You Know, After All of the Times that Raven's Family have Tried to Kill the Titans, You'd Think They'd Learn Not to Mess With Anyone Related to Her

Titans - Old Friends, starring Donna Troy, Nightwing, Flash, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven, my personal favorite.

I have to say, as much as I don't like Judd Winick, I liked this graphic novel. The artwork was great, too (thanks, Ian Churchill and Joe Benitez).

I think it's time for a Haphazard Heroines Comprehensive Review! It starts out by recapping a tale of the original Teen Titans (well, maybe not original, but one of the first few). You even get to see Dick in all of his Robin-pantsless glory. Ah, it was worth the $25.

They're fighting Bizarro and the Joker (odd couple...actually, nevermind). The Joker is impeccably drawn. Even when he's frowning, it's still a smile XD

Skip to the present day. Cyborg is forming the Titans East. He asks for his old buddies, but all of them are somehow otherwise occupied with superheroic duties (actually, Raven is trying to fit in at high school, but that's pretty much a full time thing). Cy is disappointed, but he gets some cool characters for the Titans East (Hawk, Dove, Power Boy, Anima, Little Barda, Lagoon Boy, and Son of Vulcan).

Cy sets up a little game of tag, but in the end, Power Boy is murdered and the others end up all critical in the hospital. What was it Deathstroke once said? Or was it Jericho? "Kids shouldn't be heroes"? or something like that.

Well, one of them said it. Deosn't matter - both are pretty messed up.

Then Cy gets firebombed and we switch to Nightwing's POV.

INNERMONOLOGUEINNERMONOLOGUEINNERMONOLOGUEINNERMONOLOGUE

So, Nightwing ends up in a fight with a bunch of creepy ninjas, a naked Starfire is almost devoured in Animal Man's pool in front of Animal Man's son, Raven is attacked by a demon in her high school, Red Arrow is on his bike when spikes shoot up from the ground to kill him, Beast Boy's home is on fire and melting onto his head, Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner are attacked while in outer space by something that looks like Kory's hair, and the Flash is taking a shower when sticky red stuff attacks his naked bod. Oh, and the New Teen Titans (Robin, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, Supergirl, Ravager, Kid Devil, and Blue Beetle) are also attacked (by the ground, no less. I thought Terra was back, originally).

So, Batman helps out Nightwing, and the older Titans meet up together at the site of Power Boy's murder.

This is it. The moment we've all been waiting for - Raven announces that Trigon has returned.

Turns out Poppa Demon is attacking all former Titans - anyone who was a Titan ever. The older Titans and their mentors/allies/parents save Argent, Bumble Bee, Vox, Red Star, and Someone whose name I can't remember.

So, they really need to figure out what's going on, so Rae-Rae takes a trip to her father's realm. He actually isn't powerful anymore. He's frail and weak and has almost no power (still manages to almost strangle Raven, though...).

Oh, and he isn't alone now. The Titans hunt down anyone other than Angela Roth that might have had Trigon's kids, but all of the women are dead. Too bad their kids aren't. And they're annoying too.

They make Wally and Donna insanely jealous of each other, Nightwing and Starfire have passionate sex in somewhere that is not their bed, and Beast Boy and Raven go at it for a while.

Envy. Lust. Wrath. - sins, right?

It takes a while, but the kids are sort of defeated...if helping their father come to Earth and then sapping his power and leaving him alone is defeating them. They didn't get much power though.

There are a couple of cutsie BB/Rae moments (that I just so happen to love). They go get food, Starfire and Nightwing have a moment, and then back to Raven and Beast Boy.

Raven goes crazy, as usual. Really, I love it when this happens. The number of times she's helped her father! XD

Her brothers have come for her and take her to wherever her other brothers are. Donna Troy has a doohicky that takes them to Raven and they attack her and her evil brothers. Turns out, Raven is the sin of Pride. She takes her brothers powers and plans on giving them to her real family - the Titans. She's planning on killing Beast Boy to channel the energy, but the thing Donna got them to the place with glows and a phantom Raven comes out of it, defeating her evil side.

The novel ends with Jericho, who breaks into the Tower. He is unable to get out of the body of Match.

Wonder where that will take the old Teen Titans...

Hope you enjoyed the review and the comic (buy it.)

