Warning: Spoilers (By the time I post this, you should have your books anyway)
Green Lantern #44
Green Lantern #44
Written by Geoff Johns; Art and cover by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy; Variant cover by Rodolfo Migliari
“Blackest Night” continues as Hal and Barry try and solve the mystery of who took Bruce Wayne’s skull. The universe continues to become embroiled in their growing “War of Light” as different factions of the rings attack each other. As always with Johns this issue ended too soon, and left me wanting more. I know a good issue from Johns is when I reach the last page, and it feels as though only 2-3 minutes passed by. The action is fast and fierce, and the “villains” continue to work over our heroes without sappy monologing or poor motivations.
I especially liked the continued commentary by Barry, who has filled the role of “Hero Lost in Time” that was previously filled by Captain America. I like the explorations of modern society and its leaps forward, as a hero who has been dead for a couple of decades finds himself in a world that can finally keep pace with the Fastest Man Alive. Getting back to the title character, I never saw Hal Jordan as the detective type, which is why this Issue’s pairing of Hal and Barry resonate so well, but I can’t wait to see these two figure out who took the skull, but more importantly, why. Mahnke and Alamy deliver great visuals as the scenery changes abruptly, and I especially like the small blurs and ghost images of the antsy fastest man.
8/10
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2
Written by Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi; Art by Rags Morales, Chris Sprouse, Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and others; Covers by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter; Variant covers by Gary Frank, Francis Manapul and Doug Mahnke
The collective of small short stories continues as Johns fleshes out the side characters that represent the different corps members in the War of Light. In this installment we get a story of Carroll Ferris as a Star Sapphire, a tale about a red lantern, and another about an orange lantern. Frankly, I could have done without this series. The stories are mildly enjoyable, but the art isn’t on the high level that has been established the Green Lantern. These side stories are more material for what you would read in the Encyclopedia of the DCU, than worth the $3.99 for this issue.
5/10
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5
Final Crisis Legion of Three Worlds #5
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by George Perez and Scott Koblish; Covers by George Pérez
This fantastic tie-in finally concludes months after this crisis ended. Poor release timing on DC’s part, but a brilliant series. We get a great conclusion that wraps up Superboy Prime, and Johns writes a beautiful explanation to the Timetrapper reveal that satisfies both LOSH newbies, and fan boys. I have always enjoyed writers using Superboy Prime as the voice of the bitchy fan boy, and the end of this book was an exceptional use of that tool.
I wasn’t a hard core reader of LOSH previously, but again, johns works his magic on lesser-known, or sideline characters, and gives me motivation to dive into the shop’s long boxes and trades to find out what happened with these people before I had arrived. There is a popular view in the comic book world, and I think it was reinforced when I read this series. “Either you read X-men, or your read Legion of Superheroes”. I think it’s true on so many levels. Both have characters that have one unique power to them, and readers subconsciously enjoy watching this writing exercise play out as writers couple heroes together for creative resolutions to impossible problems.
Georg Perez delivers more and more multi-character panels, and his art actually slows the book down for me, which I mean in a complementary way. Again, johns writes a story that will fly by because I have so much fun with it, but I need to slow down on Perez’s art work because I want to inspect every panel for hidden nuggets of action.
I found this particular series very street level friendly as well. I knew close to nothing about LOSH except what I had seen on the cartoons on TV, and the cameo roles they have played through the past few years such as the JSA/JLA cross over “Lightning Saga”. Every character is introduced, their relationships are quickly caught up on, and all the relevant history is given to you without it being a weighty exposition. If you missed this story, pick it up in trade.
9/10
Invincible #64
Invincible #64
Story ROBERT KIRKMAN, art & cover RYAN OTTLEY & FCO PLASCENCIA
Kirkman wraps up another stellar story in the invincible universe. Yet another book that flew by, and I’d swear was only 6 pages. Normally, long, involved action sequences start to bore me after 3 pages, but this 3 issue knock-down, drag out battle was fan-fucking-tastic. Ottley brings his A-game to these fights. I felt as though I could feel every crunch, and the way he drew the compound fractures was both horrifying and fascinating.
I was slightly disappointed by Atom Eve coming back to life. Kirkman is just brutal to his characters in “Walking Dead”, and I was really hoping that ”no one is safe” approach would have made it into Invincible. I do love Eve though, and I’m glad she’s back in the picture. The follow up stories dealing with the aftermath, and Allen Alien should be quite amusing.
8/10
Tags: Blackest Night, Comic Books, DC Comics, Flash, Geoff Johns, Green Lantern, Image Comics, Invincible, Kirkman, Perez
Posted in General Geekness, Graphic Novels & Comic books |
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