Take It Or Leave It – August 14, 2013

Batgirl #23

Batgirl has been really good lately, I like the contrasts it’s giving with Barbara trying to have a semi-normal life but still being guilt ridden about her brother. And on top of that her own father his hunting her down, without actually realizing it’s his daughter. I’m looking forward to the pay off of this story, and the longer it goes own the more drawn in I’m becoming. This issue in particular had a lot of ups and downs for the characters, and an incredibly emotional ending, even if you aren’t invested in anyone particular.

Verdict:Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By:Chris

Batman #23

Zero Year has been a little slow to start, it’s good, but nothing ground breaking. Issue 3 continues that trend, but also gives us some pretty cool scenes for anyone who’s been reading Batman long enough. One of the most popular stories featuring the Dark Knight is Year One by Frank Miller, and without spoiling to much a very pivitol scene from that book is featured in Batman 23 with Snyder’s own twist on the events. We’re also given, from what I can remember, the first really emotional scene between Bruce and Alfred in the New 52 Batman. While Zero Year isn’t as thrilling as the previous stories have been, it’s interesting to see how Batman was born in The New 52. Another plus are the short backup stories in each book featuring a different period of Bruce’s training to becoming Gotham’s protector.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 6/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Justice League of America #7

So far Trinity War has been pretty boring, there have been a few things here and there that keep you interested, but for the most part it’s just feel forced. There isn’t a set direction the book is taking or a main focal point to keep your attention, all the ‘major’ DC heroes are just out doing stuff in groups trying to get similar but different answers to the same question. Now I hope that sentence was confusing, because now you completely understand what it’s like reading Trinity War, I suppose maybe the few Tie-In’s may shed more light, but frankly that’s not how it should be done. If a reader has to read side stories to understand the main plot it’s being done irresponsibly and just for money. I’m going to go ahead and finish Trinity War out, but if it doesn’t get better in the final issues, this may be the last DC crossover I invest any time into. On a side note, I enjoyed Flash saying “Hal could do it” when our JLA Green Lantern Simon Baz was unable to break down a magical door.

Verdict: Leave It

Score: 4/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Saga #13

Oh Saga, it has been too long, but now you’re back and everything can be right again. So yeah, Saga is back after a brief break. For those who don’t recall, issue 12 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and now with issue 13 we’re going to learn the outcome. Oh. . . wait no we’re not this issue seems to take place a little before the ending to 12, with our heroes and their pursuers still floating around in space. It was great to see them back, and all of them dealing with the recent events. Particular Marco seems to be having a tough time, and his mother isn’t helping by continuing to be kind of a jerk. Anyway, this issue is pretty light on plot, but it’s still a good book and well worth your time and money. And just think, a slow start is only going to end up with a big payoff in this series! And besides BKV deserves a break, he’s working on one of the best shows to come on this summer, Under The Dome.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Scarlet Spider #20

I’m going to kind of dual review Scarlet Spider 20 and the first part of it’s story from Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 2. It’s your normal team-up, where two heroes meet up, fight each other a bit, then end up taking on the bad guys together. On well Kaine and Pete are never really together in the fight, yes they’re fighting the same enemy but they’re pretty independent. Since Pete is actually Otto he’s just a jerk the whole time and wants to kill everyone including Kaine. The whole story was actually really good, and it made me like Scarlet Spider even more, the book has already been at or near the top of my reading pile every month. This was also one of those issues that makes me hate Otto as Pete, and angry that no one (except Carly) sees the problem. I was hoping with Kaine coming back he’d figure something was wrong, but he’s unfortunately a little too understanding that Pete could hate him. If you’ve been enjoying Scarlet Spider this book is worth reading and it looks like we’ll have plenty of awesome stories to come, if you’re only thinking about getting it to finish the Superior Team-Up, this book may make you want to stick around.

My biggest complaint was there wasn’t any real closure to Pete and Kaine, I know it would suck to just end their interaction with a full blow conclusion, but come on it’s been 20 issues and they’re just meeting up for the first time since Spider Island! Okay I know it’s not Pete and Kaine meeting for the first time, but still it’s Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man meeting! I hope we get a bit more of an ending for Pete and Flash in a couple months.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By:Chris

Ultimate Comics X-Men #30

It sucks. No not the book, well the book wasn’t great but that’s beside the point. It sucks that Ultimate Comics X-Men started out as my favorite book in the Ultimate U when it was reboot, and now it’s by far my least. It seems that all the books have done a 180, and that’s not really a good thing. I’m glad Ultimate Spider-Man has gotten so good, and Ultimates keeps getting better after faltering for a while, but now Ultimate X-Men just feels forced and boring. Nothing particular happens in issue 30, we get a little action early on, then a lot of talking and being childish. It’s a shame Ultimate Jean Grey use to be pretty cool, now she’s just a pain in the ass and I want her to either die or get arrested or both. I’m glad Colossus is finally back in the mix, but I guess we’ll wait and see how well that works out. As much as I like Wood’s work on other books (Adjectiveless X-Men is really good), I’m glad he’s going to be leaving soon. Downside is, that may also be the ending of the Ultimate U as we know it.

Verdict: Leave It

Score: 5/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Wolverine And The X-Men #34

I was thinking about dropping Wolverine and the X-Men for a while, then the Hellfire saga really got going, and I’m glad I didn’t. If nothing else this issue is great for action, half the X-Men roll up riding Krakoa and Bobby is piloting what I can only call a giant ice Gundam. While the issue wasn’t really story heavy, it had a lot of stuff going own and was really fast paced, which is something this book need desperately. At this point I’m really looking forward to see what the outcome of the story is and what comes next for Wolverine and the Jean Grey School.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris