Why I Love Tim Drake

Tim Drake has been all over the comic book news sites this week. I'm not going to talk about the details of why right here, just to make sure everyone who doesn't want to be spoiled has a chance to read the issue that's causing the furor. I'm just going to make a short post today about who Tim Drake is as a character and why he's not only my favorite Robin, but one of my ten favorite comic characters ever.

I started reading comic officially (or as official as you can get) with Batman #445. Tim Drake made his first appearance in costume in Batman #442 (although he would be out of costume, simply training, and wouldn't get his own until issue 457). So first and foremost, I grew up with Tim. Now, Tim is lucky that he's perpetually stuck at an age between 16 and 18, while I have continued to grow sadly older, but I don't hold that against him. There's something about that character, a character who was new when you were just starting out as a fan, that you latch onto and connect with. That's, frankly, why sidekicks were created, to give readers an entry point for these stories about adults.

But more than just our relative newness, the thing that made Tim Drake great is he was a good kid who got into superheroing because it was the right thing to do. Ultimately, all of the many tragedies that Tim would encounter over the years took place after he took up the mantle of Robin; I'll discuss the changes made in the New 52 and why I feel they detract from Tim as a character later. Tim wasn't an orphan (although he was a rich kid with absentee parents which I doubt many readers had), he didn't have a reason to become Robin except he felt like Batman needed a Robin and Gotham and the world needed a Batman. Tim, like one of my other favorite sidekicks made good, Wally West, was basically a fanboy who got to live the dream: he got to partner with his favorite hero. And who amongst us in fandom wouldn't like that?

The other thing that made me love Tim Drake initially was that he was a brain. He had figured out Batman and Robin's identities using his natural deductive skills. Tim's first solo mission isn't a Robin mission, but is Tim trying to use his computer and detective skills to try to find a hacker called Moneyspider, who turns out to be the Batman villain Anarky, a teenage villain, who would go on to be one of Tim's nemeses. Tim was naturally more physically capable than most of the readers, but he wasn't a kid acrobat like Dick Grayson; there's a great moment in Robin #10, a Zero Hour crossover where Tim briefly meets a time displaced teenage Dick Grayson, where Tim marvels at Dick's acrobatic skills and doesn't think he'll ever be able to live up to them. And that was fine, because Tim was the smartest of the Robins, the best detective of the lot. And for readers who love Batman because he's the smartest guy in the room, that made Tim the ideal Robin.

After finally taking on the name of Robin, Tim would develop his own rogues gallery and supporting cast as he starred in first three mini-series and then an ongoing series that lasted for well over one hundred issues. Tim would fight the blind martial artist and gang leader King Snake, his lieutenant, Lynx, and their street gang, the Ghost Dragons; the aforementioned Anarky, the teen anarchist; Ulysses Hadrian Arstrong, the teen strategic genius known as The General. The characters around him included his dad, Jack Drake and step mom Dana, his geeky best friend Ives, his first girlfriend, Ariana, and his on again/off again main squeeze, Spoiler. That's not to mention his friendship with other heroes as a member of the teams Young Justice and Teen Titans, and of course his regular team-ups with Batman and the other members of the Batman family. There is a wonderful issue of Nightwing, issue twenty-five, "The Boys," that really looks into the brotherly relationship between Tim and Dick Grayson. This was a richer life as a character than either of the previous Robins had while they were Robin, and made Tim a much more interesting character,

Eventually, when a new Robin needed to come along, in this case Bruce's son Damian. He was a very different character than Tim. While Tim was an everyman sort of sidekick, Damian was completely unique and uncommon: while Tim was a fanboy, Damian had been trained since birth to be a deadly assassin. And when the time came for Tim to take up his new identity as Red Robin, the first storyline in his series reaffirmed his status as the number one Batman fan: he was the only one who believed that Bruce Wayne had not died in battle with Darkseid in Final Crisis, and he went out to find him. There's a wonderful meta-commentary there about how the hero who started out as a fan would be the one who would persevere through apparent death to believe wholeheartedly that the hero he idolized would still be alive.

But with the introduction of Damian, Tim was a little at ends as a character. Dick Grayson was able to take up the Nightwing identity when Jason Todd came along and became Robin, but Tim had a second hand new identity; Red Robin was Dick Grayson from an alternate future, whose identity had been briefly co-opted by Jason Todd before Tim took it. His last ongoing series, the Red Robin ongoing, was cut short by the New 52 reboot of DC Comics, with Tim in a very dark place. And I was hopeful that the reboot would give Tim a fresh start and make him the fun, young hero he was at his beginning.

