Super Powers #1 (2nd Series)

Picking up from his defeat in Super Powers #5, Darkseid is more determined than ever to conquer the Earth!

Thanks to the scheming underling Desaad, Darkseid has unleashed 5 bio-engineered seeds that will burrow through the Earth's crust. Once the seeds reach the molten core, our planet's magma will flood the surface, creating a new Apokolips!

Armed with a new assortment of allies, the Justice League breaks up into 5 teams in hopes of destroying these seeds before they reach the Earth. Firestorm, Dr. Fate, Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter join the original Super Powers lineup in order to stop Darkseid's plan. It's a global tour not to be missed!

Already off the bat, everything feels right about this series. All of the heroes make some sort of contribution. Albeit, most are rather small. Yet unlike the last series, it doesn't take 3 issues for Wonder Woman to actually say something and she's operating in the present and not in a theoretical situation. 

As for the villains, only Darkseid, Desaad and a couple of minor minions appear in the first issue. But I'm okay with that as that ensures an element of surprise when the heroes go to stop those destructive seed pods from taking root.

Paul Kupperberg is on scripting duties with Jack Kirby plotting and on art!!! Kupperberg is a writer that loves comics, and from the brief couple of times I met him, he also seems to have fun doing it! It really shows here. There's just such a different vibe with this series. I know it's early. However, I really feel like I'm in for a treat with this book as things are off to a heck of a start compared to that uneven start to issue #1 of series #1.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Super Powers #4

The Amazons may have been defeated. But Brainiac isn't done yet! With his de-evolutionizing abilities given to him by warriors from Apokolips, the android villain uses it on Superman, turning him into the Caveman of Steel! 

Most of this issue is the Justice League trying to contain Superman and failing miserably. Green Lantern's power ring allows Superman to return to normal. However, the Kryptonian has to stay inside GL's force field or he returns to his primal self. Still, with this small hindrance, the now complete forces of Super Powers characters, minus Robin who is on patrol duty in the JLA satellite, looks to give Brainiac the beating he so richly deserves. 

AND THEN DARKSEID ARRIVES! 

With how Kirby has set the players on the board and the fact that he's not just plotting the story in issue #5, but also writing and drawing the whole shebang, I can't wait to see what is in store for the finale!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Teen Titans Go! to Camp! (Family Comic Friday)

It's Summer time and the Teen Titans are going to camp- on Apokolips! But the heroes of Jump City won't be going alone. The twisted teens of the H.I.V.E. Five and the ideal junior heroes of Titans East will also be spending their Summer vacation with the Teen Titans on Darkseid's home world.

The youngsters' activities will be planned by the director of Camp Apokolips, Granny Goodness. Their camp counselors are Kalibak and Mad Harriet! Their lunch consists of several dishes made of various bugs. Their swimming hole is a lava pit. And the rumor around the ol' campfire is that unlucky campers will be eaten by the Terrifying Beast of the Pit!

As usual, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg are trying to make the best of a bad situation. As for Robin, he's got it in his head that the title of Camper of the Year is his to win. Only, there's no such award at Camp Apokolips. Instead, those campers who survive this 6 week ordeal will find themselves as the newest troopers in Darkseid's army!

This 2020 graphic novel was hilarious! It felt like it should have been a movie! In fact, if DC ever decides to bring TTG back to the silver screen, this is the plot that they should use for inspiration! Mixing the zany members of the Teen Titans, H.I.V.E. 5 and the straight-laced Titans East with the residents of Kirby's Fourth World was just so fun to someone like myself who is a huge fan of the New Gods! 

The great Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up) pens this awesome script. I didn't know that he was a child psychologist until I read the'About the Author' section in the back of this book. But that fact explains why it feels like Fisch can write from children while not dumbing things down for the enjoyment of adults. 

The main illustrator of this book is DC Super Hero Girl's Marcelo DiChiara. The artist does a fantastic job making every main panel look like it was ripped straight from my TV set- set to Cartoon Network, of course! 

