Batman – One Bad Day: Two-Face #1 Micro-Review – Sins of the Son

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman - One Bad Day Two Face 1, cover, 2022, Javier Fernandez, Jordie BellaireTITLE: Batman – One Bad Day: Two-Face #1
AUTHOR: Mariko Tamaki
ARTISTS:
Javier Fernandez, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Ariana Maher (Letterer)

RELEASED: September 20, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue is centered around a seemingly reformed Harvey Dent throwing a birthday/retirement party for his father. Kudos to Mariko Tamaki, as I don’t think we’ve met Harvey’s dad before, have we? I know he’s been referenced…

There’s a great sense of dread that permeates much of this story. It’s like reading a Greek tragedy. You pretty much know what the ending is going to be, and you know it’s not going to be good. But somehow you can’t look away.

What’s more, it’s a beautifully drawn and colored Greek tragedy, thanks to Javier Fernandez and Jordie Bellaire.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Weekly Comic 100s: Batman, Dead Body Road, TMNT, and More!

***”Weekly Comic 100s” keeps it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Last week I said I missed Star Wars and TMNT comics. This week we got the return of Bounty Hunters, and a double-dose of TMNT. Where are you gonna find a more fair friggin’ deal than that?

This week’s new releases are pretty light. So I’m holding a few back from last week’s pull list. That Texas Blood is one of them. We might also see Marvels Snapshot: Captain America and/or Harley Quin: Black + White + Red.

TITLE: Batman #93
AUTHOR: James Tynion IV
ARTISTS: Guillem March, Javier Fernandez, Tomeu Morey & David Baron (Colorists), Clayton Cowles (Letterer). Cover by Tony Daniel.
RELEASED: June 23, 2020

The Designer’s role in this story more or less wraps up in this issue. That’s a little sad, as I liked that character concept. Even if the costume was a little bit much.

Punchline, the Joker’s new answer to Harley Quinn, gets put over pretty strong here. They obviously want her to be a big deal. She’s got an interesting worldview, and it’s not as crazy as you might think. Her costume is definitely cosplay-friendly. Not quite as much as Harley, but expect to see her around the convention scene.

TITLE: Dead Body Road: Bad Blood #1
AUTHOR: Justin Jordan
ARTISTS: Benjamin Tiesma, Mat Lopes (Colorist), Pat Brosseau (Letterer). Cover by Matteo Scalera & Morena Dinisio.
RELEASED: June 24, 2020

This issue has a strong hook. For yours truly, most of that has to do with our heroine, Bree Hale. We establish her as a small town girl-next-door type. But obviously she has a history that allows her to kick all kinds of ass and escape perilous situations. She’s particularly strong in the climactic sequence as she fights off a sadistic interrogator.

My understanding is this isn’t connected with the previous Dead Body Road mini at all, and that it’s an anthology book like Criminal. So you should be okay coming in cold.

TITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #105
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell (Script), Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Campbell, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer).
RELEASED: June 24, 2020

There’s a big moment between Raph and Alopex in this issue that leads me to believe we’re headed toward fairly uncharted waters: Romantic interests for the Turtles.

And no, don’t talk about Mitsu in TMNT III. Please.

I’m game for really putting the Teenage in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Especially now that they’re doing this Mutant Town story. Between the Raph/Alopex scene and the concert setting, this issue really does that well. They’ve got a chance to break some new ground here. Let’s hope they take it.

TITLE:TMNT: Jennika #3
AUTHOR:
Braham Revel, Ronda Pattison
ARTISTS:
Revel, Jodi Nishijima, Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letters).
RELEASED:
June 24, 2020

I can’t get over how much Braham Revel’s style reminds me of the 2012 Nickelodeon show.

It’s amazing to think how virtually everything The Next Mutation did wrong with Venus di Milo, IDW has done right with Jennika. Although based on how the IDWverse has been put together, we might actually see Venus in the comics at some point.

Bebop and Rocksteady show up here. Why does Rocksteady carry an average-sized sledgehammer? It feels like it should be bigger. Mutant-sized. That, or a giant blaster like on the old cartoon.

TITLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #50
AUTHOR:
Ryan Parrott
ARTISTS:
Daniele Di Nicuolo, Walter Baiamonte (Colorist), Katia Ranalli (Color Assistant), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer). Cover by Jamal Campbell.
RELEASED:
June 24, 2020

Ryan Parrott does Rocky, Adam, and Aisha a lot of justice in these books. That’s one of those things that’s expected, but still really nice when you actually see it. Rocky is also sans mullet, which I appreciate.

“Necessary Evil” might have gone a little long. But it was still a story very much worth telling. Well executed too, in terms of both the writing and the visuals.

Definitely a worthy issue #50. And if the cliffhanger at the end is any indication, PR fans are going to want to come back for issue #51.

