The Man who Never was

Red Tithe by Robbie MacNiven My rating: 4 of 5 stars Going into this story after reading about the unique lore of the Carcharodon Astra chapter, I had a lot of expectations. Especially after reading about Tyberos the Red wake, who's a veritable beast, even when compared to your standard space marine. After reading it, those expectations were, may be 70-75% met you could say. The space sharks are a chapter whose founding is shrouded in mystery. A fleet-based chapter, they've been wandering the far fringes of the imperium for the past 10000 years, exiled for reasons unknown. There, they wage a silent never-ending war, against the horrors and threats which hide in the shadows, threatening to consume the Imperium. Based on their age, as well as the parts about them being exiled, my head cannon is that they might be the remnants of the legion belonging to one of the lost primarchs. Whatever the offenses of them or their gene father might be, they were condemned ...

Death World by Steve Lyons My rating: 4 of 5 stars Imagine a group of soldiers, facing the predator. Now imagine, that every person in that group, is an 80s action movie protagonist, dripping with manliness, swag and regularly give one another, epic handshake like Dutch and Dillon from predator. Now Imagine, instead of a single predator, it's a planet full of predators. Now Imagine, if the entire fracking planet is the predator, and is trying to deal with these pesky creatures on it, like you would deal with mosquitoes irritating your skin. That would give you a near idea as to what you can expect from the novel Death World, by Steve Lyons. If features a mission embarked upon by the legendary members of the Catachan Jungle fighters. As they come across a planet designated as a 'death world'. In case anyone was wondering what that designation meant, it's quite literal and mentioned at the beginning. A little context on these guys. Thes...

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Batman - Knightfall #1 by Kyle Higgins My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Dark Multiverse, expanded upon after the mind-bending Dark Nights: Metal saga from Scott Snyder was an interesting concept, adding to the already expansive Batman Mythos. Harkening back to the Infinite Crisis and more specifically to JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison, as well as its much underrated by narratively brilliant Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated movie, the dark multiverse as its name implies, explores chaos theory. For every major event which happened in the main DC continuity that we know, ones where the heroes were able to overcome great odds, and triumph over evil, there could be other alternate infinite realities, where the villains won, where evil triumphs, where the heroes fell. Where the paragons of everything good, just and compassionate strayed from their moral compass and ended up consuming the very world and reali...

Batman Vampire by Doug Moench My rating: 4 of 5 stars *** Content warning: Mature themes, graphic violence, nudity. *** When your favorite comic character dresses like a bat, works during the dark hours, stays in the shadows and instills the ever-living fear of death onto criminal scum, it's only a while before you begin to draw parallels between them and another of pop culture's iconic characters, who share many of the traits, but inhabit moreover of a neutral evil compared to the Lawful Good (maybe Lawful Neutral) of your favorite muse. So many jokes are being made about Count Batman, or the Bat Vampire, it would not be a surprise if there are stories featuring both of them facing off; or him being an actual f***ing Vampire. What surprised me was that it took me this long to come across the story. I had previously encountered a similar character in the DC animated movie 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' but seeing as how that char...

Batman-superman World's Finest 4: Return to Kingdom Come by Mark Waid My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's good to see this story revisiting the continuity of Kingdom Come , and expand upon the backstories of those characters, how they came to their sorry, miserable, defeated states. Also, a good bookend to the story of David, introduced at the beginning of this run. The kid had serious Jason Todd vibes going for him. Even though he had Rafael level of anger issues, you feel bad for the kid, going through the entire cocktail of survivor guilt induced PTSD trauma, with a whole bunch of reality hopping side effects added on top. Even though Magog was a character you saw only in the Kingdom Come reality, and one that seemed to be created for the express purpose of serving as a more violent foil to Superman, it's good to get more fleshed-out backstory for him. As well as a cathartic ending for his arc of suffering and guilt. Even without those, ther...

Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Vol. 1: The Devil Nezha by Mark Waid My rating: 3 of 5 stars In another mythology-based adventure, the dynamic duo, plus their sidekicks team up with the members of the Doom Patrol, to combat an ancient demon released from its seal (yes, another one, makes one wonder, just how many sealed malevolent entities are just camping around this universe). The story is pretty run of the mill, hits the usual notes, Superman gets mind controlled (basically everyone gets mind controlled, except for Batman cause he's the freaking), Bats being his usual badass stuff, some fun banter between Robin & Supergirl. The highlight of the story has got to be the brief but Awesome inception of BatSups Lantern over here. Gosh, I really hope that the writers never run out of fun ways to combine two of the best comic heroes out there. View all my reviews

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick My rating: 5 of 5 stars From the cover it was evident that what we were to expect was a group of badass warrior women, sorry, warriors, bedecked in resplendent attire, just dripping with style, grace, elegance and strength, going about, chewing bubble gum, taking names and kicking ass, gum optional. And got to say, was not disappointed, for the most part. The art of the story is drop dead magnificent, and something out of a Neil Gaiman fever dream. The story mostly comprises of an almanac of the genesis of our favorite band of badass good girls. The history of Diana and the Amazonians, or Themyscirans, is considerable, varied, and often times convoluted, as the long run of the titular character indicates. Sometimes she is the daughter of Zeus, sent to save the world of man. Other times, she's the daughter of Hades/Ares or any other god the writers took fancy on. Even other times, she's...

