The Titans retrospective continues with the Justice League of Jerks vs. the team with too many members! Oh, and the moon gets stolen.
Monday, March 11, 2013
March of the Titans: JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
123 comments:
Just stated reading Rock of Ages (Kevin Smith recommended it while interviewing Grant Morrison) which has the Electric Blue Superman in it and I was confused as all hell as to what the deal was with that. Also, why is Nightwing wearing the red costume on the cover? I thought he was always blue with the finger stripes until the most recent reboot. Can anyone help me out with that?
Great stuff! I wonder if Marvel tried to replicate the success of this book with their own event comic.
That title card.
Okay, this is nitpicking, but in "Space: 1999" loosing the moon did severe damage to Earth, as mentioned here:
http://youtu.be/8jAlE_HLDj8?t=49m1s
Excellent review as always mr.Linkara...I can see why it is your favourite comic book of all time. It's such a rare occurance and it has two really great teams and great writting, not disrespecting the characters.
...Did something happen during the mid-90s that made DC regain clarity for a little while? Did they see how the 90s were handled in Europe? Did they think that finally it's time to stop fooling around with the readers? Whatever it was, it brought this great crossover.
Even if things look dark...rather grim-dark with the new DC52,despite a year having passed by, but still keep hoping.
Can't wait for the Titans next time. :)
PS :
"You just can't top that!"
Oh,mr. Linkara. :P I think you'll find much more examples beyond Gurren Lagann that such over-the-top instances happen in manga and anime, not to mention tv series[namely the tokusatsu part of movies and tv shows] of Japan. I'll just leave that :
GunBuster : Top Wo Neare
Gurren Lagann's the male version of it in terms of over-the-top action. ;)Or, just watch the superheroes of Japan, they are usualy happy to collaborate with each other...except for the last 3 years. ¬_¬
This book looks like a fun read! Great review man!
Not the biggest DC fan, but ive always been interested in the Titans. You have done the best thing a comic book fan can do. get another person to read a favored story. well done sir
Yeah, those shoulder spike things were actually a thing certain artists would give Batman at the time. Phil Jimenez used it most often. It made Prodigal annoying.
DEAR GOD I hope some of the morons running DC see this reminder on what good comics actually are.
this book is Amazing! and yes Canonicty is amazing when doen right!!! :D thank you Lewis!!
Losing the moon also didn't hurt when it was blown up in Dragon Ball. Twice.
Be careful what you wish for sir, by tomorrow you are going to have 50 of those wall sized images and no space to put them, aside of Comicron or wherever Jerris is.
Also aside from Dragon Ball I got another moon story for ya. In Kamen Rider (or Masked Rider if you prefer) Kiva, due to an evil ritual the moon was closer to the Earth and the main baddie was a giant evil Kamen Rider. What does our protagonist do? He combines his Rider kick with his giant half-dragon/half-castle thing, smashes into the baddie, and kicks the moon to correct its orbit, all while he leaves his own bat insignia carved right onto the moon's surface.
And THAT is why I love tokusatsu.
So D. Grayson revived the Titans? That's appropriate. I had no idea that writer is female, which is probably the way it should be: it shouldn't make a difference.
Oh, and stealing the moon is cool, but do you remember John Byrne's "The Earth Stealers" (1988)? Superman (post-Crisis) had to get the planet back on his own.
Heh. Phil Jimenez will always be a George Pérez clone to me. Their styles are so similar, you had both of them inked by the same inker, you couldn't tell them apart. :p
Then again, there's worse artists to be compared to than Pérez. ;)
Also, with Jimenez being homosexual, it's interesting how he manages to draw female characters who are sexy without being oversexualized. Starfire being the most prominent example.
Personally, I consider DC One Million to be a pretty good event comic. It fits in well as part of Morrison's JLA run, has believable threats, a clear structure, no padding, and no established characters die just for the sake of shock value. (The entire population of Montevideo dies, though.)
I picked the single issues at a convention by chance, and thought it was an awesome miniseries
It also explained why Cyborg was gold in Young Justice Sins of Youth - which I got a few months earlier
(which BTW I would suggest looking into - it's not bad bad, but there is some questionable content)
1ST: 5th grade in 1999? God I feel old.
That out of the way. I'm glad you're doing this month including this one. I'd already read the book on the tablet thanks to Comixology due to you mentioning it before. More people should definitely read this.
I got odd looks from my GF when I started laughing at Nightwing's response to smiling Batman. However, When I showed her the panels, she did the same thing and later read it as well.
A bit of a logic flaw when Raven takes the original titans to Cyborg : why Arsenal and Tempest rather than Starfire ? Even The Protector would have made more sense ! (Does he even appear ?)
I liked a few specific panels : Deathstroke dodging the call, Supergirl and Zauriel meeting, Terra II's illusion being a trial for her first incarnation, Rose Wilson looking more badass as a civilian with a stick than a one-eyed costumed vigilante.
The choice of Jiminez as an artist was ingenius, especially because his style is reminiscent of Perez's and thus ties this mini to the Wolfman/Perez area.
I still find the JLA act like a bunch of dicks, since they already had mechanical members. In JLA #5, they even gave Tomorrow Woman a burial, although that android was a member for one issue.
I admire how you avoided the more obvious Trek jokes (no Star Trek 1 or 4 plot references, or Deanna Troi's "Pain !" in Farpoint for the Empaths scene)
Is there a Marvel equivalent to the Technis Imperative for you ?
Ha ha Zeta Gundam. As a Gundam fan I like that joke.
Zeta Gundam and Gurren Lagann references? I knew it, Lewis is a mecha anime fan. The Wing Zero model (figure?) hanging from the ceiling and the Japanese copy of G-Saviour just clued me in earlier. :P
Excellent review. I love how the solution to the giant planet-destroying space thing is to shout at it like it's some jerk who's blocking your parking space.
