Aquaman #14 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Pete Woods & Pere Perez (pencils), Marlo Alquiza, Ruy Jose, Sean Parsons, Cam Smith (inks), Tony Avina (colors)

The Story: It’s actually really hard to tell who’s the black sheep between Orm and Arthur.

The Review: Any time a comic calls an issue a prologue, I approach it with some trepidation.  In prose, prologues are expected and easier to handle because you can always breeze through it and get straight to the good stuff.  In comics, it can be a drag to have a whole month’s issue devoted to exposition and set-up.  Not only that, but a lot of writers tend to waste prologues, seeing it more as a thematic sort of chapter instead of one that can actually support the plot in some way.

While Johns does manage to help set up the Throne of Atlantis storyline in this issue, he spends most of his time telling the preachiest of tales, one that reflects and foretells the upcoming war of misunderstanding between the surface world and the world underwater.  In a lot of ways, it’s an appropriate parable, one that puts on display the vengeance and mercy of both races, but one that only has an indirect, moral connection to the conflict at hand.

Archer & Armstrong #4 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Clayton Henry & Pere Pérez (art), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: Only Armstrong would save the world in a newsboy cap and multicolor sunglasses.

The Review: I must say, things move fast in this title.  I’m not a huge fan of the decompressed storyline, since the monthly intervals between issues make waiting for an inch of progress a real drag, but I support writers who want a slow-and-steady development to their plot.  Rushing things poses a risk of undermining the integrity of your own story.  It prevents tension from building and it misses opportunities to explore different directions to take the characters.

Maybe I missed a lot from the first two issues, but I think it’s somewhat ridiculous that at #4, we’re already at the world-saving part of the arc.  While I happen to like Van Lente’s casual writing style, there’s a line where breeziness crosses over into the downright careless.  Unless you’re writing an all-out comedy, you have to give the proper sobriety to certain moments if you want to convince your audience there’s some real stakes here.

Archer & Armstrong #3 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (story), Clayton Henry & Pere Perez (art), Matt Milla (colors)

The Story: If you’ve seen a nun handle a ruler, you know the damage she can wreak with a sword.

The Review: As with many titles, what caught my eye on this one was Van Lente’s name, which I know best from all the work he did with Greg Pak on The Incredible Hercules and the not-very-incredible Herc.  What made the former series work was the buddy relationship between Hercules and Amadeus Cho.  They really had a unique chemistry among comic book partners in the differences of their natures, temperaments, appearances, ages, and backgrounds.

Though different in some of the details, Archer and Armstrong’s interactions clearly resemble the dynamic of Van Lente’s previous duo.  You have Armstrong, the big, brawny ancient whose primary interest is in satiating whatever physical impulse which strikes him that minute.  And you have Archer, the smaller, younger lad whose sober sense of duty and mission comes just a bit short of his companion’s recognition of fine wines.

Batwoman #11 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy & Pere Perez (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: From woman to man to dog—the devolution of Maro.

The Review: At one point in this issue, Maggie remarks, with total affection, “Oh, Kate…you never do anything half-assed, do you?”  And while this is trademark Bat-family behavior, for Kate this seems especially true.  She has a persistence that slides well into stubbornness.  She may be resistant to change, but once she decides to, she doesn’t transition into it like most of us; she goes for it heart, mind, body, and soul.

Take this case of Gotham’s disappearing children, which Batwoman has investigated since nearly a year ago.  With each arc, the opposition gets only more formidable and the stakes bigger, yet she’s clearly committed to seeing this mystery through to the very end—whenever that may be.  Just when you thought her underground confrontation with Maro and four supernatural minions would top everything off, you learn there’s a greater battle yet to come.

Smallville #3 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Pere Perez (art), Chris Beckett (colors)

The Story: Lois’ dad grills her boyfriend—with machine gunnery.

The Review: Ever since comic book writers got the idea of bringing “relevant” topics to their work, they’ve gotten into the habit of placing their protagonists into moral quandaries no amount of superpowers can solve.  The one which continues to plague capes to this day goes something like this: if you have the power to accomplish almost anything good thing you can think of, which ones do you choose?  More importantly, what makes one choice worthier than the other?

