Legacy of the Red Mages

Written by Sterling Gates, James Robinson
Art by Jamal Igle, Jon Sibal
Cover by Eddy Barrows, J. P. Mayer, Rod Reis, Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Brad Anderson

The first 25 minutes of the war. After reading it, I had to take a step back from this issue for a while before reviewing it. Major events happen in this issue, events that have been building for a few years now.

I didn’t think they would actually do this story this soon. I know it’s the natural progression of everything that has been built up to, but still it feels like the tipping point was reach in a climactic slope. The story just barrelled downward after building momentum.

The worst case scenario has happened. Lex Luthor has made his move. General Lane is ready. Zod now has total justification for his actions in the eyes of New Krypton. Supergirl has chosen a side. Superman is stuck in the middle. There cannot be a happy ending for War of the Supermen.

Cover
The main cover captures the tone of the issue perfectly. The majority of the issue is Zod fighting Superman on various levels. The muted orange tones captures the mood of the struggle – heated, but the outcome is unclear. It is a busy cover, however, and you tend to get lost outside the characters. Supergirl herself blends into an awkwardly posed Ursa. The variant cover is rather simple, with the focus obviously on Zod and Kandor.
Writing
There is a lot of dialogue in the start of the book, almost entirely Superman and Zod tossing fighting words back and forth. It gets a bit overbearing after a little bit. Later Alura and Reactron have a few words. The end of the book is mostly devoid of any talking. This is actually a case where less is more, as that part of the issue would have been ruined with talking.
Art
For the first part of the issue, it’s the same general quality as you would expect. Jamal Igle has Supergirl down perfectly after his time of the Supergirl title, and he has a good grasp on expressions. His Superman isn’t terrible, but I did get the impression he’s still working on the look. However, for that two page spread and the following pages, he nailed it.

Overall
I really can’t wait for the next three issues of this series. Major events are happening, and serious change is afoot.

Share on Facebook

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Jim Calafiore
Cover by Daniel Luvisi

Secret Six continues to be one of the more enjoyable titles I read. This issue is all Catman, which may at first seem weird. Trust me, he’s become quite the competent character. Very much a grayer version of Batman, who uses bladed knuckles as his only gadget.

This issue provides enough background on the character to make you realize just how twisted his childhood was, and how he grew up. It’s as raw as the character himself.

Meanwhile, the rest of his abandoned team tries to track him down using Black Alice’s ability to siphon the magics of the DCU’s mystical characters. Specifically, she taps Doctor Occult’s powers. They prove difficult to use, missteps occur, and hysterics ensue.

Cover
The cover may be misleading to the tone of the book at first glance. It’s a hanging stuffed toy. It’s also ripped and shredded apart, evoking a lost innocence. It is unsettling and fits perfectly with the book.
Writing
Gail Simone continues to script one of the most disturbing comics of the DCU, and this is no exception. It’s a real treat to read about villains playing the thin line between self interest and heroics.
Art
The art matches the writing, and enhances some of the scenes. The panels seem rightly framed. The flashbacks of Catman’s childhood are framed with lion shapes, further adding to the connection to cats.

Overall
Secret Six continues to be one of the hidden gems of the DCU.

Share on Facebook

Written by Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Ivan Reis, Pat Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado, Vicente Cifuentes, Mark Irwin, Oclair Albert, David Beaty
Covers by David Finch, Scott Williams, Peter Stiegerwald

Given how Brightest Day #0 went, I decided to check out #1 with the hope that things would have distilled into something a little easier to follow. As I said before, there is a solid mystery at hand. It was just hard to really get into any of it as the narrative shifted as soon as something was established. It does get better this issue.

Instead of the rapid fire establishment of multiple storylines, this issue spends a little more time following a few of the involved characters. I won’t name specifics, again, due to obvious spoilers. However, I will say that the Arthurian homage with Hal and Sinestro is rather fitting (especially considering the story – symbolism!). Does Carol not even try because it’s too manly a trial? She seems to only be there for the color in the panels…

The story works much better this time, and you actually get pulled into the mystery this time around. Blackest Night isn’t quite over yet, and there seem to be continued problems due to various events from that event.

