B
Banshee: The Wail Of The Banshee!/The Phalanx Covenant - Generation Next
featuring Stan Lee, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
(Art by Werner Roth, Dick Ayers, Joe Maduereira, Andy Kubert, Terry Austin, Dan Green, Matt Ryan and Mike Sellers)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 36. In the first of these two stories we see the Banshee's first appearance as he confronts the X-Men and attempts to kidnap Professor X for mysterious reasons. The second story, part of the X-Men crossover event 'The Phalanx Covenant', sees Banshee discovering that the X-Men have been replaced by duplicates and sets out to rescue the next generation of mutants from the techno-organic aliens known as the Phalanx.
Two of Stan Lee's most irritating habits as a writer are to introduce new heroes by having them fight existing heroes for spurious reasons and constant alliteration in his text. Unfortunately both of these are prevalent in 'The Wail of the Banshee!'. It's a pointless fluff story really, made all the more pointless by the fact that here we don't get to find out who's behind it all or the reasons Xavier is being kidnapped.
Much better is Lobdell and Nicieza's contribution to 'The Phalanx Covenant' crossover. This was the era that originally got me into X-Men comics (in fact some of this book seemed so familiar that I wonder if I used to own the original issues back in the 90s) and I always had a particular fondness for the misfit teens of Generation X. What I liked most about this story, however, was the fact that the major-league X-Men are all tied up elsewhere leaving semi-retired Banshee, novice Jubilee and former villains Emma Frost and Sabretooth to save the day. I enjoy stories featuring underdog or mismatched teams and this is a perfect example of that. Also, I'd forgotten just how creepy the Phalanx are and it adds almost an element of horror to this story, which already had overtones of 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers'.
Let's be honest, Banshee is no-one's favourite X-Man, but this book serves to remind you that he is, nevertheless, an interesting one.
3 out of 5
Batman '66 Vol. 2
featuring Jeff Parker and Tom Peyer
(Art by Ty Templeton, Ted Naifeh, Christopher Jones, Derec Donovan, Ruben Procopio, Craig Rousseau, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, David Williams, Kelsey Shannon and Joelle Jones)
A collection of ten stories in the world of the 1960s Batman TV show (starring Adam West and Burt Ward) and featuring dastardly villains such as the Joker, Riddler, Mister Freeze and King Tut.
I loved the Batman TV series as a kid and my remembrances of it grew to an ironic appreciation as an adult (although I was disappointed to revisit it and discover that its silliness was self-aware, which took some of the charm away). This book is pretty much just more of the same. This is no modern take on the old style, there's no meta-criticism, and there's nothing new or groundbreaking. So yes, this is just a series of short adventures told in the style of the 60s TV show, with dialogue and aesthetic appropriate to that. If that's not something you're onboard for, then you'll be disappointed.
Personally, although I love the old show, I had hoped to see this book go beyond the confines of what was shown onscreen but instead found this book to be very safe. Think, for example, how much fun it could've been to see a 60s-style Knightfall reimagining, or what the 60s version of Harley Quinn/Joker relationship might've been like. As it was, I actually found this book to be a little boring overall.
The Batgirl story was a highlight though.
2 out of 5
Batman And Son
featuring Grant Morrison and Dennis O'Neil
(Art by Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang, Bob Brown and Dick Giordano)
Part of the DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection. This book features two stories; in the first Batman is confronted by his old flame Talia al Ghul, who reveals that they have a secret son, Damian Wayne, who has been trained as an assassin and, in the second, we get to see the first meeting between Batman and Talia from 1971.
I always felt that Jason Todd was absolutely the worst, most irritating incarnation of Robin but, until now, I had never actually read a story featuring Damian. It has to be said that it's an interesting angle to present Batman with a son whose whole life has been geared towards goals and morality totally contrary to Batman's own. But at the same time, Damian is such an insufferable little brat (not to mention psychopathic murderer) that it stretches credibility that Batman does, in fact, take him under his (Bat)wing. Sadly, this is just the opening encounter of their relationship too, so we don't get to see any progress or resolution to the character beats introduced.
The throwback story is very of-its-time, showing the beginnings of Denny O'Neil's maturing of the character whilst also having a slightly campy feel that was a hold-over from Batman's 60s adventures. Nice to contrast how Talia started to how she's developed though.