With their super powers they unite!
TEEN TITANS!
Never met a villian that they liked!
TEEN TITANS!
They've got the bad guys on the run!
They'll never stop 'til their job gets done!
'Cause when the world is losing all control
TEEN TITANS, GO!
TEEN TITANS, GO!
I think I may need to put this one on my Christmas wish list... though I'm always surprised to hear that Devin Grayson can actually WRITE, since the first thing I ever read by her was Nightwing #93. Or, as I like to call it, "What do you mean, you can't sympathize with the totally-not-a-rapist?"
And it's nice to see you all worked up over something you really like instead of the usual filth. :)
On the subject of Kingdom Come: That was THE comic that got me into comics in the first place. I love the epic feel to it. Alex Ross' artwork and the story arc the characters go through. It is my favorite comic of all time. Please review it. Please.
On the subject of the review: I remember finding a copy of this at my library. I remember liking it. I will admit, that face off was awesome. I should check at my library to see if it is still there. I admit that at least the JLA have reasons for wanting to destroy Cyborg, mostly due to their lack of connection to him. Though I love it when the Titans stand as a family. It is why JSA is my favorite. I love teams that say, "We aren't a team or friends. We are family and family never turns its back on one another. Ever." I do wish that Dick would hit Batman once though. Great review.
Wait, fifth grade in 1999? That was the second semester fifth grade for me. I know I'm on the young end, but I thought you were like... two years older than me.
But still, awesome review, and I love the use of the Ninth Doctor at the end. I bet you're glad you get to use that quote.
Re: Continuity and new readers
On the one hand, I'm with you in regards with continuity wanting to make new readers discover more of the history of their favorite title. Essentially, I became a comics fan the same way; I'd been casually interested in Spider-Man (mostly due to the newspaper comic strip), and on impulse, my mom bought me a copy of the third part of the "Greatest Responsibility", which your viewers should recognize as the issue where Peter Parker turns over his mantle to Ben Reilly.
And it done blew my mind. "Who's Ben Reilly? Since when is Mary Jane pregnant? Why is Doctor Octopus a woman? Who's the Jackal? Why is Venom fighting crime? What's going on?!" And I dove into the back issues to find out, and the rest is history.
On the *other* hand, sales data seems to indicate that my experience was the exception, not the rule. I think balancing and building intriguing continuity is easier in theory than in practice.
My thoughts exactly during the beginning of this video:
"Man, Technus was my favorite Danny Phantom villain. I'm gonna be so distracted for the whole review because I won't be able to stop thinkOH MY GOD YES BEST TITLE CARD EVER."
Great review. Can't help but agree on Starfire's hair... seriously, it's like she's wearing Gossamer from the Looney Tunes on her head.
When I was 14 or 15 I searched you tube for superhero comic scans in video, I came across "Kingdome come audio book"
I watched it.
In short, Kingdome Come is to me as what JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative is to you.
On the matter of continuity in stories you never want to shy away from your history. But you also don't want to get too self-referential. Try to make the stories as stand-alone as possible and hint at the others so you can hook the reader even deeper.
Also I miss Wally
19:18-19:47 Trollkara! I loved it and want to see more of him lol.
I'm going to look for this comic.
E.Willis
What sales data do you mean?
After all the mentions of this being your first and favorite comic, this easily satisfies my expectations.
Seriously, a giant crossover that does NOT have a cheap excuse for heroes fighting each other, does NOT raises the stakes by killing off lesser-known characters, and is still engaging despite not actually having a real antagonist? Genius O_o !
Oh, and doing the impossible with sheer willpower and determination? I guess Team DC rolls like that, too XD
P.S.: Those info boxes are neat. Why did DC forget about those?
Retcons they can be good when done to undo dumb stuff. Then there are those that retcon stuff that need to be. Oh yes another reminder why reboot sucks. No wally west or real JSA or Donna Troy. :,(
You know with barry appearing to Wally I would have used reference to Flash issues where barry re appeared but ended up being reverse flash pretending to be him with amnesia at first or something. Been 20 years since I read story I forget.
You know your comic is better then DBZ when it's more accurate to what happens moon then it is. My head hurts every time I think that in Dragonball saga they blew up the moon twice without batting eye or anything happening.
Anyone who reads a book Rock Of Ages and is confused? Don't feel bad about it. That is my common reaction by a book written by grant morrison. I swear he stories sometimes and leaves good chunk of it. Supposedly leave it to imagination but it is really hard to if it so confusing. I always wonder if I missed issue of that series but after Final Crisis and Batman RIP that is just Grant Morrison.
You know all that stuff at start about the problems of comics books in 90s? Yeah you could describe last 10 years the same way mostly. Some sites seem to finally catching on that even though I been saying it for years.
I couldn't put it better at the end about events/crossovers. Joke now about them is what surprise death going to happen in one and that be more surprise when it doesn't. I mean go back to death in the family and some people disappointment that no one died. To me I'm glad alfrad or someone else didn't die. I agree that should feel the need to get ride of continuity specially in the age of the internet. Things are so easy to look up or even read online legally to catch up. I always said with flashpoint DC continuity didn't rebooted it was the way they were telling stories that did. They are still making same mistakes they made before the reboot with their characters.
What "Technis Imperative" is to you, "Identity Crisis" is to me.
When I first started reading comics, I decided I was pretty much going to just stick with the Superman books and that would be it. The then-manager of my LCS recommended I pick up "Green Lantern: Rebirth" and "Identity Crisis" and so I did.
The reason I decided on just Superman when starting out was that he was the only superhero I was already familiar enough with that I was interested in (Batman, Spider-man and X-men were others I was familiar with, but didn't care enough about to get into their comics). GL:R got me to open up to other characters. I had a passing familiarity with Green Lantern already (and was interested in the concept), and GL:R was a good introduction to the characters and their backgrounds.
