Tiny Titans #6

This issue is, even by the standards set by the previous stories, uncommonly hilarious. We’ve got Blue Beetle and Supergirl getting introduced to the group; we’ve got another new crop of Titans, including Power Boy, Zatara, Li’l Barda, Lagoon Boy, Vulcan Jr., and Hawk and Dove; we’ve got Blue Beetle’s talking backpack; and we’ve got “At Home with the Trigons,” a tale of Raven and her demonic but loveable dad, Trigon.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Like I said, this one is just amazingly funny, especially Blue Beetle’s backpack antics and the wonderful banter between cynical Raven and her terrifyingly huggable dad. But if there’s anything that just puts it over the top, it’s got to be Li’l Barda.

 

Holy guacamole, someone call Cute Overload!

 

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #26

The Avengers get recruited by the rudest aliens in the universe to help stop Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, from eating a distant planet. Galactus and the Silver Surfer have the team on the ropes, until Ant-Man finds the Ultimate Nullifier — Galactus warns them that activating it would destroy light-years’ worth of outer-space real estate… so Spidey turns it on. D’oh! No, wait, actually, it just nullifies everyone’s power differences — in other words, it’s leveled the playing field, so Galactus can’t just wipe them all out. So instead, they all decide to play games to decide whether Galactus will be able to eat the planet. It sounds ridiculous, but it actually works very well. Everyone plays baseball, poker, and chess, but in the end, it’s easier just to find a new meal for Galactus…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Very funny stuff here, including Captain America’s not-so-inspiring speech, Galactus swinging a baseball bat, and just about every joke Spider-Man makes. Spidey even gets a rare display of intellect here, as he deduces the real function of the Nullifier. Lots and lots of fun here — I’m really glad Jeff Parker is back writing this comic.

 

Trinity #3

There’s a big battle between the Justice League and Konvikt and Graak, in which the JLA gets its collective clock cleaned. Then Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman show up, and Supes gets knocked out with one punch. Everyone, a big round of applause for the World’s Greatest Superheroes! Meanwhile, in the backup story, a woman named Tarot, who’s discovered that she reads Tarot cards way more accurately than she can believe, gets attacked by a gang and defended by some unseen monster.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Three issues in, and I’m bored silly. Besides pointing up the complete lameness of the current Justice League roster, just about half of the length of this comic is taken up with the backup feature. And the backup is fine, but it definitely doesn’t include any mention of Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. This is an ongoing problem with DC’s books, especially their mini- and maxi-series — they don’t have enough story or plot to fill out six issues or 12 issues or 52 issues, so they pad it with extra, unrelated stuff. If they can’t figure out enough plot, either do shorter series, or don’t waste their readers’ cash. And I’m definitely not wasting my cash on this one anymore.

 

Tiny Titans #5

Well, the Tiny Titans meet up with the Teen Titans East — the more recent, villainous version from the regular comics. Of course, they’re all good friends here, but I couldn’t help getting a little creeped out that they were hanging out with Inertia, who helped kill the last Kid Flash. Anyway, this issue’s activities included Enigma pestering Speedy with knock-knock jokes, Robin — or Nightwing — deciding what name he wanted to use, and Batgirl teaming up with Nightwing and a penguin to impersonate Batman.

Verdict: Other than my squeamishness about having a psycho like Inertia repurposed as a childhood buddy, I’m giving it a thumbs up. This is a great, fun series.

 

Green Lantern Corps #25

After a fairly terrific battle that featured gravity being boosted around the Green Lantern Corps members while they were pelted with thousands of alien corpses, everyone discovers that “Mother Mercy,” the queen bee of the Black Mercy plants, is actually a good guy. We get an origin of the Black Mercies, originally created specifically to bring happiness and contentment throughout the galaxy, even if the plants were sometimes commandeered by Mongul to further his evil schemes. However, the newest version of Mongul has collected a bunch of Black Mercies, re-engineered them to generate pure fear, and distributed them all over the place. Of course, Mongul is still nearby, and he still has some nasty plans…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nothing particularly important going on here, but it’s good readin’.

 

Booster Gold #10

Frankly, it’s all a bit hectic, but the general gist of the whole thing has Booster’s reunited Justice League fighting his dad’s evil Time Stealers. Booster is in danger of fading from the timestream due to his temporal meddling, and it’s revealed that Booster’s dad is actually being mentally controlled by the evil Venusian brainworm Mr. Mind, who Booster fought during the “52” series. And in the end, Ted Kord has to die to fix time, just like we always knew would happen.

Verdict: Ehh, I’m on the fence on this one. It’s a bit too hectic, and a lot of interesting stuff from previous issues gets abandoned. With Superman, Batman, and the Martian Manhunter hanging around, all the bad guys shoulda been toast in about 10 seconds. But I liked Mr. Mind’s return, and I’m looking forward to the next issue, with Booster hanging out in the 853rd century.

 

Tiny Titans #4

It’s another fun and funny issue of “Tiny Titans” — Beast Boy goes to the dentist, Kid Flash helps Starfire style her hair, and Robin has a robin infestation problem, which he apparently solves by changing his costume and calling himself Nightwing. Too bad everyone thinks he’s getting ready to go dancing. And Wonder Girl and Bumblebee have to babysit the Little Tiny Titans (Kid Devil, Miss Martian, Jericho, and Wildebeest), but they don’t seem to need much babysitting.

Verdict: Thumbs up. The artwork is adorable, and the jokes are funny. This is the best Titans comic out there right now. Ain’t that something?

