Blitz Review: Justice League #31- Lex and Bruce have an interesting chat

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Publisher: DC
Released: 25th June 2014

Although the front cover of this issue is misleading, I forgive that needless deception as the story within of Lex Luthor telling a bluffing Bruce Wayne that he knows he’s Batman is well told and entertaining. The art is weirdly inconsistent with some excellent large panels, and awful facials in the smaller ones. The plot of a new threat is moved a little bit further forward, even if the ending is a bit lame, and there’s a playful comedy interlude to lighten things up as well. Overall, and as one of the very few superhero books that I still get on a monthly basis, it was okay. I enjoyed it, and there was no feminist liberal or statist nonsense to offend. That’s good enough for me, and I’ll keep on buying the book. Rating: 7/10

Review: Swamp Thing #32- A rotten fishy smell.

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Jesus Saiz
Publisher: DC
Released: 4th June 2014

I dropped Aquaman from my pull-list a few months ago when Geoff Johns ended his run on the title by draining all of the life force out of the character and handing off an empty, fishy shell to a writer who I don’t care much about. I think it was Jeff Parker, or a similar Marvel/DC clone that took over, and since then I haven’t cared one single flipper about Aquaman. But now he’s back, barging into my Swamp Thing book, and blanding it all up for a month.

This is one of those crossover books that nobody wants, except the company accountants. Writer Charles Soule does his best to explain away the unwanted intrusion, but he writes Aquaman as a humourless automaton of the sea, a completely boring character who is about as interesting as yesterday’s fry-up. The story involves a monster. Swamp Thing is in the sea, messing around with plants. He defeats the monster, and Aquaman has a bit of a moan whilst he is doing so. That’s it. The art is big and bold, trying to inject some life into a flat story, and it almost disguises the sense of apathy that surrounds the entire issue, but not quite.

The final few panels are the most interesting part of the book as Charles Soule gets to dump the limp fish man and get back to the story that he was telling before he was forced into this pointless diversion. That story involves two interesting new protagonists, Lady Weeds and the Wolf, and it will kick into gear next issue. Swamp Thing isn’t usually this bad, but a rotten fishy smell has stunk out the joint for this month. Charles Soule is a great writer, when he wants to be, but it’s obvious that he couldn’t care less about Aquaman. What he has done here is treat the intruder with the disrespect that he deserves. It’s wrecked the book for the month, but his point is well made. Rating: 4/10

Review: Forever Evil #7- Event Closer

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: David Finch & Richard Friend
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 21st May 2014

Comic book events always end up the same way. After months of crossover books where the heroes look like they have no chance whatsoever against the dastardly villains, a few twists and turns later and everything returns to normal, just like an episode of the Simpsons. The characters are back on the sofa, unchanged, and back to their usual selves like nothing of any consequence has happened over the past few months. That’s what always happens in comic book events, so complaining about it is a bit daft. It’s like complaining about a western government drone bombing a village in Afghanistan or starting a new war with the latest mainstream media vilified foreign villain (Hello Mr Putin). You voted, so you are at fault. You bought into the system, and that system is just doing what it always does. You can only complain about it if you didn’t buy into the system in the first place. Don’t vote and you can complain, vote and it’s your fault, so shut the Hell up about it. The same is true of comic book events. Buy them and you are supporting the system. You look a bit silly complaining about it, because just like voting it’s your bloody fault for supporting the process in the first place.

 I’m not going to complain about the end of the Forever Evil arc. I bought all the books, so any complaints would be ridiculous. I knew what would happen at the end, and it happened. What I can do though is discuss whether or not the ride to that inevitable conclusion was any good or not. Well, was it?

Yeah, it was okay. It started off on a bit of a crap note with one of the dead heroes being brought back to life in a typically con-artist comic book way, but after the annoying start the book is full of big-time battles and loads of cool stuff happens. The plot threads and happenings from the other books are smoothly drawn together into this conclusion, and it all fits pretty well without too much confusion. The villains are defeated in a convincing way as well. They were too selfish and power crazed, plotting against each other rather than maximising their strengths by effectively working together. This is a weakness that makes a lot of sense, as it shows the moral inferiority of the villains as opposed to the more selfless heroes.

What really made this final issue though was the smart decision to have the book’s main hero as a character you wouldn’t normally put into that role. It made the ending appear a little different, and was far more interesting than having one of the more predictable big name heroes being involved in crafting the game-winning touchdown. By the looks of the new Justice League #30 book it appears that character’s story will continue, so that should be a lot of fun and it gives us something to look forward to in the future. That something is happening because of the events of Forever Evil, so the satisfaction that comes from being a long-term reader is on offer here, and you can’t always say that about cross over events.

So the Forever Evil arc has finally come to an end. I largely enjoyed it, even though some of the crossover books I picked up were a complete waste of my time and money. That’s on me though. I really should know better by now. But overall the end issue (although overpriced) offers a lot of action, lots of full-stops, it sets up what’s happening in Justice League #30 and although the final few panels felt slightly deflating, I was expecting that, so prefer to look at the ride rather than the destination. The ride was fun. It largely made sense, and it was a lot better than that bloody awful Fear Itself event that largely killed off any interest I had in Marvel comics. I’ll still be reading DC, so this event was probably as good as an event can be. No complaints from me, it was fun, and I knew what I was getting into.  Rating 8/10

Comic Book Preview: (For books released on 21st May 2014)

Here’s my list of what I’m looking forward to reading this week, plus a couple of books that I’ll be avoiding, and a couple of new books to look out for.

Pick up:

1- Forever Evil #7 (DC): The main book that follows DC’s latest crossover big event. It’s coming to an end now and there’s been a lot of filler in the other crossover books, but this main book is usually pretty good, and it’s well worth picking up.

2- Sinestro #2 (DC): The first issue was great, let’s hope the second one is just as good.

3- Monster & Madman #3 (IDW): Amazing art, and awesome Gothic story about Jack the Ripper and Frankenstein’s monster. This is a must buy book.

4- Witcher #3 (Darkhorse): Extremely enjoyable slice of Goth. Well written funny and with likeable characters who you really care about.

5- Justice League #30 (DC): More fall-out from the Forever Evil arc, but this being another main book is worth checking out. Hopefully we’ll get more Metal Men action as well. I love those guys.

Avoid:

1- Trinity of Sin- Pandora # 11 (DC): Ray Fawkes struggles to do anything interesting now that the seemingly never ending Forever Evil Blight arc has come to an end. Dull, very dull.

2- A Voice in the Dark #7 (Image): Serial killer nonsense based on two movies, Heather’s and Pump Up The Volume. The serial killer is a girl this time, yawn.

3- MPH #1 (Image): Mark Millar embarrassingly gets down with the kids. This one sounds awful and could be exceedingly embarrassing for all of the middle aged Dad’s involved.

4- Harley Quinn #6 (DC): Making psychopathic behaviour appear cool for all of the lame-ass liberal girls out there. Avoid the sickness. Being like Harley is not a good thing.

5- 7th Sword #7 (Image): Painfully average book about a mercenary with tribal tats.


New Books that are worth checking out:

1- Last Broadcast #1 (Archaia): This one is about ancient treasures, magic cults and urban exploration. Sounds like fun.

2- Star Wars Darth Maul Son Of Dathomir #1 (Darkhorse): New adventure starring the criminally under-utilised character from that awful prequel movie.