Alas, this was not to be. The Tim Drake of the Teen Titans series from the New 52 bore only a passing resemblance to his previous incarnation. He had never been Robin and wasn't even really named Tim Drake; that was a name he took when he came to work with Batman. He was suddenly a gymnastic savant, and had a tragic backstory, where his own carelessness had forced his parents into witness protection. And most keenly felt, he no longer had any real emotional ties to Batman and Nightwing. Batman had been a foster father to him, and Nightwing the coolest big brother you could imagine pre-New 52. Now, Tim kept them at arms length and always had; and while he was part of their family, he wasn't close with them. He did suddenly become close friends with Jason Todd, Red Hood, who had repeatedly tried to kill Tim in the old continuity, which did more to help further Jason's redemption than did anything for Tim as a character. And the greatest of indignities: while Tim did still figure out Batman's identity, so did Dick Grayson, using pretty much the same methodology Tim did in the old continuity, taking away yet another thing that made Tim unique.

I don't necessarily lay all of this on the heads of the creators of those titles. Tim has been a historically difficult character to handle when taken out of his specific point of introduction. The Tim Drake in Batman: The Animated Series is much more Jason Todd than Tim Drake, as he has Jason's origin and doesn't have Tim's intellect; he basically has Tim's good nature grafted on to Jason to make him less of a jerk. The Tim in the Batman: Arkham games is a little better, but is still more of a roughneck than Tim is.  Young Justice got it closest to right; while it gave Tim's hacker skills to Dick Grayson initially, when Tim himself appeared, he was the quiet, smart member of the younger generation of heroes.

So where did that leave Tim? Well, in the past year and change, thing have gotten better for him. Batman and Robin Eternal, the weekly Batman mini-series that focused on the various Robins and other Bat family members working together in a globetrotting adventure during the brief period of time where Bruce had no memory of being Batman, did a great job of re-establishing Tim's relationship with the other member of Batman's family, and the arc of Detective Comics that wrapped this week played on all of Tim's best traits: his intellect, how well he works with others, and how much he cares about people. It got everything right, and made Tim feel like Tim again, and that Tim is a character that readers will keep hoping to see more of.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 15: Young Justice "Coldhearted"

Young Justice

“Coldhearted,” Season 1, Episode 20, 2012

Matt Says:

I knew I had to include an episode of Young Justice in my list for this year, as it is up there with JLU as one of the best superhero team animated series ever. But picking a single episode was tricky, as it is a very serialized show, one where I have a hard time picking a single episode that stands above the rest, especially when you get to the ambitious second season. This isn't the only show on this list where I ran into that problem, two more coming up had a similar issue, and one of those is another show produced by Greg Weisman. But thinking about what images stuck in my head, I was struck with Kid Flash running through the snow on a mission of life and death, and so I decided to go with "Coldhearted."

I'm a big fan of Wally West; I grew up in the 90s, and that makes Wally my Flash. He was the Flash in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and neither of the episodes I picked for those shows had a lot of Wally, so that's another reason to choose this episode; It's a great spotlight for the character, who is still in his Kid Flash identity at this point, still Barry Allen's sidekick.

Wally's sixteenth birthday starts out perfect: big breakfast with his parents, snow day from school, surprise party from his superhero friends at Mount Justice, and when it turns out coast-to-coast snow is man made, a team up between the Justice League and the Team (what the young heroes are called as a group). But Wally's excitement is quashed pretty quickly: while the other young heroes are off to fight the flying ice fortresses, he has been given a mission to run a transplant heart from Boston to Seattle to save a little girl's life. This isn't the exciting adventure he was hoping for, and he's disappointed.

As Wally runs the heart, he begins to realize how important it is, even as he's distracted by cute doctors, food, and Vandal Savage, who's waiting along the route to get revenge on Flash, who he assumed would be running the heart. Wally fights Savage, only to realize that it's not important, that it's not his mission. Wally arrives in Seattle to find that the girl has died... or that's what he's told by a man who tries to steal the heart. The girl is Queen Perdita of Vlatava, and her uncle, the supervillain Count Vertigo, is trying to wait out the clock and let her die so he can inherit the throne. It's up to Wally to make one last ditch effort to retrieve the heart and save the girl.

What's great about the story is that not only is it an exciting and well told superhero story, interspersed with scenes of the other heroes fighting the flying ice fortresses on top of Wally's adventure, but it's a great coming of age story. In the end, Wally realizes the import of his mission, not just because he saved a country from being taken over by a supervillain, but because he saved a little girl's life. Those strong character beats are one of the highlights of Young Justice, and this episode is a perfect example of them.

