It’s been a few weeks since I posted the break down of comics I have been reading; That’s because I myself need to catch up. Since the last posting, I have taken a long overdue vacation. After that, came holiday stuffus, so now I am finally catching up on my reading and can catch you guys up with the Quick Comic Review for the past few weeks of comics. This will be Part 1 of 2 parts, with the second part going up tomorrow.
Teen Titans #25
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
The Secret Origin of Crush, Daughter of Lobo
Crush and Djinn head on a trip to upstate New York to retrieve some of Crush’s old property. On the way, Crush tells Djinn about her falling to Earth and how 2 drug users, Lisa and David, found her and raised her. Lisa and David were not the best parents, and constantly moved Crush from place to place and ultimately stole a large stash of drugs from their dealer, Ezekiel. Once Ezekiel found out they stole the drugs he hunted Lisa and David down and killed them and took Crush’s chain called Obelus.
In upstate New York, Crush finds Obelus in the hands of Ezekiel and Djinn convinces her not to kill him and to be more like Superman than her own father Lobo.
Next, we get insight into what happened to Roundhouse during the time he was missing after hurling a bomb in space. It ends up being that he caused himself to explode in space and thus caused him to come crashing down near China in the sea. He sees his dead sister Claire, who helps him escape and get back home. Once at home, we learn he had a concussion the whole time and are left wondering if he was seeing Claire as part of the concussion or if she really did appear out of nowhere to help him.
Going into this issue I didn’t expect to like it. I don’t like when comics insert a “filler” comic into the mix and would rather the main story continue. That being said, I did find the Lobo and Roundhouse stories interesting and while not adding or moving the main story forward it did give insight into both characters. It was a very easy read and caused me to like Lobo a bit more.
Detective Comics #994
MYTHOLOGY RAZE
Another comic that shows the origin story of Batman. Well, not exactly. The story opens with a double murder that is made to replicate Martha and Thomas Wayne after they were killed from the theater. The two bodies are found in an aquarium and are dressed exactly like the Waynes, right down to the same brand clothing and a playbill in the pocket. Batman and Gordon investigate and find small traces of water and a pearl in the throats of the victims. This leads Batman to believe they weren’t killed by drowning. The two find bullet holes in the exact locations the Wayne’s were shot as well.
The two are interrupted when Leslie contacts Batman over the Bat-Link he gave her. She tells Batman she is being attacked by some monster. Batman tells her to get to the roof of the building she is in and to jump to the next roof over. She tells the Dark Knight she is too scared and can’t do it. Batman shows up right on time and fends off the monster and swings Leslie to safety, only to find out she is the Joker in disguise(?).
This is the start of a new story arc, and if it continues to keep the mystery about the double murder, could turn out to be a good one. We will have to wait and see though, so I will hold off judgment until the next issue.
TITANS #31
The Other Side
The Titans have made it home from the distant planet and learn the Justice League have won the battle that was happening on Earth. The Titans, under the orders of Batman, are going through medical and fight training to ensure they are all ok and ready to go back out into the field. Miss Martian talks with Rachel/Raven about getting her soul-self back and learn that to do so they have to go back to Unearth to retrieve it. Conveniently, Beast Boy (in the med bay) becomes possessed by the Parliament of Red(?) and learn that they must go back to Unearth as the Blood Cult is looking to assault the Red at that location.
The issue ends with Ben and Steel opening a portal to Unearth and the TITANS walking through it.
The issue also has a sub-plot where Donna Troy is talking with Batman and declares that she will be leading the Titans, finally making it official. Batman gives his blessing and tells her that Dick would have wanted that.
I am glad the last storyline is over and that the TITANS are back to going after the Blood Cult. I was enjoying this storyline until the “Drowned Earth” story interrupted it. I am looking forward to getting the old Raven back and now since Donna has taken over the Titans I am curious to see what happens when Nightwing comes back. He is coming back, right?
Batman #61
The issue starts with what appears to be the Batman origin story (kinda like Detective Comics #994, see above). It looks that Batman is having flashbacks. We skip to the present time, and Batman is hunting down a bald man. He tracks him to a hotel, but he had already skipped town. Batman quickly finds that the bald man, possibly Frank Giada(?), is on a train. Batman quickly catches up and we see him on the outside of the window looking in at the man. Then we go back to the boy who appeared to be a flashback and learn that it isn’t. The boy is lead to see an inmate and once confronted, the boy slices the mans throat, believing that he killed his parents Thomas and Martha Wayne.
A detective tells the boy, who we learn is named Matthew, that he killed his own parents and that this is the 6th or 7th time he has done something like this. The story closes with the boy presumably going to Arkham and wanting to be called Master Bruce.
The Batman comic is continuously confusing and usually takes me a few reads to get the full story. I am not sure if its the storytelling device they are using, or my lack of experience reading comics. The storyline looks like it will be a good one and only time will tell. I will continue to read it though as it does give me a feeling of suspense.
