Preview: Teen Titans #19 – Trigon!

April 22, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

First Look At Teen Titans #19

Here is a preview of Teen Titans #19 by Scott Lobdell, Eddy Barrows, & Eber Ferreira on sale April 24th, 2013 courtesy of DC Entertainment.

Press Release

In TEEN TITANS #19, Red Robin finds his motives being questioned by his team after they felt betrayed by his leadership. And after the danger Tim Drake put them in, will his team able to stay by his side?

Meanwhile, Trigon is on the loose in New York City and the Teen Titans will need to turn to Cassie to strategize against him. But what does Trigon want with the Titans? And what do Raven and Beast Boy have to do with all of this?

Comics Legend Carmine Infantino Dead At 87

April 4, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Carmine Infantino Passes Away At Age 87

Today the world lost another great. Comics legend Carmine Infantino, born in Brooklyn, New York on May 24,1925, has passed away at age 87 after a long illness.

Infantino is most widely known as the artist who created the iconic red & yellow Silver Age Flash costume and ushered in the Silver Age of comics with Showcase #4 in 1956. He also co-created some of The Flash’s most popular rogues – Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and Mirror Master. He also helped create a number of other DC characters including Barbara Gordon, the original Black Canary, and Deadman.

He later became DC Comics’ editorial director, and under his tenure DC created some of the best comic books on the stands. He hired Dick Giordano made Mike Sekowsky, Joe Orlando, and Joe Kubert editors; also Denny O’Neil & Neal Adams both joined DC’s ranks during that time. Infantino also hired Jack Kirby to work for DC after Kirby felt disenfranchised with Marvel at the time.

Now You Can Change Into Your Favorite Hero With Alter Ego T-Shirts

December 28, 2013March 15, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Marvel & DC Superhero Alter Ego Baselayer From Under Armour®

Today Under Armour® has released a brand new line of high performance Marvel & DC superhero T-shirts – Alter Ego Baselayer.

These compression shirts come in seven different styles that range all the way up to 3XL – Superman (Blue & Red), Superman (Black), Iron Man, Spider-Man, Batman, Captain America, and The Hulk. I think they all look great!

Comic books have been permeating the mass consciousness with feature films, TV series, and even Broadway plays, now they take another step into the limelight with performance workout apparel.

Katana #1 (DC) Review

February 22, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

KATANA

The First Cut is the Weirdest

Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Alex Sanchez
Colors: Matt Yackey
Letters: Taylor Esposito
Cover: David Finch
Editors: Rickey Purdin, Rachel Gluckstern

Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Date: April 2013
Cover Price: $2.99 US

Title: “Way Of The Outsider”

Review by Jason Olson

Katana. Ghostly eyes. A stoic demeanor. Strange whispers spoken to her sword. A lethal and quick-to-kill assassin who we have seen jump in and out of various story lines. I find her to be a terrifying and odd character and I have enjoyed her appearances in Birds of Prey under the helm of Gail Simone. The female reconfiguration of a Samurai warrior, mixed with the eerie attachment to her dead husband, whose spirit apparently occupies her sword, Soultaker, was always a fun juxtaposition with the busty and brassy sass of Starling and Black Canary. I won’t even bother with the Freudian nuances here when discussing her love of a sharp and long sword that is her most injurious weapon.

H’EL ON EARTH: An Essay On DC’s Super Crossover

February 20, 2013February 19, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Keeping Up With the Kryptonians:
A Family Reunion?

I have cable TV. I grew up with cable TV. I watch too much cable TV. And if you watch cable TV like I watch cable TV, you know that some of the better movie channels go through cycles of playing the same shit over and over for weeks on end. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the eyes and ears is the same serving of Meryl Streep sullenly walking through the West Village of New York, or Bruce Willis breaking through glass windows in bare feet bellowing “yippee ka-yay”. Sure I like sitting down for a good film viewing with a bowl of popcorn and some Red Vines, but many times I watch the same movie over a matter of weeks, while getting ready for work, or maybe during the 15 minutes before the Daily Show comes on. It’s the way of our cable subscribing, ADD world.

Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 (DC)

February 19, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 – Review

Writer: Tom Taylor
Art: Jheremy Raapack
Colorist: Andy Elder
Cover Art: Jheremy Raapack
Editor: Jim Chadwick and Sarah Litt

Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99 US

I read it and put it down.

A day later I picked it up and read it again.

It took some time to warm up to the story that unfolded between the pages of this book and finally I came to this conclusion:
I LOVE IT!

Superboy Annual #1 (DC) – A Discussion

November 28, 2015February 19, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Discussion: Superboy Annual #1

I’m starting to think cloning isn’t such a great idea.

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Too many to list here
Colorist: Just as many to list here
Cover Art: Yvel Guichet, Jonas Trinade and Java Tartaglia

Publisher: DC
Cover Date: Mar 2013
Cover Price: $4.99

I know it’s not “cool” to admit, even in the comic book community, but Superman is my favorite superhero. Yea. That’s right. You read that right. Better than Batman, Cap, Wolverine (or any of the X-Men for that matter), and even Spider-Man. Although, Spidey does run a pretty close second.

Preview: Constantine #1 (DC) by Lemire, Fawkes, and Guedes

February 13, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

John Constantine Returns!

DC Comics recently cancelled their longest running Vertigo title, Hellblazer, in order to bring the warlock John Constantine into The New 52 fold.

On March 13th, 2013, John Constantine returns in Constantine #1 – a new series penned by Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes and illustrated by Renato Guedes.

Ethan Van Sciver Takes Over Batman: The Dark Knight With Issue #16

January 2, 2013 by The Comic Book Critic

Ethan Van Sciver Takes On The Dark Knight
In January!

Industry legend Ethan Van Sciver will take over as the series artist with Batman: The Dark Knight #16. Not only is this his first issue of the series, but it also marks the NEW 52 introduction of one of Batman’s most notorious adversaries – The Mad Hatter.

DC Comics Cancels Hellblazer in March 2013

November 8, 2012 by The Comic Book Critic

DC Comics unveils latest addition to
The New 52 – CONSTANTINE

DC has cancelled Hellblazer with its 300th issue in February 2013. Hellblazer, which is currently the longest running title that hasn’t had its numbering changed, will be replaced by a new title – Constantine.

Again, it seems that DC, like Marvel, is employing a tactic that, in effect, just lowers the number on a title to make it more appealing to new readers. Usually, this has a short term effect on increasing sales; in the long run though, sales tend to slip back to the usual number or trend lower. This is especially true with Marvel Comics’ constant relaunching of titles.