But IC is what opened me up to the DC Universe as a whole. After reading IC, I suddenly became more concerned with the DC universe as a whole, and started buying more books and was more willing to experiment with books starring characters I never heard of before. While I wouldn't call IC my favorite comic of all time or anything, it does hold an important place for me.
And hopefully, that doesn't piss you off too much, Linkara :p
Best. Review. EVER!
Haven't seen the Review yet just the opening so far (Crappy loading issuse on my computer blah blah blah) Have you ever thought of preserving that copy? I Mean don't get me wrong you could get plenty of new ones to read, but that one is so special because that was the one you read as a kid ergo making it one of your most prized possessions, like your first rendition of Pollo. That being said how does one preserve a book that could be considered a prized possession? I ask because, well I got an old tattered up version of Gone With The Wind. It was my mother's I seen the movie so many damn times and I couldn't find myself reading it. But after some unfortunate events I can't bring myself to throw it away either. It sorta became one of my prized possessions after that and like your copy of Technis Imperitive its pretty much withering away.
You think you're book is worse for wear? My favorite book split in half! Paperbacks are not meant to last. But at least I can still read it. I see why you love this book so much, it looks really good. Also, are you saying you think The Matrix ripped off this comic?
Green Lantern TAS managed to beat this
They rescue an alternate universe Earth who's sun is dying, by ripping their dimensional portal so wide, that the whole planet can pass through it, and then they drag the entire planet trough it to the nearest inhabitable orbit in the main universe
And did I mention their rings were essentially running on fumes by this point?
As far as my favorite superhero comic of all times would go, I'd say it's Kingdom Come
This whole thing is very therapeutic for you isn't it?
Great job with the review!
I love that fightdom (or whatever you said) joke you did
Now that I seen the review I am gonna read that damn book. I swear to Hylia. Normally I would swear to every god of every religion, but I feel that isn't enough, the ones of fiction will be sworn as well.
Linkara, you hit the continuity issue perfectly. The back story was always part of the fun of comics.
Psh, that's nothing Linkara. In Batman The Brave and the Bold Aquaman has the people of Rann transport the entire moon with a Zeta beam to stop a solar powered war machine because Rann has no moon. Long enough to kick ass and Adam Strange to save his wife.
Ironic the title card artist drew Technus from Danny Phantom, since Danny Phantom tends to get crossovers with the Teen Titans cartoon a lot in fanfiction.
Also, if anyone out there who is a fan of both shows and does fanfiction... Technus takes over Cyborg so the Titans and Danny unite to stop him. Basically this story just replace the League with Danny Phantom characters and shorten the Titans to those in the cartoon... MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Your joke cocnernign Starfire's hair is why I honestly thought you'd pick her for the "Hair" song reference. That beehive is massive, I'm glad they finally toned it down after awhile. I guess they still hadn't figured out the 80s were over back then.
This has been a nice review, it gave me insight into why a lot of event comics fail and explained the reasons behind your love for it. I can remember a lot of stuff I lov ed way back when and still love today as something I consider perfect. The Land Before Time movie for one is a fond childhood memory for me. As is the first Halo Game, and no matter what anyone says that opinion will never change. Not because I'm stubborn, not because I can't see the flaws, but because it captured something magical.
And I agree with you completely on the awesome of super hero comics. People in the TV and Movie business need to stop trying to make things realistic and just do crazy shit like this. You're making a comic book movie! Stop complaining about the flying aircraft carrier that turns invisible! Stop! It is awesome, accept it!
Oh, if you are talking about Flash Point, you DO need STRONGER, FAR STRONGER word than plain stupid. Beside, BOOSTER GOLD did it BETTER, I felt sadder in Booster's Story, at least, there was a good establishment.
damn awesome. it shows you can have a lot of characters running around and still have a pretty good story.
i love the detail how that cyberion here isn't a malicious force at all, just utterly confused and maybe partly insane. i prefer my villains that way for the most part. true a villain can be awesome if he is to the sterotype, like Luthor and Joker, but when you have the character sympathetic, you have a lot more story potential and potential of thigns ahppening.
basically if cyberion became jsut pure evils, then the only option really for either team is to destroy him in entirety. since he was sympathetic, they had a lot more drama and more potential in teh story, and thus more potential.
.......you cried when you finally realized what was going on with donna there, didn't you? don't lie. the evil smile was obviously holdin back tears.
and dear god though. seeing that such an event can work makes me grind my teeth at how Horrendous the other ones are. a series does not need a bunch of guys dying for no reason, no mutilations, and so on. yet still having lasting consequences for those involved.
and it currently makes my current rages to a little marvel abomination right now. here they have the characters with their proper abilities and powers and such. in Avengers arena the moronic author hopeless does not understand the characters. currently, seen in a preview, it had the character X-23 inhale the Trigger scent. if you are not aware, the trigger scent is a chemical scent that X-23 was trained to react to by going into a homicidal rage when she smells it. unfortunately the author obviously intends to use this as a way for the character to attack other characters in the series at random. however the problem is that the reaction is not fromt he chemical itself but her own mind. a reworking of the scent it was, but the Trigger Scent works more like a piece of bacon you are training your do to sit with than some kind of drug. her reaction would only last a few minutes, maybe a few hours, as she was programmed to do so.....
not ot mention that the fact it was some kind of mine, and that there is no way to have been able to predict they would go that way to begin with. and not to mention the idiot author did not think that "Hey, why don't i have it that one of the other teen kids cracks and uses a provided grenade to do this instead of a contrived mine, and finally make this look like a teenvsteen thing it is ripping off?"