Each chapter ends with one of the main characters writing a loved one back home. The artwork for those segments are by a host of great talent including Franco, Jamal Igle, and 3rd generation member of the Kubert art clan, Emma! Each artist adds their own deft touch to the story. You see their art style and a little bit of tribute to both Jack Kirby and Teen Titans legends Nick Cardy and George Perez.

I did not want this book to end. I had a great time reading it. It combined my love for Jack Kirby, comic book nostalgia and zany comedy. Kids who are fans of TTG will love this book because it captures the spirit of the animated series perfectly. Adults will love it because it reminds them of classic DC lore. But also because it's a wholesome read that stimulates that imagination of young readers everywhere!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Justice League of America's Vibe, Vol. 1: Breach

Next to the character of Wells and his various incarnations, my favorite character on The CW's The Flash is Cisco Ramon. Played by actor Carlos Valdes, the character is witty, smart and super chill. With his love of pop culture and Star Wars, I think we'd make great friends if we were to meet IRL. But when it comes to the comic book version, I know very little about the superhero known as Vibe. That interest in knowing a little bit more about the hero is why I chose to pick up this book a while back at my local Ollie's store.

The New 52! incarnation of Vibe/Cisco Ramon is similar to what little I know about the character. He's Latino. From Detroit. Has some sort of ability to alter the vibrational frequencies of not just our Earth; but the entire gambit of the multiverse. And he was a part of the Justice League of America- the original version.

Here we get Vibe's origin of how Ramon obtained his powers as a young boy when he's unfortunately sliced in half by a boom tube during an early invasion from Darkseid's parademon forces. Cisco survived the incident. However, his older brother died in the rescue attempt. Due to his ultra-close encounter with boom tube technology, Cisco Ramon's latent meta-human genes were unlocked and the ability to command the multiverse was now his.

As Cisco's powers strengthen, this puts him in the crosshairs of ARGUS. The feelings of the clandestine agency is that if Cisco can't be used as a super-powered weapon against potential foes that slip into our dimension then Cisco too is a potential threat to global safety. 

Now training to be an agent of ARGUS, Cisco is given the codename VIBE. Vibe's powers help him to sense when someone has breached the barriers between our universe and their own. Things seem to be going great as the newest wunderkind at ARGUS until Cisco is tasked with apprehending a mysterious woman named Gyspy who seems to have familiar air to her.

I felt like this book had two tones to it. Vibe was originally a 10 issue series. The first 4 or 5 issues in which Vibe is learning the ropes of being an agent of ARGUS feels like the Denzel Washington film Training Day or something similar. Cisco learns that being a hero doesn't always mean being a good guy. Then when Vibe meets Gypsy things shift over to The Fugitive (pick your version). Add some DC Comics touches like Apokolips and some forgotten characters from the 60s and 70s getting a modern retouch and you've got the basis for one of the more enjoyable titles to come from the New 52! experiment.

I did have one problem with this book and it's more of a design flaw or issue with the marketing/editing department. This book is touted as Volume 1. As I said early, the Vibe series lasted 10 issues, from 2013-2014. All 10 issues are reprinted here. So, why call this a Volume 1? The back cover even confirms that this book contains the 'full 10-issue series' and there's a 1 on the spine of the book!

This isn't the first time DC has done this. They did it a lot with the Showcase Presents B&W reprint collections and some other works. It irks my OCD to no end and it kinda ruins how my bookcase display looks. I know this is a small thing. But it makes my brain itch to no end.

A good story poorly marketed. Definitely a reason NOT to judge a book by it's cover!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Mister Miracle: The Great Escape

I write a weekly column on my blog called Family Comic Friday. I originally was going to review this for that post. But after I completed this book, I decided it wasn't appropriate for that.

In the very beginning of this book, there is a trigger warning about how details in this book involved talk of suicide and experiences of PTSD. Not to mention there's a whole academy of youngsters being trained to become soldiers by beating everyone else's brains in. But no. Neither of those reasons is why I decided not to review this for my weekly family review. It's because of the swears. They're all here. Even the BIG one of all-time- the F-Bomb!

Amazon rates this 2022 young adult graphic novel for those in grades 8-12. I'm completely fine with that. But my local library has this book put with the kids graphic novel section. I'm not one to ban books. But I do think it's my duty to let the library know that they've got this book placed in the wrong age group lest some irate parent start a protest demanding Mister Miracle: The Great Escape become the latest victim of a good ol' fashioned book burning. 

