"Eric Wallace"

Titans #37 Review

Deathstroke’s plan is revealed as the plot thickens for his Titans team.

Titans Annual 2011 Review

The villainous Titans face off with the Justice League of America!

Titans #35 Review

The train wreck that is the continuing all villainous Titans title continues with yet another chapter of the team vs Drago the all seeing blind man.

Titans #34 Review

The current run of Titans has some interesting recurring themes, when you think about it. The name itself, usually used for heroes, now for this band of murderers and mercenaries. Then you have Roy Harper, a former hero fallen very much to the dark side. Osiris was a hero, too, and is now obsessed with restoring his lost family to the point he’s killing people to do it. Isis seems to be back, and either her power has gone wrong, or she’s the way she was just before the Wizard Shazam de-powered her and turned her to stone– a killer. Deathstroke himself has wavered over the years from villain to pretty much outright hero during Titans Hunt to anti-hero in his own book, and is now back to bad guy. So the running thread seems to be corruption in many forms. Add in Ink, who was nearly a hero during Infinite Crisis, and then lost it, and Cinder, who seems to be a child abuse victim, and I think I may be on to something here.

Titans #33 Review

Things turn ugly in “Broken Promises,” the newest storyline in Eric Wallace’s all villainous Titans group. The expected betrayal finally happens, as on a mission in the South Pacific, Slade’s band of misfits and villains finally show their true colors. They are supposedly on a job to bring down a man called Drago, who runs some kind of gladiator arena. What Slade soon learns is that it’s a set up from the start. Drago, in addition to being a skilled fighter, is telepathic, and evades Slade’s sniper shot. Cheshire and Arsenal also turn traitor, attacking Deathstroke from behind, eventually wearing him down with skill and poison. Cinder tries to help but is rather embaressignly defeated by men with souped up fire extinguishers.

Titans #32 Review

Titans 32 finally follows up on Titans 31, which the Shazam one shot was supposed to do and utterly did not. The promised Osiris vs Shazam fight finally happens, and the surrounding property damage is astounding. Freddie tries to reason with Amon throughout the battle, and gets nowhere for most of it. Back at the Labyrinth, Ink follows up on the catharsis of killing the man who murdered his son by announcing he’s quitting. Back in Philly, the right rages on, as Freddie gets Amon to think, and wonder why his prior killings haven’t brought Isis back yet.

Shazam! One Shot

Shazam! One Shot

“United We Stand” is the title of the Shazam! one shot this week. It features several members of the Shazam family, including Freddie in his role as Shazam!, the still de-powered Billy and Mary Batson, and… well, we’ll get there.

The story begins in the apartment that Billy and Mary share in Fawcett City. Mary still seems to be mourning her lost powers, Billy is still optimistic, and Freddie has stopped by for a visit, still upset about the Cry for Justice series (who isn’t?). Maybe he’s annoyed that “he” was Prometheus in almost the whole thing? Anyway, Mary gives him spiked eggnog that apparently kills him. As he keels over and falls to the floor, Blaze appears, saying “Excellent work, little sister.” Blaze and Satanus are two of DC’s powerful demon over-lord types, for those who don’t know. They are also literal children of the Wizard Shazam, who gave all the Marvels their powers. Billy is horror struck, and we suddenly flash back to last week.

Mary was approached by Blaze at the homeless shelter she’s volunteering in, taunting Mary’s lack of power and offering a deal. Blaze provides a quick review of the horrible state of the Marvel family at present (Black Adam and Isis are statues, Osiris is resurrected but evil, the siblings are powerless, and Freddie will fall soon, or so Blaze claims. Blaze claims she will get Billy and Mary’s powers back, but only if Mary kills Freddie. Back in the present, Blaze, of course, goes back on her word and prepares to kill Mary and Billy. Asked if she has last words, Mary says “Yes, but I’ll let Freddie say them for me.” Blaze thinks Freddie is dead, right up until he opens his eyes and says “Shazam,” turning back to his powered form. He knocks Blaze out through the wall (there goes THAT security deposit), while Billy figures out that Mary and Freddie set this up and didn’t tell him.

