These pick-ups
would be technically for last week but I felt this would be a good starting
point for these weekly type of posts to show how I’ll give reviews and M. Deanpool’s thoughts on each issue but try to go into more detail on just one, which
will be the Pick of the Week.
Batman Black and White #4-
All of the Batman Black and White issues
have been fun to read. They’re anthologies of 5-6 mini-stories all written and
drawn by different people each time. Yes, they’re only in black and white and
mostly look like rough draft sketches and yes, the cover price is really 4.99.
But M. Deanpool insists that it is worth it, especially for Batman fans. You
get different styles and fun ways of portraying Batman through both the story
and the drawing. Whether they are serious, fun, or just plain creative ways of
telling a Batman story. M. Deanpool would like to highlight 3 of them: Long Day, Even In the Darkest Moments,
and Missing In Action. The first
shows Batman beginning his nightly rounds throughout Gotham as he shows off how
well he can anticipate every move that these low-level thugs and bank robbers
make. Crisis after crisis, Batman shows no signs of slowing down and just as
ready to tackle the next one. After what seems like a very busy couple of
hours, Batman knows his work for the night is only just beginning. Even In the Darkest Moments brings a
story of a Gotham homeless man and his little mouse friend (yes, a mouse) help Batman fight off the malicious Killer
Croc. A nice ironic compliment to Batman, who is typically the one in Gotham to
rescue someone in need. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Gotham as a city where
its citizens, or inhabitants I guess I should say, help each other as opposed to the corrupt town filled with crazed,
maniacal villains.
Lastly, the extremely cartoonish drawing for Missing In Action made it very appealing
to read with a fun short story with Robin and the Man of Steel, Superman. And
those are the sort of stories one can expect from these issues, some fun, some
serious, but all portray Batman in imaginative ways that we aren’t accustomed
to in most, if not all, of the Dark Knight’s regular on-going series. While M.
Deanpool must admit this issue was not as good as the previous others, the
series itself (which will only go up to 6) is a can’t miss! But if you skip on
this one, it’s not the worst thing to skip out on. Because Mr. Deanpool liked
3/5 stories, he says he’ll give it a 6/10.
After reading Avengers vs. X-Men (a future blog post about this will come), M. Deanpool became really interested in this series but so far has not read any other issue from the series other than #1. This series has been gaining a lot of hype and after reading this issue, I don’t think it’ll fail to live up to that hype. Without giving away the ending of A vs. X, a new group emerges after this storyline that aims to create an uncanny group of both Avengers and X-Men to unite the two factions after “heated” (hehe) conflict. Anyways, this issue alone has persuaded M. Deanpool to a) catch up on where this storyline is so far and b) continue to pick up issues from this great series. It can be very easy to mess up the storytelling when you have so many big characters to work with, but Remender is doing a fantastic job with this. Though M. Deanpool is not exactly sure what’s going on as far as storyline, it’s easy to tell that it is a good one. And the humor and timing of the comedic relief is subtle and entertaining, especially when you have a cast of “uncanny” combinations of heroes at any given time. It seems that X-Man Havok is given a lot of love in this series alongside Captain America and it looks like characters like Wonder Man and Scarlett Witch are big players for this story arc. As far as bad guys, you got the Apocalypse twins who are heir to the throne of Apocalypse (big bad guy in X-Men) and trained by Kang (big bad guy in Avengers. Uncanny huh?) who are looking to moving the ENTIRE mutant race to inhabit another world in an effort to “save” them from mankind’s cruel treatment toward mutants. Of course, this is against everything that the X-Men stand for as far as peaceful coexistence. Well if you still aren’t interested, how about… in this issue you see the relationship between Wasp and Havok, Havok vs. his old pal Banshee, Captain America screaming everywhere because he’s deaf, and Wolverine encounters his son Daken. Still not convinced? That’s fine, M. Deanpool plans to acquire the rest of this story arc so you can expect a review on the arc as a whole in the near future. But go read for yourself! M. Deanpool says it deserves an 8.5/10 after admitting that reading the previous issues may have helped the build-up to this issue.
