• April 2026
    S M T W T F S
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    2627282930  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

DC Villains Month, Week Two (Part 2)

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Walt

BRAINIAC (Superman #23.2)

foreverevilbrainiac001I was surprised at this issue. I’m not a huge fan of the Brainiac character, especially the comics version–there have been so many interpretations that it might as well–to me–be outright inconsistency. Geoff Johns attempted to bridge that a few years ago, positing that we’d only essentially seen “avatars” of the one, TRUE Brainiac…but that story came rather late in the pre-New-52 era, and did not really seem to get time to develop. This is my first exposure to the New 52 version of the character, and we get a bit of a blend of past versions. That this version of the character strongly resembles Johns‘ take works well for me; we also see that there are other emissaries out there working for Brainiac. This issue worked QUITE well for me as an origin story, as we see where Brainiac came from and how he got to be what he is and what set him off on his quest to shrink and preserve alien cities. That we get a mix of the 5th dimension (I don’t believe Mxyzptlk has shown up in the New 52 as yet?) and a DC version of the Annihilation Wave (a nice nod to Marvel) tied in to Brainiac gives an interesting depth and motivation to the character. As with all the other villains issues so far, I’m hardly inspired to go seeking OTHER issues beyond this one…but like the Zod issue, my interest is piqued, and I wouldn’t be oppose to reading a full story in collected edition should the occasion arise.

MR. FREEZE (Batman: The Dark Knight #23.2)

foreverevilmrfreeze001I seem to be quite a sucker for this character. Like many people, one of my favorite episodes of the 1990s’ Batman: The Animated Series is the one that introduces a new version of Mr. Freeze and gives him a tragic backstory and plausible motivation. I don’t remember the character really appearing in any form in most of the Batman comics I read throughout the ’90s and early 2000s…but when the first New 52 Batman Annual focused on Mr. Freeze amidst the Court of Owls stuff last year, I went ahead and bought it, and quite enjoyed it. It was the memory of that annual that led me to include this issue with the villains issues I’d get, and I wasn’t really let down. This one does less exploration of an origin and more “where the character is now,” actually taking place after the events of Forever Evil #1 and leaves Mr. Freeze “out there” for whatever story he gets involved in next. This was an enjoyable one-shot, and while I wasn’t blwon away by the art, I actually enjoyed the interior more than the cover.

RIDDLER (Batman #23.2)

foreverevilriddler001I’m no great fan of the Riddler, even though I do rather appreciate some of his riddles as written by whoever’s used the character at the time. I actually can’t remember ever particularly enjoying any of the Riddler-centric stories in the comics. I had not planned on buying this issue–I intentionally did not include it in the list of requested issues I submitted to my comic shop last week–but when I found myself filling an unexpected gap in what I’d planned on spending, I pulled this from the shelf and added it to the week’s buy. And surprisingly enough, despite really expecting to dislike the issue, I found myself enjoying it. While the story is set somewhere between the ongoing Zero Year stuff I’ve not been reading and whatever comes next in Zero Year, this seemed more like a “timeless” story, and a (morbid as it sounds) “fun” one-shot focused on the Riddler. We see how dangerous he can actually be, yet a hint of depth beyond simply a gimmick…and this, quite frankly, stands out as probably my favorite Riddler issue at this point.

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON WEEK 2

At least this week being a “big week” was somewhat planned…though it still proved to be a bit larger than I’d intended. All six of these Villains Month issues are ones that–two weeks ago–I’d had no intention of buying.

foreverevilweek02

It’s extremely dismaying to realize that I bought TEN new comics this week (at least DOUBLE what I usually buy in a week!) and they were all $3.99 books. At least these DC Villains issues with the 3-D plastic-ish covers FEEL like they’re actually WORTH the price, physically. They’re regular-sized issues content-wise, but the covers are certainly sturdy, high quality.

I’m continuing to enjoy that these are by and large truly one-shot issues. Even though they carry the “point whatever” numbers on the covers tying them to series I’m not actively following, FUNCTIONALLY they remain single-issue stories focused on the titular villain. Some of the issues do say the story continues into a series/issue, but as far as I’m concerned–for what I’m buying these for–I’m rather satisfied with what I’ve got and nothing’s led me to chomp at the bit for another issue or the next appearance…though some have got my interest such that I’ll at least read about issues they might appear in and perhaps pick up a collected volume that I probably wouldn’t otherwise have any interest in prior to all these issues.

