Batman Arkham Knight

No real spoilers but just in case it's hidden.

Game of Thrones

I finally got around to watching this although I know most of the spoilers already. Which makes it weird to see where the characters start off. Especially Joffery since he's more extreme as the show progresses. And I can totally see the R+L=J theory just because nothing else makes sense. At least not yet.

More potential buys

If you've been following this site for awhile you're probably aware of me mostly ignoring Marvel. After the last Princess Leia issue I'll be trade waiting all Star Wars comics. I have very little interest in the superhero aspect of Marvel outside Scarlet Spider stuff and Spider-Girl (Mayday.) They recently screwed over Spider-Girl in Spiderverse and the original creative team have to work with the bad situation. So to show my support I'll be getting Spider Island which has about half the story devoted to Mayday. Unfortunately the first issue is $4.99 with follow ups costing $3.99. If this wasn't one of my favorite series/characters I'd trade wait.

I'm also going to look into getting Dr. Fate which I think comes out the same day as Doomed.

Not gonna lie I'm kinda mad

I'm not going to get into it (at least the current one that angers me) but certain interpretations piss me off. Some to the point I get annoyed when I just see anything that reminds me of them. Only a couple of series have gotten me that furious with FKATJL and ICBINTJL (which I count as one story) being the first. It was a while before I could vent that one and doing so felt good.

I'm not a fan writing out of character moments and having characters knocked around by other heroes to force a storyline. It doesn't matter if it's just verbally or done for humor sake. It's making the others bullies that I find it hard to root for. We're supposed to feel for Ted because he had a heart problem but he was constantly mocking Booster. All of his friends did the same. This made it very hard for me to read through. Giffin/DeMatteis cut back some when they wrote Booster Gold, at least at making him the idiot others were still off and acted awfully. Since JL3001 is supposed to be the same group from the minis I've steered clear. There's no point in getting annoyed over it if I can avoid it which is what I'm trying to do with another series that ticked me off.

Still just knowing the same writer is using the same character again gets me annoyed.

Nightwing "Year One"

The retconned telling of how Dick Grayson went from Robin to Nightwing, Jason Todd became the new Robin and somehow Batman got away with being a creepy jackass.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Digital Sales?

I normally don't like looking at sales, it worries me because most of the series I get aren't big names. But I look at DC Top Seller lists every once in a while out of curiosity. Now digital sales numbers aren't counted when the lists of all best selling comics comes out. How or if that is taken into account isn't too clear nor is the total sales. Still I found this list when I looked today:

1. Injustice Gods Amoung Us Year Four #6
2. Batman #41
3. Red Hood/Arsenal #1
4. Detective Comics #41
5. Injustice Gods Amoung Us Year Four #5
6. New Suicide Squad #9
7. Gotham Academy #7
8. Harley Quinn #17
9. Action Comics #41
10. Mortal Kombat #24

By the way none of these were numbered but this is the order they appeared on the top of the list. Underneath that were older issues like Batman and Robin which might have sold well with the recent sales. These don't include any of the new comics released this week--yet--so maybe it works on a delay? I was happily surprised to see RHA so high up since it wasn't on that high up last I looked. If this list is accurate it's impressive since Batman and Injustice have been the best sellers for awhile.

I knew Harley Quinn was doing well but not NSS, and I'm always happy to note Gotham Academy is doing good.

Short Review: Doomed #1

The all new book that deals with a little of the aftermath of the Superman Doomed arc.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Dick Graysons' Dark Turn

We all remember the plans to kill Dick off in Infinite Crisis, right? According to this article there were earlier plans to make him Batmans' greatest enemy. Granted this has been done in a couple Elseworlds stories so it doesn't shock me too much. Devin Grayson wrote the Nightwing arc where he became Renegade too. There was also a point where DC seemed too invested in making timelines like Kingdom Comes and Dark Knight mesh some with the main timeline. That's part of the plan here as both are talked about in this Crisis 2 idea.

Solicits

No gimmicks for this month, well except for Hal I guess. I'd rather have Alan, Guy, John, Kyle..well you get the picture. ;) Thoughts about this months solicits below.

Supermom

Happy Workers made some work related action figures including Supermom.

This figure comes with a lot of accessories: grocery list, purse, cell phone, extra head, shoes, infant hat and a baby. The baby is sort of a demon/mutant as it literally has two faces for different emotions. The hat covers whatever head you're not using. According to their website there are different variants too. I know it's a little late for Mothers' Day but still a nice idea.

You don't want it to be mainstream?

Today I saw someone saying they don't want a character they like to get popular. 

....What? It's not the first time I've seen someone say this but it still doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't you want your favorite character(s) to get more mainstream? Popularity equals more exposure both in and out of comics. I mean I guess I could understand if the concern was potentially bad stories and characterzations from writers that don't get the character. But not the idea itself of getting more attention for your favorites,

Odd Booster Gold Story

There was this one short Booster Gold story that always seemed kind of...bizarre. In tone and execution which is why it stuck with me for some time despite it being unimportant to Boosters' overall story. There are some interesting choices done given the character which has mixed results depending on your interpretation.