I could be wrong, but I’d guess no superhero has had to confront these questions more often than Superman.  In fact, every year or so there’s one story arc where Superman has to deal with the guilt over not being able to save everyone.  Let me start off by promising I won’t go all dirtbag legal-eagle and say, “Well, legally, no one has an actual duty to rescue-blah-de-blah-de-blah…” While that’s a practical sentiment which I understand, I really think it’s a crummy way to see things.  It’d be almost criminal to have the power to save so many lives and not use it.

Smallville #2 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Pere Perez (art), Chris Beckett (colors)

The Story: In which the 1% find that you can’t occupy a building if it’s in space.

The Review: I feel very safe in saying that Smallville (the TV series) disappointed nearly every one of its devoted fans when it ended without a single, concrete image of Tom Welling in the cape and tights.  After all the time invested in the show, the only appropriate reward would’ve been seeing Clark take on the heroic guise he was destined to take.  No wonder this title sported a big, splashy cover with a photo-realistic Welling in complete blue get-up on its debut.

In the same way, while Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor had some strong storylines—and make no mistake, he was consistently one of the best things to come out of that show—he never got the chance to engage in those grandiose plots his incarnation in the comics became famous for.  Here, Miller cleverly uses the show’s continuity to bring Luthor to that next level of ambition, where he becomes, in his father’s words, “extraordinary.”

Smallville #1 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Pere Pérez (art), Randy Mayor & Chris Beckett (colors)

The Story: Somebody save me…I don’t care how you do it…Just save…save…Come on…I’ve been waiting for you.

The Review: Smallville was one of those oddball, hybrid shows the WB tends to produce: a bit too weird and geeky to get mainstream appeal, yet not radically weird enough to achieve cult status with actual geeks.  It was a show centered around Superman mythology, and yet a lot of the times, what went on in the show had little to do with Superman.  Though I watched and enjoyed it at times, I can’t say I ever got invested in it.

Still, it didn’t surprise me when DC decided to go the Buffy/Angel route and spawn off a comic-book spin-off for the longest running Superman live-action series on television.  I probably never would’ve looked at it twice if Miller’s name wasn’t attached to the project.  I greatly enjoyed his lively, irreverent style of writing when he did Batgirl (featuring the unsinkable Stephanie Brown, whom I still miss every day), and since none of DC’s new 52 offer quite that same flavor of story, I decided to eat the sword and check out what Miller could do with the Smallville gang.

Batgirl #24 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Presenting: the unsinkable Stephanie Brown!

The Review: Most of the Batman titles have painted Gotham City as perpetually grim, God-forsaken, almost inconceivable to believe it can be saved.  In Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics run, Gotham becomes a force unto itself, a living entity out to consume its inhabitants.  In the end, we have to realize this is a fictional pretension; a city’s just a city, with all kinds of people living in it, most of whom deserve salvation.

Good thing Gotham has Stephanie Brown, who may have had an auspicious start as a vigilante, but certainly now deserves credit as the staunchest defender of people just trying to live normal lives, as she does even when schooling some villainous goon in a power-suit.  The rest of the Bat-family fights crime for justice, vengeance, because it’s the right thing to do; Batgirl does it from the heart.  You won’t see schoolchildren hugging Batman, that’s all I’m saying.

Batgirl #23 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Honestly, Steph, this wasn’t the girls’ night out I was expecting, so…

The Review: Last we left Batgirl, she was in a hotel room about to tear into what I presumed to be some Milk Tray under the disapproving cowl of Batman, on the eve of her big British mission.  So it was surprising to find this week’s issue opens with her back in business in Gotham.  Then I remembered that in two months, Steph Brown as Batgirl would be no more, so Miller likely had to work some time-jump magic to let the title finish its course in her hometown.

It can’t be said the skip in time does much for the Reapers plotline.  You keep getting the sense that Miller had to nip and tuck away at certain details he might have otherwise fleshed out, just so he can truncate the conclusion into two issues.  Certainly this explains why we still know almost nothing about the Reapers beyond their underage henchmen in nifty suits.  It also explains why we learn of a fairly important featured character’s death after the fact.

Besides the disappointment of not getting to see Steph’s first major team-up with Bruce since they both returned from the dead and the rushed pace of Batgirl’s showdown with the Reapers, there’s a certain dissatisfaction in the villains themselves.  Since all we’ve seen has been well-equipped college kids committing semi-sophisticated heists, the Reapers’ motives have always seemed small-scale and vague.  There were hints of a much bigger picture at work, but now it looks as though that story will have to be left to our imaginations.

