DC Universe Presents #0 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: The Return of the Canned.

The Review: For a showcase title, a #0 issue presents an interesting question, doesn’t it?  How does one choose an origin story for a series open to all origin stories?  I suppose not choosing is one answer.  As annuals and the ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful Weird Worlds prove, comics don’t handle multiple features well, at least not if you want to get some substantial, serious reading out of them.  DC’s definitely pushing it with five pieces stuffed in one issue.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #5 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (artist), Jose Villarrubia (colorist)

The Story: Man-made monster versus monster made of man!  That might not have made sense!

The Review: I’ll be honest; I made a strict, conscious choice to avoid O.M.A.C. from the moment it was announced.  My reasoning, perhaps unfair, was the idea of Dan Didio working on the writing end of things seemed like a very risky one.  Nothing I read of his work (either on The Outsiders or his Metal Men feature in Wednesday Comics) proved otherwise.  By the time strong reviews convinced me to try out O.M.A.C., it was too late, and it was on its way to cancellation.

So I went into this issue without, as the editor’s caption on the first panel suggested, any familiarity with the events of Didio’s end of the crossover.  Fortunately, you don’t need to read his companion title to enjoy this one.  Lemire starts his story by following Frankenstein from the moment he receives his mission to take down the One Man Army Corps, and at no point do you feel like you’re missing anything crucial.

Even better, the issue is just as enjoyable throughout as it has been all along.  It’s great fun seeing all these various, acronymed organizations in the DCU beginning to intersect, and the tension that naturally accompanies the overlap of authority of such agencies.  Personally, I’d bet my money on S.H.A.D.E.; they may lack the class of the more espionage-oriented Checkmate, but nothing beats their mad-scientist tech, like Palmer’s “recovery nanopires” showing up in virtual reality at the last minute to defeat Brother Eye’s invasion of their computer systems.

Besides, S.H.A.D.E. has the superior cast of characters by far.  Admittedly, I’m not really familiar with any member of Checkmate (besides the infamous Maxwell Lord, still working in good grace at this point, and the less-renowned Sergeant Steel), but come on.  Could anyone really beat the sheer audaciousness of Frankenstein or Father Time?

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1 – Review

By Greg Rucka (writer), Nicola Scott (artist), Prentis Rollins, Jonathan Glapion, Walden Wong & Drew Geraci (inks)

The Story: Wonder Woman is on the trail of black lantern Maxwell Lord, the she killed

What’s Good: Nicola Scott has never looked better than when Rollins, Glapion, Wong and Geraci are inking her. Granted, it sounds like an army of inkers, but there is a naturalness and fluidity to the poses and faces and a command of perspective and proportion that I never saw when Hazelwood was inking her in Secret Six. I don’t know what kind of game of twister Schlagman and Berganza have to get so many inkers to play to get them to work on one book, but it works. Check out the double splash-page on pages 2 and 3: lots of space, beautiful perspective, clean body lines, flags and hair curling in the wind. Evocative. Ruffino’s colors here, especially the bright glows around the lasso and the battle axe, really give a sense of power. The bottom left panel of page 6 also really caught my eye as something I had never expected out of Scott’s hand. Diana in this one looks young, caring and wise, and even has a bit of a Jessica Alba thing going on. It’s a new take on drawing Wonder Woman and I liked it a lot. DC should keep this company (yes, I’m using the military term) of inkers with Nicola Scott.

On the writing, Greg Rucka is becoming one of my three favourite writers (the other impressive pens in the field are Geoff Johns and Gail Simone). The standard narrative style in comics has become first person monologue in the text boxes. The voice, the flavour, and cadences of each character’s monologue have become pretty predictable too: lot of terse, noir-ish tones and feels. But this issue is different in tone and content. Diana not only has an elevated, aristocratic style of speaking, but the content is surprising and fresh. No other character would be able to pull off something like “He promises more sacrilege to come. He wants me angry. He never did understand me.” This is pure Diana, the kind of Wonder Woman who has been surprising me for the last dozen issues of her main series. DC really makes her look like one of the big three of the DCU because they make her wiser, better than other characters. Her insight into the Blackest Night is also revealing (on both the plot and her character) with lines like: “Life is much more than seven simple colors,” and when Lord is trying to get her emoting to charge the black lantern battery, “Love can’t be taken, only given…” Rucka’s skill as a writer is such that I’m assuming that that wasn’t a throw-away line. He’s hinting at another weapon the heroes are finding to use against the black lanterns.

What’s Not So Good: The only complaint I want to mention is that, as far as villains go, Maxwell Lord has never really had me shaking in my boots. He’s no Joker, Sinestro, Darkseid or Brainiac. I never felt a true sense of menace. To elevate Wonder Woman and make her the A-list character they want, Rucka, Schlagman and Berganza are going to have to pull out the A-list villains for her.

Conclusion: Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1 opens with a bang and promises a lot. Rucka, Scott and team put out a fine issue and I will definitely be back for issue #2.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault