Mid Ohio Comic Con

The babies and I jumped in the whip and headed out to Columbus, Ohio. Big up to Fearless Readers for the love and my folks from Vantage Inhouse Productions. We had a blast, enjoy the pics!



The Babies with a Red and Green Lantern.




we found a really dope Cad Bane




Someone came as Truth! I was geeked. He had a Double V shield.




This set was so dope with the Storm Trooper.




Here is the first cosplay we saw at the comic con! he was the Miles Morales Spiderman.



Only true heads need apply!

Static Shock

Written by Scott McDaniel & John Rozum
Pencilled by Jonathan Glapion and Le Beau Underwood

To be honest, I didn't think Static Shock would make the cut for DC's 52 line. It actually came out the first week and somehow I missed it. I don't think it sold well since I still see copies at the comic shops I frequent. I have to give DC props for this. They have several heroes of color in their line up. With Static Shock, they have injected two Milestone characters into the mix: Hardware and Static Shock.
I think that's real slick right there. I enjoyed Hardware during the Milestone days. I didn't see that coming as well.

Virgil Hawkins and his family move to NYC. While there, Hawkins works at S.T.A.R. Labs under the tutelage of Hardware. He is given access to new costumes, technology, and surveillance equipment to continue his fight against crime.

While the artwork is great, I found the story to be muddled. The reader is introduced to too many characters. In the first issue to much is just crammed in. While it is not poorly written, I find that more could have been done with less.

I look forward to seeing more Static Shock and seeing what DC does with it. I hope we see crossovers with other DC superheroes. Other than that, it's the usual Static Shock that his fans are used to. If that's what you want, then I think you should pick up this issue.

Blue Beetle #1

written by Tony Bedard
Pencils by Ig Guara

I never really knew anything about the Blue Beetle until I watched the "Batman: The Brave and Bold" series on Cartoon Network. Jaime Reyes is the teenager who inadvertently discovers the scarab costume/weapon and stumbles his way into the superhero community. I decided it would be a great idea to pick up the revamp.

The readers are introduced to the Reach, an intergalactic parasitic race that conquers worlds through the scarab proxies. One of the scarabs that is heading towards Earth is attacked by a Green Lantern but finds it's way to earth anyway where it crash lands somewhere in Mexico. Several hundred years later it is picked up by one criminal organization and intercepted by another organization headed by La Dama Amparo Cardenas. In this conflict between several super villains, Reyes encounters a scarab and becomes the Blue Beetle.

I think it was a great idea to introduce all of the villains in the 1st issue before Reyes becomes a hero. Bedard looks ready to set up the next set of issues this way. I know that DC will probably run into problems with the revamping of 52 titles when it comes to a smooth progression of a story but Bedard doesn't seem to have that problem here.

Guara's pencils are pretty good. Like most DC artists who draw and color the titles that don't sell as much, I am wholly unfamiliar with their work. I enjoyed Guara's facial expressions. Not too many comic book artists focus on facial expressions. This doesn't make Guara better than anyone but it sets him apart.

While what Bedard does isn't groundbreaking, I look forward to reading the next few issues of Blue Beetle. It would be good to see how Reyes deals with the scarab and the mess he has gotten himself into.