Supergirl Special #1 - Comic Review

 

The Superman family are going through a resurgence at the moment. Action Comics is showcasing the extended cast, and the use of back-up features give other characters a chance to shine. Steelworks gives a couple of the human heroes the spotlight. Superboy: Man of Tomorrow took Conner on a space adventure full of discovery. Power Girl has her own series. And there's the Superman solo title too. One character who's headlined their own titles in the past but is absent at the moment is Kara Zor-el, Supergirl. But, it looks like the new Supergirl Special is doing a thoughtful dive into the character and might be setting her up for new things going forward.

One of the biggest challenges that the Super family have faced internally is Supergirl and Power Girl, and how the two women interact with each other and the effects they have on each other. Being the same person from different realities, and having to figure out what that means is enough to cause anyone a headache, and it's one of the main focuses of Kara's story in this issue.

Mariko Tamaki paints a very human Supergirl, one who can't help but fall to the cursed allure of doom scrolling, going through social media and newspaper articles to see what the world is saying about her and her Earth-2 counterpart. She's depressed, she doesn't seem to know exactly how she fits into the world. These feelings aren't helped with the super twins ask her questions about what Krypton was like, questions she's not able to answer as her memories of Krypton are fading away. Over the course of the book we see how this is weighing on her, and how its altering the ways she's interacting with her family. She's surrounded by loved ones, but is alone.

The book takes this focus on character and run with it, to the point where there's pretty much no action at all. There is a scene where the family respond to an building collapse, and Kara has to deal with falling debris and rubble, but this isn't a book where a villain bursts in part way through, or the hero gets some catharsis by punching someone. Instead, the characters have to talk about their issues, they have to confront them in the same way you or I would, and it helps to humanise these larger than life characters. 

Skylar Patridge creates some great art in this issue, with Marissa Louise providing colours. The scenes of Kara's memories of Krypton look great, with architecture and colours that instantly stand out from what we see in the rest of the issue for the stuff set on Earth. 

This is a decent issue, but it does feel a little like we're retreading some of the ground already covered in the Power Girl focused back-ups in Action Comics, and the Power Girl series. I don't like the new thing of putting these two characters at odds with each other, especially when they should be friends. Thankfully, it seems to be put to bed by the end of this special; though as I'd already thought that it had been sorted out who knows if this will come up again.

Overall, this is a decent issue for fans of the character, one that doesn't rely on action of combat, and instead understands the strengths of tighter, character focused stories.

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The Comic Cave – Green Arrow: Year One

 

Originally published on Set the Tape

The Comic Cave is a fortnightly feature where we spin the Wheel of Comics and see what graphic novel story it brings up for us to deep dive into! This week we take a look at Green Arrow: Year One, the post-Crisis origin for DC’s Emerald Archer.

Today, thanks in large part to the CW television series Arrow, the character of Green Arrow has a decent following, and is known to people who may never have picked up a comic book before. Despite the series playing incredibly fast and loose with the character (he was treated like a green Batman) it made one of the earliest members of the Justice League better known, and it made people begin to see him as more than just a Robin Hood-like character. But those who read the books knew this already, we understood that despite the sometimes cheesy outfit Oliver Queen was an amazing character. And 2008’s Green Arrow: Year One showcases that brilliantly.

Chances are if you were a reader of Green Arrow comics you’d know his origin story: marooned on a deserted island, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen had to learn to survive until his eventual rescue, using a bow and arrow to hunt. As with most characters though, this origin went through some revisions, and the origin that everyone knows for Oliver Queen isn’t even his first one. Originally, the character was an archaeologist who specialised in Native American culture. This Golden Age origin was altered by the great Jack Kirby in the Silver Age to the one we know. Post-Crisis changes kept a lot of these changes, and altered how Oliver manages to get off the island, changing it from saving a passing ship from pirates, to him fighting criminals on the island who are using it to grow drugs. And Green Arrow: Year One takes this story and expands it into a six issue mini series.

The book begins with Oliver Queen, a young billionaire playboy, travelling the world with his bodyguard/survival expert Hackett, who is taking Ollie to extreme locations, such as the north pole. Ollie has a lust for adventure, a desire to experience the thrill of adrenaline in the most remote, dangerous, and extreme environments. After a brief trip to the Arctic, the two of them head home to Star City, where Oliver attends a charity auction to raise money for drug rehabilitation centres in the city. He’s come for one particular item, a bow and arrow set once owned by the legendary archer Howard Hill.

Hill, who is a real person, performed the archer in old Robin Hood movies that Oliver watched as a kid. He loved the films so much that his parents even paid to have Hill train him for a while. Oliver drunkenly boasts that Hill told him he had the most raw talent he’d ever seen in an archer, but like most everything else in his life Ollie gave up on it. However, his love for it is still there, and he immediately bids a ridiculous amount for the bow and wins it. In his drunken ramblings Oliver manages to insult everyone else at the auction, and makes a fool of himself. This makes Oliver decide that he needs to get out of the city for a while.