Deathtrap Going Better Than Expected

Just read issue 12 of Deathtrap: Part One and it wasn't a piece of crap.

Well, it wasn't particularity good either. If Jericho is going to be bad, then make him bad, not some whimpering fool. I miss the days of Evil Joey in Azarath. Now, he's only caring about not being like his father, yet he initiated this "Deathtrap". Crazy guy.

Spoiler Alert! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT A REVIEW OF ISSUE #12.

So, this is after Joey (inside Cyborg) tried to murder the Titans and beat up Beast Boy pretty well (he admits that he had to turn into a salamander to get proper healing). You can practically feel the animosity between Raven and Beast Boy. Apparently, she denied him.

So, anyway, Ravager is still off of the radar after the whole Dark Side Club thing and Kid Devil is not so devilish anymore (bring Eddie's powers back!). Troia, Cyborg, Red Arrow, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Flash decide to fake Cyborg still being controlled by Jericho to bring out the Vigilante, who wants him dead for some reason or another. They do indeed manage to lure out the Vigilante, who shoots Cy in the head. How's that for a cliffhanger?

I liked the artwork. Unzueta wasn't bad. It's softer than some other issues of DC I have read lately. Keep up the good work.

DC Heroes tend to be better than Marvel ones

So, as the majority of my friends know by now, I absolutely adore comics. Have for years. I prefer DC over Marvel, but either are fine with me. My sister and I have been wondering lately who the best villains (not all comic book ones) are. So we made a top 5. Also, I'd like to post my top 10 favorite heroes list. So here ya go!

Top 5 Villains of All Time:

1. The Joker: Come on, you know he's cool. He's not superpowered but he is still a dangerous enemy to all, especially Batsy. Every time I see him portrayed in media, I love it. Jack Nicholson was great as the Joker in the '80s and I loved Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight. Inspired. Though he did lick his lips a lot. Hm. Anyway, he's so awesome. The Joker is a psychotic villain who doesn't mind killing and loves a good joke. What's not to love?

2. Lord Voldemort: An evil wizard who continually takes over the magical world. That's pretty cool, dontcha think? Well, I do. He may have parental issues and be obsessive over a teenager (pedophilic much?), but he actually takes over, unlike people like the lame Lex Luthor. Voldemort gets what he wants, but he really overlooks things. Harry really pulled it over him on him in the final battle. In the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie, I particularly enjoy the scene close to the end where he tells Pesky Potter that he will lose...everything. Now that's catchy.

3. Magneto: This guy is a mutant...who can control metal with his mind. That's awesome! I wish I had that power. And in the X-Men movies, he's pretty hardcore. He kills men by stealing the iron from their bodies and he uses Jean Grey for his own purposes. He rocks!

4. Darth Vader: He's got a lightsaber. The force is with him. He had a romance with Natalie Portman. He's cool. Darth Vader, or Darthie, as I like to call him, is a great, heroic guy at first. Then this crazy Sith Lord corrupts him and makes him the most fearsome weapon in the universe. He looks strange when he takes the mask off, but no matter, he's still super powerful.

5. Deathstroke the Terminator: Slade Wilson has a long track record. He hunts down the Teen Titans. He blew Kid Flash's knee apart. He killed his own son. He pumped his daughter, Rose, full of super serum. He recruited people for his own Titans East, then tried to kill the real ones. He pumped Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, full of the stuff too. He murdered his longtime friend. He has a thing for a boy in tights. He's so cool! He is an awesome assassin, first in my list of four
(followed by Lady Shiva, David Cain, and Deadshot). He terrifies even the JLA. He terrifies me too, come to think of it.


Next up, my top 10 heroes of all time!

Top 10 Comic Book Heroes of All Time:

1. Raven (Teen Titans - DCComics): I have to say she's awesome. She has a demon father and that gets her in all kinds of trouble. Deathstroke and Ravager tried to kill her, Brother Blood tried to marry her, and countless other villains have tried to harm her. None of those worked, by the way. Raven kicked butt in the comics and on the animated television show. My ideal Raven would be a mixture. I liked the way Raven looked in the comics, but I want the powers from the show. She had more there. Plus, in the show, she was so much more creepy. Loved it! Too bad they canceled the show. They should bring it back, immediately! Haha, well, I think she's the best.