The final page reveal hit me in a good way, and seems to be a reveal that Geoff Johns uses a lot in his pacing. It’s a very fanboy moment for a character that doesn’t usually get that type of treatment.

I’m not keen on every story arch in Brightest Day, then again I wasn’t always a follower of all the characters involved. I’m sure there are, however, so I think it might be safe to say there is a little here for everyone. This is going to be repeat of 52, based on this issue I think. That’s no necessarily a bad thing.

Cover
I’m still not liking the covers. This time around, Finch trades bad proportions for a Freudian expression. It’s not as generic as issue #0, but it is just as distracting.
Writing
The writing is better this time around. This issue is back to formula for Geoff johns.
Art
There were some great panels and pages this issue, and the issue was easier to follow for it. A few full page scenes padded the story out, but they were effective pages.

Overall
This issue was a step up from the previous issue, but it has a long way to go before it is worth remembering. To compare it, right now it feels like early Countdown than 52. Not terrible, but still rather forgettable except for a few moments.

Share on Facebook

Written by James Robinson,  Sterling Gates
Art by Eddy Barrows,  J. P. Mayer, Julián López, Bit, Aaron Lopresti, David Finch, Joe Weems, Gary Frank, Cafu, Ethan Van Sciver, Diogenes Neves, Vincente Cifuente
Cover by Eddy Barrows, Rod Reis

This could be read as the opening shot in the war, and it really sets the stage to what will be possibly the biggest event Superman has had in a long time. There has been a fair amount of hype in this miniseries, and a lot of buildup with the related titles. Basically, the stakes are very high thanks to so much groundwork.

To get the real feel of the scale of this story, you really have to go back to the Last Son story where Zod is reintroduced to the modern era of Superman. He and superman have a lot of history to this issue #0, and it comes full circle here in War of the Supermen. Due to the events in World of New Krypton, and the aftermath of Last Stand of New Krypton, Zod is now leader of his people.

Now is the chance to make the son of Jor-El, and everyone he cares for, kneel before Zod. General Lane is the one he can thank. There has been a lot of subterfuge in play for a long time now, much like the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Except, in the Cold War it never turned into a nuclear war. This is, for all intensive purposes, that scenario.

For a Free Comic Book Day issue, this will have a lot of comparisons to Blackest Night #0. You really can’t compare the two, because they are on such different scales story-wise. There are, however, a few connections thematically.

Both were introduction issues to set the tone of a major event. Both had ground work laid out years before. However, War of the Superman will be a fast event. 5 issues over a month’s time, one a week. The war only lasts 100 minutes, excluding this issue as the set up.

How was this as a free comic? Excellent. Despite having what appears to have little advertising outside the comic book community (at least, not nearly the hype present that Blackest Night had) it appears as if this event will have serious ramifications for the Superman side of the DCU, and hopefully impact the rest of the universe.

Cover
The cover is your basic Superman cover, with him flying towards the reader. Superman doesn’t have a facial expression, and you can only catch the Kryptonian battleships in the background after looking deeper into the image. It’s not especially catching, but it almost feels a bit iconic with the billowing cape. Superman is just blankly looking off cover at something.
Writing
James Robinson and Sterling Gates work well with each other, and have been for some time now on the Super titles. The issue is very much Superman versus Zod, and they convey a solid rift, hatred even, between the characters.
Art
Though there were many artists involved in putting this issue together, there is a uniform design of the characters through the issue. You can tell the different styles, but I felt it was more of a sampling of the talent that DC has for Free Comic Book Day. It didn’t hurt the story, and in some cases these artists are commonly associated with events. I had no problems with the art, and even enjoyed some of the panels framed with the writing.

