Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 71

Book Review: Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Kingdom Come is legendary in the history of comics. It tells the story of a world overrun by a new darker breed of metahumans who don't hesitate to kill and have put down most of the world's great supervillains but have become the new oppressors of mankind while Superman and the old line Superheroes have withdrawn.

The old Sandman, Wesley Dodd dies babbling incoherently about the book of Revelation and his pastor Norman McCay begins to have the visions and is then brought on board by the Spectre to witness the state of the world, and the horrific events to come beginning with an Atomic explosion that obliterates Kansas and brings Superman back out of retirement and the old heroes determined to restore moral order to the wild metahuman population through example and if necessary by force.

As good a writer as Mark Waid is, the art is the hightlight of the book. Artist Alex Ross painted art is absolutely gorgeous with great details, rich colors, and the use of evocative imagery that speaks as loudly as any of Waid's well-written words. A couple examples are his rendering of Captain Marvel, brainwashed by Lex Luthor and made into Luthor's pawn. Ross makes Marvel look menacing at times, and at others shows the tragic fate of the great man/boy suberverted by Luthor. Superman's reactions to the events in Issue 4 or the end page of Issue 1 are powerful bold renderings. Comic has never looked this good. Ever.

Waid's writing is top notch, using apocalyptic imagery from the book of the Revelation, and creating complex emotions and situations for our characters. The book is in many ways a critque of the rise of anti-heroes and addresses big issues while also bringing together an awesome amount of heroes, and including some great plot twists.

The big negative of Kingdom Come is that it's too self-aware. Waid intended this to be a serious story and it's as serious as a heart attack even though it involves a lot of iconic running around in primary colored costumed suits. There's little time for laughter or old fashioned excitement or the joy that people derive from these heroes.

The story is good most of the time but has moments where it seems more than a bit pretentious. The book while trying to bring heroes down to Earth and make the point of importance working together ends with a development that makes the DC heroes seem more godlike as they talk about the coming of most important child in the world.

This is in the 8-pages of text filled pictures which the book would have been better without. It's the biggest single flaw with the book as Waid and Ross didn't know when the book is finished and we get an epilogue meant to answer all questions in a way that help but come off as stiff.

To be clear, this is a flaw in a great comic book, that's a must-read for any fan of graphic novels and Superhero fiction despite its few issue.




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Book Review: The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told

The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by John Broome

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Composing a Greatest Stories Ever Told book for the Flash is hard. because the Flash isn't a single hero like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. Rather, three different heroes have been known for a decade or more as the Flash: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West (who also was Kid Flash fighting alongside Barry Allen during the Silver and Bronze Age.) This is also the second attempt from DC which did a similar book in the 1980s.

The book begins with two Golden Age stories featuring Jay Garrick's Golden Age Flash, "Stone Age Menace," a fine Mystery Sci-Fi elements, and the last golden age Flash story, "The Rival Flash" which ended the series in style and also could be seen as a precursor to the villainous Reverse Flash.

Then, we have the Silver Age Era which gives us the oft-reprinted, "Flash of Two Worlds" which founded the DC multiverse, "The Gauntlet of Super Villains" features the first team up of Flash's very colorful rogues gallery. There's the wedding of Barry Allen and the Reverse Flash's attempt to foil it in, "One Bridegroom Too Many." In there, we also learn that Barry Allen got married to Iris during the Silver Age and not revealing he was the Flash for fear Iris wouldn't marry him, because it's a good idea to have a marriage based on lies.

Also featured is "The Flash-Fact or Fiction" which has the Flash travelling to our universe in an accident caused by fighting a strange alien. A lot of fun, particularly when the Flash comes to DC comics Editor Julian Schwartz to get a treadmill built.

Then the book reprints a 63 page story from 1978 from DC Special Series #11. The series features the apparent Death of Gorilla Grodd and is split into four parts one each with Garrick, Alan, and Wally West, and then one where you get three flashes together. It's a solid story and really a fitting rarely reprinted item to go in this book.

