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Comic Book Review – The New Teen Titans Volume 6

The New Teen Titans Volume 6
Reprints The New Teen Titans #35-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41, Batman and the Outsiders #5
Written by Marv Wolfman (with Mike W. Barr)
Art by George Perez, Romeo Tanghal (with Keith Pollard and Jim Aparo)

The personal lives of the Titans is an ever-changing soap opera of personal conflicts and powerful villains. Cyborg’s potential love Sarah Simms becomes the target of an abusive ex-boyfriend. The team helps out mutant twins Thunder & Lightning uncovering the truth of their parentage. The Fearsome Five stage a jailbreak and this time the Titans need the help of Batman and his Outsiders, which leads to Terra being reunited with her brother Geo-Force. Dick Grayson sets out to learn the secret history of his teammate Donna Troy and help bring her closure about where she came from. Everything comes to a significant turning point when Wally West can no longer handle the ticking time bomb his powers as Kid Flash have become. Moreover, Grayson decides to abandon his identity of Robin forever.

Movie Review – Shazam!

Shazam! (2019)
Written by Henry Gaden
Directed by David Sandberg

Orphan Billy Batson has been in and out of state care since he was five, always searching for the mother who vanished on him. He ends up with the Vazquez family, a couple who has made a home for five other foster children. One day, after fighting off bullies who were tormenting his brother Freddy, Billy ends up transported to the Rock of Eternity where an aged wizard bestows his great power on the youth. By uttering the wizard’s name, “Shazam!” Billy transforms into an adult aged superhero with powers derived from Earth’s magic. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Sivana is a wealthy man who once had his encounter with the wizard, but was tempted by the Seven Deadly Sins of Man and failed to prove his worth to wield this great power. Now, Sivana is intent on rending the power from Billy, dead or alive.

Comic Book Review – The New Teen Titans Volume 5

The New Teen Titans Volume 5
Reprints The New Teen Titans V1 #28-34, Annual 2
Written by Marv Wolfman & George Perez
Art by George Perez

Everything is boiling over for the Titans. It starts with the arrival of Terra, an earth shaping teen girl who is in some serious trouble. Changeling feels empathy for her and offers and helping hand to get the girl out of from under the thumb of some nasty people. The fallout from the Titans’ Zandia trip hits home when the Brotherhood of Evil arrives in New York seeking revenge. Robin is feeling growing pains as Batman takes on a new ward, Jason Todd. Wally West discovers that every time he uses his powers as Kid Flash, he’s in profound pain. Cyborg’s love interest Sarah appears to be already taken which reinforces his feelings of being a freak. Raven is struggling against growing darkness inside her. All-in-all there are clouds forming overhead which point towards darker days for these youthful heroes.

Comic Book Review – Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle (2018)
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerards

Scott Free is the man who cannot be captured, contained, or trapped. After surviving a brutal childhood on the planet Apokolips, he came to Earth where he became Mister Miracle, a super escape artist. Years have passed, and now he’s married to fellow Apokaliptian Big Barda. They live in Los Angeles, where Scott continues his career in entertainment. Periodically, he’s pulled back into the ongoing conflict of the New Gods while trying to carry on as normal a life as possible. However, something dark has overtaken Scott’s mind as of late, he begins to suspect that Darkseid has won and his Anti-Life Equation has already infected Scott, pulling him into a slow mire of depression and darkness.

Comic Book Review – Justice League International Volume 6

Justice League International Volume 6
Reprints Justice League America #31-35 & Justice League Europe #7-11
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis (with William Messner-Loebs)
Art by Adam Hughes, Bart Sears, and Art Nichols

So we reach the end of the JLI run that DC Comics has decided to collect. In these pages, we get the first official crossover between America and Europe with The Teasdale Imperative story arc. In a small European village what seemingly appears to be a vampiric horde has surfaced, spreading its condition slowly but continuously. Not only has this drawn the attention of both branches of the Justice League International, but The Spectre and The Grey Man (from waaaaay back in the first story arc). Through a series of increasingly complicated twists and turns Simon Stagg, an antagonist of Leaguer Metamorpho becomes involved. Everything culminates in a battle where the League isn’t even necessary. To quote Elongated Man in the aftermath, “It’s over? I still don’t understand what ‘it’ was.”

