Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Three #2 - A Review

Is it too early to start a petition to hand over the reigns of the Constantine comic to Tom Taylor once the Injustice books come to a close?  I ask because it's become apparent to me, after only two issues, that Mister Taylor has got the best grasp on the character of any writer to tackle ol' ConJob since Andy Diggle's all-too-brief run on Hellblazer.  And given how highly I hold Andy Diggle's run on Hellblazer, that is not praise given lightly.


There are so many perfect Constantine moments in this comic that I am hard pressed to single any one of them out as my favorite.  But if pressed, I'd say the best probably involves John having a cheap laugh at the expense of his allies and Batman proving he has no idea who John Constantine truly is when he asks how John can laugh when the world is going to hell.  He is John Constantine.  How can he not? This second issue also sees John doing things that make perfect sense in the context of the DC Universe but which I don't think have ever been attempted - such as John's calling upon Trigon.


The artwork by Bruno Redondo and Vincent Cifuentes matches their usual high standard.  The inks on some pages seem a little heavier this time around, but given the darkness of the story - both literal and metaphorical - this seems fitting.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two Annual #1 - A Review

The Year Two Annual for Injustice: Gods Among Us differs from the Year One annual in three important respects. First, this annual tells two separate stories compared to last year's single story annual. Next, the tone of these stories is decidedly more serious than last year's annual, which saw Lobo hunting Harley Quinn. Finally - instead of being solely the work of Tom Taylor - the scripts for this issue were written by Marguerite Bennett, who co-plotted the stories with Taylor.


The first story focuses upon Jim and Barbara Gordon and their efforts to find peace in their relationship as Jim's inevitable death from lung cancer grows closer and their investigation of the seeming reappearance of Jim's wife/Barbara's mom, who has been missing for years. Bennet's script perfectly captures both characters and plays out the mystery quite well.  Sadly, the visual tone is all over the place due to this story having been rendered by four different artists with decidedly different styles.


The second story fares better in this regard, having been drawn entirely by Injustice regular Jheremy Raapack.  It too focuses on a troubled relationship - that of Hal Jordan and his former mentor Sinestro as they seek out a Qwardian artifact.  The story here is engaging but Bennett's take on Sinestro - which is reminiscent of Geoff Johns' anti-heroic take on the character - doesn't quite gel with the more openly villainous Sinestro that we've seen in Injustice so far. This is a minor point, however, and it is to Bennett's credit that the reader still won't be sure how sincere Sinestro is about regretting how things ended between him and Hal by the story's conclusion.

Despite not being essential to the overall story, fans of the Injustice will still want to pick this one up.  Fans of Marguerite Bennet's writing on other recent titles will also enjoy this one and shouldn't have any trouble with these stories despite them being set in the complex mythology of the Injustice universe.  The stories more than make up for the somewhat scattered artwork.

Batgirl #16 - A Review

Batgirl #16 concludes Gail Simone's contribution to the Death of the Family storyline and it is every bit as eerie and disturbing as we could have hoped for.  With her mother's life placed in danger, Barbara Gordon has little choice but to play along with The Joker's latest sick scheme.  A scheme which, for some reason, requires her to marry him!


Simone's script is full of psychological torment, as Barbara finds herself pushed to her limits and beyond.  An opening flashback (with a cameo by Dr. Andrea Letamendi of the wonderful Under The Mask blog) sets the stage, showcasing Barbara's understandable anger at The Joker for what he did to her.  The theme continues into the later part of the book, as Barbara is given a chance to act upon her anger and does not freeze up.  Indeed, she finds herself with no reason at all to hold back and is oddly unfrightened by this!


The art in this issue is all-around amazing.  Indeed, if I hadn't looked at the credits page to see that this book had two separate art teams, I never would have guessed it!  Ed Benes pencils and inks the first half of the book with his usual skill and an amazing (for him) lack of fan-service.  The team of penciler David Sampere and inker Vincent Cifuentes close the book out with equal skill. 

I have nothing else I can say about this book, save it is great.  Just look at the sample scans above (I included one from each team) and I think you'll agree Batgirl is one of the best-looking books on the market as well as one of the best written.  Batgirl is a must read for all fans of quality comics!

Batgirl #14 - A Review

Batgirl #14 starts fast and doesn't slow down for a moment.  It all begins with Barbara Gordon getting a call in the middle of the night from a figure with a disguised voice.  The man on the other end knows all about the night in which Barbara Gordon was paralyzed - all the fine details, like how three men were there when it happened.  He warns Barbara that three such men took her mother away earlier in the evening and that they are on the way for her now.  After an epic ass-kicking ensues, Barbara goes after the only person who could be responsible for all of this and the man who put her in a wheelchair for three years... The Joker. 


Gail Simone's script can only be described as intense.  For the first time, we see Barbara truly frightened and get some insight into the sheer scope of her trauma.  Yet Barbara is no shrinking violet and when her fight-or-flight response kicks in, the only things flying are her fists and feet.  Any who still doubt that this is the same Barbara Gordon from Birds of Prey who once said she could easily kill The Joker without remorse if given the opportunity would be well advised to reconsider that assessment.  Barbara Gordon is a woman to be reckoned and make no mistake about it.

I also love Simone's take on The Joker, who is just as creepy here as in this week's new Batman comic.  In fact, I dare say he's creepier here because Simone has captured the one aspect of The Joker that so many writers miss out on - spontaneity.  Written properly, you should never be exactly sure what The Joker will do in any given situation.  Comedy is all about the unexpected, after all, and first and foremost The Joker should be a comedian.  It may be the dark comedy of the man falling down an open manhole and dying but his main motivator is still playing to an audience and provoking a reaction.  That's why I loved the final pages of this book - because they honestly surprised me and The Joker's actions, seemingly nonsensical, make a paradoxical sense on that level.


The artwork by Ed Benes and Daniel Sampere is equally as good as the scripts, though made somewhat uneven in its' inking.  The first part of the story has a Mike Grellian aspect, with the inks heavy and blending into the blacks of the dark room.  The later half of the comic, inked by Vincent Cifuetes, outlines the figures a bit too much in my estimation, with Barbara looking as if she used a Sharpie marker as a lip-liner at one point.  To my mind, the middle pages linking the two halves of the story (inked by Mark Irwin) find the right balance of light and shadow.  Sadly, they only amount to two pages.

Despite this quibbling over the fine details, I have no reservations about declaring Batgirl a must-read comic.