The book wraps up with a post-Crisis story with Wally West as the Flash called, "Out of Time." Unlike the 1980s edition which just seemed to pick a random Wally West story, this one is an important one. It shows the character's persistent fear of not being able to be everywhere at once. It also gives us more clues as to how the Speed Force actually works in a way that would begin to redefine the Speed Force.

Overall, I not only enjoyed this book, l liked it better than the 1980s version which is a rare thing to say about the 21st century run of Greatest stories book. It's true that we don't have as much introductory material, but given the straightforward stories, Mark Waid's introduction is more than adequate. The stories are simply better and this book includes some of the very best Flash stories, so I heartily recommend it.



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Comixology's Massive Flash Digital Comic Sale

I'm a big fan of the Flash and will be doing a review of The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told tonight. If you want to check out some great Flash stories, Comixology has a truly massive Flash Sale going on with more than 500 digital comic books on sale including Golden Age Flash, Silver Age Flash, and Bronze Age Flash, and the post-Crisis Wally West Flash, as well as JLA Year One, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Bronze Age crossover books with Superman and Batman. It also includes the current Flash series up through about Issue 37. It's an incredible sale for fans of the fastest man alive.

Book Review: The Marvel/DC Collection: Crossover Classics, Volume 3

The Marvel/DC Collection - Crossover Classics, Vol. 3 by Scott Lobdell

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book collects seven inter-company crossovers:

1) Incredible Hulk v. Superman: This is the best story in the book, though its far from perfect. The story begins with a married Lois and Superman talking and goes back to the 1960s and an encounter between Superman and the Hulk as well as Clark Kent and David Banner. The story is a great classic potboiler that gets Thuderbolt Ross and a red haired Lex Luthor involved. There's less Hulk smashing Superman and vice versa, but that should be expected with legendary comic scribe Roger Stern at the helm as we get a far more character based story. The art by Steve Rude is gorgeous which makes it stand out from almost everything else in this book. There's shades of Dave Stephens in the art, which only has one unfortunate drawback which is Lois putting on a skimpy outfit for one scene for seemingly no other reason than to elicit information from Rick Jones. The framing scenes were nothing special either, but still this is a good story. Grade: B+

Daredevil and Batman: These were a natural duo to pair up. Both dark characters and both redefined by Frank Miller in the 1980s. I wonder if this story would have been better if Miller wrote it. Both writer and artist try to ape Frank Miller and the results are awful. The plot becomes a bunch of ego roller derby. The art is garish with the villains Two Face (and for some reason) Mister Hyde looking awful. Grade: D+

Spider-man and Batman: This was a good concept involving Batman and Spider-man being drawn together through a plot that involved two of their most deadly rogues, the Joker and Carnage and a plot to essentially lobotomize these mad killers society refused to execute. There was some great concepts involved particularly the idea of Spider-man and Batman both being orphans, and the similarities and contrasts between Carnage and the Joker as mad killers. The story has a lot of good concepts. What hurts is the length. Even a double length comic wasn't enough to do it justice. This would have worked far better as a 2-4 issue miniseries. As is, I'll give it a grade of C+.

Spider-man and Gen 13: I have to admit to knowing nothing coming into reading this other than that they were published by Wildstorm, an imprint of Image comics. I still don't know much. They're supposed to be a superhero team, although there overall dynamics seemed similar to MTV's The Real World. Beyond that, the comic doesn't do much. They face a villain whose in the middle of a child custody dispute which gets thrown in because but it's really hard to follow the plot. There are some very nice jokes and cute moments particularly when one of them quoted the theme to the 1960s Spider-man TV show. The art is second best in the book, so overall I'll give it a grade of C-.

The last two comics are Gen X/Gen 13 Team X/Team 7 and I also have to confess ignorance of these three other teams. If you enjoyed these titles when they first published, you may get more out of these stories. However, this is where production value comes in and the fact that Marvel and DC really put no work into the presentation of this book, simply slamming the stories and covers in with no introduction compared to the first Crossover Classic that had detailed information...on stories featuring Spider-man and Superman. Also, the inclusion of these one off Wildstorm stories is weird and doesn't really fit. Someone looking for Wildstorm crossovers with Marvel is hardly going to want to read a retro 1960s Superman/Hulk story but they're jammed in anyway.