Batgirl #22 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: An American Batgirl in London.

The Review: A downside to the vast concentration of American-based heroes in the DCU is you’ll rarely get the chance to see foreign characters show up, regardless of how great they are.  Among these unfortunate foreigners are Britons Knight and Squire, reconceptualized and popularized by Grant Morrison.  Despite starring in a recent miniseries by Paul Cornell and their obvious potential for stories, their appearances are sadly limited to the occasional guest shots.

Emphasis on sad, as Miller uses Squire, spunky sidekick to Knight, to great effect this issue.  He has no easy task following Morrison and Cornell’s lead in portraying the unconventional heroine and the quirky version of Britain she operates in, but he does a pretty superb job here.  He both captures the wacky spirit that makes K&S stories so fun (our villain du jour: “Calls himself the Orphan.  Always wants some more.”), and enthusiastically embraces the English way of things.

Thankfully, the issue never reads like a mishmash of clichéd Britishisms, as it likely would under your typical writer.  After Scott Kolins’ dreadful interpretation of Scottish talk in Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #1, it’s a tremendous relief to see Miller’s tasteful take on Squire’s dialogue.  She speaks in that wondrously understated, lucid way which clearly ID her as British, without ever going over the top—well, except for saying “Oy” a little too habitually for one issue.

Birds of Prey #11 – Review

By: Gail Simone (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: When Catman threatens to throw a man off a building, don’t take it too seriously— it’s just foreplay.

The Review: Simone has pretty much made a career in comics crafting characters that always get personally invested in their vendettas.  Unlike the vast canon of DC heroes who do good because it’s the right thing to do, Simone’s characters do things exclusively because it feels right to do it.  She just loves to tread that sticky gray area of ethics.

Even so, she makes it clear there are still shades of gray, with her Secret Six definitely in the darker area and the Birds of Prey often (but not always) in the light.  Huntress and Catman are among the few characters that truly toe the line directly at the center, which perhaps explains their undeniable attraction to each other.  The former is counted as a hero and the latter a villain—technically—but their actions bring them to the opposite sides of the tracks frequently.

Lately Catman’s been moving steadily toward the darker end, and whether or not he’ll wind up staying gets brought up this issue.  The fact Simone can play with such a pivotal development for him in a title he’s not even featured in shows the luxury she has in writing these characters almost exclusively.  In a way, Catman can only be at his most vulnerable in this title, with the woman who understands his inner conflict the most (his teammates certainly don’t; Deadshot’s response to Catman’s soul-baring:  “Okay.  Let’s stop talking before we get into a weird area.”)

Aside from the more personal drama happening beneath the surface, Huntress and Catman’s chemistry is off the hook.  These are two highly volatile personalities being put into explosive situations in close proximity—you do the math.  And then you have to remember Simone can make the slightest interactions enjoyable.  Black Canary: “I brought chili.”  Oracle: “Wait.  Your chili?”  “Cleans your sinuses right out.”  “Dinah, your chili cleans everything out.”

Batman Incorporated #3 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Yanick Paquette (penciller), Michel LaCombe (inker), Pere Perez (supporting artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist)

The Story: Pack in your venom antidote and tie up your bandana, muchachos—Batman’s going south of the border!

The Review: A good idea doesn’t always pan out into a good story.  Quite often, once you start bearing down on the execution, it just ends up falling apart at the seams.  The establishment of Batman Inc. is an undeniably great premise for an issue-by-issue romp around the world of international super-heroics, but so far it has lacked an overarching goal, a point that can threaten its liveliness in the long run.

Morrison beats that problem to the punch by slowly integrating, in his trademark puzzling style, the looming threat which Batman Inc. will no doubt face down the line.  The issue opens on WWII, as Britain’s version of the All-Star Squadron confronts the mysterious Dedalus, an encounter with triumphant, though tragic, results.  Morrison restricts clues to Deadlus’ identity using controlled scene jumps, but as the name pops up later in El Gaucho’s case, there’s no doubt we’ll learn more of him and his importance in time.