Fun fact: this episode serves as a sort of sequel to a Green Arrow short that was originally released with the DC Direct-to-DVD movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which introduced Queen Perdita and featured Green Arrow having to save her from one of Vertigo's earlier attempts on her life. In that short, written by Young Justice producer Greg Weisman, Green Arrow was voiced by Neal McDonough, better known as Dum-Dum Dugan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and currently plaguing Green Arrow as Damien Darkh on Arrow.

Animated Discussions: Young Justice

In the 90s, Bruce Timm and his collaborators redefined not just DC animation, but superhero animation in general with the work they did in Batman: The Animated Series and its successors, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. There have been some other great superhero cartoons since, both from DC and Marvel, but nothing that ever approached both the complexity of plot and character and the outstanding animation. That is until Young Justice debuted on Cartoon Network on Thanksgiving two years ago. With the series finale this weekend, I thought I'd look back at this series, and talk about what made it so great.

To start with, let's talk about the comic that loosely inspired the series. By 1998, the New Teen Titans (or New Titans at that juncture) comic that had once been DC's number one seller had seen better days. After its cancellation, DC decided they needed a teen superteam book, but the Titans name was toxic, so they took three of their teen heroes, each who were headlining their own comics, Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy, and Impluse, and put them together with the recently introduced new Wonder Girl and a new character, Secret, to for a new team, unofficially called Young Justice. Over the run of the book, new characters joined, including Arrowette, a young female archer, and Empress, a mystical character, as well as mentors including Red Tornado, Snapper Carr, and The Ray. The series ran fifty five issues, along with various one shots, tie ins, and a really fun fifth week event called "Sins of Youth" where the teen heroes were aged to adults, and their mentors were de-aged to teens. The majority of the issues were written by Peter David, who brought his usual sense of zany humor and strong characterization, and had great art from Todd Nauck. After five years and a relaunch of the classic book as just Titans featuring the original team as grow-ups, DC decided it was time to go back to the original name, cancelled both Young Justice and Titans, and launched the new Teen Titans series by then up and comer Geoff Johns.

The series premiere of the animated series was designed to draw clear parallels with the first appearance of the comic team, which took place in the one shot Young Justice: The Secret. In the comic, Robin, Superboy, and Impulse liberate a mysterious young woman with powers called only Secret from a government lab. The debut of the animated series saw the sidekicks, wanting to prove themselves to their mentors, invading Cadmus Labs and freeing Superboy, the clone of Superman, from his creators.

These sidekicks, though, are not the same characters from the comic. The Robin of the animated series is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, the youngest but most experienced member of the team, who has something of a chip on his shoulder about this at the beginning. Kid Flash, Wally West, replaces his cousin Impulse as team speedster; Waly has the patience of a speedster, always running off at the mouth and into danger. And the initial team is rounded out by Aqualad, but not Garth, the original sidekick of Aquaman. This Aqualad is a new character, Kaldur'ahm, with powers similar to Aquaman's wife, Mera, who controls water density. Versus the impetuous Kid Flash, and the overconfident Robin, Aqualad provides a voice of reason, and is a natural leader, taking command of The Team (as they are addressed by members of the Justice League). Superboy is recruited after he is freed from Cadmus, but has a hard time adjusting. He's spent his whole life being indoctrinated, doesn't trust anyone, and is prone to fits of rage.

Over the course of the first season of Young Justice, two additional characters were added to The Team. Miss Martian was introduced as Martian Manhunter's niece. She is friendly, warm, but not quite versed in human interactions. Artemis is introduced as Green Arrow's new sidekick after Speedy, his previous one, stormed off in the premiere, feeling he should be granted Justice League membership and not shuffled off to second string status. Artemis is quick witted and immediately begins shooting verbal barbs at Wally as accurate as her arrows. While other young heroes Zatanna, Red Arrow, and Rocket joined in the first season, these six were the principal cast, and the ones most fully developed by the creators.

The Team was assigned by Batman to be the covert ops arm of the Justice League, doing reconnaissance missions and attempting to ferret out a mysterious group that seemed to be manipulating various events to their benefit, and to do it in a way the more powerful and flashier Justice League cannot. But these secret missions reflected one of the core themes of the series: secrets, and the cost that they take on someone.