Luckily for him, Hackett is due to leave Star City on Oliver’s private yacht in order to make an illegal deal for him. Hackett has set Oliver up with the opportunity to secretly invest in a new resort being built in Fiji by an old business associate of his, Chien Na-Wei. Armed with a bag filled with $14 million, Hackett is supposed to sail out into the pacific to meet Chien Na-Wei and make the handover. Oliver sees this as the perfect opportunity to get out of the city after his embarrassment at the auction, and insists on joining Hackett, even if Hackett keeps telling him it’s a bad idea for him to go.

Days later, out in the ocean, Hackett confronts Oliver. There is no resort deal. Hackett is stealing Oliver’s money, but now that Oliver is on the boat Hackett has to deal with him too. The two of them fight, and Hackett gets the upper hand over his former friend. Despite knowing he needs to kill Ollie, and receiving orders to shoot Oliver in the head from a mysterious phone call, Hackett dumps the unconscious Oliver over the edge of the ship, leaving him in the middle of the Pacific, thousands of miles away from civilisation. Fortunately, Oliver doesn’t drown, and eventually washes up on the beach of a remote island.

From here we observe Oliver trying to survive on the island, using the few bits of survival knowledge he’s picked up from all of his extreme vacations and Hackett over the years. He eventually finds an old village on the island, burned to the ground and abandoned. Scavenging supplies, he manages to find a water source, and crafts himself a rudimentary bow from scrap metal, and makes arrows from bamboo. Oliver uses the bow and arrow to hunt, and is able to keep alive. He keeps on improving his equipment, crafting better arrows, arrows fletched with the green feathers of the island’s parrots.

One day, months into his time on the island, a plane comes flying in low over the beach. Oliver tries to signal for help with a flare arrow, but soon realises his mistake when one of the people on the plane begins to shoot at him with a rifle. Oliver manages to wound the attacker with his bow, causing the man to shoot up the cockpit, crashing the plane into the centre of the island. Oliver takes off after it, and discovers that it has crashed in a mountaintop crater in the centre of the island, a crater being used to grow fields of poppy seeds.

As Oliver scavenges from the crash, a pregnant woman named Taiana, approaches him. She tells him how the criminals came to her island, killed those who resisted them, and enslaved the rest, forcing them to work the poppy fields in order to grow their drug crop. Oliver is forced to hide when more of the slavers arrive, including Hackett, and their boss, Chien Na-Wei. Knowing that the island is home to a group of ruthless killers, and that the man who betrayed him is there, Oliver begins a guerrilla war on the slavers, attacking them from the jungle. Eventually, Oliver launches a full scale assault on the criminals, one where he will either destroy their operation and free the slaves, or die trying.

Green Arrow: Year One is an incredibly stripped down, back to basics approach for the character, one that if you changed the lead characters name could just be a cool action comic set in the real world. The book shows a realistic version of the DC Universe, because there are no hints at the DC Universe existing here. Other than the names Oliver Queen and Star City being in one issue there’s nothing here that ties it to the larger universe. There’s no mention of Superman or Batman, the bad guys don’t have any kind of powers, and you don’t even see Oliver as the actual Green Arrow until the final page of the book. But none of these things are criticisms at all.

Andy Diggle, who never again wrote for Green Arrow after this, has a history of writing for non-superhero comics, having begun his career in British comics writing for 2,000AD, before moving across to writer American comics in the DC Vertigo imprint, creating for characters like Constantine in the Hellblazer series. Diggle’s history of writing less showy, less colourful characters sets him in good stead for this story. Despite people thinking of Green Arrow as being a bit hokey, of dressing a bit like Robin Hood, this story doesn’t do that, and makes a very real, and very justifiable version of the character. He isn’t wearing all green, sporting a fancy hat or hood. He’s wearing scraps of clothing, and he’s wearing a hood sewn together from scavenged tarp to keep the potentially deadly sun off his head during the day. He’s not making a fashion choice, he’s doing the best he can.

Despite this stripped down, bare bones version of the character it still feels like Oliver Queen. The douchey playboy at the start of the book fits the background you expect for the character, and the events on the island fit into the kind of person he will eventually become. The island is his crucible, it’s taking the raw elements of who he was before and forging them anew. The parts of the book where we get to see this, seeing him search for water, building his shelter, refining his equipment, are fascinating to watch as we’re seeing a man broken down and remade into something better than he was before.

The book also does action incredibly well, and manages to make a man with a bow and arrow feel interesting each and every time he has to go into battle. The first time we see him having to turn his weapons on another human is when he ends up shooting down a plane, something that sounds ridiculous on paper, yet the book makes feel very plausible. After this, the next action sequence is Oliver and Hackett hunting each other through the island jungle. This is perhaps my favourite part of the entire series, and the issue it takes place in, issue three, is one of the best in the book. Later in the book we see Oliver starting to do things that you expect from Green Arrow, covering arrow tips in tar to create burning arrows, removing the tip from an arrow to create knock-out arrows, and performing trick shots that take out multiple opponents at the same time.