That last sentence is about as ironic a statement I can make as the planet on which this book takes place, Apokolips, would like nothing more than to eliminate any and all things considered seditious to the reign of the New God, Darkseid. So if a parent did in deed decide that this young adult graphic novel was destined for the furnace, they'd very much be enacting the despotic actions of the scum of Apokolips! Plus, with changes done to the characters, I am sure there will be some comic book fans out there wanting to cry foul! 

When I checked this book out, I actually knew very little about it's publication. Even though I check the previews of new comics and graphic novels weekly, I somehow overlooked this book. I am a huge fan of Jack Kirby and I'm doing everything in my power to collect any and everything Fourth World. So when I stumbled across this book at my LCS, I was very excited. 

The main change from this book and the original vision of Jack Kirby is the skin color of Scott Free and several other characters are reversed. At first, I thought that this might be yet another attempt by DC to be what detractors call 'woke.' But then I remembered from reading a Jack Kirby biography recently that Kirby wanted Mister Miracle originally to be black but the editors vetoed that idea. So in reality writer Varian Johnson (The Great Greene Heist) is fulfilling Kirby's original plan for the Fourth World.

See when Jack Kirby came over in 1971 to DC Comics, The King planned to make Apokolips this post-apocalyptic world that was an allegory on class warfare and face. Darkseid and his elete minions were supposed to all be white. While the dregs of Apokolips, the war dogs of Darkseid's army, were all to be people of color. The heavenly people of New Genesis, including Scott Free's real father, Highfather were going to be black (or of color) just like Scott and Big Barda. However, this vision of Kirby's Fourth World was just decades ahead of its time. I'm glad to see it coming to fruition finally, even if it did take 50 years to happen and only occurs in a Young Adult novel that probably isn't canon.

While I enjoyed the changes, I wasn't a big fan of some of the artwork. Artist Daniel Isles (Joyama) draws some characters as if they had a Muppet nose. Instead of a tip and pair of nostrils, some characters noses are completely outlined with a nose-like circle. This makes them look like Bert and Ernie with their foam ball proboscises.

I also didn't like how Scott Free was drawn in his downtime clothes, which looks like a hoodie and sweatpants. Though I wonder if these are some of Himon's Earth clothes and he's given them to Scott so that if he ever escapes to Earth, he'll fit it. If that's the case, I am okay with it. But what the heck is up with those tiny red balls that float around Scott all the time?

I loved Isles design of Big Barda. She's tall. She's rough. And she looks like I would imagine Kirby would have drawn her if the legend was allowed to use a woman of color as a model instead of Jewish chanteuse Lanie Kazan. And the twist with Granny Goodness- that was a brilliant character design that I didn't see coming. 

I did feel that the 3rd act of this book was rushed. It's a trap a lot of comic book and graphic novel writers get into. The first two acts really dive into the hierarchy of the orphanage run by Granny Goodness. The climatic last act is supposed to occur over the span of 8 days and yet maybe only 10-15% of the book's 208 pages is devoted to that time period. Wasn't bad. Just seemed rushed. 

If Varian Johnson and Daniel Isles decided to do a sequel, I would be so on board. I'm interested to see how the character of Shilo Norman would be approached- if introduced. As a compromise to bypassing his dynamic social relevant vision for Scott Free, Jack Kirby created the character of Shilo, a young black pre-teen who one day would become Mister Miracle's replacement. We've already seen Shilo don the suit of the World's Greatest Escape Artist. I'm just interested to see if the creators of this book would make Shilo white to really explore the race-switching nature of this book or if they might make Shilo be of another marginalized race like Asian or Middle Eastern. 

There's a lot left to be explored with this most authentic version of Jack Kirby's epic creations. And I'm willing to camp out to be first in line to acquire it should DC decide to green light a sequel.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

 

Mister Miracle

Shortly before my state’s quarantine mandate went into effect, I headed over to my local library for some graphic novel and trade reads. One of the trades available had been on my wish list for some time: Tom King’s Mister Miracle. Running for 12 issues from October 2017- January 2019, this version of the world’s greatest escape artist was rather trippy. But King, along with artist Mitch Gerads, managed to stay pretty faithful to Jack Kirby’s original Fourth World vision in the process.

