Batgirl Annual #3 - Part 1

Since this issue of Batgirl is a bit long, I'll be splitting it up into 4 parts. I was only expecting there to be one crossover with one other book, which is Grayson, but it actually crosses over with 3 other issues that DC comics has. Seeing all the writers and artist from every issue, that are featured in Batgirl, working together and creating a very special issue of Batgirl is amazing. It's something new to me that I haven't seen before in any of the comic books I've read before.

At first, the only reason I picked up Batgirl Annual #3 was because Dick Grayson, the first boy wonder now turned spy, was going to make an appearance. I knew it was going to be a good issue but once I read it, I couldn't stop reading it over and over again. It was that good.

The story starts out with Barbara aka Batgirl saving someone from getting ran over. It turned out that the guy she saved had lost his memory. Babs (Barbara) then took a picture of the man and sent it to Frankie, Babs friend who helps her when she's out fighting crime. Frankie finds out that the man went missing a couple of days ago and is the president of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. He, along with four other diplomats went missing. Frankie found video of him wandering around the Gotham Docklands so Babs decided to check it out to see if she can find the other missing diplomats. Once she arrives, she is shot by an arrow that almost hits her. The person who almost shot her turns out to be an agent of Spyral who told Babs to call her Director. They both went there with there for different reasons but soon figure out that they could be related. They decide to team up and help each other out. We then see the Director communicating with Dick Grayson. Now a little background story about Grayson. Everyone in the Bat Family (Batman, Barbara, etc.) found out that Grayson aka Nightwing was murdered after his enemies found out his real identity. Turns out, he's not really dead. Dick faked his death and then decided to work behind the shadows and work with Spyral, a covert intelligence agency.The Director tells Dick that he's ex-girlfriend is here (Long story about how that happened). Since he's supposed to be dead, he can't let Babs see him. He decides to stay ahead of them and keep away from Babs.

Grayson beat up the enemy before the girls got to them

 Babs asks the Director if she brought someone with her and she admits to having back up. The girls continue to fight their way through when Babs and Dick almost have a close encounter.

But is cut short when the Director yells out to Babs and they continue on their mission.
The Director tells Babs to go on ahead because she wants to talk to Dick so Babs goes on to find where the diplomats were hidden. The Director meets up with Dick who is upset that he lost his lead to keep away from Babs.
Babs opens the door to where the diplomats are hidden and finds them hooked up to some sort of machine but they aren't alone. There's a woman with white hair behind some sort of control panel. The woman then turns around to find Babs at the door way and proceeds to type something into the computer before running away. She had planted a bomb. Babs catches her and the woman tells Babs that she can either save the diplomats or capture her. Babs then makes the decision to save the diplomats until she is interrupted.

A man with white hair and beard shows up and calls himself Christian Kröger or also "Agent Backup" as Babs calls him. The Director tries to stop the bomb but she can't so all three of them grab the diplomats and jump.
After saving the diplomats, a helicopter shows up for the mysterious Christian guy and the Director.
After exchanging information, they both hop in the helicopter when Babs notices something.

Inside joke 

Once on the plane the mysterious guy turns out to be Dick Grayson turns off the device that gave him the disguise. The panel above is an on going joke about Grayson's butt (long story). When Babs sees that, she starts to think about Dick (Reminder that she believes he is dead.)

And with that, the Grayson part of the story ends and next starts the Catwoman part of the issue.

National Comic Book Day and Batman Day

NASA recently announced that Mars has water on the planet. Many comic book fans on the internet decided to "celebrate" and have fun with the news by posting photos of Martian Manhunter, a DC Comics superhero who is from Mars and was the last survivor of his race when he came to earth and joined the Justice League. Manhunter, also known as J'onn J'onzz, was part of the Justice League cartoon and also the Young Justice cartoon.

Photo from @dccomics on Instagram

 National Comic Book Day is celebrated on September 25th every year. Some people get it confused with Free Comic Book Day which is celebrated on the first Saturday of May. On Free Comic Book Day, many comic stores give out free comics from publishers like DC, Marvel, Darkhorse and more. A lot of people also tend to dress up as their favorite heroes when they go out to the stores. National Comic Book Day is not celebrated as much as Free Comic Book Day. Many people just go to their local comic store and purchase some comics.