3 out of 5
Batman: Birth Of The Demon - Part 1
featuring Mike W. Barr and Dennis O'Neil
(Art by Jerry Bingham, Tom Grindberg, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano)
Part of the DC Graphic Novel Collection. This book collects three stories; two full-length ones, 'Son of the Demon' and 'Bride of the Demon' featuring Batman's antagonist Ra's Al Ghul, as well as that character's very first appearance, 'Daughter of the Demon'.
Ra's Al Ghul is a very interesting Batman villain in that he actually has a great deal of respect for the 'Detective' as well as his own strict code of honour. It makes him a more complex antagonist; something which is only accentuated by Batman's on and off love affair with Ra's' daughter Talia. Having this book explore so much of that dynamic is by far its strongest element.
There's something of a James Bond vibe to these stories too; with Batman engaging in a bit of globe-trotting, infiltrating secret lairs and falling into the arms of a femme fatale. Honestly, it's not my preferred style of Dark Knight story, but it is an interesting shift in genre that some may appreciate more than me.
3 out of 5
Batman: Featuring Two-Face And The Riddler
featuring Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, Neil Gaiman, Alan Grant, Andrew Helfer and Mark Verheiden
(Art by Pat Broderick, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Sid Greene, Mike Hoffman, Bob Kane, Sam Keith, Bernie Mireault, Steve Mitchell, Kevin Nowlan, Charles Paris, Jerry Robinson, George Roussos, Howard Sherman, Dick Sprang, Frank Springer, Chris Sprouse and Matt Wagner)
Originally published in conjunction with the cinema release of Batman Forever (in which Two-Face and the Ridder are the main villains, in case you've not seen it), this book collects a range of stories featuring the titular villains ranging from their original appearances in the 1940s up to the darker stories of the 1980s.
Although they are very kitsch and crammed with awfully cheesy exposition dialogue, I was actually surprised to find myself enjoying the 1940s stories. I think what made them so enjoyable was seeing the true origins of these two iconic villains and how they match up to legend that 70-odd years of comics has built for them. I was, for instance, surprised to find that Two-Face predates the Riddler by a full seven years, debuting in 1941. In that Two-Face story, brought to us by Batman's legendary co-creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, we see that the villain was originally Harvey Kent (not Dent) and he failed to get reconstructive surgery because the only doctor who could have done it visited Europe and was interred in a Nazi concentration camp.
We then get a couple of Riddler stories from the 1960s, in which the villain struggles to overcome his psychological compulsion to give Batman clues to his crimes, before the anthology jumps ahead to 1989.
It was in the 80s that Batman comics began to develop the dark tone that they're known for today and here we get a much darker look at the origins of not only the two main villains of this book, but also the Penguin. These linked stories, written masterfully by Gaiman, Grant and Verheiden, explore the psychology of the villains by following a documentary film crew's attempts to film the otherwise unseen side of them. I think my favourite story of the whole book was 'When Is A Door: The Secret Origin of The Riddler', written by Neil Gaiman. Here The Riddler is a somewhat tragic figure, whom the filmmakers don't even recognise as a real supervillain and who is struggling to come to terms with the darker world he's living in. Gaimain brilliantly gives us exposition of how a character in-universe is coping with the way in which Batman stories began delving to darker and more violent depths, with The Riddler getting a fantastic monologue in which he remembers the days when the supervillain life was fun ("No one ever hurt anybody. Not really.") and laments the change in the world ("The Joker's killing people, for God's sake! Did I miss something?").
Two-Face, whose 1941 appearance kicked off this book, rounds out the stories with one from 1990 in which we flashback to the days when he was D.A. Harvey Dent and we learn that his split-personality psychosis had begun to manifest far before the courtroom acid attack left him scarred.
Overall, this book is a great bit of exploration of the title villains, showing us how they developed over time both in-universe and out. It is, in fact, far more entertaining than 'Batman Forever' was. And it has an introduction written by Mark 'The Joker' Hamill too.
