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DC Reviews

Teen Titans: Beast Boy — Graphic Novel Review!

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Teen Titans: Beast Boy is a strange creature. Where its titular lead is constantly changing and shifting, the young adult graphic novel from Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, Rob Haynes, David Calderon, and Gabriela Downie remains stuck in a very familiar shape. Equal parts coming-of-age teen drama and superhero origin story, Beast Boy offers a beautifully drawn but bland experience that does little to stand out from the crowd.

Following up on 2019’s critically and commercially successful Teen Titans: Raven graphic novel, Beast Boy stars the fan-favorite Teen Titans member in a standalone setting where he has yet to discover his superpowers. Instead of worrying about the fate of the world, Beast Boy’s Garfield Logan is more concerned about putting on muscle and finally kissing the hottest girl in school. [Read more…] about Teen Titans: Beast Boy — Graphic Novel Review!

Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis & Ryan Sook Review!

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An incredibly important part of revitalizing interest in a franchise is a big opening – the kind that keeps people talking for a long time after it releases. When Morrison did it with the X-Men in 2001 with E is for Extinction, it became one of the most talked about books running, and still spawns countless discussions to this day. When Hickman did the same for the X-Men in 2019 with House of X/Powers of X, it brought a franchise that had once been the highest selling of all time back to its rightful on top of the industry. When Bendis started his Avengers run in 2004 with Avengers Disassembled, it was instantly unforgettable and something that people had to talk about. With the launch of the Legion of Superheroes in 2019, Bendis seemed to want to capture that kind of energy, announcing a prologue miniseries titled Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium with an all-star lineup of artists and one of the most striking covers of the year. What actually resulted, though, was an incredibly forgettable two-parter that killed so much momentum of the Legion of Super-Heroes ongoing just months later.  [Read more…] about Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis & Ryan Sook Review!

The Man of Steel by John Byrne | The Definition of Superman, But Not the Meaning

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In 1986, John Byrne did the seemingly impossible: he remade the most famous comic hero of them all. The Man of Steel mini-series (tMoS) was the new, public unveiling of not just Superman but, in a larger sense, the entire DC post-Crisis universe. Now, DC has finally made an omnibus collecting all six issues of that seminal mini, along with Byrne’s entire Superman run from 1986-88 (plus his brief return in 2011).

But seeing Byrne’s work collected changes it for me. It seems almost impossible now that one of comic’s most troubled creators could have saved Superman. Or that a story so filled with humanity could doom him. But this amazing and flawed mini-series masterpiece, like its creator, is filled with contradictions. And like both, my opinion has changed as I’ve gotten older. [Read more…] about The Man of Steel by John Byrne | The Definition of Superman, But Not the Meaning

Batman: Three Jokers by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok | The Comedy Rule of 3s

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A little more than five years before Superman first saw print, America had already seen his kind of celebrity in Babe Ruth. Like Superman, Ruth wasn’t the first ballplayer (superhero), but in a sense, he created baseball (superhero genre.) He was the stuff of legends. And nothing was more Ruth than when he called his shot in the 1932 series held here in Wrigley Field.

Now, we are here, in an America long past that Game 1, and Action Comics #1. And now, Geoff Johns has called his shot.

A little more than five years ago, Johns revealed in the pages of Justice League: Darkseid War that the Joker didn’t have one real name, but three. This was Johns pointing into the stands, declaring the impossible. I’m going to make a massive change to one of comic’s bedrock dynamics, Joker and Batman. The move seems to say: And even though you know I’m going to do it, you’re going to be amazed when you see it. [Read more…] about Batman: Three Jokers by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok | The Comedy Rule of 3s

Green Lantern: Earth One Volume 2 Review

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Green Lantern: Earth One was a shocking surprise upon release in 2018. DC’s line of self-contained graphic novels had found decidedly mixed success since their launch years prior, and Green Lantern seemed like an odd fit. The other titles featured high profile creators such as Geoff Johns (Batman: Earth One) and Grant Morrison (Wonder Woman: Earth One). At the same time, Green Lantern sported an undeniably talented, but not as well known, team in Corrina Bechko and Gabriel Hardman. The graphic novel arrived to critical acclaim, presenting a hard-edged revamp of the iconic DC hero in a near-future sci-fi infused setting. Thankfully, the sequel, Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 2, is nearly every bit as good as the original and drives the reimagining of Hal Jordan forward in exciting, timely ways.

The events of Earth One Vol. 1 left Hal Jordan as a member of the newly reformed Green Lantern Corps in a galaxy overrun by the despotic Manhunters. Picking up three years after the first volume, Earth One Vol. 2 presents an Earth that is taking its first steps to join the galactic community after learning of extraterrestrial life via Hal Jordan’s return to his home planet. Earth’s overtly authoritarian governments, including the United States, chafe at the new status quo, but progress has been made to bring Earth forward. [Read more…] about Green Lantern: Earth One Volume 2 Review