Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles #1

October 3, 2005

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: The Enemy Within

A new threat appears on the horizon.

Story: Tommy Yune
Script: Jason Waltrip & John Waltrip
Art: Omar Dogan and Udon Studios
Letters: Travis Lanham
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover Art: Omar Dogan
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm

Not being a big fan of Robotech, it was kind of hard to get into this miniseries, which (according to the cover blurb) is a set-up for a forthcoming DVD project. The opening sets up the premise for the universe well enough, but not the characters so much, and as such many things went over my head.

A mysterious murder at the city of Tiresia sends our heroes on a search which reveals a new, powerful series of battle cruisers that are stolen right out from under their noses. There’s a quick action sequence that works very well, but the book then dovetails into a few talking heads expository sequences. I don’t mind talking heads or exposition as a rule, but the writers didn’t really provide enough flavor for the uninitiated t get much enjoyment out of the rest of the book.

As I said, the action sequence is the best part of the book. Giant transforming robots are always good entertainment (which makes it strange that I was never really interested in this property as a child), and outer space fight sequences with them are even moreso.

The artwork in this issue is also very good. With any project like this one, an adaptation of an existing animated property, you’re hoping that the artists can replicate the look of the animation as exactly as possible, and Omar Dogan succeeds at this very well. The book looks very much like it could have been drawn from the cartoon, but at the same time, Dogan has ability to get more innovative with layouts and camera angles. Comic book storytelling with animation sensibility. Well done.

It’s hard to imagine a story so big that it requires a five-issue prelude, but if this is something Robotech fans have been anticipating, they’ll probably draw much more enjoyment from this miniseries than I can.

Rating: 6/10

Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi #2

March 6, 2006

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Dark Agent and other stories

Amy and Yumi dump Kaz!

Writers: Sean Carolan, Jennifer Moore, J. Torres & Abby Denson
Pencils: Christopher Cook
Inks: Mike DeCarlo & Al Nickerson
Colors: Heroic Age
Letters: Nick J. Napolitano & Travis Lanham
Editor: Joan Hilty
Cover Art: Phil Moy
Publisher: DC Comics/Johnny DC

The Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi comic book experience continues this month with another collection of short stories that may hold some appeal for hardcore fans, but will likely leave everyone else wondering how these two ever got their own TV show.

In “Dark Agent,” Ami and Yumi finally get fed up and dump their loser manager, Kaz, replacing him with a new agent, “Mr. Scratch,” who (as it turns out) has less-than angelic goals for the band. The girls grow disenchanted and must turn to Kaz to get them out of their predicament. The basic premise, if done before, is all well and good, but there’s no logical transitioning in this story. There’s no explanation as to why they decide the life of a superstar isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. They simply sign the contract, there’s a one-page montage of how great life is, and then out of the blue, they’re tired of it. Adults will get the joke about their new agent, but kids will most likely wonder what the heck made the girls change their minds.

The second story, “Tiki Torture,” is a little better. Kaz gets the girls a Tiki statue to decorate their bus, but a curse follows it, and the girls must find a way to rid themselves of a statue that doesn’t want to go. Not a great story, but at least one without any gaping logic holes in it, and it’s cute enough for what it does.

The final story, “Puffy Amiyumi $ell Out,” splits the difference. The girls, facing waning popularity, agree to let Kaz license their music and images out to sell products, something which works fine and makes them rich, until they see one product they don’t like and they shut down the whole thing. This is one where the adults are more likely to see the logic gap than the children.

As I said before, I just can’t see the appeal of this franchise, either as a TV show or a comic. If you like it, more power to you, but it’s just not for me.

Rating: 3/10

Somebody’s First Comic Book: Aquaman (2003 Series) #36

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: The Failure of Success

CREDITS:
Writer: John Arcudi
Layout: Leonard Kirk
Finishes: Andy Clarke
Colors: Nathan Eyring
Letters: Travis Lanham
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Aquaman talks to fish.

IMPRESSIONS: Well, this should be good for a laugh. Aquaman, silliest superhero ever invented and… what’s this? On the first page, we see a chimpanzee swimming around in what appears to be a sunken city (American, not Atlantis) and bringing a corpse to the surface. Maybe this won’t be a chucklefest after all.