2. Batman (DC Comics): I loathe Superman but Batman is just the opposite. He has so many cool moments. Plus, he doesn't have powers, and I idolize him for that. Lol, I'm idolizing a fictional character. *sigh*, well, that's what comic books do to you. Anyway, he can do, like, anything. In Justice League, the animated show, he's so awesome, getting all of these cool lines. Plus, non of his movies bombed at the box office *cough*Supergirl*cough* =D Christian Bale is awesome playing him but Adam West is the true Batman. I could go on and on, but there are other heroes waiting.

3. Batgirl (Any version - DC Comics): Come on, any person trained by Batman is gonna be good. I mean, look at Robin! Plus, there is finally a girl in the Bat-Family. I guess I love Barbara Gordon most, and she will always be the classic Batgirl in my eyes, but Cassandra Cain really isn't that bad. I love that her parents are two deadly assassins. Barbara Gordon kicks butt as Batgirl, then when she is crippled by the Joker, she fights crime as Oracle. She never gives up, I swear. All Cassandra does is head the League of Assassins for a bit...oh, wait, never mind. It doesn't really matter which Batgirl it is, because either way, someone's going down.

4. J'onn J'onzz a.k.a. The Martian Manhunter (DC Comics): He's from Mars, which I think is pretty cool, and he has all of these awesome powers. I feel for him, you know, losing his people and all, but I think he found a good life on Earth. Maybe he isn't as awesome as Batman, but he sure knows how to make an entrance.

5. Robin the Boy Wonder (Richard Grayson, Nightwing, Teen Titans, DC Comics): The reason that I chose this Robin in particular was that he really had a reason. Jason Todd was a loser, Tim Drake only got his reason after his father died, and Stephanie Brown just wanted to be cooler. Richard Grayson watched his parents die and knew that he needed to avenge them. Sure, Tim Drake discovered Batman's identity, but Dick actually lived with the guy. That must have sucked. Anyway, not only did he have a reason, he stuck to it, saving a bunch of people's lives, even after he left Batman and created the Teen Titans. When he left the Teen Titans, it was to save more people, just in a different group, The Outsiders. He goes solo every once in a while, too. Richard learned to loosen up and is super awesome. I like that the Teen Titans series used Dick Grayson as Robin, and not Tim Drake, otherwise it wouldn't have really felt right.

6. Zatanna Zatara (DC Comics): She can conjure up almost anything and all she has to do is say what she wants backwards. It's an awesome power to have. Sometimes I feel like magic is the best power in the DCU, either because I am an obsessive HP fan, or maybe because it's so useful. Zatanna is helpful, awesome, and a girl, which rocks. I am completely against the sexism in comic book (examples: crippling Batgirl, removing Negative Woman's powers, fake killing Spoiler, the torture of Black Canary, the depowerment of Dawnstar). Women in Refrigerator's Syndrome must end! The depowered Zatanna, which made me mad. Anyway, go Zatanna! You are so much cooler than Zatara!

7. The Question (DC Comics): I like Vic Sage and Renee Montoya, but if I had to choose...Vic Sage. He's got the mystery thing going on. I became interested in this character when I was watching Justice League Unlimited, and he became a main character in one season.

8. Engineer II (DC Comics): Haven't read much about her yet but she's super powerful and I like her attitude so far. She'll go far.

9. Cyborg (Teen Titans - DC Comics): They call him the tin man with a heart. He's been transformed into a cyborg but he's still pretty awesome. He's coped with it well and enjoys training young heroes, like the New Teen Titans. Plus, he's got a sonic cannon! =D

10. The Flash (Wally West - DC Comics): He's super fast, funny, and has a conscience. I love the way he was portrayed in the animated series, Justice League. I thought that they did it perfectly. Anyway, he's pretty cool, but I got mad at him in A Kid's Game, he thought Bart would never be a good Flash. Well, Bart showed him! Wally redeemed himself in my eyes during the whole mess with Superboy-Prime and the Speed Force.

My longer list includes heroes such as Beast Boy, Doctor Fate, Black Canary, Speedy, and Mister Miracle. I have a few Marvel heroes, such as Rogue, Wind Dancer, Wolverine, and x-23.

So, that's my post for today. I'll post other things soon, just for you.