Review - Mage: The Hero Denied #0

Mage: The Hero Denied #0 - 

Image Comics

 

Written by Matt Wagner

Art by Matt Wagner

Colors by Brennan Wagner

Letters by Dave Lanphear

 

Being a legend is a funny thing.  Sure people know who you are, and there is a certain amount of prestige that comes with it, but here's where it can get annoying.  There will always be some young, hot shot who thinks they can take your place and be better than you ever were.  Fans have waited a long time for this legendary character from Matt Wagner to return, and his final chapter has begun.  Mage is back, and this time, it's The Hero Denied.

 

For those who don't know, Mage follow Kevin Matchstick who was just a regular guy, until he realized he was something much more and had the ability to wield incredible power.  Of course, with that, it also comes with a destiny to fulfill and some pretty nasty creatures to deal with in the process.  In this introductory half issue, Kevin meets up with another "soldier" in the fight, and that moment happens that every aging man dreads at some point.  Not sure that it requires a SPOILER ALERT if you've been there, but if you haven't yet, you probably will.  Let's just say it's not exactly something that gives a reluctant hero the drive to push forward.  Things do get a bit out of hand when some company arrives, and leads to something that definitely gave me a bit of a laugh.  Since this is a half issue, the end reveal comes quick, but is definitely a nice "WOW" moment heading into Issue 1 when it drops in August.

 

Ever since reading Matt Wagner's work with The Shadow, it has made me want to reach back into more of his work.  I'll admit I am not a long time reader of Mage, but the story always interested me, and it's something I would definitely like to read more.  This zero issue is a nice jumping on point if you feel the same way, and you really won't be too lost.  Keep in mind this is a zero issue, and a half issue, so the character development is at a minimum.  Still both prominent character in this issue balance each other quite well, and will likely give you two opposite reactions.  Wagner's art is always very appealing, and another nice job by Brennan Wagner as well.  Bring on the final chapter!

 

RATING:  PULL / BUY 

Review - Deathstroke #21

Deathstroke #21 - 

DC Comics

Written by Priest

Pencils by Diogenes Neves

Inks by Jason Paz

Color by Jeromy Cox

Letters by Willie Schubert

Cover by Ryan Sook

It's not uncommon for characters to have transformations over the course of their various runs in comics.  Villains become heroes, heroes become villains, not to mention anti-heroes and so on.  Then you look at someone like Deathstroke, and you have to wonder if what you're seeing is true.  So after the events of The Lazarus Contract, I had to see for myself what kind of Slade would come out of that.  Time to enter the pages of the Eisner Award nominated, Deathstroke series from DC Comics.

(WARNING!  Contains spoiler for the previous The Lazarus Contract storyline that spanned Titans, Teen Titans and Deathstroke.)

Slade Wilson has not only decided to stop being Deathstroke, but he is turning over a new leaf with a new team.  He's reformed, and looking for a chance at redemption.  This book immediately tests your belief in if this is actually possible or not.  It seems like such a natural feeling to not just simply accept this turn of events to me, so this book did not disappoint.  Other than Slade, we get to see a bit of the dynamics of the new Defiance team.  If you have been reading this book, Titans, Teen Titans and/or The Flash you are probably already familiar with the principle players here.  It's also no secret how they feel about this new Slade.  Not to mention the family dynamic of a "loyal" daughter, a son on a mission and an ex-wife who is trying to assert herself.  I won't spoil any of the details, but I will tell you this...there is a BIG payoff at the end of this book.  You may not be completely surprised, but if you're a loyal Teen Titans comic book fan, you will love the reveal in the final page of this book.

I will freely admit that I wasn't a huge fan of this series during the first Rebirth arc.  I jumped back in after several issue, and I am glad that I did.  What Priest is giving us here feel fresh, compelling and gives us several different angles to consider.  Not only is the seed of doubt planted about Slade, but you have that anticipation of the fallout of the big reveal at the end.  I was immersed in this story from the start, and the amazing art had me closely studying each panel.  It doesn't hurt that on of my favorite artist, Ryan Sook, did the cover this this either.  This is the Deathstroke story I never knew I wanted, but now am very happy that we all have.

RATING:  PULL / BUY 

Review - Clue #1

Clue #1 - 

IDW Publishing

 

Written by Paul Allor

Art by Nelson Daniel

Letters by Neil Uyetake

 

Imagine it's a Friday night and you're getting settled in for what will, hopefully be, a nice weekend.  The whole family is home, dinner is done and you're looking for something to do.  Problem is, the power has just gone out.  What do you do?  I guess, in 2017, you grab the smart phone right?  Well, there was a time, when board games were the go-to in this situation.  Remember those?  IDW does, but this time we're going from the board to the panels.  Let's dive into Clue #1 from one of our past guests, Paul Allor.

