NEWS: Sadly...

You know - life is a funny old thing. And, so is reviewing comics.

I learned pretty quickly that people don't always agree with my opinions on comics. Now this is truly brilliant. Why? Because I truly love to hear people thoughts on things, and I especially like to hear them when they're different from mine. Sometimes in life, it's good to talk things over, and reassess your position on something. I might be missing a key aspect - and who better to tell me that someone who disagrees, or has a different point of view?

So - to everyone who hasn't agreed with me so far, but has taken a moment out to let me know with a comment or an email via t'interweb - thank you - your opinion was truly appreciated, and it did make me think things over.

Now having said that - sometimes you'll get a comment like the one attached to my Trinity issue one review, from 'ewewew'.

A comment that really makes you amazed at a person.

Amazed that a person who appears to be that narrow minded has the ability to understand English, and amazed that they were able to press all the right keys on a keyboard to construct a collection of 'sentences' (of sorts).

Truly - a miracle of modern education...

Now - just very quickly to address ewewew's 'point' in a post - I wasn't impressed with Trinity issue one - but it doesn't mean I hate DC.

I've read some great DC books recently (Rann-Thanagar : Holy War springs to mind), but the main comics that are being pushed under my nose (such as Countdown to Final Crisis) just aren't living up to the hype. And I'm sorry - I'm not going to hide that - I'd be doing you an injustice if I did.

Now, I'm happy to be proved wrong about DC's mainstream books. It's one of the reasons that I bought Trinity in the first place - and why I'm going to ask you all for your suggestions of DC books I should be reading.

Add a comment and let me know - what should I be reading from DC...?

REVIEW: Final Crisis - 1

Damn. This is going to seem just like one big 'I love Marvel and hate DC' column isn't it. I'm sorry - I tried, but I just wasn't impressed with how Final Crisis issue 1 came together.

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT***

All the ingredients were there. 'Dead' New Gods popping up left right and centre, time travel, two big superhero deaths, and enough riddles to make Batman blow his brains out - but still 'lacking something'.

Now - I'm starting to think that someone has it in for the classic JLI heroes. First Blue Beetle, then Maxwell Lord, and now the Martian Manhunter and Orion have both checked into the huge Watchtower in the heavens.

And they didn't go out with heroic deaths - J'onn J'onzz was off-ed like a second rate character, brutally and without any shred of dignity - and Orion was felled before the book began (although he did have a few dying words).

Both of these should be very powerful deaths, especially as they didn't go down in ways the fans would like or expect. So - good in theory. But sadly not in execution.

Grant Morrison's script is incredibly emotive - but J. G Jones' artwork just doesn't deliver the punch needed for such magnitude. Which is probably what's at the heart of the problem here.

A great story - very interesting - but it'd be even more so if there weren't any of those damn pictures in there.

I'm sorry - I can't be anything but blunt over this one. The script and the art just doesn't work well together - and I'm very much afraid that what could easily have been a powerhouse book for DC may very well go down in memory as being a great example of mismatched talents.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5
(brutal but honest - you will however still enjoy this book if you are a DC fan)

Don't forget! If you're the future of comics - Biff Bam Pow Comics wants to hear from you!

NEWS: From the wall of Dan Didio...

You may remember a couple of days ago, when I mentioned New Cee Diddy Holla's blog, that I threw in a little comment about the latest DC teaser - Dan Didio's whiteboards. Well - most of you will have seen them already (as they aren't exactly new) - but to those of you who are interested in seeing a bigger picture, click on the below thumbnail to see more.



Have some thoughts on it? Then leave some comments here, or over at New Cee Diddy Holla's original post (where I left my thoughts a few days ago)...

REVIEW: Countdown to Final Crisis - 1 (Week 51)

***SPOILER ALERT***

Right - having read this issue, I'm feeling pretty happy with my decision to not buy this year long maxi-series.

Not only am I feeling that - but I'm feeling a level of disappointment that I really shouldn't be - especially given my previous opinions on the book.

In the last issue, Darkseid sadly exited the DC universe. I say sadly mainly because it's was so sad that he had to exit in such a lackluster issue. A monumental event, left feeling limp-wristed. Which, is a little like this issue.

You haven't got something as massive as another key DCU character death, but you have got the forming of a group of heroes (Donna Troy, Ray Palmer, Kyle Rayner and Forager) to watch over the Monitors, a 'new' OMAC (looking incredibly retro), Mary Marvel attacking Black Adam in the desert and the frankly miraculous reappearance of Piper.

So - let's quickly pickup on all of the above:

1. Forming of a new group of heroes to monitor the Monitors.

*sigh* Yeah - ok, in theory good, but in practice, it couldn't have been more boring if it had tried to be. A bunch of depressed and angry superheroes deciding after much coffee drinking and moping that they're going to oversee the remaining Monitors. There was absolutely no energy whatsover in this group - and I got the distinct impression that Forager had been put in place purely to die in a later issue of Final Crisis. Boredom factor: 8

2. A 'new' OMAC

Seriously? Seriously? I mean, come on. Seriously? What the hell were they thinking of when they gave him that costume? Yes, yes, I know all about the original OMAC - but even still, this is just stupid. Stupid, and no doubt about to spill into a mini-series tying into Final Crisis, along with a quickly cancelled ongoing book thereafter.

