Graphic Novel Reviews: Throne of Atlantis - Aquaman 014-017 | Justice League 15-17

The Story

An accidental attack by United States Forces on Atlantis provokes an attack upon the surface by Orm and the forces of Atlantis. Aquaman and the Justice League try to both fight him off and reason with him, but they are captured and imprisoned in the trench where the flesh eating creatures from the beginning of Aquaman were trapped. There they discover that the creatures have been freed.

On the surface, the backup members of the Justice League fight of Atlantis, but it is the arrival of the main body of the Justice League that turns the tides. Aquaman sides with the surface, against his brother, and together the team manages to defeat Orm, and discover the true cause of the attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, Aquaman tries to keep control of Atlantis as its king, but both his own soldiers, and the people of the surface have no trust for him.

Cartoon Reviews: Young Justice

The Story
After being spurned by the Justice League, young sidekicks Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash form their own team. After discovering a clone of Superman in a secret genetics lab, they are formed into a Justice League sanctioned team. From there they are sent on covert missions by the league.

Over the course of the story they discover the existence of a league of villains only known as The Light. They deal with the aftermath of the many layered plots of this society, only to find themselves struggling to keep up before The Light can enter their endgame.

The majority of the episodes are standalone episodic, with an intertwining story connecting them. The format of each individual episode is the traditional format where each episode wraps up the important plot elements for that particular episode. This allows the viewer to be engaged in the series while also getting a complete experience every episode.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Earth 2 Issue 001

This month has seen the release of the second wave of New 52 titles. Among said titles are two books that finally answer my most pressing question, "Where the balls is Power Girl!?!?!" And while this book does not feature Kara in her Power Girl persona, it does introduce the character. But more on that in my review of World's Finest Issue 001.

The plot of this issue centers around an ongoing war against Darkseid's forces that has devastated the world. It is almost suggested that this is the aftermath of an invasion similar to the one in the first six issues of The Justice League. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman have a plan to take down the towers controlling the Para Demons, but it ends up costing all three of them their lives. Batman is able to take down the towers, and in the aftermath Helena (Robin) and Kara (Supergirl) end up going down a boom tube that takes them to places unknown (unless, of course, you read World's Finest). The rest of the issue focuses on the beginning of Jay Garrick's origin story.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Superman 001-007

What if Superman turned evil? That is basically the premise of the first seven issues. I haven't read any Superman before, but I'm pretty sure that's been done before. This series starts off well, with Superman and Lois not married, seriously DC, what is canon and what isn't canon anymore? Dick used to be Batman, so Final Crisis happened, but Clark and Lois are no longer married? Pretty sure that happened before Final Crisis, ah, whatever. I'll just settle for, DC doesn't know what is canon anymore.

Anyway, as I was saying, the series starts off well, focusing on Superman's personal conflict as Clark Kent, as the Daily Planet is bought up by a media company whose business practices Clark does not agree with. This is a perfect example of how to write drama with Superman. Most people's argument against Superman is that there's not drama in his stories because he's too powerful, and writers have to rely on kryptonite to power him down to a more relatable, vulnerable level.

Graphic Novel Reviews: Justice League 001-007

It would probably be more appropriate to review the first six issues, as they're the ones that have the unifying storyline, but since I decided to write all these while the first seven issues were out, I'm sticking to my guns. Basically Justice League is the story of how seven heroes fought against Darkseid's invasion, and despite conflicting personalities they were able to work together and save the world. Issue seven starts off a new storyline, but it continues the idea that there is friction between the group, which I like since it shows that it will take a lot for these strong personalities to gel together into a team.

The story starts with Batman and Green Lanter discovering evidence of alien activity in Gotham, and they go to find out if Superman, himself an alien, knows anything about the alien technology they found. But they arrive just as Superman is being attacked by the same aliens that attacked Batman and Green Lantern, and he assumes they are his enemies as well.