Game Review: Double Feature

The latest game from John Kovalic, best known as the brilliant cartoonist behind Dork Tower, Munchkin, and the apple from Apples to Apples, has hit gaming shelves. Like Kovalic’s previous outing ROFL, Double Feature is a party game akin to the aforementioned Apple to Apples, Cards Against Humanity, and the like. Double Feature is published by the newly founded Renegade Game Studios, founded by ex-Cryptozoic Games CEO Scott Gaeta. (Coincidentally, Renegade is also the new publisher of ROFL as well.) So, does Kovalic have a new party game hit on his hands? Let’s rip this baby open and find out!

Presentation and Unboxing:

The first thing you’ll notice when you look at Double Feature is Kovalic’s trademark cartoon art, this time featuring a fun image that is a throwback to the singing and dancing food of the ‘Let’s All Go to the Lobby’ cartoons that used to feature at the drive-in theaters of yesteryear. This art combined with the red box coloring which is clearly a reference to the traditional red movie theater curtains immediately screams entertainment for an old movie buff like myself. Even if you’re not an old fogey like me and don’t know the what the cartoons reference, it’s still a walking hot dog, popcorn, and soda so it still looks like fun. The artwork is wrapped up with a logo that’s a film reel and dancing around the sides of the box are even more animated foodstuffs like candy bars and jelly beans. So far, so good, but fun box design doesn’t make a good game so what’s inside this cool-looking little package?

Inside the box is a thin little rule book and six stacks of cards featuring the same characters from the box cover. These six decks are labeled: Characters, Setting, Theme & Genre, Scenes, Props, and Production. Each of the decks art has the food characters posing in humorous poses that go with the theme of the deck. My favorite of these is the Theme & Genre deck where the look on the foods are holding the comedy and tragedy masks, along with a new mask that I would call ‘unimpressed’. The faces of the cartoons are this card back are just spot on and, several game play sessions in, the soda and popcorn have yet to cease making me grin just looking at them.

Gameplay Basics:

The gameplay of Double Feature is very much akin to the aforementioned Apples to Apples in that the players take turns being judge, in this case called appropriately the ’Director’. The Director chooses two card categories, flips over the top card from each of those decks, and reads the category and card text aloud. For example, you might flip over a Theme & Genre card that reads ‘Science Fiction or Fantasy’ and a Production card that says ‘is not always in English’. After the cards are read aloud, the remaining players begin yelling out movie titles that fit the criteria of both of the cards. The Director chooses the first one that he hears that he thinks fits both of the cards and that player is rewarded the point for the round. Play then continues around the table, giving each player a chance to be Director.

Normally, that type of gameplay works with Apples to Apples and the like where the decision is just the opinion of the judge. However, in a game where movies are involved and the answers are based in fact and my first thought is ‘What if the Director hasn’t seen a movie? Or what if the players misremember a scene or something?’ Kovalic and his fellow game makers thought of that too and there are rules included that address these issues to keep the game fair and, more importantly, fun. For example, there are rules that state that the movies have to be actual films that were released in theaters. That means no made for TV, direct to disc, or television shows. Also no movie can win two rounds in a row. Finally addressing my concerns, if the Director hasn’t seen a movie or the players feel he picked a movie that didn’t fit the criteria, the players have the option to try and convince him that they’re right and the Director can change his or her decision.

There’s also a rule to cover a scenario that I didn’t initially consider. What if there are two cards out and none of the players can think of a movie that fits the criteria? In that case, the Director, at their discretion, can choose a third category and flip over another card. Then the players must come up with a film title that fits at least two of the cards.

The game ends when one player gets a set number of points which varies depending on the number of players. The rule book provides a good set of numbers to keep the game fun without running too long with games consisting of more players needing fewer points to win. Of course, with many games like this, I tend to set my own goal for winning depending on how long I want the game to be.

Playtest:

My initial playthrough was with five players ranging from players like myself, who’ve seen waaaaay too many movies, to a couple of younger players that are limited in their exposure to film history. This was intentional to see if the game would be skewed towards the movie aficionados or if it would be fun with the random assortment of people that would generally end up at a party where this game would be played.

What I instantly found out is that the cards are written in such a way to allow as many answers as possible. Many of the cards actually have multiple options, like a character card that reads ‘barefoot or pregnant’. Even when the cards get semi-specific, they are still pretty general, like a setting that reads ‘in the future’. This allows for players to choose which part of the card fits their film. For example, the above set of cards could think ‘pregnant in the future’ to refer to a movie like ‘Children of Men’ (a lady is pregnant in the future) or ‘Planet of the Apes’ (many of the characters are barefoot). This open wording also gives options for the younger players because you could just as easily have chosen something like ‘Big Hero 6’ which one of our players called out because the robot Baymax doesn’t wear shoes.

Because of the open phrasing of the cards, in our playthrough, there were only two instances where the Director had to use the three-card option and only one instance where the players had to argue for their film choice. (The player won the debate by the way.)

In the end, I did win the initial playthrough but the game was close enough that the players didn’t feel that the game was skewed to allow players with more film knowledge to take the win. In fact, I have yet to win again in our subsequent gaming sessions.

Overall:

Double Feature is a near perfect party game. It’s fast paced and easy to teach. It’s light enough that non-gamers can jump right in without getting bored or mired down in too many rules but fun enough that the geekier players can enjoy it by trying to show off their encyclopedic film knowledge.

The only drawback I find with the game is the limited number of cards. The fact that there are six different decks offsets this limitation to an extent by having a huge number of possible card combinations but I can see it getting repetitive if put into heavy rotation at your gaming parties. Of course, like my other recent go-to party game Snake Oil, Double Feature could easily be expanded upon by simply adding more cards. Here’s looking forward to ‘Double Feature: The Sequel’ expansion at some point in the future.