There are a lot of elements here that fit into the character as already established, whilst the book does add new things to the story. Characters like Hackett, Chien Na-Wei, and Taiana are all new to this book, and their inclusion doesn’t alter Oliver’s origin in huge, substantial ways, but it does make it more personal for him, it does add more depth, and it makes him surviving on a remote island into something more interesting than just ‘I hung out on the beach for a few months’. A lot of the elements introduced in this book would actually go on to be included in the already mentioned Arrow television series. Chien Na-Wei, who Ollie keeps calling China White, would go on to become a recurring villain in the series, appearing in thirteen episodes across the eight seasons. Taiana would also appear, in a similar story in the fourth season flashbacks, where she and a number of people have been enslaved to work drug fields on the island. Most notably, however, would the the character of John Diggle, played by David Ramsey, who was named after Andy Diggle (his brother would later be introduced in the show, named Andy).

The artist Jock, also British born like Diggle, provides the art on the book, alongside colourist David Baron, and helps to sell the more grounded, realistic take on the character. The two of them had previously worked together on Diggle’s Vertigo series The Losers, and they seem to work well together, with a creative process whose end result is gorgeous. Jock has a way of creating both weight and a sense of movement to his figures, and the times where Oliver is running around the island, stalking his prey, attacking from the shadows, all look fantastic. The colours play a large part in the art too, and there are some scenes where certain colours seem to take over everything.

For example, the scene where Oliver is fighting with Hackett in the jungle is incredibly green. Some panels are simply Oliver’s silhouette in an action pose in front of a plain green background, which feels like it shouldn’t work, but looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s also not a coincidence that the first scene in which Oliver chooses to take action against bad people, to becomes the kind of hero he’s destined to be, is filled with the colour green. The colours don’t just help to set the scene, but they indicate where we are in Oliver’s journey too. There are a ridiculous number of pages and panels in this book that you could take out and slap onto a poster and they’d make for gorgeous Green Arrow prints.

Green Arrow is one of those characters where those who don’t really know much about him tend to dismiss him. ‘He’s just a guy with a bow and arrow’, ‘he looks like Robin Hood’, but there’s a lot more to the character than people first think. Green Arrow: Year One showcases how versatile he is, how you can take this character and drop him into an action movie setting and it works. He’s one of the biggest characters in the DC Universe, he was the first person to join the Justice League outside of the founding seven, and he’s been around since the Golden Age. Oliver Queen is more than an archer, more than a guy who wears green, and this book proves that. If you want to make a great Green Arrow movie that will appeal to folks who don’t normally go in for superheroes, this book would make the perfect basis for it.

Green Arrow: Year One was published by DC Comics from July 2007 to October 2007.

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It's Jeff: The Jeff-verse #1 - Comic Review

 

Comics are one of those mediums where every time you think you've fully caught up with stuff or have a good handle on things something new comes along, such as Marvel introducing new characters at an alarming rate sometimes. It can be hard to know which new character to keep an eye on, which one is going to end up becoming a mainstay, and which will fade into obscurity. However, I think most people knew that Jeff, Gwenpool's adorable land shark pet, would be a hit as soon as they laid eyes on him. I mean, how could people not fall in love with him? 

Whilst he may have gotten attention in the main comics, it's on Marvel Unlimited's Infinity Comics pages that Jeff was really given a chance to shine, appearing in a number of adorable solo adventures as he interacts with other members of the Marvel universe, and causes trouble in ways only he could. The first 12 issues of this series were physically reprinted in It's Jeff #1 and whilst this new issue is printing issues 13-24 Marvel likes number one's, and so now we have It's Jeff: The Jeff-Verse #1.

The stories gathered in this new collection are wonderfully told little tales, often told with no dialogue, with the occasional character shouting the name Jeff, and use its art to tell the stories. The stories are low stakes, and are designed just to have a bit of fun with the character. One story sees him with an injured tail that he keeps trying to chew, so he gets a cone of shame. Another sees him wanting to dress up for Halloween, so he's trying on different pet costumes to find the one just right for him.

Jeff being Jeff, a good deal of the stories revolve around his desire for food. You get him chasing fireflies through the park, trying to swallow them all until his tummy glows. And there's the adventure where he notices people throw scraps of food away in bins, so he poses as a bin with his mouth open so that people literally throw food into him waiting mouth. There is one story that has some slight stakes, however, as Jeff tries to liberate a bunch of animals from a pet shop, even going so far as recruiting other super hero pets like Lockheed, Goose, and Old Lace to help free them.

The art, by Gurihiru, fits the tone perfectly, and Jeff looks absolutely adorable throughout. This is a comic kids of any age can pick up and enjoy, and the art has a storybook quality to it that I really enjoy. Jeff is wonderfully round a squishy looking, and the book manages to convey a surprising amount of emotions on this tiny shark's face. It's the kind of art that just brings a smile to your face, and sometimes that's just what you need.

There's a decent feeling of fun reading these stories, and it's nice to not have to read anything, to just let the artwork tell the story, and to see a lighter, softer side of a universe so often filled with violence and evil.

