Batman: Private Casebook TPB1

Paul Dini is having fun. The trade opens with a wonderful new baddie, the Globe. He makes all sorts of punny comments about hemispheres and such as he takes on Batman, and even though the danger never seems to threatening, I loved seeing Batman like this. Dini delivers a great conclusion to the Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul storyline. Frankly, this would have been a much better closer than the one that appeared in the first story.

Dini continues building up the relationship between Zatanna and Bruce Wayne. I've never been a big Z fan, but she is really quite likeable here. She's too powerful for a bat-book and she upsets the balance of power in the story she's in. It's odd; Z is a poor match with Batman but a good one with Bruce Wayne. There's a great scene with Catwoman expressing some jealousy about the other women in Bruce's life too. I dug the new Ventriloquist, but I still miss Arnold Wesker. Scarface is one of my favorite baddies so I can't wait to see how he shows up next.

There is also a suit of sorrow story about Batman giving up the armor he wore during the Ra's storyline. It's a nice little piece dealing with long lost knights and secret societies, the type of material that works well with Batman.

Dustin Nguyen is a good storyteller. I'm not a huge fan of his work, but I can't really make any specific complaints. His faces tend to be a bit lumpy and people can look too similar, but overall he's fine.

Good

Transformers: Megatron Origin TPB

I don't like the idea behind this series. In Eric Holmes' story, Megatron is a hapless (although brutal) miner that has been historically abused by the corrupt status quo of Cybertron. He ends up lashing out at his masters and taking command of the Decepticons more as a revolutionary than as an actual villain. And who is the group protecting those corrupt masters? The Autobots. I'm ok with a few of the more law-abiding Autobots like Prowl sticking with a bad status quo, but pretty much everyone shows up in crowd shots enforcing the status quo.

I did like a few of the revelations about Soundwave; that he was originally sent as a proxy for a corrupt senator. Soundwave is almost instantly swayed into joining Megatron, giving him a great right-hand man. It was also fun seeing Grimlock show up in the underground fighting ring, here's a bot who wasn't sitting around obeying orders.

Alex Milne's art was very unclear to me. Most of the familiar robots had been redesigned, so I couldn't tell them apart in most of the combat scenes. Having Megatron wear a big mining helmet was a weird choice too. Overall, I didn't think this series added to the mythos in any necessary ways.

Average

Deadpool #899

Much like Mike Benson's work on the recent Moon Knight trade, this is fine, but unspectacular. I would have though that a luchadore brothers would be a dream comic idea, but putting them in tactical gear just saps away some of the fun (keeping them in monster trucks helps though). It's also interesting that the Zapata Brothers are so close to being villains, only their amusing hero-worship of Deadpool keeps them on the right side in this. Having the brothers be such big fans of social media and be so aware of comic culture is an amusing choice, although an odd one for a pair of luchadores. Deadpool is likeable, as always. I do enjoy these adventures where he really succeeds based on his healing factor and powers rather than any actual competence. He can't really concentrate well enough to come up with great plans, so powers and personality have to do.

Carlo Barberi handles the art fine, but I still would love to see someone draw the Zapatas with a more authentic luchadore look, as in, a complete wrestling suit.

Fair

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1

Wonder Woman hasn't had it too rough if her most personal connection to a dead-person is Maxwell Lord. Their encounter back in the Infinite Crisis days was forced, and it still is here. I enjoyed the showdown between the two, but I don't really buy into the personal hatred Lord seems to have for WW. I did like that WW is a steady purple for love. I'm not sure I would have her pegged like that, but I'm fine Greg Rucka's decision, keeping the color undiluted keeps up WW's pure nature. The willpower-green soldiers was a nice touch, I always appreciate it when normal people get treated as equals with heroes. It was nice to see them actually survive too, with so much bystander death going on.

The mass-resurrection of Arlington Cemetery was downright nasty, but it does make me wonder just how many Black Lantern rings are out there. I mean, I can see it is more than 2 per sector, but is there an upper limit? WW took out those zombies very easily, so I'd debate whether it was worth using rings on all those guys. And were the other zombies permanently destroyed? Max Lord wasn't, how about the rest?