What little I can get out of the stories: the Gen X and Gen 13 features an evil mad scientist plot luring our two teams of young superheroes to a beach. It's really lame. I'd give it a D-. The Team 7 and Team X story is a little bit more of an interesting black ops story with ill-defined objectives. Still, I'd give that one a D.

It's problematic to have two large team meetings in a story with 40 pages. And what is perhaps the most damning thing in both stories, the teams are so similar it really is hard to keep straight whose on what team which doesn't speak for the originality of the teams.

At any rate, there's one good story, one decent concept undone by page limitations and five other stories ranging from subpar to awful. Personally I'd recommend picking up a copy of Superman v. the Hulk as a standalone and skipping this trade.



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Book Review: Showcase Presents Batman, Volume 1

Showcase Presents: Batman, Vol. 1 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A few significant things happen in this book which collects 16 months of Batman stories from Batman comics and Detective comics from May 1964-September 1965.

Fist, there's a new design for the Batmobile introduced in the second story of the book. Second, Alfred is killed off unceremoniously early in this book and Aunt Harriet moves in with Batman and Robin and makes perhaps two o three appearances during the rest of the period.

There are four stories featuring Batman's remarkable rogue's gallery (two with the Joker and one each with the Riddler and the Penguin.) The Riddler tale was notable because the character had last been seen sixteen and a half year's previously. The book is the best issue in the collection. Elements of "The Remarkable Ruse of the Riddler" would be the basis for very first episode of the 1960s Batman TV show. Another story that would be adapted to television would be, "The Joker's Comedy Capers."

The only other highlights is the introduction of the Outsider who periodically menaces the Dynamic Duo with wannabe supervillains. This particular storyline isn't resolved in this book. We also see Robin have one adventure on his own and one where he's the prime character as well as Batman on his own while Robin was on a mission with the pilot issue for the Teen Titans setting the stage for the future status quo.

Other than that, the comic is surprising for how out of date it is. Most of Batman and Robin's foes are the fairly generic crooks they were taking on in the Golden Age. Robin looks the same as he died when he was introduced twenty-four years ago. The Batman of this era was stuck in a rut, doing the same thing it'd been doing with the Golden Age with a few silly Silver Age touches thrown in. It's shocking that three years into DC facing competition from Marvel, Batman was this kind of book which is creaking into the 1960s.

Most of the stories are enjoyable, but there almost anachronistic compared to the other comics of their area. Not just Marvel, but other series like DC such as the Flash, the Atom, or Superman had more colorful stories. Still, they're not bad for what they are and a particular favorite of mine is, "The Genius of the Getaway Gimmicks" where a criminal figured out that rather than setting stupid death traps for Batman, it made more sense to put their efforts to getting away. A clever guy.

Bottom line, these are good but not great stories. They're fun if you're a fan of Batman and want to see character very slowly evolving.



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Book Review: Young Justice, Volume 2: Training Day

Young Justice Vol. 2: Training Day by Greg Weisman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 7-13 of the Young Justice comic book series, introducing three storylines set between episodes of the TV series.

Issues 7 and 8 introduce Artemis before she's dropped into the team's lap. The comic's treatment of the character works. It explains a plot point from one of the episodes, establishes what's side she's on but still leaves her with enough mystery to be an interesting character. Grade: B+

Issue 9-11 is actually a surprising story as it's a bit of a thriller, and a bit of a mystery tale as Captain Atom charges the team with investigating a Vietnam-era case. It's an engrossing tale with lots of suspects and a few twists worked in. Also Artemis does some set up work for another episode of Young Justice. Grade: A

Issues 12 and 13 is an odd story involving Talia having a relationship with Matt Hagen due to Batman's qualms about her being related to Ra's Al-ghul. Hagen is an odd choice and this hampers the story which does end with a key decision for Aqualad. Grade: B

Overall, this is a good book and a must if you're a fan of the television series.



