Superman Batman Public Enemies

 

TITLE-Superman Batman Public Enemies

SOURCE-Warner Premiere DVD

Now I have never read the comic series this  film is based on. Never really been a big Superman fan. And Batman is one I like but depends  on the creative team.

A meteor is heading to Earth,Lex Luthor is President of the USA. Using manipulated footage Luther convinces the US citizens that Superman murdered Mentallo. Leading to a pile of heroes hunting for Superman and Batman. All while Luthor is up to something and this meteor is not that far from hitting Earth.

I love how the animation style used in the film looks like a tweeked version of the Timmverse style. The voice work is well done. And the film isn't too long. 

What I really enjoyed is how many lesser known heroes get to appear. Black Lightning,Captain Atom,Nightshade and so many others get appearances. Then you got Power Girl in a major role. With a sly joke about her best known feature when her,Batman and Superman have to goto a 13  year old genius to stop the Kryptonite meteor from hitting Earth.

I know there is a sequel. Which deals with what was in that meteor. Had that part spoiled for me already. Will track that sequel down soon.

Superman Batman Public Enemies gets a B-

Supergirl Being Super OGN

 

TITLE-Supergirl Being Super

SOURCE-DC Original Graphic Novel

I rarely read superhero comics from Marvel or DC anymore. Too many of them are so tied into other titles I feel like I need to read 10 comics to understand 1 that I want to read. But when I find Original Graphic Novels for cheap I will grab them.

About 2 months ago at the local library I found  this Supergirl OGN for sale. Was a former Library book. The books for sale is a name your price type thing. I just give them a buck for each book I grab.

Kara is a teenage girl. Enjoying her years in high school. She is part of the basketball team. Along with one of her best friends. And her other best friend is the studious but rebellious one.

See Kara was found in the field in  a spaceship. The couple that found her adopted her and been  raising her. And Kara has powers. She can fly, she is strong and nothing seems to hurt her.

Then weird stuff starts happening. Kara's coach gives her and her two best friends new watches. That are suppose to track their pulse and other things. But Kara and the rebellious friend are suspicious of these gifts.

Then an earthquake hits. Kara's basketball friend falls in the now open gap. Kara tries to save her using her powers but her powers fail. And we see that the coach runs a nearby secret lab. 

At this lab is another person like Kara. He is a Kryptonian that was sent to Earth to investigate it. He got captured and this lab has been running experiments on him to see if there is a way to use him and his powers as a fuel source.

This other alien talks Kara into going with him to raid the lab. We get a great fight. And by the end Kara realizes that while she might be Kryptonian by genetics she is an Earthling.

Well written and you can tell it is aimed at teens and young adults. It captures the feelings we all had as teens. That we didn't fit in. And nothing made sense. Mariko Tamaki is the writer and seems she is a New York Times best selling author.

The art is well done. My only complaint is the modern coloring done by computers hides some of the pencil and ink work. But I am slowly getting use to this new coloring but still not a big fan. Joelle Jones is the artist and is someone I will look for more of their work.

When I grabbed this the plan was read it whenever and then put it up for sale. Figuring at a buck I could ask 5 bucks and make a nice profit. Like a week after I bought Supergirl Being Super I pulled it out . Figuring I would read a few pages each night while eating dinner. Gotten into the habit of standing at the bar in the kitchen when I eat dinner. Usually got some music playing and I read a comic. I read while eating that night. Quickly cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes then went back to reading. Only reason I didn't finish this OGN that night was I had to be up early the next day.

I love how this works for any reader. You do not have to know about Supergirl or the DC universe for the story to make sense. But if you are knowledgable about either there is plenty of Easter Eggs through out the novel.

Supergirl Being Super gets a B.

2016 Comic Challenge 202 Dark Knight III The Master Race #05

TITLE-Dark Knight III The Master Race #05
PUBLISHER-DC

The main story is the Kandorians attacking Gotham. And how Batman always has a plan. He has seeded the clouds over Gotham with the synthetic Kryptonite. So when the attack happens Batman causes it to rain and now the Kandorians are majorly weakened.

Carrie is out with Aquaman trying to find where Superman is trapped. They find him and free him. And in the last page of the main story we get Supes in a suit of armor backing up Batman as the real battle with the Kandorians has started.

The back up story,well it was kind of boring. Superman and Wonder Woman's daughter is out with one of the Kandorians. Even the art looks boring. This is the worst of the back up stories so far.

