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Batman Eternal #23 Review

What’s new, pussy cat? Woah, woah, wh–oh, you’re dead.

 

Selina’s feeling shitty, failed to save a kitty, born to rule the city, and things aren’t looking pretty, all in this twenty second entry in DC’s weekly Bat-epic, which sees The Architect’s inadvertent (?) victory, Jason Bard making his next move, and Selina crawling through a quarter mile of poo-smelling foulness I can’t even imagine. (Maybe I just don’t want to.) Nguyen is full-on Nguyen with his uniquely stylized art and it’s almost like I’m reading Heart of Hush again. Well, actually I have been rereading that recently, coincidentally. read more

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Super Happy Magic: A Record Of Interaction

Michael Fitz-Gibbon <penguintruth@gmail.com> Sun, Jan 6, 2008 at 5:14 AM
To: zac@animenewsnetwork.com

Hello,

I’m Michael Fitz-Gibbon, a recent graduate of Central Connecticut State University, and avid Japanese animation fan. I majored in English with a minor in Creative Writing in college and am eager to put my writing talents to use, and believe that writing reviews for Anime News Network may be one way to do this. I am at the disposal of the ANN staff if necessary, as I am currently writing short stories and poetry, hoping to be published, but otherwise have time to watch and review media. I would appreciate the opportunity to review anime for ANN, as I have been a long time visitor to the site and a member of the forum (as penguintruth). Anime News Network has been a favorite anime website of mine for a long time and is undoubtedly the finest source of anime news on the web, and it would be a great privilege to be part of the effort to maintain its standard of reporting and reviewing. read more

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Dragon Ball Kai – DROPPED BALL Z

Pissing away all of the good will it built…

When I started churning out episodes of Otaku Evolution, my anime review video project, on a weekly basis, I fell behind doing text reviews for this site. The biggest victim of that wasn’t the reviews I always intended to start on Terror in Resonance or my occasional review of anime classics, but my weekly Dragon Ball Kai reviews. I’d reviewed over 100 episodes of Toei’s "manga cut" version of DBZ, from its shaky early days, to the highs of its Freeza and Artificial Human/Cell arc, to it’s current plot line involving Babidi and Majin Buu. By now, I’ve fallen so far behind, it would take quite an effort to catch up, but with a little elbow grease I could revive my Dragon Ball Kai reviews, right? I mean, it was Kai that restored my interest in the DB franchise back when news of its debut broke! It’s become an insistution of my blog, so why not? read more

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Batman Eternal #22 Review

 

Gotham’s pickin’ up bad vibrations, buildings are getting excitations, Julia has a shocked sensation, and Hush is feeling such elation in this twenty-second installment of DC’s weekly Batman yarn. The crazed suited terror, The Architect is back to his old "Got to destroy Gotham landmarks for my dishonored family’s honor!" using what is essentially the Patlabor: The Movie scheme. Julia is shocked and dismayed that Bruce Wayne is, in fact, the vigilante called The Bat-Man, and Hush does another "stepping out of the shadows" thing that makes me think he’s just desperate to ape Batman’s style at this point. What’s next, the Hush Signal? read more

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Batman Eternal #21 Review

The issue is just as much awesome as this cover, a rarity in comics.

The court adjourned, a long time villain returned, information was learned, and the plot took a huge turn in the alcohol-aged installment of DC’s weekly Batman hubbub. Continuity probably took one on the noggin, given that some of the events the villains present here happened with characters either no longer present in the DC universe (as in, never existed according to new continuity) or are much different. Are we all sure Batman’s only been around for six years? Ah, hand wave it, because this is the best issue in a long time, and it might be the best issue ever. read more

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Batman Eternal #20 Review

Welcome to the jungle, we’ll have… ehhh, one pretty good scene.

 

The mystic crap feels tired, Falsario’s retired, a Lion is required, and Stephanie’s inspired in this twentieth issue of DC’s weekly Batman yarn, pack full of terrible art and story padding, but with at least a couple of really choice scenes that spare this thing from the trash heap. Frankly, though, I’m looking forward to some of these storylines consolidating, because most of them aren’t that interesting on their own. It’s starting to look like a weekly Bat book was a mistake because they’re simply not holding my attention very well. Why do you think every review comes a week late? read more

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Batman Eternal #19 Review

I wish this was the interior art.

Jace and Babs hug, Harper works out bugs, and Gordon knocks out thugs, all in this nineteenth installment in DC’s weekly Batman shindig. The artwork is all over the place, the "hypnotized ally you have to convince you’re not who they think you are" cliche is eye-rolling, as is Jason’s Babs wank, and honestly I want them to get rid of this supernatural element, too, even if it means even less Batman in the book, because unlike Bats, I don’t care about Croc’s missing cult followers. But hey, Jimmy kicked some ass in Blackgate, and that was the highlight of this entire story arc so far, even if it was just one page. Still, I preferred Scott Snyder and Gerry Duggan’s
Batman #34. By a lot. read more