National Comic Book may have not been celebrated by many but Batman Day certainly was. Many Batman fans, new and old, put on their favorite Batman themed shirt and went out to celebrate in different ways. Whether it was going to their local comic store and picking up some free goodies that were being handed out or watching the old cartoon series, many were enjoying the day. Unfortunately, I was not able to celebrate Batman day like I did last year when Batman had his 75th anniversary because of work (Cons of being an adult) but after work I was able to put on my Batman shirt and enjoy my time by relaxing.

Many comic shops also give out free comics for Halloween ComicFest which is coming up October 31t. The shops also offer mini comic packs for people to give out to trick-or-treaters. So head out to your local comic store and take advantage of the free comics but also purchase some other comics.

Comic News of the Week

Happy National Comic Book Day!
It's a wonderful day to head to your local comic book store, pick up a book and read up on this weeks comic news.

In honor of Batman Day tomorrow, DC will be releasing 'Batman: The Animated Series' limited vinyl box set for the music from the beloved Batman series .

It's a very cool item for someone to add to their collection and show off their love of the animated show. Preorder for the box set will begin on November 18th and will be sold at $225. I'm expecting these to sell out very quickly because of how popular the show was.

In other Batman news, more covers for The Dark Knight III have been released. TDK III is the third part of Frank Miller's very popular  Dark Knight Trilogy. Love seeing all these amazing covers that artist and even comic book stores created.

(Left) By Artgerm (Right) By Ivan Reis

A live action DC Comics show, Titans (based on the Teen Titans), that was announced last year, has been fairly quiet meaning that nothing has been announced in terms of cast or when they'll start filming which makes you wonder if the show will still even be made but recently it someone close to the project revealed that the show is still in development. I hope they get the ball rolling on this show soon. From what the rumors say about which characters will be a part of the show, it already sounds like it'll be an amazing show.

Marvel's new Netflix series, Jessica Jones, just released a teaser trailer of the show. Assuming from how well Daredevil did, I believe that this new Marvel show will do really well. You can check out the trailer here. 

sources:

comicbook.com

@superherofeed

Dawn of the Superhero movies

For the next couple of years, there will be new superhero movies every year. This is the first time anyone has seen this many comic book related movies being released within the span of a few years. Many comic book fans including myself are very excited to be seeing our favorite characters come to life on the big screen.
We've already seen characters like Batman and the Fantastic Four in movies but never before in these new movies coming out.
We will also be getting movies of characters that never gotten a movie before but deserved to be on the big screen like Wonder Woman, Black Panther and others.
Two of the most anticipated movies of 2016 are Batman vs Superman and Civil War


Batman vs Superman, like I've said before, is going to be very different from the other DC movies we've seen in the past. We will not only be seeing Superman and Batman on the same screen but also other members of the justice league like Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman. This movie will basically be setting up the Justice League which of course is hinted at by the title Dawn of Justice.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Zack Snyder did with this movie and how it will basically launch the DC Cinematic Universe. It will also be very interesting to see how they will separate their movie universe  from their TV Universe. It will be something we haven't seen before and will be way different from what Marvel does with their shared universe.
Speaking of Marvel, Civil War will definitely be a great movie. I don't think it'll be greater than BvS but it will still be good.
There will be a lot of characters that we all know from the other Marvel movies but there will also be new characters introduced into the movie like Black Panther and Spider-Man whom Marvel recently got the rights back for the character from Fox. There are also a lot of concerns as to how the movie will be able to fit all of the characters that will be in the movie within the span of about 2-3 hours. It probably won't be easy but regardless, it will be exciting to watch.

Looking at the movie slate will always put a big smile on my face because this is what many comic book fans have been looking forward to.

Black Canary #1

Black Canary is another one of my favorite characters in the DC universe. Dinah Lance (Black Canary's real name) is a well known character in the Justice League. She's been part of the Birds of Prey for a long time along with Oracle (Barbara Gordon) and Huntress(Helena Bertinelli) the original team.
The tv show the Arrow also uses Canary's character on the show because of the past Dinah and Oliver (main character of the show) share in the comics.
One of her abilities is the Canary Cry which is very powerful.
The reason I brought up her Canary Cry is because in her new comic by writer Brenden Fletcher and artist Annie Wu, Dinah is the new singer of the Black Canary band.