Filed under: DC, New 52, The, Villains Month (event) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

DC Villains Month, Week One

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Walt

FOREVER EVIL #1

foreverevil001I find it rather…interesting…that the first issue of a “core series” beginning with 52 other “#1 issues” featuring villains, and 3-D-ish covers does not, itself, carry such a cover. That said, I’m really not impressed with Forever Evil #1. It wasn’t bad–and I definitely liked the art–but it’s only the first chapter of SEVEN, and I lack the context going in that might otherwise hold me to it. How did Trinity War end? Is this set in the present? The future? We start cold, with only the parallel universe villains’ word to go on with the fate of the Justice League. While I expect that’ll be revealed over the course of the next six issues with some typical flashbacks and maybe even flash-forwards or flash-sideways…this just fails to strike me as a worthwhile book to read month to month. If I’m not spoiled on a hugely negative ending, I’ll probably seek out the inevitable hardcover, though…in about a year or so when DC finally puts one out.

CYBORG SUPERMAN (Action Comics #23.1)

foreverevilcyborgsuperman001Of the five DC books I bought this week, this was the only one I’d intended to buy, and that on a whim. Cyborg Superman? AKA the “Superman” I initially “bet” on waaaaay back in 1993 as “The Real Man of Steel”? The character whose Sinestro Corps War special I thoroughly enjoyed, and who I recall popping up regularly throughout the ’90s (even if a bit TOO often)? Yeah, why not? Especially with the potential for a 3-D cover, to boot! Sadly, my high expectations proved fruitless, as I am THOROUGHLY disappointed with the “revamping” of the character for fitting into the New 52. This is absolutely NOT “my” Cyborg Superman…this new origin, background, BASIS of the character itself…it’s virtually unrecognizable to me, and feels like this should have been an entirely different character. Still…better to have found that out with a SINGLE issue than getting suckered into trying multiple issues of any title for “promise” of the character appearing/being developed!

JOKER (Batman #23.1)

forevereviljoker001I actually quite enjoyed this one-shot. We get a truly one-off tale of the Joker, from his point of view, as he adopts a baby monkey (ape?) and raises it to be his son and partner in crime…raising it in contrast to his own memories of childhood. Of course, things don’t turn out well, and Joker finds himself back to reflecting on life in his own twisted way. The art was a bit jarring for the flashbacks, but quite good for the main story. I got the feeling that this story could fit pretty much “anywhere” in time…just a period when the Joker went off the grid or such. Since it’s set in “the past,” it’s before he had his face cut off, which makes this all the more timeless and not necessarily set in the New 52 (and being the Joker, who knows how much of this was “real” vs. made up/exaggerated/etc?). All in all, this was a nice one-shot, and with the 3-D cover combined with the short one-issue story, I’m quite satisfied with my $3.99 spent on this issue.

DARKSEID (Justice League #23.1)

foreverevildarkseid001I actually wound up getting this issue because I was intrigued at the Desaad issue, and had pretty much made my mind up to get that issue. And having just read the first 6-issue arc of Justice League a few days ago thanks to a 99-cent Comixology sale, and typically associating Desaad WITH Darkseid…I decided this would go with Desaad’s issue. What I got was an origin of sorts, a glimpse of the “old gods” and the start of the “New Gods.” And a look at how Darkseid shows that he’s not oblivious to what goes on around him, but uses everything to his own ends. Nothing fancy, or deep, or really all that compelling for me. I’ve never been particularly interested in Darkseid in general, and have rarely enjoyed anything with him involved–“Big Bad” or otherwise. This issue did nothing to change that, and only cemented my actual lack of interest in the character.