Throughout the first season, three of the principals each wrestled with a secret, ones that were used by The Light, the coalition of villains that were attempting to take control of Earth's destiny, to control the young heroes: Miss Martian is secretly a White Martian, Artemis is the daughter of supervillain Sportsmaster, and Superboy has been using chemical patches given to him by Lex Luthor to activate his full Kryptonian potential. Each of the heroes wrestles with how to reconcile these things, things that are true about them on a deep level, with who they want to be. This takes the typical issues teenagers have and writes them on a grand scale. In the end, only by trusting each other with their secrets, are the young heroes able to finally best The Light and save their mentors.

The creators of the show took a considerable gamble with the show's second season by jumping forward in time five years, and redubbing the show Young Justice: Invasion. Half of the original team are gone, and new members including Young Justice comic alums Wonder Girl and Tim Drake (now as Robin, since Dick Grayson has become Nightwing) have joined, along with other young heroes like Blue Beetle, Lagoon Boy, and Beast Boy. By the middle of the season, Impulse has appeared as well, and he's a great addition, proving just how patient Kid Flash was in comparison to the even more hyperactive speedster.

The second season dealt with the Light's alliance with a mysterious alien race. It starts out looking like they are at war with another race, the Kroloteans, for control of Earth, but the Krolotean subplot is resolved quickly, leaving The Team to deal with The Light and their allies, The Reach. The Reach, for those of you in the know, are the race that created the Blue Beetle scarab, so Blue Beetle becomes a central figure to this season's arc. The writers do an excellent job of writing Beetle, with Jaime Reyes being the newcomer/everyman figure who is still somewhat flabbergasted by the superhero world, and letting him be surprised by the same things the viewers are.

I don't want to give away too much about the second season, since it's really a big mystery story with tons of twists (heck, talking about The Reach was a pretty major spoiler), but the great pleasure of Young Justice is that I can talk about the characters, ones who are very well wrought, without spoiling too much plot. Another major arc of the season has to do with Miss Martian's expanding powers, and her use (and abuse) of them. This has driven a wedge in between her and Superboy, who were a couple in the first season. The abuse of power is a common theme in superhero comics, and it's explored really well in Miss Martian's story, as she has to learn that the ends don't always justify the means.

I also have to say that one of the great things about this show, and something that neither Justice League or Teen Titans were able to do due to licences, is to have The Team interact regularly with the Justice League, and even with members of the Justice Society a couple times. This not only gives the universe of the show a much more lived in feel, but it opens up avenues of plot that wouldn't be available otherwise. Seeing Robin interact with Batman, and how different that is than how he interacts with his teammates, makes him a more well rounded character. With Aquaman around, you can really open Atlantis up for plotlines. And Superboy's issues with being a clone of Superman are made more interesting by allowing him to interact with Superman.

This also means that a full slate of DC Universe villains are available. Not only is Deathstroke, enemy of Titans and pretty much all young heroes, able to appear, but The Light can include The Brain (Teen Titans), Lex Luthor (Superman), Ra's al Ghul (Batman), Vandal Savage (Flash), Queen Bee (Justice League), Black Manta (Aquaman), and Klarion (Etrigan the Demon). There can be an Injustice League with the Joker (voiced creepily by Brent Spiner) and hints of Intergang and the New Gods. Part of me would have loved a Justice League series set in the same world with the same sort of interconnectivity.

The thing that has made Young Justice as good a show as it is, aside from its stellar animation, is its strong writing. The plots never spoke down to their audience, and were intricate. Events that happened at the beginning of a season would pay off at the end. Some episodes were written by Peter David, including an intense Halloween episode featuring Secret and her evil brother, Harm, and the episode that introduced Impulse. I chalk a lot of this up to the fact that one of the show runners was Greg Weisman. Weisman is probably best known as creator of Gargoyles, probably my second favorite cartoon series of all time, right behind Batman: The Animated Series. Someday, I'll probably write something up on Gargoyles, as there have been a couple tie-in comics. Weisman's work is known for its intellect and its maturity, and, in my opinion, the fact that it ends prematurely. He's like the Bryan Fuller of the animated world (he was also exec producer on the under appreciated Spectacular Spider-Man series, also cancelled prematurely after two seasons).

And this weekend, it comes to an end. I know there's been a lot of fan uproar, with petitions and letter writing campaigns, and that's great, and it shows how many people loved the show, but the reason the show ended wasn't because no one liked it: it was because of money. The toy line for the series, the bread and butter for animation targeted at younger audiences, as a failure, and that is the death knell for shows like this. So, I plan on buying the most recent DVD set this Saturday on Amazon during the series finale. If anyone out there who is reading this loves Young Justice too, think about doing that. If the news of the past day or so about Veronica Mars (another show I loved) proves anything, it's that studios listen when there's money involved. And believe me, if you like DC Comics, teen heroes, or good animation, this is a show well worth trying out.

