Green Lantern Corps (2006 Series) #54

December 14, 2010

Title: The Weaponer Part Two

Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Batt
Colorist: Nei Ruffino
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Patrick Gleason
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Publisher: DC Comics

The Weaponer has captured Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, Soranik Natu, and issued an ultimatum to Kyle: bring him her father, Sinestro, or Soranik will die. Kyle has come to Earth to face off against Sinestro and bring him to Qward, by force if necessary, to save her life.

Sinestro really is a right bastard, isn’t he? His own daughter’s life is on the line, but he can’t lower himself to work with Kyle. (Sinestro is still smarting over the beating Kyle gave him back in Green Lantern: Rebirth.) Over in the parent title, Sinestro has been dancing over a fine line between being a full-on villain and being something of an antihero. This issue is definitely heavy on the villain side. Whether he turns up again before this storyline sees its conclusion will say a lot about who the writers want Sinestro to be.

We also delve more into the Weaponer himself this issue, learning a bit more about his history through his interactions with Soranik. He actually feels like a bit of a sympathetic character here – not so much that you’ll start rooting for him, but enough that you can sort of feel where he’s coming from. That extra layer makes for a more entertaining villain over all. Perhaps the best bit of this issue, though, is the set-up for next month. We’ve got the extended cast of this title assembled and ready to charge, which is what you’re waiting for when the time has come for a big ol’ smackdown.

Tyler Kirkham is up and down for me on the artwork. I find I prefer his work on the more alien characters, like Hannu and Boodikka, than I do on the human or humanoid characters like Kyle and Soranik. When he does a character that’s human, he goes overboard with the tiny lines and details, like he’s imitating a 90s style (which I was honestly never a fan of in the first place). Hannu, on the other hand, looks much more natural and impressive than the rest of the cast.

A really good story is buoying up so-so art and keeping this book on my recommended reading list.

Rating: 8/10

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #3

December 10, 2010

Title: Last Will: A Lie of the Mind

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils: Fernando Pasarin
Inks: Cam Smith
Colorist: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltred
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Rodolfo Migliari
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Publisher: DC Comics

Guy Gardner has led his team of Green Lanterns to Odym, home of the peaceful Blue Lantern Corps. As they speak to Brother Warth, though, they find themselves under assault by a Red Lantern whose fate seems to be intertwined with their own. Back on Daxam, meanwhile, Sodom Yat wakes up to a planet that has turned against him.

Peter Tomasi has done something very interesting with this title. He’s taken some of the threads from his run on Green Lantern Corps, mainly the Sodom Yat story but also some smaller threads involving Guy and Kilowog, and spun them off into their own series while leaving the parent title intact for Tony Bedard to play with. Guy was a main character in GLC, of course, but none of the plots Tomasi wrote revolved around him the way they do here. The way he’s going into a mission that seems destined to doom him, the idea that he can’t complete this mission unless he maintains the Red Lantern contamination in his blood – it’s cool, compelling stuff that really suits this character extremely well. I also really liked seeing Brother Warth used to such good effect in this issue. Visually, I’ve always thought he was one of the best-designed characters we’ve yet seen come out of the other Corps (besides Green, I mean), but this is the first time we’ve really gotten to see him used as a primary character, even if it’s just for one issue. I must say, I want more. I like what I’ve seen.

Fernando Pasarin, again, has turned out great artwork. His Brother Warth rocks, his other characters are strong, his faces are full of emotion and his layouts tell the story without fail. This creative team has really made me a fan of this book, with or without the Brightest Day label.

