Top 10 Comic Book Quotes- Week Of 9/14/11

It's a new Wednesday and the comic shops are starting to open! Soon, the internet will be filled with chatter about the new Batman and the merits of a pantless Wonder Woman. But before we start enjoying a whole new round of books, here's one last look at some of the best lines from last week's comic books. From vacations to mars to car leases to dragon throwing, here are the 52 Review's top 10 comic book quotes of the week!

10. "You're not my partner, you're my son." -- Batman, Batman and Robin

9. "And don't think I didn't notice that the V.R. version of me is a total Mary Sue." -- Rose Wilson, Superboy


8. "Now where would I hide a ten-foot suit of biomechanical battle armor?" -- Mister Terrific, Mister Terrific


7. "Father Time was under strict instructions not to interrupt my vacation to Mars unless it was of the utmost importantance." -- Frankenstein, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

6. "How about you just free me? Then I could, I don't know, establish a library system or invent the printing press? I really am full of love for humans at this point." -- Etrigan, Demon Knights

5. "So unless Superboy's cells originated in a deeply pathological, megalomaniacal narccisist, the likes of which the world has never know..." -- Dr. Caitlin Fairchild, Superboy


4. "We're the Alpha Dawgs. Dawg." -- Hughes, Deathstroke

3. "Carol...will you co-sign the lease on my new car?"- Hal Jordan, Green Lantern

2. "In case you haven't noticed, the world's gone mad. We've got Supermen flying around Metropolis and Batmen in Gotham. Times are changing, and stuffy old lab coats like you have got to change with them, unless you want to be left behind. -- Father Time, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

1. ‎"We find the source of the problem...and throw dragons at it." -- Demon Knights

By Marceline with 1 comment

Review: Mister Terrific #1

As a big fan of Mister Terrific, I simultaneously want to give it a harsher and more lenient review than it deserves. My fondness for the character makes it easy to overlook some of the book's weaker aspects, but it also makes it easier for me to see how much better a comic this could be. Many of this week's comics were a better read for me the second time around, but every time I give this one a look, its shortcomings become more apparent, and its greatest strengths seem to lie in what the comic could be rather than what it actually is.

I enjoyed the book's early pages. From the Doctor Who reference to a woman on the street admiring Mister T's bum, the opening scene reminded me a little of Power Girl. Is it silly? Absolutely. But sometimes I like reading silly comics, and I think super science characters suit them well. Writer Eric Wallace currently works on Eureka, a television show full of both super geniuses and not particularly scientific scientists, and I think that's a good direction for Mister Terrific to go in. Writing a believable genius is a task few writers are up to, and I think it's a safer bet to go big and crazy than to try and keep things grounded in reality.

Michael Holt's backstory is mostly unchanged, from the death of his wife and unborn son to his plans for suicide. In this new universe, however, the role of the Spectre has been replaced by something much more personal. Using the wrath of God in the origin story of an atheist always felt ridiculous in a Doctor Thirteen type way, and it's a welcome change. Mixing the tragedy of Michael's life with wacky comic book science capers is an idea with some mileage, and something I'd certainly be interested in reading about, but it's here the book starts to fall apart for me.

While there was some goofy dialogue in the book's early scenes, it flowed fairly naturally and worked with the tone the comic was establishing. In contrast, some characters in the book's later scenes seem to say things out of nowhere, as if pages of the comic were missing. The confrontation between Aleeka and Karen Starr seemed especially off, and I actually flipped back a couple times to make sure I hadn't missed something. Other lines, especially Michael's conversations with the senator, don't read very well. I suspect that the inability to hear the tone in which the lines are said is the culprit here, and expressive art might have saved this.

Unfortunately, the book's art is also wildly inconsistent. It's suffered more artistic changeups than any other book in the DCnU, and it shows. Initially, the very talented Roger Robinson was slated to work on the book, but he was replaced by Gianluca Gugliotta before the first issue was complete. While Gugliotta was credited for this issue, he himself has been replaced by Scott Clark and Dave Beaty. There are some nice looking panels and pages, but as a whole, the book looks really uneven, and I think it'll stay that way until they have settle down with one creative team. DC has several artists in its stable who'd be a great fit for this, such as Jamal Igle and Marcus To, and I hope they find someone to stick with the comic soon.

There's some potential in the book's supporting cast. Karen Starr didn't get a lot to do here, but she'll bring a lot to the book if they can capture her strength and sense of fun. Her super-heroic identity also provides a lot of potential for future stories, and I hope that she's not just kept as a civilian. Jamaal, Michael Holt's protege, also didn't get much paneltime, but I liked what little I saw of him, and I'm hoping to see more. Aleeka, Michael's right hand woman who is apparently secretly in love with him, didn't work for me at all, and for now, I'm just hoping she'll grow on me in the future.

There's a lot of potential in Mister Terrific, and I hope the series can find its footing. Eric Wallace proved he was capable of writing an interesting comic with his Ink miniseries, and I'd love to see a little more of that here. I plan to stick with Mister Terrific for at least the first two story arcs, but right now, I'd recommend the comic only to fellow fans of the characters. There's not enough here yet to win over anyone who isn't a fan of the character, and I think this week's Frankenstein is a better place for readers to get their fix of mad science. I'll keep covering the comic on this site, and my fingers are crossed that I'll be able to suggest a good jumping on point in the months to come.

By Marceline with No comments

My 10 Most Anticipated DCnU Comics (And Why I'm So Excited For Them)

With more than a month to go before the release of the first DCnU comic, there's not much to do besides think about how good or bad these comics might be. I really like keeping track of my initial thoughts about something before it comes out. It's fun for me to see where I really called it and where I really missed the mark. Before a new television series starts, I often make predictions as to how well they'll do, and I guess this feature is sort of like that, on a larger scale. I have a lot more to say about some books than others, but I have plenty of opinions about everything DC's putting out, and I plan to voice them all.

I'm a positive person, and it's always more fun for me to talk about things I'm genuinely excited about it. These are all titles I really want to see succeed, and I hope that in talking about why I think they'll be great I'm able to drum up a little enthusiasm for them among others. There are a lot of books I think have promise, but these are the ten that, more than any others, I really can't wait to get a chance to read.

1. Action Comics

Superman is one of my all-time favorite characters. Grant Morrison is one of my all-time favorite comic writers. It doesn't get much better than this, folks! The cover pictured above is very likely to be pictured on my wall, and every time Morrison's talked about his plans for the comic, he's managed to raise my already very high excitement levels to a fever pitch. Superman as a champion for the socially oppressed? Yes please! A comics with so much going on that there are no scene cuts in the entire issue? OH GOD WHY CAN'T THIS COMIC COME OUT ALREADY.

There's a part of me that wishes Grant Morrison would keep writing Batman forever. He's introduced so much to the Bat mythos, and I feel like a lot of that will never be fully explored, even with Batman Inc. coming back next year. But All-Star Superman has shown that combining Supes and Morrison results in pure comics joy, and if he can recapture even a little of that magic for this book, I'm sure it'll be one of my favorites every month.

By Marceline with No comments