Dark Knight III The Master Race #05 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 190 All Star Squadron #014

TITLE-All Star Squadron #014
PUBLISHER-DC

Just look at that cover. Pretty sure this is first of the Pre-COIE Crisis crossovers I read. You got Per Degaton with some of the All Star Squadron,who sadly abbreviate out to ASS,in a giant hourglass.Then bordering that image is starting on the left side...
All Star Squadron
Johnny Quick,Firebrand,Robotman,Steel and Liberty Belle.
The bottom has the JLA.
Zatanna,Superman,Firestorm,Hawkman and Aquaman.Then finally the Justice Society of America on the right.Green Lantern (Alan Scott),Power Girl,Starman(Golden age version),Huntress(the daughter of Batman and Catwoman of Earth 2) and finally Dr. Fate. And to top it off it is drawn by JOE KUBERT. It was covers like this that slowly got me into reading more DC stuff in the early 80s.

The story is pretty good. IIRC this story was 6 parts,running through 3 issues of ASS and JLA.For the second part of a 6 part series this reads fairly well. I need to go back and re-read the rest of the story.But I didn't feel that lost reading this.

All Star Squadron #14 gets a buy,

2016 Comic Challenge 159 DC Comics Presents #85

TITLE-DC Comics Presents #85
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

This issue came out sometime in the summer of 1985,it has a September cover date so that means it hit newstands in July or August.Under that great cover by Rick Veitch you get a story so good it made me a life long fan of the writer and of Swamp Thing. An issue so amazing that since I have read it I track down any artwork from Mr Veitch. Oh yeah forgot to mention this was written by a pre-Watchmen Alan Moore. During the rise of his fame while doing Swamp Thing,Moore and pretty much the entire current Swamp Thing creative team created this crossover with Superman.

When this came out I was buying almost no DC. I had just recently found a semi local comic shop. So what money was left over each month after buying all the Marvel titles I read,was spent on various indy comics. It was right before school started that year. My parents had to go overnight somewhere,I can't remember anymore where they had to go or why,so I was stuck spending the night with my cousin.For years he was the only family I had living near me. So while I didn't like him,never really have,I ended up spending more time with him than I wish. I get dropped off at his house around 3 on a Sunday afternoon. I had barely walked into the house when his mother reminded me that we were leaving in a bit to goto church. I go back to my cousin's room. And he throws me a comic. "I bought this last week and it sucks. Superman never fights anyone. And the plant dude is crap. You can have it." I looked at the cover and I knew of Swamp Thing since I had seen the movie with him a few years before.Right before I could sit down and start reading the comic my aunt yells for us to get out to the car so we can goto church.I grabbed the comic thinking I should be able to read it all on the ride to church. 

By the time the 15 minute drive to church was over I was barely 10 pages into the comic and hooked.I thought I could sneak it in with me. So I put it under my shirt and went in. About halfway through the service,IIRC this Aunt was Southern Baptist so the services were much longer than what I was use too,I excused myself to the bathroom. And I sat on the toilet and started reading the comic. I was almost to the last page when my Uncle knocked on the door. Seems I had been gone for a long time. Before I could put the comic back under my shirt he had opened the door.

The entire ride back my Aunt chewed me out about it. With my cousin egging her on.She had already taken the comic from me. And after she had said "I am so mad at you I have no idea how to punish you." my idiot cousin said "Why not rip up the comic book Mom?" So that is what she did. As soon as we got back to their home. She ripped it up to shreds in front of me. And I was pissed.Mostly cause I never got to finish it.

Years later I did get another copy. Which sadly got burnt up in 96. Since then I had gotten the story reprinted at first in a trade collecting lots of oddball Alan Moore DC stuff.Then a few years ago got a DC's greatest team up stories hardback and this story was reprinted in it. Skip ahead to a few days back. I am killing time by digging thru the cheap bins at the local comic shop. Saw the issue pictured above and for the cheap price couldn't pass up owning it in this form again.

The story is pretty simple. Superman gets infected with some Kryptonian virus. That causes him to lose control of his powers.So he rents a car and starts heading south. He ends up in Swamp Thing's swamp. And crazy from the virus has a run in with the protector of the green.

DC Comics Presents #85 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 144 Batman VS.Superman The greatest battles

TITLE-Batman VS.Superman The Greatest Battles
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

Ok yeah this time it is a trade instead of a single issue. Found this at Walmart for like 8 bucks. Saw it had 7 stories,3 of which I had read before,so grabbed it.

And what issues does it reprint? What battles do we get?