DESAAD (Earth 2 #15.1)

foreverevildesaad001This issue hooked me with the cover. Desaad has a MUCH different appearance than the sniveling old-man looking character I recall from the ’90s and generally pre-New-52 DC stuff. While I’m not a fan of the new look in and of itself, it is rather striking. Combined with the 3-D effect of teh cover, this one really stood out to me with a lot more “depth” to the image than other issues that seemed a lot more obviously “layered.” As a story, the issue basically shows us Desaad working his machinations, trapped on Earth 2, waiting for Darseid to find/rescue him. He’s not idle–experimenting, mutating, and generally doing horrible stuff. He ends up looking in on a human–My first thought was Jack Kirby–and decides to let the human live for now, better to be “eaten” later. While I was definitely impressed with the cover–the cover can be credited with my buying into the month’s event in general–I wasn’t particularly impressed with the interior; though it could’ve been worse.

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON WEEK 1

I was going to stick to the Cyborg Superman and Doomsday issues this month, and those two mainly “for old time’s sake.” I probably would’ve been grabbed by the Bane issue due out later as well, anyway, for that 1993 nostalgia (despite severe disappointment in The Dark Knight #6). But I wound up buying four of the villains issues, primarily because of the 3-D covers actually impressing me. That, and I was at the comic shop late in the evening, well after some of the other issues sold out, and I was truly just looking at the covers/characters, with no real mind given to creative teams or ongoing stories. Just covers and the characters.

foreverevilweek01

While I was quite disappointed in the new Cyborg Superman, his origin, etc, and far from impressed with the Darkseid story…I enjoyed the Joker story, and the Desaad story was a middle ground. But I really do credit the Desaad issue with my buying into the Villains Month thing: I was impressed by the cover, and if I was buying Desaad’s issue, “had to” buy Darkseid’s issue. And if I was already buying a couple characters’ issues like these…how could I NOT buy the Joker issue? Especially since all 4 were still available in the 3-D editions….despite rather severe allocations and whatnot.

I submitted a list of 12 more Villains books to the comic shop this morning, figuring I’d just throw in and go with characters I’m interested in. I received an email back this afternoon, and a note that for the ones I’ve requested, I should be able to have the 3D editions. While I reserve the “right” to disappointment if I get “stuck” with a 2-D edition amidst all these 3-D covers…tentatively I’m looking forward to MORE one-shots, as I truly don’t remember a time that I read so many such issues that were ok in and of themselves, without feeling like I HAD TO follow them into a bigger story.

Filed under: DC, New 52, The, Villains Month (event) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The ’90s Revisited: The New Titans #65

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Walt

newtitans065Dejavu

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Al Vey
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor: Jon Peterson
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover: Tom Grummett, George Perez
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $1.75
Cover Date: April 1990

Few bargain-bin issues really grab my attention by the cover alone the way this one did. I probably knew this existed, knew OF the issue, but I’d never read it before, and despite all my early-’90s bargain-bin buying, I don’t know that I’ve ever even owned this issue before a few days ago.

While this is a New Titans issue, the cover shows Batman with Nightwing and Tim Drake (and a Robin costume on a table), with the caption “It Began With Batman…” I first looked for the Lonely Place of Dying indicator despite the cover not being one I recognized from that story…but nothing relating to that story other than my knowledge of the characters. Still, I recognized this as being extremely early Tim Drake, and for that alone my interest was piqued.

What we get is Tim seeking out Dick per Batman for some insight/training into being “Batman’s Partner.” Not necessarily ROBIN, but Partner. Despite this being a New Titans issue, I was rather disappointed when the rest of the Titans appeared…apparently they’ve been dealing with Trigon and some sort of Plague, that Raven is still facing. This leads them to facing their teammate who–infected–turns again on the team and is ready to kill them all while they don’t even want to hurt her. Of course, Dick is eventually drawn back into things, showing his leadership and necessity to them as further emphasis that he has grown out from under the Batman.

This was quite a treat visually. Grummett‘s art stood out very well…the only characters that really looked “off” to me were Raven herself and Donna Troy, and yet the former I’m aware of having multiple “looks” through the years and same for the latter…I even recognized another character as who I believe to be her husband of the time, or at least someone I’ve seen and “known” to have been involved with this character group in the early 1990s.

Story-wise, I really, really enjoyed seeing Dick and Tim interact. This issue came out during my first real foray into comics, while Tim Drake was still a new character…not yet Robin, but the obvious successor to the role. I would have perfectly enjoyed this issue if it was nothing but Tim and Dick; but as it was, I was able to “get” what was going on with the rest of the team. If not in full, then enough to not feel like half the issue was truly wasted on them; I just wanted to see Dick training Tim.

