Comic Review: DC Showcase Presents Batman Volume 6

I’ve long been a fan of DC Comics Showcase Presents line.  These inexpensive reprints of old comics in black and white allowed people like myself who enjoyed Silver Age comics to get a lot of issues without breaking the bank.  These stories were often written in an age where the average reader’s (and writer’s) knowledge of real world science may have been questionable, so pure imagination and outright silliness became the rule.  DC originally put out a volume every two weeks, often alternating between a well-known property (Superman, Green Lantern) and then a more obscure one (Metamorpho, Jonah Hex).

Sales must not have been too good, as over time volumes went on to come out once a month and then less.  I suspect that the sixth volume of Batman stories may be the last one.  I had ordered it from Amazon over a year ago when it finally showed up on my doorstep last February.  Having just finished it, I can review it.  And I will…after the cut.

Probably SPOILER-FREE, but these are 40+ year old comics, so, you know…

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Eight

I’ll admit I ran out of steam and interest with the release of Convergence #8.  It took me awhile to get around to completing my reading of the tie-ins, and it didn’t help they were some of the weaker tie-ins of the bunch.  Plus Secret Wars was full steam ahead over at Marvel and I was excited to move onto that.  As such, this final post on DC’s big early summer event got lost in the shuffle.

But since I am contractually obligated to finish these posts, I’ll make a very late attempt to clue things up after the break.

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of:

Week One: Part One, Part Two
Week Two: Part One, Part Two
Week Three:Part One, Part Two
Week Four:Part One, Part Two
Week Five: Part One, Part Two
Week Six: Part One, Part Two
Week Seven: Part One, Part Two

Read on for Week Eight spoilers after the break for Convergence #8, Convergence Action Comics #2, Convergence Detective Comics #2, Convergence Blue Beetle #2, Convergence Booster Gold #2, Convergence Crime Syndicate #2, Convergence Infinity Inc #2, Convergence Justice Society Of America #2, Convergence Plastic Man And The Freedom Fighters #2, Convergence Shazam #2 and Convergence World’s Finest Comics #2.

Where Does the Josh Trank Fantastic Four Movie Rank Against Other Superhero Flicks?

You’ve seen me praise the film in my review.  Jenny liked it as well in her review.  The critics combined score over at Rotten Tomatoes was another story.  But again, I feel they missed the boat on this one.

To illustrate how wrong I think the critics are on this one, I decided to examine exactly where Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four ranked relative to the other DC/Marvel superhero movies in the post-Iron Man and Dark Knight era.

My findings after the jump.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Four Part Two

No Aquaman cover this week, sorry Watson.

Well, I’m officially behind on Convergence.  We’re already into Week Five and I still haven’t finished Week Four.  Things aren’t going to get any better any time soon as Secret Wars kicks into gear and I’m off on special assignment for a week starting Sunday to investigate the non-geeky phenomenon known as golfing where it is warm because Canada and go frack yourself winter.  So hang in there with me, I’ll get all this stuff covered eventually…

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of:

Week One: Part One, Part Two
Week Two: Part One, Part Two
Week Three:Part One, Part Two
Week Four:Part One

Read on for Week Four spoilers after break for Convergence Crime Syndicate #1,  Convergence Infinity Inc #1, Convergence Justice Society Of America #1, Convergence Plastic Man And The Freedom Fighters #1 and Convergence World’s Finest Comics #1