Comic Book Review – Justice League International Volume 5

Justice League International Volume 5
Reprints Justice League International Annuals #2-3 and Justice League Europe #1-6.
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis (with William Messner-Loebs)
Art by Bart Sears, Bill Willingham, Mike McKone, & Tim Gula

We open with an earlier tale of the Justice League taking on the classic Batman villain Joker. The Joker has been hired by the dictator of Bialya, Rumaan Harjavti to assassinate the JLI. The collection is capped with a team-up of the two Leagues as they visit their various embassies to get to know the staff and bond. This goes off the rails when they meet an ambassador from KooeyKooeyKooey, a rather industrious island nation that wants the League to make their land a protected embassy. In between these two over-sized annuals, we get the opening arc of the Justice League Europe as they experience an incredibly rough introduction to Paris. A Nazi war criminal dies on their steps and soon after they learn members of the now-defunct Global Guardians are out to get them.

Comic Book Review – Justice League International Volume 4

Justice League International Volume 4
Reprints Justice League International #23-25 and Justice League America #26 – 30
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Kevin Maguire, Ty Templeton, Mike McKone, and Bill Willingham

The world is in the midst of the alien Invasion! led by the Dominators. The Justice League has been stranded in the South Pacific where they attempt to get a Khund vessel up and running which leads them into the path of the Injustice League, an equally second-tier group of villains. Max Lord develops telepathic powers as a result of a Dominator gene bomb which causes him to seek out the artificial intelligence that has manipulated him. The League decides to expand its ranks and has a membership drive that brings together dozens of DC’s heroes and can only lead to more hijinks. After the new Justice League Europe forms and seen off to Paris, the American branch must deal with Blue Beetle’s brainwashing from his time in Biayla at the hands of Queen Bee. Batman meets the new Huntress and seeks out help from Amanda Waller and Kent Nelson (formerly Doctor Fate).

Movie Review – Aquaman

Aquaman (2018)
Written by David Leslie, Johnson McGoldrick, Will Beall, Geoff Johns & James Wan
Directed by James Wan

Arthur Curry is the son of a lighthouse keeper and a runaway queen of Atlantis. When he was a toddler, his mother was taken back to her undersea homeworld, and so Arthur was raised by his father while learning about the strange new abilities he developed with each passing day. As an adult, Arthur has fought alongside the Justice League and has become a minor celebrity in his coastal town of Amnesty Bay. His profile increases when Mera, daughter of one of the seven kings of the ocean, implores him to help her stop a pending war with the surface. It seems, Arthur’s half-brother Orm is rallying the armies of the sea whether they like it or not. His end goal is to bring the land-dwellers to heel for the endless pollution of the ocean-realm. Arthur and Mera find themselves in a race to uncover the lost trident of Atlan, the one item that can only be wielded by the true king of Atlantis. With this weapon, they believe the war that will tear apart the planet can be avoided.

Comic Book Review – Justice League International Volume 3

Justice League International Volume 3
Reprints Justice League International #14 – 22
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Kevin Maguire, Steve Leialoha, and Ty Templeton

Things get off to a rocky start when the intergalactic dealmaker Manga Khan and his robotic horde, The Cluster arrive at Earth. Khan’s goal is to sell advanced technology to the highest bidder, and this immediately sends up alarm klaxons as the world is in the midst of the Cold War arms race. The Justice League has just brought two new members on board: The Green Flame and Ice Maiden while the disaster of a Green Lantern G’Nort returns to warn the League about Manga Khan. The conflict ends with Mister Miracle being abducted and a small group of Leaguers, led by Big Barda, heading off into space to track down their teammate. Meanwhile, the members left behind on Earth get caught up in some covert ops in Bialya, with Batman taking the lead and Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Green Flame (now calling herself Fire) going undercover only to uncover the menace of the Queen Bee. Life never slows down for the JLI.

Comic Book Review – Justice League International Volume 2

Justice League International Volume 2
Reprints Justice League International #8 – 13, Annual 1, Suicide Squad #13
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis (with John Ostrander)
Art by Kevin Maguire, Keith Giffen, and Bill Willingham (with Luke McDonnell)

The League has just gone International, giving them embassies across the globe in locales including New York City, Moscow, London, and Paris. Captain Atom and Rocket Red have been added to the ranks, giving the U.S. and Soviet governments a direct connection to the superhero team. This expansion has subsequently led to the dissolution of the Global Guardians, the former premier organization of multicultural heroes. Understandably, there are some bruised egos (Jack O’Lantern) as well as some eager to join up with the JLI (Green Flame and Ice Maiden). As would become traditional in the post-Crisis universe our story must be interrupted by a company-wide event, this time in the form of the dreaded Millennium. We get back on track quickly which leads to a significant revelation about Max Lord and his decision to form this new League, a crossover with the Suicide Squad, and a one-off annual story that shines a spotlight on the Martian Manhunter.