The entirety of the first season of Young Justice is available on DVD in two sets: Young Justice: Season One Volumes 1,2,& 3 (these were originally released as three single disks, now collected), and Young Justice: Dangerous Secrets. The first half of season two is also available as Young Justice: Invasion- Destiny Calling. There was also a tie-in comic, which I have reviewed in the past, written mostly by writers connected with the show. Currently there are three volumes available, with a fourth and final one due out later this year.

 

Things to Look Forward to in 2013

It seems I have failed as a comic book blogger, since I am probably the only one to not do a, "Best of 2012" post. That doesn't mean I can't do a, "looking good in 2013," post, so that's what I'm going to do. So, in no particular order, here are some of the comics and comic media related projects that I am very excited about in the coming year.

The return of Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Ok, this is the gimme of gimmes among many comic book fans. I haven't walked much about Sandman or my love of Neil Gaiman on this blog simply because very few people need to be told that they should read it; it's a major part of the comic book landscape, up there with Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. But the idea of new Sandman, of Sandman with art by J.H. Williams III, whose work on Batwoman has been nothing less then stunning, well this is something that should be cried to the heavens with joy. Set before the original series starts, I'd think this would be a good place for people who have never read Sandman to start and see exactly what all the hullabaloo is about. As someone who has all of Sandman in single, trade, absolute, and annotated, the idea of a new story featuring Dream of the Endless is the closest to complete comics nirvana as I can imagine.

Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark

Gotham Central is one of the great gems that DC Comics has produced in the past decade (boy, sounds like something you might be getting a recommended reading about shortly...). Greg Rucka (and co-writer Ed Brubaker) is a master of crime stories, whose work on the Bat titles had me excited for this gritty cops in Gotham story, and artist Michael Lark, whose work on an arc of Sandman: Mystery Theatre had grabbed my attention, seemed a perfect fit. And I was right. Since then, Rucka and Lark have worked together a few times, including winning an Eisner for best Short Story, this is their first creator owned project together. Lazarus will be coming from Image Comics, and is a science fiction series set in a dystopian future where the wealthy families rule. Endeavor Carlyle, the lead, is the enforcer/strategist/security chief for her family, but learns a truth that puts her at odds with her family and society as a whole. In interviews, Rucka and Lark have said they are building a whole world from scratch, really designing everything. Combining my love of Greg Rucka's strong characterization, Michael Lark's gritty art, and world building? Sold.

The Wake by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy

While details about this project remains pretty sketchy, new Scott Snyder horror is always something I look forward to. Combine an element of sci-fi, and you have my curiosity more than piqued. The only details that I've found are that the story begins with, "single, terrifying discovery at the bottom of the ocean." Include art from Sean Murphy, whose work on Joe the Barbarian I loved, whose Punk Rock Jesus is a book that slipped under my radar and a trade I'm dying for, and who teamed up with Snyder for one of the excellent American Vampire mini-series, and you have a book that should appeal to all horror and sci-fi comic fans.

Scott Snyder's Riddler in Batman

In my review of Batman #15, I spoke about how impressed I was about Scott Snyder's take on the Riddler. His Riddler struck me as someone smart enough to actually challenge Batman. And I'm hoping the next major arc on Batman after "Death of the Family" will prove me right. Snyder has done a great job creating new villains and presenting old villains in new ways in his work on Batman and Detective Comics; the Court of Owls and new Owlman are the breakout villains of the New 52, and James Gordon Jr. is a tremendously creepy character, and his vision of the Joker is unique and frightening. For years now, Riddler has either been a non-threat, the kind of villain who is trotted out just because he's a name, been made "edgy," as in "Hush," or been reformed, as in the great stories of Riddler, Private Eye during Paul Dini's run on Detective. I'm hoping this new vision of the Riddler finds a way to make Riddler a marquee Bat villain again. If anyone can do it, I think Snyder can.

