Batman: The Animated Series Rises
I shared The Dark Knight Rises trailer with you yesterday, but damn if this Batman: The Animated Series version isn’t 300% more awesome. Very, very cool!
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July 2011
Captain America #1
- Title: Captain America #1
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Ed Brubaker
- Artist: Steve McNiven
Steve Rogers is back in action as Captain America as Marvel relaunches the title, again. It’s a good first issue getting Cap back in action and dealing with the death of an old friend (who honestly I thought had died decades ago), a dangerous mystery from his past, and appearances of both old friends and old enemies.
This first storyline focuses on a case from Captain America’s past in WWII and he’ll need the help of Nick Fury and Sharon Carter to help him track down an old associate of Cap’s (Codename: Bravo) who attempts to assassinate Dum Dum Dugan at Peggy Carter‘s funeral. But he’s only half the story, the other half involves an elderly man recently out of a coma who as a child help Cap’s covert team fight the Nazis.
We also get appearances from HYDRA and Baron Zemo who are in cahoots with Codename: Bravo. I understand where Brubaker is going here but every WWII hero that’s still alive and in top notch condition makes a Cap a little less special. It’s a good, though not great, first issue. Worth a look.
[Marvel, $3.99]
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The Lincoln Lawyer
- Title: The Lincoln Lawyer
- IMDB: link
Matthew McConaughey stars low rent defense attorney Mickey Haller who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car. According to Mickey, he’s never had an innocent client until a new case involving a spoiled rich playboy Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) comes his way.
Oh, Roulet isn’t innocent, far from it. He’s not only guilty of the charge of assaulting a prostitute (Adventureland‘s Margarita Levieva) but also the death of another woman (Yari Deleon) years before who Mickey’s previous client (Michael Peña) is serving time for on advice from his lawyer to cop a plea.
The realization causes Mickey guilt over not taking his previous client seriously as well as anger at Roulet who chose him specifically to not only shield himself from the previous crime but to mess with Mickey’s life. Now Mickey has a choice, expose Roulet and be disbarred for sharing privileged information with the police or do his job and get the smug son of a bitch off.
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Rango
- Title: Rango
- IMDB: link
A pet chameleon (Johnny Depp) with an overactive imagination finds himself separated from his owners and stranded in the desert. As a consequence of his wild tales (and an amazing amount of dumb luck) he soon finds himself elected sheriff of a small town with a water shortage. Under the name of Rango our hero sets out with a posse to solve the problem.
Rango is a quirky and beautifully rendered animated slapstick comedy that also, sadly, drags in places. And despite referencing everything from the westerns of Sergio Leone to Chinatown to Apocalypse Now, Rango isn’t nearly as original or smart as it wants to be.
The story plays out in predictable fashion. Part One – ill-suited protagonist is mistaken for hero. Part Two – hero is forced to admit lies. Part Three – liar is given a moment of illumination and learns his lesson. Part Four – liar returns and becomes a true hero he was destined to be all along. You’ve seen this story before, many, many times.
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Red Robin #25
- Title: Red Robin #25
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Fabian Nicieza
- Artist: Marcus To
There’s much to recommend in the second-to-last issue of Red Robin. We get an appearance by Cassandra Cain (the former Batgirl who has been absent from the DCU since Stephanie Brown took over the role) who helps stop the latest group of assassins from killing our hero, and attempts to “kill” him herself.
Aside from surviving the attack by the sister of Ra’s al Ghul and uncovering a mystery opponent behind all of the attacks on his life, Red Robin must also deal with the fallout of his lies to Tam Fox about her father, help out Cain take on a ten year-old martial arts genuis who wipes Hong Kong with both of them (I want more of this story).
The real shocker comes in issue’s final panels where we see Red Robin’s impressive new base of operations as well as learn that our hero has “assassinated Captain Boomerang.” Like most of DC’s current Bat-titles I’m sorry to see this one going away, but it looks like the final issue will be a doozy. Worth a look.
[DC, $2.99]