Review Date: Friday, April 26, 2013
Here in Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has decreed that we review this
week two comic books each from DC Comics and Marvel
Comics, so let's get right to it and see how these new
issues from "The Big Two" comic book publishers
stack-up against each other: |
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs:
Writers
Dustin Nguyen: Art
DC Comics has recently published issue #1 of a new Batman Family comic book
entitled "Batman: Li'l Gotham." While not specifically geared
to the small child reader market, the series features the adult Batman pairing
with a small child version of Damien/Robin Hood as they interact with a
mix of adult and kid-sized versions of familiar Gotham characters, both good
and bad-guys. The series is co-scripted by Dustin Nguyen and Derak
Fridolfs with art by Dustin Nguyen.
The premier issue of this new title features two holiday-themed tales.
Story number one is set on Halloween and alternates two sub-plots. In the
main storythread, Batman tries to teach the ever-cynical Damien not only to
understand the concept of Halloween, but also to let loose for just one night
and actually enjoy a bit of trick-or-treating with the other kids. In the
second sub-plot, Batman subtlely conducts an effort behind Damien's back
to conclude the Halloween festivities with a group capture of Gotham's
most famous supervillains. I won't spoil in this review either the
results of the trick-or treating or the supervillain sting operation, beyond
stating that both conclude together by the story's end.
Our second holiday tale features a Thanksgiving story, again with two
sub-plots. The main storythread centers upon an elaborate scheme by the
Penguin to disrupt the annual Gotham City Thanksgiving Day parade, while the
second sub-plot focuses upon the details of the Thanksgiving Day feast being
prepared by Alfred for a wide range of guests, encompassing all of the usual
Batman family members (i.e., Barbara Gordon, the many versions of Robin in
their civilian personas, etc.). Again, both sub-plots neatly tie together
by the story's conclusion.
I got quite a kick out of the originality of this Li'l Gotham comic book.
Its both cute and entertaining for readers of all ages. I liked the way
that the creative team managed to maintain Damien's core personality cynicism
and fanatical devotion to constant crime-fighting while removing his
usual creepy bitterness, instead mixing into his Li'l Gotham personality a
bit of little kid pleasantness. There are a couple of cute scenes that
particularly mix this all up nicely. My two favorites are a
Halloween tale scene in which Damien reports back to Batman with the results of
his bewildered attempt at trick-or-treating, and a Thanksgiving tale scene
in which Damien plays Pied Piper, musically leading a bunch of Penguin-waylayed
turkeys off to the safety of a nearby petting zoo.
I've expressed my displeasure in many previous reviews with the nasty side of
Damien/Robin's personality as portrayed in many DC Comics, so its nice to
have a new interpretation of this character that tones that element down into
something a bit more enjoyable to read. And on a final review note, a
hats-off is due to Dustin Nguyen for utilizing a sketch-like, unfinished
artistic style that actually very well suits the "Li'l Gotham"
concept of this comic book title. So a definite and positive thumbs-up
review recommendation to try something different and add this creative and
fresh new Batman Family title to your ever-growing new issues reading pile!
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Grant Morrison: Writer
Chris Burnham & Jason Masters:
Art
Nathan Fairbairn: Colors
DC Comics's latest multi-title event presents the death of the Damian Wayne
version of Robin, The Boy Wonder. The storyline begins in the latest
issue of Batman Incorporated and continues across a range of Batman Family
titles. For the uninitiated, the latest Robin is the biological son of
Bruce Wayne/Batman and Talia al Ghul, daughter of Batman comic book villain
Ra's al Ghul. The kick-off issue #8 is scripted by veteran DC writer
Grant Morrison with art by Chris Burnham and Jason Masters, and colors by
Nathan Fairbairn.
The issue #8 story segment is entitled "The Boy Wonder
Returns." We're thrown right into action-adventure, as a major
battle is ongoing throughout Gotham City between all of the Batman Family
members on one side versus Talia herself and Leviathan, the hive-mind
mentality evil that often manifests as crowds of evil children. The
storyline alternates between two segments of the battle. In the main
storythread, Damian/Robin partners with Nightwing/Dick Grayson in the lobby of
the Wayne Building as they try to battle their way through Leviathan hosts
toward the penthouse lair of Damian's evil Mom. The second storythread
focuses on Batman struggling at the top of the skyscraper with the same
objective.
We all know that this issue is structured to conclude with Damian's
death. So I won't be a spoiler with any further plot details, beyond
commenting that both sub-plots weave complex and detailed battle sequences
toward the inevitable conclusion. Thus, by the final page of this issue,
we witness the expected scene of Batman holding his dead son in his arms, as
the Gotham sky weeps symbolic rain.