4 out of 5
Batman In The Sixties
featuring Bill Finger, John Broome, Gardner Fox, Bob Kanigher, E. Nelson Bridwell, Mike Friedrich and Frank Robbins
(Art by Dick Sprang, Charles Paris, Sheldon Moldoff, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, Sid Greene, Chic Stone, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano)
Seventeen stories culled from across the 1960s, showing the effects on the Dark Knight of things like the advent of the iconic TV series and the changes in American society across the decade.
I couldn't help comparing this book to 'The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told' (reviewed here), which featured a range of Batman stories from across the first five decades of the Caped Crusader's adventures. Where that book felt like an almost random collection of stories, this book focusing just on the 60s feels much more coherent. That's not to say that there's any overarching stories or themes, but you nevertheless get a genuine sense of the development of Batman's world a bit at a time. This book begins with the cheesy and fairly shallow style of the early Batman stories (not to mention a rare appearance by Betty Kane, the original Batgirl) and then moves forward through the more complex and extravagant stories of the TV series era ('66 to '68), before ending in the more mature style that would kick off the somewhat bleaker 1970s. Throughout the book are short interludes explaining some of the changes of the times which make this feel like a more interesting exploration of the development of the character in the context of the real world.
Long-time Bat-fans will be pleased to see familiar faces like the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow and Catwoman, as well as the very first appearances of iconic villains like Clayface and Poison Ivy. For me, however, it was what we see of Batgirl that I found really interesting. As mentioned above, we get to see the two-dimensional Betty Kane version whose only motivation is that she fancies Robin, but we also get a couple of stories starring the far more iconic Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl. It's safe to say that a combination of her more interesting character motivation and the women's-lib mentality of the 60s combine to make her a very strong character in her own right, easily standing shoulder to shoulder with Batman himself. Unfortunately the writers do still feel the unfortunate need to refer to her as a 'chick' and, in one nauseating panel, as the 'dominoed daredoll'.
In short, if you like your Batman gritty and modern, then this is not the book for you. However, if you're interested in the development of the character and have warm nostaglic feelings towards Adam West, then it might be worth checking out.
3 out of 5
Batman: Night Of The Owls
featuring Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Tony S. Daniel, Scott Lobdell, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Gail Simone, Duane Swierczynski, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV and Judd Winick.
(Art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Eddy Barrows, Ruy Jose, Eber Ferreira, Rafael Albuquerque, Andy Clarke, Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Jason Fabok, David Finch, Richard Friend, Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet, Lee Garbett, Ray McCarthy, Keith Champagne, Andres Guinaldo, Mark Irwin, Szymon Kudranski, Guillem March, Moritat, Kenneth Rocafort, Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes, Marcus To and Ryan Winn)
A New 52 crossover event which sees Gotham under siege from murderous Talons, the undead assassins employed by the sinister Court of Owls. Outnumbered and attacked in the Batcave itself, Batman and Alfred call in help from all of their allies to prevent assassinations of major public figures across the city. Stepping up to help are Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Batwing, Red Hood and the Birds of Prey.
I initially read the basics of this storyline in 'The City of Owls' (reviewed here) and at the time I bemoaned the fact that we didn't get to see more of the Bat Family in action. This then is the answer to my criticism, showing how all of Batman's allies cope with the plans of the Court of Owls and the all-but unstoppable Talons. I really like the idea that Batman is initially a bit despairing, realising that the Court has far more assassins than he could ever stop, but that he soon remembers that he has some pretty impressive resources of his own to call on. Batgirl and Nightwing are particular favourites of mine (although I'm not totally okay with the New 52 binning-off Oracle), so it was good to see them have such significant roles to play.
So, to be clear, I did enjoy this book a great deal. However, there are several significant criticisms I would make. The first being that a big chunk of this book is exactly what was collected in 'The City of Owls', so if you've read that one, then you've read a significant portion of this book already and you'll be falling into the modern comics' trap of buying the same story multiple times. My second criticism is that although it includes large chunks of 'The City of Owls', this book doesn't actually included the conclusion, so you're left feeling you've missed out on something (and may, in fact, have to buy the same story again but this time to find out the ending). Also, the way this book is edited together is a bit of a mess. Sure, some of that can be attributed to including stories from multiple comics titles which all happen at the same time, but there were parts which definitely could've been edited into order without too much trouble but which instead come across as weird jumps back and forward in time. My final criticism is that this book contains 'First Snow', the New 52's reboot of Mister Freeze's origins. This is the third collection I've read that includes this story, showing just how desperate DC were to get everyone to accept it, but put simply it is not nearly as engaging as the more familiar pre-New 52 story. It's a vain and pointless attempt by the writers to put their own spin on a story which, tonally, was already pretty much perfect and is easily one of the worst retcons of recent decades (the Oracle thing being another, as it happens).