Up first is Batman #612.Part of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's Hush story line. This is the best issue of that horrible piece of shit. And it is just average. Loeb is a average at best writer,usually being way below average. Lee is ok for covers and posters. But to me his art has no storytelling,no emotion or real passion.

Man of Steel #3 by John Byrne is second. Read this whenever it came out years ago.Hell what 30 years ago now? It's OK. I have never liked Byrne's art that much on anything outside Marvel. And his Batman just looks off to me. Still it is a neat first meeting of Bruce and Clark in the post Crisis universe.

Who would win from Superman/Batman #78 is the third issue reprinted. And the first I hadn't read.Joe and Jack Kelly tell a great story of two 8 or so year old boys debating who would win between Superman and Batman. Ed Benes draws it. And the touch  at the end is cute.

The second issue of the New52 Justice League title is next.Geoff Johns and Jim Lee produced a nice to look at but honestly shallow as a kiddy pool story.

The first 2 parts of the Batman:endgame story is the next battle. Scott Snyder is an Ok Batman writer. Thankfully Greg Capullo pencils and Danny Miki's inks make up for Snyder's shortcomings.

Then we end the trade with one of the earliest serious Batman vs Superman fights and one of the best. Dark Knight Returns #4.Not much I can say about this,since I figure most people reading this have read the comic or at least seen the DTV adaptation. But it is a great way to end this collection.

One last little thing. The trade came with a sticker on the front that said Walmart exclusive. And mentioned a Batman V Superman movie poster. So the poster....

Yeah it sucks. Oh well.

Batman VS.Superman The Greatest Battles gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 081 Injustice:Gods among us Year One #01

TITLE-Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01
PUBLISHER-DC comics

This was a tie in comic for a DC hero fighting game. So I skipped it. Cause really how good could it be. But then I had someone constantly talking about how great the series was. Plus it is free.

The story is fairly simple. We are a few years in the future. Gotham is free of crime. Thanks to Superman taking over control of the world. And now Batman is gonna stop him.

Up next is a flashback. Were we see Superman finding out Lois is pregnant. And doesn't want her to go on a semi-dangerous assignment. She goes anyway.

From this issue,and I went ahead and read 2 more,what I have been told about the series I see it for what it is. A watered down mash up of Mark Grunwald's Squadron Supreme 12 issue mini,the whole superhero takes over control of the world and the non powered superhero member of the same super team must stop him/them. And Mark Waid Irredeemable.So take those two really good comics. Mash them together. Then water it down so it won't offend anyone. And you get this turd sandwich.

I am gonna be fair and finish reading the rest of Year One of this series. Mostly to see if it gets any better or just gets worse.

Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01 gets a Pass!

2015 Reading Challenge Book 091 Infinite Crisis

TITLE-Infinite Crisis
AUTHOR-Geoff Johns
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-10 bucks

In 2005 DC started this series. Which is a sequel to the 80s classic Crisis on Infinite Earths. I would listen to the reviews of each issue on the Comic Geek Speak podcast. Then at a con found the trade for about $5 off cover. Grabbed it. But almost didn't,mostly cause I am not a big fan of Geoff Johns. In lots of ways his writing reminds me of Peter David. And I do not like Peter David's comic work. But since this was a sequel to one of my favorite big comic book events I felt like I needed to read it.

This trade reprints issues 1 thru 7 of the Infinite Crisis mini series. And includes all the alternative covers. Some of which are from Jim Lee. I have always said Lee is a great artist for cover,posters and pinups. But that his storytelling skills are lacking. The cover you see above is from Jim and it looks damn good.

So what is the story? Well cause of a recent reveal ,that the JLA mindwiped some stuff from various villains and Batman's minds,Batman is now refusing to work with any other hero. To save the world Wonder Woman had to kill a man which was broadcast world wide. And something has attacked the JLA HQ and almost killed the Martian Manhunter.

SPOILERS BELOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

So what has happened is this. At the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths all the alternate Earths in the DC multiverse got merged into one. And so that meant no more 2 Supermans and various other things. The Superman of Earth 2,which is the one that appeared in Action Comics #1,along with Earth 2's Lois Lane,Alexander Luthor of Earth 3,a world where all the heroes are villains and vice versa,along with the Superboy of Earth Prime all are shuttled off to a pocket universe. Where they are suppose to live in peace for eternity.

What wasn't known was they could see what was happening on this new merged Earth. And after seeing how dark the heroes have gotten Superman and the others come to believe if they can bring their old world back it will correct this.

