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Blackest Night #0 Review (Free Comic Book Day)

 Posted by  DC Reviews, Issue Review  1 Response »
Mar 252012
 

by Lindsay Young, CMRO Contributing Writer

Blackest Night

Issue #0

Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis

Published: June 2009

Wolverine and is team have been playing the underdogs for a while now, and things really come to a head in this issue, when the school’s financial woes take a serious hit. Logan promptly takes off to deal with it, leaving the campus in a state of disarray as Kitty Pryde, deemed second-in-command, experiences her own setbacks.

I’ve praised the previous issues of Wolverine and the X-Men thus far, and many things that were good about the past four volumes are also good here. The school continues to be the sort of school you always want the X-men school to be: full of chaos, unique technology and tons of bizarre and powerful people, far more interesting than any highschool has the right to be. Wolverine remains a sympathetic character, too, and his efforts to keep the school open (and his burgeoning relationship to Quentin Quire) remain compelling.

Kitty’s subplot, however, I’m less thrilled about. Discovering herself pregnant, she swells up in about two days, only to find that her pregnancy is a mythic one, and that her stomach is full of flesh-eating aliens. It’s a narrative that’s not uncommon to science fiction: the horrific invasion of a woman’s body and the ensuing terror of the forced pregnancy is a plotline that has a lot of uncomfortable connotations, and I’m not sure it was a narrative that the story needed to invoke. Surely, there are other ways to jump start an alien invasion subplot? Was this symbolic violation really necessary? For me, personally, the subplot is a little too heavy, and it doesn’t necessarily jive with the generally lighter tone of the other issues.

The alien subplot that’s built up in this issue isn’t one that has be immediately intrigued, but Wolverine’s efforts to keep the school open is, and despite the misstep I personally feel the issue takes, it’s still worth reading.

Aquaman #2 Review

 Posted by  DC Reviews, Issue Review  No Responses »
Nov 032011
 

by Andrew Hurst, CMRO Contributing Writer

Aquaman

Issue #2

Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis

Published: December 2011

As we all know, Aquaman has been a laughing stock hero in the DC Universe, and, again, as we all know, Geoff Jonhs is brilliant at turning C and D level characters into big names and top selling properties, and his work with Aquaman is proving no different.

Last issue was about as fitting an introduction for the character back as a serious name in comics as any creative team could have produced. Johns got all the Aquaman jokes and teasing in, all while telling a story about an Atlanian king whose more human than we’ve seen in some time. Johns has a habit of telling a pretty basic, yet intriguing, tale of superheroes when he launches a book, and Aquman #2 continues that habit as the ‘Superman of the sea’ finds himself in the middle of a murderous rampage by a family of mutant Parana-men.

We see Arthur, with his wife, Mera, reconnecting with the land lover side of his roots while dismissing more Aquaman jokes and misconceptions. I get that addressing the silliness associated with the character was essential for the first issue, but in issue #2 it’s already beginning to grow tiresome, and I hope we can focus more of depth of story in the next issue. However, that one nitpick is my only complaint about this issue. Johns gives us the beginning of an interesting, and even creepy, Aquaman story that fans and non-fans can enjoy; and as always, Ivan Reis is phenomenal on art duties.

Even the biggest Aquaman detractors will have a hard time finding something legitimate to hate about this title. I can’t wait to see what Johns and Reis have planned after the beginning arch when start telling deeper stories.

Aquaman #1 Review

 Posted by  DC Reviews, Issue Review  1 Response »
Oct 022011
 

by Andrew Hurst, CMRO Contributing Writer

Aquaman

Issue #1

Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis

Poor Aquaman, always the butt of the joke. However, it’s hard to make jokes about any character when the all-star team behind Blackest Night is in control. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis reunite to give the King of Atlantis a title worthy of his royalty. Johns immediately addresses the elephant in the room (that elephant being that Aquaman actually has his own comic book again) as masked crooks scoff at the thought that Aquaman is here to bust up their caper. Even the local police are curious what Aquaman thinks he’s doing so far into the city away from water, but Johns gives the character the respect he deserves as we see Arthur Curry take down these villains in a brutal and grandiose fashion.

The jokes really start flying when Aquaman walks into a seafood restaurant looking for lunch, but he’s bombarded with ridiculous looks and questions as we get a lot of ‘Aquaman stereotypes’, like his ability to talk to fish, cleared up, and a small explanation of Aquaman’s abilities. My favorite part of this scene is when Aquaman encounters an obnoxious blogger looking to get a big interview with the hero. Johns portrays this blogger as the typical comic book nerd asking questions the Aquaman detractors would rub in the hero’s face like “How does it feel to be no one’s favorite superhero?”.

All jokes aside we see a more serious, sentimental side of the ‘Superman of the sea’ with flashbacks of fond bonding moments between him and his human father. This kind of inner daddy issues is actually becoming tiresome with Johns’ characters since we’ve seen the exact same emotional state in his work on Green Lantern, Flash, and Booster Gold. But this first issue isn’t just about trying to take Aquaman seriously; there is a legitimate threat building that will soon need Aquaman’s attention. The beautiful art stylings of Ivan Reis, Rod Reis and Joe Prado not only give us a legitimately creepy looking Parana-like monster villain, but do exactly what needed to be done for this issue to work with non Aquaman fans: Make Aquaman look like a bad ass, while adding depths (or should I say fathoms) to Arthur Curry.

Without a doubt, this is the best single Aquaman comic book ever produced, and it ranks fairly high among the best New 52 titles released so far. If you’ve never been a fan of the character, you really can’t go wrong by at least giving this issue a shot. This is exactly what the character needs to go from being a joke to being a bestselling comic book: A brilliant team of creators who just know how to make a damn good comic book. We’ve seen Johns do it with Booster Gold, and I dare say soon Aquaman will be cool.

 

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