4 out of 5
Batman: The Arkham Saga Omnibus
featuring Adam Beechen, Doug Wagner, Frank Hannah, Tim Seeley, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Derek Fridolfs, Marly Halpern-Graser, Paul Crocker, Sefton Hill, Karen Traviss and Peter J. Tomasi
(Art by Christian Duce, Vincente Cifuentes, Federico Dallocchio, Tom Derenick, Victor Drujiniu, Omar Francia, Richard Ortiz, Matthew Clark, Wade von Grawbadger, Carlos D'Anda, Sean Parsons, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen, Ben Herrera, Ted Naifeh, Roger Robinson, Adam Archer, Al Barrionuevo, Michel Lacombe, Jimbo Salago, Jeffrey Huet, Jason Shawn Alexander, Mike S. Miller, Brian Ching, Livesay, Simon Coleby, Bruno Redondo, Cliff Rathburn, Santi Casas, Pete Woods, Juan Jose Ryp, Jorge Jimenez, Darick Robertson, Richard P. Clarke, Peter Nguyen, Craig Yeung, David Lopez, Mico Suayan, Jheremy Raapack, Eric Nguyen, Davide Fabbri, Roccardo Burchielli, Tony Shasteen, Beni Lobel, Viktor Bogdanovic, Art Thibert, Ig Guara, Julio Ferreira, Robson Rocha, Guillermo Ortego, Richard Friend, Daniel Henriques, Stephen Segovia, Alisson Borges and Dexter Soy)
An absolutely immense omnibus collecting all of the comics and graphic novels set in the world of the Arkham series of computer games. Beginning with a prelude to 'Arkham Origins' which sees an inexperienced Batman still finding his crimefighting feet, continuing on through the events of 'Arkham Asylum' and 'Arkham City', before culminating in stories that lead directly into the plot of 'Arkham Knight'.
I'm a big fan of the so-called Arkhamverse, which gives us a gritty and realistic take on the Batman mythos, whilst still managing honour all of the character's real-world history, no matter how silly (Calendar Man makes an appearance, for instance). So, I was very keen to read more stories set in this particular take on Gotham, as well as getting some background to the games I love (I've not played 'Arkham Knight' yet, so I can't comment on the negative reviews it got).
As you can imagine from a collection of dozens of stories from twelve different writers, this is a real mixed bag in terms of quality. There are some stories that almost seem like vanity pieces on the parts of the writers but there are some, mainly by Paul Dini (who also wrote for the awesome 'Batman: The Animated Series' in the 90s), which genuinely feel like they inform the main stories of the actual games. There are also a few, such as one of Karen Traviss' contributions, which work as self-contained stories within themselves. However, there's also a great deal of pointless or unremarkable stories too, the worst of which is the 'Arkham Origins' prelude, which attempts to be a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story. I'd never encountered a CYOA graphic novel before and seeing how unwieldy and unsatisfying it is to read here, I can understand why.
The varied quality of the stories aside, there are two big problems with this omnibus that are inherently linked to one another. The first and biggest problem is that this book doesn't include actual adaptations of the games. So the main plotlines that thread the Arkhamverse together are absent, meaning we get lead-ins and tie-ins to stories that are told elsewhere, leaving this book feeling like it's got great big holes in it. The second problem is that not all of the stories here have been presented in chronological order, so any sense of narrative flow, already disrupted by the lack of the games' stories, is spoiled by random jumps in timeframe. It really wouldn't have killed anyone just to edit the stories into order.
Overall this is an enjoyable expansion of the lore of the Arkham games but is spoiled a great deal by the big gaps and jumps in its narrative.
