Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 48

Book Review: Teen Titans, Volume 1: Damian Knows Best

Teen Titans, Volume 1: Damian Knows Best by Benjamin Percy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Teen Titans Rebirth and the first five issues of the new version of Teen Titans with Damian Wayne leading a team that includes Starfire, Raven, Kid Flash (New 52 Wally West), and Beast Boy.

To be honest, I began reading this book with trepidation because I’ve never really cared for the Damian Wayne character. He always seems like a bit of a jerk in the stories I’ve seen him with his actions in the Teen Titans: Rebirth issue being representative as he kidnaps eac h proposed member of the Titans in order to recruit them into the team. That’s a heck of a way to get started, but the fact is the Titans may have little choice but to join together as a highly trained team of young wannabe members of the League of Assassin want to earn their membership by killing each member of the Teen Titans.

The threat is credible and the the Teen Titans are well matched up to create a good challenge. The art is solid, but it’s mostly the character arc that makes Damian is relatable without betraying who the character is. He may be tough and arrogant, but he’s also lonely and socially awkward. I found myself sympathizing and connecting with this character in a way I hadn’t before. The way he proves himself to the team and gives it a sense of identity after the awkward start is what make the book a worthwhile read.




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Book Review: Trinity, Volume 1: Better Together

Trinity, Volume 1: Better Together by Francis Manapul

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the first six issues of the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman series, "Trinity." It begins with Lois deciding to invite Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince over for a barbecue and it ends up with them in costume and on journey through their own pasts. What's going on and who's behind it?

Writer/artist Francis Manapul sets out to make a team of this trio and to do that, the story focuses on letting them see each other at their most vulnerable moments, while at the same time keeping alive the mystery of what's going on. The art is incredible. It's far more beautiful and well done than the vast majority of comic book art being done today.

The challenge of the book is that it's working through some well-worn territory. The origins and backstories of these heroes are so well-worn and have been revisited so many times that it can feel like old hat to go back to that well. But, I think that the book shows that part of the reason why we revisit them so often is that these stories have emotional connections with readers and Manopoul pulls those connections out.

Batman in this book is a bit one dimensional compared to how he's appeared in other Rebirth books. He's constantly there to be the skeptic and discount other people's emotions. It’s easy to pigeonhole that way in an attempt to balance the other two, but it’s really not consistent with his character in other books.

The other issue is that the story of this new Superman is being told over so many books that it can be hard to keep track. If you read the Superman trades, Bruce's comments on Clark's son Jon's inability to control his powers seem weird as this was addressed in the second Superman trade. Trinity is a monthly series while Superman and Batman are among those that publish twice a month, so the trades are a bit out of sync. Even still, it does seem like much of the Superman embracing this world's heroes storyline has been covered in Superman, Action Comics, Justice League, and now Trinity. (And those are just the ones I've read.)

Still, the book manages to take familiar stories and create a compelling emotional narrative to draw our heroes together and features some of the best art work I've seen in any trade I've seen released this year.

***Disclosure: I Received a free digital copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review***




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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Volume 4 - The School of Death

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Volume 4 - The School of Death by Robbie Morrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 2.1-2.5 of Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor.

The titular, "School of Death" storyline finds Clara investigating the disappearance of a friend who was a teacher at an exclusive English school. It's a story that involves a lot of Doctor Who tropes around evil schools which are really part of a front by a monster (in this case an old enemy of the Doctor.) It also has a 4-part Invasion of Earth story involving UNIT in the tale after another 4-part invasion of Earth story ended the previous volume. Still, it's not bad. The Doctor has some great lines and the art is superb, so even though it's not original I enjoyed it.

Issue 2.5 is a one-shot that finds the Doctor trapped in a comic book along with a lot of comic book readers. It's a fun story filled with a lot of in-jokes and comic looking cheerleading. The book is fun and a type of story I appreciate. It also includes a back up story featuring Osgood in the TARDIS. The story is somewhat pointless and easily resolved but I give credit for having Osgood in the TARDIS.

While this isn't great or very original, this book executes fairly well and is a fun read.



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Book Review: Flash Gordon, Kings Cross

Flash Gordon: Kings Cross by Jeff Parker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Dynamite's crossover event King's Cross which brings together Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, two version of the Phantom, and eventually Jungle Jim, and Prince Valiant join together to thwart Ming the Merciless' attempt to invade Earth.

The first four issues of this story are okay. It felt a bit overwhelming and busy at times but Jeff Parker is a good writer and does a good job of keeping a sense of fun throughout the adventure. The climatic issue was epic with its humor, action, and stakes.