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Dark Spaces: Dungeon #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Dark Spaces: Dungeon is the latest series in writer Scott Snyder’s independent comic anthology title Dark Spaces. Previous stories have been used as showcases for up and coming artists, and for other writers who have worked on some of the titles alongside Snyder. This series, however, is penned solely by Snyder, and reunites him with artist Hayden Sherman, who worked with him on the first title, Dark Spaces: Wildfire.

Each entry in the series has given readers something a little different, whether that be a heist story, or supernatural conspiracies; this time around things take a much darker turn as people become the monsters. The issue begins with a flashback of a small child climbing out of a hatch in the middle of a snow-covered forest, stumbling through the trees until he’s found by a truck driver. Years later we meet a nice, happy family who live in a huge house close to the same woods. When the father, Tyler, is out for a job and trips over the mysterious hatch he realises he’s found something strange, and calls the authorities.

Meanwhile, an odd, almost maverick FBI agent resolves a years long kidnapping case by shooting a mother in front of her children, saving their lives but scarring them forever. He’s sent to cover the case of the mysterious hatch, and reveals to Tyler that he was the child who escaped from it years ago, after being held prisoner inside an elaborately constructed torture chamber by one of the smartest, most prolific serial killers in the country. Now that the FBI have found the previously lost ‘dungeon’ the hunt for the killer is on, and the killer turns his sights on Tyler and his family.

Dark Spaces: Dungeon feels more like a psychological thriller and mystery story more than it does a horror, and whilst the ‘dungeon’ in which our heroic FBI agent was once held prisoner is a horrific device, it also feels slightly too fantastical to be real. A small chamber filled with extendable blocks, able to push and break a prisoner into awful shapes and contortions, the device is an interesting idea, but the idea that someone can be kept alive inside it for years, broken, healed, and re-broken over and over feels like a bit of a leap, and a hurdle that will shape how you feel about the book. The comic seems to want to be realistic, yet this part doesn’t; how you handle that will definitely determine how much you enjoy the book.

Outside of the central ‘horror’ conceit of the book, there are some interesting characters here. The family are given a lot of page space, and we spend a great deal of time with them getting to know them. Tyler seems like a decent, caring dad, and we get a long introduction to him as he spends a couple of pages getting his son to sleep at night, telling him weird facts and making up stories about his stuffed frog toy. He seems like a nice, if rather bland character.

FBI agent Madoc, on the other hand, is something of a loose cannon, and the scene with him and the child hostages shows that he’s willing to break the rules to do the right thing. The fact that he’s also a victim of The Keeper, as the call him, seems to be setting up for a man who’s likely going to go too far, and will do extreme things in order to get his revenge. It also feels like another small leap in logic that the FBI would assign the case to someone who was tortured for months by The Keeper to bring him in.

The art on the book, by Hayden Sherman, with colours by Patricio Delpeche, feels very muted, and has an almost watercolour like quality to it. There are no real vivid bright colours, light shading, and very little bold lines or blocks of darkness that you’d expect to find in a horror title. Instead, things almost have a dream-like quality to them at times. Sadly, due to the slow nature of the story in this first issue there’s very little in the art to actually wow the reader, except for a full page splash that shows off what The Keeper is doing to another victim that’s shocking and dark, yet also highlights how odd the torture device is.

If you’re a fan of implausible psychological horrors, such as the later films in the Saw franchise where it became more about the weird devices than plausibility, Dark Spaces: Dungeon may appeal to you. But at this point the story seems to be happy to take things slow, to not give the reader much, and rely on the promise of better things to come, leading to a first issue that doesn’t really encourage you to try out issue two.

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Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Scorched Earth #1 - Comic Review

 

The Gotham War comes to an end this issue, bringing to a close an event that seems to have disappointed Batman and Catwoman fans alike, raising the question of who this was even for to begin with. Both series have been doing good things, Catwoman getting by in prison whilst her friend filled in for her was a decent plot until it came to a close because the character got bored of being locked up. And Chip Zdarsky's Batman run has been an enjoyable roller coaster of the weird and fantastical. Sadly, the combining of the two titles into this event seems to have resulted in something kind of bad.

The series begins with Selina recruiting all of the goons and henchmen of Gotham to come work for her, and trains them to steal from the ultra rich. The plan is to make it so that they don't have to work for the other villains, and it kind of works; violent crime is at a low, the costumes bad guys can't get help, and the city is doing better. But Batman has a zero tolerance policy for any crime, apparently, and refuses to allow it to happen, resulting in him turning on everyone who loves him.

The event has felt a bit like a character assassination for Bruce, making him fight or abandon his family and generally turning into a horrible person. It's resulted in a lot of people really disliking the event, especially as it's going against other depictions of Bruce elsewhere. Batman and Robin is going on at the same time, and he and Damian are doing great together there, but here he's turned on Damian and abandoned him; so which is it?