....sorry for bringing that up for the nine thosuandth time, but i expected the series to be bad, and it jsut keeps gettign worse. ignoring character powers or factors that are intergral as spiderman shooting webbing is NOT acceptable. should be criminal.
Sometimes you've just gotta geek out.
Great episode, including clip use of one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes of all time.
Everybody lives, indeed. XD
You're right, Gurren Lagann does top it. Moving the moon is a thing that happens casually in that show. XD
So...given it's connection to the Titans that come later, will there by any coverage of Young Justice the comic?
I didn't quite get the Zeta Gundam joke. Is it because the dub was really bad?
But it is within your power. You could paint it; blow up the image, print it, and carefully tape it up; blow up the image etc., carefully trace it, and then paint it; just fake it with a green screen; or buy a projector.
Now I too wish to read this book. By any chance, do you know where I could get a copy of the trade? Also, excellent work on your review, sir, and enjoy your week.
Technis Imperative is probably the only major Titans event that I have never actually read (due to my local comic book store closing around the time it came out.) But after your recommendation, Linkara, I'll definitelly look it up one day.
And yes, it IS great to read an Event where nobody dies or is ruined as a character. They used to be all like that, really, but later-day writers are just too influenced by Hollywood I guess.
Looking forth to rest of March of the Titans. :)
Was pretty good seeing the comic that we owe for the creation of this show. Given the lousy weekend I had this was a good pick-me-up
This is definitely the kind of epic crossover that comics should strive to be. Hell, the insane epicniss you describe reminds of Avengers EMH before somebody thought giving Jeph Loeb who clearly isn't what he used to be control of Marvel animation. When I hear about you talking about something like this, it makes me feel bad for not reading it, though I'm still intimidated by continuity, and everything I keep hearing about how DC and Marvel do things keeps giving me the picture that their material isn't the grand, epic stories like this, EHM, the Avengers movie, or lots of stuff I could name, they sound like needlessly dark stories that are bogged done by the belief that darker equals better (I feel that has also infected the video game industry to a certain extent, though it's not as bad as the Dark Age of Comics, as there way too many M-rated games that include pointless gore to attract customers to the point where tvtropes has they might as well change "mature" to "money"), to which I feel anybody that thinks need that should watch Jesus Otaku's review on it for her destroying of that line of thought, and Marvel I hear it's especially bad because the attempts at being darker and more cynical make the civilians in the setting come as unbelievably stupid, and kinda well, evil. Also DC did that stupid reboot that really makes even less interested in their stuff, and reminds me of rather funny conversation I had on devaintart where in fan fic the writer included a TakeThat to DC editorial since he had spent years trying to catch with their continuity just for them to throw it out the window.
Also, thanks for introducing me that the Over the Hills song, I went and favorited as I was typing this.
Really interesting stuff and really makes me want to read more...which is sort of the point. And I loved a lot of the great points you pointed out and smiled you snuck in another Gerry Anderson joke about Space:1999.
I think I"m startin to find out as I read about comics that the best events are not advertised as such. They just tell a really strong, good story, withoout being controlled by editorial mandate or by some event to force people to buy comic books. Heck, some of the earlier ones were either forced out of necessity (Crisis on Infinite Earths) or just an idea that ended up being bigger than the creators intended (Secret Wars). It's really something comic writers nee to learn: you have to tell the story to bring an audience, not force them to buy just because you say "it's big"...because Countdown was big and look at what happened there.
"I didn't quite get the Zeta Gundam joke. Is it because the dub was really bad?"
Because there is a group in Zeta Gundam known as the Titans.
The first issue of this really seems to actually be mirrored in DC Universe Online's Metaplot. Only then it happens in the future and Brainiac is responsible.
Never thought he'd be the one to rip off a titan...
Yeah, Gurren Lagann is why I love super robot anime. That exact same reason of "Oh my God this is AWESOME." This comic seems to have that same type of insane, over the top action that makes shows like that so wonderful.
Maybe if they had more stories like that, comic sales wouldn't be so depressed.
I am a huge Teen Titans fan, but unfortunately, I outgrew my interest in comics when the Titans were just starting to grow in popularity. I'm not going to lie, this comic sounds pretty freaking awesome. The Donna Troy vision looked emotionally gripping, Changeling has some of the best lines I've ever read in a comic and that's just from reading this review, a pulled a Linkara-esque nerdgasm when he talked about the JLA pushing the moon back toward orbit...holy fricking shit! I actually want to read this and the Titans now just from seeing this review.
I am a huge Teen Titans fan, but unfortunately, I outgrew my interest in comics when the Titans were just starting to grow in popularity. What's funny is it's not like I started hating comics or got bored with them, it's just that not many of my friends were into them so I started doing other stuff than reading comics.
Still, I'm not going to lie, this comic sounds pretty freaking awesome. The Donna Troy vision looked emotionally gripping, Changeling has some of the best lines I've ever read in a comic and that's just from reading this review, a pulled a Linkara-esque nerdgasm when he talked about the JLA pushing the moon back toward orbit...holy fricking shit! I actually want to read this and the Titans now just from seeing this review.
Also, I have to give Lewis a lot of credit. I found it cool as hell when he made some anime references (Zeta Gundam, Gurren Lagann). I'm a HUGE anime fan...anime to me is like comic books to Lewis. I live, breathe, and eat anime. So thanks for the anime references, Linkara. Made an already cool review that much sweeter! :)
Very interesting retrospective. I was always curious what happened to Cyborg during that weird period of his history during the 90s.
Definitely agree on on your assessment that continuity/character history, if taken advantage of correctly, likely attracts more readers than scares away. For me Batman R.I.P. was one of the first superhero comics I read and it had the equivalent effect for me that Technis Imperative seemed to have for you.