Nicola Scott kicks butt. WW looks majestic, powerful, and beautiful. I'd bet Scott takes over drawing WW within the next year. I had heard WW is Scott's favorite character, so I'm sure that match up is on the way. I won't complain one bit, Scott's WW is awesome.

Good

Blackest Night: Flash #1

There is so much exposition pounded into each of these Blackest Night tie-ins, it can be hard to take. When the exposition deals with all sorts of Barry Allen back-story with which I have no familiarity? Then it's even worse. I have no idea if Barry Allen and Solovar were great friends, but based on my limited knowledge, it seemed like a stretch that Barry would be so upset seeing the zombie ape. I would have liked a bit more Wally West too. Seeing Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins work together again just makes me miss their work on "my" Flash.

I really like the idea that the Rogues are setting out to stop the Black Lanterns on their own, not waiting for the creatures to come to them. The ominous appearance of the dead Mirror Master was well played, hinting that the Rogues may be falling into a trap. I am confused at what the Rogues can accomplish since the Black Lanterns are so powerful. Overall this issue had a lot of confrontations and quick encounters, but I'm missing so much history (from both Flash Rebirth and even further back) that a lot of it had no resonance with me. When did Professor Zoom come back? What is that cave painting symbolizing? Why is Barry Allen's best friend a gorilla? I haven't felt this lost in the mainstream DCU in quite some time!

Scott Kolins draws a great Flash. His clean, classic style fits right back where it belongs in the Flash universe. I'm pleased he'll be handling the Wally West stuff in the new ongoing.

Fair

Justice League of America #39

Wow, the current league never seems like anything more than victims in this Blackest Night tie-in. The team is supposedly out to try and wrangle some of the super-villain zombies, but man, the way the group huddles and cries as they wander through their darkened headquarters really makes them seem like the victims in a horror movie. Zatanna's spell-battle with her Dad is pretty cool; I loved them repeatedly countering each others' spells. I'm not usually a fan of the character, but she comes across well here. Vibe sure seemed pretty lethal. He took out Red Tornado and Plastic Man really easily. It seems we can add Plastic Man to the list of deaths in Blackest Night. I'm sure Red Tornado can just be rebuilt at this point. (Incidentally, the lack of emotional color for Red Tornado was great, as was Vibe's comment that he's worthless to the undead lanterns.)

The Doctors Light of course have to face off, and the issue closes with the predator Dr. Light showing off his grossness once again. Dr. Light II (the hero) finds the undead version of the original quietly licking Firestorm's girlfriend's head (she'd been killed in an issue of Blackest Night). Dr. Light even comments that she tastes delicious and salty. Hey kids, comics! After the villain drops the heroic Dr. Light, the cliffhanger shows him leering over her unconscious form wondering what she tastes like. Oh my. I never would have pegged James Robinson as writing this type of stuff, it's like he's graduated from the Geoff Johns school of shocking comics, his methodical pacing and characterization has been reduced to an undercurrent of the story.

Mark Bagley is a great JLA artist. His classic hero-stylings are a perfect fit for the heroes, and he can handle the horror elements just fine too. The Red Tornado/Vibe battle is short but looks absolutely vicious. It's my favorite use of Red Tornado in years, I think, his powers actually look intimidating. This is a schlocky package, but it actually fits for a Blackest Night crossover. It doesn't hurt that I don't really like anyone on the current team, so I don't mind seeing them treated like victims for the crossover.

Good

Top 25 Movies of the Decade

I'm going to post a couple decade lists, since it is so darn trendy to do so these days. I'm starting with movies, and there are enough comic-flicks on there to make it blog-appropriate, I'd say.

1. Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
2. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
3. Dark Knight (2008)
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
5. Watchmen (2009)
6. Superbad (2007)
7. Adaptation (2002)
8. The Departed (2006)
9. Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
10. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
11. No Country for Old Men (2007)
12. Hellboy (2004)
13. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
14. Zombieland (2009)
15. Donnie Darko (2001)
16. Kill Bill vol 1 (2003)
17. Old School (2003)
18. Frailty (2002)
19. Idiocracy (2006)
20. Vanilla Sky (2001)
21. Zodiac (2007)
22. In Bruges (2008)
23. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
24. 28 Days Later (2002)
25. The Mist (2007)

Training Day might edge out The Mist, I can't decide...