3 out of 5
Batman: The Killing Joke - The Deluxe Edition
featuring Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
(Art by Brian Bolland)
Primarily consisting of the iconic story written by Alan Moore, this book also contains a short tale written and illustrated by Brian Bolland. In 'The Killing Joke' itself, the Joker sets out to prove that all that stands between the sanest do-gooder, like Commissioner Gordon, and insanity is one bad day. In Bolland's story an otherwise innocent man makes a plan to assassinate Batman.
'The Killing Joke' is justifiably one of the most important and influential Batman stories ever told, delving into the dark and twisted psychology of the Joker; the yin to Batman's yang. We also learn something about the Joker's origins for the first time, seeing him as a poor and desperate husband trying to succeed as a stand-up comedian and provide for his wife and unborn child until, that is, he has one bad day.
This book has taken some criticism in recent years (apparently even from Moore himself) about just how dark and unpleasant some of the scenes are. In particular the scene in which Joker cripples Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) with a gunshot and then strips her naked to take photos, which he later uses in an attempt to drive Jim Gordon insane. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a very dark scene whose whole focus is the abuse of a young woman but I certainly don't believe it's fetishised or salacious (and despite what some readers claim, there's no evidence in the book itself that Joker raped Barbara). It's is, as far as I'm concerned, a harrowing expression of just how malicious the Joker is. The juxtaposition of his smiling clown persona and his shocking cruelty is what makes the Joker Batman's most persistent and most chiliing antagonist.
I have to say too that Brian Bolland's exquisite artwork elevates the story even further, with him providing us of some of the most iconic imagery ever to grace the pages of a Batman story.
The only downside to this book, other than being pretty grim in tone, is its short length. I definitely felt that there were themes and story enough to explore as a full-length graphic novel, which left me feeling a little unsatisfied narratively (and thanks to DC screwing Moore over the rights to 'Watchmen' there never was a follow-up).
4 out of 5
Batman: Volume 10 - Epilogue
featuring Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes and Tom King
(Art by Greg Capullo, Roge Antonio, Aco, Riley Rossmo, Danny Miki, Brian Level and Mikel Janin)
Five stories which tell the past, present and future of the Batman, ending the New 52 arc and beginning that of Rebirth.
To be clear, rather than a finale to the New 52 run on Batman this is much more of just a collection of the bits that were left over when that run ended (as well as the first issue of the new Rebirth run). That means that there's nothing too significant or groundbreaking that happens here. These stories are fine. Just that and nothing more.
That said, I did quite like the story of Bruce Wayne five years into the future attempting to find a way of living forever as the Batman but stealing a secret piece of technology from Lex Luthor. What I liked most about it was Luthor's predictive security system, which does a nice job of highlighting the similarities between the two billionaires.
2 out of 5
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre
featuring Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner
(Art by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner)
Two prequel stories to Alan Moore's seminal 'Watchmen'. In the first, the original Nite Owl looks back on his career as a masked crimefighter and reveals the dark secrets and betrayals that were at the heart of the Minutemen team of heroes. The second story tells the tale of teenage Laurie Jupiter's first experience of the dangerous real world and how she chooses to become a hero, despite resenting her mother for preparing her for it her whole life.
DC marketed this book as 'controversial', but don't be fooled into thinking that it's controversial because of some particularly provocative content. It's controversial because the whole 'Before Watchmen' series constitutes a huge metaphorical middle-finger to both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original creators. I was therefore suitably wary of reading this book, having long known just how much DC screwed Moore over the rights to 'Watchmen' and not liking this additional kick-to-the-groin for the mad/brilliant old wizard of comics. However, the late Darwyn Cooke was one comics writer that Moore himself actually approved of, so his writer and co-writer roles in these stories have at least that weight behind them.
Controversy aside, the book itself is perfectly fine. 'Minutement' is a nice exploration of the golden age-esque heroes who inspired the main characters of 'Watchmen' and how their legends are every bit as tarnished in real life as those of their successors. Cooke does a good job of capturing the tone of being disappointed and saddened by its own cynicism that Moore brought to the original. 'Silk Spectre' shows us what makes Laurie such a complex and self-determined character too, choosing to adopt a legacy she's always hated.
But the truth is that this book doesn't do anything that 'Watchmen' itself didn't do better and the fact that it was DC cashing-in on decades of exploiting Alan Moore's brilliance against his wishes just makes the whole reading experience feel somewhat tainted. Don't care about the integrity of artistic creators but want more from the world of 'Watchmen'? Then sure, you should enjoy this.