 

The first thing about this comic is that it's very self aware.  If you're familiar with the game (and the movie) of Clue, a some familiar names await you in this book.  Being a murder mystery, you know what's coming, and you SHOULD know who the victim is before even turning a page.  One thing that is different are the stories of who some of these characters are, plus some new faces.  The story takes place at the classic mansion during a dinner party with quite an interesting array of guests.  It is also narrated by the butler, Upton, who pops in from time to time.  There's not much more I can really say in terms of the plot without spoiling anything, but one of the editions of this comic comes with a few extra pages which gives clues that may help unravel the mystery. 

 

Right away this book has a very likeable vibe.  Even though you know the basis of what this is going to be about, Allor finds a way to make it feel fresh and really make you wonder what is going on.  Even in the first issue, he also gives you a reason to care about and/or suspect each member of the dinner party.  There is also the matter of making what seems obvious, not so obvious.  One of the things that Allor had to accomplish here, much like the game, is to make you doubt yourself.  He succeeds in that, and much more.  I can imagine that this is how Mel Brooks would have approached a Clue story and brought it to life.  With solid art to back things up, I'm certainly interested to keep trying to solve the mysteries of whodunnit.

 

RATING:  PULL / BUY 

Review - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Millennium #1

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Millennium #1 - 

Titan Comics

Written by Sylvain Runberg

Art by Jose Homs

Translated by Rachel Zerner

Letters by Phillipe Glogowski

Fans of the novels by Stieg Larsson have always been curious to see The Girl With The Drago Tattoo stories come to life.  The movies have become a reality, but now there is even more.  This time Lisbeth comes to the comics world in this new adaptation from Titan Comics.

The book follows the very familiar story of journalist Mikael Blomvist, a disgraced journalist that has taken a job to investigate the disappearance of a member of the Vanger family and chronicle the family's history.  From another angle, we have Lisbeth Salander who is a computer hacker who is investigating Blomvist himself and the possibility that he was set up in his recent conviction.  One investigation definitely goes more smoothly than the other, but there are certainly scars on both sides.  Blomvist gets a bit more wrapped up in the Vanger family than he had initially planned.  We also see Lisbeth's situation change after a tragedy in her life.  When I say worse, I mean a lot worse.  We also get flashes of something else going on, and a secret that is clearly not ready to be revealed yet.  When Blomvist sees his two worlds collide, Lisbeth just tries to hang on to hers.  The end of this first issue sees things trending towards an eventual meeting of the two stories, and a big step forward in the Vanger family disappearance.

With an over sized, 64 page first issue, the book definitely gives you our money's worth.  Problem is, I'm not sure that was the correct decision here.  While the extra pages allowed for a lot of background, the story seemed to drag on at points, especially when following Blomvist.  If you are a fan of the books and/or movies, it may drag on even more for you.  You're not getting much original content here, given the same basic story and principle players involved.  That doesn't mean there are no redeeming qualities to this book.  If you don't know the story at all, it does have good intrigue and stories about an eccentric family always play pretty well.  You'll also get plenty of information on these characters, so you won't be lost if you're not familiar with the books.  This is a tough book to rate based on those two factors.  The art is good on the interior, but the cover definitely pops more than the rest of of issue.  I would actually like to see the next issue become more of a regular sized story, which should actually allow the story to pick up the pace and have more of a sense of urgency.  If you're true fan of the books though, this would merely be a chance for you to experience a familiar story in another medium.

RATING:  PICK UP 

Review - Dark Days: The Forge #1

Dark Days: The Forge #1 -

DC Comics

 

Written by Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Pencils by Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, John Romita Jr.Inks by Scott Williams, Klaus Janson, Danny Miki
Colors by Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper
Letters by Steve Wands

 

Dark Days: The Forge #1 -
DC Comics
Written by Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Pencils by Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, John Romita Jr.
Inks by Scott Williams, Klaus Janson, Danny Miki
Colors by Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper
Letters by Steve Wands



Since the start of the Rebirth initiative, DC Comics has pretty much stayed away from any major crossover arcs.  There have been teams ups and crossovers here and there (most recently the Lazarus Contract and The Button), but it has mostly been singular story telling.  That ends now with, what looks to be, a huge multiverse crossover with Dark Days: The Forge.  Let's see what this star studded creative team has to offer.

There is a lot of mystery attached to this book, but there are two things that we learn right away.  I won't spoil either one, but to put it plainly, something potential devastating was discovered and Batman is hiding something from everyone.  The book has a very "something is going on here" feel to it, and it brings in a few Justice League characters that we know and love.  There is one in particular that is sent to investigate exactly what Batman has going on, and ends up on quite the adventure of his own.  We do get plenty of Batman in this book, so don't worry about that.  We also get his usual secrecy, but this time, it's more than usual and nobody seems to know why.  Things are certainly eluded to at points, including the origin of the problem, but there are no real giveaways in the story.  One thing I did not expect, was the reveal at the end.  If you want an ending that will make your eyes pop out and really want the next issue, this book does that and then some.

