Welcome back to the Arisverse where you get your capsule review hits!
Thanks again for stopping by to the generous lil corner of the Comic Book interwebs the Nexus has given me. I wanted to start off with a recommendation and a rant before my short volley of comic book capsule reviews this week.
Recommendation: Injustice: Gods Among Us. I have had this on my shelf for some time and finally sat down to read the first 2 volumes. I will start out by saying the art is up and down and largely inconsistent but other than that you have a fine fun alternate DCU storyline that starts out with Superman driven off the rails by Joker killing Lois, his unborn child and nuking Metropolis. This leads down a road similar, darker and more cartoonish than Kingdom Come. With Batman at odds with Supes, Wonder Woman embracing Superman as an agent of change through violence and fear and lots of bodies, fighting and good character vignettes along the way. I particularly like the Harley/Green Arrow issue and the Yardin drawn Wonder Woman/Ares confrontation. I have to admit the writing at times is very very strong.
This book works well using these characters because we are aware it is an alternate universe and the stories are lightning fast but well written, interesting and sometimes powerful. A real surprise read for me. Need to get the newer issues and spin off books. Highly recommended.
Rant: I am going to link to what I am taking about.
The Bat Mech Design.
That is absolutely terrible. It highlights to me how little thought and care DC puts into change and its Iconic Franchises these days and that despite change being part of normal process over time in comics…it is often done haphazardly and is badly executed.
I mean this Batman design is terrible. It hardly looks modern, not all futuristic or militaristic…or even good. It’s bad. I can suspend disbelief as it related to space faring surfboarding godling, but not that any human being can fit in that mech suit. Not to mention the shoulders are missile launchers…not shoulder mounted…its looks stupid.
I know anything about the story, if that’s Bruce or not, whatever. It’s just garbage; it’s like Batman artist Greg Capullo looked at Anime and said I could do better than that… man, I love your art, but obviously you can’t and didn’t.
Ok. Got that off my chest. On to the reviews. Five books this week.
Divinity #2 – An absolute joy to read. I orphan launched into space as an experiment and forgotten 50 years ago lands in Aboriginal Australia a godling. His transformative power biblical in scale and nature. Making dreams reality. We find him accepting all comers with his gifts. All the while being teased in bits of his origin and loss. Meanwhile. The Valiant-verse does not let this go unnoticed and have sent Unity to intercept this new force in the world. It likely won’t end without a fight; well-paced with really nice reveals and art all along the way. Valiant is really impressing me with the books post Harbinger Wars. This is great stuff. 8 out of 10
All-New X-Men #39 – I was excited about the Black Vortex arc. Seemed like a really BIG story. Unfortunately I opened this issue looked at, grimaced, leafed through the issue more and more disgusted by the messy stylized art and decided it was completely unreadable. 1 out of 10
Chrononauts #1 – Fun fun fun. I said it before I will say it again Mark Millar stylistically takes the best fun and Schick from 80’s action cinema mashes up science fiction, ultra violence and super heroes and finds the absolute best artists to produce some fun and well-conceived, executed and produced comics. Super cool scientists make an historic breakthrough in time travel and crap goes wrong…intending to go to Gettysburg they one gets thrown off course and his friend dives in after him ending up centuries away and knee deep into it. It’s fun and energetic and really written with amazing pace. The art is beautiful. Murphy is an amazing talent. You may not like Mark Millar, I do, but he can make some fantastic comics. 8 out of 10
Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #6 – Another fun issue. This book reminds me sooooo much of the classic Defenders I loved back in the early to late 80’s. A hodgepodge of heroes thrown into crazy off beat adventures that were fun to read. The Face Off adversary from Outside the universe is scary and awkward. I barely understand it. But it is absurd and fun. If the art was a little stronger overall it would make this book a real gem. I love that Photon is back with a vengeance and I love the cast. 6 out of 10
All-New Captain America #5 – Man Cap and Nomad took quite a beating but still come back and give Zemo the business. It’s really a great bit of action and drama highlighted by the greatest art team working in monthly comics. Wow. Its mind blowing how good the art is…from Stuart Immonen’s layouts and craftsmanship, to Gnawbadger’s stunning and slick ink lines to the great high contrast color stylings and selections provided by Gracia. And it’s fun and damn dramatic. Who knew you would be so moved by what happens to a bird? This is fun while it lasts. enjoy it. I sure am. 8 out of 10
And a movie review!
The Kingsman: the Secret Service – an absolute joy. My 16 year old boy isn’t a comic fan but latched on to Millar creations a few years ago when I introduced him to the CLINT magazine anthology. He wanted to see Kingsman. I am glad we saw it.
A truly Millarian (Mark Millar) take on the super spy genre. A small yet capable and historic English spy team protects the world from evil and catastrophe. This time from Samuel L. Jackson as a megalomaniac tech billionaire who want to save the earth from people. It’s a movie with terrific action, homage to great spy movie tropes from the 60s to modern Bond movies, bloody violence and fun. Love the cast and cartoon style. I recommend the movie great popcorn fun, no heavy thinking. 8 out of 10