All in all, this is easily one of the most enjoyable bargain-bin issues I’ve pulled in ages, in and of itself; and a definite rare treat as something from this era that is truly an entirely NEW read for me, rather than simply re-reading something I read 20 or so years ago! Though I paid 25 cents, and the original cover price was “only” $1.75, this would have been a rare case of an issue being well worth my paying the modern $3.99, given my enjoyment of the issue as a whole.

Filed under: DC, DC Universe, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Batman ’66 #2 [Review]

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Walt

batman66002Emperior Penguin & Chandell’s Chanteuse

Written by: Jeff Parker
Art by: Ty Templeton & Jonathan Case
Colored by: Wes Hartman
Lettered by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Michael and Laura Allred
Edited by: Jim Chadwick
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

When I first heard of this digital-first series, I wasn’t that impressed. New comic stories based on the campy 45-year-old tv series? Where’s the fun in that? Yet, due to the price point–only 99 cents for the first digital chapter–I gave it a try anyway, and something about it pulled me in. I went ahead and bought the second chapter, but then discovered that unlike others, the print edition and third digital chapter would hit the same week–so I decided I’d “go print” on this.

The same issues I had with the first–particularly the art–are present here. I can “appreciate” the visual style for trying to evoke the ’60s and such, but it’s not that appealing to me personally. Yet, it certainly fits the story, so in and of itself I don’t really have much complaint. The character designs certainly bring back memories of the characters as played by the real-life actors, which I would say means goal achieved, placing these stories as fitting the classic series.

Story-wise, the plot definitely fits. A giant iceberg floats into Gotham harbor, blocking shipping traffic. Turns out the block of ice is ruled by The Penguin–now recognized as Emperor Penguin–as the iceberg’s been declared its own country (legally binding and all that!). Batman and Robin get involved where the police can’t, and the duo quickly discovers the Penguin’s ally–Mr. Freeze! Of course, things go cold before warming up, and the dizzying duo of detectives declares fowl (er…foul) and things come to a head.

In the back part of the issue, Bruce flies solo on a date with Kathy Kane, and winds up facing someone called the Siren as Batman, who eventually winds up benefiting from Kane’s assistance. I have no idea if this character ever appeared in the classic series or not, but I have no interest in the Siren, and this sort of story especially comes as a turnoff for me–in this comic as well as the way it always did in the tv series.

All in all, not a bad issue on the whole, though at only 2 issues, some of the novelty is already wearing off. If this were a mini-series there might be more appeal for me, but I have to wonder how long this will hold my attention as an ongoing. Despite that…if only for wanting to support what I see as one of the few things DC‘s doing “right” lately, I added this to my pull list, and hope to give it at least a few more issues before I’m “driven” to dropping it.

Filed under: Batman '66, DC, Digital Firsts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Value of Infinity?

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Walt

Infinity #1 has a $4.99 cover price, and includes 45 story pages–10 of those previously available (to customers, at least) “free” in the 2013 Free Comic Book Day Infinity issue.

The day that I paid cover price for the issue, I also snagged a number of 25-cent bin issues.

Which means that Infinity #1 was an especially poor value to issue quantity and page count!

comicsvalues

For less than the price of Infinity #1, I was able to purchase:

  • single issues of Batman: Year One (Batman #404-407)
  • the 1989 Catwoman mini-series (I believe this was later collected/reissued as Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper)
  • Invisibles #1
  • Spider-Man #1
  • an extra-sized, foil-enhanced Incredible Hulk issue
  • the original first printing of the first Gen13 mini
  • both prestige-format History of the DC Universe issues
  • the foil-enhanced anniversary issues Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and Web of Spider-Man #100
  • the chromium Valiant #0 issues for both Shadowman and Bloodshot

Yet another reason my enjoyment of older/’90s (and even ’80s!) comics is increasing while my enjoyment and interest in current comics continues to wane.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Flashpoint Paradox

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Walt

flashpointparadoxbrdI’ve kept up with all of the DC animated features since this line started back in 2007 or so with the Doomsday one, loosely based on the Death of Superman story from 1992. And while I’ve enjoyed certain ones more than others (New Frontier and Under the Red Hood immediately come to mind)…I have to say that after first viewing, Flashpoint Paradox is in that upper level.

