BALANCING ACT BOOKS

I am trying to remember what I was like, when I first started reading comics. I was ten years old, in 1992, and I was slowly and steadily building my knowledge of the Marvel Universe, by collecting their various Superhero Card sets. Series 1 -3, then Marvel Masterpieces, the Solo Spider-man Card series, the Solo X-men card series. What a wonderful time to be into comics! This was the proto-Wikipedia- reference Materials that also happened to be connected to some fabulous artwork. Of course ten year old me would want to buy them!     What would ten year old me think of a Riri Williams card?      Would I like the design of her suit? Would I be intrigued that she was African American, or would I automatically lose interest, since I was a ten year old suburban white boy?    I will admit that I probably would be intrigued, but I most likely wouldn't pursue the series, unless she was featured in a cool cartoon, like the 90s X-men cartoon show, or Batma...

   I won't lie. After reading this first volume of Wonder Woman Rebirth, I wasn't as impressed as I was expecting to be.      Rucka is probably the best modern comic book writer, when it comes to telling stories with strong, believable female leads. Learning that he was on the book made me excited, especially when considering the buzz around it had mentioned that he was going to address what was considered cannon, and what was not, in the new, DC Rebirth Universe.     Unlike the other two members of the DC Trinity, Wonder Woman has had many changes to her mythology and origin story. What she is able to do, and what her connection to the Greek gods actually is has varied drastically over her entire time as a DC comics character.     I have enjoyed some interpretations of the character, including the infamous reddish brown Jacket,  era written by J Michael Straczynski and then Rucka's run, during the Pre- New 52 timeline. I enjo...

Do I actually like the IDW Optimus Prime?      This is a question my friend Brian and I have asked ourselves, many times in the past decade or so we have read IDW's Transformer books. Brian is such a huge Transformer fan, that he makes me look like a poser. He has multiple Optimus (is it Optimuses? Optimi?) on a shelf in his bedroom, all ranging in price for how much he was willing to spend on the Half robot/ Half truck that sounds like Peter Cullen doing his best John Wayne impersonation.     Brian loves Optimus as a character, but he doesn't like the IDW Optimus.     I think I would have to say the same. Sure, this Optimus is leaps and bounds better than the savage murderer from the Michael Bay movies but he is nowhere near as great as the Optimus of the 1986 cartoon movie.      He is constantly second guessing himself. He never thinks he is worthy of the title of Prime. This is quite a noble trait in someone who is considered a r...

    This book is a sort of catch all for all things great in the Batmen books that were misused or neglected, during the New 52, with the exception of Batwoman. Cassandra Cain's Batgirl and Spoiler? Whoa, what a treat! Tim Drake's Red Robin (ok, he still has that stupid Red adjective thrown in there, but how else are you supposed to tell him apart from Damian?) done right? Count me in. Clayface as a good guy? Sure, can you even make a danger room, using his powers and call it the Mudroom? I know it is a weird request, but you know, I will give it a good review on Goodreads.     James Tynion IV, I have to say that the envious part of me would say that he is an example of the "It's who you know" aspect of the comic book industry. I sort of enjoyed his Talon book. I really enjoyed his back ups in the Batman book that involved the court of owls or took place during "Endgame". This book, however, is his true chance to shine. I think this is the first time...

    Patrick Gleason. I thought you needed Peter J. Tomasi to make magic. Boy wonder, was I wrong. I did a list of my top ten favorite Marvel superheroes in my very first review. I am going to show you my top ten DC superheroes list, now: 1) Batman 2)Dick Grayson (doesn't have to be Nightwing) 3) Hal Jordan 4) Zatanna 5) Black Canary 6) Huntress 7) Robin: Damian Wayne 8) Guy Gardiner 9) Star Girl 10) Swamp Thing    Notice a pattern there? Yeah, I have a thing for people from Gotham. Patrick Gleason takes Damian far out of Gotham for this book, as he goes through his "Year of Blood", a self imposed year of penance, making up for his past crimes. It is pretty fantastic stuff, quite adult and deep for a character that is probably about twelve years old, at this point. The characters I listed above have gone through some major changes, during the New 52. In the case of Zatanna, Huntress, and Black Canary, these changes were not for the better, and luckily ...

   1) Cyclops    2) The Winter Soldier    3) Cable    4) Captain America    5) X-23    6)Daredevil    7) Hawkeye: Kate Bishop    8) Moon Knight    9) Psylocke    10) Spider-Man      Let's just get that out of the way. That is my current list of top ten favorite Marvel superheroes, and it is not based on their Netflix shows or Marvel films.       I have loved Kate Bishop since her debut in Young Avengers. I loved her even more when Keiron Gillen brought the title back, years later. She was great, switching back and forth as a supporting character and then main character, in Matt Fraction's outstanding Hawkeye series.     This book tries to capture the magic of the Fraction book, but often feels more like an imitation. The art style is very similar to David Aja's book, and borrows visual cues from that book as well. There are little ar...

Welcome…. why are you here?    There are three things that I am going to talk about, in this safe little blog space. It is the perfect little digital coffee shop (minus the coffee) where we can have an actual discussion. Please, leave as many comments as you like. We can go back and forth. I would much rather take the time to talk to you, in my little digital domain, than go back and forth on Twitter or Facebook.    Wouldn’t it be amazing, if somehow some milk-like cortical fluid dripped out of my brain and passed through my hands, into the part of your brain that goes “Hey, this is something that will affect you today?” It probably won’t happen, but if you ever do share one of these posts with another person, well, then I think that might the the greatest thing that could happen to me.     Hey, let’s get to those three things: I will review comic book trades and novels . I call them comic book trades, not graphic n...