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ty-talks-comics · 5 years

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Best of DC: Week of September 4th, 2019

Best of this Week: DCeased: A Good Day to Die #1 - Tom Taylor, Laura Braga, Darick Robertson, Richard Friend, Trevor Scott, Rain Beredo and Saida Temofonte

This was absolutely insane from start to finish.

DCeased as an event has been dire, hopeless and gory beyond all reason and while there has been some travel to different places like Keystone City or Atlantis, most of it has been confined to Metropolis and focused on Superman, Green Canary, Jon Kent and Damian Wayne. A Good Day to Die shifts the focus to an entirely different cast of characters and how they’re dealing with the Anti-Life infection.

Starting with an amazing shot of Mister Miracle, Scott Free, and Big Barda using a Boom Tube to look at the destroyed remains of Apokalips, the book establishes just how bad things have gotten for even the worst being in existence. Darkseid is more than likely very dead. Surrounded by the White Light of safety, the couple look on share a tender kiss full of love with Scott saying that seeing Apokalips decimated debris makes him feel pretty good, like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulder, especially since there were nothing but awful memories there. One of the first themes we get here is the love that he and Barda share throughout.

Soon after, we cut to Mister Terrific conducting a myriad of test on a captured but infected Captain Boomerang. There is never a reason given for why he has Boomerang, but his studies ultimately lead nowhere as he too is stumped about how to solve this problem. What makes this interesting is that, Michael Holt is one of the smartest minds in all of the DC Universe. He has almost as many resources as Batman has with double the mind power to piece together a solution, but he’s got nothing. So he turns to the only two people that may have a first person perspective of things - Scott Free and Barda who have just returned to Earth.

Truly, the only thing that could have made this better would have been an appearance from Guy Gardner for most of a Justice League International reunion. This was alluded to by Ted when Barda first showed up and while this does get some more creedence later on, it is far more gruesome than I would have expected, but it was a fun nod to some old history.

Taylor makes one of the first of many jokes as Terrific knocks on their door, but Scott is convinced that it’s a zombie with their bloody stump until he rings the doorbell, Braga then pulls in close on Scott’s face with the most serious look with him saying, “Answer the door.” and I just couldn’t contain myself. After Barda explains that Apokalips holds no answers as it too was destroyed, we cut to Blue Beetle and Booster Gold holed up in Kord Industries office building. Ted notes that the door is made of titanium and that nothing could get through it… Until Barda gets through it. Scott and Terrific cut down the zombies with ease, allowing the group to escape to Blue Beetle’s Bug on the way to another hope!

After all of that, we venture to the wonderful land of Liverpool, England where John Constantine is being chased by hordes of the Undead and yelling at Chas to start the car. Unfortunately for him, Chas had been looking at his phone and succumbs to the virus himself, forcing John to incinerate his best mate.

Darick Robertson is the artist for these pages and he does an excellent job of drawing a crowd of zombies with bloody faces. He's even better at setting a scene in only a few panels, showing John running from them at a distance, and keeping that same shot, bringing John closer and closer as we see just how dense the horde is. John is absolutely lucky that he manages to survive. The sheer terror on his face as he runs ragged away from danger is a delight and actually makes me feel horrified for him too.

Terrific and the others save John, asking if magic might be able to help them, but John retorts in his normal snide manner that if it could, he would have done it already. Not before making fun of their superhero names, John says that he's going to wait to die while being drunk off his arse in typical fashion.

Laura Braga's art shifts between the gruesome and the beautiful so often in this book that when Scott and Varda are on screen, they stand out well amongst the drab browns and reds of the zombies. While this is mostly thanks to Rain Beredo's great use of colors in Barda's iconic dark blues and yellows as well as Scott's distinct greens, yellows and red, credit should be given for Braga's amazing posing and scene setting. Seeing Barda and Scott so in love and having it juxtaposed against impending doom is just a wonderful sight to see.

The groups efforts are further impeded when Waverider, a "time cop" comes to prevent Booster from using his time machine to save the universe. Constantine returns out of guilt in the nick of time to try to save the universe, headbutting Waverider for a distraction when ZomBarda crashes through a wall and kills Mister Terrific. This keeps Booster away for time to take its toll as Waverider tells him that Superman apparently finds the body of Barry Allen in some rubble in Keystone, causing Booster and the future to start fading away.

With little options left, Terrific places his faith in the hands of Booster Gold who still has a working time machine somewhere. Even Booster acknowledges the idiocy of that idea, but what else can they do? Booster says he left it in the hands of some trusted friends and where do we go? Malibu! The home of Fire and Ice, the other two members of the JLI as mentioned earlier! Unfortunately for Mister Terrific’s team, both Fire and Ice lost the fight against the hordes and succumbed to the infection themselves. Seeing no other option and quickly being overcome, Scott and Barda sacrifice themselves so that the others may escape. They share one last kiss before getting completely overwhelmed.

I actually almost teared up as I tend to do when things involve Booster and Beetle. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have the most adorable bromance in the history of comics and watching Ted frantically try to calm his dissipating friend is nothing but heartbreaking. Booster apologizes to Ted that he'll never know him and it's almost too much, even in this series.

The biggest and best change here is John's unwillingness to let this universe fall. John's never been one for superheroics, but seeing just how close Terrifics team came to actually having something of a solution and knowing that he could have been a great help makes Constantine see that the world can still be saved.

DCeased has me far more involved at this point than I ever expected. Even if it's not a canon story, I really do feel for each character in it. This particular spin off is even better because it has some of my favorite characters and shows just how they'd deal with a rapid zombie infection. Tom Taylor must have been reading old issues of Justice League of America/International because he captured some of the essence that made that series so hilarious with great characterizations and gags.

