Justice League United #4 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Mike McKone (art), Cam Smith (inks), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Nothing like opposing dimensional polarities to put a crimp in the marriage.

The Review: So we’ve come to Justice League United‘s fourth issue, and as some of you may know, that means it’s time to decide whether to stick to the series or leave it by the wayside. I’ll cut to the chase: I’m not buying it. JLU just doesn’t really stand out in a market that’s lately crowded with ambitious and unusual concepts. It’s pretty much how I feel about In ‘n’ Out: I like it fine, but there are new burgers in the neighborhood that I’m more excited to try.

On the most basic level, JLU‘s cast has little chemistry going for it. The situation’s a bit like the early days of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., in which the characters woodenly played their archetypical roles for months. Eventually, things clicked together, but what a drag while it lasted. That’s exactly the word you’d use to describe the character interaction in this issue: a drag. Lemire labors to inject tension into the issue; the problem is you can see the sweat involved.

Justice League United #1 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Mike McKone (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Parents should rejoice in the knowledge that it takes a whole League to handle a baby.

The Review: Blame it on the original incarnation of the Justice League or Grant Morrison’s “pantheon” conception for the JLA, but nowadays, we have a pretty specific idea of what the Justice League roster should look like. Anytime you deviate from that line-up, the thought becomes that this is a lesser or leftovers League, which means they’re already coming from behind from the moment they start out. That’s the position the Justice League United finds itself in.

If you’re not working with the classic League, which can sell itself purely on the names involved, there’s only two ways to make the League work otherwise, which is basically how you make any superhero team work: a great combination of power sets or some great team chemistry. Obviously, managing to do both would be ideal, but right now, the JLU is struggling to generate either, which doesn’t bode well for its long-term success. The Justice League of America had a similar problem and look where it ended up: the bulk of its cast dispersed and the rest shunted to Canada for some inexplicable reason.

Young Justice S02E02 – Review

By: Nicole Dubuc

The Story: Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch—and the Blue Sand Bog.

The Review: One of the big features of this new season, one I’m not sure I’ll find more enjoyable than irritating, is the weekly efforts to figure out what went down during those five years this show skipped over.  On the one hand, it gives us a reason to actively focus on every detail or sidebar the episode gives us in case we get some clues to the past.  On the other hand, this bit-by-bit gleaning of information can get a little taxing on your patience.

The big question, of course, is what exactly caused Superboy and Miss Martian to break up?  In real life, the most probable explanation is one of them cheated on the other (and if Lagoon Boy was involved at all, that makes Superboy’s grimace at seeing him and Megan make out all the more understandable).  The other major possibility is people grow up; things change; and it just didn’t work out.  When you have a clone and an alien dating, that possibility is pretty viable, too.

But in the world of animated superheroes, it takes something particularly drastic to break up a couple, especially one which the show’s creators downright foisted upon us, whether we supported it or not.  It invariably boils down to some elaborate, plotty misunderstanding driving them apart, or one party doing something despicable, leading the other to turn away in disgust and/or horror.  The end result almost always involves the couple getting back together once their mutual hang-ups have been cleared away, usually after some life-endangering incident.

So for any of you Connegan (Megonner?) fans out there, take heart; this episode offers plenty of hints that the star-crossed lovers will follow the same formula as any other superhero couple.  Despite Miss Martian’s new boyfriend, we can see lingering feelings between the two of them, specifically in the tender way they tell each other to be careful during the mission on Rann.  When Alanna, Adam Stranger’s romantic interest on Rann, asks Superboy how long he and Megan were together, he replies wistfully, “All my life,” a surprisingly touching response that reminds you he hasn’t actually lived for very long, so his first love will take some getting over.

Still, it’s clear Miss Martian is handling the separation a lot more smoothly, and not just because she has an undersea beau to lip-lock with.  She has Beast Boy, her surrogate little brother, to look after now (a situation brought about by some rather grim, suspicious circumstances).  Besides that major distraction, she’s also clearly grown in confidence, replacing her cutesiness with a much more tolerable spunk, and getting far bolder with her telepathic abilities than she was five years ago, leading to a fairly dark scene near the end of the episode which indicates she may be the “party doing something despicable” in the equation I mention above.

The rest of the episode is basically a long, action-packed set-up for a dramatic announcement of an upcoming revelation.  We really don’t learn anything new on Rann about the Krolotean invasion that we didn’t learn on Earth last episode, but at least we have enough activity and interaction going on to make the whole thing worthwhile.  The real value here are all the pieces of character exposition that get sprinkled throughout the episode: Superboy’s inability to age, Beast Boy losing his mom, etc.