Feel
free to call me cynical, but I'm no softee these days for any superhero
comic's "death of our hero" storylines. That's because A-list
comic characters never truly die, they're just marketed with a "temporary
death of" storyline and eventually brought back to much marketing
fanfare. And we all know that if Mother Talia has her way (and
there's already a hint of this point in this issue #8), eventually Damian's
going to take a dip in his maternal grandfather's famed Lazarus Pool
and be resurrected for further Batman storyverse adventures.
But in the meantime, reviewing the quality of this issue on its own
merits, we do have an entertaining and high quality comic book to enjoy, for a
few reasons. First, we have a script that reflects A-list writer
Grant Morrison at the top of his writing game, with the dialogue and scenes
properly dramatic to fit the seriousness of the topic. Secondly, Morrison
does a superb job of adding some redeeming value into Damian's attitude in
this issue. I've never hid my reviewer's dislike for the over-the-top
snarkiness and intensity of this particular Robin, so I'm pleased to see
Morrison dial-it-down a bit in this tale; Damian's still a psychotic nutbag
killer, but an element of goodness rises to the top of his actions in this
tale, imbuing the kid with just enough selfless heroism to make us
appreciate his ultimate sacrifice for the greater good of Gotham City, his
family and colleagues.
The third positive story element is the exquisite artistic style
presented by the creative team, reminiscent of the best that artist Frank
Quitely presented to us a few years back in the popular All-Star Superman comic
book title. So add all three elements up and this comic book clearly
deserves a positive thumbs-up review recommendation. Again, I really
believe that Damian/Robin's coming back at a future point in the DC Universe,
but for now, its well-worth enjoying both the drama and the
high quality of this "Death of Robin" publishing event and read
how it all plays-out across the various titles of the Batman comic book
franchise.
Journey Into Mystery #646
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Kathryn Immonen: Writer
Valerio Schiti: Art
Jordie Bellaire: Colors
Marvel's long-running Journey Into Mystery title is up to Part 5 in the
current issue #650 of a multi-issue storyarc entitled "Stronger Than
Monsters," starring the Asgardian warrior and noblewoman Lady Sif,
Thor's longtime girlfriend. I backtracked to January's issue #646 in
order to give this storyline a review from the kick-off of the
five-segment monthly plot. This new storyline is in follow-up to
creator Kieron Gillen's acclaimed JIM run and brings the events
of the title into the Marvel NOW! event series, with a fresh focus on Lady
Sif and her fellow Asgardians. The series is scripted by Kathryn Immonen
with art by Valerio Immonen and colors by Jordie Bellaire.
Our new storyline kicks-off with the actions of Lady Sif
herself. After saving a child during the destruction of Asgard's library,
Sif decides that she must follow an enchanted path in order to obtain an
ancient powerful spell that will make her an ever-stronger guardian of her
beloved realm. The bulk of the issue focuses on two extended
scenes. In the first, Sif confronts in the underworld the giant
corpse-eating dragon Midhogg, who directs her to follow the mystical
path to enchantress Aerndis. The just-as-lengthy following scene
presents Sif's cat-and-mouse encounter with the omni-powerful magical
warriorwoman. Without spoiling the details of the dramatic climax of
this encounter, Sif manages to receive the all-powerful spell she seeks while
in a very bloody manner defeating the enchantress to further her goals when she
returns next issue to our Earthly realm.
This issue has several entertaining elements mixed with one critical flaw which
I'll get to in a moment. On the plus side, the creative team gives us a
fantastic artistic style, reminiscent of the stylings from Dan Slott's
acclaimed run a few years back on She-Hulk. I loved the quality of the
emotive facial expressions that this style of rendering delivers so well.
Writer Kathryn Immonen also gives us a nice blend of humor that lightens
the plot's heaviness at appropriate moments, toning-down the grand
seriousness of the mythic Norse elements of this tale. My favorite humor
centers on the lightly funny verbal sparring between Sif and the underworld's
corpse-eating dragon Midhogg, who has moreso the personality of a
lazy human couch potato than a fearsome mystical beast.
The one difficulty of this issue is a lack of narrative, either as a brief
story prologue or at appropriate points in the tale itself, to help
readers understand exactly what is motivating Sif and driving her on this
risky gambit for enchanted power. Most likely other Thor titles
are connected to these developments, but as a non-regular Thor reader, I could
have used a bit of explanation of context here. While the result is still
a fun stand-alone tale, I was left with the very strong feeling that I'm
missing a lot of what's really happening in the bigger picture of this ongoing
new storyline. Unfortunately, that's an oft-times confusing and
muddling way to kick-off a brand new multi-issue story arc that could have and
should have been avoided with just some further narrative explanation.