Rating: 8/10

JSA Classified #33

December 30, 2007

JSA Classified #33 (DC Comics)
By Junior Thomas, Staz Johnson, Mike Norton, Scott Kolins

This two-part Green Lantern story wraps up pretty well this issue. Vandal Savage’s attack on Thanksgiving has led to the immortal stealing much of the Starheart power from Alan Scott, using the life-essense of a nearby child to create a “puppet” for his attack — a duplicate of Alan’s deceased daughter, Jade. Alan is forced to face his own child while Savage makes his play. This was a decent enough story, if not a great one. Alan Scott is still one of the best characters in DC’s old guard, but Vandal Savage is a bit played out as an enemy. While Jade’s story packs some nice emotion, the reader doesn’t really believe there’s a chance she’ll return here. I liked this issue, and the Christmas Eve epilogue is nice enough, but I’m really more looking forward to next issue’s Hourman/Liberty Belle story.
Rating: 7/10

JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice

July 30, 2005

JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (DC Comics)
by David Goyer, Geoff Johns & Carlos Pacheco

For superhero neophytes, here it is in a nutshell — the JSA were the first superhero team ever. These days it is comprised of elder statesmen like the original Flash, Green Lantern and Wildcat guiding younger second-generation heroes like the new Star-Spangled Kid and Mr. Terrific. The JLA made up of the current superhero top dogs, featuring Superman, Batman, the current Flash and GL and the like. In this tale the two teams gather for what they hope will become a Thanksgiving tradition, only to have their celebration thrown into turmoil when members of the two teams are possessed by the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. (You’ve heard of `em, right? Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Pride, Envy and Greed?) The possessed members dispatch their teammates and go on a rampage, leaving the others to try to free themselves, save their friends and find out who’s behind this madness.

While a knowledge of DC Comics continuity helps, it is by no means a necessity to read this book. Goyer and Johns have written brilliant interpretations of the JSA for years now, and in this book they prove they can handle the JLA as well. Not only that, they can balance the two teams, giving each hero his or her moment in the sun, and utilize and develop not one, but three villains (not counting the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man) in a story worthy of the best these teams have to offer.

The artwork by Carlos Pacheco is brilliant. Superman looks strong, Captain Marvel looks innocent, every hero and heroine is perfect, and the double-page spread near the climax of the reunited heroes storming into battle is something I’d frame and hang on any wall.

This book is the best these heroes have been treated in years. Here’s hoping Goyer, Johns and Pacheco grace us with another one soon.

Rating: 9/10

JSA Classified #32

JSA Classified #32 (DC Comics)
By Junior Thomas, Staz Johnson & Scott Kolins

It’s a week late for Thanksgiving, but it look like DC managed to work in the JSA’s annual adventure after all. Green Lantern is depressed at the idea of facing another holiday without his daughter, Jade, but decides to join in with the Flash and Wildcat as they take a ride in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade gets shaken up, though, when Solomon Grundy attacks. Thomas plays nicely with Alan scott’s emotions here, using a very real depression that most anyone can relate to as the anchor for his story. The only weak point is in a choice of villains that feels slightly overdone — although when you consider how few truly legendary JSA villains are still up and around, I suppose it’s unavoidable. And it’s certainly an improvement from the last arc on this book. Not great, but for a Thanksgiving story, it’s not bad.

Rating: 7/10

Untold Tales of Blackest Night #1

November 16, 2010

Title: Sea of Fear
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: Sandra Hope
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Ethan Van Sciver
Editor: Eddie Berganza & Rex Ogle
Publisher: DC Comics

What, you thought just because Blackest Night ended like eight months ago that DC was done with the franchise? Not long ago they released this one-shot, featuring “lost” tales that could have been told at various points during the main saga. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason present the book’s framing sequence, in which Sinestro Corps member Lyssa Drak begins to examine the lost pages of the Book of the Black, to discover what happened to some of the characters who didn’t get the spotlight in the main title. It’s an effective enough framing sequence, one that fits in well with the character and the various Corps and gets us into the short stories easily.

Title: Deleted Scene(s) From Blackest Night
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ivan Reis
Inks: Oclair Albert
Colorist: Rod Reis
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano

The first two short scenes are literally “deleted scenes,” each of which was presented in script form in the “Director’s Cut” edition of Blackest Night #1. Both of them are really very strong. We’ve got a Ragman scene, where Nekron attempts to raise all of the hundreds of souls that make up his patchwork suit of rags. In the second scene, a group of villains from Keystone make a suicide pact to escape the swarm of the Black Lanterns and join the “winning side,” but a miscalculation thwarts their plans. These scenes were both excellent and fit well into the framework of Blackest Night, but I can see why they were left out. Neither of them advanced the main plot – they’re nice and add color, but aren’t necessary. A one-shot like this is a perfect place to feature them.