When we see Aquaman, he’s in a hospital bed, having been beat the hell up, and it appears he’s trying to explain to his girlfriend why he never mentioned his wife Mera to her… Wha? Aquaman is a player? But… talks to… fish…

Anyway, some terrorists break out another water-breathing terrorist from some sort of laboratory/prison, give him a silly helmet, and they start blowing stuff up. Meanwhile Aquaman swims around this sunken city with his adult son, Koryak, Aquagirl, the chimpanzee and some thing that looks like a gorilla and a shark had a baby, while some sorcerer called Tempest does something bad and a guy in a green cape (calls himself the Spectre) shows up and promises to cause an “Infinite Crisis.”

My head hurts. I’ve got no idea what’s going on here. Aquaman is acting like kind of a male slut, giving the women really lame explanations for what’s going on, and I’ve got no idea why this underwater city is flying American flags (is “flying” even really the right word when it’s underwater), who Tempest is, or why this Spectre is so pissed off. The only reason I can even tell Black Manta is supposed to be the bad guy is because he’s going around shooting at people, although if the rest of this issue is anything to go on, we’ll probably find out those people go around sticking firecrackers up toad’s butts in their spare time.

I liked it better when Aquaman was just the silly guy who talked to fish.

GRADE: D+

DC Universe Holiday Special 2008

December 23, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Man in Red and other stories

A series of seasonal tales from across the DC Universe!

Writers: Sterling Gates, Matt Cherniss, Peter Johnson, Dan Didio, Paul Dini, Joe Kelly, Franco Aureliani, Art Baltazar, J.C. Vaughan, Amanda McMurray, Rex Ogle, Alan Burnett, Adam Schlagman
Pencils: Karl Kerschl, Ivan Reis, Ian Churchill, Dustin Nguyen, Mick Bertilorenzi, Tim Levins, Lee Garbett, Rafael Albuquerque, Michael J. Dimotta, Kevin Maguire, Rodolfo Migliari
Inks: Joe Prado, Dan Davis, Trevor Scott
Colors: Pete Pantazis, Rod Reis, Bob Rivard, Dustin Nguyen, Pam Rambo, Heroic Age, Cris Peter, Frank Martin, Michael J. Dimotta, Max Niumara
Letters: Travis Lanham, Rob Leigh, Pat Brosseau, Sal Cipriano, Nick Napolitano
Editors: Dan Didio & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Frank Quitely
Publisher: DC Comics

Holiday specials, to be frank, are usually a mixed bag. You get some good stories, some bad stories, and in the end you’re left trying to decide if there was enough good to justify the price. This year, however, the DC Universe Holiday Special has a surprising amount of good, more than enough to balance out the rest.

“The Man in Red” begins the issue with a very familiar story – the last son of a dying world is sent to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. It’s obvious from the beginning, of course, that there’s a twist – and even more specifically, just what that twist is – but somehow, that doesn’t make the story any less fun. “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” is a bizarre Aquaman story. When the king of the seas finds s ship being hijacked on the surface, he leaps to the aid of the husband and pregnant wife fighting for their lives. Along the way, though, he finds himself playing the part of a different king. I really liked this story, I must say. The parallels were obvious, but not heavy-handed, and definitely gutsy.

Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen give us a very different take on Batman and Robin in “Good King Wenceslas,” and even though DC isn’t currently using the label, this is as good an Elseworlds story as you’ll find this year. Batman comes back again in “A Day Without Sirens,” by Joe Kelly and Mick Bertilorenzi. Jim Gordon is skeptical when a local agency tries to pledge a night with no sirens, no crimes, no emergencies for the GCPD to handle. But as the clock ticks and the phone doesn’t ring he’s forced to question – is it a Christmas miracle?

“It’s a Wonderful Night” takes advantage of a unique dynamic as Nightwing and Robin encounter Captain Boomerang. Lest we forget, their fathers killed each other, so there’s a tension there unlike any other. Perhaps my favorite story in the book, though, was “Christmas With the Beetles.” Three generations of criminal have run afoul of three generations of the Blue Beetle, and the cycle looks like it’s going to start again, unless a father convinces his son to change his life. I love seeing the two older Beetles in action, and as a fan of Jaime Reyes, he was welcome in this book too. “An Angel Told Me” is a nice – if not amazing – Huntress story about a kid in her school who has been showing up with mysterious bruises. It’s a bit predictable, but gets the point across without preaching.

