#comicbook reviews

[johnathansoul]

Swords, Monsters & Beautiful Women "Val-Mar Gifted & Cursed"

[absolutegeekpodcast]

(Absolute Geek Podcast)

Join us as we review the new comics released on June 24th, 2020! Including, That Texas Blood #1, Thor #5, Batman #93, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #105, Batman Beyond #44, Year Zero #2, Sleeping Beauties #1,  and many more!

[dccomicsnews]

It’s finally here DC fans. Batman: Rebirth #1 hit the shelves both in comic book stores and digitally and I’ve been trying to ensure I keep my expectations some what balanced. Set over a period of five days, our introduction takes us outside Wayne Manor with Alfred keeping himself busy within the estate gardens.

An initial knock at the door of Bruce’s mansion will play out to be become a critical part to the overall story beyond #1. That knock at the door is from Duke Thomas (who is from the book We are Robin). Duke goes to see Bruce Wayne to discuss the offer made to help out the Batman, on a more permanent basis. Bruce Wayne is determined to start a new chapter, with a new partner.

Positives

The story sets the foundations nicely, reestablishing the importance of the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lucius fox and the traits that make that relationship so practical. The character of Bruce Wayne has evolved, we clearly see a defiant and extremely confident man who knows what he wants. Wayne is stronger, mentally sharper, and seems to have set a very clear path in mind as to what he wants to achieve. I like this, it brings the character back to his roots and reminds you as a Batman fan why we love this character so much.

The foundation of the first issue is very much about setting up the core characters, but throughout we get to see the detective side of Batman early as he tracks this book’s villain, Julian Gregory Day, aka Calendar Man. The persona of Julian Gregory Day is extremely dark, and to a certain extent sinister, a villain that ages and evolves within the seasons of a “calendar year.” Batman, in true detective fashion kicks off a search to find the dark villain and involves Duke in the process. 

Another welcoming change to the book is the look and design of Batman’s suit. Enough change to notice Batman’s evolution, but not too much to wonder “why the change?”. The outline and of the Bat symbol on Bruce’s chest draws your attention first, and then it’s his sheer size in the suit that is reminiscent of Ben Affleck’s recent portrayal as the Dark Knight.

Negatives

Not much at all, the book establishes a pace and tone that I expected, it has been a while that I’ve put down a comic book that has been so pleasing to read.

Verdict

This launch title is beautifully articulated with its artwork, colour schemes, & story that leaves you wanting more. A brilliant start for the Batman story arc in the Rebirth series. The creation of the Batcave creatively felt like an immersive experience, naturally leading your eyes across the page to enjoy the traditional artefacts and overall structure. well done DC!

Review: Rebirth Batman #1 It's finally here DC fans. Batman: Rebirth #1 hit the shelves both in comic book stores and digitally and I've been trying to ensure I keep my expectations some what balanced.

[dccomicsnews]

Superman: Rebirth #1 has flown in and is now available for purchase and in the inception of a new Superman arc there is a groundbreaking reality we have to come to terms with. DC has killed off Superman, but not entirely. What we now see and will become accustomed to is an older, married post Crisis Superman who has been living on in the “New 52” universe with Lois Lane and his super powered son Jonathan since the Convergence event. He will be our Superman moving forward, the story lays this out as our base to move forward on.

Positives

I loved the flashback to one of my favourite comic book battles in Superman vs Doomsday. Clark Kent, in his encounter with Lana Lang, takes her through his history and we get walked through the inner sanctum of that vicious battle that killed Superman. I’ve said it before, artwork is very important to a story for me, and the artwork in this story really brings that battle to life. Superman: Rebirth #1 really embodies the word and concept of a “Rebirth” in each and every panel of this book.

Negatives

Well if you see it this way, Superman is dead. However, the end of one story is always the start of another. So it isn’t really as bad as what it sounds. I am sure the majority of you will agree once you read the story. Keen for your comments on that!

Overall

Superman: Rebirth #1 kick starts a new beginning, sets a nice foundation and introduces us to our new (old) Superman. The story is well paced, balanced, and is the perfect introduction to what I’m sure will be a brilliant series.

  Review: Rebirth Superman #1 Superman: Rebirth #1 has flown in and is now available for purchase and in the inception of a new Superman arc there is a groundbreaking reality we have to come to terms with.

[brightestdaycare]

Star Wars #6 Review & **SPOILERS**

BOY! Does this book have a bunch of “WTF?!?” moments or what?? I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, after last month teasing exactly who was supposed to have a bit of a face-off (not unlike the Luke v. Vader matchup from the first arc) and then there was all of the clickbait-y articles out there talking about THAT big reveal. Man, Marvel really hasn’t pulled any punches in taking out all the stops and really turning this relaunched line into it’s own entity, have they?

