Grayson, Vol 2: We All Die At Dawn by Tom King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Well that was…underwhelming.
When you title a series Grayson, and most of the hype around said series revolves around the presence of said Grayson, one would expect this Grayson to actually be in his own book.
Instead, we’re lucky enough to receive glimpses of Agent 37 as he occasionally pops up to grace the pages just when you’re starting to lose interest in the threadbare story.
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Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Two #1 by Tom Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hmm. This is starting to fall into a soap, rinse and repeat pattern. We have this general plotline where one extra hero who knows nothing about the situation gets introduced, one more exasperating villain is added and lots of people die. Lots.
You knew the Game of Thrones comparison was coming.
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Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Introduction:
There were many comics during the 1980s that really helped redefine the comic book industry, such as Frank Miller’s classic “Batman” story, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” which helped redefine Batman into a darker and edgier character. Another comic that really stood out for DC comics during the 1980s was none other than “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” which was actually the final “Superman” story to be written in the style of the silver age comics. After I read Alan Moore’s classic “Batman” story, “Batman: The Killing Joke,” I just had to check out Alan Moore’s other works with the DC Universe and after many of my friends recommended me this comic, I decided to check out “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” This is honestly the first “Superman” comic book I had ever read, even though I knew Superman from watching “Superman: The Animated Series” and “Smallville.”
What is this story about?
This is basically a what-if story about the events that led Superman to suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth. This story includes many of Superman’s greatest foes (Bizarro, Lex Luthor, Metallos and Kryptonite Man) trying to kill Superman. Will they succeed? Read this comic to find out!
What I loved about this story:
Alan Moore’s writing: Alan Moore, as usual, has written a truly inspiring story about the man of tomorrow as it was truly intense yet exciting at the same time. I loved the way that Alan Moore wrote this story in a what if scenario, even going as far as to say that this story is IMAGINARY, since I love reading “what-if” stories about what would have happened to our favorite comic book characters if certain situations that do not normally happen in the mainstream universe happened to that character. I found this story to be really interesting because of how various events are set up to lead to the mystery of Superman’s disappearance such as Bizarro attacking Metropolis for sadistic reasons. I also loved the fact that even though this story was extremely short, Alan Moore still managed to detail every event that was involved in Superman’s disappearance and I loved seeing the characters’ reactions towards certain situations, especially Superman himself. I really loved the portrayals of all the characters, including Lois Lane and Superman as Lois Lane is written as being extremely helpful towards Superman and caring about him when the situations got complicated for Superman. I really loved Superman’s personality as he is always shown as the man who would try to do the right thing and would try to help out his friends and the planet whenever they are attacked by his enemies.
Curt Swan’s artwork: Curt Swan’s artwork was fantastic as it really captured the feel of the Silver Age “Superman” comics with the characters looking extremely realistic and colorful. I also loved the way that Curt Swan drew the action scenes as they look intense and dramatic whenever Superman was fighting his foes.
What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:
I guess the only worrisome thing about this comic is that it is a bit darker than your average “Superman” story. I will not go into much detail, but let us just say that many characters die in this comic and that might be upsetting for any “Superman” fan.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Superman” Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” is a truly brilliant “Superman” story that fans of “Superman” will definitely enjoy for many years! This volume also contains two extra stories after the original story which are “The Jungle Line” with artwork by Rick Veitch and it is where Superman meets up with Swamp Thing and “For the Man Who Has Everything” with artwork by Dave Gibbons and it is about Superman being controlled by one of Mongul’s inventions…on his birthday! I would definitely check those two stories out also!
My Rating?
Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Four Vol. 1 by Brian Buccellato
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
Is this what we’re going to do now? Every “year” will have some sort of themed enemy that Superman will eventually vanquish? Last year was magic, and now we’re on to the Greek gods. So seemingly on a whim, the Greek gods have decided that Superman’s rule is a blasphemy against themselves, and so go to war with his side what Batman and company sort of… awkwardly watch? Because they’re very outclassed.
Still, even with slight plot justification, there’s some really fun stuff in here: Wonder Woman throwing down with Superman, the issue centered on Renee Montoya, and lots of scattered character moments that remind me why I look forward to each new volume of this series. There’s still a lot of good in the series, even if I do feel like it’s maybe losing its way a little bit. At this point, I’m kind of glad that the book will be ending after Year Five, because I feel like its losing momentum a bit. Still, that does make it easier for me to stay hopeful. Buccellato ended Year Three in a great way, and maybe he’ll pull something fantastic out for Year Four.
Gotham Academy, Vol. 2: Calamity by Becky Cloonan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
This is quite an improvement over the first volume. The book seems to have hit its stride, and I really enjoyed reading it. Olive’s mystery is, I think, more or less resolved, and it unfolds in a way that makes a certain amount of sense, by Gotham standards. It actually ended up being a little more interesting than I had expected. The group of main characters owes a bit to the Scoobies, which is not a bad thing in my eyes. I’m glad this book is still going, because I honestly think it’s showing some real promise now, and I think it could do really well with the younger female audience that DC had been losing to Marvel titles like Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl. And a more diverse audience is a larger audience, DC.
