Green Lantern #26 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer); Billy Tan (penciler); Rob Hunter, Don Ho, and Billy Tan (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: There’s no kill like overkill…

The Review: Lights Out has given Hal Jordan a second start at leading the Green Lantern Corps and he’s determined to make the best of it. Though the issue features a fairly extensive supporting cast by the end, it remains Hal’s story throughout.

Venditti does an excellent job with Earth’s greatest Lantern, balancing his heroism and flaws admirably. It’s not merely a case of dramatic irony either, as Hal not only manages to come off reasonably, despite his somewhat half-baked command decisions, but acknowledges his failures from time to time. Venditti even shows Hal concerned over the Green Lantern brand, balancing his firm faith in the Corps’ exceptionalism with his knowledge that the Guardians tarnished that image. These choices help Hal feel like a real person struggling to do the right thing, rather than the overconfident hothead that he had risked becoming since Relic’s incursion. Best of all is the subtle sense that Hal is rushing into things because he doesn’t want to have to deal with Relic, the reservoir, or Kyle.

Nol-Anj and her followers are an excellent fusion of modern and classic Lantern foes. I really appreciate how the standard Braidmen are presented as a limited but credible threat. Though we only learn a little more about the Braidmen this issue, I hope that the title will continue to play with such differing moralities and that Venditti will return to these characters in time.

Ultimate Comics X-Men #23 – Review

By: Brian Wood (Writer), Carlo Barberi (Penciller), Don Ho (Inker), Jesus Aburtov (Colorist), VC’s Joe Sabino (Letterer)

The Review: This issue really took me by surprise. Much like Brian Wood  often did with great success during his Vertigo series DMZ, this is a stand-alone tale that breaks  away from the title’s continuing narrative to address an otherwise undocumented   chapter in one character’s life. In this case it deals chiefly with Storm and starts directly after she and Colossus participated in the breakout from Camp Angel (around issues #10 and #11) leading all the way up to just about the present day (around about #19). Just as with DMZ, this change in gear offers its readership the chance to catch a breath from the dense plotting of the ongoing title and for Wood to explore one of his individual cast member’s histories in rich detail and with a tighter focus. It is – for me – easily the best issue of Ultimate Comics X-Men in months.

Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #1 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Eddie Nunez (penciller), Don Ho (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: All the single ladies, all the single ladies—put your hands up!  You’re under arrest!

The Review: Considering the overwhelming span and scope of these Big Events, DC has made a laudable effort to ensure the numerous Flashpoint tie-ins are as reader-friendly as possible.  After reading about a dozen or so of these, I can safely tell you they can each stand on their own, even if you never read a page of the main series.  This comes with a catch: every tie-in has to commit a certain amount of time briefing you on the primary Flashpoint facts.

Like a good half of the tie-ins, this issue starts off with the five to ten obligatory pages devoted to the Amazon-Atlantean conflict and its most infamous fallout, the sinking of Western Europe.  DnA manage to make the event somewhat more immersive than usual by virtue of placing Lois Lane right in the middle of the disaster, but even so the horror of the situation seems taken for granted.  Aside for a handful of fleeing people and some surfing cars, you just don’t see enough of the massive flood’s effects to feel suitably sympathetic with it.

And it all takes time away from the real substance of the story, where Lois Lane takes us into the Amazonian world order in New Themyscira, formerly Great Britain.  You get a few interesting bits: segregation of men and women, female reeducation camps, the conversion of select ladies into full-blooded Amazons (and possibly ogre creatures—a potential side-effect of the Super Soldier formula, girl version, I suppose).  All of these can make good, misandrous reading.

The Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs #4 – Review

By Hans Rodionoff (writer), Joel Gomez (pencils), Don Ho (inker), Gabe Eltaeb, Randy Mayor (colors)

The best inside joke in all of comics comes to its conclusion with this issue. Luckily, the story will continue in Lost Boys: The Tribe which I assume is an adaptation of the movie. Hans Rodionoff answers a lot of questions that has been lingering since issue #1 while doing an excellent job of setting up several more to keep you interested in the next arc. Still, I’m left to wonder: why is the Emerson family so damn important to the vampires of this town?

Rodionoff’s writing continues to shine and his respect of the source material is admirable. The coolest moments of the series have been Edgar’s stories. Whether it’s political vampires or receiving an award from The President, his account of what happens is great. To find out that most of it is embellished for this kid is a big letdown. I get that we need to see Edgar hasn’t changed. If he had, none of the coming events would seem like a challenge. Still, with such a cool setup it’s a bit of a letdown coming back to the truth.

My gripe with the art still hasn’t changed. Characters like Grandpa, David, and the Leatherface Vamp are easy to tell apart since they have very specific features. Gramps has his grey hair, Leatherface has his, well, leather face, and David has his mullet. Sadly, every human looks like Edgar Frog! Edgar and Alan are brothers, but I could only tell them apart when Alan was turning, since I knew Edgar was still alive. Even the kid Edgar’s talking to looks like him and as far as I know he doesn’t have any kids. Still, the images on the page do a great job of conveying the story. The best is when David’s half-brother (it’s complicated) kills some sharks in the water. It’s a few quick panels which show the frantic pace of the fight. Besides, how often do you see a shark get killed on its own turf?

Lost Boys has been one of the most enjoyable arcs I’ve read in a while. The respect to the source material is unmatched by any tie-in I’ve seen and that’s a relief. I’ve said it before: if you’re a fan of The Lost Boys mythos buy this book, you won’t be disappointed. (Grade: B-)

– Ben Berger

Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs #2 (of 4) – Review

By: Hans Rodionoff, Joel Gomez (pencils), Don Ho (inks), Randy Mayor, and Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the original Lost Boys movie. In this comic series, the story turns and focuses on the Frog Brothers and their lives post-Lost Boys. Basically, these two have stayed in the fictitious city of Santa Carla and continue fighting the good fight. Along the way they find out that they didn’t actually kill the head vamp in the events of the movie, so they now need to act fast if their home town is to be saved.

The writing in this book is top notch. The dialogue remains in tune with the movie right down to the terminology. It’s funny, and at times scary, with good twists and turns – the biggest of which is the reveal of the true head-vamp. I won’t say who it is, but fans of the movie will be floored when they read it. Having seen the movie (many times) it didn’t make sense right away, but a little inconsistency is forgivable since every vampire story has its own take on the mythos.

The art here is a little confusing. There isn’t a lot of detail in the character’s faces so it’s hard to tell a lot of them apart. The vampire, David (played by Kiefer Sutherland in the movie), still has that ridiculous spikey-haired mullet, which is a great throw back to the 1980s. Unfortunately, the rest of the art isn’t as detailed or stylized as the cover, which depending on your taste, can be a bad thing. Throughout the book Joel Gomez uses the visual tool of a red silhouette over a black background to great effect – this I liked. It highlights both the action and gore as well.

Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs is a great read for anyone who liked the movie. It has the same cult, classic feel that made the movie so much fun. One thing I really enjoyed is the fact that the paper feels like old school newsprint – not the glossy pages we’re now accustomed to. It may have been a budget thing, or a style choice, but it’s fun either way. If you liked the movie, buy this comic! (Grade: B)

-Ben Berger