3 out of 5
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet - Book One
featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates and Stan Lee
(Art by Brian Stelfreeze, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott)
Two stories. In the main story here T'Challa finds himself attempting to rule a kingdom which has been devastated by invasion, natural disaster and the death of his sister Shuri. As he works to combat dissident elements within Wakanda, he comes to realise that the country's problems are far deeper and more existential than he thought. The second story is a reprint of Black Panther's first ever appearance, in the pages of 'Fantastic Four'.
There is nothing overtly wrong with the main story here and yet I quickly found that it wasn't for me. The more spiritual and philosophical nature of the story just didn't hit the right beats for me and I found it yo-yoing between boring and pretentious. Perhaps I'm too 'white British' to understand African spiritualism but I'd like to think that if it were well written I'd at least find it engaging. That wasn't the case here.
The inclusion of Stan Lee's original appearance of T'Challa gives us the opportunity to see that the character came into being almost fully-formed as the hero we know today. There are no awkward racial stereotypes and the depiction of Wakanda is impressively forward-thinking, something which is laudable for a couple of white guys in 1960s America. All that said, I don't think the inclusion of this story adds any value to this book and, because I've read it before elsewhere, didn't win me over in my overall opinion of it.
2 out of 5
Black Panther: The Black Panther/See Wakanda And Die
featuring Stan Lee and Jason Aaron
(Art by Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Jefte Palo)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 35. These two stories feature the character's first appearance, confronting the Fantastic Four, and also tell of the Panther's resistance to the Skrull invasion of Wakanda, alongside his wife Storm.
Stan Lee's favourite trick when introducing a new hero was to have them fight an existing hero (or team of heroes), usually either as part of a misunderstanding or sometimes for no particularly good reason at all. Unfortunately the first story here falls into the latter catagory, with T'Challa inviting the FF to Wakanda and then attacking them more or less just because he can. It's stupid and the more times I read this exact set-up by Lee, the more it grows to irritate me (along with the alliteration he loved so much). Things do get better when the Panther and the FF team-up to fight the 'Master of Sound', Klaw (so brilliantly played by the great Andy Serkis in the MCU).
For all my issues with its story, I have to give Lee and Kirby full credit for their concept with T'Challa and Wakanda. I was worried that, with modern eyes and liberal sensibilities, the Panther's earliest incarnation would be an awkward reminder of African stereotypes begun in the 19th Century. I was surprised that the T'Challa we know now, the brilliant, wealthy and technologically savvy national leader, is exactly how he appears for the first time. At a time when America was struggling to resolve its civil rights issues (something that is still sadly ongoing) these two brilliant white guys introduce a black character to mainstream comics who is the pinnacle of humanity. Bravo gentlemen.
The second story here, by Aaron, is a much more solidly plotted one, with the Skrulls attempting a takeover of Wakanda using all of the technology and cunning which let them overwhelm much of the rest of Earth. However, they have underestimated the technological advancement, the courage and the foresight of Wakanda and its rulers, Black Panther and Storm.
However, despite being more convincingly plotted that Lee's story, there's nothing really groundbreaking on offer here. It's a fun repelling insurmountable odds story, but not much more than that. Palo's art is pretty great though.
Overall; some good, some bad, which levels out at middling.
3 out of 5
Black Panther: World Of Wakanda
featuring Roxane Gay, Yona Harvey, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rembert Browne
(Art by Alitha E. Martinez, Roberto Poggi, Afua Richardson and Joe Bennett)
As Wakanda is thrown into turmoil by a series of disasters, including attacked by Prince Namor and Thanos, the people tied to its fate have to cope with the changing of their beloved nation. These three stories focus on the Dora Milaje (the all-female royal guard), a powerful young revolutionary called Zenzi and the one-time Black Panther later known as the White Tiger.
This book is something of a companion-piece to 'Black Panther: A Nation Beneath Our Feet - Book One', the relaunch of the Black Panther series, and I honestly wish I'd read this one first. By following the likes of the Dora Milaje through the complicated backstory of Wakanda's recent comic history I got a much better sense of the power-keg nature of the nation when T'challa reclaims his throne - not to mention the reasons that so many of his loyal subjects no-longer trust him.
