I Read Comic Books: Wonder Woman

Showing posts with label Wonder Woman. Show all posts

Friday, April 19, 2013

Teen Titans: Life And Death (Trade Paperback, DC Comics, 2006)

Teen Titans #5: Life and Death trade paperback cover

Teen Titans #5: Life and Death (Trade Paperback)
Published by DC Comics
Cover Price $14.99
Pages: 208
Collects: Teen Titans, Volume 3, #29-33, Annual #1, Robin #146-147, Infinite Crisis #5-6
Writers: Geoff Johns, Bill Willingham, Bill Williams and Marv Wolfman
Pencilers: Tony S. Daniel, Todd Nauck, Scott McDaniel, Ed Benes, Dale Eaglesham, Tom Grindberg, Elton Ramalho and Phil Jimenez

Well the good news is that I really enjoyed this trade paperback of Teen Titans, the bad news is I haven't read books two through four. I was at Media Underground Comics in Metairie, LA and I was thinking about picking up a Teen Titans trade since I liked the first one but I only saw book five when I looked through the shelves and normally I wouldn't buy trades out of order but I did and it was a good choice for me.

This trade covers a lot of different comics which does make it a bit confusing although it's all one story and it does fit together pretty well. Actually my only problem with the book is that they did not include any indication of what issues or title you are reading or who the creative teams were throughout the book. It's a little odd to me that they would include four issues of comics that fall outside the Teen Titans title but I think they needed to do so to complete the story being told here.

So what's it all about? The simple version is that Superboy from Earth-Prime is trying to get back home and he blames the Titans of Earth-Two and Conner Kent the resident Superboy for ruining things. This alternate Superboy aims to destroy Conner and the Teen Titans at any cost. Conner is beaten to the point of death and the Teen Titans have to find a cure for him that only Lex Luthor will have.

One of my favorite parts of the book happens at the beginning when Robin (Tim Drake) meets original Robin Jason Todd and they have a battle that leads Tim Drake on the path to becoming the leader of the Teen Titans. The book also has plenty of subplots that I found interesting and have solidified me as a fan of this team. Oddly enough the love story between Wonder Girl and Superboy stood out to me most because it seemed genuine and I think it had potential to be a nice long story for the characters but at the end of the book things seem to end up badly (trying not to spoil it). Tim Drake becoming the better Robin and better leader of the team also proved to be a nice turning point for the character.

I think the only character that I'm undecided on as to if I like them or not is Beastboy. He seems to be the comic relief and I'm good with that but I just don't know if I like him yet or not. Maybe once I read more about him I will be able to decide how I fell but at this point he's just kind of there and I don't really care too much for or against him. I think his power of changing into different kinds of animals isn't really my thing.

The book has a lot going on in it especially when the Infinite Crisis parts kick in adding more characters to the mix and I did find a few pages of it a bit confusing and had to read over it a time or two but that's just because I'm not familiar with DC's characters as much as those of Marvel Comics. There are a lot of fights between superheroes and super villains, monsters and robots and a solid background story to keep it interesting. I think this is a solid comic book series that really captures the essence of coming of age characters trying to become great heroes.

I definitely need to find books 2-4 and all the others in this series which I believe is a total of 18 trade paperbacks including the two Teen Titans/Outsiders books.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Teen Titans: A Kid's Game (Trade Paperback) - DC Comics

Teen Titans . . . can't say that I have ever read anything about the team besides the Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover from 1982 . . . and I read that probably in the late 1980's . . . and I can't say that I have any memory as to what happened in that comic (maybe I'll have to read it again) but it is the only connection I can think of that I have to the Teen Titans.

I bought this trade because the Boarders bookstore in my town was closing and there were great discounts to be had and I tried to get as many trades as I could afford before they shut the doors. I got A Kid's Game for $4.99 which is a great price but when I got home I found that the cover is detached from the spine so I'm pretending that it is a slipcase edition and it's cooler than everyone else's copy (yes I know I need help.)

So the reason for buying this besides the super sale price was to try to get to know a little more about the characters in the DC Universe. And maybe get introduced to a few that I had never heard of or never read about very much about in my brief knowledge of DC Comics.

The book is set up where a new team of Teen Titan's is forming and most of the young heroes are being sent to be part of the team by a mentor hero like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The group is set up as a weekend warrior type thing for these kids and they will go back to their regular lives after the weekend is over. So the young heroes are brought together and almost instantly they are confronted with an attack by Deathstroke who is bound and determined to kill one of the Titans so that their will be no more groups of children brought together as a super team.

The speedster Impulse is shot in the knee by Deathstroke and the Justice League shows up with fighting amongst friends quickly ensuing over mixed beliefs on how things are to be with the team. Starfire and Wonder Woman clash, Impulse full of angst goes a little tantrum-ish and becomes Kid Flash no matter what anyone says.

The book set's up friendships between Robin and Superboy, Impulse and Wondergirl and a blooming romance between Superboy and Wondergirl and gives lots of room to grow. My favorite line in many years of reading comics has to be when Wondergirl states to Robin ". . . wait a second. You just lied to Starfire?!" and he responds with "I lie to Batman." To me that is how you know Robin is the real deal.

By the end of this book the terms of the team are settled the JLA and Teen Titans are in agreement how things will work, but I think Wonder Woman isn't happy about it, a twist in Deathstroke's character is revealed and Superboy gets a dog.

