PGHHEAD’S 2023 COMICS ODYSSEY, PART 8
This marks the third consecutive year that I will attempt to document my comics reading by writing at least a mini-review. The goal is 1200 books read and reviewed in 2023, although I missed the mark in 2022 by 88 books. Still, I like that number as it’s easy enough to track - - - 100 books per month on average. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR February 28, 2023. . . 200 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 190 comics documented
This is the first one to focus on a singular character rather than a particular sub-genre of comics (horror, romance, war, etc) and it’s a welcome change of pace - - especially considering that The Peacemaker (real name of the title) is gaining some interest due to John Cena’s portrayal in the SUICIDE SQUAD movie and THE PEACEMAKER series on HBO.
The Peacemaker was featured in back-up features in Charlton Comics’ THE FIGHTIN’ FIVE and then given his own five-issue limited PEACEMAKER series. Small publisher Charlton folded in the early 1980’s and character rights were acquired by DC Comics, who made quite a few changes to the character (but never got rid of that stupid helmet and costume- - too late now, we’re used to it). There are three stories here, two from THE FIGHTIN’ FIVE (1966) and the debut story from THE PEACEMAKER (1967) - - that last one being my favorite.
The original Peacemaker was Christopher Smith, who’s body was rebuilt with alien technology following an accident. Smith was a pacifist diplomat but willing to use force as a superhero. He had an assortment of non-lethal weapons and typically went up against foreign dictators and warlords.
What Tim Fuller did to the title here is a lot more fun than the original stories. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Ambushed in the Zambian hills, Conan and companion Jiara are captured by a tribe of inbred man-beasts. They are transported to the throne room (carved out of the side of a mountain) of the Spider King. He decides to keep Jiara as his love slave and give Conan over as a new play thing for his monstrous son Uun’tha.
Conan outwits the lumbering behemoth but almost is done in by a nearby savage before a quick rescue from Nestor the Archer. They bring the whole throne room down under an avalanche of giant rocks and make their way to the borders of Corinthia. A rollicking good escapist adventure. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Batman notices some high-tech drones following various Gotham vigilantes and senses a new threat that will require a team to handle. He recruits Batwoman as his trainer and brings together Spoiler, Orphan, Red Robin and Clayface. The art by Barrows with inks by Eber Ferreira is worth the price of admission.
ISSUE #935: Batwoman puts the new team through a rigorous training exercise and receives some protests from participants. Batman consults Red Robin about the new threat and they learn it comes from the Colony, which Robin suspects is a military group. On his return to the Batcave, the Colony (about fifty members strong, with uniforms similar to Batman) ambush the Batman.
ISSUE #938: The battle issue finale, and it’s a good one. It’s been revealed that Jacob Kane created the Colony to handle the threat of the League of Shadows, and the opening pages presents the rationale/excuse for his
I thought that the relationship between militaristic Jacob Kane and his lesbian daughter Katie Kane was tactfully done by Greg Rucka in the first volume of BATWOMAN. Neither father nor daughter completely understood the other. I think what Tynion did here was rather cruel, sacrificing a crucial relationship for the sake of story.
Overall, a decent story and good beginning for the Bat-team. Over the course of the five issues, Tynion manages to give some time to each of the members to further develop their characters and highlight their strengths. The art really helped raise the rating on this one. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
ISSUE #4: Following her almost marriage to Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle retreats to Villa Hermosa to begin again. However, getting away from Batman wasn’t the only reason, as Jones takes us back into some troubled past history, history which resulted in Selina’s sister being a semi-conscious patient at a nearby care facility, the real reason Selina chose this town.
But, trouble follows her and local crooks are framing Catwoman for the murder of two police officers, landing her in jail.
ISSUE #6: Selina’s out, but forced into a sit-down meeting with the merciless and politically powerful Raina Creel. Faced with an ultimatum of work-for-us-or-die, Selina does what she does best: use her guile and ferocity to take on Creel’s meta-enhanced crime gang. When it appears that the tide is turning, the cruel Creel injects her own son (the only sympathetic member of the family) and turns him into a brutal fighter, which Selina takes down anyway.
A good opening storyline, capped by the heart-warming final scenes where Selina visits her sister. Interesting as always visuals. THREE STARS.