While I don't agree that not having deaths make a superhero comic better in terms of storytelling, I do agree that from a business and serial comic publisher it is better to not have deaths. It is better to retain as many characters as possible in case someone ever wants to use them in the future (without having to go through the trouble of resurrecting the character).
Although one thing I am curious about Linkara, when you say that Technis Imperative is your favorite comic ever, do actually mean that it is your favorite comic in terms of the entire medium of comics or it is your favorite superhero genre comic?
Great review! I really enjoyed seeing you talk about a comic you love for a change. Your excitement about the JLA moving the moon reminded me of my reaction when I read the JLA story Terror Incognita.
(MAJOR SPOILERS) In that story, the team has been losing badly to a race of White Martians, until they manage to lure the Martians to the moon and keep them occupied while Superman, Wonder Woman, and GL pull the moon into the Earth's atmosphere (a team of magicians somehow prevent this from having adverse effects on the Earth). The White Martians are weak to fire so as they begin burning in the atmosphere, they have no choice but to accept defeat and be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.
Like you, I was completely geeking out over seeing them move the moon as an offensive attack. Freaking awesome and totally the sort of thing that superhero comics should be about.
Am I the only one who really, really likes it when Linkara is super-happy and squeeing and pointing out positive things in his reviews? Especially the whole AWESOME! screen. I wish there were more comics that that could be applied to. X3
"Although one thing I am curious about Linkara, when you say that Technis Imperative is your favorite comic ever, do actually mean that it is your favorite comic in terms of the entire medium of comics or it is your favorite superhero genre comic?"
Both. ^_^
I can top that:
Our Worlds at War.
Superman moves a planet, by himself. Into a gigantic boom tube that sends the embodiment of entropy back to before the big bang.
" "Although one thing I am curious about Linkara, when you say that Technis Imperative is your favorite comic ever, do actually mean that it is your favorite comic in terms of the entire medium of comics or it is your favorite superhero genre comic?"
Both. ^_^"
That is very interesting. While for me personally, I don't think a superhero genre comic would be my favorite comic of all time (unless maybe it was a genre mashup), I guess that just demonstrates how much you love the superhero comic genre. (I hope that comment did not come off in a demeaning way, that is not my intention)
To be honest I was kinda hesitant to read the comic. Most mediums that are considered favorites are usually not liked by others. Such as how 90s kid loves Liefeld but most don't. However upon reading Technis Imperative I can see why you like it. It has a great story superb art and even exposition that doesn't get shoved in our faces. And as confusing and minor as it was one of my favorite moments of that book was Golden Raven. Not just because it was done beautifully, but because she was pretty much technically dead around that time, but still fought along side her friends when needed to and it also showed there was more to her than just being the daughter of the devil. Otherwise her soul wouldn't be portrayed as gold. It would be like black and smokey or made of fire or something. Plus I even like the banter between Nightwing and Batman it showed that these two didn't have to throw a punch at one and other to fight each other.
Okay thank you for sharing your favorite comic, you glee from telling people about it was very infectious. Also the pushing the moon thing sounds why I read manga and watch anime, though I don't think Gurlen...whatever is as good as some people say. Speaking of anime, THANK YOU for the Zeta Gundam joke. Made me stop and go, wow someone referenced those Titans.
PS I think Batman's shoulder spikes are oddly cool but then again I think Batman can pull off spikes and with his cape open the spikes remind me more of some bat or demon wings which would strike terror into people.
Keep up the great work.
A very good review. I don't know why but it seems like I have seen this comic before, but I don't own it. The comic that got me to reading and collecting comic books was Action Comics #591. My father bought it for me in 1988 at a flea market that had a comic book stand in it. The cover caught my eye (Superboy punching Superman while both are hovering over Smallville) and I had to have it. After that I read a friend's copy of Batman: Death in the Family and I have been collecting ever since.
You now, if you shot this show in your apartment, you can write off a portion of the rent.
- Your story of how you got your hands on this comic reminds me of something similar that happened to me. I was going on a plane to visit relatives so my mum bought me a Man United backpack and fille it with a Sonic the comic and other sweets and goodies.
- I've seen Batman with spikes on his shoulders before but never that pronounced. He has got a similar thing going on in Green Lantern Rebirth but they are much shorter and so closer to pointed tips than full on spikes.
Theozilla: Personally, Nextwave would be my choice for favourite Superhero comic. As for fav/best comic of any type? Bone, by Jeff Smith. "Stupid, stupid rat creatures" (and one loves quiche).
I have a feeling that I will definitely be following your recommendation and looking for this one at the comic book store.
If anything, that comic seems like the anti-Countdown. Every character's time in the spotlight, as well as the pages, is not wasted. Things actually happen for a reason, the pacing and the wording seems good, and, most importantly, there are no unnecessary deaths that will promptly be forgotten by everyone (except those characters' fans) in less than 5 minutes. Moreover, this comic had someone react to Batman smiling and hugging people... it's hilarious. Thank you, Linkara. While aspiring writers and artists can learn about how to avoid mistakes made in bad comics, it is refreshing to see how some of these things can be done right.
Now, with that being said... wait a second! Are you guys saying that Wally West's Flash no longer exists in the DCU because of the reboot?!?
Batman's smile caused me physical pain.
Oh, and I have to question how you could read for so long on a moving car. Seriously, headaches!
I can see why you would really go for this Linkara, this looks like a pretty great story. And I'm looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on Kingdom Come next week. I just got finished rereading it, STILL my favorite story DC has ever done, elseworlds or main universe.
Totally different topic but I gotta ask, have you read any of the Superman Family Adventures comics from this last year? I know you've not particularly cared for the rebooted Superman, and they beat that guy by miles.
"Now, with that being said... wait a second! Are you guys saying that Wally West's Flash no longer exists in the DCU because of the reboot?!?,"
Wally West no longer exists in the DCU because of the reboot, yes.