If you haven’t been following the Deadpool series so far… go catch up on 20 issues (21 if you include the annual one) and then get #21 and come back and read this particular section. The Deadpool series has been one of the Marvel Now comic series that I’ve been following that has consistently impressed me. Both with story and drawing. Deadpool hasn’t been around for too long (year?) and it’s been my preference to not draw him super buffed up. It’s much more entertaining seeing a scrawny dude bust out machine guns or katanas and f*ck stuff up. This issue is the start of a new story arc (Deadpool vs Shield) so it could just as easily be a good starting point for readers. Only bit of background that you need to know is that waaaaay back in the first couple issues Deadpool’s S.H.I.E.L.D. liason Agent Preston died and some random S.H.I.E.L.D. wizard preserved her mind by putting it into Deadpool’s mind. So they’ve been sharing a mind for the last 15ish issues. In this issue, Deadpool looks to try to get Agent Preston into another body but learns that there’s another Agent Preston body already out there smuggling S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons. Who’s the dirty S.H.I.E.L.D. agent behind it? Also there’s a surprise appearance by everyone’s favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent after the Avengers movie: Agent Coulson! Definitely worth reading, Deadpool has a bounty over his head (ironic for the bounty hunter huh? He does make the joke about how he should kill himself to collect the bounty) and the writers even slip in the phrase Master Baiter. Hilarious! Coming off a very good story arc, this one looks to be just as interesting and gets an 8/10.
Harley Quinn #1-
Another First issue in one pick-up!
Which means most of this review will be first impressions and may be quite lengthy. M. Deanpool enjoyed
this comic and believes this series has a chance to be successful. If you’re
not too familiar with Harley Quinn’s free-natured, extremely outgoing
personality (to put it lightly), you’ll learn it in this issue. In the first
couple pages, she sees a dog being dragged against its will on a leash and
Harley puts the man on a leash and drags him for a ride on her motorcycle.
She’s a complex character to say the least, but that's what makes her entertaining! When you think of female “bad guys”
in the Batman universe, the ones that typically come to mind are probably
Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, maybe even Catwoman (kind of). All three have very different personalities, but Harley Quinn brings
a more comical (comical personalities in a comic, genius!) style as the girl obsessed with Mr. J, aka The
Joker, after trying to pick at the Joker's brain as his psychiatrist, Dr. Harlene Quinzel. The first issue acts mostly as a “set-up issue,” in which we find
Harley Quinn moving into a new place on Coney Island, which Mr. Deanpool adds
is quite fitting for her. Still, you get the feeling she’s off to a new start
and could turn out to be a loved antihero with this creative team of Conner and
Palmotti, who are both off to good starts in doing so.
The only sense of conflict in
the story is that apparently there is a hit on her as two bounty hunters try
killing her in this one issue alone. Oh, and she needs to find a way pay rent
and applies for two jobs: a psychiatrist (uh oh) and tries out for a roller derby
team (good luck to the other team). M. Deanpool recommends this comic for all
readers and compares the crazy and fun style of it to Deadpool. Not sure who’s more
messed up in the head between Harley Quinn and Deadpool, and come to think
about it, they may even work as a couple. K enough mixing universes. As fun as
it was to read, M. Deanpool admits that this series may not be one he continues
to follow simply because of the many others he is following already but wants
to reiterate that this has potential to be a good new series in the New 52
universe. Also if nothing else, pick this up simply because it is a #1 issue
for a very popular character. Though she’s only been around since the 90s (even
I’m actually older than the character), her comics have proven to be quite
valuable. For example her first appearance issue in The Batman Adventures #12
can be found for around $100 and that’s on the low end. This isn’t her first
comic series, Harley Quinn also had a series in the early 2000s and the #1
issue from that series can be found for as cheap as $30ish. So you pick it up
for 2.99 and it has potential to go raise its worth 10x, or maybe even more. Popular character,
first issue, good creative team, fun read. You can’t go wrong! Because there
are no perfect scores, M. Deanpool says how about a 9/10. And yes, she will be probably continue to be drawn with huge tits.