Conclusion: You don’t really move forward in this episode, but you do get to trace your steps back a little bit and get a bigger picture of where the show’s been going all along.

Grade: B

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Love the redesign of Adam Strange’s costume, by the way.  I know hoodies are overused these days to create a false sense of edginess, but admittedly he does look more hip.

– Also love that Strange quotes “Jabberwocky” in an attempt to sound like a crazy person on Rann’s subway.  Come to think of it, that would probably work on Earth, too.

– Did Superboy have X-ray vision five years ago?  ‘Cause if not, that’s new.

Young Justice S02E01 – Review

By: Greg Weisman (story)

The Story: YJ’s philosophy toward recruitment?  The more the merrier.

The Review: When I reviewed the show’s season finale last week, I was all settled in for a summer’s break until its return.  I suppose I should have known by now to give up trying to figure out this show’s release schedule.  Who could ever predict that the premiere of the second season would follow right on the heels of the first’s season finale?  I can only guess this is Cartoon Network’s way of keeping up its newly-minted DC Nation block.

The first few minutes of the episode get you pumped for another season of teen superhero action, as you watch Superboy, Miss Martian, and Robin take down Clayface in a sewer with great finesse and confidence, proving their victory aboard the League watchtower did wonders for their street cred.  When Robin appears from the shadows in a whole new costume, you’re only briefly curious.  Then an alligator slides down a chute and becomes Beast Boy.  Blue Beetle flies in, remarking on the smell.  A shrunken Bumblebee hovers above and resizes back to normal.  You think to yourself, Wow, their street cred really must have taken off to recruit this much.  And then Superboy reports back to HQ, only to be told to head back by one “Nightwing.”

R.E.B.E.L.S. #28 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Claude St. Aubin (penciller), Robert Campanella (inker), Rich & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: You’re not the boss of us anymore, Starro!  We’re taking back our streets!

The Review: It’s been a strange, not-so-long journey for DC’s non-Green Lantern-related space opera.  Having started with a fairly high-stakes mission rebelling against the rule of Starro the Conqueror, how fitting it is that we finish with—a mission rebelling against the rule of Starro the Conqueror.

Unfortunately, there’s little interest to be had in reading L.E.G.I.O.N.’s (way to make even the title for this series pointless) final adventure, as the conclusion is pretty much foregone. Last issue Lyrl had already conceived a foolproof way to free the Rannians from the grip of Starro, so there’s not much left to see on that point.  Last issue also saw Lobo and Smite’s duel cut short by their mutual love of bars, so we can’t even look forward to that possibly entertaining brawl.

Speaking of which, as amusing a gag as Lobo and Smite’s newfound bond, you can’t dismiss the fact that it comes out of nowhere and for no reason.  Well, no reason except to have Smite provide the non-essential members of L.E.G.I.O.N. a convenient way to get back to the planet.  And also so Bedard can execute a silly, conclusive wrap-up to Starro the Conqueror’s uneven career as a villain, indicating you were never supposed to take any of this story arc seriously.

Pretty much the only moment of tension in this issue is Starro’s last act of defiance, threatening to have all the Starro-controlled citizens do away with themselves.  And yet there’s a bizarre gap of logic in all this: all the Rannians bring knives to their throat.  Where and how they find such instant, universal access to knives (especially Adam Strange’s little daughter), we don’t know.  It’s pretty clear this is the only method Bedard can think of to threaten their lives without having the risk of their actually harming themselves too soon.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #27 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Claude St. Aubin (penciller), Scott Hana (inker), Rich & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: Prepare to be sucker-punched—and by sucker-punch I mean getting a telepathic starfish in your face.

The Review: A big cast can be a handful to write, but their usefulness to fiction is invaluable.  The more well-developed characters you have, the more opportunities you have to mix and match them up to see what kind of reactions you can get out of them in various situations.  If you give them a chance, they can practically build their own stories for you.

So it’s not a shocker that when Bedard gets more of the R.E.B.E.L.S. involved in the plot, the issue instantly feels more active and invested.  The back-and-forth chatter among them has an energy and dynamic that’s largely absent when it’s just Vril Dox condescending to whoever manages to get his attention that moment.  It’s also plain refreshing to see the team acting like—well, a team.