Laura Braga's art stuns by being every bit as violent as Trevor Hairsine's on the main book while also being very distinct from it with thick lines, excellent facial expressions and good backgrounds. Her cities feel desolate, even with zombies roaming the streets and the way she drew Blue Beetle's Bug brought me back to my love for the character and the wackiness of the vehicle.

Things just tumble down from there as Ted allows himself to be infected and Constantine keeps Waverider locked in place so that he has to face the consequences of what he's allowed to happen. Ted kills Waverider just as Doctor Fate and Zatanna show up to try and rescue Constantine.

I really hope that this spin off continues to every part of the DC Universe and that even when the main series is over there will still be more stories to tell. Like Marvel Zombies, there's a lot of ground that can be covered and it can't just be contained to a six issue miniseries. I mean, it can to avoid oversaturation, but I love this so far.

#dceased #dc comics #dc #mister miracle #big barda #mister terrific #blue beetle #booster gold #john constantine #horror #zombies #tom taylor #laura braga #darick robertson #rain beredo

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rael-rider · 5 years

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I didn't say King invented the idea of Darkseid as Lovecraftian monster, just that he is writing him that way and that is a massive plus. And with the exception fo Orion-and I still don‘t see his interviews meaning the fake Orion in the book is honestly how he sees him, there is a difference between „privileged bully“ and straight up evil tyrant-he absolutely understands the characters, even if he does his own take and adds to them. It's not like he's obligated to follow old canon besides Kirby.

His interviews made it clear that it wasn’t the fake Orion he meant but just Orion in general when he showed the origin of Mister Miracle strip. Also even if the Orion we are seeing is fake he has Scott get upset when characters, even Orion himself, refer to Orion and Scott as being brothers (which is honestly the thing I hate the most since both characters saw each other as brothers in a way since being victims to the exchange pact bonded them for life).

And if King was “obligated” to follow Kirby’s stuff, well he is not doing a good job since Orion isn’t even a “privileged bully” in Kirby’s comic either. Yes Orion takes joy in violence and can be cruel while facing an opponent in a fight and it’s not the most noble thing but he reserves that for those who are also violent and cruel. Even then there are times he has caught himself and shown mercy towards those he hates because he wants to follow Highfather’s peaceful teaching and wants to better himself.

The only other major story, other than King’s MM, where he is portrayed as a bully is Starlin’s Cosmic Odyssey which people for some stupid reason seem to like taking from despite the fact that story not only shat on Orion but also John Stewart (then Starlin who went to write a very awful Death of New Gods story which wasn’t that good). I could rant about that but it’s for another day.

I don’t think King really understands a lot of these characters, not just Orion. I think with Scott and Barda where the characters he cared for the most and it showed (which makes sense since they’re the central characters). He added some good moments and emotional stuff between those two, and he had good ideas. But as a whole his Mister Miracle comic was a mess that ended up being a big wet fart with really no message and no point other than a downer story about Scott choosing to stay in a fake virtual world (which was obvious to me that it was that and not the Anti-Life Equation when the baby turned into the lump and the whole video effect, there’s a Kirby story with that stuff) and not doing the one thing he’s known for which is escaping. The fact that he chose to stay with a fake Barda rather than go back to the real one is also upsetting. Yeah I get Scott wasn’t the most interesting character in Kirby’s Fourth World (even when reading Kirby’s MM Barda was the most interesting and it made a heck of a lot of sense when I found out that Kirby initially wanted to make a comic about her and the Female Furies but ended up making Mister Miracle) but he had an interesting and tragic story that other writers expanded on and used to give him flaws and conflict. Even Simonson in his Orion centered comic did something interesting with Scott in the short time he wrote him in that comic. I think King had a sound idea with exploring Scott having depression (even though it’s not something his character is known for) but the execution was pretty poor and in some moments the character feels very devoid of empathy which is something Scott is known for (and partially why he suffered more than anyone in Apokolips). I also see a pattern with his latest comics where he has characters that he’s interested in writing about ignore or block out the suffering of others while concentrating on their own and a few select others. He did it with Booster Gold in his Batman story (in which Booster acted pretty OOC) where Booster ignores the horrors of people dying and treats everything like a game that he can fix later and only becomes seriously affected when Bruce kills himself. Scott and Barda do the same in Mister Miracle with everyone but each other and a few characters King considers important (their kid and maybe Oberon). The scene where they go to have a treaty with Kalibak and both Barda and Scott do not react at seeing their dead friends' heads on spikes nor do they react at seeing their friends being used as table holders by the Apokoliptians. Heck both Scott and Barda lean on and slam said table which shows that they don’t give a fuck about their torture (not even touching the peeing on the pit thing which is really insulting), then there’s also that “Shut the #@*& up Lightray” running joke because no one cares about his suffering because he was being an OOC jerk and it’s funny when he’s abused I guess... Scott watching Bug get murdered in front of him and he doesn’t react to it and just keeps drinking his drink and acts like it’s nothing. But it’s OK he’s depressed I guess?? Real or not, depressed or not it just makes me think of his Scott as a jerk.

Also Barda and Scott having drinks with the bones of dead New Gods (cannibalism is now acceptable I guess) because they drank that when they were in Apokolips and it’s passed off as nostalgic. Honestly Scott and Barda view the horror of Apokolips in a nostalgic lense and I really dislike that. I guess that you make the most of it in a horrible place but they had each other and Scott had Himon’s safe haven but Scott and Barda always hated Apokolips and the good memories where with each other, moments that gave them hope, and some of the few decent people they met.

