Wow, what can I say about Matt Reeves' take on The Batman? After nearly a decade of Snyder & Affleck nearly ruining cinematic Bat adventures for me (seriously, Batman using MACHINE GUNS and KILLING PEOPLE?! I mean, could you miss the point of the character's backstory anymore? Especially when so heavily relying on the "Martha" reference... Continue Reading →
Jab’s Deep Dives: History of the Teen Titans, Part 1
THE TEEN TITANS PART ONE: Now, this series has the unfortunate legacy of being at it's best in the early 1980s, and every subsequent run on the book has since looked to that era and been judged against it. The book also has the reputation for having some of the most stringent editorial control in... Continue Reading →
Jab’s Deep Dives: The Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is one of the oldest super-teams in all of comics, and one of its most original ideas. Which is kind of funny, because it was dealt with very off-handedly at first in your typical "Superboy" adventure. Superboy at the time was basically "The Adventures of Superman when he was a boy!",... Continue Reading →
Teen Titans Season One Review
No commercial more instantly turned me off to the idea of watching a television series than the infamous "Fuck Batman" ad that gave us our first look at Titans on the DCUniverse streaming service. When that was my introduction to the series, it was easy enough to write it off as "not for me", and we even... Continue Reading →
Top Ten: Heroines of DC Comics
Am I alone in just not liking Jean Grey? I mean, apparently not, but in my recent Top Heroines of Marvel article, Jean Grey was the most divisive character in the comments. Some said my leaving her out was "tragic" or "outrageous"; others noted she is "meh" or "sucks". She didn't make my Top Ten,... Continue Reading →
Jab’s Deep Dive: The Hangmen
DC is quite lacking in memorable Jobbers, often creating sub-par "serious" villains that are nonetheless recurring (most of Wonder Woman's Rogues Gallery is like that), or having Jobbers that are so forgettable that they never appear again. Marvel, by contrast, has DOZENS AND DOZENS of random-ass background Jobbers that are ALWAYS kicking around, thanks in... Continue Reading →
Top Ten: DC Comics Films
Hey, it's Snyder Month! Regardless of how you or I feel about the upcoming Snyder Cut, it's well on its way, and it will be hitting HBO Max on 3/18/21. And there has been a segment of fans who have been rabidly awaiting this moment in pop culture history. Between those fans and the morbid... Continue Reading →
Top Ten: Best Comics’ Alternate Universes
It's probably me. I'm probably the sucker. I really just enjoy continuity in my funnybooks. I want things that happened before to MATTER. Elseworlds and What If's are fun, but ultimately, I want there to be a big, long line of continuity that carries through the "main" books of a comics universe. If what happened... Continue Reading →
Heroes Of Manga
Previously, I had discussed the recent disdain I have found for both Marvel and DC; a disdain which led to my culling all of the titles from each publisher from my current pull list at my comic shop. I went on and into what I see as the inevitable future of the industry--an online-only model... Continue Reading →
Marvel and DC… No More!
Well, it's official. As of this past weekend, I no longer have any Marvel or DC books on my Pull List at my local comic shop. (Which is not to say I have any indie books because I don't. I have... my pull list is zero. It is no list.) I finally put my money... Continue Reading →
Love and Hate and DC Comics
Admittedly, I was VERY LATE in my comic reading adventure when I came around on DC. I spent my childhood as an unabashed Marvel fan. I read the quite occasional DC comic--the Death of Superman got me to take a peek at their work, and I started following the new Superboy title in its wake--but the vast,... Continue Reading →