Flashpoint: Grodd of War – Review

By: Sean Ryan (writer), Ig Guara (penciller), Ruy José (inker), Stefani Rennee (colorist)

The Story: When it comes to conquest, these gorillas don’t monkey around.

The Review: Violence, of course, has its place in fiction.  It’s an undeniable part of reality, and stories have to reflect that in some way.  But just like with anything else you write in fiction, it has to be put to some purpose, though when excessive it quickly loses its shock factor and gets simply nauseating.  This is especially the case in comics, where too often writers use violence to inject the energy or drama their stories lack.

This seems the case here, as Ryan keeps Grodd’s purposes hopelessly simplistic.  You can sort of appreciate Aquaman sinking half of Europe as a (presumably) unexpected casualty of a volatile weapon of war.  Grodd slaughters half of Africa for apparently no reason other than for attention.  He seems his most melancholy in the first page, when he laments no one knows his name despite his feats of massacre, and he later emphasizes his sole desire: “I want violence.”
Consequently Grodd comes off rather one-note throughout the whole issue, a wasted opportunity on Ryan’s part to develop the gorilla’s character.  Despite Grodd’s fame as one of the DCU’s most notorious (and weirdest) villains, you still have no idea what makes him tick.  His conquest for power and his hatred of humans are constants, but the former quality is one shared by almost every comic-book mastermind and the latter is too superficial to set him apart from the pack.

Doom Patrol #20 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (writer), Matthew Clark & Ron Randall (pencillers), Art Thibert & John Livesay (inkers), Scott Clark with Dave Beaty, Jose Luis, Scott McDaniel (guest artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Wanted—studio space for four (one miniaturized), open access to power grid, appliances included.  Must love freaks.

The Review: With Doom Patrol’s cancellation imminent, it’s worth reflecting on the series’ possibly dooming shortcomings.  Of course, it’s a niche title, with a peculiar cast of characters.  It leans more towards comedy than drama—always risky, as comic book humor tends to be very hit or miss, as D.P. frequently is.  But the title’s biggest weakness is it has always been more interested in its character interaction than actually giving those characters things to do.

This issue serves as a good example: it’s one of the strongest of the series, yet basically involves nothing more than the Patrol looking for a place to crash after getting kicked off their base.  The interest comes from how each member’s particular brand of social awkwardness rubs off on the DCU’s more mainstream characters.  The ultimate unfruitfulness of the team’s efforts serves as a good reminder of how out of place they are in their world, and with readers in general.

You just can’t get a handle on these characters.  They’re ostensibly heroes, but as Beast Boy and Congorilla astutely point out, most of the Patrol’s endeavors to this point have come across more terrorist than heroic.  They’re more a gang of losers who can’t catch a break; most of their misadventures involve them acting out of self-preservation rather than for a good cause.

Justice League of America #44 – Review

By: James Robinson (writer), Mark Bagley (artist), Rob Hunter and Norm Rapmund (inkers), Ulises Arreola (colorist)

The Story: A training session of the JLA is interrupted by a great big glowing green rock that sucks half the team into space. After the rescue, they race after it and face the demon Etrigan over who controls the rock.

What’s Good: Bagley does action well. I have small issues with his proportions, but his layouts are dynamic and people in his panels *move*. Bagley is ably assisted by thick, textured inks by Hunter and Rapmund and some bright and evocative color work by Arreola. On colors, Arreola used dominant color for a lot of panels that really helped the layout choices burst from the page – like the green explosion on the satellite, the fiery orange in Germany and the grays and earth-tones after the dust settles in the big JLA fight. The art was also consistently clear, in that no matter what was going on or how many fists were swinging, who was where and which direction they were going was never a secret.

Justice League of America #43 – Review

By: James Robinson (writer), Mark Bagley (artists), Rob Hunter and Norm Rapmund (inker)

The Story: Green Arrow is defending the JLA satellite at the same time that the rest of the JLA (plus hangers-on) are duking it out with a bunch of villains. The JLA aren’t doing well because they’re not working like a team. Dick Grayson (the guy who seems to me the most likely to eventually emerge as the leader) doesn’t have time to try to make them work better together because the villains get away. Then they find the JLA satellite trashed and Green Arrow gone hunting. They have lots to do, but their experienced, heavy-hitters have other things pulling them away. Is this JLA roster going to be dead on arrival?

What’s Good: Robinson is on his game. I trampled his work on Cry for Justice, but liked his work on New Krypton. He’s got a grip on most of his characters here, has clear personal challenges for each and has obvious (if occasionally overly-obvious) external obstacles for the heroes. This is a story about people growing into big shoes, either overtly (Dick Grayson and Donna Troy filling in for Batman and Wonder Woman on the JLA) or more subtlety (Congorilla and Starman getting to the idea that they’re good enough to be on the Justice League). And the dialogue was crisp and fun. Check out Congorilla’s deadpan lines like “I feel like I’m sixty all over again” and “Now all I need to do is make people understand that apes aren’t monkeys.”