Scott seeing Granny having once seen Granny as a mother figure COULD be an interesting concept but at the same time it’s poorly done by King since he shows it as loving at times and even Scott thinking she had a romance with Izaya for some reason (I guess to signifying that Scott sees them as his parents?). Also that kind of relationship would be disgusting and perverted especially if you see how Granny manipulates the orphanage kids and Aero-troopers who see her as a mother figure and how infantile and submissive they act around her. Scott also never saw Granny that way, he saw her as an abuser and knew she used the motherly act to try and control him. The person you could argue Scott saw as a guiding figure (even if it was brief) while he was on Apokolips, and was his most healthiest relationship in there outside of Barda, was Himon whom Scott didn’t like in the beginning.

It was Himon who encouraged Scott to think independently from Darkseid when he was already having doubts about him (despite Scott thinking he was crazy for thinking that way) and who offered a haven for the misfits in Apokolips who didn’t submit to Darkseid’s rule. He alongside Metron facilitated Scott’s escape from Apokolips. When Darkseid tells Scott he will still find death outside his rule, Himon says otherwise.

I don’t even recall if Himon was in King’s Mister Miracle mini... And I honestly don’t care to check.

A big thing with Scott in Kirby’s MM is that he was the one person in Apokolips that both Granny and Darkseid couldn’t corrupt or contain. Despite everything he suffered Scott had a hope and optimism that outweighed Darkseid’s cruelty and he always escaped Granny’s grasp. Darkseid planned to let him escape Apokolips but Scott also escaped Darkseid and that more than anything bruised Darkseid’s ego. It was by managing to have a better life than what he had in Apokolips and being able to be happy and not be Darkseid’s tool what bothered Darkseid the most. After all Kirby’s Mister Miracle does end with Darkseid planning to stop Scott’s wedding with Barda just by showing up and causing a commotion in hopes he can make Scott miserable. Turns out, as he tells Oberon and Shilo Norman, that he didn’t stop the wedding but he was able to spoil the moment “Life at best is bittersweet” he ultimately proclaims.

It’s honestly a bit boring to think Scott was completely unaffected but he wasn’t unaffected by it even in Kirby’s comic and like I said writers did work with that concept and expanded on it. Simonson in Orion, Neil Gaiman in the Sandman issue that had Scott meet Morpheus, and J.M. Dematteis’ Mister Miracle (and I am sure some of the stuff I haven’t touched on yet) showed Scott was heavily affected in his time in Apokolips. He had nightmares about it, resentment towards Highfather, he even did things he felt guilt for while being there. But Scott never felt comfortable or at home in that place.

Going back to Orion. How exactly privileged can you be when they took you from your home which might be a awful but you were happy there with a mother that cared for you until you’re violently separated from her and taken to a place everyone there calls Heaven but you are told to hide your face, your history, and suppress your feelings and not tell everyone who you are or else they will hate you. Orion could never tell the other New Genesians he was an Apokoliptian or else they would shun him or maybe even go as far as try to kill him (they already suspect something is off with him). Orion was never comfortable in New Genesis even if he met his best friend there and Highfather made him want to be a better person. All that privilege doesn’t mean squat if you could never live comfortably with it while truly being yourself.

This is before Orion even knew he was Darkseid’s son, yet he still cannot reconcile himself being of New Genesis.

New Genesis also loves beauty and equates beauty with good and in a sense Orion in his true form will never be good in their eyes. As a matter in fact beautiful/good and ugly/bed is a theme that Kirby pushes around in his comics. All the pretty people are good and all the evil people are ugly. It’s not without its commentary since his stories don’t say that people are evil because they are ugly but that they are ugly because they are evil people. A commentary of how fascisms and oppressive dictatorships breed “ugly” people. Still not something I’m fond of since it’s still attaching a concept of good and evil to a person’s physiognomy. Either way it’s Orion who manages to be in that grey area in a black and white world and that’s what IMO made him the most interesting and compelling character in Kirby’s New Gods. Orion wants to be good, strives to be good, and manages to do good. But at the end of the day he’s still “flawed".

Being flawed isn’t good enough for both New Genesis, or Apokolips for that matter since you are only perfect when you’re submitted to Darkseid’s will. Simonson even showed some of that in his Orion comic. New Genesians scoffed at Orion’s efforts to try and enlighten Apokolips and later begin to resent him when an Apokoliptian firepit appears in New Genesis (not Orion’s doing, it was Mantis’, but they really don’t care) and that’s enough to make them proclaim “Orion’s worse than Darkseid ever was!” “He was never one of us!”. Then Apokolips doesn’t accept Orion because they think him too soft, he doesn’t accept their cruelty and corruption, he disturbs those who have whatever power Darkseid had managed to give to them, and he is not as ruthless and fearful as Darkseid. He’s never good enough for any of those worlds.

Scott got the shitty end of the deal with being sent to Apokolips, a bad hellish life, no argument there. But Scott is beautiful, he has a good nature because he’s from New Genesis, he’s the son of God and the Messiah while Orion is the son of the Devil and the Anti-Christ (Not just King, but Simonson, Englehart and other writers have made those comparisons when talking about Orion and Scott). At the end of the day if Scott decided to go back to New Genesis, take his place as Izaya’s true heir and have a life of privilege he would have it and he would be welcomed with open arms. But Scott and Barda had the option to chose not to go to New Genesis and they preferred the idyllic perfect surburban high-middle class white picket fence dream life on Earth (which they love and if you read some of the JLI comics and MM vol.2 they get angry every time it’s interrupted for superhero purposes, they enjoy being domestic and doing normal mundane things because they never have that in Apokolips).