Which do you think is more awesome? The tardis towing earth home piloted by nearly all of the doctors new series companions, or wonder woman and green lantern creating a giant net around the moon and having all of the superpowerd dc heroes push it back in its place.
Great review as always Linkara. Also, good old Nightwish! Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan! :P
Great review as always Linkara. Also, nice to hear Finnish metal on your show. \o/
All the Heroes pushing the Moon back reminded me of that scene from Doctor Who were all of the companions are operating the Tardis and they tow the earth back to our solar system
i loved the title card it's good to see a danny phantom reference and i got to find a copy of this somewhere
That's exactly what they're saying Tia: Wally West, Donna Troy, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Renee Montoya, ... all MIA
Although apparently there is a treatment for Wally on someone's desk, and Iris's brother Daniel West (Wally's father, possibly?) has appeared in Flash. Likewise, there is a plan for Aqualad (thought whether it's Garth or Kaldur'ahm hasn't been revealled).
One thing we can be sure of though- is that Impluse, Atom Smasher, Jade and Obsedian have effectively ceased to exist since the change to their parent's history has effectively wiped them out.
...I keep imagining like an Exiles type book - all the characters break out of limbo and start dimension hopping
That was great! I can see why you love the comic so much.
Bonus points for using a Nightwish song :3
As a long time fan I have to say that I love that you're doing this miniseries showing things that you consider to be the heights of the medium. Too often it's easy for more casual fans, and the interested but not yet immersed potential fans, of a given medium, something as continuity heavy as comics especially, to not have the range of experience to put really meaningful perspective on why the passion of those of us longer time fans persist when we decry this or that example of the bad as "sucking" or being a "betrayal". Unfortunately, Sturgeons Law being what it is, the negativity seems to eventually drown out the positive comments from the fan community over time, and of course good ol' schadenfreude for those doing internet reviews doesn't help. Ultimately it's nice to see someone with the large, and still growing, fanbase you have actually step back and hold up what you consider the gold standard for examination and say, "This is why I know all that I decry as crap is indeed, because these examples showed me just how great the medium can be."
It's interesting that you keep talking about editorial inference existing even back in day. Last year, I was at the Albany Comic Con, and I attended a panel in which Jim Starlin and Ron Marz talked about editorial mandates had become far more severe than they were in the 80s or 90s, to the point that nowadays at DC, the editors are really the ones in charge of the directions of the story lines, not the writers, which they noted isn't necessarily bad, but is a catalyst for why more and more writers are leaving the Big Two in favor of doing creator-owned work or work or smaller companies like Top Cow.
Nice video, by the way, even if I admittedly don't share the enthusiasm you don't for this mini, if only because I've never heard it or the creative team behind praised by anyone but you.
Nightwish? You should've gone with Gary Moore.
That...is one awesome comic. If I had the time, funds and gumption, this seriously made me want to pick up a few issues.
Woo Zeta Gundam reference. Anime Ja Nai!
So far this month you've made me want to read through the entire history of the Titans, and that's a good thing.
As for event comics and character deaths... I actually think the Marvel Infinity Crusade didn't end up causing any character deaths, though it is a crappy event for other reasons.
I am sure some fan with access to printing equipment is going to send you a massive poster of that page now.
So Can't wait for next week.
I'm sorry if this takes up space, but I thank John and Finn for answering my question.
Now that the shock has passed, I'm going to go watch some episodes that feature Renee Montoya and Wally West (you can't erase them from media that already has them in it DC, ha!).
See you all next week.
In a strange alternate universe, Linkara's mom bought him a Youngblood trade paperback and now he uses his web show to pour praise upon Rob Liefeld and proclaim that comics aren't "extreme" enough anymore.
This is definitely the best review of 2013 -- unlike all the other episodes, this is a feature on what may very well be one of the most awesome comics ever made.
Someone should make an animated movie out of this comic story, preferably with the actual voice actors from the Titans anime cartoon.
Batman smiling and hugging Nightwing is silly? I guess you never seen Batman eating nachos in The Brave and the Bold cartoon.
Can't wait for the next part of the Titans retrospective.
I don't know if you already answered this last week, but I'm curious--is your brother still alive? You should have him come on the show sometime if he is.
Having not really known alot about the titans before your last couple of episodes and having just recently read the Infinite Crisis Omnibus, I can now see why you aren't.. umm.. the biggest fan of Geoff Johns.
Too bad all the New Teen Titans Omnibuses (?!) seem to be sold out. Could have really used something new to read having just finished the 52 Omnibus.
Anonymous person above me...I think you've given us the origin of the Mirror-verse.
At last your favorite comic, time to find out what its all about.
Wait, the editors/writers at DC talk in Olde English...this doth maketh mine mind puzzle.
Spiked Batman, "I am vengence, I am the night, I am....EXTREME!"
Well that proves that DC and Marvel steal from each other: Marvel has Galactus, Devourer of Worlds, and DC has Technis, Devourer of Moons!
Wait, Wally West's real name was Wallace? I always thought it was just Wally.
Maybe they're going to the moon to relive their days at the Teen Titans...IN SPACE!
Didn't you know Linkara the Teen Titans love gold...only gold. Golden words they will pour in your ear, but their...yeah this jokes getting long.
This episode was great because we don't get to see the gleeful Linkara as much as snarky Linkara...although the gleefully evil Linkara moment wasn't needed...damn you gleefully evil Linkara and your heart wrenching scene. From favorite single issue to favorite series, this should be interesting.
Also, I'm getting curious if there would be an ideal...say 5 member combo of Titans that you either enjoyed reading or would enjoy if they were never on the team at the same time?
ok I skimmed through the 88 comments I see at the time, but anyway, your wish is granted!
http://rasterbator.net/ - this site has a online program where you can take an image and make it into a large tiled printed form PDF that will make it as large as you want. just need lots of paper and a color printer. hope this helps!
so a gift for my favorite reviewer ever, to get that image on that wall, enjoy!