Until then, Double Feature has taken a spot in my top 3 go-to games along with Snake Oil and Apples to Apples for when I have game night parties with my usual group and it should be with yours as well. Go get it HERE!

Update (07/06/2015):

After posting this review, the publishers of Double Feature have informed me that that needed expansion IS coming this Christmas season. It's to be called 'Everybody's a Critic' and will include a new stack of cards, a new gameplay feature, and more cards for the existing categories. I can't wait!

Game Review: ROFL

Cryptozoic Games, the publishers behind the World of Warcraft collectible card game and Penny Arcade: Rumble in R’leyh, brings us the new “party game of mix-communication” called ROFL. ROFL is created by John Kovalic, the mind behind the go-to party game Apples to Apples. I had a chance to give ROFL a good playthrough recently. So does it hold up against my other favorite party games like Apples to Apples, Dixit, and Scruples? Let’s break it down...

Presentation and Unboxing:

Yes... That's Gilly the Perky Goth on the box!

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the cardboard package in which ROFL arrived is a colorful little orange and yellow box covered in artwork from Kovalic himself. As a fan of Kovalic’s other work on Dork Tower and Munchkin, this made me extremely happy but I suppose milage may vary if you’re not a fan of John’s cartoony style.

Compacted inside this fairly small game box is everything you need to play the game... and I mean everything! It comes with a game board, a set of 175 cards, a package of cardboard counters, plastic player pieces, an hourglass timer, and enough dry erase boards and erasable markers for up to seven players. Oh... and it has a rulebook. I suppose you kind of need a rulebook. And, as a bonus for people who are a little anal about their games, the pieces fit easily back into the box. Heck! It even comes with a tiny baggie for the player pieces! Score!

But how does it play?

Gameplay Basics:

As the title suggests, the basic gist of ROFL is based on text and internet lingo. ROFL, OMG, JK, TTFN, THX... you get the picture. Starting with that as a base, ROFL is a spiritual successor to classic games like Charades and Pictionary. It’s a guessing game but, instead of one player trying to get the rest of the group to guess, it’s actually flipped the other way ‘round.

A gameplay turn goes as such. A player, appropriately called the guesser, draws a card. These cards each have a phrase, quote, or saying on them with a corresponding category like music, movies, books, etc. Without looking at the card, the guesser shows the phrase to the other players who then simply tell the guesser the category. Those players then have 30 seconds to write down any combination of letters and symbols to convey that phrase back to the guesser. The catch is that this has to be done in as few letters/symbols as possible, hence the text lingo aspect. After they’ve written their shortened phrases, the players place their pieces on the game board to indicate in which order they’d like the guesser to guess their phrases. Then, starting with whichever player placed their piece on the lowest number on the game board, the guesser gets 30 seconds each to try and guess the phrase. If he doesn’t, gameplay continues on to the next player until the guesser either guesses (or doesn’t) the phrase. Once the guesser guesses, points are tallied based on where the pieces were on the board.

Gameplay sounds simple enough. It does sound like a party game in that it’s casual and easy to explain. Now to actually try it out...

Playtest:

As a father, most of my casual gameplay is done with my family. This is great for play testing since I get a group of players from across different ages. My first night of ROFL gameplay was with 5 players ranging from 9-39. (I’ll let you guess where I fall in that group.) Of course, the rules for ROFL recommend that it is for ages 13+ but I’m just a rebel like that.

This box is like a TARDIS with how
much they crammed in there!

The game started off slowly as I discovered that the game was a little harder to explain than I first imagined. This is mainly due to my group not grasping the idea that the game board is only for determining play order rather than the traditional get-to-the-end-to-win kind of board. But I got the rules explained thoroughly by playing through a mock turn with no point tally. This worked splendidly and our game of ROFL was underway!

The gameplay goes in 3 rounds. This means that every player gets a chance to be the guesser 3 times. This meant, with a group of 5 players, our game consisted of 15 turns. The first few turns were a bit awkward as players found their footing. Each player started off writing abbreviations as we so often do in texts. OMG = Oh my God! TTYL = Talk to you later. ...and so on. But, as we came to find quickly, quotes and phrases don’t lend themselves well to direct first-letter anagrams. If I wrote “WIC”, would you guess that the phrase is “Winter is Coming”? Of course not! And if you do, I’m not sure I want to play this game with you... weirdo!

After a couple of turns, things started to get more interesting in their phrasing. For example a phrase like “Winter is Coming” became things like “WNTR CMS” or “WNTR S CMNG”. Then, after about 2 rounds, things started getting creative. “Winter is Coming” started becoming “NED SAID”, “AFTR FLL”, or simply “STARK”.

Like any great game, once the simplicity of the rules is established, then the strategy begins. The main strategy in ROFL is determining the order in which you want the guesser to try and guess your phrase. It would seem obvious that you’d want to go first but then you realize that, if the guesser doesn’t guess the phrase from first player’s symbols, they then have a hint of sorts going on to the second player and so on. For example, we drew the phrase “My precious...”. One player, wrote simply “LOTR” and another “GOLLUM” and jumped to put their pieces on the board first. When the guesser incorrectly guessed “Lord of the Rings’, and “Gollum”, as they seemed obvious, the next player wrote simply “RING” and took the points. Another strategy tip that we quickly learned is that, if the other players beat you to the board and you’re going to be last anyway, go ahead and write out the whole phrase. On the off-chance that the guesser gets you to, you win the turn... and the points

Overall:

So, was ROFL a hit? In short, I’d say yes. It takes a little more rules explaining and paying attention to strategy than the aforementioned party games but it’s still great fun to play. Even with the younger kids in our group, the only change we had to make was to toss out a card if we deemed it too difficult for the group. This mostly consisted of us removing pretty much anything in the “politics” category. As an added bonus, as with Munchkin, there are blank cards so that you can insert your own phrases to the box for even more added fun.

