Batman: No Man's Land (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Batman: No Man's Land and Batman: Cataclysm were the volumes that brought me back to collecting Batman Comics! N.M.L. is 5 volumes and Cataclysm is 1, and these 6 volumes are "primo". A host of writers (including Greg Rucka, Paul Dini, & Chuck Dixon) and artists (including Dale Eaglesham & Dan Jurgens) worked on this project as well, making for great stories and different views of the events taking place.

Batman: Knightfall (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

This is one of the defining events in the mythos of The Batman (the other being Frank Miller's Dark Knight series). Before Knightfall, everything is old. After Knightfall, you enter the modern age for Batman.

The story takes place over approximately six months. Bruce Wayne (Batman) suffers burnout and is systematically assaulted and crippled by a "super steroid"-enhanced genius named Bane. After Bane breaks Batman's back, Wayne is replaced as Batman by an apprentice named Jean-Paul Valley (also known as Azrael), who becomes increasingly violent and unstable, tarnishing Batman's reputation. Eventually, Wayne is healed through paranormal means, and reclaims his role as Batman.

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

I was never really interested in Green Lantern until Hal Jordan returned in Rebirth. Since then I am a huge GL fan, often left mindboggled by the jaw-dropping storylines and awesome artwork. Geoff Johns is a master storyteller, and his work often builds into mega-events (The Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, & Brightest day to name just the Green Lantern events). He has taken the Green Lantern character into never before seen directions (hard to do with Comic Book "Icon" Characters), and I wait with great anticipation for every volume as it becomes available.

Johns has worked with some of the best artists in the industry, my favorite being Ethan Van Sciver who implemented the idea that each Green Lantern's ring energy would manifest itself differently based on their personalities. Other Artists include Carlos Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Daniel Acuna, Patrick Gleason, & Philip Tan.

Amazing Spider-Man by JMS (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love J. Michael Straczynski? Although I haven't given him an "Awesome" grade yet, he is consistently one of the best Comic Book Writers in the business today....and I buy anything with his name on it!

The Green Arrow Series (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Some of you not familiar with comics, or the Green Arrow character, may ask yourselves....what is so appealing about an angry liberal running around rooftops in Robin Hood tights shooting arrows at villains? Well, Oliver Queen (a.k.a., Green Arrow) is like most men in the world today. Really? Yes! He is an expert at one thing, and a complete failure at almost everything else. Pessimistic? No, just "keeping it real".

Oliver Queen was a billionaire playboy, hopping from yacht to yacht, and woman to woman when the ship he was on crashed on a deserted island (or so he thought). To survive, he had to become an expert using the only hunting weapon available to him, a makeshift bow. Honing his skills on the island, after being rescued he returned to Star City and became the Green Arrow (read Green Arrow: Year One for the entire story).

The Flash by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

With the release of Flash: Rebirth, and the restart of the The Flash monthly comic...I thought I'd sum up the past run of The Flash by Geoff Johns. Johns wrote The Flash for years, and brought him back into the spotlight of the DC Universe. With great artists assisting John's great writing skills, these books were well worth the money! The review sums up the following Graphic Novels:

The Punisher (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

I liked this movie a lot.....until I saw Punisher War Zone. Ray Stevenson makes a better Punisher than Thomas Jane, though Jane does a good job.

Frank Castle (Jane) is a FBI agent that "stings" an arms deal of mobster Howard Saint(John Travolta). During the deal, Howard's son is killed. After retiring, Frank and his family travel to Puerto Rico to attend a family reunion. Saint sends his hired guns and kills the entire family, believing that Castle is dead as well.