Review: Men of War #1

One of the most interesting things about a universe as extraordinary as DC's is what it must be like for ordinary people to live in it. The point of view of regular joe who shares a world with near demigods is a fascinating one, but it's one that's rarely explored. Many a non-powered supporting character joins the world of superheroics sooner or later, and books that feature these characters struggle to find an audience.

The first issue of Men of War looks to explore what the DCU looks like through the eyes of a soldier while remaining a compelling war comic in its own right. Priced at $3.99, the comic actually features two tales. The book's main story, Joseph Rock, follows the grandson of iconic DC character Sgt. Rock, while its presumably rotating back-up feature showcases a group of Navy Seals.

Ivan Brandon's main story has the feel of a classic war movie. It's clearly much more grounded in reality than your standard DC title, but there's a feeling of something epic brewing, and I suspect Brandon already has some big stories planned for these characters. His dialogue is peppered with military slang, with translations in boxes at the bottom of the panel. For some readers, this might be a distraction, but for me, things like this help make a world more immersive. It gives conversations a more natural feel, and I like learning little details as I read about something that's fairly alien to me.

Tom Derenick's work is a strong fit for the title. His backgrounds are stark without lacking detail, and his smooth, sharp lines make the panels in which all hell breaks loose more visually effective. I especially like the muted tones with pops of color utilized by colorist Matt Wilson. Several of the pages are divided up by angular lines, sometimes giving the appearance of shattered glass and always adding a little more movement to the page. Other pages feature a single panel that's much wider than the others, creating a very cool effect that gives the comic a cinematic feel.

The glimpse we get of metahumans is brief, and mostly from a distance. While the second issue cover makes me think they'll be getting up close and personal pretty quickly, I really liked the way it was handled. The focus is never on metahumans themselves, but instead on the soldiers, and how all of this looks to them. I think it's easy to make any character with superpowers front and center the moment you use them in a story, and I'm very grateful Brandon didn't go that route.

I was a little less impressed by the back-up story, Navy Seals, by writer Jonathan Vankin. The characters seemed likable, and the story was fine, but I didn't feel especially excited by or invested in what happened. Similarly, artist Phil Winslade's work is perfectly good, but not all that interesting from an aesthetic standpoint.  Instead, it feels like a very by the numbers war comic. Pairing this with the more unconventional story told in Joseph Rock is probably a wise choice, as it allows the comic to appeal to a broader range of readers. Still, I'm hoping we get a Haunted Tank tale somewhere down the road.

Looking at this week's releases alone, it's clear DC is making a big effort to diversify their offerings, something I find very cool. While this comic probably isn't going to interest people who don't like war stories, it has the potential to attract new and different fans, and to build loyal readers out of the people who are starved for this sort of title. On several occasions, I've been in a comic shop and overheard a customer asking for war comics. There's not a lot out there for them, and I'm thrilled DC is doing something to interest those readers. If you know someone who likes these sort of stories but who doesn't read comics, I'd suggest gifting them this issue. This is the sort of thing that can expand the ever shrinking comic readership, and I think having a wider variety of tastes in the comics fandom can only be a good thing.

There are clear parallels to be drawn between Men of War and GCPD, a comic that focused on Gotham's police department. While I definitely think this is going to appeal to a lot of GCPD fans, I also think it's more of a genre story than that comic was, and people who don't want to read a comic about soldiers shouldn't expect to have their minds changed by this. Readers who are looking for a good military story, however, should be very satisfied, and I think Men of War is only going to get better from here.

By Marceline with 3 comments

Crazy Teenager Reviews… Promo Book?

Hi,

My name is Colin Kelly, I’m a 19-year-old geek from the generation DC is honestly supposed to be targeting with the new 52.

I got started into comics when I was 14, thanks to some of my friends in Pendant Productions, and well, I like DC. All my friends like Marvel (and Batman) but usually think that Superman, Wonder Woman, and etc. are very much lifeless characters, but as countless hours of debating have proven; I like DC.

I’ve read a lot of the graphic novels of DC stories, but the thing that actively got me buying comics, I will admit, was the fact that during Blackest Night, DC added the cool thing of getting a lantern corps ring with certain issues of the event, at which point the Pokémon master in me took over.