Title: The Evolution of Species
Writer: Adam Schlagman
Pencils: Jason Fabok
Inks: Ryan Winn
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Travis Lanham

The first full story in the book is an Animal Man tale with a nice twist. The dead chosen to rise were those that would get the strongest emotional reaction from our heroes, so Buddy Baker finds himself trying to save his son from a rampaging horde of extinct animals. It’s a clever idea, but Schlagman doesn’t stop there. He follows through Animal Man’s adventures throughout the Blackest Night, including the point where those heroes who returned from the dead were all turned into Black Lanterns and, later, into White Lanterns. The Black Lantern Animal Man makes a couple of disturbing proclamations, and it would be interesting to see if anyone is planning to follow up on the items he drops here.

Title: A Losing Battle
Writer: J.T. Krul
Art: Ed Bennes
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Rob Clark, Jr.

J.T. Krul, who wrote the magnificent Blackest Night: Titans miniseries, picks up where that left off in his Donna Troy story. This feels very much like an epilogue to that miniseries, featuring a Donna who has been “infected” by her own dead child. Dove tries to cure her, but the story follows through to the point where the Black Lanterns attacked. While this story is structured well, and Krul is very good with the characters, this story feels very superfluous. No real new insight is gained or added to the concept.

Title: Blackest Nightmare
Writer: Jeremy Love
Art: Brett Booth
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Steve Wands

The Scarecrow takes center stage in the next story, which shows us the moment he’s chosen to join the Sinestro Corps. This story, while also superfluous, is at least really cool. Sinestros have to face their own fears before they instill them in others, and digging into Scarecrow’s psyche to see what he’s afraid of works well. It’s not particularly surprising, mind you, but the execution is good and Booth’s art fits the character.

Title: An Incident on Korugar
Story and Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Letterer: John J. Hill

Ethan Van Sciver, co-creator of the multiple Corps, takes a rare turn as a writer this issue. When he and Geoff Johns were creating the Sinestros, he brought forth a lot of new character ideas, including Karu-Sil, who here faces her own Black Lantern (during the tentative peace treaty with the Green Lanterns) and unwittingly reveals a lot about her own past. This is probably the strongest story in the book, giving us some real meat for a character that’s only gotten a few minor appearances to date.

The book is fun, and a couple of the stories do give us some interesting background information. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t really feel needed, so it’s hard to give it a higher rating.

Rating: 7/10

DC: The New Frontier #1

January 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Our Fighting Forces

In the 1950s, the DC Universe begins to change.

Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Letters: Dave Stewart
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Cover Art: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics

This is not an easy comic book to categorize. It’s been suggested that it’s a thematic sequel to James Robinson’s The Golden Age. It’s called a new beginning for the DCU. The only thing I can say for sure is that it’s a few interesting Silver Age stories set in the DCU, and we’ve yet to see how they link together.

In the first chapter, the group of American warriors called the Losers (the original group, not the ones running around the Vertigo imprint), are sent to rescue Rick Flagg, commander of the first Suicide Squad, from an island populated with dinosaurs. Chapter two reveals the final fate of the golden age heroes, focusing mainly on Hourman, and chapter three focuses on a young Korean War fighter pilot named Hal Jordan.

Cooke, both in writing and artwork, displays a real love for the silver age characters and style. Jack Kirby would be proud of how it looks, and the climax of chapter one is absolutely spellbinding. I can honestly say it’s the best Losers story I’ve ever read.

The problem is that the book seems disjointed. You get the sense that everything you’re reading is supposed to come together, to link, to mean something, but it doesn’t. Cooke is a good enough storyteller that it will almost certainly come together in future issues, but that does weaken this debut. As so many comic books these days go, it will probably read much better in a collected edition.