Overall, if you enjoyed Parker's run on Flash Gordon or his work on Batman '66, or you're a fan of the classic King characters, this an action-packed thrill ride you'll enjoy. It is the third of these crossovers and there's some continuity, but most of that is pretty well explained in the story.

Disclosure: I received a free digital copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.



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Book Review: Wonder Woman Archives, Volume 5

Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 5 by William Moulton Marston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Wonder Woman stories from September 1944 to Spring of 1945 in Wonder Woman and Sensation Comics as the war was ending.

Mostly, the stories are still pretty good, although there's some repetitiveness and formula worked in.

The good stuff is mostly in Wonder Woman #10 and #11. The first of which focuses on the Saturn Men's attempt to invade Earth and then the second focuses on a plot against a newly formed peace with the Saturn. They're focused and solid stories. Also of note is Sensation Comics #35 which has her helping out a poor little boy who's unfairly being labeled as slow as well as being bullied. It's a sweet story that shows Wonder Woman at her kindness.

The other Sensation Comics tales tended to have more problems. There was repetition. Both Sensation Comics #33 and #40 featured multiple Wonder Women at a costume party. In addition, a story where Wonder Woman plays Santa Claus is derailed by her facing off against a garden variety thug who happens to be the father of two kids. Sensation Comics #36 is advertised as a battle with six former foes and turns out to be far less than advertised. These comics aren't necessarily bad but they're below the quality of previous books.

Issue 12 of Wonder Woman is the issue that capture Wonder Woman at its weirdest as she discovers a new league determined to start a new third World War and so Wonder Woman makes them prisoners of the Venusians who keep them in line with golden nets and girdles.

Overall, this book is still solid golden age work, but at this point, William Moulton Marston was leaning heavily on some go to tropes so there's a lot more of a repetitive nature. Overall though, these are still enjoyable and there are some very good stories still mixed in.



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Book Review: Spider-Women

Spider-Women by Robbie Thompson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Spider-women is a crossover between Spider-woman, Silk, and Spider-Gwen. It begins with Jessica Drew (aka Spider-woman) travelling with Cindy Moon (Silk) to Spider-Gwen's Earth 65 for brunch when there's a monster attack which serves as a distraction for stealing Gwen's Inter dimensional travel watch, thus stranding Cindy and Jessica on Earth 65, this particularly hard on Jessica as it puts her a universe away from her baby.

What follows is a story filled with action, evil other dimensional dopplegangers, not so evil dimensional dopplegangers, powers lost, and all sorts of amazing revelations. Mostly though, it's a marketing attempt to get readers of one Spider book interested in all the other ones.

Overall, it's fun. The book showcases each character's strengths. The book collects two issues of each character's book and also Spider-women Alpha and Omega as the beginning and end of the series. There are one or two weaker issues. The first Spider-Gwen issue was the one that stands out to me. It's not a classic, but it's for what it is.



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Book Review: "Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps, Volume 2: Bottled Light

Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps, Volume 2: Bottled Light by Robert Venditti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After the epic events of the first Green Lanterns Rebirth story arc, Sinestro's Law, the Green Lanterns have returned to Space Sector Zero thanks to the efforts of Hal Jordan. What happened to Hal Jordan and what will happen to what remains of the Sinestro Corps.

The book has two big plots that move together. Sinestro's daughter (and former Green Lantern) Soranik wants the Sinestro Corps to have a role in maintaining order. Her team were Yellow Lanterns who brought order to the galaxy after the Green Lanterns Corps disappeared but wanted no part in Sinestro's insane fear engine plan. Solanik's role in this fascinating. When John Stewart asks her why she's trying to clean up Sinestro's mess, she response, "Because he was my father." When Stewart suggests she just accept he was a psychopathic dictator, she responds, "He was my father." She's a fascinating character throughout this entire storyline.

This plot does really come to a head when the two corps run into Brainiac and an Orange Lantern and have to make a decision about the future. It's an interesting book and it challenges a long-held idea. Do the Yellow and Green Lanterns have to be at war or was Sinestro really th'e main reason for it? It's fascinating idea to explore. Though they have to work much of this out in battle as they face off against Brainiac and Agent Orange.

The other big plot idea is what happened to Hal Jordan. Without giving too much away, this is actually dealt with in a classic comic book way that manages to pay tribute to Green Lantern history with a trip to a Green Lantern afterlife and the return of an old friend.

The five part Bottled Light story is just a delight to read. It weaves in some good character moments with a great galaxy spanning comic book space opera.