The one thing I expect a few may balk at with ROFL is the price. For such a small box, the cost is nearly $40 but, like I said on unboxing, Cryptozoic packed a LOT into that bright little box for the cost. In fact, I’d think that if they sold the cards, board, and pieces by themselves for say $25-30 and you had to go buy dry erase boards and markers, you’d still be over $40 so don’t let the size fool you. BST THNGS CM N SML PKGS.

Buy ROFL here and get your game on!

Scooby Doo! Mystery Inc. Updates a Classic Forumula

When I was a kid, I always wanted to hunt ghosts and monsters. I eventually got into Ghostbusters in my tween years and went all out into an obsession that lasts to this day. But, before Ghostbusters... there was Scooby, Shaggy and gang of meddling kids at Mystery Inc.

Over the years, I've watched my childhood heroes go through various incarnations ending with the previous Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue (which was horrid!... but that's another tale). As of last week, Scooby Doo returned to form with Scooby Doo! Mystery Inc.

The show updates things like giving the gang some more interpersonal relationships, a town called Crystal Cove as a home base and a cast of backup characters with mysteries of their own. But, at its core, Scooby Doo! Mystery Inc. is classic Scooby all the way.

The first episode begins by setting the tone of the series. The story picks up sometime after several of the classic series. There are some cool references to some of the "monsters" that the gang have unmasked during a sequence at the Crystal Cove museum. During that scene, it's quickly made clear that the town of Crystal Cove has made itself a great tourist trade by cashing in on all the monsters and ghost stories. With all the tourist money rolling in, the Mystery Inc. gang has been discouraged from solving mysteries by parents, adults and the local sheriff (voiced with hilarious gusto by Patrick Warburton).

The gang has been doing their best to be normal kids with normal jobs. Velma for one, works at the aforementioned Crystal Cove Monster Museum. But their boring lives come to a screeching halt when an unexpecting sewer crew blows open a hidden area beneath the city and a radioactive monster is released to terrorize the town. Mystery Inc. to the rescue!

After that setup, the show goes into classic Scooby mode. The gang gathers clues, prepares the prerequisite Goldberg trap for the monster and solve the mystery. I won't give the mystery away for those who haven't seen it, but the solving of the case was a blast. Along the way, we get to see a a secret romance between Shaggy and Velma. We watch Daphne try to come on to a clueless Fred. There's a couple of cool homage bits including an Aliens reference, a Casey Kasem cameo and even Don Knotts! Yes. This is the Scooby show that finally gets it right for the modern age. I've watched all the recent movies where the vampires, demons and ghosts are real and I like them for what they are... but they just weren't Doo.

The show wraps up just as you'd expect with the meddling kids line but then we're treated to a mysterious phone call from a man calling himself Mr. E (voiced by Lewis Black) who tells the kids that one of the clues that they found might have deeper meaning and that the town of Crystal Cove just might be cursed! If the writers can manage the episodic nature of classic Scooby while weaving in this overlying story arc, this might just be X-Files for the kiddie set and I can't wait to see if they can pull it off!

Final score: 4 out of 5

The second episode airs tonight at 7pm EST on Cartoon Network.

Visit the official Scooby Doo! Mystery Inc. website.

Comic Reviews - Lois Turns Traitor!?

Action Comics #884
Nightwing/Chris has recently experience advanced aging and is near death. Now an old man, he is handed over to S.T.A.R. Labs for treatment. Too bad his only hope is Jax-Ur, one of Zod's sleepers! Meanwhile Lois has written an expose on how the U.S. government and her father framed Nightwing and Flamebird for the murder of Mon-El. She gets shocking news when she's called into Perry's office and is informed that, not only can he not run the story, Lois is being charged with treason! Lois makes a valiant escape attempt from the government agents that come to bring her in but a taser proves her undoing. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Jax-Ur is trying to get a DNA sample from Christopher by burning him with red-sun lasers. After watching this for several hours, Flamebird loses control and flames out knocking the glasses off of the good doctor and revealing the enemy for who he is. Flamebird begs Jax-Ur to save Chris and he agrees... in exchange for a blood sample from her! Lois isn't faring much better as she faces off against her father and he, in no uncertain terms, tells her to drop her investigations and that, if she weren't his daughter, she'd be buried already. He leaves by tossing down the gauntlet with the ominous comment that his planet comes before his daughter. And we all know how Lois normally reacts to being told to drop any story. She returns to the Planet and resigns so that she can take her story elsewhere. After the main book, the backup tale of Captain Atom continues with Mon-El bringing Captain Atom to the JLA headquarters where he thinks he'll be safe. We get a good look at the current lineup of the JLA but it's a look that Captain Atom really doesn't want as they accuse him of being a threat and in need of justice! Good read all around!
Score: out 3.5 of 5

Comic Reviews - A Light Shines in the Blackest Night

Okay geeks of all stripes! I've been overwhelmed with school these past few weeks but this post will catch me up on all my pull list reviews. All of these issues except for Blackest Night: The Flash #1 came out two weeks ago and BN: Flash came out last week. But what a great group of issues these were! DC really is really amping up the Blackest Night storyline! So dig in...

