Blitz review: Justice Inc #3- A good way to learn about 1930’s ‘Pulp’ history

Writer: Michael Uslan
Artist: Giovanni Timpano
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: October 22nd 2014


If you can get over the fact that all of the heroes in Justice Inc are establishment authority figures, thus legitimising the statist/corporate status quo, and if you can also put up with the narrative being largely based in Tibet, that safe comic book home of faux-western spirituality, then there’s some enjoyment to be had in this series.

The characters themselves, although corporate authority figures, are interesting because they are being developed as if they were brand new. The book has little contemporary relevance, but as an enjoyable diversion, and as a way to discover comic book heroes that were big time stars before the current age of Batman, Spiderman and the Avengers, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Issue #3 develops all three main characters, and we even see the birth of one of them, and an explanation of his new powers. The writing has some thought behind it as well. It’s book-ended with one paragraph of context explanation of the narrative so far, and ends with a few pages where writer Michael Uslan explains some of the references made within the story. That’s very reader friendly, and I give him huge credit for that.

You’ll be particularly interested in this book if you want to learn more about the comic book heroes of the 1930’s days of pulp, and Orson Welles on the radio. For that reason alone it’s more interesting than the majority of irrelevant comic books that are on the market today.

The art is fine, not great, but okay, the story has been well researched, and the characters are interesting as well. It’s nothing spectacular, nothing revolutionary, or even that thought provoking, but it’s enjoyable, and as a ten-minute comic book that doesn’t insult my intelligence too much I’m giving it a thumbs up as a good short dose of silly, learn about the history of comic books fun.

Rating: 7/10

Comic book review: Justice Inc #2- The Avenger is old and new, whilst Batman is just old, and old

Writer: Michael Uslan
Artist: Giovanni Timpano
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: 24th September 2014


I’m reading this book for The Shadow, and if the other two characters bring anything to the table then that’s just a bonus. Issue #2 gave me some interesting insights into the character, personality and special abilities of The Shadow, so that alone is reason enough for me to both enjoy and appreciate the book.

Okay, so the art isn’t that special. There’s a lack of atmosphere in the shading, and the colouring is far too pastel and bright for my liking. But again, going back to The Shadow, he’s drawn exactly like The Shadow should be drawn, so that’s enough for me.

The story in issue #2 of Justice Inc is brief, as it should be in an issue #2. Most of the action takes place in-flight, with the character that will become ‘The Avenger’ going through his Bruce Wayne moment of horror that will come to define his subsequent crime-fighting career. The dialogue, again as it was in the first issue, is very amusing, but amusing without being silly and ridiculous as you’ll find in the dialogue of far too many mainstream comic books today. Oh, and there was a hint of a femme-fatale in this book, and I’m perfectly happy with that as every old fashioned pulp book needs a sexy bad femme-fatale to spice things up a bit.

Far too many comic books and comic book writers of today are stuck in the 1990’s, and are either unwilling or unable to negotiate the post 9/11 world that we are all living in today. Plus, the mainstream obsession with political correctness and it’s diversionary issues to do with race, gender and sexuality is depressing beyond belief, and makes most of the books put out by DC and Marvel today unreadable for any educated and awakened mind.  Justice Inc is not stuck in the 1990’s, and so far I detect no hint of Rockefeller funded liberalism in the book. Whilst Marvel stays in the 1990’s, trying to get attention by playing out tired old race and gender issues, Justice Inc is bypassing 1970’s feminism altogether by going back to the pulp days of the late 1930’s and 1940’s. It’s using the old heroes and personalities of that period, putting them all in the proverbial blender and having a good old time with the results of that delicious mix.

However, you must bear in mind that if you decide to take a chance on Justice Inc you’re going to get a story that is in no way contemporaneous with current geo-political events. This is a book set in the safe past with characters like Einstein and Howard Hughes, very well known historical figures that are uncontroversial, safe and easy to play around with in a comic book. It’s not a brave book. It’s a comic book that has taken elements of the pulp history of the comic book genre and decided to play out the old stories once again, but for a new audience. These are pulp heroes of the 1940's and that’s where their playground is, not a post 9/11 world, the world that we are all living in today.