Hopefully nobody is reading this who hasn’t read or at least heard of what has been going on with Star Wars, if so, I will throw this out there right now, before we continue **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS**

So this issue drops us right into Boba Fett’s lap, after he busted down Obi-Wan’s door and threw a flashbang at Luke, blinding him. So already, Luke is at a severe disadvantage, beyond just being inexperienced and hunted by a bounty hunter (granted, that bounty hunter gets beaten, and eaten, by basically just a giant pothole in the desert with teeth, so…). It was a really interesting fight to see, and I loved the visuals for that sequence- the final splash page was a really great Rock-Apollo type moment, just as the story shifted back over to Han and Leia.

Speaking of Han and Leia- WHAT THE WHAT? Han takes Leia to some crazy hidden planet where he stores wine and blankets and stuff- did Han just bring Leia to some creepy mackdaddy planet where he puts the moves on every princess he meets? It was really odd that this place was so readily available, and that due to Han’s eagerness to avoid Imperial capture he came across a little bit creepy. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Han Solo, if he took me to this planet and plyed me with expensive and probably illegal wine, I would swoon. But it just seemed a bit heavy-handed, for such a scruffy nerfherder.

After Han has been thoroughly rebuffed by Leia, we head back over the Luke v. Fett, and get a nice bit of back and forth between them, with Luke starting to feel a bit more confident in his abilities as a Jedi, and using the Force (since he is still blinded from the flash grenade). I really liked when Luke says “A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him” and Boba counters with a “feel this!” and we see a close-up shot of his blaster barrel firing at Luke. That moment for me, felt the most like a truly cinematic moment- not unlike the one where Han shot first (yes, I know- “Han Shot First” has been a thing for a long time, but that new original draft of the first Star Wars script came out and CLEARLY states that Han shot first, so I had to bring it up). Luke finishes Boba off (only to the point of unconsciousness, not death) and has R2 lead him out of Obi-Wan’s place, with the box labeled “For Luke” under his arm. What a nice high point for Luke to end on here, I’m sure that Han and Leia are canoodling gently on their deserted planet and things aren’t being completely upended and the whole internet isn’t in an uproar over the big reveal that they get in this issue- but just to play Devil’s Advocate, let’s check in on them anyway, shall we?

Han and Leia are having a bit of spirited roleplaying, that I like to call “The Scoundrel and Her Worshipfulness”, when all of a sudden (who knew anything like this was coming- cant we have ANYTHING nice?!?!) the masked and vaguely female character who had been hunting Han finally makes her debut in all her glory (and also, she is in a ship that looks an AWFUL LOT like the Falcon- did anyone else catch that???) and she reveals herself to be Sana Solo- Han’s wife…

HAN HAS A WIFE?!?!? Since flipping WHEN?!?! Lolol, sorry. I couldn’t help myself. This was a major twist that I didn’t see coming- and judging from the last panel where Han has his head slumped down and his forehead in his hand, he didn’t see this happening either. I really like this revelation, mostly because it introduces new female characters into the most unfriendly-towards-women universe basically ever… This series had a total of like 5 females who had any sort of impact in six total films, so they need some more badass ladies to take all these dudes down a peg or two every once in a while- and it looks like Sana is here to do JUST THAT to Han.

It would seem that Sana knows Han pretty well, she staked out his little hideout, and knew that he is a liar to a fault- so she may be his real, lawfully wedded wife. Who knows? That is to be discovered in the issues that follow, and I for one cant wait to find out…

Luke then opens his giftbox and finds inside the journals of Ben Kenobi- I am not exactly sure what he can find out in these pages that he doesn’t actually find out much later on in the films (so he couldn’t really figure out the truth about Vader any time soon) but it could be the catalyst that Luke needs to find his place as a Jedi amongst the rebellion.

Finally, we see Boba return to Vader to tell him of his failure to capture the boy who blew up the Death Star- this goes about as well as could be expected, the only thing that saves Boba from a thorough Force-choking is the fact that he has a date with a Sarlaac Pit that he has to keep. It was strange to see that Boba found out Luke’s name, and that he was able to report that back to Vader, and that Darth Vader (aka Anakin Skywalker) doesn’t really just go on some sort of soul-searching type mission to really get himself at peace (temporarily- until Return of the Jedi, anyway) with the fact that he will have to kill his own son to redeem himself to his Sith Master… The final page of the issue was beautiful, with Vader’s rage reaching out with his Force powers and fracturing the glass around him in a very Imperial-looking pattern, I liked that he finally realized who this upstart backwater pilot is who dealt his regime such a massive blow, and that the person ultimately responsible for ALL OF THIS is Darth Vader himself (though, I personally, just blame Hayden Christiansen, he did it all himself) because if he had kept his Jedi vows and not gotten involved with Padme, he would have never given rise to who will ultimately be his downfall (which is only a **SPOILER** if you haven’t seen Return of the Jedi- and you really should have by now, so that’s on you!).