Batman: One Bad Day - Ra's Al Ghul #1 by Tom Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ra's al Ghul is a character who'd best fit the saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. As well as the villain who sees himself as the hero in his own story. He's one of the members of Batman's Rogues gallery, who is driven by a higher purpose, and one who you would likely empathize with; were it not for the fact that his methods tend to largely be genocidal. Ra's, I felt, has been a perfect foil for Batman, in a manner different from the Joker. Where the Joker's brand of Anarchy contrasts Batman's need for rules and order, Ra's is more of Bruce's intellectual and physical equal. Both have the skills, training, and resources at their disposal to see their respective missions to fruition. Yet where the similarities get more evident, is the sheer drive that Ra's and the Bats have to their ideals; to the point that ...

Preacher, Volume 1: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis   My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Well, in case you had any doubt; it's official. Garth Ennis absolutely despises what others hold dear. He has already shat on heaps upon Superhero genre, through his disturbing interpretation of truth, justice and the American way in  The Boys . Now, let us turn our attention to his earlier classic, shitting upon everything religion, specifically Christianity. Nothing is holy, nothing is sacred, everything is depraved. So why would one go about reading Garth's interpretation of the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit, where everything caters to the lowest denomination, and the worst stuff of nightmares you could think is put on screen? Well, the characters are mighty likeable, as well as the rapport the primary trio have with each other. Plus, there is a whole lot of gratuitous violence and fetichism for those who're into all that. Only thing I know is that, de...

Superman/Batman #1: Annual by Joe Kelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A; Please, wheez please stop making me laugh so much What would happen Superman, Batman & Deadstroke meet their counterparts from Earth- (pick a number), who happen to not have the same concern for Justice & saving lives (at least in case of the first two). What would happen if you put them all in a cruise ship travelling through the Bermuda triangle? I'll tell you, Gut busting hilarity. I haven't laughed this much in a while reading a comic book. This short story is just .... By far the best part of the story has to be its sardonic snippy tone and the fast-paced one-upping dialogue between Bats & Supes, then Bats vs Owlman & Superman/Ultraman. Somewhere in there, Superwoman an alternate roided up sexed up version of Lois Lane also makes an appearance. Did you know, there is also an alternate version of Deathstroke, with an e...

Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity by Matt Wagner My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating: 3 out of 5 | Grade: C; Holy, Sexual Harassment Batman! What the Hell did I just read? Matt Wagner's Trinity comic, which appropriately is 3 issues, seems like a story which would be more comfortable in 60s & 70s era of more chauvinistic comics. The story is campy but enjoyable, surrounding around a plot where Ras al Ghul gets his hands on some ballistic missiles and is going to use them to cripple the global communication network and oil fields. Thus, sowing the seeds to civilizational collapse. Joining him in this evil endeavor are the ever-gullible Bizarro & Artemis of the Bana-Mighdall amazons. The Holy Trinity of DC, Batman/ Superman/ Wonder woman, still new to this team business, have to stop them. As usual. The part that really grates me is how OOC the characters are acting. It almost feels like Wagner doesn't understand their nature. Ev...

DC vs. Vampires Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A. Let the Darkness prevail Premise There is something sinister lurking in the dark. All around the world, Villains and superpowered beings are being hunter. By the time the League and the other heroes become aware of this threat it's too late. Vampires, of all things, creatures of the dark, have begun to infect, convert and indoctrinate superhumans worldwide, both heroes & villains. Their end goal, world domination while using humans as livestock. Hardly the most inventive plotlines, but it works to a degree. So now, with part of their own forces turned, and the mysterious Vampire King manipulating events from the background, the remainder of the world's heroes must uncover the full extent of the plot and stop them from achieving their goal. (view spoiler) [ (hide spoiler) ] Thoughts I started reading this story right after DCe...

Wonder Woman, Volume 4: War by Brian Azzarello My rating: 5 of 5 stars Rating 5 out of 5 | Grade: A; In the grim world of the Olympian Gods, there is only Waaaar! Never did I think that Brian Azzarello’s run of Wonder Woman, which started off on such a lowkey note, would eventually snowball into something spectacular. I stand by my assessment that this run is a slow burn, something which you can appreciate, only across all the 4 volumes. Because in many ways, it reads like a Greek Epic, with new characters' allies and enemies being introduced and killed off, and the main roster of characters undergoing changes to their status quo, as well as their personality. Once again, my favorite character of the lot is Hera, who is a long way off from the scorned, vindictive wife of Zeus, who’d resort to any decree of violence to exact her vengeance. Events of prior volumes have turned her powerless, trapped in the realm of men. But being mortal is not all...