One of Morrison’s great strengths is his ability to create nearly fully-realized characters from the get-go.  In just two pages, he introduces a whole team of British with their powers, origins, and interrelationship dynamics all intact.  He just has a knack for using dialogue for world building: “The sooner I can sort out my cosmic hourglass and scarper back to Alter-England, the better.”

Batgirl #17 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Boy and Girl Wonders meet again as Batgirl and Robin team up—so to speak—to track down a band of child kidnappers.  Plus, Robin in a moon bounce!

The Review: It has truly been the year of Damian Wayne.  After first penned into being by Grant Morrison, he disappeared from the books, only to return for sporadic (and brief) guest shots.  But ever since becoming the Robin of Batman and Robin, it seems that DC writers just can’t get enough of him.  One thing that stands out is how consistently Damian’s character remains across different portrayals: pretentious, arrogant, and obnoxious, at times unbearably so.

Bryan Q. Miller’s version of the kid ninja is probably the most enjoyable of all.  Damian in B&R tends to embrace his moody side and over on Teen Titans he’s a little too obviously out for blood.  Writers tend to fixate on his antisocial personality, but the cleverness of Miller’s take revolves around how beneath all his deadliness, Damian’s just another spoiled brat with a sheltered upbringing.  And what’s the fun of sheltered brats?  Exposing them to your average, everyday life experiences, which is exactly what Miller does, revealing intriguing layers to Damian’s character in the process.

The magnitude of Damian’s loneliness and sincere desire to be appreciated (dare I say, loved) by his father has been written before, but here, all of those things come out in a very natural, nuanced way.  There are no big dramatic scenes, but Damian’s bafflement toward the concepts of schooldays and field trips, his overblown boasts about all the responsibilities Batman has supposedly given him, and his inability to goof around, even when goofing is part of the mission—all of these will make you feel, for the first time ever probably, just plain sorry for him.

The most outstanding moment of this issue has to be Damian’s choice of pseudonym while blending in with some other kids at a science museum: “My name is…Bruce.”  In just four words, Miller manages to give Damian a heart and convince me that this is a kid worth caring about, and seeing how he’ll turn out.  If you don’t manage to feel even a smidgeon of pity for the kid after reading that scene, well—I don’t think you and I can ever watch Up together.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Lee Garbett, Pere Perez (artists), Alejandro Sicat and Walden Wong (inks)

The Story: Bruce Wayne arrives at the end of time, where those weird-eyed, fuzzy archivists help him along on the last leg of his journey through time and into the final steps of Darkseid’s plan to use him as a weapon. Superman, Rip Hunter and Green Lantern are stranded there, only moments away from catching up with Bruce. In the present….the JLA is waiting.

What’s Good: I know there are a few readers who argue that Batman needs the setting of Gotham to be an honest depiction (I’m usually one of those readers). Some have pilloried Morrison for sending essentially a regular guy in leather and spandex through time. However, Morrison did drop some thematic markers throughout the mini-series that he picked up here to good effect (in Tim Wayne’s mouth): It isn’t really fair that a regular guy has to fight gods. This is a deep statement that can be read in any number of ways. I really like that Morrison said it. The issue of scale in superhero comics is usually ignored (“Go get ’em Thor and…um…Hawkeye…” or “Superman, you check left! Wildcat, you cover right!”) which can really diminish a story in some ways. Morrison doesn’t solve the problem, but that nod to a basic flaw in comics made the end-of-time sequence really, really cool, as well as the psychedelic brushes with the New Gods mythos near the end. I also *loved* the nod to origin of Batman, with the hand on the bell, not knowing if he should ring or not for Alfred to come fix him up. This was very cool. It crystallized what Morrison had been doing with the bats throughout the series. There’s a lot more cool writing and story stuff, but we’re on word limits here, so I’ll stop for now.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Ryan Sook (penciller), Mick Gray (inks), Pere Perez (art), Jose Villarrubia (colors)

The Story: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Part 5: Masquerade: Bruce Wayne wakes up in a hospital in the 1950s or so and a woman who needs a detective offers him a job (incidentally, investigating the murder of his own mother). In the meantime, Red Robin, the man with the plan, is busy getting the Justice League ready for Bruce’s return to the present, as a weapon of mass destruction of Darkseid’s making.

