Superman: Red Son

At first glance this is just a simple straight forward concept that moves at a rather generic pace.  But what really sold me on this book were the second & third acts.  The ending is such a nice twist on the Superman mythos that it is amazing that is was never thought of before.  When I started this book I was seriously thinking of dropping while I was reading the first act but it really picks up by the time the second one starts.  What is really nice about this book is that it reads as a summary of Superman’s entire existence.  It focuses on the major turning points of his life & skips over all of the non-essentials.  The final confrontation between Luthor & Superman is a stroke of calculated genius.  For anybody who is a fan of post-World War II history; this would be an enjoyable read & an excellent way to get them interested in the world of comics.  I can easily say this is the second best comic that Mark Millar has ever written for one of the big two the first being Marvels Civil War.  If your only interest in reading stuff that is canon to the DC Universe then this may not be a title for you, but if you want a good self-contained story then check this out.

DC Comics So Many Origins

I am puzzled by the number of origin stories that DC comics as collected for certain characters.  I just want to focus on the Modern DC Universe for a moment.  Batman has only one collected origin story for the twenty five plus years that this iteration of the DC Universe existed & that story is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller.  It is such an iconic story to this day it is still the go to starting point for Batman fans.  Superman on the other hand has had several origin stories within the same time frame.  He has three in canon origin stories Superman: Man of Steel Vol. 1 by John Byrne, Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid & Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns.  That is not even counting the stand alone non-canonical origin stories of the character like Superman: Red Son where he is raised in Soviet Russia or Superman: True Brit where he is raised in Great Britain.  There is also Superman: Secret Identity which is about if Clark Kent was a teenager in the real world reading comics about Superman. It seems that DC is never satisfied with Superman's origin & they keep finding creators that willing to tweak it every now & then, but Batman's origin is perfect.  Other characters in the DC Universe have had other heroes who have had multiple origins throughout the modern era due to Crisis on Infinite Earths.   Characters like Green Lantern had multiple origins with titles like Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn & Green Lantern: Secret Origin.  While others only had one like Green Arrow: Year One or Wonder Woman: Gods & Mortals.  DC Comics is slowly establishing a new universe with there Earth One titles.  Currently they only have three but a fourth one is on the way all of them telling fresh re-imaginings of DC's greatest heroes Superman: Earth One Vol. 1 & 2, Batman: Earth One & the forthcoming Wonder Woman: Earth One.  Now DC Comics has rebooted with the New 52 which will probably last twenty five to thirty years like the modern era did when Crisis on Infinite Earths reshaped the DC Universe.  They let Grant Morrison reshape Superman's origin in the first three volumes of Action Comics.  Brian Azzarello of 100 Hundred Bullets fame made Wonder Woman cool for a new generation.  Currently Scott Snyder of American Vampire fame is crafting the New 52 origin of Batman with the Year Zero story arc.  Several other characters have had their origins revamped or still in the process of needing a new origin but if there was ever a better time to jump into DC Comics that time is now.   

Justice League Vol. 1: Origin

This is the premier book of DC's New 52 when it launched a little less than two years ago.  I was just starting to branch out into what I consider the Modern DC Universe, the one that has been around since I can remember.  It started with the epic event Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The trigger for the New 52 however is the Flashpoint event which isn't all the spectacular from what I have heard but over time will achieve probably the same type of standing as Crisis on Infinite Earths due to its long lasting effects on the DC Universe.  Enough of that on to this first volume of Justice League.  The book takes place five years in the past & shows how the team first formed.  Everybody acts arrogant which I think is a by product of reducing the age of all the characters in the DC Universe.  I mean Superman having a more violent streak than I've seen in the past depictions of him, Batman showing Green Lantern his secret identity seem out of character but work in the context of all of these heroes in their youth.  It seemed that Batman & Flash wear the only characters who spoke with the voice of reason throughout this entire arc as though they had more experience than any of the other characters in the story.  Wonder Woman is channeling her inner Thor as if she saw that movie when it came out.  Aquaman appears & is made fun of by Green Lantern from the get go but in just about two panels he proves how much of a bad-ass he can be.  Even if he didn't have his own book Aquaman this would be the premier book for him along with Cyborg.  Cyborg has a true origin in this volume.  Since I was not familiar with in in the Modern Universe other than the fact that he was a member of the Teen Titans; it was nice to see real jumping on point for this character.  The antagonist Darkseid is just a panel stealing villain in every way its like Apocalypse was mixed with Thanos for Marvel.  This was a good start hopefully the characters will have matured somewhat in the second volume.

Point of Impact

This is an amazing little miniseries in the crime noir genre.  The artwork is crisp detailed, Korey Kuranel is one of the best noir artist I've seen since Frank Miller.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of his work in the future.  This is also the first story I have read from Jay Faerber & I want more.  This story was well paced & exciting on every page.  If you love crime, mysteries or noir then read this you won't be sorry.

 

Fanboys vs. Zombies Vol. 2

Thank you Mr. Humphries, this volume kicked it up a notch.  This volume started out with a death but it was able to keep the hilarity that makes this concept work.  Enter Michonne, I mean Brendan that was just awesome.  Then you throw in a Robert Kirkman look-a-like have Kyle seemingly break the fourth wall & you have a solid second volume that solidifies itself as a new brand of zombie apocalypse.  I have to say that I like were the series is going now.