But to be honest, the past years’ worth of “comic news” has just been disappointing, so I stopped paying attention to it, as it just sounded like Reality TV; it just seemed about getting ratings instead of telling stories. And I will admit, the new 52 sounds just like “Superman renounces American Citizenship”.

I’m going to give DC the benefit of the doubt. This new start for DC is theoretically supposed to be a second chance, or a first chance for some of those people out there who don’t want to get into comics because they don’t know exactly what is going on.

So, I decided to keep an open mind (it’s the most valuable tool anyone can have) on DC’s new lineup, and I am only going to read what DC puts out. Not the internet speculation/trolling/ranting/outrage/excitement stuff, but the primary sources. A lot of what I have heard from secondary sources really doesn’t get me going, so I am most certainly going to cut it out of my interaction.

I’m just going to try to give, as a young adult with some comic knowledge, my thoughts on what’s going on. I’m going to go through at least the new 52, but I’ll try to keep up with the series that actually grab my attention. I’ll fully admit to being not entirely omniscient, nor political correct, and I’d rather pay attention to

Keeping with my primary source material focus, let’s start with the DC new 52 promo book!

To be honest, the promo book for the new 52 is rather eye-catching… maybe it’s the Supes in jeans and the suit holding up a car, which I’m sure is completely homage to the first Superman Cover. Sure there’s the mandatory random, out-of-context, and one-word, “Praise” by everyone’s go-to reviewers, USA Today, and the NY times. Oh, and the attractive price of FREE, which it should be, being a promo.

The Sneak peak of JLA #1 is decent, featuring a flashback to five years beforehand, when the most developed character in the DCU, Batman, met the recent developing spotlight, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, someone who I had to inform many people about, because the fact that Green Lantern wasn’t black in the recent film had them up in arms.

I will point out how there is no mention so far of the WWII era-esque Justice Society of America. That makes me a little sad, as I liked having the (joking) old farts club around, and their constant mentoring of the new generation. I know this also changes Barry Allen’s choice of calling himself the Flash different, as Barry took the name of the Flash as an homage to Jay Garrick, the original WWII flash.

But this is a new world, which never knew the superhero… until now.

The rest of the book is pretty much standard. There’s art (cover at minimum, sometimes more), a quick premise of the series, identification of who’s behind it, and usually a quote from someone related to the project with what they’re planning on accomplishing.

Rather nice. I could sit here and waste your time by giving you my blow for blow expectations, but I’m going to just give you the 5 Yays, and 5 Cringes:

5 Cringes

5. The Savage Hawkman

Just real nitpicks here, but this has me wondering things like: Savage? And more importantly, where’s Hawkgirl?

The promo text sounds… well, Stargate. Specialist in Lost Languages meets alien Tech? Discovery has really bad repercussions? Guy must step up to save humanity? I honestly want to see how going Hawkman will save the city from a plague, because I’m sure donning armor helped against the Black Death. We’ll see how it’s resolved.


4. I, Vampire

I will get this out first and foremost, I am not a huge fan of Twilight, though I read the books so I could talk about them. I have seen all of Buffy and Angel. I love Dracula and Interview with a Vampire, and seen the movies for those. I’ll get to TrueBlood eventually, I’m sure.

I’m just wondering why this random character has their own series. I know Vampire Protagonist is a time honored way of getting people interested, but so is performing Macbeth. Pushing the limits of what it means to be a Vampire is a nice idea, but truce with ex-girlfriend breaking and now humanity is in danger doesn’t grab me. Once again, we’ll see how it goes.


3. Wonder Woman

Dear Gods, does Wonder Woman have the most incredibly complicated continuity of the DC universe. Mostly because her supporting cast changes, as well as her purpose, everytime a new writer takes over.

See, Superman has a supporting cast, you expect to see Lois, Jimmy, and Perry. Batman, at least Alfred shows up, if not a couple sidekicks. They’ve been defined and people expect that. Not really so with Wonder Woman…

It doesn’t help that the cover art portrays Wondy in a complete contrast to the JLA cover. JLA cover has her in her “modern uniform” (with pants and really large boobs), but the Wondy cover has Classic Wondy. JLA, she’s hopeful, noble, and armed with a Lasso. Wondy cover has her… as a belligerent savage in mid-yell with a bloodstained sword.

I mean, talk about complicated continuity, we can’t even get the two covers to show the same Wonder Woman! In a reboot! Shouldn’t Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman be the same as Wonder Woman in the JLA?

