Toy Fair ‘18: Mezco Toyz Booth Sneak Peek Part 2!

Welcome to Part 2 of our sneak peek of Mezco Toyz upcoming One:12 figures.

Here we have the DC and Marvel figures to gush over. On the DC side, standouts include the Joker (comic book version), Darkseid, and Batman Beyond  Over on the Marvel side, you have 90's Cyclops, Spider-Man Homecoming, and a gorgeous Hela. Mezco has outdone themselves this year! Take a look, and be sure to tell us your must buys in the comments below!

DC Universe Reboot: Pros and Cons

The comic world is still flailing helplessly over the news that the entire DC Universe is going to be rebooted and upgraded. 

"We looked at what was going on in the marketplace and felt we really want to inject new life in our characters and line. This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today's audience."  

- Dan Didio, DC Comics co-publisher to USA Today

People are saying all sorts of responses, from the really good and excited to the psychotically angry. Personally, I am torn about this, so I'm going to look at this from all angles and see the Pros and Cons of this little endeavor.

Pros 

- Refreshing these characters that have been 

around forever may make them more 

appealing to the younger crowd. 

- Great way for new readers to jump into the DCU.  Definitely simpler than Marvel's Point One in a lot of ways.

- With less baggage, these characters can do all sorts of new and fun things.

- Character reboots happen all of the time, the only reason we are noticing now is because it is happening all at once.

- With the new stories as canon, the older DC books will raise in value. Now's the time to cash in!

Cons

- Great way to alienate current and loyal readers.

- These characters can't be changed too much anyway - everyone knows their origins!

- I read Batman Beyond, which is a fairly new series. Why dump something that just started? It doesn't even exist in current time DCU?!  Not to mention, what is my encouragement to keep reading if it is all changing in a few months?  

- One of the ways comic readers start is because a current comic reader shares a book that they enjoy. With everyone starting fresh, who is going to provide guidance and encouragement?

I'm sure that there are more reasons for or against the reboot, but in the end, it doesn't matter. This is happening no matter what any of us think. Only time will tell if this will be a good move by DC.

Review: Batman Beyond #1

This issue is important. Very, very important. Why, you ask? Because this is the very first DC comic I have ever bought. *Fun shout out to a fan - TheCBGuy was surprised too.

I have said it before, Marvel and DC have too much background for a later in life comic reader. I tend to stick to series that I can embrace without reading 20+ years of work. I'm not saying that it's bad, just way too overwhelming for me. What ultimately drove me to buy this was my childhood. Batman Beyond was one of my favorite cartoons. If I was going to date an animated fictional character, it would be Terry. I still listen to the soundtrack, and I've got the series box set on my Amazon Wish List. So when I saw this on the Previews upcoming releases list, I was *mildly excited* to say the least.

I was somewhat pleased with the start of this new series. The writer, Adam Beechen, gave a decent intro to this world and in the first few pages, introduced us to many of the key and new characters. In this is a 3-issue arch, we get a brand new villain rather than an old standard character. This villain also doesn't really want to be a villain, so I'm not sure where this will go. I am hopeful that we will get some of the villains I remember from the past. The addition of the futuristic Justice League kinda threw me. I really wanted to read about Terry and Bruce's fight, not all of these other heroes. Hopefully, the next arch gives me some of the things I remember from the series.

The art is spot-on to what I remember of the show. Ryan Benjamin & John Stanisci are splitting the work. I feel that they really captured what the story was and brought that to the book. I am torn by the cover. It is nice and pretty but at the same time, kinda boring.

I still have to read the small Batman Beyond series that came out prior to this one but I will continue to read this. I am hopeful that it will turn into one of my favorite comics, and it has given me a chance to break into the DC Universe. The best thing this book did was make me want to rewatch the original show.