Patrick's Hat Trick: Don't You Know There's A Crisis Going On

by Patrick

Where have I been? Well, I've been off preparing my safe-house for the coming Skrull Invasion Final Crisis. And there are a lot of supplies you need for a safe-house. Bottled water. Canned Foods. And of course, reading materials. And by reading materials, I mean comics! Since I am getting ready for the Skrull Invasion Final Crisis, It might be good to read the comics leading into it. So this week we'll be digging into DC Universe: Last Will and Testament one shot, the first of the two part Superman Beyond 3D, and the second chapter of Geoff Johns' Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge. Let's get started, shall we?

DC UNIVERSE: Last Will and Testament: Brad Meltzer finds himself slumming in the comics world again, this time teamed with Adam & Joe Kubert. Why give it a super long and slightly awkward title? I'm guessing it's because calling it "Geo-Force special" wouldn't sell as many copies. The main story-line follows the one time outsider as he plots killing Deathstroke while the world is coming to an end. And while I say a Geo-force comic wouldn't sell, the Geo-force vs. Deathstroke story was actually pretty good, with a good twist or two along the way. Where this book loses it is every time it goes away from the Geo-force story-line. I'm guessing they didn't let Brad Meltzer read any of Final Crisis, because just every big dog of the DCU is shown nowhere near where they were in Final Crisis. Wally West isn't with Barry. Green Lantern isn't imprisoned. Neither is Batman. Clark isn't keeping his wife alive with his heat vision. And that it so completely ignores what is happening with those those characters is annoying. The Geo-Force story gets a B+, while the rest of the book gets an F. So I guess it averages out to an unsatisfying GRADE Of :C-


Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D #1: If you are picking this up hoping to see the Grant Morrison who is writing ALL STAR SUPERMAN, you'll be disappointed. But if you are looking for Final Crisis issue 3.5, this might be the book you are looking for. Superman enters the fray and teams up with other Supermen from other realities to find something to fight the Crisis. And along the way we get some hints of answers beginning to form. Some of the mysteries of the Final Crisis start to unravel here, and we even get to see a place we havn't seen since Grant's run on Animal Man. GRADE: B-. It's nice to see this crisis stuff is all heading somewhere after all.

Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #2: And over here we have the fun corner of the Final Crisis. After telling Libra last issue, "Thanks for the invite, but we are not joining," Libra does the predictable thing and goes after them. Who he sent after them is pretty clever. And even more surprising is the perfectly logical reason Libra thinks he needs the Rouges on his team. Grade: A- Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins are making a great villain book, and I'm sorry we only have one more issue to go.

Well, that's all we have this week. I'll be back in a week or two if I can avoid the Skrulls Parademons. Take care.

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Patrick's Hat Trick: Signs of Things to Come

by Patrick

Man, this reviewing comics sure can be a lot of work. At times it seems like there are new comics coming out every week! This week, I'll take a look at the first issue of DC's newest weekly book Trinity, the first chapter of "One World, Under Gog" in Justice Society of America #16 and the Hardcover collection of the "hot" Valiant's early ninety's book in, Harbinger: The Beginning.


Whoever I am? It says "by Patrick" right at the top of the post. And if you want the rest of this post to appear so you can get started, all you have to do is click here:

Since Wonder Woman is in such a hurry, why don't we start with her book?

TRINITY #1: After the success of 52 and the...let's call it...the interesting experiment of Countdown, DC is launching their newest year long weekly book. And after one issue, it's looking like this one will be closer to 52 in quality. The issue is pretty much all set-up. And I don't think that is a bad thing. The first part of the book, by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley (in what I believe to be his DC debut), deals with our "Trinity" of heroes (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) getting together to discuss a dream they all had. Except it was one of those dreams that people have in comic books that they know wasn't just a dream. We get lots of good character moments, a little snippet of action from the Flash and his kids, and end on a cliffhanger that looks like it may start moving the story along pretty quickly. One thing I was wondering ....