Now to me this entire series was Geoff Johns kind of crapping on all the bad ripoffs that happened after Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen were such huge hits not long after Crisis on Infinite Earths ended.And I kind of agree with Johns on this. I don't mind so called dark or edgy heroes,hell one of my favorite comics of all time is Miracleman,but most of the ripoffs of DKR and Watchmen missed what made those two series so good. It wasn't that they were so dark and gritty. It was how each writer took the common superhero tropes and used them in new ways.

So how is this 7 issues collection? I enjoy it a bunch. I got it back in 2008 and since then usually read it once a year. The writing it pretty good for the most part. There is a few too many storylines that sadly do not get enough room to breathe.And the art is really good on most pages.And as a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths it works very well. Even if by the time I read this I knew all the big reveals and surprises.

Infinite Crisis gets a B.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 040 The Greatest Team Up Stories Ever Told

TITLE-The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told
AUTHOR-Various
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$8

I have always like DC comics The Greatest FILL IN THE BLANK series of trades and hardcovers. Back when the first Burton Batman film came out I got the Batman and Joker trades from this line. And read each of them so many times they fell apart.

Back in 2008 I had a lot more disposable income. Was on Ebay looking for decently priced comic trades and hardcovers.I saw this collection. With the great artwork on the dust jacket catching my eye.I looked it up and scoped out what stories are reprinted in this collection. They looked to be a nice selection of both stuff I had read and hadn't read.It had 3 days to go in the auction.So I put in  a bid of $8,which was 25 cents more than the current highest bid. By the time I won the auction I had kind of forgot about bidding on it.

It came in and I filled up my glass with some cold sweet tea.Went out on my back porch. Spent the next 2 hours reading some really fun Golden age and Silver age stories with various DC heroes teaming up.

Oh yeah the stories.There are 15 stories total. 5 Golden age stories,with 3 of them teaming up Superman and some combination of Batman and/or Robin. These are decent. But nothing about them stands out that much.The other two stories team up Aquaman with Green Arrow and Speedy.These two are really fun. I like how Green Arrow has to change up his techniques because of him being underwater.And the Aquaman part of the story has beautiful Ramona Fredon artwork.

There are 6 Silver age stories. And there is much more variety in what heroes team up in these stories.Of course the classic team up stories of the 60s,Flash of Two World,Crisis on Earth-One and Crisis on Earth-two.The Hawkman/Adam Strange team up is a story I had never read or heard of.But after reading it I would rank it with the stories I mentioned a few sentences back.Gardner Fox is the author,with Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson doing the pencils.Mr Anderson pulls double duty by also doing the inks.The Atom/Flash team up....well it isn't anything special. The Alex Toth art is nice.But I have never been a big fan of Bob Haney's storytelling skills.Then the final story from the Silver age,another classic. From The Brave and the Bold #54 it is first appearance of the original Teen Titans.I had a reprint of this teaming of Robin,Kid Flash and Aqualad. But the reproduction of the artwork was really bad. Here it looks better than it ever has.I love the Bruno Premiani pencils. And the only drawback is the by the numbers Bob Haney story.

Finally we get 4 Bronze age/Modern age stories.Before getting this collection I had read 2 of them. The first is O'Neal & Adams Green Lantern #76 from Spring 1970. What can be said about this comic? Really it has been discussed indepth for over 40 years now. All I can say is that I do enjoy it,but feel that it feels a bit dated. Which isn't really a bad thing,the story is 44 years old. The next story is one I have never read.It is the story about how if Krypton hadn't explodes Kal-El would have been the greatest Green Lantern of all time. I have never been a Superman fan. There is at the most 10 or so Superman stories I even enjoy. This is not one of them.We jump ahead to the very early 80s. From Brave and the Bold #178,the Jim Aparo drawn team up of the Creeper and Batman. Kind of surprised I had not read this issue before getting this collection. From the very late 70s until the series ended I rarely missed an issue of Brave and the Bold. This was the title that not only made me a Batman fan,but also introduced me to so many DC heroes and villains.And when Jim Aparo was drawing it I tried my best to never miss an issue.I loved this issue so much. The Creeper is a low enough level super powered hero that he works very well with Batman.And finally not only the last issue in this great hardcover,but the best issue in it. As I said above I am not a Superman fan. But DC Comics Presents #85 is one of those 10 or so Superman stories I enjoy. The first time I read it was not long after it came out in the fall of 85.My cousin had bought the comic. We were 11 or 12,and had found out the local library had a comic book trade. He had bought the issue of DC comics presents cause he was a big Superman fan. And he did not like it. He hated it.Before we got into his mothers car to go trade comics he asked me if I might want it.I looked at it and saw Superman was teaming up with Swamp Thing. At the comic trade that summer I had gotten a few issues from the 70s Swamp Thing run.So I agreed to trade him one of my Gi Joe comics for the issue. It got buried in the pile of comics I got that day. And at least a week went by before I read it. Holy Hell what a great story. Wait I am just assuming people reading this know who wrote it and did the pencils. Alan Moore wrote the comic.Rick Veitch did the pencils. So you got the at the time current creative team on one of the best comics of the 80s. OK enough gushing. This is one of my favorite comics. And one I think every comic fan should read.