Going back to Simonson’s Orion even when Orion tried using something evil like the Anti-life equation for something good, even when he tries to free Apokolips from Darkseid’s tyranny, he ends up failing hard. It’s Scott who has to do something to set things right and in the end we know it’s only Scott who can contain the Anti-Life equation and carry the burden of it and utilize it better than anyone. Simonson mentioned that Scott has an iron clad will and that he’s the only person who cannot be corrupted by it (and I don’t even think he’s corrupted by it in King’s MM even when Orion accused him of it).

Even when Starlin had Scott use the Anti-Life Equation in Death of the New Gods he had him be exceptionally efficient at it and made sure to include a scene with Orion wondering how Scott got all sparkly and god-like when Orion himself didn’t. The obvious implication being that Scott is just better than Orion (and seeing Starlin’s feelings about Orion it's not surprising he would think that).

Because lets face it in most of the New Gods stories, even in King’s own story, Scott is allowed to be the hero and win even if the victory is phyrric and he chooses not to escape a fake world. Orion could never be the great hero, not even in most of his own stories. In King’s MM story he’s an antagonist that eventually gets killed by Darkseid and only manages some type of victory when he’s made into a weapon for Scott to kill Darkseid and get around the “Orion will kill Darkseid” prophecy. But the worst thing is that Orion’s own pain is ignored and not valid in that story. Orion hitting Scott and doing the whole “stand up” routine to try and lift him from his funk is shown as being bad because it’s Orion and he’s never “experienced pain” (King’s own words) and Barda calls him out on it. But when Barda does it it’s shown as being something good and Scott respects her for it because her pain is valid (but IMO that whole hitting Scott thing it’s just abusive behavior all around and shouldn’t be represented as good, period). Also we get possibly fake Orion acting like a tyrant (possibly corrupted by the Anti-Life equation, it’s never explained) and then when the story flashes his true face it’s to show that he’s Darkseid’s son. Again King really carries the theme of ugly=evil from Kirby but also ignores the ambiguity depth in the character of Orion.

There’s a quote from Paarthurnax a Dragon from a the game called Skyrim “What is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” And Orion is always doing the latter and sometimes he messes up. In Walt Simonson’s Orion he tries to help Apokolips, when he gets affected by the Anti-Life Equationhe tries to use it for good, but he accidentally becomes corrupted by it and makes people subservient to him even when it’s being done in the name of peace. In a way he accidentally becomes a bigger threat than Darkseid ever was and while trying to do good. When he’s taken down by Scott (dressed as the Black Racer) and realizes what he’s done he become depressed, agonizes, and wants to die. It’s only by helping a god named Clockwerx to destroy a Parasite that he finds the will to continue.

That whole ordeal was emotional, made me care about Orion’s tragedy, showed him being empathic and felt like a New Gods story. I also got some good moments between Scott and Orion and we get to see a tragic part of Scott’s life in Apokolips and both him and Orion bonding towards the end.

That said I still don’t trust King being in charge of a New Gods movie, don’t know much about Ava to form an opinion about her writing. But eh it sounds like they’re draft writing more than anything and other people can still revise it and change it. Still I won’t worry much until I hear that they’re already filming the movie.

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dungeonsndrag · 6 years

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The Day Superman Died Chapter 4: Miracles

Miracles

A Miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.

My birth was a Miracle.

My father, Izaya, our Highfather was at war with his estranged brother, the disgraced prince of Old-Genesis; Uxas.

Uxas had harnessed the Omega Effect, a dangerous forgotten magic that had deformed his mind, causing him to become obsessed with solving the fabled Anti-Life Equation.

This equation was said to show its witnesses the pointlessness of life, thus making them fall slave to whoever harnessed its power.

Uxas used the Omega Effect to build an army dedicated to serving him out of fear. After years of using this dark power, his skin cracked like rock. His eyes became smoldering flames, any signs of shadows of a good man were lost, only a pale reflection of his former self remained, he became the despotic ruler; Darkseid.

My mother Avia, was one of New Genesis's top generals in the war, and despite her pregnancy, she would still fight on the front lines with the rest of our forces. Avia was a kind woman, she treated Bugs and Gods alike, never talking down to either. Unfortunately, none of that mattered when Granny Goodness impaled her pregnant belly with a power lance.

I shouldn't have survived, even though the lance missed me by an inch, I was still premature and the energy current from the Nth metal spear tip should have ended my life before it began.

But Like I said, my birth was a miracle.

Izaya...Highfather I mean, had our best Source-Medics tend to Avia and as she passed, she gave me two gifts, the first, the gift of life, the second, she whispered into my father's ear, her last words "our child...a regular Mr. Miracle".

She gave me my purpose.

My father didn't seem to take the cue and named me Scott instead. Unfortunately, my miraculous birth did not mean a sea of smooth sailing. The war waged on for years and it wasn't until Darkseid and Highfather struck a twisted bargain did the fighting end.

The two estranged brothers would trade a child, one of their sons, to be raised by the other, a show of faith, an act of peace.

I remember Izaya kneeling, so he could look me in the eyes, he didn't shed a tear, he just said; “Today Scott, today, you usher in a new era of peace.”

I only ever saw it as getting thrown away.

My father received Darkseid’s second born son; Orion.

Listen, I don’t want to paint with a broad stroke, but Orion is an entitled ass-hole.

Darkseid got me...he took one look at me, and shrugged me off, giving me to his paramour.

Darkseid is...an absentee father.

And that is how I came to be in the “loving” care of Granny Goodness, Darkseid’s War-Witch and royal Torture-Smith.

Granny Goodness...what a fucking riot of a name...I wonder why Apokolips decided dramatic irony was a priority.