Even so, they still get comparatively little to do, what with half of them beaming back to Rann to counter the Starro invasion, and the other half going off to find Brainiac (a mission which proves virtually worthless as the first team winds up accomplishing both).  Really, it’s Vril’s son and lady-friend who get the most page-time, with Lyrl devising a method to free the Starro-infected, and Blackfire facing off against the Conqueror himself.

Lryl’s use of Tribulus to disinfect the Rannians from the possessing starfish is quite ingenious, although the science behind it doesn’t get explained very well.  It also seems a bit too easy, as the invasion barely feels like it’s started (mostly because Bedard’s focus in past issues has been on Starro the Conqueror and his Lobo clones).  On top of that, the whole plot has been executed predictably; Starro stories rarely go any other way, after all.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #25 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Claude St. Aubin (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Rich and Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: The return of Starro the Conquerer!  Or, more technically, the return of the return of Starro the Conquerer!  By the way, it’s raining Czarnians.

The Review: There are generally two kinds of villains: your garden-variety, day-to-day thugs who might end up occupying our heroes for half a day, if they’re lucky; and then you have your big-momma, criminal masterminds who will push the good guys to the brink of defeat before inevitably giving way.  No matter which you end up, they all end up like bad houseguests: no sooner gotten rid of before they’re back again.

Starro the Conquer certainly fits the bill; since his introduction, he’s served as the main baddie of now three story arcs in R.E.B.E.L.S. Considering the series is still relatively young, at twenty-five issues, this feels like one arc too many.  Although the initial concept of a humanoid Starro offered some interest at first, by now we all know that besides a giant axe and super-strength, he follows the same M.O. as all Starro plots: possessing people by throwing starfish in their faces.

It all boils down to predictability.  Bedard writes the issue competently enough, but you just can’t help having a “been there, done that” attitude about the whole thing.  After all, Starro is still after taking Brainiac 2 for his own, and he’s still all about galactic conquest.  Since his motivations aren’t any different than before, and neither are his means for carrying them out, half the premise has been recycled from previous stories—not exactly thrilling.  Still an army of Lobo clones (male and female, interestingly enough) has some potential for thrills, though it’s unclear how they’ll be used in this arc.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Claude St. Aubin (penciller), Scott Hana (inker), Rich & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: With a bout of peace at last, our R.E.B.E.L.S. finally have some time to work on their romantic entanglements.  These are…the days of their lives…

The Review: With the last issue focused mainly on the Vega sector’s Green Lanterns, the R.E.B.E.L.S. haven’t had much opportunity to develop their characters and show their stakes in this whole operation.  Unfortunately, that’s been the case for most of the series’ run.  Despite a great cast of cosmic personalities, Vril Dox continues to get the lion’s share of page-time and big moments, and that’s really no way to keep up the integrity of a team comic.

This issue does some work to reverse that trend.  Sure, once again Dox’s burgeoning relationship with the edgy Blackfire gets the biggest showcase, but at least you also get touching scenes with Adam Strange’s wife and daughter (still one of the most well-adjusted families in the DCU), Captain Comet trying to drink away his problematic crush on Starfire, and even Lobo getting some action.  These are all good moments to give the characters some drama besides cleaning up whatever mess Dox has gotten them all into again.

On the other hand, Tony Bedard tends to be a little too talky with his writing.  He does pen some good dialogue, especially where his pet characters (Dox and now Lobo) are concerned.  But too often the characters talk about their problems or recall events instead of having those things shown, and that’s a pretty lame use of a visual medium.  For example, Strange and his wife spend two pages talking about their past and their friends’ love lives, all in panels of various close-ups, like the storyboard of a soap opera.  It doesn’t make for very lively reading.

And after all that, you still don’t really get much of a new handle on these characters than you did before.  Comet’s still a lovesick dog, Strange an adaptable family man, and Lobo—well, he’s still Lobo.  Dox still gets the most profit out of the issue as his evening with Blackfire show the semblance of his sensitive side—possibly even a genuine one.  It’s still pretty clear, however, that there may be some plotting happening from both parties.  These are probably the scenes that get the best treatment and have the largest stakes in the long-run for this series.

Superman: World of New Krypton #12 – Review

By: Greg Rucka and James Robinson (writers), Pete Woods and Ron Randall (artists), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: Adam Strange and Kal-El are in a pickle. Adam gets them out, but not for long. Then Zod, out of nowhere, gets them out of the next pickle. Then Adam Strange is dismissed from the series as quickly as he appeared (Zeta beam = handy plot device for writers). Kal-El and Zod then set themselves to solving the ill-defined mystery.