Lets see. This is a well made hardcover. Out of the 15 stories 9 of them are great. The other 6 suffer from either being very dated or starring heroes I have little interest in. But even the stories I have no interest in the artwork is reproducted so well.

The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told gets a 4.05 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 001 The Kryptonite Kid by Joseph Torchia

BOOK TITLE-The Kryptonite Kid a novel

AUTHOR-Joseph Torchia

FORMAT-Over-sized paperback

FIRST TIME READING-No

COST-Free,X-mas Gift

Back sometime in the mid 80s one of my Aunts got me this novel as a birthday gift. She knew I loved to read and loved comic books,so thought this would be a great gift for me.I read that copy many times. But it was lost in the mid 90s when a now ex took lots of my comics and books and made a bonfire using them in my front yard. Back last year in August one of my Aunts asked me to make an Amazon wishlist with stuff I wanted for X-mas.One of the items I was looking at had a link to this book below it. I clicked the link and saw that a used copy was a bit over $2 with shipping. My original copy was a hardcover and had a white dustjacket.A weird thing about that copy. After having owned it for 2 years I took the dustjacket off. And inside it I found a letter some girl named Alisha wrote to a boy she was breaking up with.

The book is a series of letters that two young boys in what I think is the early 60s write to Superman. They both goto the local Catholic School,love all the various Superman comics and of course the Superman tv show. Jerry,the lead,has a not so great homelife. His father can be abusive. His mother barely pays him any attention. And his older brother is a clone of Wayne from Wonder Years.

Jerry and his best friend Robert believe Superman is a real person. That adds what starts off as an interesting touch to the letters that morphs into a very sad element. At first the letters are nice and happy. With the two boys doing reviews of stories from the comics they read. But as things get worse at home for Jerry,and after being caught reading a copy of Superman's Best Friend Jimmy Olsen when he was suppose to be praying at school,the letters become what feels like Jerry's cry out for help.

Since Jerry believes Superman is real,he also believes he could maybe develop super powers. This starts off fairly innocently. With Jerry trying an old towel around his neck and jumping out of the local cranky old lady on the block's tree. He believes that by doing this he will be able to fly. Another time Jerry and Robert are off walking to their clubhouse. Jerry sees a rock on the ground and tells Robert he is sure it has Kryptonite in it. They break the rock open and something green oozes out. This causes Jerry to believe he has the super power to find Kryptonite and he dubs himself the Kryptonite Kid. 

It is also around this time that Jerry starts to notice that Superman and God seem to have alot in common. Which causes Jerry to believe that Superman might be God. He asks a series of questions about this to his teacher. Who with the school being a Catholic causes the nun who teaches him to freak out. Then Jerry writes a poem about how he loves Superman more than anyone,including Jesus. His teacher of course freaks out again and uses this to deny Jerry the chance to make his first Communion. Which sets off a chain reaction. Jerry's father starts to drink more often and beat Jerry and his 5 month old pregnant mother. The owner of the newstand Jerry buys his comics at,who is also the only adult that treats Jerry with respect,is caught having an affair with a married man.So Jerry is forbidden to buy comics anymore. 

Jerry gets fed up,and comes up with a plan. Since he already has the super power of being able to find Kryptonite hidden in rocks,he figures he should be able to fly any day now. The evening all his other classmates are going to make their first Communion,which Jerry's parents are forcing him to attend,right before the family loads up into the car Jerry says he has to pee. He runs into the apartment building,grabs his towel,which he has written KK on the back of. Gets on the roof of the building. Then jumps off.

The last chapter is all about the aftermath of Jerry's attempt to fly. 

For a book that I assume is written for pre-teens,The Kryptonite kid deals with some heavy issues. From physical and mental child and spouse abuse. To the way Jerry's teacher,who is a very old school nun,instead of trying to answer Jerry's various questions about God,Jesus and Superman decides to berate him in front of the class.And also physically abuses him.

The Kryptonite Kid gets a 3.5 outta 5.