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Book Review; Essential Godzilla

Essential Godzilla, Vol. 1 by Doug Moench

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In 1977, Godzilla joined the Marvel Universe and not as a separate spinoff but in the main 616 Universe. Godzilla makes landfall in Alaska and begins a swath of devastation through Seattle and San Francisco before turning inland towards Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

The first twelve issues chronicling these adventures are okay. Its what you'd expect of any Godzilla story except S.H.I.E.L.D. is the government authority taking charge with Nick Fury handing the Godzilla affair to Dum Dum Dugan after the first Issue or so. There's a Japanese scientist and a boy named Rob who is annoying squirt who insists Godzilla is really not bad even as lives and home are destroyed.

The big problem with the first half is that except for S.H.I.E.L.D. it doesn't feel like Marvel story at all with the exception of the Champions (an obscure superhero group that was a precursor of the West Coast Avengers.) The second half is far more interesting with Issues 13 and 14 involving Godzilla taking on cattle rustlers. Only Marvel would think Godzilla would make a good Western.

S.H.I.E.L.D. then gets shrinking gas from Hank Pym and shrink Godzilla to miniature and take him to New York and then a pint sized Godzilla escapes. What follows includes several issues featuring the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom's time machine sending Godzilla to the stoneage, the Avengers including a battle between Thor and Godzilla over the Empire State building, and a three panel guest appearance by Spider-man.Also J Jonah Jameson reacting to Godzilla.

The book is a rarity and while the quality in the beginning is mixed, the second half easily lived up to the expectations I had for the series.



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Book Review: What If? Classic Volume 3

What If? Classic, Vol. 3 by Gary Friedrich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


with more obscure characters and far weaker premises. This book collects Issues 14 and 15 of the Series (Issue 16 was a Masters of Kung Fu comic Marvel has lost the license to) and Issues 17-20:

1) What if Sergeant Fury and His Howling Commandos had Fought World War II in Space?: As a letters issue in this volume pointed out, this whole scenario was a betrayal of the very idea of the, "What If?" comic which was predicated on asking What if events went differently in established Marvel continuity. This one was founded on Leonardo inventing airplanes. And the writers don't seem to get that World War II against generic space aliens is nowhere near as compelling as World War II. Story is dull and dumb. Grade: D

2) What if Someone Else had become Nova?: This book asks what would have happened if four different people ended up getting the powers of Nova. I get that write Marv Wolfman was coming for a study on the effects of power but the whole story seemed kind of obvious: If different people got these powers they'd do different things with them. It doesn't help that three of the alternate Novas were total unknowns to the Marvel Universe. Still, I'll give it a grade: C as a meditation of the corrupting effects of power.

3) What if Ghost Rider/Spider-Woman/Captain Marvel remain villains: Another three short story tale and my thoughts on each: The Ghost Rider tale is depressing but not that bad. The Spider-woman tale is a bit dumb. I have to admit I enjoyed the Captain Marvel story if for no other reason than the pleasure of seeing Yon-Rogg get get his comeuppance even it's in a What If? Tale. The title's a bit of misnomer as the last two don't stay villains for long. Still, I'll give this one a Grade: C-.

4)What if Doctor Strange were a disciple of Dormammu: A kind of confusing story where Doc Strange joins the forces of evil so easily and is shown to have no real redeeming qualities that to me it makes the choice between good and evil too simple for plot convenience reasons. Grade: D+

5) What if Spider-man had stopped the burglar that killed his Uncle: And finally a good one. In this stories, Spidey stops the burglar for good publicity and decides to make his career in showbiz, falling out with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and going Hollywood, becoming an agent for the most of Marvel superheroes including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. I loved the end of the story that suggested the lesson about great power coming with great responsibility was one he'd always have to learn and it's in the face of another tragedy because he continued his entertainment career with unbroken arrogance. A nice twist. Grade: B+

6) What if the Avengers Fought the Kree-Skrull War without Rick Jones: Writer Tom DeFalco gives an alternate end to the Kree-Skurll war story that is enjoyable as a space epic and filmed with all Marvel's big guns coming out to crush this invaders. Whether you know anything about the actual Kree-Skrull war or not, this story is very good on its own right. It's a wonderful epic that made a giant sized comic worth buying. Grade: A

Overall, the first 2/3 of the book is mostly forgettable, but the last two stories make this worth reading



