Tag: DC

REVIEW: Batman (Vol. 2) #38

Batman (Vol. 2) #38 – Cover by Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia & Danny Miki

The following is a full written review of Batman (Vol. 2) #38 – Written by Scott Snyder, with art by Greg Capullo – Release: January 28th 2015.

The New 52 version of Batman is currently doing Scott Snyder’s Endgame storyline. This issue is part 4 of the storyline revolving around a toxin being released by Batman’s greatest foe. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman singlehandedly made me read DC again, and it’s my very favorite DC comic book-series of all-time.

Warning – the following brief plot-summary might contain spoilers.

Endgame Part 4 opens with the Caped Crusader going across town, in search for Jim Gordon – who we last saw staring down, and even gunning down, The Joker one-on-one. As the toxin takes hold of Gordon the Dark Knight is almost blindsided, but, thankfully, Julia Pennyworth shoots a couple of tranquilizers into Gordon’s neck. The World’s Greatest Detective consults with Dick ‘Birdwatcher’ Grayson – trying to figure out what exactly is in the toxin. They eventually decide on a specific Doctor. The Doctor reveals that he believes in the stories we’ve heard – that the Joker is superhuman, or rather, (greek-) God-like. I’ll leave here, so that the very final pages aren’t spoiled – but I’ll say this – Snyder masterfully ties the story into his very beginning with Batman… The greater history of Gotham.

It’s very difficult to critique the story in a Snyder comic book, and the only little note I have is that the dialogue seemed way too fabricated when Dr. Dekker calmly chats about greek Gods ‘outside’. Which isn’t to say that I disliked the dialogue, I loved it – but I don’t think it worked right in that moment. The thing is – Snyder’s one of my favorite comic book writers, and even in what may be interpreted as a filler-issue his story is captivating.

Capullo is equally great, I’ve grown accustomed to his style – and his last page is so strong, so good. Kudos, as well, to FCO Plascencia – in my opinion one of his better issues. I loved the colouring.

While I usually like the stories by James Tynion IV, I wasn’t fascinated by the back-up story this month. I think my biggest problem here is that the art was too different from the rest of the issue. Sam Keith definitely has his art-style, but I’ve grown accustomed to Capullo’s style, and Keith’s doesn’t come close to his. Not saying it’s worse, I’m just not a fan of the art-style by Sam Keith. You win some, you lose some.

Final Grade: B+ – Another great story by Scott Snyder featuring Capullo’s amazing art-style, and equally fantastic colouring by FCO Plascencia. Some might call this a filler-issue, but it’s perfect in keeping with the lore of Snyder’s Batman-story. The back-up story is fine, but the art-style will be polarizing. For full list of Comic Book Review grades go here.

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.

Suicide Squad: The Curious Case of Rick Flag


A few days ago I wrote that Tom Hardy had decided to exit the Suicide Squad movie due to scheduling conflicts – since then, we’ve learned that he actually disliked the script that – supposedly – focused too much on Deadshot & The Joker, and not enough on Rick Flag. Flag being the character Warner Bros. wanted Hardy to play.

Continue reading “Suicide Squad: The Curious Case of Rick Flag” →

Tom Hardy Exits ‘Suicide Squad’

Actor Tom Hardy, perhaps best known for being Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, has reportedly decided to ‘drop out’ of David Ayer’s DC Cinematic Universe film Suicide Squad starring Jared Leto, Will Smith & Margot Robbie.

Tom Hardy was to play Rick Flag in the aforementioned film, and now The Wrap reports that Warner Bros. is eyeing Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Hardy as Flag.

Reportedly, Hardy had to drop out due to one of his next films (The Revenant) ‘going over schedule’. Gyllenhaal is one of the best actors out there – and though I personally would’ve wanted him to play the Joker someday, this will do.

For more on DC, Superhero Speculation, and Comic Book Movies in general – Don’t go anywhere!

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.

What Am I Reading? 3 of 6

The following post is the third of six revolving around what I am reading (comics) in 2014. Every post will cover two months, and therefore this one will cover May and June – though I’ll comment on a twist of events in April.

So, in the months of March and April I basically decided to stay clear – stay away from comics. Somehow it had lost its hold on me, or maybe I was just trying to move back in University-mode. Though, something incredible happened in April – as I started using Comixology a lot more, and returned into comics in a big way!