“The Night Before Christmas” features a highly up-to-the-minute Teen Titans team (plus Traci 13, Jaime’s girlfriend) hanging in New York City at Christmas. The story deals heavily with the dynamics of the characters, with Robin and Wonder Girl contemplating how to keep the team together, Bombshell refusing to interact with her teammates, and Red Devil feeling kind of left out. Unlike most of the stories in this book, which have an ambiguous sense of time about them, this story could easily be inserted in-between pages of the current Teen Titans run, and in fact, probably should be included in a trade paperback of the series.

Alan Burnett and Kevin Maguire step up with “Party Animal,” a tale of the Shaggy Man. The addle-brained villain is rounded up on Christmas Eve, but rather than interrupt the Christmas festivities at S.T.A.R. Labs, Green Lantern and Red Arrow bring him to the JLA Satellite – to interrupt their party. The story is funny, and Maguire’s fantastic artwork helps a lot to get the comedy across.

Finally, Dr. Light stars in “Let There Be Light” by Adam Schlagman and Rodolfo Migliari. Stuck at work on Christmas Eve, Kimiyo Hoshi is attacked by the surviving members of the Fearsome Five, teammates of the villain whose identity she has claimed. There seems to be a definite attempt to bring this character to the forefront these days, which I’m fine with as long as it’s done well. Migliari does some excellent artwork with her, and the story actually addresses the one thing about the character that has always bothered me – namely, why she’d adopt the name and costume of a monster like Arthur Light.

Although there are a few lesser tales in this book, this mixed bag is far less mixed than the typical Yuletide special. There’s a lot of really good material in this issue, and the special is definitely worth the price.

Rating: 8/10

DCU Infinite Holiday Special #1

December 16, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: A Hector Hammond Christmas and other stories

Christmas in a Post-Crisis DC Universe!

Writers: Keith Champagne, Bill Willingham, Joe Kelly, Tony Bedard, Ian Boothby, Greg Rucka, Kelly Puckett
Pencils: John Byrne, Cory Walker, Ale Garza, Marcos Marz, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Christian Alamy, Pete Woods
Inks: Keith Champagne, Luciana Del Negro, Lorenzo Ruggiero
Colors: Nathan Eyring, Mike Atiyeh, J.J. Kirby, Rod Reis, Hi-Fi Design, Jason Wright, Brad Anderson
Letters: Travis Lanham, John Hill, Jared K. Fletcher, Phil Balsman
Editors: Peter Tomasi, Joey Cavalieri, Eddie Berganza, Mike Carlin, Joan Hilty
Cover Art: Howard Porter
Publisher: DC Comics

A few months ago, DC solicited this special as Infinite Christmas, showcasing several DC heroes in this new world that’s been built up. When it hit the stands on Wednesday, though, the title had mysteriously changed to Infinite Holiday. This is really unfortunate, and for two reasons. First, Infinite Christmas was a great play on words. Infinite Holiday makes no sense at all. Second, with the last-second, unannounced title change after being promoted for so long, it gives the book the air that someone whined and someone else buckled.

But on to the actual stories. We’ve got seven tales of the DC Universe, and they’re all pretty good. Keith Champagne and John Byrne kick things off with Green Lantern “A Hector Hammond Christmas.” Hal Jordan is summoned to the imprisoned telepath Hector Hammond, only to find that Hammond is out to try to steal some of Jordan’s memories again. Although the sordid little man usually plucks out Hal’s more intimate encounters, this time his agenda is different – he just wants a taste of the Christmases Hal enjoyed with his father. It’s a surprisingly sweet tale and it works very, very well.

Bill Willingham and Cory Woods showcase the Shadowpact in “Christmas Spirits.” As the members of Shadowpact enjoy Christmas at the Oblivion, a not-so-jolly figure in red appears. It’s Santa Claus, and he’s become the target for Anti-Christmas terrorists. Willingham has an absolutely hysterical twist in this story, the sort of thing you’re almost surprised he could get away with, but it’s such a great little left turn that anything else would have made the story seem rather trite.