3. Mary Marvel attacking Black Adam

Mary's turnaround in the last few issues from hero to villain was irritating before, and even more so now. I just don't buy any of this - it goes completely against everything that came before Countdown, and I seriously hope it's discredited /put right in the near future. If not - well - rearrange these words to form a sentence: "mistake" "colossal" "a" "what".

4. Piper

Now this one - this one - @£$&'s me off the most. Piper died. How the hell did he escape death - and more importantly - why?!? His death was one of the more memorable moments in the series, and now it's just been reversed. Ridiculous choice. Insane.

Now - having said all of that - don't just take my words for how @$£* this series has been - why not have a quick read of the first two columns in DC Nation at the back of the book.

Yes - that's right - Dan Didio himself says Countdown's goals were "...a bit difficult to achieve", and that the overall plans met with "...various levels of success". "The problem, we realised, was that ... nothing is moving with it's own natural rhythm."

Way to tell a whole bunch of people who just bought a year's worth of this book that they wasted their time Dan.

Originally, I'd intended to give this book a medium score. But having Dan Didio come out and essentially say in the back of the book that 'it could have turned out better' - means I'm changing my mind to line up with his opinion.

Pete's Score: 2 out of 5

(don't bother - fan or not)

REVIEW: Countdown to Final Crisis - 2 (Week 50)

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT***

This has been an interesting day for reading Countdown. I started off with issue 4, carried on with issue 3, took a sideline with Countdown to Adventure 8 of 8, and now we're finishing up with issue 2.

This issue - is a big one for DC fans. A major player goes down in this book. I'm not going to tell you which one - as that would ruin it for you, but I will tell you that the wonderful Jack Kirby style artwork is incredibly fitting.

As big as this issue is however - I still can't rate it highly. My brother and I both read it this evening, and our thoughts were pretty much the same. It didn't go the way we were expecting (which is a good thing), but where on Earth (or otherwise) is this going to go now? What does this mean for Final Crisis?

The odd thing is - after such a large event in comic books (and this is big) - I can't believe I'm saying it - but I'm not gripped. I should be on the edge of my seat - dying to know what happens next. But instead, I'm a little... "Meh" about the whole thing.

I don't feel inspired to carry on reading, or to pickup Final Crisis, but irritatingly - I'd be amazed if this book doesn't become instantly collectable.

I don't know what's going to happen next with Countdown, or how it will lead into Final Crisis - but I will (irritatingly) be reading issue 1 to find out.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5

(big players exiting won't make me give this book a higher score - the overall story just needed more work)

REVIEW: Countdown to Final Crisis - 3 (Week 49)

***SPOILER ALERT***

Well, if you've read the review of issue 4 (week 48) - you'll know how I feel about this particular series. So I'll skip that for now, and just talk about this book.

This book is a major improvement over the last issue. The artwork is good (very good in some places) - the script is nice and 'punchy' (there's a great Darkseid / Superman battle), but I'm still not buying some things.

Mary Marvel's switch from good to bad last issue was just implausible. I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now. Either something is going on, or we're being asked to swallow one of the most unlikely good to evil conversions ever. Are we seriously meant to think she's his right hand woman now?!?

Ok - so that aside - Superman taking on Darkseid is still pretty cool. And, he has a point - having the rest of the league there would have slowed him down, right when he needs to go all out. Buuuuttttt... From another point of view - isn't it a bit mad to take on the ruler of Apokolips on your jack? Backup a good idea maybe...?

I did like the cliffhanger to this issue (a giant Jimmy Olsen taking on Darkseid) - but I still couldn't in good conscience pay for the book week on week. Maybe Trinity will be better overall - but I won't hold my breath.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5

(again - buy it if you're a DC fan - improvement from the last issue - but not great if you've not picked up the other 48 issues)

REVIEW: Countdown to Final Crisis - 4 (Week 48)

***SPOILER ALERT***

DC and me of late have had a checkered history. I bought every single issue of 52 (the series before this) - thinking I was in for the ride of my life.

In reality, at the end of the series - I felt pretty cheated. For a book that had 52 issues to tell the story of a missing year (one issue a week), I expected a lot more than I got - which was quite frankly, a mess that meandered from sub-story to sub-story, requiring a separate series (World War III) to link it in to the One Year Later storyline.

Needless to say, based on this sterling show by DC - I opted out of buying 52 issues of Countdown. Which at first (I was reading my brother's copies), seemed to be the right decision. It was awful.

A little while later, when Mary Marvel started to go off the deep end, Trickster and Pied Piper became shackled to each other, and little Atom symbols started appearing, it didn't seem like such a good decision after all.

The past few issues however, have totally reaffirmed my original decision.

This book is far too much of a money making exercise. I honestly don't feel that the book is about telling a great story - which deeply saddens me. It comes across as though the book is around, just for the sake of being a hype machine for 'Final Crisis', and probably 'Trinity' (which may or may not be another 52 issue snore-fest).

The concept of both 52 and Countdown was, and still is - great. The execution of the concept however, is hugely flawed.

Issue 4 (week 48) is a good example of all of the above. The artwork is passable, but far from brilliant, the story is just the same (Mary Marvel turning to evil again? Seriously?) - and the 'cliffhanger' ending, leaves me bored enough to not bother with the next issue (although I will - on the off-chance it improves, or something within it is vital to the upcoming 'Final Crisis').

I wouldn't usually roast a book so much - but I have to say - I am so very glad I'm only reading someone else's copy.

Pete's Score: 2 out of 5

(only buy it if you're a die-hard DC fan)