If the majority of comic books available today were stuck in the 1940’s it would drive me absolutely nuts. I’m sure they’d be preferable to the liberal nonsense that dominates DC and Marvel today, but I’d still hate it, and every week on this blog I’d be calling them out on their inability to reflect the world of 2014. I give Dynamite comics a pass on this book for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’m a huge fan of the Shadow, and anything with The Shadow in it is fine by me. Sure I’d like him to be brought into this NSA spying/criminal banks/ puppet politician’s era, but there’s something about his character that appeals to me. It’s probably because he’s independent, morally upright and utterly ruthless with criminal lowlifes. Secondly, this delving back into the 1940’s is interesting because it’s only being done in these Shadow books. I know it’s safe and easy, but at the moment it’s a nice change from the norm, and anything that breaks from the norm at the moment has to be good.

Setting aside my Shadow fandom for a moment, Justice Inc #2 is worth investing your time and money in because you are seeing the re-birth of a super hero known as The Avenger. That’s interesting as The Avenger is a character that has not yet been done to death. He’s an old character, but somewhat of a lost one, somebody who from what I’ve researched appears to be very interesting, and I welcome his reintroduction into the comic book world of today. Contrast that to the character of Batman who gets his origin story redone every couple of years or so in DC comics. Heck, the story is even being redone on mainstream television at the moment in a show called ‘Gotham.’ The Avenger is old, but new. Batman is just old, and old. Get the book because of the re-birth of The Avenger, that alone is good enough a reason to read it, but if like myself you are a huge fan of the awesomeness that is The Shadow, you’ll want to pick this book up as well.

Rating: 7/10

Comic book review: Grendel Vs. The Shadow- Book One- Starring Grendel, the biggest douchebag in comic book history

Writer & Artist: Matt Wagner
Colourist: Brennan Wagner
Publisher: Darkhorse Comics/Dynamite Entertainment
Released: 3rd September 2014

I was a little confused with one of the lines in the opening segment of this book. A sociopathic asshole called ‘Grendel’ appeared to go through some kind of time travel device and whilst surveying a New York city skyline (I knew it was new York because it featured the unmistakable image of the Empire State building) asked, Where are the twin towers?’

My initial reaction was very favourable. Brilliant, I thought. I’m finally going to get a Shadow story set in a post 9/11 world. I’m finally going to see the Shadow deal with contemporary concerns like NSA surveillance, criminal wall-street banksters owning everything and everybody, illegal foreign wars based on lies, the deliberate collectivisation of a dumbed down, television watching slave population and all of the other nightmarish realities that are rapidly destroying America in 2014. But no, after reading on I quickly realised that the reference to the missing twin towers didn’t mean that he was in the present, no he was in the past, before they were built. In the 1930’s, and that’s unfortunately where the Shadow still was.

The obvious question then is, what era is this Grendel piece of crap coming from? After a quick Start Page search (I refuse to use the NSA search engine of choice Google) I learnt that this Grendel moron (I immediately took a vicious dislike to him) is a 1980’s creation by Matt Wagner. So rather than bringing him into the present day (which would make him far more relevant and interesting) I guess he’s still stuck somewhere in the 1980’s. That’s a choice of convenience. It’s the easy choice. You have your character staying in the safe 1980’s and you don’t have to talk about any of the issues that are effecting the world today. I hate it when my comic books do that. I find it cowardly, very cowardly.

Having got all of that off my chest I want to quickly state that I didn’t hate this book. It was enjoyable, and as long as you don’t think about things too much it’s a good little comic. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll list the pluses and minuses of the book, and see whether or not I can recommend it. First off, the pluses:

The colouring in the book is vivid, dramatic and very effective. It creates an atmosphere all of it’s own, and together with the BADDA BADDA BADDA textual sound effects (that was a gun) it’s almost like a cheesy episode of Batman from the 1970’s. It’s silly, very silly, with very bad villains and very good heroes. The plot is childishly simple to follow and the Shadow himself keeps popping up in the err, well Shadows with his trademark HAHAHAHAHA laugh. It’s a lot of fun, it’s just well, it’s a lot….silly.

The minuses of the book are very apparent. The female characters are either angels or sultry, seductive vixens. They are add-ons to the male characters, and that really does stand out in 2014 where female characters are portrayed as the protagonists. A lot of modern readers will hate that. I don’t hate it; I just find it a little strange, a little old-fashioned and a little bit insulting, even though I myself get fed up of contemporary comics where the females are always in charge.

The character of Grendel, as you’ve probably already noticed from my brief descriptions of him, is extremely unlikeable. The guy is pretty much the living dictionary definition of a complete and utter twat. A drug dealing kingpin who doesn’t value human life, at all. In this book he’s portrayed as a super dashing, ultra-cool, handsome, debonair, erudite Nietsche ubermensch. In other words, uggggghhhh, he’s repulsive and I want to see the Shadow hand his ass to him for two books straight. I can’t believe that this twat was a major character for so long in the 80’s and 90’s. What the Hell were people thinking, buying books about this repellent douchebag?