Am I being completely ridiculous here?


2. Deathstroke

Alright, I know we want to make our characters “Dark, Angsty, Gritty and Badass” DC; it’s fairly obvious. And I get that, like Sex, Badassary sells.

But what’s with the Deathstroke reimagining! He already was powerful enough to take down Green Arrow, the Atom, the Flash, Zatanna, Hawkman, and Black Canary in Identity crisis. If you watched the Teen Titans animation, you know how incredibly, awesomely terrifying Deathstroke was in it.

Why is he Kratos all of a sudden? He can use a Katana to deflect bullets, he doesn’t need the baseball sword. He’s an assassin, not a psychopath!

Which is more Badass, the Animal? Or the Chessmaster?


1. The Entire Superman line-up

Okay, another thing I need to get out in the Open at once as well. I love Superman. To use a quote from Bibbo Bibowaski, “he’s my favorite.” He’s enough of my favorite that I know who Bibbo is.

I love Superman stories… when they’re written well.

Superman’s got the similar problem as Wonder Woman, in that over the years he’s had a lot of people define him. And in the past… 14? 15 years? We’ve seen at least 6 different origin stories for Superman.

Not gonna lie, not a big fan of a lot of the reimagining’s for his character either. Most seem to ignore the importance of Ma and Pa Kent, or make him angry instead of altruistic, or run with the idea that because he’s from another world, he’s automatically different.

Small side note: in pre-reboot continuity, the White Martians messed with Human Genetics, creating the Metagene, and that’s why there’s superheroes. If they hadn’t, by the time our sun went red, we’d have the same Physiology as the Kryptonians or the Daxamites.

So Supergirl doesn’t have trouble relating to humanity, because she’s an alien. She has trouble relating because she’s a foreigner, and (if we assume the delayed rocketship theory) she remembers and entire civilization of people from her friends to her family, who no longer exist.

And I’m really sure we could have found a better secret organization than Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. to clone Superboy by accident. There’s this thing called Project Cadmus…


5 Yays!

5. Justice League International

Not gonna lie, excited to see how this is, as this is the Justice league back when Superman Died (ish… Batman and Rocket Red weren’t actively on the roster, I don’t think) and to be honest, they’re not really that prominent figures, but I think as a group they become important and I honestly can’t wait to see what they accomplish.

The only reason they beat out the JLA, is mostly the fact, that All of the JLA have their own books. These guys don’t. (except for Batman, who is punching one hell of a timeclock with six series featuring him)

4. Green Lantern

Already mentioned that Green Lantern is what got me into comics actively (BTW Blue Lanterns FTW) but I love the idea of Green Lantern… SINESTRO!

It makes me wonder if we’re going to get Sinestro’sMcbethean fall from the Corps. But that’s speculation. I do have to say that outside of recent years, Sinestro has always been portrayed as a card-carrying villain (it’s gotta be the mustache) in the cartoons, like Superman the Animated Series or Superfriends. I’ve always loved seeing him not be all about getting a green Lantern ring from whomever is lantern at the time. You’d think that’s all he ever does or something.


3. Men of War/Blackhawks

Kinda looping these together, but I have to say I’m interested in the DC’s A-team/GI JOE. (Ex-military Men turned contractors, and an Elite Force of Military Specialists equipped with the latest in cutting edge hardware and vehicles. C’mon, knowing is half the battle!)

It’ll be great to see how some normal people (as in non-bat, non-meta… hopefully) deal with supervillians. I’m sure they’re going to have to take care of the Joker at one point… and I’m sure KratosDeathstroke the Terminator will show up.

To be honest, Blackhawks has me more interested in who they’re fighting. I always believe that you know the most about the superhero, by looking at their Arch nemesis, and their Antithesis. So, understand Superman better by looking at LexLuthor and General Zod for example.


2. The Swamp Thing

Gotta Say, I loved Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing. And what I love about this is that the art seems to pay homage to that, and if it’s anything like that run, I’m in.


1. Batgirl

Alright, in the middle of the whole “We’re gritty, Badass and Angsty. We’re here to rebel against authority, and kick ass, take names.” Art, there is this one picture that has me going “I’m sold.”

It’s a woman… in a Batgirl costume, Grappling along… and smiling.

