Justice League #33 - A Review

With the rest of The Justice League in the clutches of The Dark Knights, if falls to Cyborg to save the day. Yet doing so many require Victor sacrificing what remains of his humanity to fully empower the Motherbox that powers his cybernetics. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of all reality?


Despite being largely devoted to explaining Cyborg's powers and setting up the next part of the Dark Nights Metal event, Justice League #33 is an enjoyable little book. Teen Titans fans will be glad to know the story also reaffirms the friendship between Cyborg and Raven (something missing in the Rebirth reality) and there's a sequence I'm fairly certain is a nod to one of the better episodes of Teen Titans Go!  The artwork is equally brilliant, with the colors of Arif Prianto and Jeromy Cox giving the pencils and inks of Tyler Kirkham and Mikel Janin an almost painted appearance at times.

The Final Analysis: 7 out of 10. It would have been higher if they'd confirmed the song Cyborg plays to inspire himself is "The Night Begins To Shine"

Batman: The Drowned #1 - A Review

The Dark Knights continue their assault on Earth 0, as Aquaman and Mera face off against The Drowned. Hailing from Earth -11, this Batman is a Batwoman. Fearful of the potential threat posed by the metahumans of her Earth, she set about killing them all. This led to her ultimately transforming herself into a water-breathing monstrosity in order to wage a one-woman war on Atlantis itself!


With this issue, the novelty of the various Dark Nights specials is beginning to wear thin. Dan Abnett weaves a great story and The Drowned is easily the most unique of the various dark dimension Dark Knights to date. Unfortunately, the plot is exactly the same as most of the other specials, with a flashback detailing the background of The Knight in question, a battle in the present against their Justice League counterpart and Dr. Fate showing up at the end to spirit the hero away when the Evil Batman proves to be too much for them. It's still a good read but one feels it could have been great.

The artwork is similarly conflicted. There's two great art teams at work here, though their styles are so different as to completely wreck the visual flow of the book. It would have been better to have one artist but everything looks good in spite of that.

The Final Analysis: 7 out of 10. It's good but it could have been better.

Green Arrow #20 - A Review

Green Arrow #20 works perfectly on multiple levels. It satisfies as a thrilling action story in the vein of Dennis O'Neil and Mike Grell, but this is the least of Benjamin Percy's accomplishments as a writer. The most impressive part of this issue is the redemption of Roy Harper.


As I mentioned in my review of the previous issue, Roy's background in The New 52 reality was left largely undefined. The flashback sequences in the past three issues have done much to restore Roy's past and, in doing so, define his current character. Some cosmetic changes have been made - such as the name of Roy's adoptive Native American father and what tribe they were part of - yet all of this, curiously, has helped to restore Roy to his Golden Age roots as an orphaned boy-adventurer.

Another aspect of Roy's past that is finally explored in detail is his history of drug abuse. Given Roy's new status as a homeless youth, this makes sense, with the real world statistics regarding homeless teenagers and drug use being depressingly high. Percy does not go for shock value in this, however, and if there is any justice the same people who gave the atrocious The Rise Of Arsenal an award for its depiction of drug use will give the same award to this story arc.


Another change of note that will interest long-time Arrow-heads is Percy's revamp of Count Vertigo. As with Percy's new take on The Clock King, the changes here are largely cosmetic and limited to a brilliant - but logical - twist on a classic character's modus operandi. In this case, Vertigo uses his powers to help a withdrawn Roy Harper get his fix by simulating a heroin high, in order to convince the young hero - recently abandoned by Green Arrow - to work for him.  On that note, the story also does a fair bit to redeem Oliver Queen for his reactions to his young ward's habit while still leaving Oliver firmly in the wrong.


I must not forget to praise the art team in all of this. Both Eleonora Carlini and Mirka Andolfo do a fantastic job of illustrating this entire story arc. The colors by Arif Prianto are perfectly chosen throughout. Quite frankly, if this story arc doesn't see a few Eisner and Harvey nominations, I will be very surprised!

Bottom Line: If you are any kind of Green Arrow and Arsenal fan, you need to read these last three issues.

Green Arrow #19 - A Review

While many characters suffered from poor characterization and a lack of development in The New 52, it's hard to think of a complex character who underwent greater devolution than Roy Harper. Raised Native American and a proud single-father, his history was scrapped in favor of a vague backstory that hinted at his being a homeless petty criminal whose employment and subsequent falling-out with Green Arrow was never explained... until now.

The story of Green Arrow #19 alternates between flashbacks showcasing the Green Arrow/Speedy relationship and action sequences in the modern day. It is here that Roy Harper and Oliver Queen have crossed paths again, with Roy having come home to aid the tribe that raised him and Oliver tracking the latest crimes against humanity being perpetuated with his company's resources - i.e. building an oil pipeline across sacred Native land.


In just two short issues, Benjamin Percy has done much to negate the damage dealt to Roy Harper. Roy's Native roots have been reaffirmed, though the details of how he came to be adopted have yet to be divulged. And Percy has rebuilt the friendship between Dinah Lance and Roy Harper, albeit under different circumstances than in the original universe. The "big sister looking out for little brother "vibe is there again, even if this Dinah didn't check this Roy into rehab.


Despite there being two separate teams at work in this issue, there is no discontinuity between the pages. Both Eleonora Carlini and Mirka Andolfo utilize a style based around detailed pencils and light inks, so the two complement each other to the point that I'm not entirely certain that one did the flashbacks and the other did the modern day sequences!  Well, whoever did what, the artwork in this issue is fantastic!