In fact, I started all over again with Issue #1 and I picked up more little details that I glossed over the first time. I’d recommend that approach to others.
This is the best thing I can remember by Marc Silvestri. His art style here has evolved. The current version offers plenty of detail, not cluttered at all, with a grittier look without exaggeration. Very evocative and expressive in the right places. The bonus features of Silverstri’s inked pages are awash in incredible lines.
Quick synopsis of Issues #1 & #2: Gruesome murders and crime scene evidence points toward the Joker. But, Harley Quinn is being held hostage by someone and Joker is being blackmailed. So, he grabs Jim Gordon and blackmails Batman in order to get his help to rescue Harley.
Turns out the new villainous mastermind has an army of demonic creatures. Batman gets to analyze the DNA of a broken tooth from a bite mark and learns of some high tech genetically modified creations. The evidence points towards a scientist/corporate head whose become a recluse after Joker crashed his daughter’s wedding, killed the groom and seriously injured the father of the bride.
Up to this point, Joker has been confined in a strait jacket with his vision blocked and chained inside the Batcave while Batman, Nightwing and Alfred try to figure out who’s behind the monsters. Batman soon realizes he’s going to need to partner with Joker in order to make progress.
Issue #4: I’ve enjoyed every single issue, but this one is my absolute favorite so far. The evidence is pointing to the tech genius identified and interviewed by Batman. Batman and Joker must function as a team in order to pass the next test, which involves a speeding train (with a wedding reception onboard) hurtling towards a terminal crowded with thousands of civilians.
Nightwing and Catwoman work together in the investigation, with some amusing banter between the two. All this while, more pieces of the missing Gordon are being shipped to the Gotham Police Department.
The storyline is solid. The interchanges between characters are interesting. And, the art and colors are just amazing. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Good thing it was a compelling story. Tynion takes the groundwork laid in BATMAN & ROBIN ETERNAL regarding Orphan’s background and further expands and develops it here. Sure, there are plenty of trained/brainwashed assassin/vigilantes prowling the pages of the Big Two publishers, but Tynion differentiates Orphan enough to make her a bit more interesting.
The Bat-Team from the original story arc has been modified a bit, with Batwing and Azrael joining up with Batwoman, Clayface and Orphan. (Red Robin is allegedly deceased).
That opened the door for the actual League of Shadows, led by Ghul lieutenant Shiva, to make their move - - destroy Batman’s team and plant bombs underneath Gotham that will reduce the city to rubble. R’as Al Ghul makes an appearance mid-story but it’s not clear whether Shiva is working under his direction or has gone rogue.
During the skirmishes, Jacob Kane is released and partnered with his second-in-command Ulysses who has yet another diabolical plan (with lots of collateral damage) to stop the League of Shadows and at least save the city.
Even though it’s foreordained that the good guys will win in the final issue, this was a fun story. The prologue issue was all about Orphan and her troubled past, her uncertainty about her role going forward, and how can she continue to resist her trained impulses to attack and hit all the weak points of the Bat-team members. To complicate matters, she’s mourning her dad,Cain, who sacrificed himself to save everyone from Mother in BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL. Plus, her mother Shiva is disappointed that Orphan isn’t more of a cold-blooded killer and wants to teach her a fatal lesson). THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Done in black-and-white with manga-style art, the visuals are a bit inconsistent. Milonogiannis’s art in particular, while it has it’s eye-appealing moments, is sketchy in many places. Using stick figures to represent a crowd in a succession of small panels is a no-no in my book. His work improved in the next issue. Maybe it was rushed. But the art to keep an eye on appears in Issue #4 when Cizmesija takes over. There are also some very short back-up features in each issue that, while not very thrilling, are fun to read and view (different creative teams for each).
Disaster comes to Gotham City and leaves a huge crater, with all evidence pointing to the Next Batman. Red Hood is enlisted by the corrupt Magistrate to become Peacekeeper Red and bring him in.
There’s a prison break at Blackgate that keeps both Red and New Bat occupied, forcing them to work together. Punchline manages to escape, and Issue #4 is a battle issue between her and Harley Quinn.
If this is where DC will eventually take their titles, I’ll suddenly have more money to spend on independent comics publishers. Ho Hum. TWO STARS.
No comments:
Post a Comment