It also doesn't help that during the simple Catwoman vs Batman premise things have taken a sharp turn as Vandal Savage has arrived in town and taken over everything. Savage has bought Wayne Manor, and he's taken over Selina's gang thanks to his daughter, Scandal, being undercover with her. His powers of immortality have slipped, and he's trying to bring the pieces of the meteor that made him what he is back together to boost him. He's also promised everyone who steals the pieces for him immortality. So now the final part sees Bruce and Selina working together to stop the real villain of the piece, Vandal. It's all a bit odd.

The issue jumps around a bit, as the two leads deal with Savage, with the rest of the Bat Family taking on a group of villains like Two Face and Scarecrow, who've been given a load of Batman's gear. These segments of the book are fine, at best, and seeing Black Mask wear a Bat suit, or Professor Pyg pumped up on venom at least makes the events visually stand out, even if they're not that engaging. One thing that I did like about it, however, is that Tim ends up making quick work of things as he tells everyone exactly how to take down each villain; showing how he's the most Batman-like of the group.

The ending of the issue is kind of a nothing moment too. A giant meteor is heading to the city and is going to destroy it, but Jason saves the day by flying the Batwing into it whilst battling the fear he's going through. The book makes you think he's dead in the explosion, but it turns out hes not a page or two later. Vandal Savage seems to die because of the meteor (but we know he won't), and Selina falls into the pit, apparently dead. But we see her at the end of the book and it's clear she's alive and running around the city. So by the end of it what has been gained by this event?

Well, Bruce is an absolute bastard now and has nothing to do with the rest of the family. Selina is....something. Maybe we'll find out in her own title. Jason is effectively broken and can't be a hero, or even ride a roller coaster ever again. Gotham now has a Lazarus Pit of some kind that I'm sure is going to be used to tease us with as a way of resurrecting Alfred for like the tenth time. And some random thief discovers Bruce is Batman at the end. All in all, it's just not the best.

The art on this issue is provided by Mike Hawthorne, with colours by Romulo Fajardo Jr., and like the writing, it's not the best. It's not bad by any stretch, but it just doesn't look particularly great. Characters sometimes look a bit off, with odd fascial expressions, and there's a stiffness to some of the panels too. Compared to art we've had elsewhere in the event in both Batman and Catwoman, and even Red Hood tie ins looked very unique compared to everything else. Whilst the work here isn't terrible, the blandness of art and story come together to make a book that is easily forgetable, and hard to really enjoy.

If you're super invested in the Zdarsky story, and the emergence of Zur En Arrh this event does seem to be tying into that, and so might be worth a bit of your time. But other than that it ends up being not wholly enjoyable. Characters are written very out of character, nothing much happens, and it's just kind of a downer. But her, Scandal Savage is cool (big fan of Secret Six) and it's always fun whenever a character like Lady Clayface turns up, so this event has that I guess.

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Ultimate Universe #1 - Comic Review

 

The Ultimate Universe was something of a mixed bag as far as quality went. Most will agree that Ultimate Spider-Man was a great series, but outside of that things were a bit lacking in terms of quality. Ultimate Fantastic Four had some good moments, and there were a few minis and one-off stories that were good, but for the most part the universe was dark, nasty, and mean-spirited in the worst ways; Captain America being a bit racist for example. As such, it was not surprise that the universe ended and that Marvel moved on. What was more surprising is that they're having another go at it.

Rather than simply recreate the old Ultimate Universe, with hundreds of issues of continuity and baggage that comes with that, the new Ultimate Universe is a new universe; something that Marvel hasn't quite made fully clear in their marketing and advertisements, and it's been the fans and influencers online that have been trying to spread that information.

After the events of Ultimate Invasion, a pretty not-great series, we have a new Ultimate Universe, 6160, a world where the Maker, the 1610 version of Reed Richards who survived the end of the original Ultimate Universe, has messed with the flow of time and shaped the universe more to his liking. During Ultimate Invasion we were introduced to several new versions of familiar characters, and were introduced to this new setting. Whilst that series ended in a way that left many readers either bored or confused, or uncaring, this new one-shot seems to at least be somewhat interesting in moving things forward.

The issue opens with Iron Lad, a young Tony Stark, and Doom, the new Reed Richards, breaking into Asgard to rescue Thor, who's been imprisoned by his brother Loki. The two of them convince the God of Thunder to come with them and help them in their mission, and set out to find his hammer. This leads them into a small confrontation with his jailer, Lady Sif, who ends up being transported out of Asgard with them when they leave.

Back on Earth, the group discuss how the Maker changed the world by taking away its heroes, stopping their creations at important points. Captain America is one of these heroes that the world should have, and Iron Lad and Doom are still trying to find a way to safely unfreeze him. Hearing that their destinies have been stolen from them, and that the world has been changed, Thor and Sif agree to help them, though Sif somewhat reluctantly. 

The group then travels to Latveria, where they hope to steal the Makers cache of items and equipment that should have been used to help create the worlds heroes. They find several containers, each containing hundreds of items. Before they can get them all out, however, they come under attack from Captain Britain, who stabs Thor through the chest. The wounded god is able to get them out of there, though, taking just one of the containers with them. In retaliation, the shadowy world government arm a Stark satellite and fire it at the heroes position, apparently wiping them out.