Mister Miracle
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerads
Covers by Gerads and Nick Derrington
Publisher: DC Comics

Originally published as Mister Miracle, issues #1-12.

Scott Free grew up in the orphanages of Apokolips run by the tyrannical Granny Goodness. Scott spent every waking moment he wasn’t being tortured trying to escape Granny’s fire pits. Finally achieving his goal, Scott traveled to earth and became friends with Mister Miracle, the world’s greatest escape artist.

Scott’s planned time in the shadows was short-lived. When mobsters killed the original Mister Miracle, Scott takes over the identity and eventually becomes an even bigger celebrity (and eventual hero) with the help of his manager Oberon and his former Furies leader wife, Big Barda.

Tragedy befalls the Mister Miracle household, sending Scott Free into a spiraling free-fall. Deeply depressed, Scott attempts one last escape. Slicing open his wrists, Scott takes his own life only to be snatched away from death thanks to paramedics! 

Or did he?

Controversial Batman writer Tom King tackled a bunch of metaphysical concepts in this maxi-series. What or who is God? What is reality? By the end of this title, you’ll be asking yourself if one man’s hell can be another paradise? While a lot of the concepts are explored but never truly explained, the reader will get an answer at the end of this story as to if Scott Free is dead or not. OR maybe not.

This Mister Miracle story is essentially a crisis story. Not just for Scott but for all of the New Gods on New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid has achieved the anti-life equation and the forces of Highfather and Orion will risk everything to stop evil from winning. 

But with all of DC’s crisis stories, the ending often gets mired with open ended finales. And for the most part, that’s exactly what happens here. Though, I do feel that this was one of the least open-ended stories produced on a level with CRISIS. Maybe I am not really clear here. I rather enjoyed this Tom King/Mitch Gerads production. 

Mitch Gerads (The Sheriff of Babylon) was a huge factor in my appeal of this Mister Miracle run. I forgot how alluring Jack Kirby had made the Amazon-like Big Barda. But Gerards quickly reminded me! And what he is able to do making some of the more surreal moments of this book look like an old school rabbit ears TV set struggling to get a clear reception was a thing of mastery!

Gerards won an Eisner award for his work on this book in 2018. Tom King did as well. But really, it’s the stunning visuals that make this book a New Gods series unlike any other. Expect lots and lots of red ink to flow through these pages. And with that, readers should expect lots and lots of death. Whether that body count includes Mister Miracle is up for interpretation.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #45

Hoping to study up on future escape techniques, Fred and the Mystery Inc. gang attend one of the extravaganzas of the reknown escape artist, Mister Miracle. Backstage, the detectives meet Scott Free, his apprentice Shilo Norman, hype-man Oberon and Scott's wife Big Barda. It's here that minions from Apokolips attack Mister Miracle and wind-up kidnapping Daphne, Velma and Barda. 

Despite knowing full-well that the attack is a trap and that Darkseid wants Scott Free back on Apokolips for good, Mister Miracle returns to his home world  to save his wife. Shaggy and Fred make the Boom Tube trip as well in hopes of rescuing their missing partners. However, it all appears too late as the girls appear to now be under the power of that dastardly task master, Granny Goodness!

There is a very large chunk of Fourth World characters appearing in this issue. However, other than a few images of Darkseid on posters and other media, don't expect the baddie to be in this issue. I thought having Shilo in the story was another one of those faithful nods to the original source material on the part of Sholly Fisch. But in terms of other New Genesis heroes like Orion and Lightray, it appears that Fisch may be saving them for a future issue! One can only hope.

Let's talk about something else that was curiously missing: Jack Kirby. Kirby was the creator of all things Fourth World, including Mister Miracle. While a large portion of those characters, settings and tech were used in this book, there was no legal mumbo-jumbo acknowledging Kirby's creation of said characters. 