The other problem is the Cold War setting. Cooke uses it well, but the parallels to McCarthyism have been done and done and done again, and if he doesn’t find a new way to tell the story, this entire series runs a very high risk of being clichéd and boring.

Still, I love old-school superheroes, and Cooke has tapped into one of my favorite eras of the DC Universe, so I’m pre-inclined to be forgiving of bumps in the road. He uses the pre-Green Lantern Hal Jordan well, has a great scene with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and as I said, the climax to chapter one was fantastic. This is a title that, when all is said and done, could go either way – it may be another classic, or it may be another footnote. Let’s hope for the former.

Rating: 7/10

DC Universe Halloween Special 2008

October 25, 2008

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Deadline: Halloween and other stories

Your favorite Ghost Detectives take us on a tour of spooky happenings in the DC Universe!

Writers: Dan DiDio, Mike Johnson, Eddie Berganza, Mikey Way, Harvey Richards, Brian Reed, Duncan Rouleau, Brad Desnoyer, Mark Verheiden & Eric Wallace
Pencils: Tony Shasteen, Matthew Clark, Trevor Hairsine, Mateus, Federico Dallocchio, Darick Robertson, Duncan Rouleau, Riccardo Burchielli, Dennis Calero
Inks: Don Ho, Jamie Mendoza, Marlo Alquiza, Norm Rapmund, Kevin Conrad
Colors: Allen Passalaqua, Hi-Fi, Cris Peter, Federico Dallocchio, Trish Mulvihill, Michael Atiyeh, Tony Avina, Dennis Calero, Guy Major
Letters: John J. Hill
Editor: Dan DiDio & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Gene Ha
Publisher: DC Comics

I’ll tell your right off the bat the best thing about the DC Universe Halloween Special: the hosts. Everyone favorite Ghost Detectives, Ralph and Sue Dibney, pop in to play Cryptkeeper in this series of Halloween tales from across the DC Universe. I love these two characters and seeing them at all is a major treat for me, so from the first page, I was happy.

After that, the book is like any other anthology – some good stories, some not as good. “Deadline: Halloween” features Clark Kent trying to make a late deadline at the Daily Planet, only to come face-to-face with a predecessor who never quite made it. It’s a cute story, and the punchline at the end is funny.

“Fear of the Dark” is next, and perhaps the best story in the book. As Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner try to bring a little Halloween to Oa, the more Hellish parts of Kyle’s past begin to assault him: the murders of his former girlfriends, the death of his mother, his possession by Parallax and the atrocities he was forced to commit… This is a really strong look into the dark places in Kyle’s heart, and it helps to appreciate what it takes for him to overcome them.

“The Ballad of Jonathan Crane” is a lot of fun – Mikey Way re-casts the Legend of Sleepy Hollow with figures from Batman’s universe. Until the last page, this really has the feel of a lost “Elseworlds” tale, and it’s nice for fans of classic ghost stories. “The Embrace” features Faust in a race to find the soul of a child who seems to have fallen victim to his father, and works as a character piece.

“One Last Halloween” is a riot – two kids who are just reaching that bubble where you get too old for things like trick-or-treating or dressing up wind up with some older, rougher boys… in Gotham City, though, there’s no telling what they may find in a sewer. “Hell Hath No Fury” is a really bizarre story of the Demon that kinda feels like it’s missing something, and “Scarred and Scared” takes us into the depths of Arkham Asylum and the madness that waits there.

Vixen gets a little time to herself in the so-so “Role Model,” and finally, the Dibneys themselves take center stage in “The Elongated Halloween,” in which they set out to solve a murder mystery, a fact made harder by the fact that they are, let’s be honest here, living impaired.

If nothing else, this book has totally convinced me that the Dibneys still have a place in the DCU. Their story worked really well, and they were even fun as hosts. Come on, DC – let’s see the Ghost Detectives miniseries in 2009!

Rating: 7/10

JSA: Strange Adventures #3

August 14, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

Johnny Thunder has a new job –to tell the world the exploits of the Justice Society!

