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‘We Are Robin’ #6 proves Robins are for kids

We Are Robin is one of DC Comics’ more off the beaten path titles given its place in the wider DCU, but that doesn’t knock the impact of the comic because it’s earned the spot of showing how real teens in a world of super powers can take the right to fight for their city into their phones and with each other. DC editorial is doing great work with the “lower-tier” Batman related titles and giving them their own crossover to play with in the form of “Robin War” next month proves even the little guy can make a big splash.

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Supergirl, Ep. 1.05, “How Does She Do It?”

Supergirl, Season 1, Episode 5, “How Does She Do It?” Written by Yahlin Chang & Ted Sullivan Directed by Thor Freudenthal Airs Mondays at 8pm (ET) on CBS It is becoming increasingly clear that Supergirl quite simply doesn’t know what kind of story it wants to tell. It has the tone of a superhero procedural down, and the airiness …

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You Oughta Know: Jay Garrick

With comic book adaptations on almost every channel and streaming service, fans will meet many new characters with extensive backstories. We’re here to introduce these characters to help lessen the learning curve.  Back in its second season’s first episode, The Flash introduced the Flash. No, not Barry Allen. This character is known to comic fans as the …

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Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys in ‘Batman #46’?

Snyder and Capullo are charging ahead with this Gordon as Batman plot, but Batman #46 is an issue that shows how many narrative balls they can juggle in the air without really taking the time to get to dive deep into any of those stories. With a lot of characters, Snyder and Capullo spend a little time with character A and then with character B and C before heading back to the beginning again. The snippet of character moments creates the sense of a lot happening, but none of the stories are developed in a completely satisfying way. Luckily, Mr. Bloom carries the weight of the issue, creating a threat for Batmen new and old.

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‘Hellblazer’ #6 is a Day in the Life of a Lonely, Bisexual Mage

Hellblazer #6 is truly the essence of a John Constantine story. There is wit, twisted monsters courtesy of artist Riley Rossmo, and huge helping of self-loathing and loneliness projected on the people around him with a wink, wisecrack, and flip of a lighter. Writers James Tynion and Ming Doyle also portray Constantine as boldly bisexual (He talks about “shagging” a guy.) without making the whole comic about his sexuality. He is a toxic person, who happens to be attracted to both men and women, and both genders end up ruined by his dabbling in forces too powerful and wild for him.

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‘Midnighter’ #6 has head exploding action, heartbreaking romance

Midnighter #6 is exclamation point after exclamation point with jaw busting action and intense layouts from ACO, colors from Romulo Fajardo that punctuate the big moments in the issue, and a loose, emotional script from Steve Orlando loaded with amusing one-liners and some backstabbing reveals. Reading Midnighter is like getting a new action movie each movie with a well-developed gay protagonist, who is both confident and vulnerable.

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‘Cyborg’ #4- Let The Techno-Revolution Sing

The dark times continue in David Walker’s fourth issue of Cyborg with a multiverse sized bombshell that involves Victor, Sarah, and all of S.T.A.R Labs. The issue acts like a breather for everything that’s happened to our cast thus far, and it works to a certain degree. Ivan Reis works his magic on the layouts, and the colors we’ve grown accustomed to from Adriano Lucas and Pete Pantanzis are present. With Felipe Watanabe on pencils, readers are treated to Ivan Reis level art that is more stoic and works for this more dialogue heavy issue. Readers get a clearer, more defined idea of just how exactly the Tekbreakers and Technosapiens fit into the grand scheme of things in this corner of the DCU. It’s a move that may or may not reference Grant Morrison’s Multiversity and the recent Convergence event.

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The Joker’s Faces of Horror in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s ‘Batman’

The thing to remember about Scott Snyder is that he is not a superhero writer.  For all of the Batman comics that he writes, he’s a horror writer, applying his trade more obviously to Wytches and American Vampire.  Those titles are built on their dark mood and atmosphere.  Rafael Albuquerque and Jock are two artists …

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Progressivism is on the Rise in Superhero Comics

Not only does Steve Orlando’s Midnighter comic star a gay man, it tells blunt, sex-positive stories about that character. The main cast of characters in the upcoming main Avengers comic All-New, All-Different Avengers has a small minority of white dudes.
While there is still a lot of work on the road to a utopia of complete social justice, there is a trend of progressivism in some of today’s superhero comics that is impossible to ignore.

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‘Batman and Robin’ Eternal #3- Spy Hijinks and Emotional Flashbacks

Working off a story from Scott Snyder and James Tynion, Tim Seeley turns in a script for Batman and Robin Eternal #3 that is simultaneously full of bouncy Bat- (or Robin) banter with some choice douchiness from Red Hood and scenes both past and present featuring the dark psychological effects of the Scarecrow’s fear toxin. This is somehow connected to the “mysterious” Mother, which our heroes are no closer to finding her identity. But there is still plenty of conflict as Dick Grayson’s Spyral colleague Poppy Ashemoore goes off the reservation, and threat level of the series increases when an important supporting character is put in the crosshairs of Mother and her creepy operatives.

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The Darkseid War shifts in ‘Justice League’ #45

The Darkseid War rages on and is proving to be the biggest and largest story DC has told yet in the New 52 and DCYou era through the Justice League title. Readers are treated to an artistic switch with Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, who were the team that ushered in a new era for The Flash at the New 52’s inception to give us this aftermath of the insanity that went down in issue #44.

