Sgt. Rock:Between Hell and a Hard Place

After a nearly 10 year absence, Joe Kubert returned to his best known character, Sgt. Rock. With Brian Azzrello writing, Kubert plotted and illustrated this 2003 graphic novel under the Vertigo imprint. Meant to be more edgy and adult, other than maybe a bit more violence, I could not tell a difference from this and the stuff my father used to read in the 70s and 80s.

I'm going to make a stunning confession here. Most of you know me as a big DC fan. Yet, when it comes to the World War II characters, I prefer Sgt. Fury and His Howlin' Commandos over the guys of Easy Co. I always felt that the Commandos had more personality. In contrast, I felt like Easy Co. was just a rotating group of grunts that had very little personality and even less chance at staying alive than a red shirt on Star Trek.

I bought this book more for the something extra inside it than the art and story. Along with this book, there was a piece of DC Comics stationary that was meant to drum up business for a book seller into buying multiple copies of this book. This volume I purchased wasn't a proof, but it was sent out in advance. Seeing as DC stationary is considered a holy grail among DC fans, I had to have this book if only for that treasure piece of comic book history.

Between Hell and a Hard Place was an okay read. The story has Sgt. Rock and his men finding a group of Nazi officers. Rock decides to take the men back to base in hopes of gaining some valuable information that might put an end to the war. But on the journey back, 3 of the officers are murdered at point blank range, during an assault from another group of German soldiers. With a fourth officer on the run, Rock must play detective as one of his own soldiers may have been who shot the other Nazis in cold blood.

I felt that the main storyline gets gobbled up in other elements, like the origin of the Ice Cream Soldier and the introduction of new recruits to Easy Co. I was fine with the ending but I did feel that elements of the murder mystery tied themselves up in just too neat of a bow.

My favorite part of this book was the art. I love Joe Kubert. His work on Weird War Tales is just fantastic. His images of Rock adorned in red, white and blue tipped bandoliers was awe-inspiring. It also felt nostalgic as I feel like that is how I grew up seeing Sgt. Rock in the comics as a kid. But I cannot find any evidence on this on Google.

A good read but if not for the stationery treasure contained within, I wouldn't keep this book as a part of my collection.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Dark Knight III: The Master Race

The latest chapter in the Dark Knight saga by Frank Miller has Bruce Wayne dead after being unable to recover from injuries in a battle with a super-powered Lex Luthor. Cassie, the Dark Knight's former apprentice has taken up the mantle of the Bat and has declared war on the corrupt cops of Gotham.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is ruling Themyscira alone with her new son; the product of a union between the Amazon and Superman. While their eldest daughter seeks her place in the world, the Man of Steel has exiled himself to the Fortress of Solitude after an unknown defeat. When a forgotten evil presents itself as the savior of the human race, which side will both Cassie and Lara, the Last Daughter of Krypton, take?

Yes, a lot seems to have transpired from the events of the Dark Knight Strikes Again. Some things which seem to contradict said events. For example, in the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Green Lantern had become just a source of Emerald power. Yet here, Hal Jordan has seemingly returned to human form and no explanation is given.

One of the reasons for these inconsistencies maybe that Frank Miller isn't doing the majority of the writing here. Instead, it's 100 Bullets Brain Azzarello who has taken on head writing duties. Miller is still involved in the project but at the time of production he was suffering from a number of health problems. Thus Azzarello's need to take over.

Unlike in the first two books, Miller does more art. Original series artist Klaus Janson is still around but he is on inking duty only here. Frank Miller is instead assisted by Andy Kubert for a majority of the nine issue series. But it's what Miller focuses on throughout this mini's run was my favorite part of the Master Race. 

At the end of each issue was series of tie-ins called The Dark Knight Universe Presents. These back-up features focused on characters mainly unexplored in Miller's Dark Knight universe such as the Atom and Aquaman. I actually wanted more of those stories than the main story of the Master Race I was presented. 

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this chapter in the Dark Knight story. But I enjoyed the back-ups more. I am told that a fourth volume is in the works and if so, I really hope Miller focuses more on the supporting cast as they were a lot more interesting to me than what was going on with the DCU Trinity.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars. 

Flashpoint: Batman- Knight of Vengeance #2

   Jim Gordon gets a tip on the whereabouts of the Joker and decides to investigate alone. As in without the assistance of the Batman! Of course, you know this will not end well. But how it ends will shock the pants off of you. 

    A great read that would've have been so much more better had I not already known what was going to happen prior to reading this book. Social media can be great and it can be such a kick in the pants because of spoilers aplenty. Don't worry, my loyal readers, this Madman will not spoil issue #2 for you.

     A must read by Brian Azzarello with super-creepy art by Eduardo Risso.

    Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Batman- Knight of Vengeance #1

    In the Flashpoint universe, there may not be very many superheroes from Barry Allen's universe, but there is a Batman. He's gritty, violent, and is currently attempting to save a pair of twins from the diabolical Joker. Sounds kinda like our Dark Knight. Only the person behind the cape and cowl isn't Bruce Wayne- it's his father, Thomas.
   In this alternate timeline, it was young Bruce who was killed by an unknown assailant, not his parents. Racked with grief and burning with vengeance, Dr. Wayne makes his life mission to clean up Gotham City. By day, he runs the city's privatized police force. At dusk, he operates the seedy Wayne Casinos in hopes of keeping tabs over the gangs of Gotham. If those two personas of Thomas Wayne's don't work, at night, he becomes the Batman, operating outside of the law to 'collect the trash.'
   An interesting take on the Caped Crusader. I've read a lot of Elseworlds books which depict various versions of Batman. I've read about Batman becoming a Green Lantern, a swashbuckling pirate, a vampire, and so many more variances. But I must say that this is the first time I've run across Bruce's father being the Bat!
    A great first segment by Brian Azzarello (Joker.) Next to Scott Snyder, Azzarello has become the definitive gritty Batman writer in the past 2 decades. Teamed with his 100 Bullets art partner, Eduardo Risso, Brian Azzarello has crafted a Gotham City that's straight out of Jim Gordon's nightmares. I'm extremely excited for this Flashpoint tie-in's prospects!

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern #1

A tribute issue in honor of the passing of the great Julius Schwartz, long-time EIC of DC Comics. Schwartz was known for having concept covers drawn up and then would assign writers to use that idea for use in a forthcoming issue of said title.

Here, artists and writers such as Brian Azzarello, Brian Bolland, and Scott McDaniel devise two potential tales in which Green Lantern might have reason to sell copies of his power rings for only a buck each. (That my friends is a steal.)

The best of the two stories is the first, which is set during the 60s and has the Emerald Warrior on the hunt for Gorilla Grodd. The second tale has Green Lantern and Green Arrow teaming up to stop a renegade toy seller from profiting on fake Lantern rings using shoddy work conditions and child labor. The internal conflict of Hal Jordan just doesn’t seem plausible. In just about everything I’ve read on GL, Jordan loved his dad. But in this tale, Mr. Jordan is a boozer and has led to Hal having rage issues. I just don’t see that. Maybe the writer got Jordan confused with Guy Gardner?

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.