GL Gent Reviews! The Week of 04/24/13
Posted: April 27, 2013 Filed under: Reviews 4 CommentsGreetings and Salutations you wonderful comic enthusiasts! This is the GL Gent. I hope your lives have been riddled with good fortune and Hakuna Matata (it means “no worries”). I myself have been winding down the school year with final exams coming up this week and am now procrastinating in order to bring you the reviews you so rightfully deserve and seek for the comics we all love and cherish. I have chosen to review Deadpool #8, Justice League Dark #19, and Teen Titans #19 this week. Have fun and enjoy. Don’t forget to follow The Comic Gents on Twitter. We are @dc_gent and @GL_Gent92. Oh yeah…..*SPOILERS*.
Cover for Deadpool #8
Deadpool #8
Authors: Brian Posehn & Gerry Duggan
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Colorist: Val Staples
Rating: 5/5
And Deadpool is back ladies and gentlemen. I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about the print of the lost issue from the 80s. I felt like it was thrown in as if it was unplanned and a bit of a publicity stunt especially after the cliffhanger from Issue #6. This is not so. Deadpool picks up with Agent Preston trapped in Deadpool’s chaotic, childlike mind with doors marked “Spanking.” Deadpool wants to kill Gorman and get paid for the work he did with this nation’s undead Presidents but he is once again approached by Vetis from the 80s issue. Vetis was not satisfied with the work Deadpool did with Iron Man so he gives Deadpool a choice. Kill 5 of the 6 people that asked Vetis for power or he will kill them all and one of them just happens to be Deadpool’s bumbling necromancer buddy Michael. Agent Preston sees this as an opportunity to retrieve a body to live in while they figure out how to bring her back but when she sees what Deadpool has to do, her conscience kicks in. Riddled with great comedy and a well drawn world to inhabit thanks to this wondrous creative team, Deadpool continues to please. This is definitely a comic worth reading. I know I said I would be more of a critic in my last post but I honestly find no faults in this comic.
Cover for Justice League Dark #19
Justice League Dark #19
Authors: Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes
Layout and Cover: Mikel Janin
Finisher: Vicente Cifuentes
Rating: 4.1/5
Welcome to the next segment of our story that follows the goings on in Epoch. This was a pulse pounding issue from start to finish with some guests stars in the form of Swamp Thing and very briefly the Flash. Trinity War inches ever closer and from the words of a particular antagonist at the end of the issue, this is a pivotal point in the coming war. The start of this story begins with Constantine being attacked by The Cult of the Cold Flame, which if you read his solo title, you would know they have been causing him a tad bit of trouble. While Constantine was being attacked, Steve Trevor had a little meeting with Boston Brand a.k.a Deadman to offer him a little spot on the Justice League of America in return for some spy work on the JLD. During the attack, the psychic link with The House of Mystery was severed and if they don’t get it back under Constantine’s control within 24 hours, the link will be permanently severed and the horrors of the House will be unleashed in the world. Then to make matters worse, the team is separated and forced to face down nightmares of their own design. As they have done since their takeover on the comic, this creative team continues to amaze. The visuals continue to be stunning and the story and dialog is in top form. Well done JLD creative team, well done indeed.
Cover for Teen Titans #19
Teen Titans #19
Plot: Scott Lobdell
Dialog: Scott Lobdell & Tony Bedard
Penciller: Eddy Barrows
Inks: Eber Ferreira
Rating: 3.4/5
I really do want to like this series. I truly try. Admittedly, this was by far one of the best issues of Teen Titans yet. I love Scott Lobdell. I love the art and dialog. I love the characters. I fear that if the story doesn’t come together so they can have a decent run, they could very well face the chopping block. This issue opens with the Titans at each other’s throats (some of them literally). Red Robin is still suffering and being a dick from his tussle with the Joker and Cassie has had enough of it. She wants some explanation. Red Robin retorts with the assertion that they are basically his slaves because he saved their lives. I think that might have been a step too far. Suddenly, Trigon invades Times Square and Cassie senses him. Trigon starts to speak to Psimon, the mysterious boy who has been killing people with his mind, to requisition him with tempting him with telling of how powerful he is. The Titans arrive to save the day. During the fight, Raven shows up with Beast Boy at her command and we get a glimpse into the past of a few of the Titans. Honestly, I need some confirmation of what the hell is going on and have a story developed that doesn’t rely on one or two pages from issues that I can’t even remember the numbers of in the middle of stories that were holding my attention at the time. I think that is the main point of suffering this comic faces because everything else is great about it.
DC Gent 
Deadpool #8 was just about all you could hope for in a comic, Deadpool or otherwise. The story was there, the action was there, the humor was there, the art was there, and best of all? Not one, but TWO Jersey d-bags got what was coming to them.
Today was a good day.
Couldn’t agree more sir
Hey thanks for the comment. I think the only issue of Deadpool I had any misgivings about was Deadpool #7 but then when #8 came out, I understood the need for #7 immediately. As I was writing the review, I could think of nothing that would detract from the rating so I had no choice but to give it the well-deserved 5/5. I agree with you as well.
I think it’s clear the writers are playing the long game, which can be a little jarring if you’re used to other Deadpool books written after 2000. Daniel Way had one arc toward the end that lasted more than three issues and it rarely felt like one arc affected the next until about issue forty. Then there’s all the one shots and mini series that don’t really have much to do with anything.
Basically what I’m trying to say is that I feel that each issue in Deadpool’s current ongoing is going to be less disposable than we’re used to. For example: if you had skipped #7 and had just waited for #8, Vetis wouldn’t have had the same impact. It was fun, but it still mattered.