The Man who Never was

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...

Lovesickness by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars Viewer discretion advised: Warning for graphic violence, acts, and body horror. The master of Japanese Horror, nay, graphic horror worldwide. As usual he has the unique ability to take day to day, mundane aspects of life, and turn them into graphic, disturbing, macabre displays of terror. The premise of these series of interconnected short stories involves our protagonist, who has returned to his childhood home, a childhood which I might add, has some seriously disturbing repressed memories attached to it. Right after his arrival, mysterious incidents begin taking place, ending in a serious of disturbing suicides and deaths. As the body count rises, and bit by bit the townspeople turn to rabid, maniacal, insanity, it's upon him to solve this phenomenon and stop the violence. It seems as if, in every other of his stories, things go bad, and everyone goes mad. But despite a predictable pattern, we s...

20th Century Boys, Volume 1: Friends by Naoki Urasawa My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's difficult not to draw the parallels between Naoki Urasawa's '20th Century Boys' and It by the master, Stephen King. After all, both have a group of kids, turn to adults, battling a greater evil through various time periods in their life. Yet that is where the comparisons end. Where Mr. King's work is one of pure horror, involving the malevolent soul consuming entity of Pennywise, Urasawa's work is more an intricate quagmire of suspense, conspiracy and revelations, through the lens of the major cultural events in several time periods. Generally, I have an aversion to suspense, mystery thrillers, because they focus too much of the twists and revelations, and eventually write themselves into a corner, necessitating the writers to pull something out of their ass to keep the story going. Also, in many of such stories, the characters are merely. the...

Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Junji Ito is to Graphical body Horror, what Lovecraft was to cosmic existential horror.  His stories are anthologies, often set in the Japanese countryside, where mysterious things are afoot, and just around the corner one might encounter the paranormal, that can, for no particular reason latch on to you, ruin your life, and oftentimes end up taking it as well.  They often feature a coterie of everyday people, who are afflicted with, or experience the horrors on the other side of the veil. Where malicious, whimsical and mostly evil incarnate entities toy with you for their own perverted amusement. And there is little you can do to combat them.  The characters of Junji Ito rarely try to fight against their oppressors; you won't find wooden stake wielding, silver bullet shooting monster hunters. Just what one would expect if you were to encounter the monster that goes bump in the night. You...

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...

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came by Robert Browning My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews Readers find different meanings in the books that they indulge in. You, me and the average joe, would chance upon Robert Browning ode to a hero's tale, and take away from it the determination of our protagonist Roland to undertake the perilous and insurmountable quest, his perseverance in face of ever dangerous obstacles, his resilience at the prospect of failure and ultimate death, as well as the burning sense of duty as well as loyalty to his fallen comrades which drives him forwards, whatever the end might hold.   Stephen King read the work, took away that, and much more, using it as the template to craft the rich and enthralling world of Roland Deschain and the Dark Tower.  Like most general readers, the reason I picked up this poem was upon learning how it served as inspiration to Mr. King's acclaimed series. Yet even the...

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...