Injustice: Gods Among Us Annual #1 - A Review

I've missed this book.  I've missed books like this so much.

I've missed seeing Lobo portrayed as the dirtiest, meanest and baddest biker in the universe.

I've missed seeing Harley Quinn portrayed as brilliant and fun-loving.

I've especially missed seeing Green Arrow and Black Canary together as a loving couple.

Ironic, isn't it?  That so many of us DC Comics fans have become enraptured by a comic set in the dystopian future of an alternate universe that somehow manages to be more optimistic and fun to read than the vast majority of the comics set in the New DC Universe?  That Tom Taylor somehow manages to take the essence of our favorite characters and remain true to it - even Superman's character - while still telling a tale like this one?



The basic plot of this issue is simple enough.  Lobo shows up on Earth looking to collect a bounty on Superman.  Superman persuades Lobo that it would be more profitable to hunt down Harley Quinn.  Lobo finds Harley and hilarity ensues.  Oh, and Green Arrow and Black Canary are dragged into this before the story is over.


The artwork is as impressive as the story, despite being handled by four separate teams.  The story is broken up in such a way that the differences in art go along with changes in location and action.  Xermanico, most recently seen on the Arrow web comic, pencils and inks the greater portion of the first half of the comic,  with Jonas Trindade assisting on inks when Lobo first confronts Harley.  Mike. S. Miller - one of the regular artists on the Injustice title -  handles a dynamic action sequence where the tide turns in the battle between Harley and Lobo.  Bruno Redondo - another Injustice regular - closes the book out with the sequence where Green Arrow and Black Canary join the fight.  

If you have yet to experience the world of Injustice: Gods Among Us, this issue is a surprisingly good introduction to the setting.  It's also a must read for all fans of Green Arrow, Black Canary, Harley Quinn, Lobo and anyone who misses the DC Universe of 2010.  It's a fun read and a reminder of better days.

Arrow #36 (Web Comic) - A Review

Arrow #36 brings last week's story to a suitable conclusion.  At the same time, it sets the stage for Season 2 of the Arrow TV show.  The cliffhanger from the last issue is resolved yet we find that while Oliver's focus as The Hood may have changed somewhat there is still a great deal of anger in him and there is still something of a vigilante inside of him rather than a full-fledged hero.


Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim offers a number of great character moments throughout the script.  My favorite scene involves Oliver coming to an odd sort of peace with Detective Lance, who admits that Laurel was right about Oliver and Tommy both changing for the better.  There's also some good moments between Oliver and John Diggle and Laurel and Oliver.


Sadly, the artwork fails to live up to the story.  As before, Allan Jefferson's pencils are decent enough in the close-up panels - indeed, he draws some very effective caricatures of the show's cast - but falter in the mid-range and background.  Fine details - such as Ollie's scruffy beard-growth - are completely lost in some panels.  The weak inks of Jonas Trindade barely separate the characters from the background and offer no further definition than that.  Still, this issue is well-worth the 99 cent download in spite of the artwork.

Arrow #35 (Web Comic) - A Review

Written by Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim himself, Sacrifices (Part 1 of 2) offers Arrow fans their first glimpse at just how things may be changing for the series in the wake of the earthquake that tore apart The Glades.  Cutting between the events of the Series Finale and a flash-forward to two weeks later, most of the issue is split between Oliver Queen fighting a gang of criminals in The Glades without his usual costume and Oliver's desperate race to save Laurel Lance from a collapsing building.


Guggenheim's script, as per usual, is brilliant.  The action of  the issue is presented well and we get a sense of the destruction of the city that the show's budget could never convey on-screen.  He even addresses one of the few problems I had with the final episode - how Ollie seemed to have a remarkably easy time driving to The Glades.  It turns out he didn't.  I shan't spoil this story's cliffhanger except to say that Ollie will once again be tested as to whether he wants to be a vigilante or a hero.

Would that the art matched Guggenheim's script in quality.  Allan Jefferson's pencils are decent enough and his characters look good in the close-ups and middle ground.  In fact, there's a sight-gag for long time Arrow-heads as we see a figure who looks suspiciously like the classic comics Oliver Queen in one panel.  However, Jefferson still has a problem with detailing his backgrounds.  Inker Jonas Trindade doesn't help matters with inks so light at points they barely seem to be there at all.  There are several panels where the only inking seems to be an outline around the characters that (barely) separates them from the backgrounds.


Despite this, I'd still recommend Arrow #35.  The story comes through in spite of the awkward artwork.  Arrow-heads jonesing for a fix won't want to miss this issue or the stirring conclusion next week.  Next Wednesday can't come fast enough!

Arrow #32 (Web Comic) - A Review

From the Darkness promises us "the secret origin of The Dark Archer".  While we do get the details of how Malcolm Merlyn became trained as a world-class warrior after his wife's death, there's not much that is "secret" about it.  The only new piece of information is the revelation that Malcolm patrolled the streets as a vigilante hero during Tommy's formative years, in the same way Oliver Queen does today.



The script by Wendy Mericle and Ben Sokolwski proves engaging but it leaves us with more questions than answers.  One wonders why, if Malcolm Merlyn was striking down drug-dealers and pimps in The Glades on a regular basis several years ago, we've heard nothing about this on the show before.  You'd think Detective Lance would remember there being a similar vigilante sometime earlier unless gang-members turning up dead with arrows in their back is a common occurrence in Starling City.  Or did every single murder The Dark Archer committed in the name of cleaning up the city go unreported?  Granting that the criminal underclass of The Glades aren't exactly likely to call the cops, you'd think someone would have reported a dead body with an arrow in it at some point.


The artwork by Allan Jefferson is unbalanced.  Jefferson does a fair enough job of capturing John Barrowman and Colin Donnell's likenesses but - as in previous outings on this series - his mid-range and background characters lack definition.  Jonas Trindade's inking does help matters somewhat but there's only so much a good inker can do. 

Injustice: Gods Among Us #17 - A Review

Several months ago, a rather prominent American lobbyist declared that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."  Now, ignoring the opinions of various self-defense experts, professional hostage negotiators and avowed pacifists regarding the inaccuracy of that statement, we are still left with the problem of how to easily identify "the bad guy" and how very quickly a good person can become perceived as a bad one.  This dilemma lies at the heart of Injustice #17,  with the question of how one defines evil posed by our point-of-view character for the week - Catwoman.


Ignoring gender specific terms, is Catwoman a bad guy?  She's a law-breaker, certainly, but by some standards so are most of the superheroes who use a mask to hide their identity.  She's a thief, though she goes out of her way not to steal from anyone who would be truly harmed by the loss.  And as we see in this story she is not against playing Robin Hood pro bono to help those who have been stolen from by the thieves who hide behind the law. 

If one can justify the act of killing as accomplishing the greater good of saving an innocent life, why can't one justify the act of theft if it is used to help the needy?  This is some heady political stuff for an ordinary graphic novel - much less what was meant to be a simple video game tie-in comic!  Such as Tom Taylor's writing that he can weave this discussion into a story that's primarily devoted toward Superman trying to get Catwoman to seek out a Batman in need of a friend.


The wonderful script is backed by some equally amazing artwork.  David Yardin handles the penciling duties once more, while also supplying some of his own inks.  Le Beau Underwood and Jonas Trindade also offer some definition to the artwork with their own inks.  Usually I worry about any book that features more tha one inker but you'd never know it from the finished project.