Superman: Secret Origin #3
This series is such great fun! John's writing and Franks art evoke classic Superman in a way that I haven't seen in years. In this issue, Clark arrives in Metropolis for his new job at the Daily Planet. Most of the story revolves around Clark meeting the iconic DP staff and the bumbling ways he does it would make Chris Reeve proud. The iconic scenes are all here too. Clark opening his shirt to reveal the big "S" and flying off to catch Lois falling from a rooftop. It's all brilliantly written and I can't wait to read more!
Score: 4.5 out of 5


Superman #694
The tales of Mon-El standing in for Supes while he's away on New Krypton have been hit and miss. I love the character and the writing of Mon-El but the stories don't always click. This one is written to be a turning point in the series and, hopefully, will lead to bigger and better things for the series. Mon-El, coming to grips with his new life and where he fits in the scheme of things, pays a visit to Smallville. After some heart-to-heart chats with Conner and Ma Kent, he returns to Metropolis in full force (with a new Superman-inspired costume courtesy of Mrs. Kent). In Metropolis, the action ramps up with a showdown between Mon-El and Bizarro. The final page reveals that it's not just Bizarro that Mon should be worrying about with the appearance of the Parasite! Not a bad issue. It got my attention and I'm going along for the ride.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Detective Comics #859
Of all these new heroes standing in for DC's big three, Batwoman is the one that's really not clicking for me. I absolutely love the artwork of J.H. Williams III but I'm not digging the storylines thus far. This second storyline is better than the first but it's uneven. I like the flashback sequences to Batwoman's origins but, when the story returns to modern times, it is just so weird that I just can't get into it. The Gotham that I love just doesn't mesh with these shapeshifting monsters and demonic cults.
Score: 2.5 out of 5




Justice League of America #39
Since almost all of the JLA's major players left some months ago, this title has been hit and miss. I've liked seeing some of the B and C list characters being utilized but none of the stories have really hit. This trend has started on an upswing with this issue as Blackest Night finally makes it to the JLA. The team heads into the Hall of Justice to check on the bodies of their fallen enemies only to find that they've of course risen as Black Lanterns. They come face to face with Zatara which makes for an amusing showdown between him and Zatana as they jockey for a magical upper hand. After that situation is cleared up, it's b-lister vs b-lister as fallen heroes Vibe and Steel return. Then the big finale as clearly depicted on the cover is the return of Dr. Light. I said this was the start of an upswing and I hope that is the case because this issue was pretty good.
Score: 4 out of 5

Green Lantern #48
More brilliant writing from Geoff Johns this issue as we see the various corps of lanterns starting to form an uneasy alliance. Even the Red Lanterns start to set aside their rage in an effort to destroy the Black Lantern menace. I absolutely loved the twist that, to get Agent Orange into their alliance, the team had to concede to his wish that, after the Black Lanterns are defeated, he will get his very own Guardian. The issue ends with the team pretty much solidified and the countdown to the end of Blackest Night beginning.
Score: 5 out of 5



Blackest Night #5
This issue picks up directly after the events of Green Lantern #48 with the newly formed rainbow rodeo (as Hal calls it) preparing to chase down the missing Black Lantern battery. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the heroes are holding off against the recently revealed mastermind behind Blackest night...Nekron! Nearly all the DCU heroes, including Superman and Wonder Woman, seem to arrive on the scene. As the battle rages, it is revealed that any time a Black Lantern tries to harm Dove (of Hawk & Dove) that she emits a white light that has the ability to completely them. The Lanterns then, as I'd predicted when this series began, combine the color spectrum to create white light and fire on the Black Lantern battery. Oddly, this attack seems to have no effect. Then the tide turns as Nekron revives the skull that Black Hand has been carrying since the series began and resurrects Batman as a Black Lantern! As if that's not bad enough, Black Lantern Batman spits out rings that, instead of claiming the dead as Black Lanterns, begins to claim those who have died and returned! Superman! Wonder Woman! Superboy! Kid Flash! Green Arrow! Then Nekron reclaims Batman's black ring and turns him back into a skull. (And don't think I didn't notice the quotation marks when Nekron called him "Bruce Wayne"... that's not the real Batman!) Then the new killing rings turn on the recently returned Hal Jordan and Barry Allen. Will they become Black Lanterns? I doubt it but I can't wait to find out!
Score: 5 out of 5

Blackest Night: The Flash #1
In what I'll vote for as cover of the week, this issue mimics the iconic image from the first issue of Flash: Rebirth with the Black Flash standing in for Barry. The storie begins somewhere during or slightly after the events of Flash: Rebirth with Barry still battling Thawne after it is revealed that a time-travelling Thawne is the cause of a lot of Barry's suffering throughout his entire life. Meanwhile, the Rogues are making plans of their own. The new Capt. Boomerang seeks out his father in the hopes of talking to him when and if he is resurrected. Capt. Cold appears to be doing the same in tracking down his sister, the Golden Glider. As the new Boomerang mopes around the graveyard, he witnesses the rising of Thawne as a Black Lantern (or Black Flash as he refers to himself). Yes. You heard that correct, now there are two Thawnes in this timeline. Barry, in an attempt to figure out what's happening and if the Black Lantern is the cause of all his misery by resurrecting Thawne, heads to Gorilla city to speak to Solovar only to find Solovar killed and the city taken over by Gorilla Grodd. Barry then faces off against a Black Lantern Solovar only to run away. As he's running, the Black Lantern rings reach 100% power and Barry calls all the speedsters to Coast City. What's his plan? I don't know but with the issues these past two weeks, Blackest Night has reached a head and I'm dying (bad pun fully intended) for the next issue!
Score: 4.5 out of 5

Comic Reviews - A New Black Lantern and Wally's New Flash Costume Revealed!

For those that missed last week's comic reviews, I have begun putting spoilers in my reviews. You have been warned...

Flash: Rebirth #5
There's a reason Geoff Johns won Spike TV's "best comic book writer" award. I've said in the past that the man could write the entire DCU and I'd be happy and I stand by that after reading this next-to-final issue of Flash: Rebirth. At the end of the previous issue we learned that the Barry actually created and generated the speed force and that Reverse Flash was generating a negative speed force to counteract the real deal. Naturally a battle ensues. This issue picks up with the team of speedsters trying to take down Reverse Flash. The team is getting their rear handed to them most of the issue. Meanwhile, back at the West home, Wally's kids realize that their power fluctuations and aging have been caused by the fact they they are sharing a single connection to the speed force. Iris/Irey touches Jai's hand and absorbs his part of the connection and she gets full speed powers. I assume this means Jai is a normal kid now but that remains to be seen. Irey, now calling herself the new Impulse, rushes off to help the speedsters against Reverse Flash. Wally uses a trick to give the speedsters a boost. This also serves to give a lot of them new costumes including Wally's own updated costume which Flash fans have known was coming for a while. (See below for an image of Wally's new duds.) But even after all this, the speedsters can't bring down Reverse Flash. Reverse Flash reveals that he's been the cause of everything bad that's ever happened to Barry throughout history and that he can manipulate time. He then rushes away through time to kill Iris and thus give Barry no reason to ever have escaped death all these years. The next issue is the final chapter in this saga and I am dying to see where this ends up!