Beyond offering a better understanding of the titular world of Wakanda, there's not a great deal to this book. I enjoyed the first (and main) story, the one about the Dora Milaje, quite a bit but to be honest it doesn't do anything particularly unexpected. It is a nice bit of representation, however, as it's very much a love story about two of the women of the Dora Milaje. But overall this book wasn't anything amazing (but notably better than 'A Nation Beneath Our Feet').
3 out of 5
Black Widow: The Crimson Dynamo Strikes/Beware The Black Widow/Homecoming
featuring Stan Lee, N. Korok and Richard K. Morgan
(Art by Don Heck, John Romita Sr., Jim Mooney, Bill Sienkiewicz and Goran Parlov)
Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 27, collecting three stories of the Soviet spy-turned-Avenger. The first features the Black Widow's first appearance, as a Russian femme fatale sent to assassinate Tony Stark. The second story has Natasha Romanov using an encounter with Spider-Man to overhaul her image and launch her new career as a costumed crimefighter. The final story takes the retired Natasha back to her roots, as she discovers the secrets of the Soviet spy programme that trained her.
The first two stories here are both very much of their time. The first has Black Widow as little more than the token evil-commie-of-the-week but is a perfectly enjoyable Cold War era Iron Man story. The second one is a bit sillier, with Natasha deciding to attack Spider-Man just to see what his powers are and find out if she can match them. That wouldn't be so bad if she was still a villain at this point, but this is supposed to be her turning over a new leaf, so attacking another superhero feels pretty weird. Full credit to Stan Lee's honesty however (well, here at least), because he includes a text box that openly admits this whole encounter has just been a glorified advert for Black Widow's own soon-to-be-published solo adventures.
The third part of this book is pure brilliance though. Morgan's 'Homecoming' is an espionage thriller in the style of the Bourne films but with a hard-as-nails femme fatale in the lead role. I loved that the author worked the theme of women's daily struggles against misogyny into the overall narrative of Natasha's struggles against a group of shadowy assassins. It's also a very personal tale for the character where she has to explore where her moral limits are after a mixed life as both an assassin and a superhero. It culminates in her learning that everything she thought she knew about her past, from her childhood to her defection, has been a lie. That could easily have come across as cliche, but both the writing and the artwork do a brilliant job of portraying Natasha's sense of horror and betrayal.
The book is definitely worth reading just for 'Homecoming', but you might find it interesting to see how the character has developed since her earlier appearances too.
4 out of 5
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps – Volume One
featuring Peter J. Tomasi, James Robinson and J. T. Krul
(Art by Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, John Dell, Eddy Barrows, Allan Goldman, Ruy Jose, Julio Ferreira, Eber Ferreira, Ed Benes, Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal, J P Mayer and Scott Williams)
Three stories tying-in to the Blackest Night event story (by Geoff Johns), in which black power rings resurrect fallen heroes and villains to murder their living counterparts. In the first story, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake have to confront their dead parents with help from Deadman. The second story sees Superman and Superboy going toe-to-toe with Kal-L, the dead Superman of Earth-2. The third story sees the Teen Titans confronted by lost loved-ones and having to deal with the trauma of loss whilst also surviving the murderous undead.
Know going in that this is a pretty dark and grim book. It involves the main character not only dealing with the pain of some of the worst bereavements of their lives but also with hordes of seemingly invincible zombies hell-bent on eating human hearts. And you genuinely see one of the main heroes featured here have their heart ripped out and eaten, so don’t underestimate how dark things get. Personally, that tone didn’t work great for me here. I’m perfectly happy to read bleak and grim stories, but it’s not really something I want to see in a book starring Batman, Superman and the Teen Titans. That’s just a personal preference.
Where this book really falls down is simply a product of its nature. It’s a tie-in to the main event and, as such, doesn’t teach you anything of the origins of these Black Lanterns, doesn’t show how they’re defeated and, ultimately, is little more than a sideshow to the main event. Now, I’ve read the main event, so I can forgive a certain amount of these faults but if you’ve not got your hands on ‘Blackest Night’, you’ll be left without a beginning or and end to the narrative featured here.
3 out of 5