Granny threw me in a hole and threw away the key...then threw away the hole...and when I say hole, I mean a tesseract of a torture prison that changes and adapts to prey on its occupant's fears and doubts. The X-Pit. An achievement in psychological and physical torture.

But I wasn't born a miracle to die in a cage.

So I started to run.

I started to hide.

I started to learn how to escape.

The first rule for any escape artists is that are no rules, only guidelines.

An escape is only an escape if it is worthy of the prison, meaning, couldn’t just run right out, I knew the path, but it wasn’t the point.

The point wasn’t to simply get out, it was to escape, to truly be free.

I couldn't just leave the X-Pit, I had to conquer it. I had to break it, find every possible escape route, every possible way out so that it could never again hold power over me.

So that SHE could never again hold power over me.

The first escape I discovered was the only one I still have yet to take.

We all have it, the one route we can all travel, the ultimate, and final escape.

But death is a grand escape, it is the escape of everything all at once, it is both too easy and far too significant to waste on the X-Pit.

No, death was to be my final act, and the X-Pit was not final act material.

You see once you realize you have one, then you discover the second rule of escape artistry; “There is always another path.”

Death is our first and last escape, but if there is one, there must be another, and we owe it to ourselves to find as many different paths as we can.

And then one day, I did it.

I exhausted all the X-Pit had to offer me, I left it behind, to find new venues, new prisons, new audiences.

My mother knew my purpose the day I was born, It took me until that day to discover it myself.

On that day I earned my name, I was named Scott at Birth. But after that day.

I was Scott Free.

And I was leaving Apokolips.

I didn't get out alone though, I made quite a few allies along the way, every great magician needs an assistant….and if Barda ever hears me say that out loud I will be doing my final escape much sooner than expected.

Ah….Barda...she’s larger than life….she is my life...and today, that life is threatened.

I knew my escape would never be permanent, that's the thing about escapes, they’re temporary,

Because until we die, we are the slaves or mortality, and our only recourse is to escape this realization for as long as possible.

Today it's getting hard to escape thoughts of death. Looking up in the sky, it feels like final act material.

The world is on fire, Para-Demons swarm the skies, and my monster of a father has just claimed to kill one of the most powerful men on earth.

I’d say...if earth needed anything right now

It’d be a Miracle.

Chapter 5: Darkseid Is

Masterpost

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totesmccoats · 6 years

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Batman: Lost #1

A 78 year old Bruce Wayne reads his granddaughter a story from his adventures as Batman, the very first story: The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.

Except, this isn’t Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne was sent into prehistory, where he drew a bat on a wall in a cave, inspiring a tribe of followers.

But that’s not Bruce Wayne either. Bruce Wayne is Batman, and he is trapped in the Dark Multiverse, shown visions of the past, future, and alternate dimensions by the dark god Barbatos to break his psyche. Barbatos taunts Batman through these visions, telling of how Batman had summoned him from the Dark Multiverse, and how he had molded Bruce Wayne from the dawn of history to one day take up the mantle of the Bat and swing open the door for his conquering of the multiverse.

If you have the prerequisite knowledge to understand all the places in from the Batman mythos that this issue plays with and connects, then you will love this issue. Barbatos presents his unified theory of Batman as he drags Bruce deeper in deeper into his own stories, trapping him in inevitability. He breaks Batman by taking away his agency, his ability to prepare, his confidence in his own experience and memory. He confronts Batman with futility. And as readers, Snyder, Tynion, and Williamson take us on a whirlwind tour of Batman, from his beginnings to multiple possible ends.

The team of artists, Mahnke, Paquette, and Jimenez on pencils; Mendoza, Paquette, and Jimenez on inks; and Quintana, Fairbairn, and Sanchez on colors, give each iteration of this Batman story it’s own distinct look and feel, from the golden-age pulp noir throwback of the Case of the Chemical Syndicate, to the hyper digitally-effected detail of a possible future where Damien leads an army against his father. This book is gorgeous from cover to cover, as rewarding just to look at as it is to read.

Mister Miracle #4

Orion decides to hold a trial for Scott, and appoints himself judge, jury, and executioner, to find out if he is an agent of Darkseid, possessed by the anti-life equation. It’s as much a kangaroo court as it seems, with Orion forcing Scott to answer only in “true” or “false,” but nevertheless, Orion may be onto something. As his questioning becomes more and more leading, he probes into Scott’s serious depression, including his suicide attempt, and posits that he may be feeling as he does because of the anti-life equation.

Honestly, part of me would hate it for a comic that seems to be so sympathetic to the mental plight of those affected with depression to explain it away as a side effect of an evil god armed with an magic equation that makes you hate yourself; but also, Darkseid and the anti-life equation have always been a metaphor for our darkest impulses and weaknesses. “Darkseid is” the part of you that hates yourself and others. “Darkseid is” what causes antisocial behavior. And that’s why the heroes can’t let him win. At the least, you can’t argue that making depression a dictator god who hates the concept of freedom itself is undercutting what it actually feels like to live with depression.

King continues his streak of making comics feel surreally domestic, this time with the simple addition of a veggie platter that Scott and Orion pick from during the trial; and the image of the new gods, in full costume, squeezed together on a couch in Scott and Barda’s living room. And Gerad’s use of repetitive panels in a rigid 9-panel grid masterfully builds suspense, and smart use of distortion effects to emphasize moments where things get particularly tense or revealing, is a masterclass in doing more with less. Despite taking place almost entirely within a living room, this issue of Mister Miracle may be the biggest turning-point in the story yet.

