DC fan's irrational fear of Scott Snyder gets less irrational with each project. I'll be blunt- this Justice League title is fatally underwhelming. We have seen all of this before- the massive monster fights, the villain plotting, the team that reluctantly works together- it's been done. There's such strong support for this specific Justice League line up from fans of the animated series, and it's heartbreaking to see their potential ignored.
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It’s hard to explain how excited I am to see my favorite version of the Justice League launching in a new comic. The animated Justice League of the early 2000’s is the show responsible for sealing my interest in superheroes and giving me the push I needed to venture into the intimidating world of reading comics. In short- I’m in love with this team. It’s probably going to take me a few rereads to clear the tears out of my eyes and get harshly critical, but for now, I’m excited and throwing blind faith into these characters- more so than the creative team. And let’s be fair, they’ve got an all-star lineup, but in comics that doesn’t mean it’ll be any good.
Read MoreThe biggest thing I was looking forward to about the series (and what fascinated me the most) was the unique team-ups. Issue one spent the whole time setting everything up, and we got to see all the heroes (and villains) together. Awesome enough. Halfway through the issue did we finally get to see the characters split up and form the teams we have been promised. The series is finally underway, and just like the DC Nation story, it is very chaotic to see these groups.
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To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t exactly excited about this book, and that’s mainly because Scott Snyder is in the driver’s seat. Don’t get me wrong; I like him well enough as a writer. However, the Snyder-spearheaded Dark Nights: Metal only just wrapped up back in March, yet here he is with another crossover event impacting the whole of the DCU. Okay, sure, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson are co-writing Justice League: No Justice, but Snyder’s the one with top billing. And, regardless of the actual quality of his work, that starts to be just a little bit too much company-wide creative control for a single writer for my taste. But, despite going in feeling that way, I still quite enjoyed Justice League: No Justice #1.
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035 - Welcome to this week's show. It's just a regular review week for me, a little bit of the new, a little bit of the continuing... ongoing... whatever. I'll leave the list below, but it's 13 minutes of your life, feel free to be surprised!
Comic Books covered on this episode:
Justice League: No Justice #1
Sideways #4
The Immortal Men #2
Relay #1
RoboCop: Citizen's Arrest #2
Savage Takes: Vampirella #1
Finally. This is a word to describe the first story in DC’s anthology sampler in time for free comic book day. The trouble with this book though is it is a luxury item if you try to get it during free comic book day as it is the very large cost of 25 cents. Is it worth it? Beyond a doubt. If this review factored in price, then this will easily be a perfect score. This review does not, and instead will look at all three stories and grade them individually before the big reveal for the score of this issue!! (spoiler this issue is a 4/5).
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DC Entertainment continues to attract dynamic, top-name talent, announcing today that artists Jim Cheung (Marvel’s Young Avengers) and Jorge Jiménez (SUPERMAN, SUPER SONS) will join acclaimed writer Scott Snyder (DARK NIGHTS: METAL) in launching DC’s flagship JUSTICE LEAGUE comic book in June.
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In recent years, you've probably either seen at least a few of the AAA summer blockbuster superhero films, or know someone who has. Indeed, even very casual fans of the genre or those not generally interested by superheroes have found something to like about many of the most popular superheroes, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy team.
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Y'know, despite it being a couple of months since the last issue of Justice League/Power Rangers, I was still annoyed enough with its bullshit that I didn't really want to review issue #4 when I first saw it pop up on the spreadsheet. However, after giving it some thought, I decided to let the CERN nonsense slide for now and give it a chance. The book, in turn, reciprocated by having the first third of it entirely dedicated to giving an explanation to how exactly the Large Hadron Collider was going to make a proper portal from the DCU to the Power Rangers universe. Except, not really, because everything about that process is written so vaguely that I really don't know what Tom Taylor decided to try and drag real world science into this. Interdimensional portals are easily accepted by suspension of disbelief. But as soon as you say CERN or Large Hadron Collider, you are setting a precedent for what can and can't be done. I'll let you guess whether 'creating a portal with a direct connection to a parallel universe that will safely transport people between said universes' falls in the former or latter category. No, I won't; it's stupid and wrong.
