Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Green Lantern

Comic Book Review: Dark Days – The Forge #1 by Snyder, Tynion, Kubert, Romita, & Lee

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This week DC launches a major event that promises to be the biggest story of the Rebirth era to date. What are the mysteries of Dark Knights: Metal, and is its first chapter Dark Days – The Forge at all accessible to readers not well-versed in DC’s history?

Dark_Days_The_Forge _2017_0001_coverDark Days – The Forge #1 (digital)

Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV. Line art by Andy Kubert with Danny Miki, John Romita Jr. with Klaus Janson, and Jim Lee with Scott Williams. Color art by Alex Sinclair and Jeremiah Skipper. Letters by Steve Wands

DC Comics has always delivered better mysteries than Marvel.

Maybe it’s down to their “Detective Comics” namesake, or maybe it’s because none of Marvel’s major characters are as dedicated to unravelling secrets as Batman, but DC Events always seem more mysterious to me than their Marvel counterparts.

The Forge is no exception. I went into this quite suspicious that the story would work for me as a minor DC fan. I enjoyed it, despite there being a few elements that went over my head.

I think an even newer reader might actually fare better than me, because a lot of my confusion came from knowing just tidbits of some of the stories and being confused about what relied on history and what was introduced. To fresh eyes, this will all have the ring of a story that’s been in motion for years.

The central thrust of this issue is that Batman has been exploring a worldwide mystery, possibly spurred on by a revelation Court of Owls. It’s not about a villain or an imminent threat to the Earth, but it’s the sort of ball of yarn he cannot help but unravel. Per his usual M.O., Batman has been keeping other heroes in the dark, bringing them in only as-needed while using his vast resources both as Bruce Wayne and Batman to pursue an answer.

He isn’t the only one in the middle of an investigation. Hawkman recounts an unending life of reincarnation as he ponders the mysteries of the Nth Metal. And, Hal Jordan is assigned by one of the Guardians of the Universe to investigate an Earthbound mystery – and it’s no coincidence that the mystery is deep below Gotham City. [Read more…] about Comic Book Review: Dark Days – The Forge #1 by Snyder, Tynion, Kubert, Romita, & Lee

DC New 52 Review: Green Lantern Corps #1

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Green Lanterns are like Jedi. They are a select few, each wielding an ancient force to defend the universe from evil, fear, greed, and tyranny.

The thing about Jedi is that they were always much cooler when they were rare. In the Original Trilogy we had two good ones and two bad ones – that’s it! When they were plentiful in the prequels they were much less cool – though Team Sith retained their awesomeness by only fielding a handful of dark mirrors of the Jedi.

I suspect the same holds true for Green Lanterns. First we had one on Earth. Then they were a galaxy-wide operation, each responsible for a sector. Now we’ve got multiple lanterns in each sector, multiple colors of lanterns, and gangs of lanterns trolling through space looking for a fight.

And we have this book. Green Latern Corps. Last week established my distaste for the Green Lantern mythology not once but twice, as well as my dislike of the other book out from writer Peter J. Tomasi. This book features both, plus scads and scads of Lanterns.

Let’s just say I’d rather rewatch The Phantom Menace.

Green Lantern Corps #1

Written by Peter J. Tomasi, art by Fernando Pasarin & Scott Hanna

Rating: 4 of 5 – Excellent

In a Line: “I can’t unplug – I can’t relax – I’m always waiting for the next mission or something to go wrong so I can power up.”

#140char Review: Green Lantern Corps #1 bucks the trend of boring GL relaunch books by introing 2 interesting heroes & a intriguing bloody mystery. Loved it.

CK Says: Buy it.

Green Lantern Corps #1 is everything a debut issue of a new team should be. It has a disturbingly bloody mystery, a glimpse at the home life of our heroes, and the conception of their new mission as a team.

Yet, it’s not the shock of the bloody spectacle that makes the book a delight. My faith in writer Peter Tomasi was low after Batman and Robin, but if anything it seems like he’s true to the voices of characters and Robin is simply annoying. Here he perfectly captures the different brands of angst of my first and least favorite Earth Green Lanterns, respectively, and finds a way for them to mesh together perfectly.

A sad sack Guy Gardner in a baseball cap is a treasure, sitting alone in a planetarium using his ring like a digital watch, later acquiescing to showing a waiting room of dudes something green. His bulbous-nosed face seems to be fixed in a permanent state of half-smirk, half-frown. A self-righteous John Stewart seems more handsome and muscular than in the past.