What’s Good: Gray, Perez and Villarrubia delivered some very moody, very fluid artwork that worked really well for this story. It’s moody in the dark shadows, the period furniture and architecture and clothes, and the Spirit-style fight scene, as well as in the satanic ritual. It’s fluid in the faces, movement, hair, cars and smoke. It’s a book full of scenes you want to spend your time on and savor. Some horrifying moments (art wise) were the wasp scene, Carter’s interrogation and the fire in the ritual. Morrison depended a lot on his art team in this book, and they didn’t let him down.

Action Comics #892 – Review

by Paul Cornell (writer), Pete Woods (artist), Pere Perez (artist), Rob Leigh (colorist)

The Story: Lex Luthor continues his quest for complete control of everything, after having tasted true power as an Orange Lantern.  However, being so determined to gain domination brings much resentment in the form of super villains.  Lex surely has his work cut out for him when he has to face Deathstroke in a match for total survival!

The Good: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I am not a fan of the “villain of the month” ideology.  Why?  Because most of the time, it’s done poorly.  This, however, is a matter of personal opinion and taste.  So does it necessarily take away from the book itself?  No, it doesn’t.  To achieve complete dominance of the world and/or universe, one must go through many obstacles, including opposing ideas and individuals that will attempt to hold you back.  Essentially, that is what Lex is going through.

We all know Luthor to be a selfish man who will do what he needs to get himself ahead.  What’s interesting is the logic that he has to use to get past each obstacle.  And this is where a villain of the week concept can actually work.  When you show a differentiation of thinking and planning against each foe than you did the month before, there’s a little more sense of purpose to the structure.

Batgirl #13 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Pere Perez (artist), Guy Major (colorist), Harvey Richards (assistant editor), Michael Siglain and Sean Ryan (editors)

The Story: Trust: Batgirl swings into action on her day off to tangle with Clayface. Detective McHandsome plays the lad in distress.

What’s Good: Miller delivers classic Steph in the first few pages when he shows us how she lives at college. And where Detective Nick has been a romantic plot tease for a year, Miller finally scratches beneath his surface. It’s subtle, but the view of what’s underneath jacks up the tension by laying the groundwork for some inner conflict and some romantic obstacles that Steph will have to face later if she gets to pursue Detective McHandsome. And, as always, I love the Artgerm cover. Has this guy done interior artwork anywhere?

Batgirl #11 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Lee Garbett and Pere Perez (artists), Walden Wong and Pere Perez (inkers), Guy Major (colorist), Harvey Richards (assistant editor), Michael Siglain (editor)

The Story: Calculator has Oracle and is plugging directly into her mind. Oracle’s hidden lair has Wendy. Technozombies Catwoman, Manbat and Huntress (not to mention 40% of Gotham) have Batgirl. Then things get grim.

What’s Good: As always, Miller excels at the snappy banter and monologue that accident-prone Stephanie Brown excels at: Spiderman-esque in style, but a lot less self-confident. Only Steph is able to deliver lines like “Sorry I called your dad a jackass” and, in response to the growls of Technozombie Man-Bat, “You’re right, I can’t afford a DVR.” Stephanie is always manic fun. On Oracle’s side, I loved the mental world she was stuff in, facing off against Calculator, and his growing frustrations with her. Visually, the art was dynamic, the settings grim and rainy, and some of the layouts interesting. Artgerm’s cover art is absolutely fantastic (just like last issue). Stan Lau should be doing the insides too.

What’s Not So Good: The art, while doing the job, didn’t look very compelling this issue. Gotham looks grittiest and scariest (despite Stephanie being a light-hearted Gothamite, she is being chased by thousands of zombies) when the fine lines of detail leap out of the panels and drown the reader’s eyes in an overload of bricks and mortar, dirty, blowing garbage, hair-line cracks in windows and scuffed armor. Faces carry more emotion when the lips and eyes and hair move fluidly. The art here just lacked the kind of detail that would have held my attention. This was just standard.

Story-wise, there were a few flaws. I’m not trying to nerd out, but first, I was shocked that Wendy was able to turn on, much less use, Oracle’s computer. I’m not a longtime Barbara Gordon follower, but over this series, she’s been the super-careful, ultra-cautious mastermind with a plan. She has put telepathic blocks in her head! But she didn’t password protect her computer?