On art, Mark Bagley gave us a mixed offering. The action sequences that require a Kirby-esque dynamism were on target and he makes flying characters look effortlessly graceful. He also did a fine job of keeping a 31-page comic with about 20 characters pretty clear. And his work on faces and expressions was excellent in close-up.

Justice League: Cry For Justice #5 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Mauro Casciolo & Scott Clark (artists), Adam Schlagman (assistant editor), Eddie Berganza (editor)

The Story: The whole issue is one meeting after another, wherein heroes tell each other what has happened so far and start arguments they don’t finish. The only exceptions to the absence of action are the shocking last three pages of story.

What’s Good: Cascioli’s art continues to blow me away. It is so powerful, that for the first half of the issue, I didn’t realize nothing was happening or that the characters were incomprehensible. The muscle work, texture, shading, skin tones, postures and facial expressions are blowing every other artist in comics out of the water. Incidentally, Donna Troy never looked better. Check out panel 4 of page 1. Now, there’s no dramatic reason for her to be in a bathing suit, but the view is great and the gratuitous T&A distracts from the story problems.

What’s Not So Good: For the most part, I’ve enjoyed Robinson’s work on Superman: World of New Krypton, which was what had me so surprised that Cry for Justice seems to be falling apart before my eyes. I used suspension of disbelief to buy into the idea that some major and central characters in the DCU took up vengeance as a deeply-held value to be pursued to the point that they would break ranks with friends and loved ones. Yet, by issues 4 and 5 of Cry for Justice, Mik and Congo Bill have changed their minds, and Green Arrow is back at the Justice League HQ as if nothing has happened.

Black Canary said it best when she said that these guys only came back because Prometheus is too big to chew on. Now, if you accept the idea that Prometheus, although smart, could really hold out for more than a couple of seconds against Green Lantern, Supergirl or Shazam, then the conviction and depth of our heroes’ beliefs is pretty shallow. If, on the other hand, Prometheus is as weak as he appears to me, then the writer is moving all these characters around for his own ends, and not the story’s.

Either option is bad, but given the other motivational problems and choices in the book, I’d opt for the second. Robinson wants to build his new JLA and he’s doing it here, even if what the characters are doing makes no sense. Let me give you a few incomprehensible character moments: Supergirl, Congorilla, Green Arrow and Black Canary are around a gravely, gravely injured teammate. What do they do? Supergirl cauterizes a dismembered limb and rushes off with Congo Bill to “Get the bastard who did this!” Green Arrow, overcome with grief, wants to stay to help (for god’s sake, someone give him first aid!), but Black Canary, the one he’d been fighting with GA about the whole vengeance thing before, suddenly says “Keep focused. You need to find who did this!” Where did this come from in her? What’s Green Arrow’s response? “Let’s get the son of a bitch” (and leave dear friend dying of shock). There are more. Watch for them.

The issue also feels episodic, with one conversation bleeding into another, with a huge cast, very little momentum and no action until the last pages. Arguments and anger flare and don’t go anywhere. New heroes join the effort with little enthusiasm or explanation required. And worst of all, most of the issue is filled with characters standing around doing nothing.

Conclusion: Art wise, I don’t think there’s another artist in comics I’d rather see right now than Casciolo, but he couldn’t save this issue, and probably not this series. Save your money. Wait until Robinson starts on the main JLA title in 2010. It isn’t really important why some people are on the JLA and others aren’t, is it? Even if you read Cry for Justice, I’m not sure it becomes any clearer.

Grade: D

-DS Arsenault

 

Justice League: Cry For Justice #4 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Mauro Cascioli (artist), Eddie Berganza (editor)

The Story: Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Freddie Freeman, the Atom and Supergirl pull themselves out of the wreckage of last issue’s cliff-hanger explosion and decide to follow Prometheus’ trail through the torture of the other villains they’ve captured. Jay Garrick is running around the country, checking up on all sorts of people, while Congo Bill and Starman fight for their lives.

What’s Good: Mauro Cascioli continues to knock this book out of the park. In evaluating comic art, I always do a gut-test first: How long do I want to linger, looking at the pictures? Cascioli’s art really keeps the pages from turning because there’s so much in each panel. Every expression is brilliant. The clothes wrinkle, the lights shine, and the shadows are moody and real. And as I said in my review of issue #1, Casciolo’s rendition of Congo Bill is stunning.

Robinson kept me guessing throughout the story. Freddie’s analysis of Prometheus (using the patented wisdom of Solomon) was fun to watch in a Bourne Identity sort of way. And Jay Garrick’s mysterious investigation is drawing in some pretty interesting people, like Mon-El, the Shade, and a bunch of second string heroes. I’ve been following some of DC’s podcasts and in a couple, Robinson talks about how Cry for Justice is going to tee up his run as the writer for the JLA, a team he intends to refashion. I don’t know what he’s doing with these second-stringers now, but I would be interested in seeing him try to make some of them first-stringers. That, however, is just a bit of idle speculation on my part. Robinson is nonetheless using the large cast of the DCU to good effect.

