tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post6360924521796691501..comments2024-03-27T11:32:34.392-07:00Comments on NOT A HOAX! NOT A DREAM!: THE NEW TEEN TITANS #38 & #39Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-55909870104125880302015-04-09T08:50:14.869-07:002015-04-09T08:50:14.869-07:00Thanks! In that case, right now I'm thinking ...Thanks! In that case, right now I'm thinking I'll pass on pre-ordering it. I may check it out sometime down the line after release, though.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-8690349921313493052015-04-08T05:19:24.720-07:002015-04-08T05:19:24.720-07:00Well, it's basically a retelling of the JSA hi...Well, it's basically a retelling of the JSA history, with each of the members telling the committee what happened 1940-1985 (Roy Thomas tying all the continuities together from ALL-STAR COMICS, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and his own series ALL-STAR SQUADRON 1-20, ANNUAL 3), with the subplot the civil strife of the Bat-children. Not so fond of the art (mainly Alfredo Alcala's inkwork; I wish Jerry Ordway- the essential JSA artist- hadn't backed out from drawing the series as planned, only doing the covers). But it is informative and a fitting coda to the original Dynamic Duo that debuted in 1939-40 (before CRISIS...).angmc43@hotmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379700547226493861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-71085728138749493902015-04-07T10:39:06.003-07:002015-04-07T10:39:06.003-07:00Wow, how bizarre: an AMERICA VS. THE JUSTICE SOCIE...Wow, how bizarre: an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401255094/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1401255094&linkCode=as2&tag=nahnad-20&linkId=JLQZTBB54LR4RGXK" rel="nofollow">AMERICA VS. THE JUSTICE SOCIETY TPB</a> just popped up on DC's solicits this month, for release in July! What are the odds? Taking into account that I'm not usually a fan of Roy Thomas's scripting, at least at Marvel, would you recommend this?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-17511510144341130622015-04-07T09:43:59.015-07:002015-04-07T09:43:59.015-07:00Yes, I absolutely agree with you that this run, up...Yes, I absolutely agree with you that this run, up to his departure, is Pérez's peak. I just read the Trigon story over the weekend and it's magnificent.<br /><br />I appreciate your summary of Earth-2 Robin. As little as I know about the mainstream DC Universe -- I really only have a grasp on the broad strokes -- I have even less knowledge of Earth-2. I think the only Earth-2 story I've ever read was the one where Batman and Catwoman marry, because it was in THE GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD, which I've owned since I was like twelve years old.<br /><br />At any rate, I agree that Dick stepping down as Robin is a big deal, and I understand from behind the scenes why it was done. And I get your point that Dick's discovered, as he says this issue, that Robin will always be the back half of "Batman and..." But the decision just comes out of nowhere to me after he affirmed just two issues back that he wanted to remain Batman. This could've been fixed for me if, for example, last issue during his investigation, someone jabbed him about being "the World's Second-Greatest Detective", or maybe this issue one of Brother Blood's goons taunted him, asking where Batman was. Little bits like that would've helped to sell the idea better for me. As it is, I feel like we've been told quite a bit about Robin's inferiority complex over the past several issues, but it's barely been shown.<br /><br />(Though, as you've noted before, it was shown more in the contemporaneous BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS issues, which I haven't read.)<br /><br />The relationship between Terra and Wilson doesn't just show us how screwed up Terra is; it doesn't really do much for Deathstroke's character, either. Plus, cradle-robbing just feels out of character for him, though I don't know why since we haven't seen a lot of his personal proclivities at this point.<br /><br />No sign of the WORLD'S FINEST 300 story in the Omnibus, and now that you've described it, that's unfortunate. DC was pretty good about collecting all the Wolfman/Pérez stuff in this series, so I'm a little disappointed they missed that. Though knowing their usual practices, if they <b>had</b> included it, they probably would've just dropped in the Wolfman/Pérez excerpt without the rest of the story...Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-71173714109972822422015-04-07T09:34:01.615-07:002015-04-07T09:34:01.615-07:00That got me to legitimately laugh out loud. Well ...That got me to legitimately laugh out loud. Well done!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-29368714104656416932015-04-06T15:03:54.963-07:002015-04-06T15:03:54.963-07:00I do agree about the art. Looking a few issues bac...I do agree about the art. Looking a few issues back, it's startling how quickly Perez-Tanghal stepped up in the quality. I could say that these issues up to the Trigon saga was Perez's peak on the NTT. <br />I wouldn't say Dick's decision to quit Robin as backpedaling on his earlier decision to break up the partnership but keep the ID. Keep in mind Kid Flash, Speedy, and Auqualad kept their names despite their independence from their mentors. Dick thought he could follow suit. Besides, the Earth-2 Richard Grayson kept his Robin identity to adulthood.* However, Dick soon realized that unlike his teammates, Robin is synonymous with Batman, and that to become his own man, he had to find a new identity.<br />One has to realize how big a step Dick's decision is. Aging sidekicks kept their alter egos to the end. As noted before, Earth-2 Robin was still in red-yellow-green (but with tights) even though he was near 50. Wolfman and Perez saw the importance of this, beginning the issue with the Titans' last Robin adventure and later detailing Dick stripping down his signature costume. Shortly after this issue, Dick would go to the Bat titles and give Jason Todd his Robin costume to take the mantle (again, a nicer portrayal of the Bruce-Dick parting than in Post-Crisis, where Batman, after firing Dick, finds Jason and gives him the Robin ID behind the predecessor's back!).<br />Also note that according to Pre-Crisis continuity, Dick was 8 years old when he became Robin. Post-Crisis aged that beginning to 12-13.<br />Terra and Slade...yeah. Basically Wolfman and Perez portrayed this nature of their relationship to emphasize how pretty screwed up Terra really is.<br />BTW, does the Omnibus include pages from WORLD'S FINEST#300? This story, teaming up Superman and Batman and the JLA and Outsiders, includes an interlude (by Wolfman and Perez) of the Titans (and a costume-less Dick) falling into a time warp and battling Grodanian warships. <br />*I wish to note that the Robin of Earth-2 had two major storylines going on at this time. <br />First, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Atom of Earth-2 were drowned by the Stream of Ruthlessness, a river that keeps them alive but 'drowns' their conscience. Thus, under this influence, any personal dark issue their noble natures suppressed was now brought open for them to enact. In Robin's case, he went straight to the Gotham penitentary to kill his parents' murderer, Boss Zucco, now an elderly Alzheimer's patient in the infirmary. His actions caused him to be rough on the Huntress (Batman's daughter Helena Wayne), who had to knock him out before he could kill a man who no longer knew what he did to Dick in 1940. Knowing the cure to the Stream's influence is temporary, Huntress locked Robin in the Batcave where an elderly Alfred had to watch his master go cold turkey.<br />Shortly after, in the AMERICA VS. THE JUSTICE SOCIETY LS, the public revelation of the late Batman's Diary revealed that the JSA were secretly Nazis during WWII. The US Government forced the JSA into a Committee Hearing to prove the authenticity of these accusations (via going through their history). Helena Wayne was the JSA lawyer, willing to defend her teammates (even if it means calling her dad a liar) while Richard Grayson joined the committee against them (loyal to his mentor even if it means betraying his teammates). It turned out, as Richard discovered, the Diary was actually a MacGuffin to direct the JSA into remember, realize, and stop an old nemesis' future plan.angmc43@hotmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379700547226493861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-14544379050225092952015-04-06T11:13:33.770-07:002015-04-06T11:13:33.770-07:00Terra has been wearing secret "contact lens c...<i>Terra has been wearing secret "contact lens cameras" when with the Titans.</i><br /><br />Of course! The old "Judas contacts" trick!Teemunoreply@blogger.com