Ragman #2

The demons – who call themselves the Ruah Tum’ah, Hebrew for “impure soul,” – capture Rory, and try to psychologically break him by pressing into his survivor’s guilt, so that they can claim the rags. But, with some help from the souls of his company, who are trapped in rags and who are the people that Rory feels guilty over surviving; he’s able to see past the ruah tum’ah’s illusions, and absorb them into the rags before they can hurt anymore people.

With the demons contained in his rags, Rory tries to interrogate them for information, but is told that doing so drains the power of the other souls trapped in the rags, which would mean losing his friends a second time – so he plans to get to the bottom of things using other methods.

This issue gives us a bit more explanation to what the rags are and how they work, and I always appreciate a story with some jewish mysticism in it; but the book’s biggest weakness continues to be a failure to tie in Rory’s PTSD with the rest of the story in any meaningful way, and also failing to give Rory much of a character outside of his trauma. Rory’s fighting outer demons, but so far his inner ones remain underdeveloped.

Miranda and De La Cruz are illustrating the heck outta this book, giving Ragman himself an interesting and creepy figure and ways of movement and fighting, but again, without a firm anchor for Rory as a character, none of it really coalesces.

Wonder Woman #34

Wonder Woman finally meets her long-lost brother, Jason; who was raised in secret by Glaucus (who, wasn’t an Argonaut. Don’t know why this issue insists he was.) to protect him from Hera’s jealousy. He reveals to her that he also has powers, including flight; and the two fly off his boat to a small abandoned island for some sibling bonding time.

When discussing family resemblance, Wonder Woman mentions how she wishes she were taller, which, given that she’s supposed to be a like, over 6-foot Amazon, doesn’t exactly track. Also, I really hope I’m not the only one who thought their discussing seemed to be a little too flirty for brother and sister, because I really don’t want that sorta thing to be projection.

Regardless, at sundown, Jason reveals that he was just keeping Diana busy so that Grail could set up an ambush! Because surprise, Jason’s evil! He and Grail manage to overpower Wonder Woman, Grail pinning her with her sword, and Jason promising to kill her himself.

Feels like this issue spent way too much time spinning its wheels before it’s Jason’s heel-turn reveal. Like, this is the first time we’re meeting Jason; there’s no way that we can learn to care for him enough in the space of 2/3rds of an issue where him being evil would feel like a huge betrayal. Either spend more time building a relationship between him and Diana, or reveal that sooner, you know? Really not the sorta thing you can half-ass.

The Flash #34

Meena is back, and Barry and Wally are happy to have her, even if Wally is still having a hard time trusting people. But Meena’s return isn’t all good news; she tells Barry that the negative-speedforce is killing him from inside, but adds that if she can study it, she may be able to find a cure.

The three speedsters go to the demolition derby so Barry can let loose and create data about the negative-speedforce for Meena to collect; but quickly loses control over his powers and becomes to scared of the repercussions to continue. But despite Meena telling him that sometimes losing control is helpful, she did get all of the data she needs; and promptly reveals that she’s been working with Black Hole the entire time by ambushing the Flashes with a small army. And then she steals the negative-speedforce from Barry…which, despite giving her more power, might have also saved Barry, so…yay?

Meanwhile, the rest of the CCPD inform Kristen of the mysterious new crime boss moving in on Copperhead’s territory.

There’s honestly just not that much going on in this issue. I’m not even sure if Meena revealing that she’s with Black Hole is even a twist, because I’m pretty sure we knew that a few months ago. Same goes for the negative-speedforce negatively affecting Barry. And the Copperhead turf war. Really, the only thing of consequence this issue happens in the last couple of pages, and even then, it’s more a return to status quo than anything else. And yeah, now Barry considers Meena an enemy, but before this issue, he thought she was dead so…I mean, alive is still technically better, right? After how much I’ve enjoyed this series, this issue is really disappointing.

Moon Knight #188

The new Moon Knight is off to an amazing start, and its first issue doesn’t even have Moon Knight in it. Instead, we follow Dr. Emmett, a psychologist at Ravencroft Asylum working on the case of a nameless man, Patient 86, a pyromaniac who burned his fellow army officers to death after they bullied and tortured him.

Emmett also has a preoccupation with Marc Spector, and believes that just as he was able to focus his multiple personalities through the symbol of Khonshu to become Moon Knight; 86 may benefit from a symbol to focus on, and chooses the Egyptian sun god, Amon-Ra. But she may have succeeded too much in duplicating Marc Spector’s circumstances.

This is one of the most novel approaches I’ve ever read for a first issue, but one that works incredibly; introducing new readers to the idea of Moon Knight by having his origin told by-proxy through the creation of a foil. Dr. Emmett doesn’t succeed in curing 86, only in creating a second Marc Spector. And by showing us what 86 becomes capable of, it hints as to the abilities and mindset of the Moon Knight that Bemis has yet to introduce.

It also helps that Bemis’ dialogue and narrative monologue are electric, lending Emmett an edge to her professionalism, and giving 86 a personality that gets colder as he identifies more with Ra.

Burrows’ art with Lopes’ colors reminds me a lot of Davis-Hunt’s work on Clean Room and Wild Storm, especially the way they illustrate burned skin, and red-haired women doctors. Sorry, too glib. The comparison is a compliment, and the issue looks great.

Ms. Marvel #24

Ms. Marvel is able to push the runaway train onto a different track at the last second to prevent a collision, but she and Red Dagger remain unable to stop it on it’s briskly paced run through Jersey. And while they think of what to do about this slow emergency, Dagger notices that Ms. Marvel seems exhausted, and not just because she just lifted a train. He suggests that she take some time to take of herself instead of everyone else.