Score: 4.5 out of 5

Wally's new threads revealed!

Superman/Batman #66

Blackest Night finally hits Superman/Batman this issue with the return of Solomon Grundy as a Black Lantern. The story this issue centers around Fran Langstrom working with Frankenstein and the Bride to capture the Man-Bat and return him to his human form. While all this is going on, both Bizarro and a newly resurrected Solomon Grundy are wandering around Gotham. Bizarro comes across the team of heros as they are capturing Man-Bat. Thinking they are hurting his friend, Bizarro attacks the team and runs away with a mid-transformation Man-Bat in tow. But Bizarro's mistaken rescue is is cut short when he runs into Black Lantern Grundy only to have his own heart ripped out. Next issue... Black Lantern Bizarro? I sincerely hope so!
Score: 3.5 out of 5

Comic Reviews - Now with 100% More Spoilers!

I put out a poll last week regarding the inclusion of spoilers in my comic book reviews and the overwhelming response was in favor of spoilers. So, I'll warn you now. My reviews from this date forward will have spoilers. Of course, I'll try and warn you if it's something major, like this week's Green Lantern Corps. Also, rather than the bland "Pull List Reviews - whateverthedate is" titles, I'll just call these posts "Comic Reviews" and have some hopefully more interesting title. But that's it with the boring explanations. Bottom line: beware spoilers! Now... bring on the reviews!

Action Comics #883
The World Without/Against Superman storyline has me all over the place. Some issues are great and others just seem bland. This issue is one of the better category. I like the idea of Nightwing and Flamebird and that they're somehow reincarnated Kryptonian heroes. This issue plays with that a bit and has Chris and Thara discussing and trying to grapple with that idea. On other fronts, Jax-Ur (one of Genral Zod's remaining sleeper agents on Earth) is worming his way into S.T.A.R. Labs and setting up some kind of plot to kill our Kryptonian heroes. But the big finale (and I warned you there'd be spoilers so stop reading if you don't want 'em!) is that Chris' accelerated aging kicks in again and he becomes an old man. And who do you think S.T.A.R. Labs brings them to on a silver platter? You guessed it! Things just went from bad to worse.
Score: 4 out of 5

Batman #693
The idea of Dick and Damien as Batman and Robin is another issue that I'm torn on. First off, I think the current writers really "get" the characters of Dick and Damien and really... I mean REALLY... enjoy them as the new dynamic duo. What I'm not sold on is the idea of dumping all of Batman's traditional villains in favor of new villains or trying to bring B-listers to the front lines. The villains are part of what made Batman books great and these new ones just haven't really excited me much yet. This issue opens with Batman and Robin delving deeper and deeper into Black Mask's territory, smashing up False Face soldiers along the way. There's an interlude in which Dick, Huntress and Oracle gets to attend a Gotham socialite party and basically they're just there to keep tabs on Tommy Elliot (now disguised as Bruce Wayne) and the Falcones. But the party takes an odd turn when the little girl from the Falcone family shows up dressed like a rag-tag Catwoman and does something. Robbing the place maybe? It never really explains. The girl sets off a bomb and gets away. The explosion somehow triggers Edward Nigma's psychosis and it seems he's become the Riddler again. The issue closes with Batman off again to track down Black Mask. He starts by questioning young gang members in the area where Black Mask is operating and ends up getting one of them shot. It's not a badly written issue by any means but Black Mask and Hush as villains are just boring me at this point. At least we've got the Riddler coming back so that's a comfort and something to keep me reading.
Score: 3 out of 5

Batman and Robin #6
Here we've got another case of the DCU trying to come up with new Bat-villains and falling flat. That is made even worse by the fact that the rest of the book is amazing! Frank Quitely's cover is stunning. Morrison's characterization and dialog of Dick and Damien is spot on and makes me care about these guys. The artwork by Philip Tan is very fitting for the gritty action sequences that are showcased. But it all doesn't add up since the main villain is the Flamingo. Who's that you ask? Just some daft-looking idiot in pink on a motorcycle who does nothing but grunt and try to kill people. It's obvious that they're trying to make him appear deadly and frightening like the Joker and he is laughable... but not in the good Joker way. The only drawback I've had with Batman and Robin thus far is the new villains. I liked Jason Todd's returning to the Red Hood but Todd's arrested this episodes so now even he's gone. It seems like we're going to be focused on El Penitente and his gang of thugs and freak assassins and I'm not overjoyed at that prospect.
Score: 3.5 out of 5

Green Lantern Corps #42
Okay, DC. The Bat-books may be lackluster and still finding their footing without Bruce, but the Blackest Night books are what's keeping the DCU at the top of my must-read list every week! This week's Green Lantern Corps picks up where the last issue left off with the Black Lanterns assault on Oa. The Green Lanterns, with the assistance of one of the Indigo Lanterns, are slowly losing their collective battle when the Black Lanterns' rings finally hit 100% and they all get the order to "consume will" and they all just stop mid-fight and attack the central power battery of Oa. The Green Lanterns come up with a few ideas to stop the attack including releasing Red Lantern Vice. Vice does a decent job slaughtering the Black Lanterns until Alpha Lantern Chaselon arrives and kills him. Then the Black Lanterns just kill Chaselon and return to trying to drain the main battery. The issue ends with a scene that I really didn't see coming. When Chaselon is killed, Kyle grabs the Alpha Lantern battery and flies into the center of the main Oa power battery with a slew of hungry Black Lanterns giving chase. Once inside the main battery, Kyle creates a dome shield and then detonates the Alpha Lantern battery, killing tons of Black Lanterns... but himself in the process. I assumed Kyle might die during the course of the Blackest Night series since Hal had returned as the main GL of sector 2814 but his death still shocked me. Well done, DC. Very well done!
Score: 5 out of 5