When I heard they were making this new series, I was very excited because they were combining to of my favorite things, music and comics. That was enough for me to put this series on my pull list plus seeing Wu's art panels was definitely a plus.

Dinah joined the band to forget about her past, even saying her name is D.D., and earn money but it's not easy when trouble follows you everywhere you go.
In the beginning we see that Dinah  fights a group of thugs that harassed a group of ladies. It seems like fighting is a reoccurring thing at the Black Canary shows.

The next show the ladies play, Dinah wants to tone down the violence.



The show starts and so far it's going well for the band but while they were on their fifth song, that's when trouble struck.

The moment Dinah looked at them, she knew they were trouble

Dinah told the fans to exit the venue as fast as they could. Then the fun starts.

Dinah fighting with the enemy

 Once Dinah got them cornered, she turned to her band mates and said "I'm so sorry", and used her Canary Cry to trap the enemy.
Dinah thought they were after because of her ties to the Justice League but they weren't after her. They after one of Dinah's quiet, young bandmates, Ditto.
Knowing it'll be to dangerous to continue on with the band and trying to keep everyone safe, Dinah wanted them to disband but her bandmates were able to change her mind. Dinah then decided to train them so they could be able to save themselves.
They then ride off to the next show.


I definitely recommend picking up the issue. It's been great so far and it'll be interesting to see why those people were after one of Dinah's bandmates.

Comic News This Week

TGIF! It's been a long week but it's finally Friday and now we can relax and catch up on some comic book related news.

Starting off with some news about the Gambit movie.
Back in July, there was a rumor that Channing Tatum was reportedly leaving the project but there was no explanation as to why he was leaving it. I was very surprised to hear about this because like Ryan Reynolds did with Deadpool, Channing was pushing for this movie to be made. Later on, it was said that Channing wasn't leaving the project and it was made up. The reason I brought this old news back is because the director of the movie, Rupert Wyatt, is leaving the project. The movie is set to release next year in October but with the director leaving, who knows if the movie will even still be made.

In other sad news, DC comics decided to cancel 8 of their ongoing titles which include Justice League United, Gotham By Midnight, The Omega Men, Lobo, Batman ' 66, Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman, Bizarro and Bat-Mite. I was shocked to hear that Sensation Comics with Wonder Woman and The Omega Men were going to end because they seem to be very popular series but not popular enough to keep them going.
Fans of The Omega Men were able to get DC to end the series with 12 issues instead of 7.

Booster Gold (Left) Blue Beetle (Right)

One of the very exciting news this week was that a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle movie was in the works by Greg Berlanti who is also in charge of DC TV shows Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl. Both Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are very interesting characters and I would love to see them in a live action movie. They both were in animated DC shows and are known for their great friendship.


Other exciting movie news was that Tomb Raider will be getting a reboot and some big name directors are being looked at to be in charge of the film. These high profile directors include Kathryn Bigelow(The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) , Catherine Hardwicke(Twilight, Lords of Dogtown)  and Mimi Leder(The Peacemaker, Thick as Thieves). Hearing that these three ladies might be the potential directors to a new Tomb Raider movie is incredible because they're all wonderful directors and there aren't a lot of well known female directors in the industry.

Sources:
comicbook.com
@Superherofeed 

Deadpool movie

During Comic-Con in July of 2014, test footage of the Deadpool movie that was once presumed "dead"(not happening anymore) was leaked to the internet and everyone went crazy.
Fox desperately tried to take down the video but by the time they were able to take most of them down, many fans had watched the video already. After that many fans rallied to get the movie to go into production again by starting petitions, tweeting at 20th Century Fox, and even Ryan Reynolds who played the "Merc with a Mouth" in the test footage joined in on getting the project back on board. Reynolds has played Wade Wilson (Deadpool's actual name) before in X-Men Origins. 

Fox finally gave in and decided to give the fans what they wanted which was that the Deadpool movie will finally get made and hit theaters February 12, 2016.

Official photo of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

After hearing the news, many comic book fans were ecstatic but were faced with another problem that could affect who was able to watch the movie. The problem was that whether the Deadpool movie should be rated R or PG-13. A lot of fans knew that if the movie wasn't going to be rated R we wouldn't be getting the same Deadpool from the comics. After a lot of protests, it was announced that the movie will be getting an R rating instead of PG-13 which is a first in Superhero movies as stated by EW.com.