Compared to Ultimate Invasion, this issue keeps things fairly simple. It has a clear story, 'the Maker messed things up and we need to set it right', and sticks to it. There are still things that aren't exactly clear, such as if the Maker is able to come back, and if so when, and the machinations of the worlds leaders is kind of dull and the least interesting part of the issue. But, compared to the woefully poor mini-series we just had, this is a much better launching point for the new universe. Especially as Marvel were taking the piss with the prices of that series, with four issues costing you $30.

Things work well here, and whilst we're still left with a ton of questions that need answering you at least come away with a good sense of what the new universe is going to be like, and a clear goal for a lot of things going forward; create the heroes needed to stop the Maker if he returns. Hickman seems to have plans in place for future stuff, and whilst after this he's taking control of the new Ultimate Spider-Man he's definitely going to be working on stuff in the background for the universe as a whole if this is anything to go by,

The art on the book is really nice too, with Stefano Caselli and David Curiel giving the book a really nice feel. The characters look great, with Doom and Iron Lad both looking similar to things we've seen in other versions of their characters before, but unique enough that you can tell that these are the Ultimate versions. Just putting Doom in blue is a really easy change that sets him apart, and Iron Lad has these cool little pieces to his armour around his hips that almost gives him coat-tails. Thor is perhaps the best looking in the book though. Even before he powers up he's a big, beefy looking dude, taller and wider than anyone else on the page. When he grans Mjolnir and gains his costume, however, he looks great. It's very similar to the old Ultimate Thor, but has its own details and design work that makes this its own thing. It's a really nice look, and I'm looking forward to seeing it more.

The issue also gives us a couple of pages of Peach Momoko's work for the upcoming Ultimate X-Men series, which she'll be writing and doing art for, that looks to be an interesting and unique take on mutants in this new universe.

As I've said, this is a decent introduction to the new Ultimate Universe for those who missed out on Ultimate Invasion and are looking to see what things are about before the new ongoings start up next year. Yes, it relies on knowing some stuff already, but it's a lot more coherent and tighter than what we've had before. 

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Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 - Comic Review

 

Superman is the greatest super hero ever created. Not only did he really begin the popularity and love of the genre, but he's become the most iconic and recognisable super hero in the world. He may even be one of the most recognisable characters in fiction full stop, as you can go most places in the world and show people his crest, and they know who it is. He's a modern day myth, an icon, and a legend. But, the 90's was tough on everyone, and Superman was no exception, especially when it came to his death.

Following the killing of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday, there was a vacancy for a hero in Metropolis, and four people stepped up to fill that void. As the world mourned the loss of its saviour Metropolis became home to Steel, Superboy, Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator; and the world wondered which of them could be the real Superman returned. Over the course of that story we'd learn that none of them were, and that not all of them were even truly good. But eventually the real Superman returned, and things were better.

And now thirty years have passed. To celebrate, DC have produced the Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special a huge new issue (almost 90 pages!) packed with brand new stories. As with the Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, this new issue offers more insight into the original story, with a new modern day framing device, and brings back some of the talented people who created those stories.

The special begins in the current time, where Cyborg Superman is attacking Star Labs in Metropolis. As the news breaks, the team at the Daily Planet rush into action to try and find out more information. Lois, who's still acting editor whilst Perry is in hospital (clearly placing this before the current Superman arc where he's recovered and running for mayor), and she's given one of Perry's old journals by Ron Troupe. The journal is from the time when the four Supermen were present in Metropolis, and contain Perry's thoughts on each of them, along with untold stories of their exploits.

These diary entries allow us to jump back in time to focus on each of the new Supermen in turn. The first of them is 'Speed' by Louise Simonson, with art by Jon Bogdanove and Glenn Whitmore, which focuses on Steel. The story follows Ron, who's in his local neighbourhood when a gang using advanced weaponry start causing trouble. Steel comes flying in, and manages to save the day. This might be the best of the four segments, as Steel was kind of always the best of the four characters. 

Thanks to Simonson, who created Steel, coming back to write this story, it feels like it could be slipped into any of the old issues and you wouldn't even notice that it's different. It's like being back in the 90's in the best way, and it showcases why Steel was one of those characters that was guaranteed to stick around. He might be the least powerful of the new heroes, but he's the one who exemplifies all of the best qualities of Superman and his kindness the most. I love Superboy, but Steel is easily the most deserving to wear the shield of the bunch.

The next story, 'He Had Me Thinking He Was Superma' by Jerry Ordway, with colours by Gelnn Whitmore, takes a look at the Eradicator Superman, as Perry gets caught up in a situation where the Eradicator is trying to get to the bottom of a criminal scheme, but is too violent in his approach. This story throws in Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, as they cops try to talk Eradicator down from going too far in his handling of the suspects.

This story doesn't really give too much of an insight into the Eradicator, who isn't really much of a character thanks to what he really is. If anything, he's more of a vehicle to see how others are reacting in the fallout of Superman's death. We see how the cops are dealing with things, how the local neighbourhoods have been affected, and even how criminals are struggling to handle the new Supermen.