I decided to read up on Scott Snyder’s run on Batman (New 52), and I’ve got to tell you – it’s absolutely amazing. As of the end of April I believe Comixology has 30 issues up, and I’ve managed to read every single one. The opening arc is very interesting as we dive into uncharted waters with a court of incredible origin, this sets up a disgruntled Bat who must then come across an old friend in need of… Let’s call it a scary form of ‘romance’, bromance or whatever. Read it and you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’d say the first 20 issues are possibly the best comics I’ve ever read, plotwise, but I must admit my interest sort of failed as Edward Nygma was introduced in the Zero-Year arc. I really don’t have any interest in this current arc, and that’s really scary for me.

Then it hit me, I hadn’t read Marvel for a while – and that’s where my roots are at. I decided to go into something easy to go through, and that became Hickman’s run on Avengers and the New Avengers. This peaked my interest, especially the latter run, and inspired me to update my Guardians of the Galaxy-issues and try to go through the Infinity-Event from the angle of the event books, the Avengers, the New Avengers and the Guardians. I’ve yet to do this completely, and therefore I predict that’s what I’ll be doing in the coming months.

In addition to the Infinity-storyline I also really want to read up on ‘Superior Spider-Man’, its premise is really interesting and out there – and that really gets me. I feel repowered in my search for a comic book home. Thank God for Comixology, DC and Marvel.

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.

Getting Back Into Comics

So, here’s the thing. I’m a man that loves superheroes and superhero movies, I love playing games – science fiction or superhero games in particular. Obviously, I was a comic book fan… Once.

Man, I really wanted Carnage in the Raimi-movies… Can we get him in the Garfield ones?

I think the first comic book I read was an Amazing Spider-Man comic book, and quickly I began loving that character as a kid. Mary Jane, Peter Parker, Carnage, Venom – the whole nine yards. See, I picked them up whenever I saw a new comic in the stores – but I was not really out in stores that often when I was a kid, really. That meant that I had no real consistent read through, that persisted for a long time – and would eventually lead to me leaving the comic book world.

Gambit! His accent was not as thick on the Danish version.

What replaced comic books for me? Simple, I got into superhero animated tv-shows. Now, this time around I got to get a real story from start to finish, thankfully. The early 90s cartoons of the X-Men, Batman, and, especially, the Spider-Man animated TV show formed me as a comic/superhero fan, a lifelong one at that – later I would watch some episodes of an Iron Man cartoon and a Justice League cartoon, both I remember enjoying. This was how I would spend my weekends, watching shows like these w/ my favorite characters of both Marvel and DC.

Introduced to me by my father.

Meanwhile, movies became more and more important for me in my youth. My father is a movie buff, and as a result, so did I become. On a sidenote he is focused on horror and action only, whereas I would say I value the more meaningful films much more. Well, the Donner Superman movies were introduced to me in the late 90s, around the time that I got into the cartoons. Now, I had not seen anything from Superman before, but I was aware of him. Basically, though, these movies formed my early opinion on him… I liked him. I would eventually lose interest in him as a character, but not before having read comics about him! I vividly remember my father taking me to this comic collector in Copenhagen, and while my dad would talk with the owner (who, meanwhile, was drinking Carlsberg Beer) I would be reading Superman, Batman and Robin, and Spider-Man comic books – when it was time to leave, my dad told me to pick out 3 or 4 comic books, and he would buy them for me. Great memories for young Jeffrey Rex.

And then there’s Thor…

Movies really came to the front when Marvel entered. The cinematic universe as well as the stand alone X-Men and Spider-Man movies would rebring my childhood heroes into my life, this was when I got pulled away from comics. The movies were more than good enough, they would pretty much leave me satisfied. When the Avengers introduced the idea of bringing Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy into their Cinematic Universe I was forced to retrace my steps as a comic fan – but I never really got around to truly reading comics again – until I heard about Rocket Racoon from the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Who would’ve thought a talking Racoon would bring me back?

The Guardians of the Galaxy was a nice surprise for me – never had I heard of them – yet they were instantly pushed to the top of my reading list. Mid-2013 I took the jump back into comic books. The Guardians of the Galaxy were given a new set of comic books, and were reintroduced with Iron Man – this was it for me, I needed to read this. I instantly opened an account at Comixology and bought it. The first piece of comic book material for me since The Walking Dead. I’ve yet to read through all the available comic books for this team, but it has brought me back to my childhood – and I am already contemplating what to get next – what to read. Obviously, The New 52 is tempting, and I have wondered if I should read possibly Green Lantern, Nightwing or Deathstroke. Still, Marvel is interesting, and I am wondering if I should go with the All-New X-Men comics.

So, what do you say? Have any suggestions for me as I return to comic books? Anything I must read?

Catch me later, here on:
– I’m Jeffrey Rex