I double-checked on this. In the DC's Nuclear Winter Special, there's a blurb on the inside cover stating that Kamandi was created by Jack Kirby. It's right under the list of credits given to Siegel and Schuster for creating Superman, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson crafting Batman, and so forth. Those such honors have been in other Scooby-Doo Team-Ups past. But somebody forgot to honor The King in this book!

After a one-month holiday absence, I was so eager for this series to come back. It did not disappoint. Dario Brizuela's art was as perfect as always. The plot and jokes were fresh. It didn't feel like a typical Scooby-Doo comic book. It felt like a missing 1970s script of Mister Miracle with directions by Kirby, script by Fisch and finished by Brizuela. 

A must for fans of DC's Fourth World!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Darkseid Special #1

Stories by Mark Evanier, Paul Levitz, Phil Hester, and Jack Kirby.
Art by Scott Kolins, Ande Parks, and Jack Kirby.
Published by DC Comics.

Only Evanier Can Go to Apokolips

For the Month of August, DC Comics published a series of one-shots based on some of the most iconic Jack Kirby DC creations. It was all done to celebrate what would have been the King's 100th birthday. The New Gods, Etrigan the Demon, and the Black Racer were among some of the properties highlighted in the Kirby tributes. But DC saved the best for last in the Darkseid 'Over-sized' Special.

The main story was written by former Kirby apprentice and biographer Mark Evanier. I think it was the perfect choice. Like the Vulcans say in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 'Only Nixon can go to China.' Ideally, if you're going to focus on the most important character that the King introduced to the DC Universe, you would have Kirby write it. But since his greatness cannot be with us, Evanier is the next best thing, since he had access to Kirby's notes and plans for the character.

(Interesting Note: Speaking of Nixon, Jack Kirby hated the 37th President of the United States. Seeing his abuse of power in the White House, Kirby designed Darkseid after Richard Nixon all the way down to his insecurities as a despotic leader.)

Now back to the review...

In the main story, Evanier writes of a band of resistance fighters. Their leader Makayla was an orphan at Granny Goodness' Orphan and escaped. In respond to the horrors she was subjected to, Makayla and he pair of companions deface statues and monuments erected to impose the fear of Darkseid over the populace of the Armaghetto. After three years of failures, Darkseid enlists the Female Furies to end this budding revolution. So when Makayla ups and surrenders to the Furies, has she finally given up or is there a secret plan behind her concession?

The all-new character of Makayla was one of the best new characters added to the DC Universe in a very long time. I need to know more of her story. I want a six-issue miniseries where Makayla continues her revolution against Darkseid and I want Mark Evanier to write it! I also want Scott Kolins to draw it.

Kolins' style is very dank and gritty. It's perfect for the slums of Apokolips. Plus, Kolins' has got this quality similar to personal favorite Frank Quitely that shows the characters warts and all.

A Fitting End For a One Man Army

The back-up feature is by Paul Levitz and Phil Hester. It showcases OMAC, just after he topples the general of the NPA (National Protection Agency) in the pages of the original OMAC comic from 1975. I loved the ending given to the One Man Army Corps. I think it would have been a fitting ending to the character right then and there. With art by Ande Parks this story was a powerful tribute to Kirby's skills as both a creator and artist.

There's a couple of classic Kirby stories here too. I've read the Forever People story before. But the All-Seeing Eye from Tales of the Unexpected #12 was something I've read about in books and magazines but never gotten to read until now. Nobody is quite sure who wrote the tale of a talisman that can see anywhere in the world. But this is definitely a Kirby-illustrated story filled with his then experimental panels and angles. It was awesome to finally get to read a story I've heard nothing but praise for for decades.

As I said earlier, DC saved the best for last in their Kirby 100th Birthday specials. Everything was perfect from the stories to the art and even the reprints. Well, almost everything was perfect... Sadly, the King wasn't here to enjoy it with us fans.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Review originally published September 2, 2017 on outrightgeekery.com.

Tales of the New Gods

An eclectic collection of stories featuring Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Some of the tales were originally explored by the King himself whereas others expound or even completely develop some the origins of the various background characters that inhabit New Genesis and Apokolips. Featuring the awesome writing and artistic talents of John Byrne, Mark Evanier, Frank Miller, Steve Rude, Art Adams, and dozens more, this is a volume you don't want to miss.

