Tag: Comic Book/Superhero

by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart (Writers), Babs Tarr (Artist)

Hardcover, 176 pg.
DC Comics, 2015

Read: February 10, 2016

My dabbling into The New 52 continues . . .

Like everyone who has at least one social network account, I was deluged by images of the new Batgirl uniform back in 2015 — and I dug it. I liked the Cassandra Cain incarnation of the character — but had missed just about all of them post-Barbara Gordon, who didn’t do much for me (I was a big Oracle fan, in my defense). So I decided to give this a shot when I saw the collection. Oh, so glad that I did — the best of the New 52 comics I’ve read so far.

Barbara Gordon’s in some sort of tiff with Dinah Lance (I’m assuming it’s Lance, didn’t care enough to check), she’s moving out of her old digs into a very trendy, hipster part of Gotham (the part that Nolan or Burton never showed) with a roommate she met doing physical therapy while working on a Master’s/Doctorate with a predictive algorithm that will probably go on to turn Gotham into Minority Report or will be Oracle. Doesn’t take her long to need to do the Batgirl thing, so she slaps together a new costume (her old equipment was no longer available) — the purple leather coat and sneaker thing — and gets to action.

(you can really tell I’m into detailed research here in that paragraph, can’t you? Well, maybe not today)

There’s a new gaggle of friends, mostly university based, who help her tremendously. There’s a romantic interest or two, conflict with the cops, some good stuff with Dinah, a brush with celebrity culture, and a few laughs. It’s light-hearted when it can be, kick-butt when it has to be. Which pretty much sums up Barbara, too.

The art? Wow. I don’t know how to describe it, but it makes you think of an animated show, it’s fun, it’s dynamic — it absolutely wouldn’t work for a lot of titles, but this one has enough spirit, enough joie de vivre, that it works perfectly. It supports and doesn’t distract from the story, just what you want from comic art.

I really dug this, and hope that this version of her sticks around for a bit (as I write this, I’m fully aware that she’s likely morphed at least once into something more Christopher Nolan-esque) — I’ll be looking for more of this one for sure.

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3.5 Stars

It’s Our Right to Fight by Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth

By HCNewton

On December 21, 2015

In Comics, Fiction

Teen Titans, Vol. 1: It’s Our Right to Fight

by Scott Lobdell (Writer), Brett Booth (Artist)

Trade Paperback, 168 pg.
DC Comics, 2012

Read: December 17, 2015

I haven’t picked up a DC collection in ages — and longer for a single issue. The whole New 52 idea both intrigued and annoyed me, and I just didn’t want to invest the time. But I saw this on the shelf at the library the other day, and figured, why not? It was the Wolfman/Pérez run of The New Teen Titans that got me into comics as a kid, and I enjoyed the first twenty or so of the Geoff Johns version in 2002-on before I stopped reading comics for a while. So it makes sense, that if anything was going to bring me back to DC, it’d be The Titans.

So, we get a variation on the Superboy clone being deployed to take out young metahumans. Really? They reboot the entire continuity just to redo stories like this? ooookay. It was fine as far as that goes, nothing special, nothing terrible (although, I thought Superboy’s crisis of conscience could’ve taken a bit longer to resolve) — it was primarily used as a device to get Red Robin (as always, hate the name, love the Bottomless Fries) to gather the troops. We’ve got Cassie/Dont-call-me-Wonder-Girl, who is…okay. We’ve got a new-to-his-powers (or is he?) Kid Flash — he’s pretty annoying and cocky, really, but I’m willing to see him grow.

There are three new characters — Bunker, a name almost as dumb as Red Robin, sort of Ice-Man without the chill, I like him, but think he schtick could get old; Solstice — who seems to be serving the role Raven did back in the 80’s, but I could be wrong; and Skitter, a weird arachnid looking person, I’m not even going to try to guess what I think about her without more exposure.