While I own all 6 paperbacks collecting the entirety of the Flashpoint ‘event’ from 2011, I’ve only yet actually read the original mini-series and the Batman tie-in mini-series. So while hardly immersive, I’m not unfamiliar with Flashpoint in general. And perhaps it’s partially that I’m not overly steeped in knowledge of the entire event that helped me to enjoy this, as from what I recall of the comics, this is quite a good adaptation.

My primary “issues” with this film are story-wise, and the same I had with the comics–specifically the way things play out with Barry’s powers, and that against “usual” the ending is–we as viewers/readers are aware–not the actual ending. The comics’ ending kicked off the New 52, and I believe this film leads into New 52-era followups, leaving stuff based on the “old” DC Universe behind (at least for awhile?).

For the most part I had no problems with the visuals…as an animated features this worked very well for me. There wasn’t really much of anything jarring or offputting to me about the animation itself. Some of the character designs were a bit “off” from what I’d’ve expected…but in and of themselves, nothing bad.

flashpointstack

As said, I’ve only (as of this typing) read the “core” Flashpoint comics and the Batman mini…so the allusion to that actually made sense to me. Other stuff–particularly the cameos–were fine with me, because I don’t know the comics’ stories, so for me, there’s nothing of concern missing. And for what I recall of the comics (and granted, it’s been a couple years now), there’s more context to things given in this film than was in the core Flashpoint mini-series, making this a better package in a way.

The voice cast was good…I sorta noticed the familiarity to Lois Lane’s voice, somehow missed it in Superman, and while no Kevin Conroy, Kevin McKidd pulled off a very good Batman. I’m not particularly “set” on any particular Flash voice, to say nothing of being pretty sure the voice I’m familiar with from Justice League and Justice League Unlimited was for Wally, not Barry.

Just as Justice League: The New Frontier led me to buy and read the source material, The Flashpoint Paradox has led me to pull the source material from my shelf and finally make the time to actually read it.

flashpointcollection

I bought this for the “promo”/”first week pricing” special at Target…probably the cheapest blu-ray/dvd/digital combo I’ve found for any of these films; and for the $13.99 this was quite worthwhile for the film alone, and I anticipate multiple re-watchings.

The bonus materials are so-so, and rather ‘standard” at this point. Several episodes of past DC animated series, featurette(s) on the focal character/story of the film, a lengthy promo/preview/featurette on an upcoming film, plus the usual stuff–commentary, digital comic that I can’t even read on the tv screen, etc–that I typically ignore.

So all in all…I definitely recommend seeing this…but unless you really care about extras, or the HD (which I’ve never noticed difference between blu-ray/dvd with) you’re probably just as well getting the DVD. And unless you’re in a hurry to see this…it’s not unfathomable to expect that by the time the next animated feature comes out, this one’ll be around the $9.99 price point at your local Target/Walmart type stores. And if this is available in a nearby Redbox kiosk, it seems quite worth an evening’s rental!

Filed under: Flashpoint, Flashpoint (event) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Batman/Superman #1 [Review]

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Walt

batmansuperman001Crossworld

Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Jae Lee, Ben Oliver
Colors: June Chung, Daniel Brown
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover: Jae Lee with June Chung
Associate Editor: Rickey Purdin
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

I bought this issue to meet a credit card minimum. Of everything on the “new” shelf, it was the only thing that really grabbed my attention for a one-shot purchase with potential. Other than setting this apart from the Loeb-launched Superman/Batman from a decade ago, I do find myself mildly curious as to any significance to the title, having Batman listed first. At least BOTH characters are spotlighted on the standard cover…you don’t have to track down two covers to get both title characters in one shot.

Unfortunately, it was a lot more disappointing than I expected. I’d avoided it on Wednesday–I just had zero interest in it from the start. ANOTHER “Superman meets Batman for the FIRST TIME” story. And that’s where it goes wrong; where I go wrong. I am absolutely NOT the “target audience” for this book: I’m bored and put-out by the New 52 at this point…and to ME, the “first meeting” between Superman and Batman happened “One Night in Gotham City” in the 1980s’ Man of Steel #3.