    The episodes in the volume were originally printed in Mister Miracle Special, Jack Kirby's Fourth World, and Orion. That in no way means that you shouldn't collect Fourth World or Orion because with the exception of the Mister Miracle Special, the other chapters reprinted here were backup features to those titles. If you was to omit them from your collection would mean that you would be missing out on two dynamic titles from the 90s as each story is only about 4-8 pages long (and the titles Tales of the New Gods were contained are about 4 times more in length.) So if you were to find Orion or Fourth World in a dollar box or cheaper, you would still be making a wise investment in completing your Fourth World collection.

    I knew about this when I bought this book at a used bookstore a while back. I was so desperate to read more adventures about the New Gods, that I gladly shelled out some hard earned cash knowing very well, I will probably sell this book once I collect the previously mention titles that contain these legends.

    If you are new to Kirby's Fourth World, I strongly encourage this book as a primer. Some of Kirby's work isn't easy to dig into, particularly New Gods. This work is the perfect way to learn of the backstory of such important characters like Darkseid, Highfather, and the Infinity Man; all of which Kirby plotted out their origins but never got around to diving into in his Fourth World titles in the 70s as the entire line was cancelled in less than 2 years due to poor sales.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Superman: Cosmic Bounty Hunter (Family Comic Friday)

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's not really a comic book I'm reviewing this week. For today's edition of Family Comic Friday, I thought it would be interesting to review the DC Super Heroes series of readers. This books originally published from around 2008-2011 feature artwork based on various DC cartoon series such as Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: the Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

    At my library, I found about 30 different titles and they were located in the children's graphic novels section. Plus there is colorful artwork on every fourth page. Not only that, the stories are about superheroes, the stars of comic books. So, I decided this might be an interesting read to review for FCF.

     The story has Darkseid hiring out the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo to bring the Man of Steel to Apokolips so that the despot can finally do away with him. When Lobo then shows up in Metropolis causing havoc with a new laser-chain weapon it appears that things might be too much for Superman. But when Darkseid's son, Kalibak, double-crosses Lobo and captures both the Man of Tomorrow and the Czarnian Main Man, it may very well be Darkseid who will be the only doing all the suffering.
   
    The story was fresh and fun. But it also brought back a little nostalgia for me. I grew up watching Superman: the Animated Series and some of my favorite episodes from the show involved Lobo and Darkseid fighting the Last Kryptonian. To my knowledge, the two adversaries never appeared in the same episode together. So this all-new story was like reading a script from a lost episode with some storyboards thrown in for good measure.
 
     If I had a child, I would be all over this series. While I think comic books are the cat's pajamas, I feel that from time to time it is required to read something that's done in prose form. These books are a fun way to get kids to transition kids to reading more wordy works. I got started reading thanks to comics and went to readers and then to full-on chapter books. But when I was a kid, they didn't have anything like these readers ideal for 1st-4th graders. At least not anything with the world's greatest superheroes in them!

   One neat thing about these books is the sound effects. While the story is written like a book, when Superman hits a bad guy with his fist (POW!) or the villian flies through a glass window (CRASH) the words are embellished like in the comics. (See picture example of these unique fonts.) It makes the reading experience all that more fun.

     The way I see it the best method to get a child reading is to find them things that they would enjoy reading about. If your child loves superheroes, then you start with picture books and comics about them. Then you move on to readers like this. Then there's older kids chapter books and eventually 200-page plus works without pictures that star your favorite DC and Marvel heroes.
 
 
(By the way, you can pretty much substitute superheroes with any subject they desire and work them up to reading word only literature. It's how I learned to read and I have found in my experience as a former educator to be the best way to get children reading.) (JUST DON'T FORGET TO LET THEM RETURN TO COMICS WHENEVER THEY WANT.)

   So besides the library, where can you find these DC Super Heroes readers? Amazon has dozens of different titles for less than $5 a book. Some titles can be bought used for as low as a penny plus shipping.  There's also a companion series called DC Super Villains that star some of the more colorful rogues of the DC Universe like The Joker and Sinestro. Along with a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts, these readers will not only get your child interested in reading but might get them hooked on the creative process.