What’s Not So Good: Cry for Justice is losing its way. It started with an effective bang in issue #1. Since then, it has started repeating itself. This is now the fourth issue where the Green Lantern orders the Atom to torture some (or many) hapless villain. The Atom, same as before, jumps out of some guy’s nostril, as if he’s put in a tiresome day’s work. Hal Jordan doesn’t flinch. And Freddie and Kara continue to be non-entities in the central debate of this series. There is some character growth in Green Arrow (“Torture is wrong”), but it comes off as contrived because it just begets more violence. I know Robinson is going for a ‘Now do you see what you’ve been doing?’ moment, but we’re talking about some of the most powerful and perceptive personalities in the DCU – they’ve taken bigger punishments than this without surrendering their values.

Conclusion: The story is suffering from a few missteps, but a powerhouse set of characters, a promised change in the status quo of the DCU and the art make this book worth the buy.

Grade: B-

DS Arsenault

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Mauro Cascioli (artist)

The Story: Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, tells the assembled JLA that he’s had enough and that it’s time to put the justice back into the Justice League and to take the fight to those who make the evil in the world. However, not many are willing to follow where he’s headed. At the same time, Ray Palmer (the Atom), Mikaal Tomas and Congo Bill come to views very similar to Green Lantern’s.

What’s Good: Almost everything. Robinson starts us off with a very strong concept: that some heroes are taking the initiative. They’re not going to act like police respecting Miranda rights; they’re going to take the informal war between good and evil on the offensive. This is a very “mature reader” perspective to bring to such an iconic series. which has been long overdue. It’s similar to the switch that detective fiction took in the 1920’s when American writers found the British cozy mysteries too contrived and artificial and instead introduced the gritty, realistic American detective that had to confront brutal criminals in violent ways. This is the can of whoop-ass that is going to put the JLA at the center stage of the comic book industry for months.

The concept of justice itself is very emotional and it allows Robinson and Cascioli to shine some powerful lights into the inner worlds of Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Atom, Congorilla, and Mikaal. The emotions they uncover are raw and visceral, making the storytelling powerful both in words and pictures.

Speaking of pictures, where has Mauro Cascioli been all my life? He’s freaking awesome! The lighting is brilliant and he’s got some tricks of shadowing and light that put such texture onto the page that you have to see to believe. And if you really need convincing (as if the cover doesn’t convince you), look at the flashbacks of Batman and Martian Manhunter tragedies. Look at the billowing clouds of fire and smoke bursting out of a car. Look at Congorilla’s face! The art is just unbelievable!

I also loved Robinson’s message to the readers at the end. He tells us what JLA: Cry for Justice is about, what he thinks it will do and where the characters are coming from. And to top it off, we got a punchy little Len Wein/ Ardian Syaf/ John Dell two-pager at the end on the origin of Congorilla.

What’s Not So Good: My only compaint, other than some slightly over-developed biceps in places, were two pieces of clunky dialogue. My pet peeve is when dialogue is used to tell readers something that the other characters on the page already know. It’s just not genuine. Superman indulges in some (“We all know exactly who and what we’ve lost”) and so does a mortician (“I guess you know the details. He was visiting….”). These are tiny notes in an otherwise flawless symphony.

Conclusion: JLA: Cry for Justice is expected to do big things for the DCU and set up conditions for Robinson when he takes over the main JLA title. This is big stuff and it shows. Buy this book!

Grade: A-

-DS Arsenault

A Second Opinion

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 is a lot like the majority of comic books throughout the 90s; the art shines, and the story/ writing tanks. Each subplot reeks of a lack of originality, inconvenience, camp, and unimportance.

In the part where Hal Jordan calls out the Justice League, and decides to serve his own brand of justice, the dialogue is made up corny and cliche banter. With phrases like, “You and me. Old times, new times, all the time.” and “I’m saying this will not stand. I’m saying they hurt us, we hurt them back,” Robinson is unforgiving in shoving stock moments down our throats.

In the second part where the Atoms are raising hell in a dive bar, it’s text box galore, where Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi take turns jocking one another, just like Superman and Batman in Public Enemies. It’s unoriginal, and it’s annoying to read the same words from each character… Robinson fails to give Ryan Choi a memorable voice, while the faux-badass attitude he has tagged on Ray Palmer is laughable. “He’s a hero. I’m Ray Palmer. Welcome to pain.” WTF?!

As for Congo Bill/ Congorilla, who gives a shit? It’s obvious that DC and Robinson knew he is/ was going to be the least cared about character in this book; which is why they had to throw in a last minute origin wiki at the end.  Are we really going to be seeing origin tales for characters that we should already know and care about?

It’s unfortunate that this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I was duped into thinking that this was going to be one serious story with “Identity Crisis like” themes and situations. Instead, I got a book that features a poorly written tale and an article in the end  from the writer in which he tries to assure me that what I’m reading is going to matter.

Grade: C+

-Ray Hilario