Batgirl #10 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Lee Garbett & Pere Perez (artists), Jonathan Glapion, Rodney Ramos & Pere Perez (inkers), Guy Major (colorist), Michael Siglain (editor)

The Story: Batgirl Rising, The Flood, Part Two of Four: Calculator is one creepy dude. He knows more about computers than Oracle, and he’s got a serious hate for Stephanie Brown. Maybe that’s why she’s unplugging all her systems. Oh, and he’s got a Justifier Helmet. As Babs and Steph would say: “Crap.”

What’s Good: Miller’s writing. Miller’s got the voices of his characters down cold. Calculator is creepy– seriously creepy. Babs is confident, brave, sarcastic and in over her head, and it shows in her dialogue. Gotham PD Detective Gage talks like a nervous guy seriously crushing on Assistant Professor Barbara Gordon. And Batgirl? She’s classic Stephanie, telling hookers to stay in school, having monologue issues (“OHGODOHGODISAIDTHATOUTLOUD!”), and delivering such internal monologue gems as, “Way to sell it, Dork Knight.”

The art was dynamic (layout, poses, panel composition) and it gave us views from all sorts of angles that breathed movement into the pictures, and the faces were expressive (ex.: page 2 shot of Calculator, page 6 shot of Babs, pages 12-13 shots of Detective Gage). The works of Garbett and Perez really enabled Miller’s writing, bringing various character moments to life, especially scenes with Stephanie’s crush on Gage (a nice love triangle that’s eventually going to bite someone). Major, as always, delivered fine color work. The glowing green of Oracle’s computer image and the activation of the pulse are great examples of where color takes a driver’s seat in the telling of the story.

Action Comics #888 – Review

By Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann (writers), and Pere Perez (artists), Javier Mena (colorist) and Travis Lanham (letterer)

The Story: Flamebird continues the fight against false Rao, alone since Nightwing is incapacitated. Luckily the cavalry arrives in the form of the JSA and Wonder Woman to even the odds.

What’s Good: I love the way Rucka delves into Kryptonian mythology; and then allows it to play out again before our eyes. It gives the whole arc a very Joseph Campbell Hero With A Thousand Faces vibe that I really, really like. Flamebird and Nightwing continue to be two of my favorite characters (although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the return of Superman in the book too.) Not only do Flamebird and Nightwing have interesting histories, Rucka does a great job of characterizing them here. Flamebird takes center stage as she did in the last issue, but Nightwing isn’t short-shifted by any means—and if the cliffhanger is any indication, he’ll be coming back strong for #889.

Perez does quite well on art. The scenes in the Phantom Zone are just awesome. The very creative panel layouts look very J.H. Williams-esque, which is about the highest compliment I could give. The biggest problem is that it feels very inconsistent. It has moments that it reaches great heights, and on the very next page will slip into “just okay” (although, it’s worth noting that the art is never bad.)

There is a backup feature, and its serviceable enough. Captain Atom has never been one of my favorite characters, but this kept me entertained in spite of that. The writing was decent, if clichéd in places, and the artwork was quite enjoyable. It didn’t add a whole lot of value to the book for me personally, but I think someone who likes the character more would get much more out of it.

Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian #1 – Review

By James Robinson (story), Pere Perez (art), David Baron (colors)

The Story: Continued from the Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olson special, this issue wraps up Jimmy’s transformation from photographer to bonafide journalist. Most of the story focuses on The Guardian as Olson presses him for information. Through a series of flashbacks and conversations it’s discovered that the government has been working on genetic experiments — weaponizing people and creatures in hopes of creating a being that can kill Superman!

The Good? For $2.99 you get a dense, rich mystery that slowly unfolds. It’s not an action packed story by any means, but it’s steady throughout, giving the reader well-placed breadcrumbs to follow as it progresses. And while the ending of this book acts more of a herald of things to come, it produces a satisfying conclusion that’ll have the reader wanting more. I give James Robinson props for not rushing the story and making the choice of dividing it up into two parts (rather than rushing to an abrupt ending).

The Not So Good? The misleading cover completely misrepresents this book; everything you see on the cover does NOT happen in this issue. And what’s up with the long title? Yes, it’s nice seeing the return of the Adventure Comics title, but the over use of buzz words (“special”, “featuring”) is retarded.