From Justice League Quarterly #9

OLD SPOILERS AHEAD

Just to Clarify...

...On the whole Starfire change. From this article.

The no criticism contract

I heard about this earlier but no one provided a link so I did one when I found someone talking about it. Apparently Marvel had something in their contract about creators not criticizing the company.

Ever.

The podcast is in the link but that bit is written out for anyone that wants to skip it.

Reading List

What I'm getting:

• Red Hood/Arsenal-A great start that was a lot of fun and pretty touching. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes now that the editor is letting the stories be done in one shots.
• Gotham Academy-Still incredible. So much is being fleshed out and adding to the history of Gotham. It has yet to disappoint.
• Doomed-The Sneak Peek solid me on this so I'll try an arc. I was interested in Dr. Fate too but then I remembered how much I loathed Worlds Finest. I'll see how that sounds before I look into it.
• We Are Robin-Honestly even if this book is amazing I'm only getting issue one thanks to the price jump it has starting on #2. If its good I might trade wait.
• Green Lantern Lost Army-It was a last minute choice since I haven't read a GL book in a while and it has an interesting premise. I might trade wait after this issue but I'm curious how Guy fits into this.
• Princess Leia-There's one more issue in this mini series that's been more than a little disappointing. It doesn't have the epic feel of other Star Wars books and the characterization has been off.  

Dropped:

• Batman Beyond-I regretted ordering this as soon as I did but hoped there was some redeeming qualities. Sadly it's what I figured so there's no point in continuing. 

Unless Doomed stays on the list or a mini series I'm interested in comes out I'll be back to just two steady titles. I'm also getting the TPBs for RHATO, Gotham Academy and Batman Second Chances.

Writing Cultural Shock in Comics

Say you have a character that's from a different place. Another country or maybe something more extreme. Another planet. From another time. You want to show this character having misunderstandings and trying to get used to the customs. Let's talk about how this was done with Booster Gold (from BG VOL. 1) and Starfire (from the new series.)

Red Hood/Arsenal #1

Two of the Outlaws start their new book and might find a new direction in life.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Short Review: Batman Beyond #1

This was something I randomly picked up to ship with my Leia comic so I wouldn't be paying shipping prices for just one comic.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Short Review: Princess Leia #4

SPOILERS AHEAD

Starfire Dumbed Down?

I already saw some of this in the Sneak Peek but apparently everyone I've talked to online has said the same thing about the Starfire #1 preview. I haven't read it because I don't want to get pissed off but I'm tempted if only to see how bad it is.

Lobdell interview for RH/A

Thoughts on the interview for the start of tomorrow's Red Hood/Arsenal series. I wouldn't address everything just things that stuck out.

This is a good read even if you haven't read the series just to get some insight on how editorial mandates differ from the writers' vision.

Jason Todd vs. Mimes

The upcoming Red Hood/Arsenal #2 has the guys fighting mimes which of course got a WTF reactions from many. It's not the first time Jason fought a mime although it sounds like it won't be connected to the adventure from his Robin days. I just hope Lobdell keeps Jasons' canon reaction to fighting mimes.

Short Review: Convergence Batgirl #2

After last issue I didn't have much interest in reading this one but here we go.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Cutting out the Ad panels

I plan on getting comics this week when I was reminded that there will be ads taking up half the page for all #1s. Since digital comics don't have this problem (no ads besides the DC ones at the end) I'm glad that's how I'll be reading Gotham Academy. I don't get all my books in that format although I might make an exception in this case.

I mean I plan on getting the issue in hand too but I'd imagine it'd be highly annoying. Just imagine Jason and Roy stuck with a bomb when Roy ask what they should do and then a guy suddenly pops in to recommend Twix. That's kind of a tension killer.

Dreaming of Comics?

This is the third time I've recently dreamed of comics and had some WTF moments.

I had a dream where I heard two characters I hate as a couple were getting married before remembering the no marriage clause.

One where my theory about a characters' age was more or less confirmed before I questioned where this was revealed.

Had a shocking look at who one character was dating before wondering why the characters weren't drawn in their new styles.

I have these realizations in the dreams which halts any actual storylines. It's really weird.

Convergence #6, 7 and 8

Okay time to finish my review on this series.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Didio talks about new books

Video interview here and unsurprisingly they don't mention Red Hood/Arsenal because who wants to give one of the lesser promoted books any attention. (Yes that still bugs me.)

At the end he lets us know something will be happening in October so I guess we're done with September gimmicks. With luck it won't be something that ticks me off but I'm dreading what rumors I hear.

All New Marvel and Star Wars

Star Wars: No spoilers here but that "big canon changing reveal" in the recent issue? I'm not upset like some are because a.) it hasn't even been fully explained yet and b.) I'm having difficulty seeing these comics as canon at the moment. We'll see if that changes after I get the trade.

All New Marvel: I don't care about anything besides what happens to MC2 characters, Kaine, and the spider marriage. So far nothing has hinted at any of these surfacing after Secret Wars. Until one or more shows up I don't have any interest in the main Marvel Universe.

Are there more video ads?

Because this doesn't show all the new books. That irks me greatly.