Isaac’s Book
Tiny Titans #3
Written by Art Baltazar and Franco
Art and cover by Art Baltazar
DC Comics, 2008
Tiny Titans is a sweet little comic. It consists of a series of short comics, of Archie length, following the Titans at school – Sidekick City Elementary. There is extreme cuteness involved here, so naturally the more jaded may wish to avert their eyes.
In “Zoology 101” Beast Boy keeps changing into a different animal every day, disrupting class, which frustrates the teacher more and more until… “An elephant!! Okay, Beast Boy! We get it! The joke’s over!” But it’s not Beast Boy. It’s actually just some random pink elephant. I think that’s pretty awesome.
One thing I find really odd is that the teachers at this school are all villains so far: Dr. Light is the science teacher (the guy who just yelled at Beast Boy) and Deathstroke is the principal. Did the guys writing feel a teacher is too negative a job to have a super hero fill the role? Not really a big deal, but there’ll be a bit of a shock when kids who’ve grown up reading this and watching the Teen Titans cartoons get to know the “real” villains from the comics.
There’s also a story called “Batcave Action Playset” where after agreeing to Alfred’s terms in regards to going to play in the batcave, Beast Boy’s elephant has to stay outside. The elephant is back! And when the rocket-packed penguins start flying all over the batcave and Aqualad asks why they have rocket packs, Robin just replies, “Oh, they’re the penguins from the movie.”
It’s very important, after all, to make sure those younger kids out there are aware of the Michael Keaton Batman movies.
Miles’ Book
Simon Dark #7
Written by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton
Art by Scott Hampton
DC Comics, 2008
The tagline of this issue seems a little funny: “Who can save Gotham City?” Well, the clear answer to that is Batman. Duh. That’s what Batman is for.
But I guess Batman is not in Gotham a lot anymore. I mean, he’s often off with the Justice League or the Outsiders or Superman (when they go on dates). Also, he doesn’t fight zombies a lot, so I guess it’s good to bring in an expert on parasites that cause fast zombies.
Anyway, I digress. This was a pretty good issue for a random comic. To be honest, not a lot happens in it for a new reader. The issue is mostly just about people getting infected by the aforementioned parasite and then attacking other people. There’s also some villain stuff and a bit of helpful cop-style exposition. You don’t see much of the title character, but from what you do see of him, he seems cool enough. I don’t know if I want to be friends with a guy whose face changes randomly, but that’s what you get when you buy a random book every week.
The real stand-out of the book is Scott Hampton’s artwork. His ink washes give a nicely dark feel without being too cheesy and his line work is really excellent. His characters look great and are nicely detailed. Also, he’s got some rather creepy zombies running around. So that’s always a good thing.
I don’t think Simon will be replacing old Bats anytime soon, but he’s a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
come on, how can no one mention that this review (for tiny titans) has COMPLETELY encapsulated the entire issue while mentioning elephants (pink) and rocket penguins at every opportunity?