Writer: Kevin J. Anderson
Pencils: Barry Kitson
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: John Watson
Publisher: DC Comics

Any time we delve into the World War II-era adventures of the Justice Society of America is a good thing, and acclaimed science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson does a nice job setting up a really clever series. Johnny Thunder is a fan of pulp magazines, such a big fan that he’s been writing up the adventures of the JSA and submitting them to Amazing Stories only to meet with rejection after rejection… until the editor sees his sales slip and thinks the real-life tales of the JSA may be just what the magazine needs to win their audience back.

Meanwhile, a few nasty characters in Gotham City try to take over the airwaves of a APEX radio, unaware that Green Lantern is the engineer there. GL and Starman take on the villains in a dandy little fight sequence sure to satisfy people who get a little bored by the middle segment.

Not that I expect anyone to be bored – the idea of Johnny Thunder trying to write pulp science fiction is a hysterical one and Anderson executes it very well. He peppers the comic with references to real magazines and real writers, which helps to ground it a bit, but also gives the issue the same sort of flair that many of the current Julius Schwartz DC Comics Presents specials have.

Barry Kitson is one of the most solid superhero artists out there, and he does a fantastic Justice Society. From the nasty monster they fight in the early sequence of the book to Green Lantern and Starman’s fight, this is a energetic comic, made even better by fantastic coloring work by Hi-Fi.

Some people may not care to delve back into the Golden Age, but I’m not one of them. I love stories like this, I love the classic Justice Society, and I love the fact that Anderson and Kitson are doing them so well in the first issue of this miniseries.

Rating: 8/10

52 #25

October 26, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Liminal Times

Halloween in the One Year Gap!

Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Layouts: Keith Giffen
Pencils: Joe Bennett, Dale Eaglesham, Phil Jimenez, Patrick Oliffe, George Perez
Inks: Ruy Jose, Art Thibert, Andy Lanning, Drew Geraci
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Phil Balsman
Editor: Steven Wacker
Cover Art: J.G. Jones
Publisher: DC Comics

Like every issue of 52 thus far, there’s a ton of stuff going on, and it’s all to the good. In Gotham City, Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim is cementing Intergang’s hold on the city with a crime summit. The demonic Sabbac attacks Boston, sending both Marvel families into action, Ralph Dibney encounters an old Justice League foe in a very unforgiving environment, the new Infinity, Inc. heads out against some veteran villains, Alan Scott makes Mr. Terrific an intriguing offer (GASP) and on Oolong Island, Will Magnus learns more about why he’s been brought there.

This is an issue where the “realtime” gimmick of 52 really works to the book’s advantage – showing the Marvels’ first meeting with their “Black Marvel” counterparts in the middle of a crowded riot of trick-or-treaters was a nice touch. The Ralph Dibney scenes, however, really stole the book. With a dash of DC history (and some beautiful artwork), Ralph descends into the depths of Hell.

What really amazes me about this title is how it’s possible, week to week, to keep track of all the various storylines. It’s clear that 52 now features far more than the originally-advertised six stories, but even with the half-dozen intersecting plots here, there’s no trouble telling who’s doing what, where, and with whom. You don’t need a scorecard for this. Maybe it would be hard if I was waiting month to month for each chapter, but for a one-month gap, there’s no trouble at all.

The artwork is a bit more troublesome to me. It took 25 chapters, but we finally hit something of a “jam” issue, with multiple art teams handling different aspects of the story. For this issue, it worked pretty well – Jimenez on the Ralph scenes, Oliffe on Infinity, Inc. and Mr. Terrific… each segment had its own distinct flavor, and I was okay with that. I don’t know if I’d like every issue to be that way, however. Although I suppose ultimately, once the series is read as a whole, it will have that feeling regardless.

For this week’s origin story, Mark Waid tackles Nightwing, with art by George Perez. Like all the origin stories, it’s a nice, two-page capsule of the character. Unlike most other origin stories, though, we also get something of a glimpse into the future of the regular series. Not the far future, but we do see a little further than the most recent issue of Nightwing brought us, and that’s quite interesting.

All in all, Halloween in the one-year gap turned out pretty well.

Rating: 8/10