A bit of reflection between the pair of them while seated on an orbiting satellite is one of the best hero-on-hero dialog scenes so far in the relaunch – because both characters are humans first and heroes second.

Speaking of space, I’m hugely excited for more space art from Fernando Pasarin. He draws a GL Sector House like Firefly meets Star Wars – dilapidated high tech, and not too alien (even though there are aliens in it). The two alien GL’s fight with an unseen foe is like a light saber duel in slow motion, each panel a glistening freeze frame of cinematic action.

Guy and John’s entrance into Oa is both funny and epic, and the splash page of their space-faring team (and subsequent witty ground-level shot) had me staring for minutes. An act of silent genocide against a race of chubby blue otter people has an eerie gravitas that harkens back to Dark Phoenix wiping out a planet of peaceful broccoli-headed people.

That’s all surely abetted by inker Scott Hanner & Gabe Elateb’s colors, both of which are fantastic throughout the issue. This is a phenomenally matched art team that can make an interview as a high school gym teacher look riveting. Literally – they did that.

It’s really a pity that the interior team didn’t handle the cover, which is just average.

I never found myself stopping to ask questions about the mechanics of being a Lantern like I did in the other two Lantern books so far. Not only does Tomasi neatly answer a lot of questions in dialog, but his plot is so kinetic and so adroitly illustrated that the reader has no reason to pause and reflect on the missing pieces.

This is a fun, thrilling, gorgeous issue with nary a flaw, and it left me excited to read a second one – even if it’s about my least favorite line of heroes in the DC Universe. I suggest you give it a shot.

DC New 52 Review: Green Lantern #1

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I don’t like Green Lantern.

There, now you’re really going to trust my review!

One Earth man specially selected by alien to wield the power of green light to defend the universe I can take. Hell, I even dig that multiple men have borne the ring over the years.

It’s when you add to that all the various other Green Lanterns, and the home world, and the power battery, and the other colored Lanterns – and then make that one of the central mythologies of the DC Universe – that my interest wanes.

All of those credulity-stretching elements make Green Lantern just another employee – a foot solider in a galactic brigade with the same standard issue weapon as all his comrades. Heck, sometimes other Green Lanterns can even operate in the same sector! Even when Marvel has expanded their most popular lines of comics, they’ve never trivialized an original hero concept quite as much as that.

DC went all-in on Lanterns in their reboot, not knowing at the time they set the slate that the Ryan Reynolds summer blockbuster would tank. But, flop or not, this is the obvious title that new fans would be flocking to. Is it up to the task?

Green Lantern #1

Written by Geoff Johns, art by Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy w/Tom Nguyen

Rating: 1.5 of 5 – Weak

In a Line: “You’ve been off-planet too long, you’re beyond out-of-touch with everyday life – and people!”

#140char Review: Green Lantern #1 aimed at anyone BUT a new reader. It’s confusing. No denying Hal Jordon is magnetic to read; pity it’s >half about Sinestro

CK Says: Skip it.

This debut issue could not be any more unfriendly to a new reader or non-DC collector reading all 52 books. And, friendliness aside, it’s not very good.

I’m not entirely sure what to say about it, because it was clearly not aimed at me. The plot feels like it picks up from some prior action that remains unnamed. We follow a seemingly destitute and clueless Hal Jordan (even though I don’t think he’s the latter) as he gets evicted and botches a date, and a seemingly newly-introduced and highly moral Sinestro (even though I’m pretty sure he’s neither) as he zips around in space, seemingly planning something awesome and not at all sinister.

That’s it. You have now read Green Lantern #1.

This book lacks just about all there is to lack in the plot and script department. Some caption boxes or thought bubbles would have been kind to orient the reader, or even to add a little texture to an absurdly fast read. There is no explanation of how the ring works, anywhere. There is no mention of the fact that last week we saw Guy Gardner as Earth’s GL in the present and Hal as a member of the Justice League five years in the past. We meet a council of blue-headed dwarves who apparently act as the DMV for the apparently noble green power rings, but they are asses and kill one of their own for disagreeing with them. And what is a Star Sapphire ring?

Uneven art does the issue no favors. Sinestro is both red and pink throughout. Backgrounds of tight shots are vague and empty, as in one shot of Hal and Carol at dinner with a blank wall behind them when it’s been established that one doesn’t exist in any direction. One non-red-robed blue-headed dwarf guy appears out of nowhere (why is his robe different?) only to be zapped a panel later? We see the detailed emptiness of the apartment Hal leaps into (pictured higher than his own window) only to be confronted by a half dozen people in it a page later (when it is clearly below his window).

