Dave Berg Comic Reviews

Aquaman seems to be one of the break-out characters of The New 52. The relaunch has set him on a new, familiar but uncharted course. This has been a long time in coming. Things are finally starting to fall into place for Aquaman.

If you can find this issue in the back-issue bin of your local comic book store, grab it and enjoy it! Free Comic Book Day 2012 is the Saturday after The Avengers premiere, so check out where the team got it's start! It's worthwhile.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is must-read material. It is a highlight to new comic Wednesday. The book is both fun and action-packed. The best part is that it is light-hearted, it's not heavy and doesn't sit light a stone in the pit of the stomach. Comics should be fun and this book proves it.

There were other characters rebooted and relaunched with the October 1994 Zero Month following DC Comics' Zero Hour event. Hawkman was one of the major revisions. Manhunter, Fate, Lobo, Guy Gardner: Warrior, Aquaman all received the Zero Month treatment. The Trinity, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman along with The Flash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow all got zero issues. The most enduring character was the Jack Knight Starman. Even in spite of his whole history now being erased from current continuity by DC's The New 52 relaunch. Not every DC character receieves the omnibus treatment. Jack Knight, Earth-2 and Golden Age history have been Robinson's defining work.

There's no laughing at Aquaman anymore.

If you thought Aquaman was a joke, give the book a try. I think you might change your mind. You might end up saying to someone, If you're NOT reading Aquaman, you SHOULD be. And it won't sound like a cliche.

I'm enjoying what Johns and Reis are doing in Aquaman. The man from Atlantis is no longer a B or C-list hero any longer. I'm not left wondering why he's a member of the Justice League. He doesn't seem like a token member any more. I can't wait to see where Johns and Reis take the conflict between Black Manta and Aquaman in the next issue.

The Shadow Annual #1 is a combination of a number of things fitting perfectly together. A great character, well written and drawn, in an exciting and thrilling adventure. Mystery, combined with pulp, gothic suspense. And, that haunting laugh at the end of every dark alley.

What I enjoy in reading and re-reading Truth, Justin and the American Way is that it tells the kind of story that William Katt's The Greatest American Hero did, but with more than a few original twists on the formula. It's a madcap, nostalgic romp, proving that comics can be fun!

Avengers Assemble!

This alternate course for the Enterprise crew is certainly enjoyable to follow.

The Spider reads a lot like Matt Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre. It has a noir feel to it, as well as the pulp hero feel. Like the grotesque villains of Sandman Mystery Theatre, Anput is a mosnter herself and her scheme is not just diabolical, it has a horror angle to it. Colton Worley's Richard Wentworth resembles actor Dale Midkiff from Time Trax. The story is brilliantly divided between The Spider's adeventure and Richard's dilema with his father, the family business and his relationships. The book doesn't just rest on mystery and gun-blazing action. It's a good, solid book. Only time will tell if The Sider has legs.

What's not to like?

Getting ready for The Avengers opening this weekend? Can't go wrong by tracking down a copy of Avengers Classic #1.

That's what I find "fascinating".

Moving, like one is running in slow motion, with the Chevy Chase "nnn-na-na-na-na-na" from Caddyshack never goes out of style.

It is STILL a cool story. Armageddon is the same basic story as Deep Impact. Both are about meteors on a direct path toward Earth. Two completely different movies. The same is true of the Kevin Costner film Wyatt Earp. Not so different from Tombstone starring Kurt Russell. John Wayne managed to make the same story into three different films over his career: Rio Bravo in 1959; El Dorado in 1966 and Rio Lobo in 1970. An argument can be made that an action star tells basically the same story in every film. What makes or breaks the story is the details. The details provided here by David Tischman are solid. The question is raised about what business Luke has in Eden. The answer seems to be to settle a score with his brother and right a wrong between them. Luke is back home to reclaim his life, another theme from a John Wayne movie. Tischman's story is in the style of Beau Smith and Chuck Dixon. If this is a comic book vehicle for Trace Adkins as an action hero, both he and Tischman are in

Youwill find this collected in the trade paperback Batman: The Collected Adventures - Volume 1.

Still, as a long-time Star Trek fan, this was a really enjoyable read. If the classic, original series were not streaming either on Netflix or CBS.com, and I had never seen an episode before the 2009 film, this would be a cool first story and jumping on point. As Scotty said on the bridge in the film, "I like THIS ship!"

As a die-hard Batman fan I'm really looking forward to this book coming out in April. It shows some definite promise for the future of DC's all-ages and animation prospects. If Green Lantern succeeds as Batman and Superman have, hopefully the rest of the magnificent seven won't be too far behind in moving from the page to animated or live action. It only took two decades for Green Lantern to follow Batman!

I am conflicted. I want to follow this new series. This new Star Trek is as good, if not better than the original series. I'm sure that original stories will be far, far better. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that until a second or third film is produced, the ongoing IDW Star Trek series will be stuck in...(ah, crap) reruns.

Still, Shaggy and Scooby manage to rescue excitement from the jaws of boredom with a large dose of pandemonium. As long as the pair are part of any story equation, it's fun and enjoyable. Just remember, with the two of them, it's all a no-brainer!

But, there is a curiosity to see what happens next...believe it or not.

Still, The Bionic Woman #4 is worth picking up. There needs to be more comics that feature strong female role models, like Jaime Sommers. She is a character that should be both smart and strong and worth reading.

While I like Hal's adventures in space - and Hal has a vast sector of space to patrol - he's from Earth. I'm used to stories being about aliens bringing the fight to Hal and Earth. This exploring strange new world and discovering and befriending new life forms and boldly going where no Green Lantern has gone before doesn't really comfortably suit Hal. That makes me wonder if Green Lantern is going in this direction to be different for the sake of being different; or experimenting, to try to be fresh and original. I hope DC knows what it's doing.

Green Lantern:The Animated Series could have worked better alongside either The Batman Adventures, Superman Adventures, Justice League Adventures, Teen Titans, Go! or the Legion of Super-Heroes book. By itself, now, the book stands out like a sore thumb with a bad title. This book has so much potential and expectation to live up to. This time it's not really reaching for it, which is surprising, considering the creative team. Maybe it's not as comfortable a fit as Tiny Titans was.

This storyline is not the best way to restart a classic character like The Bionic Woman. Instead of doing another typical multi-part story to re-launch Jamie Sommers back into action, maybe there should be a few stand-alone stories leading up to a larger, more epic story. It's a shame to see Jamie spinning out the pages of The Bionic Man - spinning out of control like this.

The issue with this issue, as it is, is that it all turns out to be predictable. At the end it turns out to be a training excercise to test the security of the SHIELD helicarrier. On it's own, the reveal at the end is a disappointment, when when taken with the movie, the comic's reveal is an even bigger disappointment. The story might have been better edited as a briefing, or as Fury reviewing his files for a briefing. The whole training excercise to test the helicarrier's security just falls flat, and seems a bit cliche and predictable. Maybe there will be a trade paperback collection in time for the Blu-Ray and DVD release that will have some bonus extras. I'd like to see some extra pages and a copy included with the Blu-Ray or DVD release like the comic adaptation of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was.

It is amazing that this massive kind of operation is at work without so much as an inside man or a head honcho. This is a criminal operation that the Mystery, Inc. gang has uncovered, with no top person in charge of it. Which leads to the suspicion that the lessons, values or morals that are being passed along in Scooby Doo anymore is that there are no bad people, just bad deeds. It's a great lesson to teach kids not to express hate or bias or bigotry or to profile. But there are bad people. People do bad things. It's kind of a disservice to the characters and an insult to the reader to back away from that. And to back away from ending a Scooby Doo story with the famous line, "I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!"