Since when does Wonder Woman lose her powers when she is out of costume "ceremonial battle armor"? How in the heck does that even work? Is her costume "ceremonial battle armor" magic? Where were the Newsarama stories about this new statis quo in Diana Prince's life? Why haven't I heard Dan Didio talking about how much better the stories will be now that she doesn't have her powers all the time, and all the great new relationships she can have?

The second half of the book, with nice art from Scott McDaniel and Mark Bagley, focuses on a trio of villains coming together to oppose our heroes, as well as offering some possible views of where the story may be going.

I wonder if some reviewers will be complaining that not enough happens in the first issue. I won't be one of them. It was a good set up. If I was reading a 52-chapter novel, I would expect the first chapter to be set up. And that is what we got here. An interesting first chapter that makes me want to come back and check out chapter two. Grade: B An interesting beginning, but can it hold our interest for a year?

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #16: Has this book been running late and is catching up? Or where there suppose to be two books this month? Because I was very surprised to see this issue this week. It hasn't even been a week since I reviewed issue fifteen. I'm glad to say the pace has seemed to pick up a bit. I felt like more happened. The reveal of Gog and his past was handled well. And it looks like this could be an interesting arc. And it's been fun to have the page or two painted by Alex Ross every issue. Grade: B-The story is good, the pace is picking up a little bit. Let's hope it doesn't tread water until the end of the arc.


HARBINGER: THE RETURN HC: Remember when Valiant comics were the hottest books being published? I remember seeing early issues of Harbinger going for over a hundred bucks. Well, those days are long gone. Valiant was sold, closed its door, and is now back to publishing some of its old stuff again. Dan looked at the X-O Man-O-War collection this past weekend. The Harbinger collection was suppose to hit stores a few months ago, but I believe it was held up by some lawsuits. But I would like to say, I think it was worth the wait.

I read some of the Valiant books back in the day. But Harbinger was not one of them. And I have to say, it was a pretty good book. Strong characters, lots of action, and some densely plotted stories. The art on the original issues is all by David Lapham, but don't expect it too look like his current stuff. Valiant had a pretty strong house style when it started, and the art here reflects that. The extras include the original story from the back of the coupons of Harbinger 1-6, which gave details on the main villain's past, as well as a new story written by Jim Shooter that expands the story from the coupons. I was also surprised by Solar: Man of the Atom's appearance in the books. Everything I had heard about this new Valiant was they didn't have the rights to him or Magnus: Robot Fighter. Grade: BStrong characters, good story (if sometimes a little wooden in the storytelling)and good art make for a very nice hardcover collection.

Well, that's three reviews, so it's time to close up the Hat Trick for this week. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. As always, I'm interesting in hearing yours in the comments section below. See you next week.

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Patrick's Hat Trick: Trickshot!

by Patrick

Greeting fanboys and fangirls. Welcome back to Patrick's Hat Trick, where I supply you with a "hat trick" of reviews (also known as three reviews). Now normally, three reviews equals three books. But today, I am going to attempt to accomplish bit of a "trick shot," and review FOUR books within my THREE reviews. Oh Hal Jordan, you're always blowing things out of proportion. Let's get started.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #42 I had been holding off reviewing this book, wanting take a look at the first few months of comic legend Jim Shooter's return after 40 years. But after six issues, I don’t think I have enough to say about this book to devote a whole article to it. The book just is not that good. The characters are unlikable for the most part, and while I’ve enjoyed Francis Manapul's art on other books, he just seems like a bad fit here. The costumes are mostly pretty ugly, and it has been a struggle to pick up this book every month. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just boring and uninteresting. GRADE: D I’m only buying this book because I have OCD for all things LEGION. Unless you share my disorder, I advise staying away from this book.