TITLE: Suicide Squad #6
AUTHOR:
Tom Taylor
ARTISTS:
Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Cover by Redondo & Marcelo Maiolo.
RELEASED:
June 24, 2020

The humor in this issue is on-point. Especially with Batman doing a guest shot. That’s a high compliment coming from me, as I don’t usually get into Harley-Quinn-style comedy.

We’re teased with a separation of Harley and Deadshot from all the various new characters in the group. That would be interesting, though I expect ultimately a bad move for sales. I’d stick around, though. Again, a pretty high compliment from yours truly.

TITLE: Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #3
AUTHOR: Ethan Sacks
ARTISTS: Paolo Villanelli, Arif Prianto (Colorist), Travis Lanham (Letterer). Cover by Lee Bermejo.
RELEASED: June 24, 2020

Boba Fett is teased for this issue, but doesn’t show. I’m curious as to how much of him we’ll need to see to keep this series afloat as the months go by. That’s not to say characters like Bossk and Valance aren’t appealing. But Boba’s drawing power is obvious at this point. You could easily make the argument for doing a Boba Fett series, much like the Darth Vader one.

I grow a little weary of the story they’re telling about all these hunters having a common target. The target in question simply isn’t that interesting. Not yet, at least.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nightwing: Rebirth #1 Review – Better in Blue

Nightwing: Rebirth #1, 2016, coverTITLE: Nightwing: Rebirth #1
AUTHOR: Tim Seeley
PENCILLER: Yanick Paquette. Cover by Javier Fernandez.
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASED: July 13, 2016

***WARNING: Spoilers lay ahead.***

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

This issue should really be called Nightwing Returns. For yours truly, that’s what it is. Not just in terms of Dick Grayson putting the costume on again. It’s as simple as him wearing blue.

I can’t even tell you how hung up I was on that New 52 costume. I’ve discussed this before, but it bears repeating: Nightwing should never wear red on a permanent basis. Red is a Robin color. In switching from Robin to Nightwing, the change from red to blue was more important than many people realize. The shift to the opposite end of the color spectrum was a visual representation of his shift toward independence. To put him in red moves him back toward Batman, intentional or not. Plus, when you realize Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne all wear red and have dark hair, the whole legacy of Robin starts to look like a creepy cult. All in all, everything is better when Dick is in blue.

With his secret identity now restored, Dick stops and smells the proverbial roses with his Spyral cohorts and surrogate family members before moving on to the next phase of his life. The Parliament of Owls (a larger version of the Court of Owls) continues to target Dick. The time has now come for Dick to infiltrate the group using the identity they tried to corrupt and make their own: Nightwing!

Nightwing: Rebirth #1, Yanick PaquetteThis issue tells us Dick’s identity is now a secret again.  To the best of my knowledge, this happened off page somewhere. As I recall, Helena Bertinelli told Dick that Spyral could use its tech to make the world forget what they saw in Forever Evil. This kind of trick isn’t new. You’ve got to get the genie back in the bottle somehow, of course. I just wish we’d actually seen it happen. We don’t even know for sure it was Spiral that restored Dick’s secret. Let’s hope he didn’t make a deal with Mephisto…

The whole stopping by to talk thing is a very Dick Grayson thing to do. We’ve seen it a bunch over the years. His talks with Tiger King and Midnighter feel like a transition out of the Grayson era. Though I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him team with the latter again soon. He briefly speaks with Helena through a door, leaving us longing for a sense of closure between the two. Though Yanick Paquette treats us to a splash page of her in the Huntress costume, practically guaranteeing they’ll meet again down the line. Paquette is also on cover duty for Helena’s adventures in Batgirl & The Birds of Prey, which is a nice connection between the books. Oddly enough, the variant cover by Babs Tarr gives us another Nightwing/Batgirl connection. That can’t be accidental, can it?

So…does Lincoln March die in this book? He takes an arrow through the eyeball, so that’s definitely the implication. If this is the end for him, that’s a disappointment. His big quarrel was with his alleged brother Bruce Wayne. There was unfinished business there. Even factoring in his Grayson role, to see him snuffed out in a Nightwing book feels like a whimper. I’m hoping the Owls restore him, keep him in stasis, or something to that effect.

Nightwing: Rebirth #1, Dick and Damian, yanick PaquetteI’ve been high on Yanick Paquette in the wake of Batman #49. But some of his renderings of Dick and Damian are weirdly off in this issue. For instance, the image at right. What, pray tell, is wrong with Damian’s face? Is it contorted because his eyes hurt? Is he rolling his eyes at the thought of Spyral being on the side of the angels? At certain points he also looks like he’s hunching.

On the plus side, he ends on a splash page of Dick in the Nightwing suit, and it instantly satiated my craving for blue Nightwing. Well done, sir.

Just to clarify, I’m not downing Kyle Higgins, or anyone who worked on the red Nightwing book. Eddy Barrows did some nice work with Dick, and I was pleased when Higgins moved the setting to Chicago. Grayson also turned out better than many of us imagined. But this issue feels like a homecoming. Just as so much we loved about the old DCU has come back in this Rebirth initiative, so has the Nightwing we know and love.

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