A massive slug-fest ensues, with Blaze and Shazam fairly evenly matched. Billy and Mary charge out to help, realizing quickly they are out of their depth. Blaze poisons Shazam with a dose of the river Styx, harmless to the hell-bound but toxic to all others. Mary distracts Blaze long enough for Billy to grab up a fire hose and get the gook off Freddie. Freddie then impales her on a statue and uses his magic lightning to send her back to Hell. The three good Marvels meet in the homeless shelter later, Freddie saying he will try and get their powers back. Blaze looks on in some green scrying pool, and says that while Freddie isn’t willing to kill to restore what is lost, Osiris is, and shows him. This ends with “to be continued in Titans 32.” Of course, Titans 31 ended with a confrontation between Freddie and Osiris that was to be continued here, and clearly wasn’t so… take that for what it’s worth.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

I am a huge fan of the Marvels, and always have been. It was good seeing them again. I liked the teamwork between Freddie and Mary, although I’m not sure I buy keeping it from Billy because “Blaze might have figured it out.” I admit, in the first few pages I thought Mary was going dark and evil again, as she has twice in the past, and she didn’t, which I loved.

I don’t like what’s happened to about all the Marvels. Billy is one of the ultimate heroes. Anyone else remember that during Underworld Unleashed, Neron’s whole scheme was to entrap Captain Marvel, NOT Superman like most thought? Billy needs his powers back. Mary I don’t feel as strongly about, maybe because of the horrible storylines with her going evil in the past. Points for writer Eric Wallace, the Titans scribe, on his homework on these characters. Among the things I don’t get about them at present: why does Freddie look older than Billy and Mary now? How are two kids with no income renting an apartment? Why aren’t they still with Mary’s adoptive parents? Why did Shazam fly off in a hissy fit in the JSA story he came back in, ready to strip Freddie of his powers as well, and then vanish? And seriously, don’t show a fight about to happen in one comic, say it’s continued in the next, and then not even show those two characters in the same panel, let alone show the fight. While it was a decent story, I almost feel I got cheated by them not following up on the confrontation from Titans 31, which I guess now happens in 32?

Titans #31 Review

Eric Wallace continues to present the tales of Deathstroke’s villainous team in this month’s Titans “The Fate We Make.” I find it amusing that this is yet another book where the characters in it never use the name on the cover, like the Birds of Prey until recently, the Gotham City Sirens, and various other books. At any rate, the not-Titans were all gathered by Slade Wilson with various promises which he’s finally started keeping.

Titans #30 Review

The Titans title continues its fight in Arkham and finishes assassinating the character who used to be Roy Harper in issue #30, “Family Reunions Part Three.” The riot rages through the building as one of the guards tries to persuade Dr. Sinner (really, who names these people?) that the situation is out of hand, and she insists they can take care of it themselves. Elsewhere, Slade explains to Allegra that he was hired by her actual father, a former villain named Wavelength, who she had been told was dead.

Titans #29 Review

“Family Reunions” is the title of this week’s Titans issue, as Deathstroke and company face off against the freed inmates of Arkham and the man who put about all of them there- the Batman. Much of the issue is dominated by the Deathstroke vs Batman fight, which is even more interesting considering that Batman is now Dick Grayson, who has fought Slade for years. They seem fairly even matched throughout. In one interlude, Ray Palmer continues to investigate Ryan Choi’s disappearance, finding blood when he goes down to the microscopic scale.

Titans #26 Review

Titans #26

Titans 26 is somewhat creepily called “Suffer the Children,” and just in case you missed the point, opens at the grave of Lian Harper, where she is mourned by her parents, Cheshire and Arsenal, who then bond over their mutual loss by agreeing to kill Slade Wilson, Deathstroke. The issue then uses what is becoming a bit over used plot device, jumping around between now, a week ago, etc.

We see a press conference involving the team’s current client, Slade, checking off his list to assemble something to “cheat death itself,” and the team bickers. Interestingly, Ink manages to hurt Osiris, which I wouldn’t have thought possible. The team infiltrates a drug ring that deals a new drug called “Bliss,” which apparently is made in part from children, which sets off Cheshire (I still have trouble adapting to this version of her in protector of children mode). With more time jumps, we see Arsenal betray Cheshire to join Slade’s team before this attack at the drug ring.

Slade’s little band is dropped in pretty rapid succession by a whole group of never before seen villains. It’s hinted at that they are products of this new drug, Bliss. Roy doesn’t fall, as he’s been sent off to rescue the kidnap victim that was the excuse to involve the team in the first place, and Slade doesn’t because he’s too good, I guess. We end with Slade, alone, facing off against the five villain team that is referred to as the “Dominators,” just to make things more confusing, as there is already a long established alien race in DC by that name.