Sorry, but as all the rest of the covers prove, everyone is about the badass looks. Not Barbara Gordon. Sure, it takes getting her out of Oracle and the Killing Joke never happened. But that smile on Bab’s face… it’s phenomenal. I have to give props, because it touches upon something.

I’m expecting a lot of the Angsty “I never wanted to be a hero” whining cropping up. Not Babs, not with that smile. This is what she does for FUN. She’s not a Superhero because of some twist of Fate; she chose to be it. She is the only person pictured, in the entire promo, with a smile.

So, I’m sold; I don’t care if it’s controversial, or if there’s probably a plan somewhere to re-enact the Killing Joke, I’m in.

Well… those are my thoughts. Take ‘em, leave ‘em. Decide for yourself if I’ve got any valid points.

Just make sure to keep an open mind.

By Colin Kelly with 5 comments

The 10 Best Covers of the DCnU (So Far)

We may not have any comics to review just yet, but we've got covers. Three months worth of covers. Some of them are not so great, but some of them are awesome, and they're the ones I'm here to talk about today.

First up, an honorable mention, because my favorite cover of the DCnU is not actually a cover.

For whatever reason, DC decided not to use Rags Morales' update of the classic Action Comics #1 cover for the series' second first issue. In spite of that, it's become a symbol of the reboot, and I really hope it's released as a variant. This image will someday hang on my bedroom wall. Now, onto the list!

10. Batman #3, by Greg Capullo 

I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the first two solicited Batman covers. Greg Capullo's a talented artist, to be sure, but the covers didn't seem to fit Snyder's style and made me miss the beautiful covers that Jock had created for Snyder's run on Detective Comics. Seeing this cover, however, put all my fears to rest. It's eyecatching and manages to showcase an action-packed pose while still remaining pretty minimalistic. When I look from Batman cover to Batman cover, I can see Capullo's Batman been drawn deeper and deeper into a strange and different world, and I really like the idea in that. This is a Batman comic and shouldn't have any trouble drawing in new readers, but a great cover like this shouldn't hurt.






9. Red Hood and the Outlaws #1, by Kenneth Rocafort

I'm a huge fan of Rocafort's art, and I've really enjoyed all the covers we've seen from him so far, even the fanservice laden cover for issue number 2. What really pushed this one to the top for me was how well it sold the overall feel of the book. Anyone looking at this cover and the book's title should be able to get a general feel for what this comic is supposed to be. That's something that any number one issue should be trying to pull off, and I hope it garners this series some readers. I also really like the use of color and the way it showcases Rocafort's sketchy style. The cover for issue number 3 of the series, which showcases the main cast fighting their past selves against a surreal backdrop, was a very close second.






8. Deathstroke #3, by Simon Bisley

I'm not a huge fan of Deathstroke's redesign, or even Deathstroke himself, but Simon Bisley has been killing it on these covers. They're all great, but the bright colors and the awesome, dynamic pose on this one pushes it to the head of the pack. It's the sort of cover I can easily see drawing in a new reader and getting them to give the book a chance. Going by the solicits, this seems like it might even be the start of a new storyline, making this cover even more perfectly placed. Sadly, Bisley's not doing Deathstroke's interiors, but the preview pages from Joe Bennett and Art Thibert look solid, and shouldn't disappoint those who do pick up this comic on the cover alone. I'm not very familiar with the book's writer, Kyle Higgins, but here's hoping he can sell me on Deathstroke as much as this cover is.






7. Batwoman #2, by JH Williams III

Batwoman's spent most of her superhero career being drawn by JH Williams III, which means almost every piece of art associated with her is stunning. Making a Batwoman cover that stands out among many so other beautiful Batwoman covers is a feat in itself, and it's one this cover pulls off flawlessly. A lot of her Detective Comics covers used this same split effect, and it's always effective. I especially love the bleeding colors of the bat symbol and the little details of the fish swimming around the skeleton. The water motif also fits perfectly with the preview pages I've seen, which involve a waterlogged ghost known "The Weeping Woman". Because Batwoman was held back for the relaunch, I actually saw this cover for the first time more than half a year ago. It's still just as stunning, and I can't wait to see it in person.






