't happen and I'm really pumped to read this issue on Wednesday.

Gotham Academy #10 Preview

Written by: Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan
Art by: Karl Kerschl
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!” To investigate a suspicious student, Olive and the gang join the school production of Macbeth! But is the play haunted? 

Macbeth?  If only Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher would have written this issue during my college days, I could have just read this.  It would have been a lot more fun and a hell of a lot prettier than those damn Cliff's Notes.  Who the hell was Cliff, anyway.  Check out the issue on Wednesday.

New Suicide Squad #12 Preview

Written by: Sean Ryan
Art by: Philippe Briones
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

The Suicide Squad’s mission to infiltrate a brutal League of Assassins splinter group is put in serious jeopardy when Manta goes too far to prove his loyalty, and Boomerang refuses to go far enough. Meanwhile, Harley Quinn is forced to look inward when confronted with her greatest enemy: boredom.

I have really enjoyed what Sean Ryan is doing with this book.  While I really want to see what the hell is up with Black "I'm in too Deep" Manta, after reading this issue, I want more Harley!  I can't help it, it only takes a few fart noises and I'm hooked.  Plus, Parasite looks awesome.  Just saying.

Injustice: Year Four #19 Review

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Xermanico and Rex Lokus
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 8, 2015

Dying Time

Injustice has had it's ups and downs since Brian Buccellato took over the book, but the thing that has upset me the most has been his portrayal of Harley Quinn.  While it's fine to throw her in a scene for some comedy relief, she had been so much more in this book.  If you have been reading since Year One, you're likely shaking your head and thinking of her, Ollie, Black Canary and the Quiver.  The reason she has been so great in this book is her heart, not her funny bone.  In fact, the Harley in Injustice is my all-time favorite Harley bar none.  Unfortunately, that Harley hasn't been seen in a while, but there is hope.  This issue is a Harley heavy issue and it gives Buccellato a chance to redeem himself.  Well, did he?  Let's find out...

Earth 2: Society #4 Preview

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson
Art By: Jorge Jimenez
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015


The heroes of Earth-2 have been so focused on each other and rebuilding their world that they never worried about super-villains—and now, it’s too late!

If this solicit is accurate, then this is everything that I ever wanted an Earth 2 title to be.  Superheroes taking on Super Villains.  I really hope that this series can become interesting because I love these characters so much that I don't want them to forgotten due to cancellation.

Batman #44 Preview

Written By: Scott Snyder
Art By: Jock
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015


It’s the origin of new villain Mr. Bloom! In a tale from Bruce Wayne’s past, Batman must investigate a vicious crime in the shadowy area of Gotham City known as the Narrows. Don’t miss this special issue illustrated by superstar artist Jock (Wytches, GREEN ARROW YEAR ONE)!


I'm really in this solely to see what Bruce Wayne will be doing now that his brain is remapped and he has no knowledge of ever being Batman.  Hopefully the background about Mr. Bloom is good, but as of right now, he's not that interesting to me...... maybe I'll have a change of heart after this issue.

Puppet Master #5 Review and *SPOILERS*

Okay, it's time to get back to the series of films that I love so much and to catch me up completely on this comic.  Hopefully, for now on I'll be doing these a couple of days after they come out for Just For The Hell of It Mondays and all of us can continue the fun that Shawn Gabborin has been creating for us.  This book has been so good in creating new stories for the fans while playing up the references to the films that brought us all here.  It's just been a wonderful experience and I can't wait to continue it.  Let's jump back into this world and see what's in store for us this time with Part 2 of Rebirth.

Harley Quinn #19 Review

Written by: Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner
Art by: Chad Hardin and Alex Sinclair
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 26, 2015

I'm strong to the finish

While I have had my issues with some of the other Harley books (cough cough Harley/Power Girl cough cough), I have generally enjoyed Harley's main solo title.  It's right up my alley with it's potty humor and pop culture references and when that is combined with a strong story, then this book really shines.  That's what I was hoping for when Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner started this "Gang of Harleys" story.  Overall, I have enjoyed it, but I have to admit, it's beginning to drag a bit.  This issue ends the first arc of the story. but did it end it on a high note?  Let's find out...

Wonder Woman '77 #7 Review

Written by: Marc Andreyko
Art by: Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: August 27, 2015

Cats Got Claws

I loved Wonder Woman '77 when it debuted way back in January and was upset and confused when it disappeared after only six issues.  Even then, it came out so sporadically, that it took a bit of an effort to keep up with it digitally, but it was so worth it.  Well, without little fanfare or notice from DC Comics, it is back and I couldn't be happier.  I am still a fan of the 70's television show and it's great to read stories set in that universe by a writer who obviously shares my passion.  Marc Andreyko nails the fell of the show from the characters and setting to...just about everything else. Throw in my favorite artist of the series so far, Drew Johnson, and this seems like the best way possible to get this series back up and going.  So, was it?  Let's find out...

Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1 Review

Written By: Robert Loren Fleming

Art By: Keith Giffen and Bob Oksner

Cover Price: $1.25

Release Date: December 1985

*Spoilers ahead, score at the bottom*

I KNEW I SHOULDA TAKEN THAT LEFT TOYN BACK IN ALBAKOYKY!

Before he was a histrionic newscaster in the back pages of early issues launched with DC’s New 52! initiative, Ambush Bug was really fucking funny. He was essentially the Bugs Bunny of the DC Universe: pulling pranks, illuminating forgotten corners of the DCU, breaking the fourth wall—years before John Byrne’s Sensational She-Hulk would do it, mind you. He had a mini-series and this special Annual issue during the 1980s, along with a handful of other appearances, and I loved every bit of ‘em. I found it hysterical as a grade-schooler, but does Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1 hold up as funny today? Let’s find out!

DC Comics: Bombshells #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Marguerite Bennett
Art By: Ted Naifeh, Doug Garbark
Digital Price: $0.99
Release Date: August 26, 2015

Cabaret 

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Due to our busy ass schedule with last week's five plus hour podcast, I wasn't able to get this review done, but a week late isn't that bad right?  Come on give me a break already!  Anyway, we'll be diving back into this World War II world of DC Comics: Bombshells where we'll continue the recruiting process by checking out all the main players of this book...... and as we'll see here, some of the villains besides for the obvious Nazi threat.  Let's jump into this issue and see what's going down.  Let's check it out.

Batman '66 #68 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Jeff Parker
Art By: Lukas Ketner, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Digital Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 2, 2015

Fear The Walking..... Oh Wait, Scarecrow

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I've been really digging Jeff Parker adding Gotham villains that we know into the '66 world who never had the chance to debut in the television show.  We've gotten Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Bane last issue and now we'll be dealing with the camped up version of Scarecrow and that's just amazing to me.  Let's jump into this issue of Batman '66 and see what terrorizing trauma Jonathan Crane is inflicting on the good people of Gotham City.  Let's check it out.