I, along with many others will be looking forward to this movie because it will different from the other superhero movies that have been made before.


Sources:
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/02/deadpool-ryan-reynolds-comic-con
http://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-comic-con-trailer-leaks-2015-7
http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/deadpool/237794/deadpool-movie-test-footage-leaks-is-perfect
Comicbook.com
@superherofeed on twitter

Batgirl Futures End #1

If you know me, you'll know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Batman family, mostly those who took up the Batgirl mantle. So when I heard that one of my favorite writers, Gail Simone was going to be writing one last Batgirl story, I was ecstatic!



Batgirl Futures End #1 One Shot was written by the great Gail Simone and drawn by Javier Garron.
The story starts off two years later, after the last Batgirl issue, with Barbara Gordon (the 1st Batgirl) getting married. After the ceremony, Babs psychotic brother, James shows up and tells Babs new Husband that he had to jump off the building in order to save her. Babs tried to stop him but it was too late.
On the next panel we see that it's been five years since the incident and three girls who are part of a group called the League of Batgirls.


In the photo above is Cassandra Cain(Gold/Yellow suit), Stephanie Brown(Purple suit), and Tiffany Fox (Pink suit). They were defeating a group of thugs who were selling weapons.
After that we see Barbara as the leader of the group of Batgirls and recalling the past from what she did after the wedding incident because she knows who is in charge of the thugs who sold the weapons.
She had gone undercover and worked with many of Batman's foes to gather data on them and defeat them. We see that she asks Bane to teach her. For many years she trained under him and gained his trust until one day she walked away without him knowing.
Now back to the present. Babs asked the girls to come back to the cave when she got a call from her old teacher, Bane. He tells her that he has placed 6 bombs in crowded areas in Gotham and that he would detonate them if she didn't come and face him. Babs leaves the cave to go and find him.
Later on we see that the girls came back to the cave and find it empty. Then a video that Babs recorded before she left starts to play leaving the girls in tears.
In the next panel, Babs arrives at Bane's location and they start to talk. Then start to fight. While fighting Babs shares some very emotional things which leads to one of my favorite panels in the issue pictured down below.



She then proceeds to defeat Bane but as he falls, the detonator to the bomb slips from his hand but Tiffany comes in to save the day and catches the detonator. Cassandra, Stephanie, and Tiffany regroup with Barbara and share a group hug.


This was an amazing way to end Gail's Batgirl run but it made me want to see more of the League of Batgirls.

Comic News

It's been a very exciting week in comic news especially for fans of DC's TV universe, including me. 

Two of DC's shows, the Arrow and the Flash released trailers for their new upcoming seasons which will be premiering October 6th and 7th on the CW. Both of the trailers showed a lot of great action and funny scenes along with new costumes and characters in both shows. Another DC show that will be premiering next year is Legends of Tomorrow, which is a spin off from both the Arrow and the Flash, started filming for their two-hour pilot. They have also released the first official photo of Hawkman and Hawkgirl which can be seen down below. 

Personally, I really love the costumes for their characters and look forward to seeing how they will be introduced in the show.  

There's a rumor being reported involving the time period in which the Wonder Woman movie will be taking place. The film, which will start filming this November, is said to take place during World War 1. It will be interesting seeing how it will tie in with the other DC movies in the DCCU. 

Growing up with comics

Comics have been enjoyed by many people of different genders and ages since forever. They offer a sort of escape from reality but also deal with real life problems that people sometimes face each day. The amount of people reading comics are growing day by day especially with many of them being adapted into TV shows, movies, etc. There are a variety of comics out there for everyone. From superheros to Fantasy and even romance there's something for everyone to enjoy.

My love for comics started when I watched Bruce Timm's animated Justice League TV show. Ever since then, I fell in love with anything comic related. Seeing characters like Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl was amazing because there weren't a lot of characters like them back then that in some way inspire many young girls like me with how amazing they are. I wanted to learn about more characters like them so I started to read comics and watch more animated series on TV and now here I am today having met a lot of incredible people in the comic community through our love of comics. I hope to meet many more people.