ACTION COMICS #865: One of the highlights of Geoff Johns' run on Flash was when he would turn the spotlight on the villains. Johns brought a lot of new life into some old villains using this tool. This week he sets his gaze on a member of Superman’s rouge gallery, the Toyman. Johns explains away all the versions of Toyman that have appeared over the past couple of decades, and sets things up for an old supporting character to return. And while I don’t think anyone was clamoring for this character to come back, I find myself looking forward to her return. I also quite enjoyed the art by Jesus Merino. If I’ve read anything from him before, it never left much of an impression. He uses two different styles of art, an everyday style for parts happening “today”, and a Tim Sale-like style on the flashbacks. GRADE: B A solid done-in-one story by Johns and Merino


JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA#15 & GREEN LANTERN #31: While Geoff Johns seems to be firing on all cylinders in Action Comics, with these two books, Johns seems to be treading water. The stories are interesting, but… seem… to… be… moving… so… slowly. These books have good ideas. I want to like them. I bet they’ll read pretty well when they are collected. JSA starts a new arc next month, so hopefully that will pick up the pace. Lantern has three more months to go with Secret Origin. I may save them up and read them all at once.GRADE: C Good story. Good art. But the slow pace stops the book form earning higher marks

That ends my Hat Trick for today. I look forward to reading your comments, either by clicking the comments link at the bottom of the article, or on our brand new Facebook page. Hasta La Pasta!

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Patrick's Hat Trick: Patrick Peers into the Past

by Patrick

Well, after a couple of weeks off, today I'll be playing catch up, reviewing books that came out while I was MIA: the long awaited Action Comics Annual 11; Booster Gold #9 featuring the old JLI; and the book with one of the longest titles ever, DC Universe Special: Justice League Of America #1. And if you were thinking of skipping reading these reviews, Blue Beetle has some good advice for you all...

...See you after the jump!

Since I am late with the reviews, we'll start with the book that is so very very late itself.

ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #11: Adam Kubert draws his heart out, and really, with the book being over a year late, he should. There are some cool moments, mostly with the villains (Lex Luthor kills a Phantom Zone escapee and compares it to what will be like to kill Superman, we see different colored Kyptonite for the first time in decades, and Bizzaro fights Non). But for a book that came out so late, it really doesn't pack any emotional punch. I pretty much forgot that Chris Kent even existed and didn't much care what happened to him after more than a year. If this book had come out on time, it might have been a B. But, in this case, late work gets penalized a grade, earning only an average C.

Our next book isn't late, but it does take place in the past. That's because it's DC newest timecop...

BOOSTER GOLD #9: It's chapter four of Blue and Gold, as Booster and the not-dead Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord deal with the after effects of Booster entering the time stream and preventing Blue Beetle's death. It's a "What If" Set in Infinite Crisis. The old JLI gets ready to make its last stand against a mad Max Lord who has Superman in his pocket and the world pretty much conquered. Johns has been spinning a fun tale, and Jurgens is an artist who has only gotten better as time has gone on. This book is shaping up to be the Exiles of the DCU, but with a higher stakes. If you are a fan of time travel, paradoxes, or DC countanuity, this is book you want don't want to miss. Grade: B

And our last look into the past comes via the reprints packaged as...

DC UNIVERSE SPECIAL: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1: Go ahead, try to say that title in one breath. I dare you. I'm out of breath just typing that dang thing. Anyway, all this book is, is an attempt to separate you from that five dollar bill hiding in your wallet. The first story is the first Secret Society tale from Justice League of America #110, important today because it is the first (and only before DC 0) appearance of Libra. And that Libra issue is pretty forgettable outside of a scene in which the JLA decides they are tired of beating up the same old villains all the time and decided to choose who they will defeat next by pulling the villain's name from a hat:

And now that I have shared this moment, you can save yourself the five bucks I spent on this reprint with a very long name. To make matters worse, the Libra reprint ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. Does the next book reprinted close that story? No. Instead we get issues that were the basis for Identity Crisis, then the book closes with a Martian Manhunter reprint from the '50s.

None of the stories reprinted here are really that good, so unless you intretest in reading the 30 year old comics that inspired Grant Morrison and Brad Meltzer, there is not much reason to pick this book up. GRADE: C-

That's it for today. I'll be back before Wednesday with reviews of three books that came out this week.

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