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The Doomed Relationship of Barry Allen

The Flash is the only currently airing TV show I keep up with. Other than that, it's distant reruns (though I'm getting caught up on Doctor Who.) The latest episode, "The Nuclear Man" in addition to focusing on a being who is the fused version of two men and who could detonate like an Atom bomb, wiping out a major city, and investigation into the murder of Barry Allen's mother that uncovers evidence of time travel, we have the really important:

Barry goes on two dates with a female sports reporter named Linda Park. Date one is a lovely night out at a restaurant and a walk. On the second night, he has a lovely night of dinner, mini-golf, and jazz music. Linda, however has other plans as she hopes to have sex with Barry, and she makes the moves on him, throwing him onto the couch, and beginning to passionately kiss him. However, he gets a text that a wildly burning inferno of a man has been spotted and goes to deal with that threat.

Barry tries to apologize but is called away on Flash duty, which he lies and tells her is police duty. She calls and checks up with him and after Iris (who he confessed feelings for but has always been just a friend) passive aggressively sabotaged the relationship with Linda by telling Linda he hadn't gotten over an unrequited love. Barry then he eats a dangerously hot pepper and pledges not to let anything interfere with his relationship with this woman he met days ago including his job as a crime scene investigator.

In fact, Barry is so serious about this relationship that he left his friends with Firestorm, who Doctor Wells indicated was less than two hours away from creating a nuclear explosion that could wipe out Central City. Because after all, while it might be helpful for STAR labs to have the fastest man alive handy, he has to go and find the hottest pepper he can to win the "affections" of Linda.

As you can tell from the tone of my summary, the relationship angle of this story really drags it down. Linda is a problematic character for a number of reasons.

My wife pointed out that there's clearly a double standard of gender at work here. Barry is clearly awkward, uncomfortable, and inexperienced in dealing with the opposite sex romantically and is concerned they're going too fast and he says so. She totally dismisses the concern and keeps pushing. If one flipped the genders, a guy who pushed a girl wanting a nice time on a second date into bed and then kept pushing when she made clear he was uncomfortable would be viewed as a creep and maybe a predator. Here, she's portrayed as sexy for it.

To make this even worse, Barry is a police scientist who states he went out on police emergency and she responds by checking up on him. This points to her being very possessive of someone she's only had 2 dates with. It'd be one thing if they were in a long term relationship and she had reason to believe he was cheating on her. But to call the police and check on him after two dates shows someone who is messed up.

Even worse is the idea that this is portrayed as normal and healthy with Barry's reaction being unusual. Hollywood has cracked down on smoking in films and on television to be socially responsible and not to encourage smoking. Given the family target audience of the Flash, this seems very socially irresponsible. The live in relationship between Iris and Eddie is not biblical or a good idea, but the idea that a second date is a good time to start a sexual relationship is insane. They know nothing about one another. This is very unhealthy behavior.

It was somewhat ironic when my wife and I watched his on Hulu that an ad for a dating site appeared which explained all the steps of getting to know each other that a couple took before being "in love" and offered the motto, "Before there's love, there's like." When the ads are more responsible the show, you have a problem.

And at the end of day, Barry humiliates himself to salvage this relationship (to use the word loosely) and makes impossible promises of letting nothing interfere with this three day old relationship and once again leaves the duty of watching a walking nuclear bomb to his non-super powered friends at STAR labs.

I can't help but feel for Barry.He's interested in spending time with a girl and getting to know her. When Cisco delicately raises the challenges the Flash's power could represent in bed, he brushes the concern off as this was only a second date. Instead, he gets a woman whose less concerned with a person and more concerned about how "good" he is at dating and has no time to really get to know him.

Linda, as portrayed so far is the polar opposite of Barry with a completely different value set. While Barry lives to help others (which is why he was so jazzed about being the Flash), Linda is the queen of being self-absorbed. This is not going to work.

I would like to hope this character quietly disappears from the series never to be spoken of again between Seasons 1 and 2 like Cat Grant in the 1990s Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but this is the 21st Century and Linda Park was the name of a character in the comic book, although this version bares little resemblance to that character.