Pull List Reviews - October 29, 2009

Superman: Secret Origin #2
I enjoyed the first issue of this mini-series and this one really amps things up as we get to see young Superman's first encounter with the Legion. The artwork of Gary Frank is beautiful to behold. I especially love his facial expressions. There's one scene where Luthor turns his nose up at a young Clark that is pure genius! And Geoff John's writing... I've said it before and I'll say it again. This guy could write the entire DC Universe and I'd be a happy camper. Brilliant book all the way 'round this issue. Plus the Legion gives a few future hints at things that are currently going on in the DCU (and possibly a few that have yet to occur).
Score: 5 out of 5

Superman #693
I've really been into these World Without/Against Superman storylines. I like Mon-El, Nightwing and Flamebird. This is a good thing considering the last "without Superman" story I read was when we had the stand-in Supes after Big Blue's death at the hands of Doomsday. (Ick!) This issue, we discover what's happened to Mon-El at the hands of General Lane. The storyline's called 7734, which is the name of Lane's secret project, but type it into your calculator and flip it upside down... get it? Lane tries to brainwash Mon-El into his army only to discover that Mon-El is a tougher nut to crack than he expected. At the end of the issue, it seems as if Mon-El is ready to take the mantle of the big red S in earnest. I'm really enjoying Dick's taking of the cowl over in the Bat-books and, after this issue, I can really see Mon-El as a perfect stand-in for Superman. Maybe this new generation that DC seems to be trying to bring about will work after all.
Score: 4.5 out of 5

Green Lantern #47
Blackest Night really picks up steam with this issue. My only complaint in the past with this series is that it started getting repetitive with every issue being just a big battle only to end with another new Black Lantern rising on the final cliff-hanger page. This one has a cliff-hanger but it's a great one. In a few cool plot twists, we discover that there's at least one Lantern Corps that the Black Lanterns can't kill by ripping out their hearts. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan and Sinestro continue their strained partnership in a battle against the resurrected Abin and Arin Sur. The way this battle ends just cements Sinestro as my favorite DC villain. And then we get that cliff-hanger! Why can't Agent Orange get a break?
Score: 5 out of 5

Detective Comics #858
I'll be the first to tell you that I wasn't a huge fan of the first Batwoman story arc. The artwork from J.H. Williams III is some of the best in the DCU right now but I just wasn't interested in all the monster/supernatural elements or Alice's cult as villains. This issue takes little side-step from that storyline as we get a look into Kate's background. This is brilliantly written by Rucka and even more brilliantly illustrated by Williams III. Williams takes the tactic of using an almost Darwyn Cook retro look to the flashback scenes while keeping his lush hyper-realistic style for the modern sections of the story. The result is that is a piece of art, not just with the images but the story. Here's hoping that Rucka can keep this up when we get back to Batwoman vs Alice's cult as we're bound to do. Also this issue, the back-up story featuring The Question wraps up nicely. I like Montoya as The Question so I'll give yet another thumbs-up for DC's new universe.
Score: 4 out of 5

Blackest Night #4
Just as happened in this week's Green Lantern issue, Blackest Night really picks up steam and skips out on the battle/resurrection rut that it'd fallen into. Sure. There's still epic battles (featuring Flash, Atom, Mera, Alan Scott and others) but the way it's written and the vignettes that are slipped in between the fisticuffs are awesome. There is a great scene where a Black Lantern Azrael tries to scare the Scarecrow. I laughed at this scene as Azrael growls as the Scarecrow only to get a blank stare back. We get a brief look into Luthor's take on the Blackest Night which involves his power-suit. The final few pages do have a resurrection (of sorts) but it's one the avid followers of this series have seen coming for months and it means that the battle has finally been joined by its mastermind. Things are only going to heat up from here!
Score: 5 out of 5

Batman #692
This was an odd issue for me. I'm still loving Dick as Batman and these writers all seem to have a good grip on how he should behave. What I'm not too keen on is the tossing out of the majority of Batman's classic rogues gallery in favor of new and old-but-more-obscure villains. Black Mask seems to be the new mastermind of Gotham. This wouldn't normally be a bad thing. I like the Black Mask as a crime boss. But instead, what we get is a Black Mask dressed in S&M gear building an army of oddball cohorts including Dr. Death and Fright. Of course, Black Mask does recruit Hugo Strange so I guess that's one step in the right direction. Strange is one of the most underrated and underused Bat-villains. Another plus is that there's a new Falcone in town and that's a good thing. I'm hoping that Tony Daniel has something in mind with where this storyline is going because the new Batman has so much potential, I don't want to see it fall flat.
Score: 3.5 out of 5

Pull List Reviews - October 22, 2009

Superman/Batman #65
I wasn't sure what to make of this cover. I thought maybe DC had finally decided to write this series off since it's the odd out of continuity series that still stars Bruce and Clark. Instead what we get is a weird Hallowe'en tale of the Scarecrow gassing Bats, Supes, Joker and Luthor during a battle. For whatever reason, Scarecrow's gas knocks everyone out and he puts them all in shallow graves. This is all just a set-up for 4 mini stories in which the heroes and villains face their worse fears. It all comes to a predictable end when Batman's fear-induced nightmare goes too far. If I weren't in the Hallowe'en mood this week, this story would've just fallen flat as it's so predictable. But as I am in that mood, it wasn't a bad little nightmarish romp.
Score: 3 out of 5