'The Metropolis Kid' by Karl Kessel, with art by Tom Grummet and Glenn Whitmore, focuses on Superboy, and is possibly my least favourite of the stories here. I like Conner, but I wasn't a huge fan of him when he first turned up. He was obnoxious, tried too hard, and was creepy and sexist towards women in a way that I absolutely hate. Over the years he's grown and become a better character, but this story takes us back to that early version. Yes, it's done by his creators, but I still don't like this version of him. 

The story here sees Perry following Superboy, trying to get a handle on the kind of person that he is. We see him rescue a near naked woman from a fire, go skateboarding with some local kids, and fight and beat Bloodsport, the villain who almost killed Superman with a kyrptonite bullet. Whilst Perry doesn't decide if he's really Superman or not, he comes to admire his spirit and attitude, seeing a lot of Metropolis in him.

The last story, 'Betrayal' is written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, with colours by Elizabeth Breitweiser, and shows the time when Perry meets the Cyborg Superman for the first time, and how him saving a collapsing train full of people (Perry included) and the government signing off on him, makes Perry come to believe that he's the true Superman, printing a front page story that says so. The very next day, Cyborg Superman destroys Coast City and kills seven million people. From here the rest of this story basically recaps the end of the original story, but it does make a point of how that front page ended up becoming a mark of shame to Perry, and how he always regrets having printed it. Whilst the story doesn't add much to Cyborg Superman, it does add more to Perry.

But, the framing story is where we find the most from Cyborg Superman. Also written by Jurgens, it features art by Travis Moore and Ariano Lucas. The story sees Henshaw trying to break into Star Labs to try and get the recorded DNA of his team, who died horrifically, so that he can clone them and bring them back to life. Unfortunately, Superman is off planet, and so it's down to Steel, Superboy, and the Phantom Zone projection of the Eradicator, to stop him.

It's a decent and entertaining framing narrative, which also has the best art in the book too. It's nice to see it in comparison to the other stories, which feel very much like they've been lifted from the 90's, and to see how comics have changed over the last thirty years.

Overall, this proves to be a decent, entertaining celebration of one of the most famous Superman stories ever told. The fact that original teams have returned to add to this makes it even more special, and if you're a fan of the original saga this makes for a great companion piece. Hopefully this is something that DC will continue to do over the coming years as we get closer to some other big story anniversaries. 

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Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment – Limited Edition 4K UHD Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Hellraiser series has a history that is unlike most long running horror franchises. Originally released in the late 1980s, when the slasher genre reigned supreme and audiences had been fed a steady diet of movies like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween,  Hellraiser came along and did something completely different.

A work of a darkly sexual nature, inspired by the queer subculture of the era, and the BDSM and kink community, it was its overt and challenging sexual overtones that would end up enthralling and frightening the more vanilla members of the audience, as much as its blood and gore. Arrow Video are now offering up the chance to view the first four films in the series in improved 4K Ultra HD quality, in a set packed with extras, and they have such sights to show you.

For a series that would spark almost a dozen sequels, comic series, and a plethora of merchandise that is as popular today as it was when it was first released almost forty years ago (perhaps even more so than when it first hit screens), it’s shocking to think that the original film was a directorial debut from writer Clive Barker. Barker, who wrote the short story The Hellbound Heart upon which the film was based, had never directed a feature film before, but thanks to disliking previous adaptations of his work, chose to take the reigns himself this time. And some of that does perhaps come through in a film that is wonderfully made, yet contains some flaws.

The human cast of the movie are at times a little arch, especially villain Julia (Clare Higgins), who plays the part with such venom and barely contained viciousness that you have to ask why her husband Larry (Andrew Robinson) never once feels suspicious of her. Frank (Sean Chapman) is another villain that feels so overdone that he makes Julia feel normal, and the re-dubbing of his voice with another actor’s that never quite feels like it matches only adds to the odd feel of him on the screen. Other choices such as the film never quite knowing if it’s set within the UK or the US feel odd, and the inclusion of a bug-eating homeless man who transforms into a demon at the end is something that feels like it would probably be better off on the cutting-room floor. The fact that it’s not explained or addressed in subsequent movies only adds to this feeling.

Despite this, the first film has a huge amount of charm and effectiveness, mainly dude to the Cenobites. The leather-bound bondage demons, angels to some, demons to others, are the real stars of the movie, despite hardly being in it. The original plan for the series was to have Julia go on to be the main villain, becoming the queen of hell in the second film, but the reaction to Doug Bradley as the Hellpriest/Pinhead would cause a change of direction that ultimately helped the franchise. Bradly has a presence to him that you don’t find in most horror villains, and his regal quality, his willingness to make deals, and the cold cruelty he displays sets him apart from his contemporaries.

