Superman: The Last Family of New Krypton #1 – Review

By: Cary Bates (writer), Renato Arlem (artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), Rachel Gluckstern (assistant editor), Mike Carlin (editor)

The Story: What would have happened if Jor-El, Lara and Kal-El all escaped the destruction of Krypton?

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Right off, I really enjoyed Arlem’s art. He puts rich texture and detail onto the page. Even with a computer, Arlem must have spent hours and hours and hours to stipple (put down little dots to denote texture and/or shadow) on the bedspread, wallpaper and chair on the last page (to say nothing of the people). Or, check out the panel where Lara tells Jor-El she wants to be alone. The Quitely-like level of detail is worth the price of admission. Arlem’s expressions evoke emotion and the action, and even the environments, are dynamic. Arlem is hereby invited to draw any book I buy.

On the writing, I want to split the technical, tactical telling of the story (the dialogue, the panel-by-panel unfolding, the character choices) from the strategic, editorial choice (the premise and the DC’s decision to tell this story over some other one).

On Bates’ telling of the story, I’m mostly pleased, with one significant exception. Bates delivers crisp dialogue and a well-paced story; although the jury is still out for me on whether to buy the motivations he’s selling for the characters, especially the all-important choice to foster Kal-El to the Kents. There’s obviously conflict there, between Lara and Jor-El, but also within Jor-El, but Bates takes the easy way out (for the writer) by dismissing the characters’ doubts without showing us why they would do that. To me, it seemed patently obvious that the decisions deserved more explanation. Still, if I forgive his tactical short-cut, I’m left to enjoy the execution of the story.

True Believers #4 – Review

By Cary Bates (Writer), Paul Gulacy (Pencils and Inks), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

The Story: Payback lies unconscious after being caught in an explosion, so the rest of the True Believers spring into action. As Battalus and Red Zone pick up on the trail of a bio-weapon that Payback’s father had been working on, Payback remembers the events that made her choose the two men on her team.

What’s Good? True Believers succeeds because it feels truly unique when compared to all the other Marvel books out there. It has a compelling cast, appropriately moody artwork, and an edgy and surprise-filled storyline that simply couldn’t be used with any of the more established characters within the Marvel universe. Also, the stories about how Battalus and Red Zone joined the True Believers are almost worth the price of admission alone. They are quite entertaining and darkly humorous.

What’s Not So Good? With only one chapter left to go in this limited series, I have a feeling the conclusion may wind up being less than satisfying. There are many pieces of the puzzle that still need to fall in place and it is hard to tell whether all the threads will end up coming together well. Also worth mentioning is that the twist-filled plot leads me to believe this story will be a bit more satisfying when read as a trade.

Conclusion: I recommend this one for those looking for something a bit different from a Marvel book. That said, be sure to track down the previous three issues before checking out chapter four. The story is a bit dense and needs to be read from the start.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

True Believers #1 – Review

By Cary Bates (Writer), Paul Gulacy (Artist), and Rain Beredo (Colorist)

Mr. Gulacy, you’ve been drawing comics for three decades now, and it’s time you learned something every other artist learns in high school: the eyes are in the middle of the head. The middle! Not two-thirds or three-quarters of the way up. I know you’re one of the classic old-school artists, Paul, but I swear sometimes the people you draw look like microcephalic mutants.

Sorry. I just had to get that off my chest.

Anyway, True Believers is a new super-team miniseries from Marvel. The team consists of Payback (personal forcefield and energy projection), Battalus (Iron  Man/Boba Fett ripoff), Headtrip (an empath of some sort), and Red Zone (whose superpower, apparently, is to appear in only a single panel this issue). Now, the last thing the universe needs at this point is another superhero team. The “hook” of the True Believers is that in addition to being vigilantes, they are also bloggers, dedicated to exposing hypocrisy and corporate corruption.

Honestly. That’s the big hook. And the contents of the book aren’t much better. In the first half, the Believers break up a doped-up, bikini-clad sex slave mud wrestling operation. Honestly. All that, and yet somehow Bates and Gulacy manage to make it neither sexy nor funny. The second half of the book is mostly exposition about the members of the team, which may or may not be reliable, since the SHIELD agent making the report is Payback herself, in her secret identity.

I would write off True Believers completely, except for the last two pages, in which Payback reveals the next hypocrite she intends to expose. This last scene is as fresh and unexpected as the rest of the book is derivative and uninspired. It’s a bit of a spoiler to reveal, but I figure this is the whole reason anyone will buy the book: the last page is a single panel featuring what appears to be a mug shot of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, being booked for a DUI.

I’ve got to hear the story behind that one. (Grade: C)

– Andrew C. Murphy