So while there's a flaw here in failing to assist new readers to immerse
themselves in understanding some of the bigger-picture plot developments,
this is still a very good, well-crafted kick-off issue for a five-part
tale. Just the artwork, sense of humor and that unexpected bloody
yet fascinating bridge to issue #647 alone make it worth sticking with this
series to see how these intriguing Asgardian adventure elements play-out over
the span of the five-issue story segments, all currently available on the
That's Entertainment new issues shelves for your reading enjoyment.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Stuart Immonen: Pencils
Wade Von Grawbadger: Inks
Marte Gracia: Colors
The "All-New X-Men" title is up to issue #6 this month. As with
the Journey Into Mystery title reviewed above, I decided to backtrack to the
January kick-off issue #1 to get a good feel from the very start of this
latest addition to the very wide world of X-Men storyverse titles. The
series is scripted by A-list writer Brian Michael Bendis with pencils by Stuart
Immonen, inks by Wade Von Grawbadger and colors by Marte Gracia.
A front page narrative sets the tone for this series, explaining that X-Men
leader Cyclops has gone rogue in follow-up to this past year's mutant/humankind
struggles. The remainder of the issue is divided into two acts. Act
One details the consequences of this rift; while Cyclops with his new partners
Magneto and Emma Frost try to recruit confused teenaged mutants to their
rebellious cause, the core of today's X-Men team brainstorms back at the Jean
Grey Academy on how to confront him. A sub-plot reveals that
Hank/The Beast is undergoing an uncontrolled further mutation that seems to be
killing him. Act Two shifts the plot and scene to a last-ditch,
desperate strategy, as the ill Hank time-travels to the early X-Men
years. Confronting the original team that includes his younger
self, he implores the young version of Cyclops to journey forward to the
present to try and convince his older renegade self to stand-down before mutant
genocide erupts.
This is a great addition to the inventory of X-Men comic books for several
reasons. Brian Michael Bendis delivers an excellent script, fully
fleshing-out the varied personalities, conflicts and multiple plot issues flowing
through this dramatic and dangerous intra-mutant conflict. The
time-travel element is unexpected and fun, clearly leading to the core of this
new title, the concept of the original Silver Age teen version of X-Men
journeying to our world and coping with the grand mess of the 2013 world of
all-things-X-Men.
The real fun of this new title run will be two-fold: seeing how the 1960's
X-Kids react to our radically-different society and how they react to
seeing the warped paths that all of their lives have taken over the
decades. There's a wonderful glimpse of those possibilities
initially presented here in issue #1, in the high quality scene in which
the time-traveling Beast and his 1960's persona react to and apprise each
other. I also enjoyed very much the particular assembled cast of X-Men
starring in this title. I've drifted away from being an X-Men fan as the
line-up evolved over the past 20 years or so. As such, it was great
fun to see the mix of the 60's kids with a present-day cast that centers on a
core traditional line-up including the adult versions of the original cast
along with Storm and Kitty Pryde.
So a well-deserved thumbs-up positive review recommendation for all good Marvel
readers to backpedal like I did to the readily-available issue #1 and quickly
catch-up (as I plan to do!) with the additional monthly issues, all readily
available on the That's Entertainment new issues shelves.
Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you to identify which large
metropolitan city is considered by nature experts to be the "raccoon
capital of North America." And our contest winner is (drumroll,
please...) Keith Martin, who correctly identified Toronto, Canada as that
city. There's a great episode this past year of the PBS television series
Nature that further explores the hows and whys of Toronto being the Raccoon
capital of this continent, so check it out sometime and learn something new
about nature! Congratulations to Keith who wins our first prize
$10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!!!
New Contest
Challenge!!!
The Bongo Congo Panel Of Contest Judges offers-up this week a riddle contest
for your consideration. Your challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later than Wednesday,
May 8 with the answer to the following riddle: If A represents Boston, B
represents New York and C represents Philadelphia, what cities do D, E and F
represent? The answer is right on something that we all deal with just
about every day in our lives, so tell us the correct completion of this
sequence. As always, in the event of multiple correct entries, our
contest winner will be selected via a roll of the dice from among the correct
entries. Please note that our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to
That's Entertainment is redeemable for regular retail merchandise or in-store,
on-going specials, only.
That's all for now, so have two great Boston Red Sox-watching and comic
book reading weeks and see you again on Friday, May 10 Here In Bongo Congo!
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