This assbag Grendel character comes across as a wish-fulfilment fantasy character for writer Matt Wagner. In this single issue Grendel uses his awesome acrobatic ability and the super technology of a knife on a stick to bring an entire Mafia family to it’s knees. Oh, and he’s also a brilliant author as well, somehow knocking out a society adored best seller in about ten minutes flat, and he’s extremely handsome and all of the hot girls want to sleep with him, obviously. Oh God, this is verging on the laughable. It’s like a bratty, twatty fourteen-year-old has written himself into a comic book. Aggghhh, unbearable.

So why did I largely enjoy this book? It wasn’t just the colouring, was it? Strangely enough, I think it largely was about the colouring, and the knowledge that the Shadow is lurking in the backgrounds just waiting to kick lumps of crap out of the bag of shite douchefarm known as Grendel. You know what? I’m going to get the next two issues of this book. Matt Wagner has made me hate his Grendel character so much that I want to hang around to see him get kicked out of the 1930’s and sent back into the safe, nowhere land of the mid 1980’s, hopefully to never return and darken the Shadow’s path ever again.

I would have been absolutely thrilled to read a book with the Shadow in a post 9/11 world, but I didn’t get it here. Hopefully somebody out there in comic book land is reading this rant/review and they can do that? Go on, be brave. DO IT. But for the time being I’ll take what Shadow action I can get. His red scarf looks really cool in this book, and I’ll keep on reading just to see him hand Mr 1980’s Grendel his ass in a handbag.

Rating: 7/10 

Comic book review: Justice Inc #1- The fascinating re-birth of The Avenger

Writer: Michael Uslan
Artist: Giovanni Timpano
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: 20th August 2014

I had to re-read a couple of the pages in this book, going back over them a few times to fully understand what was going on, but it was a rewarding experience as the book was so enjoyable. What made it so enjoyable? Three things, the characters, the contemporary references and the fast moving tension filled script.

First off, the characters were fascinating to me. They are old pulp fiction comic book heroes from the 1930’s and 40’s, but there’s a wonderfully contemporary feel about them in this book. Writer Michael Uslan has been very clever here, using contemporary news stories to link the old heroes to the current times. I won’t spoil the plot, but it involves the Large Hadron Collider, a missing passenger plane and worm holes in time. These contemporary themes are mixed with old science fiction (H.G Wells) and Albert Einstein’s theories on the laws of physics and string theory. Add to the mix a very modern distrust of the government and a villain determined to use the powers of the occult to bring in a new age of mysticism and you have something that’s a little confusing, a little too packed, but something very interesting indeed.

I’m not going to get too carried away with the book at this stage as the art is not going to wow anybody, and the ending doesn’t really pack the punch that it should do, but there’s so much happening, and it’s such a joy to read. The research carried out for the production of this book must have been immense and the characters are so intriguing that I cannot help but be impressed by it all. There’s a lightness and air of fun about the script as well. It’s not lead weight and overly serious, it’s fun to read and the dialogue has moments of humour throughout (“It’s a dinosaur. A dinosaur I tell you.”).

After reading this comic book I went onto the Internet and did a bit of research about the character called ‘The Avenger.’ He sounds like a very interesting guy to me, so I’m absolutely thrilled that he’s back in contemporary comics, and I have my fingers crossed that he’ll be a huge fan favourite and stay around for a long, long time. I knew nothing about him before reading this book, but because of the way that writer Michael Uslan has re-introduced him, he’s become somebody that I’m very excited about. Please check out the link at the end of this review, and then read Justice Inc #1, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me on this point. I bought this book for The Shadow, but it’s the Avenger character that is going to keep me coming back.

I highly recommend this book, and even though the ending isn’t quite as strong as it should be, that’s not a big concern, as what has been established here is a template for what is to come next. It both fascinates and impresses me to see these old pulp heroes very cleverly brought into 2014, yet not seem dated at all. This is how to re-introduce old comic book characters and make them seem relevant to the world of 2014. I just hope that modern readers will take a chance with them. Justice Inc #1 is a clever book, an intriguing book and a book that’s just a heck of a lot of fun to read.

Rating: 8/10

For further information about 'The Avenger.' Please have a read of this fascinating info from our ever reliable friends at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avenger_(character)