This series has been really, really enjoyable, and I am glad that it is making a point to change things up- if it had just been another run of the mill Star Wars book, I don’t think that it would have been as popular as it is, or have spawned as many secondary titles to go along with it (chief among them the upcoming LANDO SERIES!!!!! SIGN ME UP!!). The books are only growing in popularity, and they show no signs of slowing- with all the crazy moments this book has (like the two from this issue) I am sure the internet has more than enough ammunition to talk about this issue of Star Wars until the next one is out and even more crazy things get revealed and invoke an all new, even bigger barrage of nerd-rage.

But I have enjoyed reading this book, and the others as well, and I think that there is no reason not to be reading these books- they are all into like third and fourth printings, so they shouldn’t be all that difficult to come by, plus digital is a great, and easy way to get ahold of these books too! So go get them, and may the Force be with you, always…

[brightestdaycare]

Mice Templar: Night’s End #2 Review

Mice Templar is a book I have been a fan of for quite some time, and I have written about a lot in the past, but things I have written about before were all just the preview of what is happening in Night’s End- the war between Templars and King Icarus is coming to a head, and as the casualties keep mounting, the stakes keep growing and at least ONE person seems to switch sides, or a new group (or species) seems to join the fray… This are getting crazy, and there are still three more issues to go, so I am not even remotely sure what all is going to happen after this, but I am hopeful it is as crazy as the rest of this series has been.

We open the issue in the heart of battle, the city is besieged by the Templars, and Icarus’ forces are being attacked by both the Templar warriors AND the resistance fighters in the city, and the visuals of the fight both on the ground and in the sky (there are mice riding owls… OWLS!!!) are absolutely stunning! This book has really broadened it’s scope in the later volumes, incorporating VAST casts of characters, from weasels, to cats, to bats and snakes. Even though I have an abject fear of snakes, and really identify with Indiana Jones on that point VERY much, I really like how the snakes look and behave in this story. They are a part of the “dark” forces, aligned with bats and rats and the evil king, and I wholeheartedly support the idea that snakes are also “evil”.

I really like this issue, and I was glad to see Alexis and Lorelie (King Icarus’ courtesan and queen, respectively) finally come face to face and voice their differing opinions. I was always hoping that Lorelie would step up and do something in open support of the Templar, but there is still time for her to redeem herself. Though, I don’t know how much good it will do with what happened in the end of the issue and the major face-off that will go down shortly. The Templar have a lot of issues that they have to work out, and only ONE of those problems is the rule of Icarus.

I really think that this series has grown and become something altogether different than what it set out to be, I think it really has grown in scope by leaps and bounds, and I really like this weird little niche it seems to have carved out for itself. I have said before how much it reminds me of Redwall books written by Brian Jacques (though I cant say for sure if it is actually ANYTHING like them, it has been 20 years since I’ve read those books) but it does illicit the same feelings I got from reading those books. I really hope that this series finds a place to continue on after this (even though Night’s End seems like a pretty fatalistic and final title for this series) because I would love to go further back into the Templar world history and get a bit of the Dawn of the Jedi style prequel to satisfy my further need for more of these books.

Brian Glass has a really powerful grasp of these characters and this world he has built, and I don’t think I am quite ready to let it go. Victor Santos’ artwork really just feels at home with this series, but I do thoroughly hope he gets to branch out and do more different work- his stretch on Evil Empire drawing for Max Bemis’ dystopian future comic was FANTASTIC so I think that Santos’ art could really find itself working in a myriad of genres (so maybe he just needs to do like 4-5 monthly books, so I can buy them ALL!).

This book has been fun, and I was glad to see the Hammer of the Gods backup story come back, though it is definitely not the strongest part of this book (because the momentum for Night’s End is just strong enough to overshadow anything else), I really want to see where both stories go from here.

I think that this book, at least at this point, wouldn’t make a good jumping-on point, but there are several previous volumes that are most definitely worth looking into, because what is not to love about a feudalistic society of anthropomorphized animals??? The answer is “nothing”. It is just a fun book, with a lot of great character development, and I will be very sad to see it end, but there is enough of a back catalogue that I can go back and re-read all those stories and hope for more new Mice Templar in the future.