What’s Good: For a brief time, Kal-El takes center stage and shows some backbone. The cover by Frank and Anderson is breathtaking. And the internal art and colors are bright and evocative: I loved the Zeta-beam effect (both times).

What’s Not So Good: You can tell from my summary that this issue suffers from the same lack of cohesiveness that has dogged this series all along. Things come together in the end, but the web of cause and effect is so loose, and even tenuous, that the reveal doesn’t unify this episodic story. There’s a rule in mystery stories: you have to be fair with the reader – he has to know as much as the detective, so that the reader has a chance to figure out the puzzle, even if they rarely do. The villain responsible for the illness among the laborers, the assassination of the councilors, and even the shooting of Zod, turns out to be somebody I can’t even remember having seen in the series more than a couple of times, and I’ve followed this title since issue #1. His motivation is opaque and his logic caused me to scratch my head. The writers weren’t playing fair with the mystery.

Superman: World of New Krypton #11 – Review

By: James Robinson and Greg Rucka (writers), Pete Woods and Ron Randall (artists), Nei Ruffino and Blond (colorists)

The Story: Kal-El and Adam Strange investigate the mysterious assassin who has just struck at the council again.

What’s Good: A good old detective mystery is always fun as the reader races to put together the pieces before the heroes can. And watching the arrogant incompetence of the Kryptonians contrasting with the cool, occasionally snide detective work of Adam Strange, all refereed by Kal-El, was fun too. And speaking of characters, when we get to see Zod again, he sucks the reader’s attention away from Kal-El, like he always does. My theory is that Rucka and Robinson find Zod fascinating and the freedom they have to explore him, but feel more like stewards of Kal-El, a character who has calcified into an icon over the last seven decades.

Woods and Randall continue to show off some fine artwork. Faces are expressive, camera angles are dramatic and the level of detail is gorgeous. Check out the assassination, the shattering glass, the angle and the poses on the double splash page (pages 2-3). They bring Kandor and Kryptonian technology to life with great, panoramic scenes of new Krypton, but also by letting Ruffino and Blond get on with some great coloring work (take a look at the lighting of the buildings on page 12 and Zod’s physio equipment on page 13).

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 – Review

By Tony Bedard (writer), Andy Clark (artist), Jose Villarrubia (colorist)

Okay, let me see a show of hands: How many of you have been taking advantage of DC’s “Blackest Night” ring promotion?  Me, I’ve been loving the hell out of it.  Reminds me of the days when I used to get excited over the toys that came in the bottoms of cereal boxes.  It’s an awesome bit of marketing and I’m only too happy to give DC my money for the chance to geek out and possess all of the rings (huh, what a greedy thing to say.  Shit, that would make me an Orange Lantern, wouldn’t it?)  Now let me ask you this: how many of you have been reading and enjoying the obligatory comics you have to buy in order to get those rings?  That experience for me has been less than successful, ever since I was tempted to use Doom Patrol #4 as toilet paper after reading it.  Frankly, I didn’t even bother reading Booster Gold and was tempted to throw out R.E.B.E.L.S., but I didn’t, and I am glad I didn’t because this turned out to be one hell of a good story!

Now you have to understand that I’ve never touched this comic before now.  I’m not familiar with the cast or the title’s continuity, and only came into this issue knowing that it had something to do with “Blackest Night”. That said, within three pages Bedard skillfully managed to get me up to speed on the story and its characters so that I never felt like I didn’t know what was happening.  Bedard seamlessly combines his ongoing plot about Starro the Conqueror with “Blackest Night” and gives them equal weight.  You read this issue and feel like Vril Dox and his team are in the middle of an especially nasty shitstorm that just took a turn for the worse.  Dox is a fascinating character and a delight to read; fans of the TV show “House” I think will find much to like in Dox, an equally genius bastard who’s not afraid to pursue some highly unorthodox methods in order to get what he wants.  Nowhere was this more apparent than in the final pages of the story, which genuinely shocked and impressed me even though I was a new reader.

As for Andy Clark, wow, where the hell did this guy come from, and why didn’t anyone tell me he’s such an excellent artist?  Clark’s style is clean and finely detailed and is an utter delight to look at on the page.  When it comes to comics, I appreciate anybody who can offer me something different, something I’ve never seen before, and Clark’s art falls into that category.  Although his backgrounds and environments are a bit sparse, he populates them with fully believable characters that do a solid job of carrying the story.