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006 - I'm going to be upfront and tell you that if you don't like kids on podcasts, then you're going to hate this episode. Be it that Steve and I both have kids, it was bound to happen, so consider yourself forewarned. As for the actual meat of the podcast, we talk about Mt. Dew... then the Justice League trailer that premiered. Iron Fist is discussed slightly, but only the first two episodes. A special treat is a new segment called "Askhole with the Bastards" in which lightning round questions are shot off. We'll be getting your Askhole questions in the future if you like this segment. Lastly, an impromptu unboxing of two Loot Wears packages... it's nuck and futs folks, stay with us, stay with us.
Read MoreWell, you obviously didn't come here to see the buttfuck teasers that the WB is releasing in prep for the actual Justice League trailer they're unveiling on Saturday (God I hope it's during the podcast, so I don't have to talk about it). They released two teasers, and it's clear that Zack Snyder loves the green screen and doesn't want any of this to look real, but rather like the bastard shit of hisWatchmen film.
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I decided to try out something a little different this week. Justice League of America and Justice League/Power Rangers are both books I've technically been reviewing since January. Back then, my receptions of the two series were fairly contrasting, with the JLA one-shots starting on the stronger side and JL/PR being crap. However, after the successive drops in quality that were Justice League of America: Rebirth #1 and Justice League of America #1, Steve Orlando's team up series is more or less on par with DC and Boom!'s mediocre crossover (not to be confused with Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern, their outright awful crossover). And, since both of these "Justice League" books also portray Batman as making bad decisions and dimension hopping antagonists, I might as well try something a bit different with them. That is, smash them together to review at the same time.
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Y'know, after the utter suckage of Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern #1, this crossover doesn't seem so bad. I mean, it's still not good, but at least it's not insultingly pandering. And to be fair, I did enjoy Justice League/Power Rangers #2 more than the first issue, if only marginally. There's a bit more going on, and we actually see the entirety of the Justice League this time around. Also, for better or worse, we no longer primarily focus on Zack's perspective, instead jumping around to different members of each super team. And while it's nice to get a broader perspective of these events, it also draws more attention to the story flaws persisting from the first issue.
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001 - Welcome to the first episode of the brand new Comic Bastards Podcast. Join Dustin and Steve as they dive into the world of comic books, comic book movies and that thing called nerdom!
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Why does this book exist? I mean, sure, the Justice League and Power Rangers are both superhero teams starring in their own books, and doing a crossover is always likely to guarantee to sell at least a few copies to fans from both side of the isle. But, I can't really say it's a team-up I've ever heard anyone clamoring for. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. If Batman can team up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, why not the Justice League and Power Rangers? And to be fair, their marketing did kind of work on me. Because, when I saw this listed on the spreadsheet, I was compelled to find out just how in the hell they tried to make this whole thing work.
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The Justice League. The Suicide Squad. DC Comic’s biggest and most recognizable super-groups being pitted against each other in a comic book miniseries written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Jason Fabok… This should be bloody good, right? I’ve already got my name down for a few comic reviews this week but I’m going to end up reading this anyway so I thought I’d review it whilst I was at it. So, Let’s find out what this book is like…
Read MoreThanks to the success of The Killing Joke animated movie, DC/WB Animation has gone for another rated R animation, but this time it's using that weird fucking Justice League they created around the New 52. You know the one with Wonder Woman in the actually cool fucking costume, but sucked because she ate ice cream like an asshole.
Read MoreDear Justice League #6,
It’s been quite the trip, huh?
When I found you, it was my first week writing at Comic Bastards. I was at a pretty bad place in my life then. I wasn’t happy or secure in my day job, I was feeling creatively exhausted and drained. I’d been living in Philadelphia for a year and felt as if I hadn’t moved a step from when I came.
