Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, Volume 1

This volume collects the Lockjaw & the Pet Avengers miniseries as well as a one-shot special, plus a Marvel Handbook to the World of Marvel Pets. In the miniseries, Lockjaw discovers that his owners, the In-humans and the Fantastic Four are looking for the Infinity gems. After the mutant dog discovers one, he begins teleporting throughout time and space of the Marvel Universe, collecting gems and allies along the way. The stars of this miniseries are Speedball’s cat Neils, Redwing, Falcon’s trusty bird, and May Parker’s pampered Pooch Ms. Kitty. (BTW- knock me over with a feather but Ms. Kitty is actually a he! Was that the case in Spider-man and his Amazing Friends?)

The one-shot is called Tails of the Pet Avengers. It features a variety of short stories, each one starring one of the members of the Pet Avengers. Most of the stories are very good but the best story is the Lockjaw story, in which he befriends an awkward teen who loves dragons and fantasy. It was heartwarming and very sweet.

As is the case with all of the Marvel Handbooks, this one of the Marvel Pets is not only exhaustive but exhausting. It’s filled with tons and tons of information about dozens of animals to occupy the Marvel Universe. IT wouldn’t be so bad if Marvel didn’t use such tiny print font. But if they used a regular size this entire book would probably been over 400 pages and retail for $39.99 or more!

A very interesting glimpse at a little thought about part of the Marvel Universe. When I think of superheroes with pets, I naturally think of DC. But this book opened my eyes and inspired me to read some further adventures.

Now if only DC would get on the ball and come out with a DC Pets team-up mini.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

 

 

Tiny Titans, Volume 8: Aw Yeah Titans! (A Review and a Look at the Current State of Kid Friendly Comics)

 

Sadly, we say good bye to the Tiny Titans in this volume as it collects the final issues of the award winning series. Some important questions are finally answered, such as will Bumblebee win her babysitting badge, will Beast Boy win the love of Terra finally, and what do the heroes look like without their masks? Also, Superman’s face is finally revealed for the first time in the final issue. (Most adults are show from the neck down- there are some exceptions, such as Alfred, Trigon, and Lobo.)

 

I liked this series. I hate to see it go. I hate it particularly when a quality comic for kids comes around and it lasts about as long as this sentence. Tiny Titans lasted for 50 issues, about 4 years. However, that’s a testament to how lousy DC and Marvel are at marketing their comic books to kids. Sure, they give out the occasional all-ages book during Free Comic Book day. But, the majority of books offered the first Saturday in May are not kid friendly and most comic book stores don’t take the time to tell parents what is and isn’t appropriate for a 10 year old to read. I once saw a parent grab a copy of Eastman and Laird’s TMNT and give it to a kid who could not have been older than 7. That’s an R-rated book- not the kid friendly stuff you see on TV.


Parents just don’t know what’s out there for their kids to read and what’s available only for moms and dads. There are books for toddlers, elementary age, high school, and adults. Sadly, other than a very tiny rating over the bar code, most adults don’t have a clue what book is for what age group. And don’t think that the covers will help in that decision. Recently, Marvel had variant covers of some of their biggest stars as babies- yet all of those books were geared for at minimum, the middle to high school crowd.

 Plus, have you ever seen Marvel do a commercial for their comics? No- but I bet you can describe the trailer to their latest film or cartoon! Yet, based on these films, parents don’t realize that most of those films are rated PG-13 and the cartoons are often Y-10 (for ages 10 and up.) Do you know about Super Hero Squad or Go Teen Titans- two excellent all ages cartoons that have comics to boot? Probably not. Sadly, thanks to Marvel and DC’s focus on the now, the next generation is being overlooked and parents are being misinformed about the all-ages arena.

What’s needed in comic books in order for the next generation to latch on to them and for parents to be open to their kids reading comics is for people in the know help educate parents so they know what is and isn’t kid friendly. Here’s a hint: Watchmen is not kid friendly! One character walks around with his doodle out the whole book while in another section of the comic; a couple graphically does the nasty in a flying car. That’s one reason I do this blog. Tiny Titans may be gone, but that doesn’t mean parents can’t find this amazing series at their local library or for pennies on the dollar online or in a dollar box at a local comics shop.

 

If you are an avid comic reader like me, I encourage you if you see a parent at a store stressing over what to buy their little tyke to read- please take the copy of Vampirella out of their hand and show them the all-ages section. The future of the comic’s industry is in your hands and that parent will thank you!

 

Worth Consuming!

 

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Tiny Titans, Volume 6: the Tree House and Beyond

 

The duo of Art Baltazar and Franco prove once again that Tiny Titans is just for little kids. In this issue, Talon, an Earth-3 version of Robin unleashes a plethora of alternate universe versions of the Titans. Now, I must ask how many kids are going to understand the concept of the multiverse? Okay, maybe someone about ages 12 and up. But, Tiny Titans is supposedly for kids under 10. Maybe I’m just too naïve about today’s youth.

 

OKAY- now that I think about it, I was 6 or 7 when I read the first ever crossover of the JLA and JSA from the 1960s and I understood it. So, maybe I am an old fuddy duddy.

 

In this volume are Robin’s galore and I’m not talking about birds. Every version of Robin, including Cassie from The Dark Knight Returns teams up with every version of Batgirl for an all-out Batgirl/ Robin party. (How they added Damian to the mix was hilarious)

 

 Funny enough, the character of Stephanie dresses as both characters as she does in the adult version of Batman. If anything, Tiny Titans is a good primer for when young DC readers get ready to graduate to the grown-up books. I wish I had this as a kid.

 

I guess I’m trying to make excuses for loving a kid’s comic. Well, I’m done with that. Tiny Titans is an award winning series and I think it’s just a blast to read. I recommend this series highly and parents you can rest assured that this series is appropriate for your aspiring comic collector.

 

Worth Consuming.

 

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Tiny Titans, Volume 3: Sidekickin’ It

I love this series. Yes, it’s for kids. But, like any good Disney/ Pixar movie there’s stuff in this series that are clever Easter eggs just for the grown-ups. For example, (PE) Coach Lobo tells the Tiny Titans that life on his home planet was full of dolphins. Kids might think that’s funny. Adults in the know (like me) would understand that despite as tough as Lobo is, he’s got a soft spot for space dolphins.

Art Baltazar and Franco are comic geniuses that truly love the DC Universe. Their stories reflect the rich history of DC’s past and present. No wonder these guys have won tons of Eisner awards for this series.

It’s pure joy for everyone and I am so glad my library got 3 new volumes of this awesome series.

AWWWWWW, Yeah!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.