Conclusion: The art isn’t brilliant and you’re not going to see many (if any) punches thrown, but this book does what it needs to do: set up Superman’s future and reveal more of the government’s assassination plot against him. Oh yeah, and it’s well written, too.

Grade: A-

-J. Montes

Army of Darkness: Home Sweet Hell #12 – Review

By James Kuhoric, Mike Raicht, (writers) Pere Perez, (finished art) Ivan Nunes, (colors) Simon Bowland, (letters) Fabiano Neves, and Stjepan Sejic (covers)

Issue #11 for me was in many ways a dud. Whatever ailment Ash was going through that made him a sissy took away the entire appeal of the book. So why would I read #12? Curiosity I suppose, and as we all know, that killed the cat.

The good news is Ash starts to feel more like himself and embraces his role as the chosen one. The bad news is – well, everything else. Ash fighting something other than Deadites is fine, but what follows should be more than Hellraiser fan-fiction with bad jokes. Wrath asks, “How many souls can we tear apart tonight?” It comes across WAY too much like “We’ll tear your soul apart,” which is one of the most famous lines from Hellraiser. The line also loses all its punch coming from Wrath who looks and acts like a whiny little boy. It’s not threatening and not original. What’s worse is the dialogue between Ash and The Necronomicon. The Book of the Dead talks to, taunts, and cures Ash of his mental ailment. I can see what they were going for, but none of it really works.

For all of my harping on the writing, it’s still a very pretty book. Pere Perez’s style really fits the world of Army of Darkness. The origin of Pride, Envy, Greed, and Wrath are highlights in particular. With anywhere between two and four panels we get the life story of those four sins. The choice to give the book red eyes is another good move. I’m against the book having a consciousness and becoming Ash’s side-kick, but if it has to be done it might as well be able to emote and look menacing.

As an Evil Dead fan it’s hard to recommend this book. From a writing standpoint, it never feels Evil Dead-ish. It may look like it sometimes, use some of the same phrases, but it just isn’t. I doubt many fans will get into this book. There are just too many changes are made and none of them for the better. (Grade D-)

– Ben Berger

Army of Darkness: Home Sweet Hell #11 – Review

By James Kuhoric, Mike Raicht, (writers) Fernando Blanco, (layouts) Pere Perez, (finished art) Ivan Nunes, (colors) Simon Bowland, (letters) Fabiano Neves, and Stjepan Sejic (covers)

The chances of an Evil Dead 4 happening are comparable to winning the lottery. If it was going to happen it would have a long time ago. Moving the series away from film into games and comics is the next logical step to give fans their Ash fix. The question is, can there be an Evil Dead without Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi?

As a fan, this series falls flat for me. Army of Darkness is Bruce Campbell in many ways. It’s hard to convey his reactions and delivery through text, but it’s harder to do that without Ash in the story. Ash isn’t driving the action, which works occasionally, but here it misses the mark. James Kuhoric and Mike Raicht make the choice to pull Ash away from Deadites. The Necronomicon is part of the story, but the larger threat seems to be the seven deadly sins. The sins want to make Ash the new Sloth (for some reason). I’m also not sure why the Government is involved. It makes sense that they’d be aware of Deadites by now, but it feels too similar to Joss Whedon’s current run on Buffy.

The artwork isn’t bad, but it’s not really great either. My biggest complaint is the look of the sins. With the exception of Wrath, they’re total knockoffs of The Cenobites from Hellraiser. It’s not bad source material, but if you can look at Gluttony and not think of Butterball you’re kidding yourself. Blanco and Perez do an admirable job with the art other than that. The backgrounds (in the Hell House especially) are extremely rich and detailed. In fact, it reminds me of the mansion from the Gamecube version of Resident Evil.

I won’t say that this issue’s a total miss, but the humor, horror, and action all seem off. It doesn’t feel Evil Dead to me. I’m not asking for a remake, but there should be a larger connection to the source material than the title. None of the off-shoots of this series has made a slam dunk – look at the Evil Dead games. I liked them, but that was mostly Bruce’s delivery of the dialogue. It’s possible that Evil Dead can’t be great without Campbell and Raimi, but the potential is there. I think that’s why it’s such a bummer to see it miss. (Grade D+)

– Ben Berger