6. The Shade #1, by Tony Harris

James Robinson's The Shade mini was one of the biggest surprises of the relaunch, or at least it was for me. The announcement of series beyond the original 52 was a bit of a game changer, and the incredibly line-up of artists this boasted (Cully Hamner, Darwyn Cooke, and Frazer Irving, just to name a few) didn't hurt. This issue will come out in October, and I can't imagine a more perfect cover for the month of Halloween. This cover is simple enough at first glance, but there's so much detail that I keep coming back to look at it over again. Sometimes I see a great cover solicited and then wince a little, knowing that some of the detail that makes it great will be obscured once the logo is added, but this seems specifically designed to counteract that. Here's hoping that the finished product remains every bit as wonderful to look at. I'm really looking forward at seeing this series' future covers.





5. Wonder Woman #3, by Cliff Chiang 

I'm a huge fan of Cliff Chiang's art, but I hadn't really been sold by the covers that preceded this one. They looked great, in spite of the pants/no pants shenanigans, but nothing was sucking me in and telling me that this was a comic I wanted to read until this cover. It perfectly backs up Azzarello's claims that his Wonder Woman will be a "horror comic", and it's just a stunning image all on its own. I'm not a fan of the Wonder Woman logo, and it's a shame that the visual impact of this cover will be dampened a little bit by having that atop it. Still, I think that this is a strong enough cover to overcome a tacky looking logo, and I hope it gets some readers to give Wonder Woman a chance. If nothing else, a cover in which Wonder Woman's costume isn't up for discussion is a welcome break.






4. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3, by J.G. Jones

I love Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, think Lemire's Flashpoint Frankenstein tie-in is pretty great, and was generally looking forward to reading this. Seeing this cover, however, pushed this series from "should be awesome" to "OH MY GOD I MUST READ THIS NOW" in my mind. It sells Frankenstein as the DC universe's answer to Hellboy and B.R.P.D., and it sells it pretty darn well. J.G. Jones has been doing a lot of great covers for the DC relaunch, but I think this is his best work hands down. There's just so much going on in this cover without it feeling cluttered or over the top, and I think the blue is really going to look nice when the issue's on comic shop shelves. Thanks to Sweet Tooth and his run on Superboy, Lemire's mostly proven himself to me, and I have faith he can live up to all the awesomeness that this cover promises.




3. Animal Man #1, by Travel Foreman

For whatever reason, covers that are predominately yellow are considered to be a poor choice in the publishing business. Marketing research says that they tend to sell poorly when compared to covers of other colors, and as thus, you don't see a lot of bright yellow in comic book covers. Maybe it's because of that that a cover with as much yellow as this one has pops so much. The insane detail levels of Travel Foreman's art don't hurt. I really like how much about Animal Man you can get just by looking at the cover. You get The Red and his connection to it. You get a feeling for his powers, and you get the feeling that this book is maybe a little creepy and not your standard superhero book. The only thing it's really missing is his family. I hope this cover defies the commonly accepted wisdom about yellow covers and sells a lot of readers on Animal Man, because I really think they're in for a treat if they give it a chance.




2. The Flash #3, by Francis Manapul

Francis Manapul's beautiful Flash interiors had me completely sold on this comic from the moment I saw them, but I was disappointed that his covers weren't really showing off what he could do. Then this was solicited. This actually isn't the issue's final cover, but it's so striking and seems so destined to become an iconic Flash image that I couldn't help but put it on this list. Not only does it completely sell the concept of a speed-powered superhero to new readers, but it showcases everything wonderful about Manapul's art. Even the use of negative space on this cover is perfect, and I really hope it doesn't go through too many changes before it hits stands. This issue is actually going to feature two different variant covers, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy them when the real deal looks this good.






1. Men of War #2, by Viktor Kalvachev

I frequently struggle with the top rankings of lists like these, but this was effortless. For me, this is hands down the best cover of the new 52. With one image, Men of War went from being "Call of Duty: The Comic" to being a modern day version of The Odyssey. Taken by itself, this cover is absolutely gorgeous, but in context, it's a complete game changer. Military versus metahumans is the kind of concept I've been wanting to see in comics for a long time, and this cover put Men of War on the map for me. Viktor Kalvachev's work here is the reason this is one of my most anticipated comics. I can easily see this image catching the eye of someone who'd never even consider reading DC or Marvel normally, and that's incredibly exciting to me. All of Men of War's covers have been wonderful, but this one is truly something special.

By Marceline with 2 comments