So until an event comic comes that has a negative # of deaths, MAKE MINE LINKARA!!
BTW another awesome review!
"I don't know if you already answered this last week, but I'm curious--is your brother still alive? You should have him come on the show sometime if he is."
Yes, he is. He's also the Ghost of Christmas Present and Aplos the Wizard. We saw him last December. XD
As someone who watches these videos purely to solidify my dislike of comic books and be aware of which comic books to suggest to people considering getting into it (yay amazons attack~!) Im not sure how to feel about a review about good comics. O.o It kinda turns the 'angry at comic books and none of them are good anyway' impression you lend on its head ^_^;
"As someone who watches these videos purely to solidify my dislike of comic books and be aware of which comic books to suggest to people considering getting into it (yay amazons attack~!) Im not sure how to feel about a review about good comics. O.o It kinda turns the 'angry at comic books and none of them are good anyway' impression you lend on its head ^_^;"
Soooo..... You're basically a really snotty, elitist, horrible troll who blindly hates on whole mediums of entertainment based solely on your ridiculous wealth of ignorance and biased negativity towards an entire medium that you generalize to a unhealthily stupid amount enough to forcibly try to tell people not to waste their time with what you selfishly paint with so broad a brush that you make yourself look like an honest-to-god horrible person by even attempting to do so?
Well, then again, you are such a dimwit as to actually assume that someone who has always approached his entire series from day one as a self-admitted huge comics geek and assume that his reviews mean that Linkara "hates comic books" for some reason.
So yeah, I can already see that the slightest shred of logic, human decency and common sense is a concept that is utterly lost on you as a person. I won't try changing your shallow, incredibly negative, simple minded, hateful crusade of blind idiocy.
But I do pity and feel sorry for you being such a sad, miserable, hateful, ignorant person as you are.
Anonymous, while I feel the same in regards to discounting an entire medium, I think you were a little harsh towards them. They could have been joking, for all we know.
Come to think of it DC one million had a gold Superman
"Come to think of it DC one million had a gold Superman" You sure that wasn't a life sized Oscar award? lol I kid, I think there was a Red Superman as well. Not like "Red Son", but like an all red superman
Wow, with the current comics being released and the depressingly terrible events like countdown, its refreshing to see and be reminded of some super duper mega coolies comics.
...I don't suppose we will be seeing more reviews of awesome comics worth checking out in the future, will we? I mean, it might mean less humor from hilariously bad material but gosh, this was informative and I now have to check this out, having discovered a worthwhile trade thingy
Thanks to you and to the Technis Imperative, I got interested in comics again! : D
PittCat, Electric Blue (and Red) Superman(s) was/were the first return of the real Superman after his death.
That's all I know about that.
Y'know, saying 'sometimes you do get everything you want' in no way invalidates you can't always get what you want. Both just mean, sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.
(Binary thinking much?)
Also: recently I had cause to tell somebody, 'if you want to get why I like Nightwish so much, listen to one song'... and that song was Over The Hills And Far Away. I was pleasantly surprised that they played it at their concert in January.
(With apologies to Gary Moore / Thin Lizzy fans. Drown your sorrows in whiskey... in a jar.)
~ Mik
I say we start a kickstarter to help raise money for Lewis's giant Titans vs JLA mural lol
Zeta Gundam? I had no idea you watched that much anime. Back in the day it might have been the most popular Gundam franchise (and I think its story is the strongest of them all) but today it's overshadowed by Wing, Seed, 00, Age and now Unicorn.
Have to admit that personally I considered them too reckless in this. Not immediately doing their best to destroy it? Considering the stakes I'd have said the answer is simple: blow it up.
Also, did Cyborg ever get beyond Omegadrome?
... somebody had to say it.
~ Mik
Anonymous, I think the comic did an excellent job showing why blowing it up was a poor idea. It's got a hold of the moon after all, blowing it up would blow up the moon and thus cause massive damage on Earth.
Pffft, Superman moved the moon all by himself in 'Quest For Peace'. Sorry, really couldn't help myself there.
"Pffft, Superman moved the moon all by himself in 'Quest For Peace'. Sorry, really couldn't help myself there" Far as I am concerned Superman IV never happened....ever.
hmmm, not entirely sure i agree with that level of epicness with the moon b eing saved.
personally i have a somewhat theory of mine. it is called the Progression Of Disbelief. think ofi t as a kind of meter with many factors to it. basically the progression of disbeleif is the progression of various acts within a series, and how well it fits within the series. basically yhe facotrs the ease the suspension of disbelief enough that you can enjoy it. caue if the fictional univese has a set of rule you can grasp hold of, then you can more accept more exaggerrated versions of it.
i lvoe one piece beyond it being a good example of my theory.
a think a part of it is that it gives you the origins of many of the pwoers in the series, and there are some abilities outside of the Devil Fruits. and even better, the eaters of devil fruits that are just satisfied with having powers normally end up beaten. the ones that try to expand and adapt what they can do with their powers progress further, if the powers allow it.
and there are some awesome crazy stuff that happens in this series too. while no planets have been shifted, for it is not a seris where planets are meant to be shift, there is a point where a exceedingly powerful devil fruit user CAUSE SEVERAL MILES OF OCEAN TO RISE MOUNTAIN HIGH.... oh yeah. and then another devil fruit user freezes the coming tidal waves into frozen peaks.
and here is soemthing i hope might entice you to at least check out the series. at one point we have a man who turns into a WereGiraffe...... and is still a badass..... you heard right. a guy who turns into one of the most ridiculous creatures of the animal kingdom and is still a real threat. and it does not seem forced like making godman arcade a god or having that guy from cry for justice somehow know everything that is going on or is gonna happen (mighty script reading powers). is just that he figures out what he can do with his ablities.
and best of all, we do not have uneed, meaningless deaths and shockingly touching stories and itneractions between characters that seem genuine for the most part....... and sitll with weregiraffes and rubber men.