 

Comic Book Diner

This is the last of the books I got for Free Comic Book Day. It’s basically a sampler of a bunch of different all-ages comics, including superheroes like Roboy Red and Buzzboy, a fantasy called “Dreamland Chronicles,” a Western ostrich con-man named Tbyrd Fearlessness, and a monkey called “Banana-Tail.” Oh, and Patrick the Wolf Boy, who’s drawn by the same folks who make “Tiny Titans!”

Verdict: Thumbs up, though I liked some stories more than others. I have trouble getting into fantasy, so “Dreamland Chronicles” didn’t thrill me, and “Banana-Tail” was written for a very young audience, I think. I thought Patrick the Wolf Boy was just plain awesome, and I wish they’d given him more space in the book. Probably the most useful pages are a KidsLoveComics.com reading list of all-ages comics. There are over 20 comics listed, and they’re from a wide variety of different companies, with a wide variety of different stories. Parents, if you’re looking for something your kids would enjoy, check out the list in this comic.

 

Tiny Titans #3

More all-ages fun from Art Baltazar and Franco. As far as I can tell, every page of this comic was pure 100% awesome. The first page features Robin in a child-seat in the back of the Batmobile. After that, we get Beast Boy Puppy, the most adorable version of Jericho ever, Beast Boy’s elephant, and a bunch of rocket-propelled penguins. Not sure I like the idea of Dr. Light as a schoolteacher, but this is obviously out-of-continuity, so I guess it’s okay.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It really is colossal fun.

 

Booster Gold #8

In the severely altered present, Maxwell Lord and his OMACs rule the world, and Superman is under Max’s mental control. Booster and Ted Kord join up with the Resistance — Green Arrow, Hawkman, Pantha, Wild Dog, and Anthro. We know this is doomed from the git-go, right?

Verdict: Thumbs up, mainly because I’m amused by a superteam that included Pantha, Wild Dog, and Anthro.

 

B.P.R.D.: 1946 #4

The first year of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense continues, as Professor Bruttenholm persuades the demonic little girl Varvara to let him actually interrogate a Nazi prisoner instead of just slaughtering him. He learns the origins of the Nazi vampire project and discovers where the rest of the vampire hybrids are being stored. The Russians and Americans rush to destroy what’s left of the project, but instead discover some villains familiar to Hellboy fans…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Any comic book that ends with a deactivated cyborg giraffe, a Nazi head-in-a-jar, and a bunch of Nazi cyber-gorillas is a comic that I know we can all enjoy.

 

Tiny Titans #2

More all-ages goofiness. We meet Terra, who likes to throw rocks at everyone, and Kid Devil, who’s short and quiet and sets things on fire. Beast Boy loves Terra, and Cyborg helps bake a cake. The Titans take on the Fearsome Five in a high-stakes game of Freeze Tag, and the winners get to play on the swings!

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s pretty light on the plot, but it’s charmingly written and illustrated, and it’s also pretty funny.

 

Green Lantern Corps #22

Boodikka is a new Alpha Lantern who must travel to her old home planet to capture her own sister, who has become a Green Lantern but is in danger of going rogue.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Really, this story just bored me.

 

Captain America #34: Director’s Cut

I feel like a complete sucker for picking this one up. It’s a reprint of Captain America #34, where Bucky Barnes becomes the new Captain America, with the addition of a script of the issue and a little Alex Ross artwork. Why did I get it? I saw what looked like a new issue of the comic and picked it up without paying close enough attention to it. Four bucks down the drain.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Listen, if you haven’t read this issue yet, it may be worth the cost to you — you’re getting the story, and you’re getting a few extras, too. If you’re a completist, and you just want to have every possible issue of “Captain America” you can get your hands on, fine, go ahead and get it. Otherwise, there’s absolutely no reason to get this. Save your cash for something else.

 

Tiny Titans #1

This is probably the single cutest superhero comic you will ever see.

This is part of DC’s all-ages line — designed, at least in theory, to appeal to both children and grownups. In this case, we’ve got a collection of short gag strips starring little-kid versions of the Teen Titans. There’s no overarching plot here — just short joke comics, generally between two to five pages long. The kids get a new principal and a new substitute teacher, to the dismay of Rose and Raven. The girls give Plasmus a lollipop. Robin tries to figure out why Speedy is named Speedy when he’s not really speedy.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I love the art on this one. If you’re getting this for a kid, it might work best for younger ones, rather than older kids. Grownups might get the most out of it — they’re probably going to be the only ones to catch all the Titans in-jokes.

 

The Spirit #13

Hey, it ain’t Christmas! Looks like this one shipped a bit later than it should have. This is actually a collection of three short stories by different writers and artists. We’ve got the Spirit tasked with retrieving diamonds from a tiger cage, with the assistance of a beautiful and dangerous animal trainer, then he helps an old woman recover her family treasure. Finally, we’ve got an almost silent story about a very, very cold night.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Even without Darwyn Cooke on board, this one’s still pretty good. I think the artists and writers know that if they’re working on something starring Will Eisner’s greatest creation, they know they’d better bring their grade-A storytelling skills to the table.

 

The Trials of Shazam #11

Freddie Freeman is losing his battle to become the new champion of the powers of Shazam — he and the evil Sabina are almost evenly matched in power, and while Freddie is drawing on the assistance of the Shadowpact and Captain Marvel, they can’t match Sabina in pure ruthlessness. She discovers that the god Mercury has, like Apollo, been living his life as a human, with a human family. So she kidnaps his kids and holds them hostage until Mercury gives himself up. If she gets his power, too, will there be any way to stop her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m still liking it. One issue left for this all to be resolved. What’s gonna happen next?