Dark Days is definitely an appropriate title for this book.  Snyder and Tynion IV really make you feel and give you the sense that something is REALLY wrong  and it's danger is of epic proportions.  That's a fairly impressive feat, considering we have no real idea what it is.  There is a flashback side to the story that does give you some background, but certainly not enough to really give away the scope of what is being dealt with.  I do love that it makes one of my favorite characters part of the story, and it makes sense to include him given the timeline of when things started.  Match this up with the stunning work of three of the top artists in the industry, and how could you NOT want to keep reading this book.  I think this is a great start to, what could be, Rebirth's first signature multiverse arc.  Given the amount of individual hits that Rebirth has already had, I have every confidence that this trend will continue.  So ready to dig a little deeper (pun totally intended!) 

 

RATING:  PULL / BUY 

Review - Justice League #22 (2017)

Justice League #22 - 

DC Comics

 

Written by Shea Fontana

Art by Philippe Briones

Colors by Gabe Eltaeb

Letters by Dave Sharpe

 

When I was younger, I loved the Justice League titles for a lot of reasons.  Not only did it bring a lot of my favorite characters together, but in some instances, the book would introduce me to other characters that I may not have seen in other books.  That's how I became a fan of characters like Firestorm and Red Tornado (don't judge me.)  The Rebirth initiative from DC Comics saw a couple of new Green Lanterns join the League.  Even though you SHOULD know them from the Sam Humprhies run on Green Lanterns, this is your chance to really learn a bit more about Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz.  Time to dive into the pages of the first Justice League title from writer, Shea Fontana.

 

The two aforementioned Lanterns have been sent on a mission by the League, which ends up not being as one and done as you think.  What Baz and Jessica did not know is, they had some company on their way back into the Watchtower and it would cause something major that hasn't happened very often at the headquarters of the Justice League.  That brings about a theme in the book, which deals with the confidence of the young Lanterns and how they are perceived by their fellow League members.  It should be no surprise who decides to help them through those issues, but I'll leave that for you to read in the issue.  Another familiar face provides help, and this may be a SPOILER, but I think I actual saw Batman crack a smile at one point.  At the end of the story, you really get that feel-good, old school Justice League comic feeling that I remember from my childhood.

 

What Shea Fontana brought to this book was a solid story, but also a really sense of a team dynamic.  I've had trouble getting into the recent run of Justice League, but this book had such a good vibe about it.  I don't know if it was the team dynamic, some of the small moments between characters or the steady page to page pace of the story.  It just all worked for me, and I was read it, I just felt like this is what a Justice League book is supposed to feel like.  We also get a glimpse of how Fontana handles writing Wonder Woman, which she will do a couple of issues from now.  I was confident in her abilities before, but now I'm looking forward to that book even more.  The art is solid throughout, and the final page of the book really made me smile.  I really hope Justice League can carry this momentum into their next few issues.

 

RATING:  PULL / BUY 

Review - Mighty Mouse #1

Mighty Mouse #1 - 

Dynamite Comics

 

Written by Sholly Fisch

Art by Igor Lima

Colors by Pete Pantazis

Letters by Tom Napolitano

Cover by Alex Ross

 

If you have ever been bullied, chances are, you had something that was an escape for your.  Something that, in a world that was cruel, gave you something to smile about and maybe even some peace.  I know what you're thinking...this is an odd introduction to a review of a comic book about a popular cartoon superhero.  That is exactly where this review starts, in the very unexpected first issue of Mighty Mouse from Dynamite.

 

The main plot of this story actually centers around a boy named Joey Baloney.  Joey is, what a bully would describe, as a "typical nerd."  He gets picked on, but there are plenty of other things that aren't going well in his life.  So he clings to the one thing in his life that never lets him down, Mighty Mouse.  We did get to see the titular hero many times in this book, but in a very different way that I will not spoil here.  At this point, you may STILL be thinking, how is this a Might Mouse comic?  Well, that's where the end of this book comes in.  Again, I will not spoil the actual ending or what transpires, but I will tell you that this very much is a Mighty Mouse story and one we have not seen before.

 

Mighty Mouse was always one of my favorite cartoons growing up.  Most of my experience was in syndication in the 80s, but it allowed me to be able to see a lot of the classic cartoons.  I'll admit, at first I wasn't sure about the direction that this comic was going.  The more and more I read it, the more I started to come around on this story.  I will say, this definitely reads more like a #0 issue to me than a #1 issue.  I know that zero issues can be skipped by some readers, or seem unimportant, but sometimes are necessary as a prelude to the upcoming story.  The story really start in the final few pages, and that's not a bad thing, but I can see diehard Mighty Mouse fans becoming a bit impatient in the early going of this book.  At the same time, the art is amazing throughout, and was one of the reasons that it kept my attention so much.  The colors are very important and well done too, considering one of the aspects of the story that I won't spoil.  Sure this comic wasn't exactly what I expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  I don't know exactly where this is going, but I have seen enough to know that Issue 2 will be quite different from Issue 1.  Unique and different is not a bad thing just because something is from our childhood.  So my excitement level that I had when this title was announced remains, but now, for a different reason.  Let's see where Fisch and company are headed with this one.

 

RATING:  PULL / BUY