Ok, this book had some strikes against it going into this story, and then got itself some more. The art throughout is muddy and unfinished looking to me. Osiris, supposedly on par with Captain Marvel or Black Adam, gets cut twice in this issue, with no real explanation either time. This also picks up after the horribly named “Rise of Arsenal” continuing Roy’s descent into the depths of villainy. Now he’s lying to his ex to backstab her with her new boss. What is this, reality tv? We also keep seeing Cheshire in this iteration with swords, which she’s never used before. If she’s picked up a new trick, fine, but how about mentioning it instead of sort of making it seem like “Oh no, that’s always been there.” Cinder’s red appearance when fighting is from her power, but when she’s knocked out, she still looks like that here. Slade’s team seems to be caught totally flat footed here, which is just not how Slade operates. And where’d Roy get the staff he’s brandishing in his last panel here? Borrow one of Slade’s spares?

I’m also bothered a bit by Slade “looking to cheat death” or whatever it was he said. He’s immortal, unless this has been retconned. Trying to look for other answers, I wonder if he’s trying to make someone else share his long life. Ravager may already share his powers, depending on who’s writing her. His only other surviving relative is Jericho. I wonder, since Jericho has died and come back, is Slade trying to protect his surviving (that we know of) son?

Overall, despite using many characters that I like, this book just isn’t coming together for me. Partially the art, partially the odd power changes, and a few, like Slade and Cheshire, seeming a bit off or out of character. I’d say Roy was too, but they’ve changed him around so much lately, I don’t know what him IN character would be at this point.

Titans #25 Review

Titans #25 Review

Darkness Falls is the name of the newest Titans issue, continuing the exploits of Deathstroke and his inexplicably named group. We pick up where we left off in the sewers beneath Midway City, former home of the Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl (if that’s still in continuity, who can tell these days, especially with the Hawks?). Lex Luthor is being stalked by a shapeshifting assassin, and Slade is trying to catch… it? The rest of Slade’s team is above on the streets, wondering where Slade went, when explosions from the fight below rock the cityscape, giving them a hint.

Things get a bit on the straining credulity side when Deathstroke fights Osiris, beats him with a few tricks while evading his punches, and then proves to be not Deathstroke at all, but Facade the shapeshifter, who somehow or other seems to have about as many gadgets as Slade. Facade-as-Slade is then inexplicably cut in half by a glowing purple blade that came from…ummm…. well, neither I nor anyone I had look at the issue can tell WHERE it came from. It might be from Tattooed Man, but that’s rather unclear. There’s a close up of what might be his face just after it happens, but it might be Luthor as well. Not the best art, here.

The expected hijinks ensue as the shapeshifter then dupes Cheshire, and each argues as to who’s the real one. Slade shoots them both, ending the dilemma. There’s a lovely scene later at the med bay of Slade telling Cheshire she’s the weak link because she’s in mourning and she needs to get over it. Slade muses he might be pushing her too hard, but makes an enigmatic comment that “…she needs to be ready. They all do.” More hints about whatever possessed him to put this team together I guess.

We wrap up with Facade back in Luthor’s custody. Lex lectures his minions about not using their own experiments against him, and makes the usual threats. Osiris returns to his room/sulking chamber and sees the crack in Isis’ statue that appeared last issue when he invoked her name and apparently called down a variation of the Marvel family magic lightning ™. The issue ends with him sitting between the Isis and Adam statues, asking her to tell him what to do, while the White Lantern symbol appears over him. We are promised next issue is “Osiris’ White Lantern Revelation.”

What I liked and what I didn’t:

Slade is a character I’ve liked a long time now, and Cheshire is usually a great villain. Osiris I’ve had some interest in since 52. Luthor is his usual devious self, with plans within plans. The team reacts believably to finding out they weren’t hired to kill Lex but to smoke out a would-be assassin.

What I didn’t goes on a bit more. There’s nothing really impressive here. Facade can dodge Osiris’ godlike speed? Facade carries knockout gas that can affect a Marvel? Cheshire was more plot device and scenery in this issue, she didn’t DO anything except get impersonated, then shot. Cinder, too, was window dressing. Looking again, I suppose that purple blade did come from Tattooed Man, but it was really unclear, as was most of the art. This is a book with what could be an interesting concept, with several characters that I like, and it’s just not coming together IMHO.