Justice League of America #38
With the big three missing, the JLA is essentially falling apart (and in Plastic Man's case that's literal). This issue, Vixen, Dr. Light, Red Tornado and Plastic Man meet to discuss whether to just give up and disband the League altogether. It's a pretty depressing sad-sack meeting what with only these four JLA members answering Vixen's call... and then Despero shows up looking to eliminate this upstart League. After the JLA gets kicked around a bit, Zatana shows up late to Vixen's call and helps to save the day. But she brings bad news. She tells everyone that the League has to stay together to fight the Black Lanterns that are popping up all over the DCU. With that, the JLA heads back to the Hall of Justice where a newly risen old enemy awaits.
Score: 3.5 out of 5

DCU Halloween Special '09
If you're a Hallowe'en fan (and who isn't?), you'll get a kick out of a few of the 13 tales contained in this one-shot special issue. Sandwiched in a story of Bizarro's Hallowe'en are tales starring everyone from the Creeper to Superman and Batman. As with any compilation style book, there are hits and misses. Some of the stories just fall flat, like the Creeper one-pager, but overall, they're pretty decent. The gem of the book for me was the tale featuring yet another race between The Flash and Superman that is pure brilliance!. Another tale that may have lasting implications on the DCU involves the Outsiders fighting a vampire cult that resurrects Andrew Bennet of "I...Vampire". If you want some Hallowe'en goodness, this book would be a perfect way to get it.
Score: 4 out of 5

Pull List Reviews - October 16, 2009

Batman Annual #27
This is the first half of a story intended to herald Azrael's return to Gotham. Actually, I never liked Azrael and I still don't care for him after reading this issue. The story is that a mysterious group dressed as the seven deadly sins are kidnapping the children of various influential Gotham families in an attempt to bring back the eighth sin (whatever that means). Yeah. The story is an Azrael story through and through so I didn't care for it but the characterization of Dick and Damien as the new Batman and Robin is amazing! And to top it all off, the artwork of J. Calafiore is very fitting of the new Batman. While he makes Dick look like Batman, it's obvious that he's a slimmer and lighter version and definitely not Bruce. You know what? It actually reminds me of Neal Adams' Batman and that is a wonderful thing!

After the main story is over, there are two other back-up tales. The first is a fun little romp with Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen's "Li'l Gotham" version of the Bat-characters who I believe make their first appearance in this issue. It's a two page hot rod race between Batman and his rogues gallery. The humor and artwork just come together for me on this one. It's not quite the mini-JLA that appeared in Superman/Batman a few months back but it'll do in a pinch.

"Darker than Black" part 1 is the final story in which Barbara Gordon investigates a vampire. This story really doesn't cut the mustard for me. The artwork fits the story well enough but the story is just odd and seems out of place in a Batman book. But I guess it would be in line with Azrael so fans of the supernatural tales may like this more than I did.
Score: 3 out of 5

Batman and Robin #5
The "Revenge of the Red Hood" continues here as Red Hood (Jason Todd) and his sidekick Scarlett battle with the new dynamic duo of Dick and Damien. We get a look at what Jason looks like under his red hood and some insight into how he plans to overtake Gotham. His ideas on marketing and branding his campaign of violence is pure genius! However, his violent tactics against Gotham's underworld brings him unexpected results when a madman named Eduardo Flamingo arrives on the scene in some sick scenes that you can only get from a book written by Grant Morrison. The artwork is great on this issue as well. I thought when Frank Quitely moved to doing only covers we'd lose something but Philip Tan really stepped up to the plate and kept this book moving.
Score: 4 out of 5

Justice League of America 80-Page Giant
I'm always leery of one-shot titles and the cover price on this issue made that doubly true. But this tale of the JLA battling the Time Commander is actually quite inspired. There's a main wraparound story that serves to setup six mini-tales with the JLA scattered throught history. A couple of the best are with Hal Jordan and Red Arrow in the old west (Having them meet with Jonah Hex would've made this book near perfect for me... but alas! It didn't happen.) and Firestorm and Green Arrow meeting Ra's al Ghul in World War II. Brilliant! And the others are decent as well. All in all a surprisingly good one-off which justified the cover price... and setup a new villain for upcoming JLA storylines.
Score: 4 out of 5

Detective Comics Annual #11
This is the second half of "The Eighth Deadly Sin" starring Azrael which continues to serve to setup some villains for the new Azrael series that starts this week. The story is the supernatural tripe that's come to be a par for the course where Azrael is concerned. As with the first half in the Batman Annual, the characterization of Dick and Damien as Batman and Robin is very well written and this one gets an extra half point for the artwork from Tom Mandrake which is gritty and very befitting of Gotham City.

As with the Batman annual there are two back-up tales. There's another "Li'l Gotham" tale which is just as brilliant as the first one. Lastly, the Barbara Gordon "Darker than Black" vampire tale wraps up and doesn't get any better than the first part.
Score: 3.5 out of 5

Green Lantern Corps #41
The Corps continue to battle the Black Lanterns that have attacked Oa. Soranik and Iolande fight to save the injured Lanterns. Guy Gardner kicks ass (as usual). Soranik comes to the rescue of Kyle Rayner. But the best of storytelling in the issue comes from Lantern Arisia coming to grips with her family's Lantern lineage and Kilowog facing off against his old drill sergeant Lantern Ermey. Yeah. You heard that name right. I squeed a little when I read it. The "Children of the Corps" title doesn't come into play until the last few pages but after the title "children" arrive on the scene, so does an agent of the hidden corps. A great issue all around.
Score: 4.5 out of 5


Blackest Night: Batman #3
The final issue of this mini-series sees the Gotham heroes trying to defend their city against an army of Black Lanterns which are far too much for them to handle. Before it's all over, Dick and Tim have to come to terms with their parents' deaths and, to put a hurtin' on the undead Lanterns, they enlist the aid of a certain rhyming demon. A great side-story to the main Blackest Night series.
Score: 4 out of 5