New Star Wars: Legacy

The Legacy era of Star Wars, set over a century after the original trilogy, is a favorite era of mine. It's a little darker, but still has great characters, and builds off of all the Expanded Universe works that have come before it. I wrote a recommended reading for the original series of Star Wars: Legacy and while this new series is not from original creators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, I see a lot of potential. From Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, the creators of some recent well received Planet of the Apes comics, Star Wars: Legacy - Prisoner of the Floating World follows a new character, Ania Solo, the great great granddaughter of Han and Leia. She get herself into trouble, and is marked for death, so basically is following along in the family business. The story is set after the final adventures of Cade Skywalker in the original Legacy series, so we'll see the galaxy move further away from the Sith-Imperial War, but that's not to say we won't see any Sith or Jedi. Bechko and Hardman have some pretty big shoes to fill here, but I'm more than willing to try out some new characters making their way through the Star Wars universe.

The Man of Steel

I will always admit a pro-DC bias, and I am also definitely looking forward to Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, but the superhero film I'm most curious about is The Man of Steel, the reboot of the Superman franchise. After the lackluster Superman Returns, the world's first superhero has been away from the big screen. I will admit to being worried after seeing the initial teaser, as there was no Superman in a Superman movie teaser, but the first real trailer was much more interesting. Some great flying scenes, some cool looking Kryptonian vehicles, action, and no hide nor -lack-of-hair of Lex Luthor. I swear, not every Batman movie needs Joker; the same should be with Lex and Superman. I do admit that I feel we could skip the origin of Superman as it is so well known, but I do like the idea of watching Clark Kent make the decision to become Superman; it worked in Batman Begins for Batman, why not for Superman?

Young Justice Returns and Young Justice: Legacy

So, this one has already started, but I'm still including it here. After the unceremonious disappearance from the airwaves of DC Nation in October, I was worried I'd never see more Young Justice, no matter what Cartoon Network said. But as of this past Saturday, the series was back, and in as fine form as ever. There's an Animated Discussions post about Young Justice upcoming, about how it serves as the inheritor to many of the themes of the pre-New 52 DC Universe, but beyond that, it is just the best looking, best paced, and best characterized action cartoon on TV right now. And not only will we get the last half of season two, and I'm holding out hope for the announcement of a season three, but next month we get Young Justice: Legacy, a video game written by the show's writers taking place in the five year gap between the two seasons. I'm not a big video game person, but I'll be picking this one up right away for a little more story from this particular version of the DC Universe.

Year of Atomic Robo

A post on Comic Book Resource's Robot Six blog detailing the 2013 plans for Atomic Robo got me very excited. First and foremost, this year's mini-series is Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur! So, while Dr. D won't be in this year's Free Comic Book Day issue, he'll be in an entire mini! And he'll probably be bringing crystals! Also, the next arc of Real Science Adventures focuses on the Centurions of Science, Tesla's team of scientists and luminaries, similar to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with real people, like Harry Houdini and Annie Oakley. I love that sort of revisionist history, and Tesla just lends himself to it. And to top it all off, we'll also see the debut of the Atomic Robo Roleplaying Game from Evil Hat Productions, creators of the award winning and awesome Dresden Files Roleplaying Game. Now you too can live the dream of being a member of Atomic Robo's Tesladyne team, and who wouldn't want to do that?

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 10/17

Star Wars: Agent of the Empre- Hard Targets #1
Story: John Ostrander
Art: Davide Fabbri

John Ostrander returns to the Star Wars universe with another tale of Jahan Cross, Agent of the Empire. The first Agent of the Empire mini-series was a great spy romp, following Cross as he got involved in a plot to use droids across the galaxy to conquer civilization. This time, the story seems more personal, as he will be working in some backstage political intrigue that will make him cross paths with his estranged father. But that's in the future of the series. This issue was an action packed romp that got readers who might not know Cross up to speed on who he is: the Empire's answer to James Bond. Set prior to the events of A New Hope, Cross attends a party on Alderaan, where he meets movie characters like Bail Organa and Princess Leia, and classic EU characters like Leia's best friend, Winter. With the appearance of the current Count Dooku, the nephew of the Prequel Trilogy villain, intrigue kicks into high gear. By the end of the issue, an assassination has occurred, and Cross has returned to Coruscant, where conversations with Armand Isard, head of Imperial Intelligence, and his daughter (and major villain of the Rogue Squadron comics and novels) Ysanne, begin to shake some of Cross's confidence in the Empire's beneficence. I've always said that the noble Imperial is a favorite Star Wars archetype of mine, and I feel Jahan Cross is a good addition to the ranks. Oh, and did I forget to mention the opening scene is a flashforward of Cross fighting Boba Fett? Yeah, you know that's not going to end well for someone.