Ms. Marvel checks in on the engineer, who lets her know that they’ve made the news, which reminds Kamala that she’s no longer Jersey’s favorite hero. But, looking at the railroad map of Jersey also inspires her with an idea to stop the train; guiding it to a hill-heavy corridor and let gravity do all the work.

It’s a great plan, or it would be if Ms. Marvel had factored in the speed gained by the train going downhill before going back up. But she’s prepared for that – mostly.

Ms. Marvel, the character and the series, continues to feel a little lethargic this arc, with the high point of the issue being when she’s forced into reacting by the train accelerating as it goes downhill.

The other bright-side to the issue is Olortegui and Herring’s art. Dagger describes Jersey as magical, and though Ms. Marvel is hesitant to agree with him, the art in the book; which illustrates America’s armpit with a golden-hour glow, and at a scale both intimate in terms of showing small towns, and sublime as the train joggs through open expanses of forest.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #26

I can’t believe that Ryan North and Erica Henderson have made me purchase a Jim Davis product of my own volition, with my own money. You monsters. And the first strip he illustrates is just the first Garfield strip, but with Galactus and Silver Surfer instead of Jon and Garfield! Vile.

Despite that, this is still a very fun issue, and I honestly hope becomes an annual thing. A bunch of bad-guys recently destroyed a library, so Squirrel Girl rounded up a bunch of her friends to contribute short comics to a zine she’s selling to fundraise for repairs. All but one of this issue’s ten stories are written by North; the other is written by Henderson, and each is illustrated by a different artist, ranging from, yes, Jim Davis, to Chip Zdarsky, Michael Cho, Anders Nilsen, and Rahzzah.

Each mini-comic is a burst of the same humor found in a typical issue, but from the perspective of this series’ unique take of characters from Spider-Man, Wolverine, Howard the Duck, and Galactus. There’s even a fake letter’s column, where Tony Stark and J. Jonah Jameson write in. It really is a treat, and a not completely cynical take on the resurgence of zine culture and small-press comics and stuff.

Injection #15

The Spriggans have opened the Cold House wide open, using it as a portal to this world to slaughter as many people as possible, but Brigid has a plan to stop them. It’s not the smartest plan, but effective: drive back to the Cold House, hoping the car continues to act as a faraday cage protecting them from spriggan attacks, and then slap a construction vehicle into one of the Cold House stones to break it.

Unfortunately, once that problem is taken care of, another one emerges. Maria tells Brigid that Morel has cut off FPI, making everything she just did illegal, and making her an enemy of the state. She and Emma decide to run to Ireland together, but surely that won’t be the end of their adventures.

Barring the opening pages of the spriggans indiscriminately slaughtering people, this really could be the last ten minutes of a Doctor Who episode, with the final pages especially tipping Ellis’ hand. It’s an issue long mad dash implementation of a plan that was made up as the heroes go.

Bellaire owns this issue, coloring the climax of the book entirely in three colors: black, white, and a light blue that make it one of the most bold and striking comics of the week.

Comic Reviews 11/8/17 Batman: Lost #1 A 78 year old Bruce Wayne reads his granddaughter a story from his adventures as Batman, the very first story: The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.

#batman #dc comics #injection #lost #marvel #metal #mister miracle #moon knight #ms. marvel #ragman #squirrel girl #the flash #wonder woman #zine

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totesmccoats · 7 years

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Dark Nights Metal #2

Batman has stolen the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and the Justice League give chase. Meanwhile, the council of Immortals plan to find a way to kill Barbatos before his cult can summon them through Batman.

They may be too late.

There’s this saying in storytelling that you should start a scene 5 seconds into things so that your action has a running start. This issue exemplifies that perfectly, starting with Batman already having outsmarted the League, and baiting them with decoys upon decoys. It’s a genius way to remind us just how well prepared Batman really is without much actual set-up. And watching the League essentially open boxes within boxes until they reach the crunchy Batman center pays off like gangbusters.

And when Superman and Wonder Woman eventually do catch up with Bruce, the reveal is one of the best sight gags in comics history. Highlight below if you really need spoilers: Baby Darkseid in a baby bjorn 😀

And in the final pages of the issue, the shit hits the fan, and the real Dark Souls Nights Metal begins.

Mister Miracle #2

Scott and Barda lead many successful campaigns against Darkseid’s forces, but none of it earns any respect from the new Highfather – Orion.

Instead, Orion sends Scott and Barda on a new mission – to kill Granny Goodness, the woman that tortured them through their childhood, while pretending to negotiate a treaty. But a half received message from Metron casts doubts on which side Scott should be fighting for.

Another great issue that probably couldn’t turn any more upside down than it does. The issue goes through stages: exhaustion by the endless warfare, then an unease while in Orion’s court as he compels his brother to bow to him, and finally uncertainty when Scott and Barda are “graciously” welcomed by Granny. You would think that GG would be the creepiest part of the issue, especially considering the reunion of abuser and abused, but she has nothing on Orion’s massive egotrip.

Luckily, King is skillful enough to break up the discomfort of the issue with one sweet, and incredibly relatable, scene of Scott and Barda trying to figure out how showers on New Genesis are supposed to work. Part of that sweetness is soured when it’s implied that one of Barda’s continuing insecurities was seeded by GG, and that GG knows it; but it’s the initial thought that counts, right?

Right now, Mister Miracle is an almost Hamlet-esque family drama above everything else – a deadly and divine Thanksgiving; and its completely gripping.