I'm not calling for a boycott or protests, or stopping watching the show. For prime time TV, this is fairly innocent. There was nothing sexually explicit in the episode and I give them points for making the mention of potential problems for the Flash so vague adults would have an idea but it'd go over kids heads.

But I think it's important to be aware of the messages and worldviews that entertainment is trying to sell us, and maybe it's a good point for parents to discuss wise and unwise relationship choices.

Book Review: DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories: 11 Tales You Never Expected to See!

DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories: 11 Tales You Never Expected to See! by Otto Binder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


During the Golden and Silver Age, most DC comics reset back to normal. Continuity existed, but on a very basic level that allowed villains to recall their last encounter. At the end of the day, you reset to Status Quo. No one got married, no one important died.

That's why Imaginary Stories were so powerful. While the results of the stories were said to be "imaginary" as far as impacting continuity, it was in Imaginary stories that readers got a chances to see actual plot changes and shake ups of the Status Quo or to imagine how things might be different. I'm going to divide my review of the stories by character:

Captain Marvel: This story from 1946 was actually from Fawcett for Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam, I guess) and it's a terrifying little tale as Captain Marvel encounters atomic war and for once Earth's mightiest mortal is essentially powerless to stop it. In one scene, he saves a woman from the blast only for her to die from the radiation. Powerful stuff and well-drawn and written.

Flash: The Flash tale included in here is a tad dumb. The Flash debated not wearing a mask as the Golden Age version hadn't (opting for a helmet that hid his hair. However, he had a daydream where that went wrong and it changed his mind. Really? Somebody spent 7 pages writing that?

Supergirl/Jimmy Olsen: As is typical for Jimmy Olsen tales, this is a comedy of errors. Supergirl gets amnesia, meets Jimmy Olsen and falls in love with him as her secret identity and then becomes convinced he has to woo him as Supergirl. Okay, but not great.

Batman: The Second Life of Batman (1959) asks what would have happened if Bruce's parents hadn't been killed. The results are somewhat dull. The second, "Batman's New Secret Identity" is a tale "by Alfred" imagining that Batman's secret identity is revealed so he established another one (for some reason instead of just being Batman all the time.) Despite the bad premise, the story plays out to be a solid adventure.

Superman has got the mother lode of imaginary stories and they're here and they are amazing. "Mr. and Mrs. Clark (Superman) Kent" is from Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane and is light comedy imagining what if she got her wish of marrying Superman by marrying Clark Kent. "The Death of Superman" from 1961 tells the tale of Superman's demise and it tells it with pathos and a lot of emotion even though its imaginary. "The Amazing Story of Superman Red and Superman Blue" is the type of story that would have ended the comic as Superman splits into two equally good halves, turns Earth into a Utopia free of evil, resolves all his relationship issues, and ends crime as we know it, and Lex Luthor even gets his hair back. It's wish fulfillment and the type of story that would end the comic and the DC Universe, but for happy endings you can't beat it.

"The Three Wives of Superman" takes a look at if Superman decided to marry and the resulting string of tragedies that occurred. Although, he could have prevented some of it by not proposing to his Second Wife Lana in the middle of her wedding to Lex Luthor thus leading Luthor to become evil again, but nobody's perfect. Finally, there's "The Fantastic Story of Superman's Sons" which avoids getting into the Lois/Lana debate by always keeping "mother" grayed out and we're introduced to sons "Kal El II" and "Jor El II." Kal doesn't have superpowers, while Jor El does leading to a friction and the boy's quest to find his place in the world. Again, a very emotionally satisfying tale.

The final tale features Superman and Batman in, "Superman and Batman-Brothers" from 1964. The story's premise was somewhat weak as inexplicably authorities in Gotham decided to give an orphaned Bruce Wayne to the Kents. However, it gets interesting with Clark observing Young Bruce at school and even feeling a bit jealous. The end does feel weak, but it's still worthwhile.

Overall, this is a nice book with some of the greatest imaginary stories (particularly the Superman ones) showing you SIlver Age heroes in a different way. While Marvel's What If and DC's new Elseworlds have surpassed these stories for complexity and variety, the ones in this book are still classics worth reading.



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