We get zero context of why Sinestro was imprisoned, except that he turned dictator on his own planet (which was maybe a good thing?), only to then visit his planet and see a Sinestro Corps (?) of Yellow Lanterns (?) enslaving other pink/red people (?). Sinestro easily dispatches a yellow-ringed scout, even though I’m pretty sure yellow is what the green ring is weak to.

The one thing the issue did bother to establish is that the ring chooses the wearer, and it implies that there is one ring bearer per sector. The final page cliffhanger neatly refutes both points.

While this intercutting issue may have been a thrill for fans who know the Green Lantern mythology, it’s a toss-away for new adult readers and those with a vague understanding of GL’s background. It barely makes a lick of sense, and though Hal is sympathetic the only likeable character is Carol Fenris. It is a decent issue for younger readers, with its simplistic “plot,” no bad language, and limited violence.

DC New 52 Review: Red Lanterns #1

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As I’ve been writing these reviews I’ve been studiously staying away from everyone else’s reactions.

I don’t want to be influenced by other readers. This process is about my read as a DC newbie and dedicated X-Fan. I catch a single tweet review on Tuesday nights from @CheapGNsdotcom, and do some debating with @Matropolis over the course of the week, but otherwise I don’t peek at other ratings until I’ve set mine into writing.

On a few occasions (Batgirl being one), when I feet in my gut that a book was so incredibly amazing or awful, I can’t help myself but to check to see if everyone agrees with me.

Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.

Red Lanterns #1

Written by Peter Milligan, art by Ed Benes & Rob Hunter

Rating: .5 of 5 – Terrible

In a Line: “The universe’s rage… is my rage.”

#140char Review: Red Lanterns #1 is a nadir of #DCNew52 reboot, a bad 90s flashback to XTREME bad guys like Carnage headlining pointless blood-bathed books.

CK Says: Skip it!

I feel the need to caveat that I have never read a Rainbow Lantern book before and may have entirely missed the point of this entire endeavor.

Red Lanterns #1 is a comic full of interesting elements that work against each other as a whole. Peter Milligan can be terrific at manipulating oddball teams. The Ed Benes art was consistently awesome. Even the concept of a revenge-powered Lantern corps isn’t a turnoff for me.

The execution was simply off. Milligan’s been there before on his stultifying X-Men run. No amount of awesome art can save a badly conceived comic.

The opening torture scene can’t decide if it wants to be dire or comedic, and introducing a violent space-faring attack kitten with rippling muscles who is bleeding from his mouth would seem to peg this as a offbeat humor title, a la Lobo. The kitten continues to cough up blood all over its captors in what seemed like a mildly funny scene until it is saved in a display of over-the-top violence by a good (bad? (good?)) guy named “Atrocitus,” who proclaims, “What are you doing to my cat?”

Clearly a humor title, right?

Nay. Not when the unbearably lugubrious Atrocitus then launches into a totally emo inner monologue that takes up half the issue. It becomes obvious that this is not meant to be a laughing matter. Also, apparently all of the Red Lanterns exhale blood all the time, or blood-like red energy? That’s the impression I got when we saw a slew of them on panel, each more silly-looking than the last and all breathing blood. This includes a sexy blue-skinned babe with bone wings and a dental floss bikini bottom who can only speak in single word growls.

So, it’s a serious, violent, ultra-bloody, emo humor title with an unintelligible hot babe who craves only range and showing showing off her ass like it’s a trend? Well, they’ve got the pubescent boy demo locked down.

(The irony is that right now Marvel’s hands-down best book is the similarly-themed Uncanny X-Force, except there blend of brainy humor and continuity references alongside the blood, guts, and skin-tight outfits is done to dizzying perfection by Rick Remender. But, maybe a DC fan would hate it.)

Milligan’s scripting failures aside, Benes art is hard to deny – he’s really enjoyable throughout, especially on a tease of Hal Jordan in a flashback. However, the red on red on red color palette really begins to wear after a few pages with the RL gang. An Earthbound b-plot is a snooze, though I suppose it’s setting up an Earthling to be a Red Lantern.

DC returnees and longtime readers might really delight in the side-story behind Atrocitus, but without existing affection for the concept I think it really falls flat.