Leaving nostalgia and such aside, I have a real problem with a young Superman–Superboy???–being so…arrogant, angry, violent. To say nothing of the fact that I did read the first-ever New 52 issue, Justice League #1. And I’m recalling a scene in which Batman and Green Lantern talk about some alien in Metropolis, and meet Superman “for the first time.” So that makes this issue essentially a fairly big plothole to a casual such reader as myself.

Clark Kent visits Gotham, and realizes he really does not fit into this dark city. When he confronts some kids bullying another, he meets a drunk, stinking boy billionaire with more street sense than he’d’ve expected. Turns out Clark was looking for Bruce, to see what he knew of several Wayne employees murdered recently. The two part on neutral terms, neither impressed with the other. The murderer strikes again, and Batman leaps into the fray, surprised at the identity…before Superman busts in, throwing around violence and making a bad situation worse. Another entity joins the situation, and just makes things confusing…though that seems to set up what may be the plot for the next few issues.

Visually I’m not all that impressed…Lee‘s art is not particularly “up my alley,” it’s very stylized and just not what I would choose. Because it’s so…what it is, this feels like it ought to me some sort of Elseworlds book, or some intercompany crossover in the vein of these characters meeting the Aliens or Predators. I’ve never really cared for the jeans, t-shirt and cape get-up for Superman; the look is done no favors here, in my eyes. There’s also something to the way Lee depicts the “S” that bugs me–like it’s trying to be a mash-up of the overly-lined Man of Steel film logo and the more stylized Superman Returns film logo.

Lee‘s art gets the job done, though…even depicting the violence fairly disturbingly (something Lee‘s style does well with). So while it’s not my cup of tea and I have nitpicky issues, I won’t fault it too heavily in and of itself.

I don’t care for the art shift toward the end of the issue. It fits reasonably well given the shift in scenery and all–but I find myself wondering if this is an issue of timing or a planned function to serve the story itself (or just happened to work as it is).

The story itself roughly fits a fairly standard mold for these characters…the idea that while they come to work together when more seasoned at the whole “super-hero” thing, they clash in the early days of their careers is not new. What little I know of the New 52 incarnation of Superman kinda fits, though again I don’t like it much. Batman I’m less sure on–this Bruce Wayne sorta fits with Year One, and probably perfectly fits with the upcoming Zero Year stuff. Given Clark’s readiness to cut loose with his powers it’s sort of astonishing that he doesn’t (seem to) recognize Batman as a mortal man and “reveal” him or at least peek under the cowl with X-ray vision. (Then again, I realize I don’t know the origin of this version of Superman, so maybe he didn’t have access to that power yet).

All in all, I imagine that if you’re a fan of Jae Lee‘s art, of the New 52 early Superman, and/or Pak‘s writing, and have no particular “attachment” to ’80s/’90s Superman and Batman, you’ll probably enjoy this. You might have to overlook that this is yet another $3.99 book…but hey? $2.99 seems to be an exception rather than the rule, these days.

Filed under: Batman/Superman, DC, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Favorite Superman Covers: Superman: The Man of Steel #37

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Walt

I’m not much of an art person when it comes to comics–I tend to prefer story over art…but that’s not to say that art doesn’t play a huge factor! And through the years, there have been a number of Superman comics whose covers have particularly stood out to me, for one reason or another. In this series, I’m presenting 10 of my favorites and why they are favorites.

A Superman cover dominated by Batman…Batmen, rather. There’s something to that contrast that in and of itself makes this stand out for me. Also that this was–as I recall–one of the earlier tie-ins to the Zero Hour crossover…which I’m thinking was my first real “comics-universe-wide” such experience.

There’d been Eclipso: The Darkness Within and Bloodlines, of course…but this was a story that was taking place in the actual, regular (“real”) issues of the actual comics and not something constrained to special Annual issues.

supermanthemanofsteel037

But there’s also just something about Superman facing all these Batmen that’s…fun. This also would have been a time where I’d become aware of the lengthy history of the characters, and through Grandpa’s old comics, and library reading, I’d’ve even been aware of many of the versions of Batman on this cover.