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The Flash, Ep. 2.03, “Family of Rogues”

The Flash, Season 2, Episode 3, “Family of Rogues” Directed by John F. Showalter Teleplay by Julian Meiojas & Katherine Walczak Airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm (ET) on The CW While the first two episodes of this season focused on introducing Zoom and the concept of multiple worlds, The Flash takes a detour with “Family …

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‘Batman’ #45: Next Man Up

At the end of Batman #45 Mr. Bloom literally crashes Geri Powers’ Batman party/news conference/gathering. Jim Gordon is to step down as the Batman and someone new is to step up. Batman is now not a single person but persons into perpetuity. This feeling of constant change is felt in this issue of Batman. Not only is that cowl supposed to change shoulders but Bruce Wayne wants to change the parts of Gotham that get destroyed the worst only to be rebuilt and cleaned last.

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Arrow, Ep. 4.02, “The Candidate”

Arrow, Season 4, Episode 2, “The Candidate” Written by Marc Guggenheim & Keto Shimizu Directed by John Behring Airs Wednesdays at 8pm (ET) on The CW On the heels of an abundantly familiar Arrow premiere, “The Candidate” found itself in a tough position. How does a show re-tell a story it’s already told? Turns out the answer …

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‘Batman and Robin Eternal’ #2 suffers from a sophomore slump

After last week’s blockbuster opening, Batman and Robin Eternal #2 has a little bit of a sophomore slump as a mysterious assassin almost beats Harper Row (aka Bluebird) to death until she is saved by Dick Grayson and a silent, deadly Cassandra Cain, who runs off to do other mysterious things. After the extended action scene, most of the issue is Stephanie freaking out about Dick being alive along with a flashback of Batman and Dick Grayson as Robin fighting the Scarecrow with some twisted, horror influenced art from Paul Pelletier and Tony Kordos and a bendy, trippy color scheme from Rain Beredos. This sequence makes up for a mostly lackluster fight scene between the mystery attacker, Cass, and Dick in which Pelletier starts strong with a kinetic double page spread of a full bodied kick from Cassandra Cain before pulling back from the action and even using storytelling shortcuts that diminish potential acrobatics from Grayson.

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NYCC 2-15: ‘The Dark Knight 3’ Panel Recap

The first panel at New York Comic Con’s main stage on Friday, October 9 marked the triumphant return of an old favorite as DC Comics editors and creators gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Dark Knight Returns. They also previewed the upcoming The Dark Knight 3: The Master Race. This miniseries is co-written by original Dark Knight creator Frank Miller and seasoned comics veteran Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) with pencils from Andy Kubert (Flashpoint) and inks from the legendary Klaus Janson (Daredevil). All of these creators were present at the panel with Miller making a surprise entrance in his trademark fedora to thunderous applause. They were joined by DC editor and moderator Brian Cunningham and publisher Jim Lee, who worked with Miller on the controversial All-Star Batman and Robin.

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The #BlackComicsMonth Panel is an Epic, Emotional Look at Diversity in Comics

Hosted by the energetic Miz Caramel Vixen, the founder of Vixenvarsity.com, the #BlackComicsMonth Diversity in Comics panel featured a wide variety of panelists from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and sexualities. They also work in vastly different comics genres from Mildred Louis writing and drawing a Magical Girl webcomic with women of color called Agents of the Realm to David F. Walker, who directed a documentary about the blaxploitation genre and currently writes Cyborg for DC Comics and much more. One of the panelists, Mikki Kendall, only recently broke into comics with the Swords of Sorrow: Lady Rawhide/Miss Fury one-shot and is more well-known for her pieces about intersectional feminism for XoJane, The Guardian, and others as well as prose fiction. Vixen let each panelist speak their mind about what diversity means to them, and they often tied in their thoughts with their comics from Genius (which I scored a free copy of) to Princeless and even Batman.

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‘Midnighter’ #5 concludes the Grayson team-up with wit and violence

Steve Orlando, Stephen Mooney, and colorists Romulo Fajardo and Jeromy Cox are in fine form in Midnighter #5 bringing the witty one-liners and ultraviolence that has become this series’ formula while adding some extra moral dilemmas and eccentricity thanks to our special guest star Dick Grayson. However, everything isn’t fun and games as the issue’s final page cliffhanger hits Midnighter in what his closest equivalent to happy place and adds another layer of mystery to the proceedings.

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‘Batman and Robin Eternal’ #1 is filled with dark secrets and intense action

Batman and Robin Eternal #1 is a genre spanning (superhero and possession horror), kick in the pants start to this weekly comic event. Scott Snyder and James Tynion set up a creepy, overarching storyline for the series by exploring the tragic side of being a Robin. (They don’t usually get out alive.) Artists Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea use speed lines, little circles, and every tool in the action cartoonist’s toolbox to give the comic a hyperactive feel as the various Robins swing, kick, and ride into action while wisely utilizing full page spreads for surprise reveals that burst the nostalgia bubble of “Batman and Robin forever”. By the end of Batman and Robin Eternal #1, readers will see the relationship between the Caped Crusader and his various sidekicks in a new, complicated light.

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The Flash, Ep. 2.01, “The Man Who Saved Central City”

The Flash, Season 2, Episode 1, “The Man Who Saved Central City” Directed by Ralph Hemecker Teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Gabrielle Stanton Airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm (ET) on The CW It’s been six months since we last we saw The Flash save Central City when racing up a building in a desperate attempt …

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