In “All I Want For Christmas” by Joe Kelly and Ale Garza, Superman invites Supergirl to join him in his annual tradition of reading mail from people asking for his help. Supergirl finds a young girl who wants nothing more than to spend Christmas with her father, stationed in Iraq, and the girl of steel sets out to help. Even at Christmas, though, things aren’t always what they seem.

“Gift of the Magi” is the Trials of Shazam! tie-in. Tony Bedard features two of the gods that are testing Freddie Freeman as, at Christmas, they discuss his worthiness to take on the power of Shazam. The story is a nice little sidebar to the main storyline, and Marcos Marz, Luciano Del Negro and Rod Reis do a very good job of imitating the digitally painted style that Howard Porter has brought to the comic. “Father Christmas” by Ian Boothby and Giuseppe Camuncoli stars the Flash. As Bart Allen still tries to come to grips with taking on his grandfather’s mantle, Los Angeles is buried under a freak snowfall. Someone’s using the tricks of an old Flash foe, but the reasonings behind it may not be what you expect.

The new Batwoman stars in “Lights” by Greg Rucka and Christian Alamy. On Hanukkah, Kate Kane busts up a ring of Santa thieves who have a very special treasure in their possession. Honestly, this story really fell flat for me. The story relies very heavily on Kate’s relationships with two characters that we haven’t really met at all prior to this story. Batwoman herself is still a developing character – this story doesn’t work until we know more about her world and the characters she’s interacting with.

The special wraps up with Kelley Puckett and Pete Woods’s “Yes, Tyrone, There is a Santa Claus.” When a young boy writes a letter to the Daily Planet asking if there’s really a Santa Claus, Clark Kent decides to take matters into his own hands – until a friend advises him to rethink things. This is a really funny story, leading up to a hysterical final page that puts everything into the proper context.

Overall, this is a really good special, with each story (expect for the last one) shedding nice light on characters who have undergone major changes in the past year or two. As such, it’s a strong sampler of the DC Universe as a whole, and a good little dose of Christmas cheer.

Rating: 8/10

Justice League: Generation Lost #11

December 7, 2010

Title: Heavy Metal Poisoning

Writer: Judd Winick
Pencils: Aaron Lopresti
Inks: Matt Ryan
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Cliff Chiang
Editors: Rex Ogle & Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

Max Lord has tapped into the brains of the robotic Metal Men and set them against our makeshift Justice League, using them to keep our heroes busy as he carries out his own insidious schemes. Most of this issue is taken up by the battle between the two groups of heroes, and while that sort of thing often feels a little forced, here it works okay thanks to the whole reprogramming conceit. The different worldview Max forces into the Metal Men’s minds gives the book a nice added dimension that makes the fight a good bit more exciting as well.

I really like how the relationship between Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle is progressing. While the former Beetle, Ted Kord, was of course Booster’s best friend, the mentor/protégé dynamic between the two of them is working well. The two especially work in contrast with Captain Atom, who doesn’t quite have the respect for the two of them that he really should, but at the same time, he knows he needs whatever soldiers he can get.

The ending of this issue is interesting – it sets up a real conflict between Fire and Ice, without forcing the issue too much. Having read past this point (sorry the review is a bit tardy), we know that the setup is leading into a rather unnecessary retcon of Ice’s origins, and that rather weakens the story as a whole, but taken on its own the way they come together works.

Aaron Lopresti is one of the best artists never to get that “superstar” status. I love his depiction of the (sort of) human Metal Men. Design-wise, the book continues to inch towards Kingdom Come, even using the amalgam Metal Men creation that was featured in this story. Again, the next few issues go a long way to turn away from this potential future, but it’s fun to see the design regardless.

Good, action-packed issue.

Rating: 8/10

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

Secret Six (2008 Series) #25

September 25, 2010

Title: The Reptile Brain Part One: Blood Calls to Blood

Writer: Gail Simone
Art: Jim Calafiore
Colors: Jason Wright
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Daniel Luvisi
Editor: Sean Ryan
Publisher: DC Comics

The Secret Six has been shattered. Bane and Jeanette have walked away, rounding up four other villains to shape their own team, while Scandal, Ragdoll and Black Alice try to bring Catman back to sanity. And the two groups, naturally, are on a collision course.