Injustice: Gods Among Us, Vol. 2 by Tom Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It took me ages to get over the emotional trauma of reading this one.
IT HURTS, OKAY?
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Batgirl, Vol. 2: Family Business by Cameron Stewart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
At this point, I’ve more than given this new version of Batgirl a fair shot, and I feel fully justified in saying that I just don’t like it at all. To me, this character simply doesn’t feel like the Babs I know and love. She’s an entirely different person trying to fill shoes she isn’t ready for. I don’t know, maybe I would like the character more if she were totally original, instead of an original character masquerading as a familiar one.
And maybe I’d be more ready to like this new Babs if she had a good storyline. But that’s a major miss. The closest thing to a big villain this books is a Cheetah rip off, a rich girl who likes tigers and… Yeah, that’s about it. But probably the worst of it all are Dick Grayson’s guest star appearances. Why, yes, Dick is indeed supposed to be dead, and is supposed to be deep under cover. That’s why his first appearance is a hopelessly cliched “hiding around every corner!” gimmick, but it doesn’t explain why he decides to blow his cover by approaching Babs at her friend’s wedding. I couldn’t believe that he’d risk his position so easily, and I still can’t. It wasn’t even in service of a good story, it’s just a half-hearted attempt to put distance between Babs and Dicks. You know what would have done that even better? Dick not blowing his cover.
I can see that a lot of people are really loving this book, but for me it’s such a big no. I miss the old Babs.
Martian Manhunter Vol. 1: The Epiphany by Rob Williams
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
For everything that’s good in this book, there’s at least one thing that’s boring or overly convoluted or poorly written, which is quite a shame.
Good: J’onn at the beginning of the book, Mr. Biscuits, J’onn’s choice to try to protect his adopted world.
Not good: A story that’s fragmented between too many characters, weak characterization, characters making decisions that make no sense in the context of the story, and a plot that’s more convoluted than complex.
On balance, there wasn’t enough good to outweigh the dull, which is unfortunate. I’m not a big fan of J’onn, but I’ve always liked him when I saw him.
Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Going Down by Ming Doyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
This is DC’s second try at making Constantine a part of the mainstream DCU, and it’s far and away more successful than the first attempt. Yes, it’s still a PG-13 version of the character, but he doesn’t feel particularly censored. Truth be told, by making Constantine’s bisexuality a matter of fact part of his character instead of something that’s occasionally alluded to but mostly ignored, he might be, on balance, less censored than ever. He’s still a bastard, though, because would we even recognize a Constantine who wasn’t?
The story, too, is way better. It actually feels like a proper Constantine story, instead of a box he was stuffed into because the writer wasn’t sure how to deal with him. As it turns out, you can write a Hellblazer story that’s rated PG-13 without taking out much of what is essentially him. Is it missing some bite? Oh, sure, and die-hard fans of Ennis’s take on the character, for example, will likely be less than thrilled. But I’m no Ennis die-hard. And if nothing else, the character of Georgiana Snow, the anti-Constantine, is a gift.
The art, though is… Well, it’s art, and it isn’t terrible, but neither is it terribly good. I got used to it, but I never liked it. On the other hand, it definitely gives the book a distinctive look, and that’s not the worst thing in the world.
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three Vol. 2 by Brian Buccellatio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
I’ve loved Injustice under Tom Taylor, so I was both excited to get approved for this new volume and a little apprehensive. How would Buccellatio do in his first few issues? These are pretty big shoes to fill, in my opinion. And, as it turned out, he did a pretty good job. He starts fairly strong, by resolving a plot thread that Taylor left dangling in a truly unexpected way. The middle does get a little bogged down, and slows the pace considerably, but he makes up for it with a strong ending. This whole year of Injustice has been very heavy on mysticism. I’m not sure if that’s entirely out of the way now, but I think it will definitely be less in the foreground than it has been. Constantine was really the story of year three, and he exits the book at the end in a way that feels absolutely right for the character.
There are two bonus short stories at the end, set earlier in the series. One fleshes out Constantine’s plan and explains where Dr. Occult has been. The other answers the question of what happened with the Teen Titans, who have been largely absent from the action to this point. It is nice to have the world fleshed out a bit more, and I wouldn’t have wanted to read the Dr. Occult story any earlier than it was presented in this book. The Teen Titans one, though, is from the very beginning of the Injustice story, and I would have been much happier reading it or something like it sooner. It kind of feels like an afterthought tacked on at the end, even though it is a decent story.
I think Buccallatio could do a good job on this series, and I’m more than willing to give him a few more books to see what I think. Injustice is still one of my favorite ongoing titles in DC’s roster.
Shallow Readers 