X-Factor #245
Story: Peter David
Art: Leonard Kirk

With the final chapter of "Breaking Points," long time X-Factor writer Peter David sets the book off on its new course. Now, what exactly the new course is, I'm not sure yet, but hey, Peter David hasn't steered me wrong yet. "Breaking Points" has seen the rather large cast of X-Factor paired down slightly, and some characters, both those left behind and those not on the scene, changed. This issue really focuses on Havok, and gets him from the point he has been at in this series, as the soemwhat flustered co-leader of the team, to the point where he is in joining the Uncanny Avengers team. Much of the issue is a conversation between first Havok and Madrox, and then Havok and Polaris. Havok is confronted with a lot of the baggage he carries, especially in regards to his brother, Cyclops, and all that has happened with Cyclops over the course of Avengers Vs. X-Men. There is a poignant scene, where Havok and Polaris finally come to terms with their somewhat strained relationship, and although Madrox is clearly one of Peter David's babies, and Havok is a character that he might not have the same attachment to, he gives him a great sendoff with some dignity. Of course, that dignity is then somewhat undermined with the comedy stylings of Pip the Troll and a going away... present from many of his teammates. Aside from Havok, there is a major change ins status quo for Madrox and Layla, a new costume for Polaris, and Madrox actually putting his foot down versus his usual indecisive personality. Character is where Peter David's writing has always shined, and this issue is another great example of why X-Factor is one of the best books on the racks.

Young Justice #21
Story: Greg Wesiman
Art: Christopher Jones

With the animated series unfortunately on hiatus, it seems that I'll have to get my Young Justice fix in the comics. And fortunately, the comic series is as good as the show, with the stories intertwined as untold tales, and written by showrunner, series writer, and Gargoyles creator Greg Wesiman. This is the second part of a six part arc, taking place mostly about a month before the beginning of the season two "Invasion" storyline, but flashing back to five years earlier, about a month before the end of season one. In the present, many heroes and villains have been teleported off Earth by Brainiac, making his Young Justice debut, while much of the team is divided on separate missions: Nightwing and Wonder Girl are recruiting Blue Beetle, while most of the rest of the team is protecting the new leader of Qurac from possible attacks from Queen Bee. The issue does a great job of juggling all the plotlines, and still allowing the characters room to breathe. This doesn't feel like a Superboy trapped in space comic with a Miss Martian subplot, or a Nightwing recruiting a hero with a Batgirl subplot; it feels like a comic featuring the whole team. If you're going through Young Justice withdrawal like I am, you should check out the comic. Hopefully it will get us through to January...

A Busy Week for Comics on TV

So, this past week we saw the debut of two TV series (one a series premiere, one a season premiere).

I thought season two of The Walking Dead was not as strong as the first one. What should have been one arc in a season with multiple acts took up much of the season with very little payoff. And I think the series, and new showrunner Glen Mazzara, wanted to address that right off the bat. The teaser for the debut episode, "Seed" was silent, with the survivors making their way through a house, killing some walkers (although in all fairness since they're already dead, I don't know if there's a better term then killing), and digging for supplies. There's no excessive talking here, no hemming and hawing; it's all action. And I think the destroyed walker count in this one episode exceeds the entirety of last season.

Not to say that the whole episode is action. There's still the strife in the Grimes family, with Lori unsure about where she stands with her husband and son. Daryl continues to walk along the outskirts of the group, taking part in the action but not in the day to day life. Rick is acting like a leader, giving orders and holding the responsibility close to him. And, hey, even T-Dog is doing stuff. The episode felt balanced, giving something for all the members of the cast something to do.

The prison is an excellent place for the survivors to go, with its high walls and strong defenses, and has a creepy air that works well for a zombie story. As the survivors attempt to clear the prison of its dead inhabitants, the darkness and winding corridors add a level of claustrophobia and intensity that you didn't get in the more open expanses of the farm.

The highlight of the episode for me was the first full appearance by Michonne, the sword wielding zombie killer played by Danai Gurira. She only had a couple scenes, but her sword play and total badassery made me happy. Michonne has been a favorite of mine in the comic for a long time, and she has been translated to the screen perfectly. Her scenes with Andrea show her to be caring as well as a hardcore killer, and she walks around with chained zombies, so I couldn't ask for more.

As for where I feel the season is going, well I doubt I could be happier. The appearance of the prisoners makes me a little nervous about the expanding cast size, but we'll see where that goes. Seems like Herschel will be picking up some of the plotlines that were left in the void by the early death of Dale, and I like how tough Maggie is getting; it seems she might be picking up some of the tough female character quotient left by Andrea not being as tough as she is in the comic.  Michonne and Andrea are looking like they/re going to be running into the Governor and Woodbury first, so I'm curious to see where they go and how they meet up with the rest of the survivors again. This was a good episode with a lot of promise; I hope the series continues on this path.