I’m aware of a poster–double-sided, I believe–that promoted this issue…with a flip-side showing Batman surrounded by Supermen. Said poster can’t be easy to find…but would be a welcome one to have.

Filed under: Favorite Superman Covers, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

New Super-Toys

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Walt

Over the last several years, most of my action-figure purchasing has tended to be Marvel–I’ve mainly avoided the 6″ or whatever the “Legends” scale is, having come to GREATLY PREFER the 3.75″ scale. I won’t get into all my gripes about the lack of DC figures in that scale just now, though.

I’d recently posted about spotting a new line of Justice League figures at Target, and I believe I’d planned to avoid them entirely. Of course, seeing them every time I’d visit the toy aisle, I grew a bit weak and eventually gave in since they were recently on sale.

newsupermantoys

Along with Batman and Superman (I might snag Lex Luthor if I ever see that figure again), I also picked up a General Zod and Superman from Big Lots.

I’d almost bought a Zod and Superman a couple times several weeks ago, but I was rather irked at the pricing of the figures as well as wanting “standard costumes” and not any of the many Superman variants or a General Zod special-suit variant that I didn’t at all recognize from the few trailers I’ve seen.

Big Lots often has ‘scaled down” versions of the “main” toy lines…they LOOK like they’re basically the same figures as what you can buy at Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us…but more generic packaging, smaller bubble on the pack, and it’s just the figure, no accessories. AND they’re $2 cheaper than Walmart‘s Man of Steel figures, and HALF the price of “regular” Marvel figures at all three of the big retail stores.

Since I don’t even WANT any of the accessories offered…Big Lots won the day. I’ve not seen ANY other villains offered in the line…which continues–as always–to be one of my biggest disappointments with the movie-tie-ins. The Marvel toys are done better, having the “movie series” and “comic series” in the mix, allowing for figures that may not technically have anything direct to do with the film, but that add variety to the overall toys available.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

My End-of-May Bargain Acquisitions (part 3 of 3)

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Walt

After having initially passed on a number of Batman issues the previous week, last week I filled out more of my Batman collection for convenience of having the issues already in one place so I have less to dig for in the nearer-future:

I remember these Batman: The New Adventures issues from my early comic-reading days; I believe the two issues on the right were in one of those 3-packs that stores like Kmart and Hills used to carry.

batmanthenewadventures

Though duplicates, I wanted to have as much of the full Batman run as I can without digging through way too many longboxes, and re-buying the issues saves some digging (for now)…so another copy of the Knightfall issues:

batman492to495

I don’t recall how much the first printing “direct market” or “collectors’ edition” Batman #497 was once “worth,” but got it here for only 25-cents along with the surrounding issues!

batman496to499

…and for a mere 50 cents TOTAL, snagged BOTH editions of the oversized Batman #500. Twenty years ago, the “newsstand edition” was cover-priced $2.50 and the “collectors’ edition” was $3.95 cover price. (These days, that’d probably be $4.99 and $7.99).

batman500covers

I’m pretty sure I once saw Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 listed as being supposedly “worth” $40 or so (back in early 1993). The cover price of each of these issues was $1.75. In this purchase, I paid $1 TOTAL for all 4 first prints.

batmanswordofazrael

Fleshed out the Legends of the Dark Knight collection…

lotdkhothouseandturf

Nothing particularly special to me about these particular issues, except filling in some holes in the collection.

lotdkheat

…of course, Legends of the Dark Knight #50 is a “classic” for me–both for the image and the re-telling of the classic Joker story. Paid $3.95 for it about 20 years ago. Paid a mere 25-cents for it last week.

legendsofthedarkknight050to053

I recognize the Vows issue…but can’t recall offhand if that’s because I bought it in-print recently, or because I bought it as a random 99-cent digital edition. Either way, I’ve come nowhere close to paying full cover price for it, even if it is a duplicate this time around.

lotdkannuals

While I really only have random mini-series and specials/one-shots left to fill in my Superman 1986-2010 collection, I still have a long way on the Batman stuff…but I’m more determined than ever to stick to the bargain-bins as much as possible, though I know Batman: Year One and A Death in the Family will likely cost as much as most of the rest of the collection, unfortunately.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »