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I talk about the following comics that elicit some special and specific memories for me:
Original video: https://youtu.be/HF7NKCqXXJw
Please send your comments to longboxreview@gmail.com, chat with me @longboxreview on Twitter, or visit longboxreview.com.
Thanks for listening!
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Holy octogenarian! Robin the Boy Wonder turns 80?! This episode I discuss the stories, pinups, and other items in the Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular!
Please send your comments to longboxreview@gmail.com, chat with me @longboxreview on Twitter, and visit longboxreview.com.
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Links:
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2020 is the 10th anniversary of the Longbox Review podcast, and to celebrate, I am spotlighting 10 episodes from the archive. This is a rebroadcast of episode 92 from 2015 where I talk about one of my very favorite comic book titles of all time, The New Teen Titans.
Thank you for supporting the podcast over these 10 years.
Original post: https://longboxreview.com/2015/12/19/podcast-episode-92-new-teen-titans-spotlight/
Go here for a complete list of comics releasing this week.
What are you getting this week?
What are some other comics I missed that I should add to my Buy list?
STAR TREK: YEAR 5 V1
Episode One writing and art by Jackson Lansing, Collin Kelly, Stephen Thompson, and Charlie Kirchoff
Episode Two writing and art by Brandon Easton, Martin Coccolo, and Fran Gamboa
Episode Three writing and art by Jody Houser, Silvia Califano, and Thomas Deer
Letterer: Neil Uyetake and Cover Artist: J.J. Lendl
What a fantastic adaptation and continuation of the live-action sci-fi series that I have loved since I was five! The artists actor likenesses are great but not appearing photoshopped, and the various styles mesh well between the episodes, giving us a visual continuity. Also, they all draw the Enterprise very well, something not all artists who have worked on Star Trek comic books can do and is something I demand, dammit!
I like how these collected six issues involve elements from the original series (Tholians, a return to the “A Piece of the Action” planet, and an unknown alien presence), as well as introducing or expanding on new elements. Uhura is shown as more integral to the bridge crew and a leader. The banter between Sulu and Chekov about Spock was a fun twist on the humorous aspects of the franchise. And we get to see more of the crew — in fact, this Enterprise is full of personnel, as it should be.
I may do a spotlight podcast episode on this trade in the future, but if you are a Star Trek fan, you should read this comic book!
Here’s a comic chosen at random from my collection.
Batman and Robin #23 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, Mark Irwin, John Kalisz, Carlos M. Mangual, Darren Shan, and Rachel Cluckstern
“Acceptance”. *sigh* This issue came six months (!) after Damian Wayne/Robin was murdered by his clone in the epic battle between Talia Al Ghul and Batman (as seen in Batman, Incorporated, specifically issue 8). In this issue, for the past three days, Batman is using virtual technology to prove he could have saved his son, so Alfred calls Dick Grayson in to talk his mentor out of this futile exercise. But because Dick knows Bruce so well (and in many ways, better than anybody), he doesn’t talk Bruce out of it, he joins him. Together, Batman and the former Robin are able to save Damian, allowing Bruce to reach a form of acceptance. But there is another man who’s needs to reach that stage of grief: Alfred. He runs a simulation where he prevented Damian from leaving Wayne Manor in the first place, thus preventing his death. Bruce then tells Alfred he is sorry, “I was too selfish to realize we both lost a son.” Reading that again after six years still gets to me.
This volume of Batman and Robin is one of the best Batman series ever. Gleason, Tomasi, and the others paint a haunting portrait of a man who lost a son and cannot really move past it. Yes, in this issue, Bruce does come to a form of acceptance, but it is a only a step that allows him to move to a different obsessive stage, setting up the next story arc.
The art in this issue is spectacular. We see some events of Batman, Incorporated #8 retold in ways that make the story even more poignant and personal for Batman. The one panel of Batman on the ground, unable to save his son as we hear the sickening sound effect of “SHUNNK” and the look on his face, especially his one exposed eye, is SO DAMN GOOD. It’s a feint, because Nightwing is the one stabbing Robin’s killer, saving the boy in this simulation, but I also read this as Bruce’s reaction to Nightwing killing to save his son. Imagine how Batman must feel to see his first son kill to save his younger son? It’s a part of the story that goes unexplored, but only serves to highlight how good of a comic book series this is to me.
If you have not read this volume, I highly recommend it.
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