This is almost all set-up, with just enough resolution to call it a collection and move on to the next. It’s hard to say what I think of the storyline or characters until I se some more, but I don’t mind it. I’m not sure I like it, but I don’t hate it.

Biggest beef: Red Robin freaks out at Kid Flash early on in a way that makes no sense for someone over the age of 6 to do. I really don’t get that at all.

Booth’s artwork was nice — nothing that blew me away, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read a new (to me) comic that had art that nice. It feels like I’ve seen his work before, but looking through his credits, I’m not sure where. Very dynamic, loved the creepy vibe of Skitter’s look.

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3 Stars

Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond

By HCNewton

On July 3, 2015

In Comics, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, YA/MG/Children's Books

Lois Lane: Fallout

by Gwenda Bond
Series: Lois Lane, #1

Hardcover, 303 pg.

Switch Press, 2015

Read: June 27, 2015I’d love to be able to talk about this book as a YA adventure tale on its own. But I can’t. It’s Lois Lane, fer cryin’ out loud. Lois the intrepid, fiery, determined journalist. Not the ditz, not the comic relief, not the damsel in distress (except for the distress she finds herself in because she plunged into danger, not as a victim). Sure, she’s sixteen and a rookie when it comes to reporting things — but she’s gotta start somewhere.

Not only is this Lois Lane, but it’s teenaged Lois. So you have to think about this in terms of Smallville, well I have to, anyway. Bond’s Lois isn’t Smallville‘s — she’s closer to Chloe Sullivan (just with less tech savvy). Actually, if we’re talking WB shows, Bond’s Lois is Veronica Mars without the cool dad. But she’s not just smart and tenacious. She also gets people — she may have no social skills (or not enough of them), but she can read a person. Early on, Lois sees what’s going on with the other girl in the news staff pining after one of the guys. There were other examples, but putting that one where it was — and the way Lois saw it — makes you believe her “reads” of other people.

After spending her life bouncing around the world, from base to base, and seeing the negative effect it’s having on his daughter. General Lane gets himself a permanent assignment to Metropolis (the exact nature of which isn’t clear — but what teenager cares that much about what their parent does?). Lois is going to put down roots here, too, and not get in trouble at school — a resolution that doesn’t last through first period. But, this draws Perry White’s attention as he visits the school, and he invites her to join a new student news project. From there, Lois and her new colleagues uncover a story that involves a strange mix of cyberbullying, VR gaming, and group psychology.

Sure, the story she uncovers is about outlandish, a little hopefully) hard for us to believe. But, hey, this is a book based on comics. So yeah, outlandish works. It also allows Bond to make some subtle (maybe overly subtle) remarks about group-think, the dangers of our online society, and so on.

The use of Gen. Lane, Lucy, Perry White and the Daily Planet were inventive, but were consistent with the source material. Which was both a relief, and a key for the book working as well as it did.

Her friends aren’t that developed — but there’s enough of them to be more than cardboard cutouts of high school stereotypes. I look forward to learning more about them all — I think Maddie’s the most entertaining and interesting, but I’d gladly see more of the others as well. Which goes for East Metropolis High as a whole, really. I hope in future installments that Lois can find someone other than the school secretary to dupe to accomplish her ends.

She doesn’t do much with him, but I enjoyed Bond’s treatment of Lois’ online friend, SmallvilleGuy. Someone she met online after posting about seeing something inexplicable in the middle of Kansas. Bond doesn’t try to hide from the reader who this guy is, or play games with us — the nickname is a dead giveaway. Still, it would’ve been easy for Bond to pretend for a couple of books that this stranger was someone new to the canon. Instead, she plays it straight — sure, she has some fun because we all know a whole lot more than Lois does about this guy, and what their future will hold. But she doesn’t do it at the expense of either character.

Fallout was engaging, fun, and an inventive contemporary take on a timeless character. Recommended for comic book types who don’t mind a different look at canon and/or people who like CW dramas.

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