Batman ’66 #6 – Review

By: Tom Pever & Jeff Parker (story), Ty Templeton & Ted Naifeh (art), Tony Aviña (colors)

The Story: The evil Bookwork demonstrates the danger of reading.

The Review: Fun fact about me: I’m an addict for PBS kids’ shows.  I’m particularly fond of Wordgirl, which combines three of my favorite things into one show: superheroes, vocabulary, and self-aware humor.  One of its most endearing features is the supervillains, each of whom comes with his or her own gimmick which dictates their crimes.  Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy, for example, spends the bulk of his time harassing delis and grocery stores.

This might explain why I seem so inordinately entertained by the villains on this series.  Of course, it helps when the writer finds a way to spin what could otherwise be a rather predictable obsession.  Bookworm, for example, sets his sights beyond the library tomes for weirder, less expected targets.  At the suggestion that he’s out to steal Bruce’s ceremonial check for a literacy charity, Bookworm sneers, “I don’t want your giant check…I want your giant checkbook!”

Ame-Comi Girls #3 – Review

By: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (story), Ted Naifeh (art), Randy Mayor (colors)

The Story: It’s a battle decide who has the greatest fighting skills—and one-liners.

The Review: If you watch a lot of animated films, you grow to appreciate the craft into making those things, not only a purely technical level, but from the storytelling side of things as well.  Think about it.  You have these movies which have to be generally lighthearted and frothy throughout (‘cause it’s preferable not to traumatize the kids until they’ve grown up), yet they somehow manage to achieve some credible stakes as well.

That achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider how many comic book writers can’t manage to strike that balance.  Take this title.  At first, it seemed like Palmiotti-Gray wanted to deliver a purely entertaining series in the tradition of their Power Girl run.  Then you get to his issue, and it’s like they’ve changed their minds and want to inject some melodrama and cosmic plotting in the mix.