I really enjoyed this book and will try to find more of the trades in the future. Another small note Deathstroke has one of my favorite costumes of all times and was the sole reason I bought many issues of the Deathstroke: The Terminator series back in the early 1990's . . . he's also an awesome villain.

This book also includes Cover pages and sketch cover art, Mike McKone's sketches, and a character description pages of all the Teen Titans and Deathstroke.

192 pages Trade paperback
Geoff Johns - writer
Mike McKone - pencils
Marlo Alquiza - inks
Jeromy Cox - colors
Comicraft - colors
Covers and backup art by Michael Turner
Other artist featured on backup section.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2011 DC and Marvel Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of DC or Marvel Comics.

Friday, May 9, 2008

DC Universe #0

DC Universe #0
Cover Price: .50 cents
Publisher: DC Comics
Major Characters: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Joker, Flash, Green Lantern, Spectre, Rogues Gallery, Libra

So this is basically a issue long commercial for DC's upcoming Final Crisis and several tie-in limited series. Each section of the comic is followed by an ad for a new series DC hopes we will all buy. Normally this kind of thing would not be something I'd enjoy spending my money on but DC did the right thing by making it .50 cents and providing some great artwork and a nice lead in to Final Crisis. Lots of characters appear but what interested me most is the Batman/Joker stuff and I hope I don't need to buy Batman R.I.P. to read that one because it looks good and I hope they cover it in Final Crisis or I'll probably have to pick up the trade later on.

All in all I'm excited for Final Crisis to start up (I'll have to wait for my DCBS order to get this one though) and I don't blame DC for putting this out...hell I'd buy plenty more .50 cent comics for the art alone.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Ahhhh Comics Satisfaction - I've been reading a lot this week

Is it me or are comics really good right now?

I've been reading a lot this last week or so and have been totally satisified on almost everything I've read. Comics arejust fun and good these days. I did some catching up on DC's 52 (I'm so far behind) finishing issues 34-39 I really like this series becauise it gives me a chance to read many DC characters that I don't know about and it gives me a little better knowledge of the DCU. One of my favorite comics is Justice League of America for the same reason as 52 there are so many characters running around and although Batman, Wonderwoman and Superman are there there is a great cast that steals the show. In JLA I've heard people complain about Red Tornado and to be honest I had never heard of him until issue #1 and he is now one of my favorite DC characters and after issue #18 & 19 I'm looking forward to what happens in the next year with Red Tornado. Lastly in DC I caught up on Wonder Woman issues #12-18 and Annual #1. I like this title which I never thought I would when it came out. The question is often asked what should a girl read if she is new to comics and wants to try superheroes? I'd definitely suggest Wonder Woman especially since Gail Simone is writing it now.

I also read DMZ book 4 Friendly Fire from Vertigo. I love the art of Riccardo Burchielli on this book and and Brian Wood continues to make this story feel like this could actually happen someday.

Well remember my review of the Pat Lewis comic Abominable well I found the hardcover of The Claws Come Out which includes Abominable, Bad Date, Prowl, Zombie Trouble, & some Bonus Material all hosted by Lily St. Evil a voluptuous "Elvira" type horror hostess that make The Claws Come out a solid dose of Pat Lewis goodness! And its only $19.99 for 152 pages!

The last indie book of this round was Usagi Yojimbo #110 which was just a fun little story that makes me wonder why I ever stopped reading this comic? I gotta go find issues #1 - 104. I love Stan Saki...yes I said it.

Marvel maddness was goodness too. Thor #6-7 wow Thor is becoming what he always needed to be the heir to Odin's throne. This comic makes me happy that I read comics everytime I read a new issue. Mighty Avengers #9-11 are finally making me feel like this book is getting its legs but then a villian like Dr. Doom will do that. I don't like all of these Avengers but I'm sticking with the book for a while. Hulk #2 was interesting but I want to do a post on Hulk so I won't say more on that. Amazing Spider-Man #549-554. Spidey is really good these days even if I don't agree with how we got here its just really good. New villians, old friends and I know that Mary Jane and Pete are going to find their way back together so I'll go for the ride Joe Quesada has decided to put me on. Ms. Marvel #24-25. Carol Danvers has become my favorite female character in the last three years and this book has been fun for me. I don't know all about her past but this book is fun and now that there is a Skrull doppleganger in the mix we might have a chance to see Ms. Marvel beat herself. Ok so Captain America #35-36 are pretty good (I know they are awesome but I have missed most of this series). I like that Bucky is now Cap and that he's learning. I have to do some learning myself and pick up some of the trades so I can truly appreciate this title.

So all that goodness can't go without some bad right? Moon Knight! I read #15-16 and I just have to say Charlie Huston needs to be completely gone from this book. I love the Moon Knight character and I love the way he looks but I really dread reading this comic. I like most of the artwork and would say its all been great with the exception of so many panels of the faceless Bushman...its getting old, really, really old...I think everyone knows that Moon Knight is quite crazy but if this book doesn't get a Bendis makeover or something soon I'm gonna go as crazy as old Marc Spector. I read Moon Knight and I put the book down and I have no idea what I just read...with acception of the Annual #1 I gotta say this series is terrible. I don't want it to be cancelled and I am going to keep on buying it but if anyone can get Moon Knight on the streets fighting crime, fighting a good villian, talking to Khonshu instead of Bushman I would appreciate it.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Project Wonderful