I admit to going in to Arrow, the new series featuring Green Arrow, with a bit of trepidation. Superheroes and TV don't always translate. And while at times Smallville, the CW's previous DC Comics adaptation flew like Superman through the skies, there were times it moved much more slowly and felt like a show that would be on the same network as Gossip Girl and 90210; lots of angst and not a lot of superheroics. I also know Green Arrow can often be presented as Batman-lite, and frankly he was in his early days in comics; he had an Arrowcar and Arrowcave, for pete's sake!

Fortunately, the series premiere did a lot to alleviate those fears. The pilot if both full of action, good character beats, and some knowing winks to the comic reading audience. The pilot starts out with Oliver Queen, the man who will become Green Arrow, being saved from the island he has been stranded on for the past five years. He returns to Starling City, where he begins taking up his quest to right the wrongs of his corrupt mogul father by taking out a list of men who are equally corrupt. He's not the same bleeding heart liberal he is in the comics, but he is looking out for the little guy.

Stephen Amell does an excellent job as both Oliver Queen and his mysterious alter ego, who does not have a name in the series yet. He plays the cocky, arrogant rich guy one moment, and the intense vigilante the next. It's interesting that the series creators chose to give him a family, a mother and sister. This does a nice job of separating him from Batman. He is not an orphan, but has these connections that give him something else to fight for. Whoever Amell's stunt double is also does an impressive job. The way he moves and the way he fights aren't like you usually see among TV and movie superheroes. His movement over rooftop isn't acrobatic, but more like an animal stalking it's prey, moving on all fours, and his fighting style involves arms and legs, choking out his enemies instead of trying to knock them unconscious with fists.

The other members of the cast also do an impressive job. Oliver's mother and sister, played by Susanna Thompson and Willa Holland respectively, both have their rich affectations but are hiding secrets. Colin Donnell plays Tommy Merlyn, Ollie's ne'er do well best friend. He seems like a wastrel, and something of a slick operator, but comic fans will recognize his last name and know that he has a future in villainy. But the highlights of the supporting cast are the Lance family. Laurel Lance, Ollie's once and probably future girlfriend is played by Katie Cassidy, of Supernatural and Harper's Island fame. Here, she is a crusading attorney working for legal aid. She serves as a voice the down to earth and the common man in Ollie's world of privilege. She doesn't take any of Ollie's arrogance, and puts him in his place, even though she doesn't realize most of it is an act. Hopefully, we'll watch her transition into her own heroic identity before the series is over. Her father, Detective Quentin Lance, is a tough cop who seems to be a good cop in a corrupt town who also has his problems with the rich Queen family. He is played ably by Paul Blackthorne, a favorite actor of mine best known for playing Harry Dresden on the shirt lived television adaptation of The Dresden Files.

There were several clever references for the DC buff to pick up beyond Merlyn's appearance. On the island where Ollie is found, a mask that belongs to Deathstroke the Terminator is seen. The head of security of Ollie's target is Dracon, a villain created by Judd Winick during his run on the comic series. And two incidental characters are named Diggle and Grell after creators who have a history with Green Arrow in the comics.

I was interested to see that the creators of the show have no problem with having Ollie take the life of a villain. Ollie snaps the neck of a thug who discovers the new uncanny physical skills he picked up on the island, and he seems to have no problem slinging arrows that seem to put goons down for good. The comic Ollie isn't a killer, and the couple times he has killed have taken their toll on him. However, I accept that this works within the world of the show; the Oliver who came off that island is a predator hunting game that is deadly. He feels he needs to put them down before they do the same to him and others. How this will affect him, and his perception by the public and the police, is something I hope the series addresses.

All in all, I think Arrow has some promise. There are some mysteries laid out that I'm looking forward to seeing payoff, and the cast does a good job. We'll have to wait and see if the series winds up going on for years like Smallville, or folding like Birds of Prey did after a short time. Early signs point to a longer run, and I will be staying tuned for it.

On a final note, this past weekend, Cartoon Network decided to preempt it's DC Nation block of cartoons in favor of reruns of other cartoons. Until January. Young Justice, part of that block, is probably the best action cartoon on TV today, and the successor to the great Timmverse DC Comics cartoons of the 90s and early 00s. I would suggest if you are a fan, to tweet @cartoonnetwork with the hashtag #DCNation to let your voice be heard. I know, serious first world problem here, but still, you don't stand between a man and his cartoons.