The tricky thing about having a team with a number in the title is that you’re rather limited in bringing in new members (or getting rid of members, should you so desire). Simone has expanded the cast considerably this issue, though, bringing in several characters she’s played with before (such as Giganta and Dwarfstar from her run on All-New Atom). New characters means new character dynamics, and that’s a great way to keep a book like this one fresh in the hands of a skilled writer. Catman’s breakdown is being handled delicately, but the book is still a place to have a little fun as well.  I mean… we have dinosaurs in this comic for crying out loud. Dinosaurs.

Jim Calafiore’s artwork is as good as ever – for some reason his Giganta in particular looks really great to me. What can you say – the man can draw 50-foot women. We also get a good cover by Daniel Luvisi, who give us a clever video game selection screen riff. His pose on Dwarfstar is kind of funky, but the design is really clever.

Great issue, as usual.

Rating: 8/10

Red Sonja/Claw: Devil’s Hands #1

March 14, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Accursed

Claw returns – back-to-back with Red Sonja!

Writer: John Layman
Art: Andy Smith
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: Travis Lanham
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover Art: Alex Ross (variant by Jim Lee & Gabriele Dell’Otto)
Publisher: DC/Wildstorm/Dynamite Entertainment

Well here’s an oddity for you: an inter-company crossover between a licensed character (Sonja) and a long-defunct character from the imprint’s parent company (Claw). Wildstorm is going to soon resurrect DC’s old fantasy character Claw the Unconquerable, and they’re kicking it off with a crossover with Dynamite Entertainment – and they’re actually doing quite well.

Red Sonja, of course, is the long-suffering barbarian woman (another product of Conan creator Robert Howard). Claw is one of many barbarian heroes that popped up in Conan’s wake – his gimmick is his hand. Cursed from birth, he wears a red gauntlet over his withered claw of a right hand, a demonic hand that craves blood.

As the miniseries begins, Sonja happens upon Claw who has been saved from a suicide attempt by the timely intervention of a barbarian horde that wants very much to kill him themselves. Joining together (I can’t believe Layman was strong enough to resist the urge to have them fight one another for no good reason), Sonja hears about Claw’s plight and offers to bring him to a sorcerer of her acquaintance who may be able to help.

Since most fantasy/barbarian comic book characters live in fairly generic fantasy/barbarian worlds, putting these two characters together doesn’t take nearly the leap of faith you need to mesh most superhero crossovers, and in fact, the story works very well. Layman handles both characters well, and Andy Smith’s artwork is great. It’s got a fine barbarian quality with just the right amounts of blood and gore to make the story work, but not so much as to make it over the top.

Bottom line – Red Sonja fans should be quite pleased by this miniseries, and as Wildstorm is clearly hoping that some of them will follow this to the upcoming Claw series, I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.

Rating: 8/10

Secret Six (2008 Series) #24

August 27, 2010

Title: Unforgivable

Writer: Gail Simone
|Art: J. Calafiore
Colorist: Jason Wright
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Daniel Luvisi
Editor: Sean Ryan
Publisher: DC Comics

In this issue, the Secret Six go to the old west – literally. In an issue that’s truly bizarre, even for this comic, we watch a tale of the Six in Gotham City of the 1800s, where the bounty hunter called Floyd Lawton is in town to correct a bounty from the Sheriff, Scandal. The entire cast of the book is represented here, and the result is a story that can fit in with the grittiest, most hardcore western comics without sacrificing what makes any of the characters who they are or resorting to any superhero, sci-fi or fantasy tropes to pull things out at the last minute.

As bizarre as this issue is, and as incongruous as it may seem, it proves just how versatile Gail Simone is as a writer. We’ve seen her do comedy, superhero action, mystery, sci-fi, crime drama… and now a western. The woman can do it all – as can artist J. Calafiore, who doesn’t have to modify his usual style very much at all to make it fit in with this time-tossed storyline. He does gritty action in this comic most months, so switching it up to a western setting isn’t too much of a stretch. Daniel Luvisi (who I wasn’t really a fan of at first, but who is rapidly evolving into a fine cover artist) turns in a great Deadshot image for the cover of this issue.

I consistently love this book, and that’s completely due to the skill and talent of one of the best teams in the business. We have a book where no one is safe, anything can happen, and villains are protagonists without turning into heroes. None of those are easy in mainstream comics, but somehow, this team gives us all three.

Rating: 8/10