This trade wraps up with the one shot story, "Heroes," which is set sixty years in the future and has a Xudarian telling a story of the Green Lanterns to kids. There are a few previews of coming attractions (including a hint on how the Sinestro Corps thing might work out but I didn't enjoy this as much as the rest of the book. In a book like this, I'd rather have a one shot focus on one of the characters in the book. Still, the art's nice. The issue's not bad. It's just not as good as the rest of the book.

Overall, this is just as strong as the first book. It manages to capture the epic nature of what the Green Lantern history while having some solid character moments as well. The art remains solid from start to finish. Highly recommended.

****I received a free digital copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review."***



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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol. 4

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol. 4 (Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor by Simon Spurrier

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Eleventh Doctor and Alice are taken prisoner and the Eleventh Doctor is about to be executed after having been convicted in absentia for crimes he allegedly committed while the War Doctor. Soon, he's on the run and looking for the truth and he and Alice are joined by the others. There's the Squire who claims to have been a companion during the Time War, and then there's Absalom Daak, a violent anti-hero so tough that Doctor Who Magazine couldn't hold him.

The book features some really fine characterization of the Eleventh Doctor, capturing his voice and tone perfectly. There's clearly an emotional journey going on for the Doctor and Alice is a great grounding for the reader. The story is a fine mystery and keeps thrwing one mind-blowing blot twist at you after another. This was a story that had me fully and completely engaged. The guest characters are both fun with Daak being unpredictable and the Squire being part of the mystery. The titular monster for the book is awesome but is almost blown away by everything else featured in this book.

If that's not enough, as a break from all the intense action each issue has a cute 1-2 page light comic short featuring the Doctor, Amy, and Rory.

Overall, this is just delightful and one of Titan's absolute best Doctor Who releases.



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Book Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Vol. 2 by Jim Shooter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the original Guardians of the Galaxy in the Bronze Age with guest appearances in Thor Annual #6, Avengers #167-168, 170-177, and #181. Ms. Marvel #23, Marvel Team-Up #86, and Marvel Two-in-One #61-63 and #69.

The book is hard to view as some must-read for fans of the Guardians because for most of the book, particularly the Avengers issues, they were purely guest stars. The Avengers issues are the Korvac Saga and it's a fairly good classic Avengers story. It also has a sub-plot with the government becoming concerned with the Avengers lack of security leading to revocation of their special Avenger privileges including flying the Quinjet which leads them to have to take the bus to the final confrontation. While this was funny, it also set up much of the problems that costumed characters would have with the government in more modern Marvel stories like Civil War.

The books after the Avengers have more to do with the Guardians themselves. Marvel Team Up #86 has to do with their preparations to leave Earth, and Marvel Two-in-One #69 features some key events in Vance Astro's storyline. The previous Marvel Two-in-One Three issue series had Starhawk teaming up with the Thing in an Adam Warlock tale. What the book shows is that Marvel in the 1970s didn't really throw away storylines. If a book was cancelled or a set of characters didn't prove popular, they'd be carried on in another book and Marvel Two-In-One and Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-man where popular places to do it.

Overall, the book is worth reading as a sampler pack of Bronze Age comics. They're good and give you a feel for the era as well as a few stories with the original Guardian team in them or at least certain members.



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Book Review: Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 2: The Victim Syndicate

Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 2: The Victim Syndicate by James Tynion IV

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Detective Comics Issues 943-949.

The first five issues collect the Victim Syndicate storyline which begins with tension on the team over recent events including the apparent death of Red Robin, the battle with the Monster Men, and Kathy Kane's dad being locked up. Bruce is showing emotional distance and then the Victim syndicate emerges: There a group of people who have been caught in the crtossfire between Batman and his enemies or who Batman failed to save and they blame Batman for it and want him to unmask and retire. Until the Victim Syndicate gets what they want, they're going to target those they think are harboring Batman.

This story is very good. The key idea at the center of the story is whether Batman does more harm than good which is actually something people debate in real life. Both sides are treated fairly, but it's not just an academic debate. The story hits home for Batman, Batwoman, Clayface, and particularly Spoiler who begins to think they might have a point. She and Batman get into a conflict in the final issue that really takes a few surprising turns although the story does seem a little bit similar to other tales where Batman's assistants get cheesed off at him. This comes off pretty fresh.

Next up is Batwoman begins which has a member of the group the Colony invade the Belfry to break Kathy's dad out. The story teases quite a bit and sets up Batwoman's new series. It's not a bad story in itself. The lack of resolution has been off-putting to some readers but this sort of thing happened in early comic stories. It's not perfect, but it's decent.

Overall, taken with the great lead story, this is another solid detective comics collection.



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