    Who knows? These books might be training and inspiring the next generation of writers right now!

   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   

52 Aftermath- The Four Horsemen #1

  During 52, a cadre of super-villains started an island commune with the expressed purpose of ridding the earth of their enemies one and for all. If that meant they became the de facto rulers of earth- so be it. One of their experiments was to create living embodiments of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (or was is Apokolips?) and they did a lot of damage with those.

    Now, the Four Horsemen are free from their new masters and are running rampant throughout the earth. Seeing this as a major setback from their island paradise being recognized as a sovereign state by the UN, the villains must do the one thing they dread most: ask for help from the Justice League.
   
    I read 52 several years ago and I've actually forgotten much of what happened involving this island commune for super villains sub-plot. I seem to remember the Metal Men and Egg Fu having something to do with this. But honestly, that wasn't my favorite story subplot and I glossed over it. Had I not waited so long to read this tie-in miniseries, I might have enjoyed this first issue more. Instead, I had to run back to my collection, pull out some issues of 52 and get a little more reacquainted with that plot.
 
   Even with the tutorial, this didn't help me to enjoy this issue very much. Not looking too good for the rest of this series.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Legends of the DC Universe #25

   

  Part two of the Darkseid story concludes with the ruler of Apokolips slowly going insane as his neural link to the zombified dog soldier is making him sympathetic to the rebellion's cause. But the demigod must continue if he is to get to the bottom of the cause of this insurrection and to learn the ultimate fate of D-VO, the tagger whose the source behind this plague of hope.

    The conclusion was much better than the first chapter. Mostly, because it fits better with the Kirby formula behind the Fourth World saga. Also, this part delves more into the infantryman's origin and his time in Granny Goodness'es Orphanages. That part of Apokolips has always fascinated me as it plays a major role in the origin story of Mister Miracle. The place is designed to break a child in order for it to be built up in the image (and service) of Darkseid. Yet, the abandoned son of New Genesis found the courage and resolve to fight this brainwashing and went on to become a crime-fighting escape artist and valued member of the Justice League.
 
    This story went on to prove that he wasn't alone.
 
    I've not mentioned much about the art. Pencilled by Steve Pugh, this is another artist that I am not very familiar with. But his style is very similar to that of Paul Pope (Batman: 100.) There' a German Impressionist quality to it what with his character's swooping eyebrows and embellished walls and crooked staircases. This is very much the leftover sets from the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Not the most structurally sound architecture, but for a world as twisted as Apokolips, it works.

   Worth Consuming.
   
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Legends of the DC Universe #24

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret- when I was younger and I'd buy a comic book grab bag, I would often get back issues of Kirby's Fourth World series. New Gods, Mister Miracle, The Forever People as well as Kamandi and the Demon. I didn't know what it was and I thought they were like baseball cards; you know commons. Man was I wrong. I would often give or throw them away.

 Now in my late 30s, I've grown to realize my mistake and to value their historical and culture significance. Also, I've been actively trying to recreate my creation through trades and back issue bonanzas I've even been enjoying some of the newer stuff like John Byrne's run in the mid-90s. So, when a Darkseid two-parter popped up in my rotation to read in Legends, I was excited to revisit that oft-overlooked realm of the DC Universe.

  In this issue, a member of Darkseid's 'Dog' army is dispatched to take out a tagger whose actions are causing dissention amongst the populace of Apokolips. When the battle moves to a temple devoted to Darkseid, an explosion occurs. The trooper is listed as a casualty and the rebel is thought dead as well.

  In order to get to the bottom of this rebellion the despot of Apokolips with the assistance of his minion Desaad has reanimated the soldier. Using the 'zombie's' testimony, Darkseid hopes to be able to quash the revolution because his previous method of mass disintegration of the surrounding populace has surprisingly not been working. Imagine that!
 
   When I first read this, I wasn't completely sold on it. But as I'm reviewing this issue, it's actually gaining more of my favor. It's still not the best Fourth World tale I've ever read, but it cliffhangs to a degree that I feel positive of it's potential.

    Worth Consuming.

    Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.