Justice League in the year 3000?! This
should already be raising eyebrows with that type of title alone, but also that
cover shows 5 of the more favored Justice Leaguers in futuristic-type costumes.
Batman’s resembles a Batman Beyond suit with the red bat logo on a black suit.
Wonder Woman and Superman are wearing more of an futuristic-armored version of their
modern outfits. Green Lantern resembles The Spectre (another DC superhero who
represents God’s spirit of vengeance), and The Flash is a ginger with a scarf (we think?) that covers his mouth and goggles that reminds one of Kid Flash. If I made Flash sound the most lame, it was intended.
While The Flash is one of M. Deanpool’s most favorite comic superheroes, his
appearance in Justice League 3000 isn’t as appealing as the re-imagining of the
other Leaguers. It is interesting that this particular Flash is based off Barry
Allen’s version of Flash yet is a red-head and wears the goggles above the eyes much like Wally West aka Kid Flash
(who does become The Flash at one point).
Which brings me to my next subject,
who is the Justice League 3000? Well those who are familiar with Project Cadmus
and their evil genetic engineering experiments, they are essentially clones of the
original Justice League! Minus about half of the actual Leaguer’s memories and
they lack the heroic attributes of our beloved heroes. What is Superman without
the nurturing and care of the Kents to raise him? An egotistical jock
essentially. What is Bruce Wayne if you take away the “motivating trauma” of
his parents getting shot in Crime Alley? Imagine a Wonder Woman as an extemist
of pure Amazonian ideals. Add the fact that Green Lantern’s abilities are
coming from his cloak as opposed to a ring and somehow in the future the Green
Lanterns are now the most despised organization in the univeres AND Flash’s
superpowers are capable of killing himself and you can see that this is
definitely not the same Justice League. What the heck is going on in the year
3000? Though it is unclear why these Wonder Twins resurrected the Justice
League, we do get hints of a hidden agenda that has to do with a mysterious
Five that is supposedly responsible for turning paradise into a chaotic future. So now we have our bad guys, or at least the bad guys that this Justice League 3K were made for. Another fun part about this issue is that we get to see the beginnings of the
formation of a team. As always we have clashing personalities and one that is
always fun to watch is Superman vs. Batman. This Superman 3000 feels that he
could carry this team while Batman feels it is his job to keep Superman in
line. Of course there has to be some sort of altercation from the get-go.
This
is not your typical New 52 Justice League series, and may not even tie-in to
any other New 52 story, but that's what makes it interesting. Much like the Earth 2 series, this series has a blank slate and no restrictions as far what to do with the storyline. It's up to the creative team of Giffen and DeMatteis to lead us into our adventure into the 31st century. As a new series in the New 52 universe, this first issue
proves to be just as mysterious as it was before its debut. Can
the team come together and become the Justice League of the 31st
century? Who is the Five and will the Justice League 3000 be enough to turn the
future back to paradise? Where is all this even taking place, is there still an
Earth in the year 3000? Though M. Deanpool would’ve liked the story to reveal
more in this issue, it has done enough to convince M. Deanpool to see if any of
his questions are answered in the upcoming issues.
Not scoring as high as
Harley Quinn #1, Mr. Deanpool says JL3000 gets 8/10 but will be crowned the Pick
of the Week. Cool new team with a potentially interesting storyline that
hopefully following issues will tell and has artwork that is appealing with
futuristic re-imaginations of DC’s finest. Another #1 issue and another debut
of a new series to look out for in the New 52.
What a fun start
to Weekly Pick-Ups, though I must admit it was a bit lengthier than anticipated. Two debuts of new series for DC AND M. Deanpool finds a new
Marvel favorite with Uncanny Avengers. I’ll suggest to Mr. Deanpool that we get
a better rating system or at least add some units to these number rankings. Thanks
for reading! Up next we’ll get the Comic-Cave’s first ever Character of the Week! Find out who it will be!
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| And here's a pic of that Gotham female trio of troublemakers I mentioned. |
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