I’ve got to hand it to DC, this ring promotion of theirs is a complete success.  Want to know how I know this?  Because I’ve resolved to go back and buy the last nine issues of R.E.B.E.L.S., and after I’ve done that, I’m going to begin collecting this comic on a regular basis.

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke

 

Superman: World of New Krypton #9 – Review

by James Robinson and Greg Rucka (writers), Pete Woods and Ron Randall (artists), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: In New Krypton’s council chambers, General Kal-El and Dae, the Thanagarian admiral, face off against Jemm, Son of Saturn and his powerful followers who make punching bags out of the first few Kryptonian red shirts who try to stop them. In the meantime, a mysterious epidemic is striking the members of the dissatisfied workers guild. We get treated to a view of the Spartan militarism of New Kryptonian culture and how most of them seem quite comfortable with a growing thicket of enemies springing up on all sides. And in the middle of this comes Adam Strange, bringing a lethal touch from Rann into this simmering political mix.

What’s Good: I’m really enjoying the artwork of Woods, Randall and Ruffino. The lines and figures are becoming increasingly fluid. In part, this seems to be done with a lot less inking than normal and giving texture through gentle shading of colors. This fluid, organic character work doesn’t take away from the cityscapes or the images of the starkness of the treeless New Krypton. The sequence of the changing phases of Callisto was a cool effect, too.

On the story side, I’m enjoying it on the first pass. Robinson and Rucka keep us guessing, and lots of things are happening. The book feels full and includes a lot of good character moments, including an exploration of Kal-El’s relationship with Ursa, Gor and Non, his former enemies. I enjoyed the interesting look at Kal-El through the eyes of the Red Shard, his personal strike force.

What’s Not So Good: Don’t get me wrong – Superman: World of New Krypton is a fun ride and I think that this is the strongest issue since #3. However, I think that some plotting issues are becoming apparent. It may have to do with the scope of what Robinson and Rucka are trying to do. There are so many balls in the air in this series (for example: the suspicion and hostility from the Green Lantern Corps, Thanagar, Saturn, and Rann, the simmering class conflict, the unresolved political, ethical and possibly even physical conflict between Kal-El and Zod, the potential for romance, the unresolved betrayal of Kal-El’s worker sidekick, Kal-El’s adaptation and acceptance into Kryptonian society, the direction of the terraforming efforts, and finally this mysterious new illness) that while I’m ready to hold off on my judgment, I don’t see how Robinson and Rucka can give each plotline a satisfying conclusion in the last four issues. The very number of simultaneous plot questions and the way the problems burst in and out doesn’t let the reader know what the central thrust of the story is. As I said in a previous review, the writers might be trying to build a saga that won’t fit in 12 issues. I hope that the editors have this all figured out, otherwise issue 12 is going to be a bit inconclusive.

Conclusion: Despite the increasingly episodic nature of the story, this remains a fun, if mildly disorienting ride, well worth including in your pull list.

Grade: B

–DS Arsenault

Justice League: New Frontier – DVD Review

Based on Darwin Cooke’s amazing New Frontier mini-series, this 75 minute flick follows the story of a malevolent creature called, “The Centre”, who’s poised on mankind’s destruction. Taking place in the 1950s, this movie acts very much as a precursor to the Silver Age of comic book heroes. Because of this, a lot of the heroes are shaped by the world events taking place at the time (the Korean War, the red scare, etc). Even the characters, themselves, have that Silver Age look and feel: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all sport their early outfits. It’s retro, but oh so fitting.

New Frontier doesn’t do much explaining to people unfamiliar with the DC Universe. However, it does give them enough taste of the main characters’ origins and powers to understand what’s going on. Of course, if you’re a comic book fan, the movie’s nuances and Easter Eggs will be a big treat. One character in particular, J’onn J’onzz (the Martian Manhunter), is given a lot of screen time and is sure to be a favorite amongst audiences. And it’s about time J’onn got some on-screen loving! Other lesser known characters like Adam Strange and Ray Palmer make appearances as well.

The first half of the movie introduces the cast and switches from scene to scene a bit too much at times making it hard for those unfamiliar to keep up. Other than that, the movie’s a perfect origin story for the Justice League and treats its characters with a lot of respect. I also like how violence and language were not toned down for the sake of selling a few more DVDs to youngsters. This is, for all intents, a love letter to fans of DCs characters and we should all embrace it. If Warner were ever to do a live action Justice League movie, this is the perfect model of how to do it right.

Justice League: New Frontier is due out on DVD February 26 and  Blu-Ray / HDDVD on March 18th. (Grade: A-)

– J.Montes