Overall
This was a great Free Comic Book Day title, and it’s a shame this story isn’t as more well known outside the comic book community. This event has serious potential to be a game changer for the DCU.

Share on Facebook

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott, Fernando Dagnino, Doug Hazlewood, Wayne Faucher, Bit, Brad Anderson
Cover by Nicola Scott

I’ve been a long time fan of Wonder Woman, and the comic goes through its high point and low points like any other title. That being said, Gail Simone’s run has been strong since she took over the title after it was flopping around like a dead fish after Infinite Crisis. She picked the title up and elevated it was a sense of purpose. Unfortunately, I feel like her run as the writer won’t go down in history as a flawless run thanks to this current arch.

Issue #42 was decent, but don’t misunderstand. It was just weird compared to the rest of Gail’s run. This is partly because the plot involves some definitely bizarre elements. This issue, however, took things a bit farther in a direction that just doesn’t feel very much like a Wonder Woman story. All the usual elements are there, but you could easily swap Diana out of this issue with any other “Fighter” stereotypical character.

This time around, we are introduced the the background of Diana’s Aunt, Astarte – how she relates to the Amazons and confirming she really is Diana’s Aunt. Another Aunt that isn’t Antiope. Astarte works as a name for the character, as many of the Amazons have. I have no problem with the character concept, just the connections the characters have.

This back-story is confusing when you bring in the history of the Amazons as established with the early George Perez stories after Crisis on Infinite Earths. I was under the impression that when the Amazons were reborn, they were reborn essentially as they are now. A little younger, sure, but they are basically ageless. I always thought that was a parallel with the origin of Diana.

Here, we have Hippolyta as a very young child, and Astarte as the older sister. There were others around that appear Amazon, as well as aliens that had invaded. Said aliens were wanting to take the young Hippolyta with them, but Astarte interfered and offered herself. This isn’t a bad story, like I said, however this bit of history doesn’t jive with the previously established origin of the Amazons. This is after Infinite Crisis, so that argument doesn’t fully hold up – it’s a New Earth, and now a new chapter to the origin. That doesn’t mean it pulled me out of the story.

Astarte would have worked better as another Amazon, lost to space and time. This would have worked better with the parallels of the Green Lanterns with the previous issue. Unfortunately, that plot would have negated the very personal connection the story is working.

There were two good parts in the issue, so it wasn’t ruined by that little bit of revisionist history. The issue opened with what works as the theory crafting for Diana’s uniform as Wonder Woman. I really liked this background added to that story. It adds to the symbolism and mythology of the character, and served as the high point of the issue.

The other part that was almost awesome was the Silver Serpent and Achilles battle. The Silver Serpent should have been an imposing creature attacking the city, and Achilles easily took it out. It’s revealed that Achilles is as strong as his conviction, which is an interesting concept. That has the possibility to make the character overpowered, except that Gail has been working here and there to flesh him out. He’s become a complex character, similar in execution to Wonder Woman. The only problem with this battle is that it would have been better served to be spread out much longer to make it appear that more dire. Instead, it’s compressed to only a few pages.

Cover
It’s not a bad cover. A bright flash in the center of the cover makes it appear as if she has just teleported into the cover. The lasso is twirling about to encircle the flash. Diana is twisted around like she was caught midway through the Lynda Carter transformation. It’s a simple cover that grabs your eye with that flash.
Writing
I spoke about this at length higher up. It’s a strange story that feels out of place, but has brief high points. It’s almost possibly the least memorable arch Gail Simone has put out so far.
Art
There were multiple people on art detail for this issue, and you can tell. Each of the artists are solid on their own, and have produced solid work in the past. Together, despite having loosely similar styles, makes for a distracting read.

Overall
Gail Simone only has a few issues left after her otherwise solid run on Wonder Woman ends. The next issue of this arch needs to be flat out amazing to counter these last two issues, otherwise this will be the blemish on her run.

Share on Facebook