The Flash #30

Infected by the black suit Negative Speed Force, Barry finally snaps at Singh and his fellow crime lab workers after they chastise him for investigating the missing samples alone. Luckily, Kristen won’t be pushed away so easily, and manages to talk him down in private, which leads Barry to a break in the investigation, which he follows up on as the Flash. Waiting for him is the thief, but he’s more than Flash bargained for.

I love everything about this issue. It’s just classic comics. Negative influenced Barry finally reaches his breaking point and angsts out in front of everybody! And then we get a new villain using a classic formula: after experimenting on himself, Bloodwork manages to turn his hemophilia into a psychic control over all blood. So good!

The Flash is on a roll right now, largely going back to superhero fundamentals, and knocking them out of the park.

Wonder Woman #30

After being persuaded to be part of Hamilton Revere’s experiments to use her blood in regular people, Wonder Woman is told that he plans to use it to make super soldiers, not cure diseases. Realizing she’s been duped, Wonder Woman rescinds her help. And, realizing Diana has been led into a trap, Steve and Etta make their way towards rescuing her.

Following Fontana’s pattern so far, the prolonged fight scene in this issue is better than everything that comes after it. Diana’s running monologue where she says she will be a hero for humanity, but not a weapon, really works for her character, especially as she fights off partial Wonder-ized super soldiers working under Revere’s orders to – quite literally – bleed her dry. Wonder Woman will not be made an object.

But, the issues quality takes a sharp downturn almost immediately after the villain’s base explodes. It’s almost as though there were two writers on this book, it’s that drastic. Thankfully, it’s only for three pages, but it’s a sour note to leave this story, and this creative team, on.

Amazing Spider-Man #32

Defeated, Norman Osborn searches once again to re-awake the Goblin inside himself, a search that leads him to the Temple With No Name, high in the Himalayas, to begin studying the arcane arts.

This is a one-shot, and a relatively insignificant one, all things considered, but a fine enough story in and of itself. I love the art of Smallwood and Bellaire, fresh off their run with Rucka on Moon Knight, and that meta-reference also is a small hint towards how this story winds-up.

But, honestly, Osborn isn’t as compelling a character as Slott would like him to be in this issue, and acknowledging that the story is similar to those of other magic users in the Marvel Universe isn’t an excuse for the lack of anything novel in this telling.

Ms. Marvel #22

Just having found out that Jersey’s newest villain is one of her school friends, and revealing her own secret identity as a way to reach him, Ms. Marvel is just barely able to escape from Lockdown. Totally exhausted, and opposed by half the city, Kamala is lucky that the other half has her back, and also, that she’s friends with a teleporting dog.

Between this and Black Bolt, Lockjaw is in the running to be this month’s Marvel MVP. The rest of the issue is fantastic, too, demonstrating the power of a community to rise up against the parts of it that would destroy them from within. More heroic than Kamala are Nakia and Tyesha, who lead a march to the mosque where KIND has their kidnapped inhumans surrounded, and present them with a document from the court proclaiming their actions to be illegal. She’s also backed up by the rare good cop, and recently former mayor Marchesi.

After a quick refueling at a friendly neighborhood Mediterranean restaurant, Ms. Marvel hops back into the fray, but in this issue, the day is truly won by the people, whom, united, can never be defeated.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #24

Ultron is a T-Rex now! That’s all you need! Also, Squirrel Girl teams up with Antonio the Doombot to try and stop Ultron, who is a T-Rex now.

Henderson and Renzi do some neat things with Ultron’s iconic face-lights cutting through the darkness in the beginning of the issue, and it’s almost a shame they don’t keep it up longer. But, almost as quickly as they finish doing that, North introduces us to Antonio the Doombot, who continues this series’ tradition of scene-stealing robots; although Ultron doesn’t let Antonio do so easily.

Kill or Be Killed #12

After killing the guy who threatened Kira, Dylan realizes that if he really wants his newly improved relationship with Kira to last, he’s going to have to bring down the entire Russian mob before they can harm her or himself.

What strikes me most about this issue is the contrast between happy Dylan and vengeful Dylan. On Halloween, Dylan realizes that every moment he gets to spend with Kira is a miracle, and joyously wonders the city with her until they settle into each-other’s arms at the end of the night.

But then he’s consumed by vengeful Dylan, who compels him to stake-out a Russian Mafioso until he can lead him to his boss and tell him everything he knows before killing him in cold blood. He ruminates on how he’s learned to ignore his fear response because he’s realized that he’s not the first or only murderer among humanity. He’s ruthless, calculating, and single-minded. And you being to wonder how these two Dylans could possibly be the same person.

Redlands #2

OK, this series is going in a very different direction than I expected. Having successfully liberated the town of Redlands, Florida; Bridget, Alice, and Ro became the new police force. Their latest case is chasing “Redbrant,” an “artist” murderer who poses his victims in symbolic positions while stuffing their bodies with alchemically treated rose-petals, and paints solid red canvases with their blood. Moreover, he knows about Bridget, Alice, and Ro’s witchcraft, and wants to expose them to the world.

If this series decides to settle into Witch Law & Order, I am totally here for that if this issue is any indication of how that would pan out. But Bellare has also clearly built a much deeper world with Redlands, full of – besides witchcraft – artistically predisposed murderers, and perverted high-school principals that prey on their students. Redlands may be run by witches, but men still be creepy.

Coming off its explosive cold-open of an issue, Redlands is still warming up, but I’m excited to see where else this series decides to go.

Comic Reviews for 9/13/17 Dark Nights Metal #2 Batman has stolen the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and the Justice League give chase.

#batman #dc comics #green goblin #kill or be killed #marvel #metal #mister miracle #mr. miracle #ms. marvel #redlands #spider-man #squirrel girl #the flash #wonder woman

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