Hey, Linkara. Great retrospective video! Any chance you would ever pay a visit to ConnectiCon in the coming years? Doug and Team FourStar and others were there last year and it was a blast. I'd love to see one of your live shows! :D
In re. to Craig, I'm operating under the knowledge they had at the time which was that damaging the device had some damage to parts of the planet but they didn't look that much worse than what happens naturally and things would get much worse in the near future if they didn't stop the machine now combined with the fact that the closest things they had to experts stated outright that no life was detected in the machine.
Maybe there was some text that Linkara didn't mention about how they expected far worse damage if they did destroy the device, but from what we were shown I would have said it's more dangerous to not blow it up.
Why does Raven have grey skin?
"Why does raven have grey skin?" If you are referring to the cartoon version of Raven, the animators had it changed to make it look like she was sorta demonic. They Also changed her skirt into a leotard because they claimed the skirt was too revealing to put on a kids show. Though I call BS on that because the Leotard is more revealing.
So, if you were being evil with how you mentioned Donna Troy and her son (which the first time I saw this did make me sniffly) does that mean you were being Cu-Pig, your villain self?
Why are not more comics like this? I wanted to see what it was all about before adding it to the growing list of things to dig around for at our local shop but this now has jumped to near the top of the list. (I still want the original 52 first, though did finally start getting the Blackest Night event).
I've never been a fan of full resets, guess it's why I like how Doctor Who handles transitions, yes, new actor with a different outward self but he's still, the Doctor, and things i his "past" affect his future.
Guess that's why I love the ep of the 10th Doctor's, "School Reunion" so damn much.
Wow, that got rambly, sorry about that.
OK, I apologize for posting this comment so late in the month but after watching your JLA/Titans review I had to offer my two cents. Before I begin, I'd like to say the following to you, Linkara.
Thank you.
Thank you for reminding me the joy of reading comics.
I've been in a self-imposed exile from collecting comics due to the rising prices and the lack of reader friendliness from the big two (DC with their utter disrespect for their history and fan base that is the New 52 and Marvel constantly going back to massive event crossovers to bring in readers like a drug addict falling off the wagon). These days, I'm only into tpb's or manga and the only tpb I've been picking up as of late is The Goon. I'd like to get back into FF but I'm on the fence with it since its coming off an event where one main character lost someone close to him for no logical reason. Overall, I've gotten fed up with the shenanigans that has been going on that made comic books feel like less of a hobby I love and more like a chore I despise.
Watching your review on JLA/Titans was a refreshing moment to remind me that a comic book can be done right. especially crossover events. It's been a long time since I've read The Technis Imperative but you touched upon so many of its qualities that made it stand out.
1) A creative team that worked together perfectly.
2) It recapped events and people in a manner that doesn't leave the reader drowning in exposition. It brings them up to date and offers some bread crumbs to follow if they want to explore the history.
3) It's an event series that is short and does not crossover into multiple titles (someone might wanna hand Marvel a copy of this before their next massive crossover event).
4) The characters are done exceptionally well without short-changing them for screen time or having them behave out of character.
5) The stakes are high without going overboard.
6) NO ONE DIES AT THE END!!! In fact, that should be tattooed onto the foreheads of writers (Geoff Johns and Brian Bendis to name a few) to remind them what not to do during a crossover.
7) Some great "HOLY SHIT" moments like the two teams facing off and the moon being moved by a combination of GL's ring, WW's invisible plane, and with the combined might of the strongest heroes and heroines on hand. That made me think back to a "HOLY SHIT" moment during Grant Morrison's JLA run where Electric Blue Superman moved the moon by creating an electromagnet (proof that you can turn chicken shit into chicken salad).
I might have missed a few points but I think I've covered the basics. JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative is a great example of a comic book done right. Everyone, from longtime fans to people wanting to get into comics and even the people who make comics, need to learn from the stuff that worked in order to fix what is wrong with comics today. I highly doubt everyone will get the message but its a message that needs to be said.
We all look at comics these days and see only the bad yet we tend to forget the good stuff. Hell, the 90s had some bright points once you get past the crap that was clogging up the mainstream pipes (the Busiek/Perez Avengers run, Morrison's JLA, Robinson's Starman, and Kingdom Come to name a few). Perhaps its time we took a step back and remind ourselves why we fell in love with comic books in the first place.
So thank you, Linkara, for reminding me that reason.
Loved this comic. You suggested to me sometime ago and I loved reading it and enjoying it, hence why in the past I kept asking you for other Teen Titans stuff because that comoc did just as you said, it got me interested in reading more whilst giving me exposition enough to be interested, but not buried under it with any meaningless bits.
Absolutely loved it and loved the joke about Space: 1999. Havn't watched it in years but the earth did seem rarther fine with the moon missing.
Lewis, I bought and read it on the DC Comics app. It is AWESOME!!! I agree with you, "I want that on a bumper sticker or a T-Shirt. Hey, Rust-Bucket! Let go of the frickin' moon already will ya?!"
Just something I like to know Linkara: You mention Space 1999, so I was wondering if you ever saw any other works of Gerry Anderson?
Fortunately, this and the older runs of the Titans are available for purchase on comixology at all.
Well, I took on the challenge... and this is how it turned out.
http://krysella.deviantart.com/art/Fanception-441174501
I'd love to know what you think. :3
"I'd love to know what you think. :3"
It turned out spectacularly! ^_^
Thanks! :)
Post a Comment