Batman #691
This is one of my favorite Batman issues since Dick took the cowl. Continuing where the last issue left off, Dick is at the mercy of Two-Face who has teleported into the Batcave to kill what he believes is an impostor Batman. But Dick holds his own and, in the end, proves to Two-Face that Batman isn't dead. Then Dick's story takes an interesting turn as he tears down the Batcave and prepares to move to his new bunker beneath Wayne Tower. Dick discovers a secret about his parents' murder that it seems Bruce had been hiding from him.
Score: 5 out of 5


Action Comics #882
The "World Against Superman" continues here with Squad K tracking Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird (now dubbed the "Metropolis Three"). After taking a quick breather and some downtime with Lois, the on-the-run heroes finally have a Squad K and Reactron. When they try to explain that they were framed, things go from bad to worse as Colonel Hazard discovers too late the real enemy behind this scenario.
Score: 4 out of 5

Pull List Reviews - September 30

My apologies for this pull list review being somewhat belated. It's been a hectic week since I'm on the Board of Directors with Eerie Horror Film Festival that's coming up this weekend and things have been insane! I don't expect it to let up either so, while I'll try to avoid it if at all possible, I expect the next week's reviews to be a little late too. I just ask that you, my intrepid reader, bear with me and, if you're a horror movie fan and want to read some fun tweets from the Fest, be sure to follow me on Twitter. I plan to be back in full force after the Fest's over, so until then... here's the reviews:

Superman #692
The "World Against Superman" storyline continues as The Guardian deals with a rising tide of super-villains in Metropolis. Meanwhile, Zatara is held captive by Mirabai (Gen. Lane's shapeshifter) for reasons yet unknown. After the super-villain battle is over, The Guardian and his crew take a break at the local cop bar where a secret about one of their own is revealed. While not the best, still a fun read.
Score: 3.5 out of 5





Superman: Secret Origin #1
This review's a little late since I didn't pick this one up on its release date. But when my local comic shop forgot to pull the JLA 80-Page Giant for me, I snagged this one instead. And boy am I glad that I did! To start with, the artwork from Gary Frank is amazing! I listed Mr. Frank on my "top 5 artists currently working at DC" on an episode of DC Noise podcast a few weeks ago based on the preview pages for this comic alone and he proves me correct with the rest of this issue! His young Clark channels Chris Reeve in ways I've seen others only try. But, as amazing as his artwork is, it's merely a beautiful icing on the wonderful cake that is the writing of Geoff Johns. The super-sized issue is actually a series of vignettes detailing Clark dealing with his powers, meeting his real parents, his first encounter with Lex Luthor and learning that he wants to help people with his powers. To top off the goodness, the next issue tag on the last page teases us with the fact that the Legion will show up in issue 2. I'm glad I picked this one up and am dying to read the rest of this tale.
Score: 5 out of 5

Green Lantern #46
Blackest Night continues to rip across the DCU and, as usual, Hal Jordan is at the center of it. But this time, he's got an unlikely partner... Sinestro! Long time readers of my blog will realize that I love Sinestro. He was listed as my #1 DCU villain and here Geoff Johns shows me why! Yes. Johns again. This guy should just write the entire DCU. During Blackest Night and it's many spin-offs, Johns is rounding out Sinestro as a more sympathetic character. Well... as sympathetic as a fascist ego-maniac can be. But he's just so fun. In this issue, he battles Mongul to reclaims leadership of the Sinestro Corps and comes face to face with a long lost love from his past.
Score: 5 out of 5

Pull List Reviews - September 24

Superman/Batman #64
This issue is a one-off story that really goes nowhere. It begins with a couple of Kryptonian ships in a firefight. Before long, it's revealed that this is sometime waaaaay into Krypton's past and that one of the ships has been hijacked by an as-of-yet un-named alien race. Once the ship with the aliens has been damaged nearly to the point of destruction, it uses a timewarp engine to escape. Cut to modern times with Batman and Superman discovering the ship. It's desolate except for one jettisoned escape pod. The end. There's a big splash text on the last page that this is the "Prelude to The Big Noise: Three Months Away". No idea what that means so this may end up being a key issue but on it's own it's rather bland. However, the next issue is just listed as "Halloween"... and since I'm a Hallowe'en nut, that peaked my interest more than the message about Big Noise.
Score: 2.5 of 5

Justice League of America #37
The League continues to try and hold itself together internally as the battle with Amos Fortune's new Royal Flush Gangs continues across America. The JLA is forced to split up into groups of two to battle the RFGs on three fronts. It's revealed that Fortune's given the RFGs some kind of "bad luck" technology that changes the odds to make things happen in favor of the wearer. Things like Wonder Woman missing a shot with her lasso and Dr. Light accidentally blinding Plastic Man. But despite the league fighting against the odds as well as the RFG, they still come out on top only to have the masterminds escape. After the main tale, there's two brief epilogues. First, Roulette meets with The Key to discuss some mysterious "boss". Second, Amos Fortune meets the wife of one the Two of Clubs in an underground casino and the odds don't fall in his favor. While best of tales, I still enjoy seeing the backup crew in action.
Score: 3.5 of 5

Detective Comics #857
I made a comment over on the DC Noise forums that the artwork was the best things about Detective Comics these past months and this issue does nothing to change my mind. This issue features the end to the first Batwoman story arc and her showdown with new villain Alice. There's hint right at the end of a deeper relationship between Alice and Batwoman but, for whatever reason, I just don't care. I would like to see J.H. Williams III stick around for a little while but we need a change in the writing. I don't know that I'd go so far as to drop Greg Rucka since he also writes the backup tale featuring The Question and I'm enjoying watching Montoya digging into the child slave trade in search of a missing girl. It's very well written and fun. It feels like this first Batwoman arc was Rucka's attempt at writing like Morrison and he falls flat.
Score: 3 of 5