Read MoreThere's so little news this week that it's not even worth teasing. We didn't acknowledge Batman day either because it's stupid. We did talk about "Tactical Batman" and Jim Gordan's reveal in Justice League the movie. Also, the Superhero Beat Down featuring two Valiant characters has us excited. Probably the only real news is Sonny Liew breaking down how much it costs to make a comic and live off of grants which is pretty damn interesting. Books reviewed on this episode:
As most of you might know, DC Comics is doing quite well with their Rebirth line of books. As such, it was only a matter of time before they capitalized on this. That seems to be the case with the upcoming event: Justice League vs. Suicide Squad! However, like most “Versus” stories, the actual story line won’t be ending with a simple conflict to see which team reigns supreme. Instead, the fallout looks to lead to a few reveals about the nature of Rebirth, returning characters, and perhaps even the identity of the roster for the Justice League of America spin-off series. A lot of mysteries will hopefully be solved during the six-issue series. One, in particular, has my interest piqued.
In the given synopsis for the series, one line strikes me as especially juicy.
“…but before the Justice League can shut down the Suicide Squad, a bigger problem looms: another deadly strike team is lurking in the shadows, one that could expose dark secrets throughout the DC Universe, with ties to the hidden truths of REBIRTH.”
The Suicide Squad is the premier wetworks team at DC. They are, however, hardly the only game in town. With Rebirth having opened the door for several older characters and teams to make their returns, the list of teams grows considerably. However, as far as being a threat to The Justice League and Suicide Squad? That’s a tall order to fill.
With that said, I’ve compiled a list of some of my top picks for just who this “deadly strike team” could be and what they could mean moving forward.
Checkmate recently appeared in the Suicide Squad: Most Wanted story for El Diablo. In this story it appeared as, perhaps, the antithesis to the Suicide Squad, promising freedom without the need for assistance. Uncle Sam, a powerful figure in more ways than one, appeared as a member during the appearance and a new Black Knight of Checkmate was also named during the series. It’s also of note that, despite appearing in the film, El Diablo was indeed absent from both the Rebirth one-shot and first issue of the series, despite the team featured in the movie being used (minus Slipknot.)
It’s possible that Checkmate, having ties to the government, is being sent to quell these hostilities and as a Task Force X substitute, a possible scenario could see Checkmate and Task Force-X joining with members of both teams coming together to form the Justice League of America. This is especially true considering (while having not appeared post-Flashpoint) Maxwell Lord was a member of the organization.
Potential members include:
The Authority are powerhouses, formerly of the Wildstorm universe. Since then, they’ve since Flashpoint, have been merged into a version of Stormwatch from Prime Earth. This is probably the most powerful team you’ll find on my list and likely capable of bringing down the Justice League and Squad if needed. With an interdimensional ship like the Carrier and their own brutal form of justice, it’s easy to see how they might be at odds with more mainstream heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
Wildstorm has a number of characters and versions of those characters to draw from, so it wouldn’t be difficult to create a team worthy and capable of keeping up with the bigger names of the DCU. Many fans of the Wildstorm characters would also likely be curious to see how their old favorites do as members of the JLA, should the opportunity arrive.
Potential members include:
The same organization that once plagued the teenage heroes of today and tomorrow, could likely still have more left in the tank—I mean, how often do organizations disband before coming back together somehow? There’s also the issue of just who was involved with this organization.
The obviously gifted time-traveler known as Harvest, could very likely reveal himself again in the present and having learned from past mistakes, could prove a threat for more than just the super-powered teenagers of the world, but the adults as well.
The organization that brought us the previous versions of Superboy also spun-off a number of powered teens in other directions. However, when you’re talking about comic books, age really is just a number. Some powerhouses faced off during The Culling and in a contest where only the strong survive to serve, this could be just the type of force and discipline anyone looking to stop the Suicide Squad and Justice League is looking for.
Potential members include:
With all this said, I’ll honestly still be surprised by whatever team ends up coming out to face the Squad and the League. Rebirth has been fun, and I do think that this event will be one worth reading about for a number of reasons.
Let me know who you think is going to appear in this story or even who you’d like to see appear in this or the aftermath.