You can tell that the reaction to him helped to shape the second film, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, which went into pre-production before the first film was even released. Also written by Barker, with Peter Atkins hopping on to help with the screenplay, and directed by Tony Randel, it feels very different to the first film, yet is the sequel that’s the most alike. The story continues on from the end of the first film, where Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) now finds herself in a mental facility run by the mysterious Doctor Channard (Kenneth Graham) following the events of the first movie. Whilst the shift to a mental health facility does have shades of Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, its focus on the background of the Cenobites and their world keeps it feeling unique.

The film delves into hell, taking the audience and characters there, and shows us that the Cenobites were once humans themselves; a fact that would play heavily into subsequent movies. The inclusion of the Escher inspired hell-world, the unknowable god Leviathan, and the further machinations of Julia, expand the story and setting in ways that most horror sequels simply didn’t do. But it’s by no means perfect, and the over-designed nature of the Channard Cenobite and the destruction he wreaks feels like a foreshadowing of the third movie, and leads the final act of the film to be the weakest part of the movie.

Whilst the first film kept its setting unknowable, and the second mixed together the US and UK even more, the third film takes a strong stance on setting, and moves things to New York, where we meet young reporter Joanne ‘Joey’ Summerskill (Terry Farrell), who is haunted by dreams of her father dying in Vietnam. Whilst out on a story she stumbles across a mysterious death that leads her to a nightclub where the owner has a strange, column-like statue that contains the spirit of Pinhead following his apparent destruction in the second film. Unbound to the puzzle-box, and with his human spirit now separated from him, Pinhead seems to play by new rules, and will wreak death and destruction on anyone he can unless he can be returned to his former self.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is the first major stumbling block for the franchise. Despite having done its own thing for two movies, and made a decent reputation for itself, this movie seems to want to be the slasher type film that Barker was avoiding. With Barker having no involvement on the film, director Anthony Hickox takes it in a very different direction. The subtlety of the series is gone, the sexual nature is cast aside other than sex seemingly awakening Pinhead for the first time, and the calm nature of Pinhead has vanished. There was always a sense that he was a villain that would only do what was needed, who played by certain rules, but here he’s a killing machine, with one scene having so much slaughter in it if you Google how many kills are in this film it comes back at over 300. It’s excessive, and very much not Hellraiser.

The new Cenobites created for the film also reflect that. Previous ones were, like Pinhead, people who had gone through a strange torture, their bodies augmented and enhanced in simple, but disturbing ways. This film has a guy with a camera in his head, another that shoots CDs out of his body, and one that carries a cocktail shaker and spits fire. They feel like the kind of Cenobites that someone who missed the point of them would create, and even Pinhead calls them shit by saying they’re pale reflections of the real ones. That all being said, there are a few good moments in the film, such as the scene of Pinhead in a church, and several of the shots of him towards the end of the film are perhaps some of the best the series has had up to this point. But this isn’t enough to save the film from being a rather large disappointment.

The failures of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth are often seen as the beginning of the end for the series, the start of a downward spiral that would produce terrible movies. However, Hellraiser IV: Bloodline, the fourth film, actually ends up being much better than its predecessor. This is perhaps due to the involvement of Barker, who returned to help produce the film. Hellraiser IV: Bloodline delves into the history of the series, providing an origin for the Lament Configuration (first named in this film), as well as continuing the story from the end scene from the previous movie, and acting as a final conclusion to the entire series. It does this by telling a story across three separate times in perhaps the boldest move in the series yet.

The film begins in the future, in space, where a scientist named Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsey) has taken control of a space station, and is summoning the Cenobites. However, before he’s able to finish his experiment, the station is stormed by soldiers and he’s taken prisoner. When asked what he’s doing, he begins a tale that takes us back to the 1700s France, where his ancestor, the toy maker Philippe Lemarchand (also Ramsey) is commissioned to create a special puzzle-box. Lemarchand learns that the puzzle-box has been used in a dark ritual, and has helped to create a gateway to hell, in which the demon Angelique (Valentia Vargas) is summoned to Earth. Lemarchand begins to design a box that will seal the gateway and send the demons back, but is killed before completing it.

From here we skip forward to the 1990s, where we meet another ancestor who is carrying on that work, and is responsible for the Lament Configuration inspired building from the end of the third film. It’s in this time period that Angelique is freed from her servitude, and using the puzzle-box from film three, is able to summon Pinhead to assist her. Whilst they’re able to kill the Merchant in this time period, they’re both banished back to hell for a brief time. In the distant future, Paul Merchant has finished the work the toy-maker started, revealing that the station they’re on is a giant puzzle-box that has been created to destroy the Cenobites forever.

It’s a well known joke that once the franchise goes into space it’s all over (despite Jason X being amazing), but this film seems to buck that trend somewhat. The split narrative across different time periods is an interesting idea, and a confirmed origin of the Lament Configuration is interesting to see. The film also featured a return to the Pinhead we know after the third outing, with his character being much better here. Cenobite designs that fit into the original films feel are also a huge improvement. Whilst the film isn’t perfect, mainly due to around 30 minutes of movie having been cut by the studio, that resulted in director Kevin Yagher walking away from the project, it still manages to be incredibly intriguing and engaging. Whilst it might get tarred with the same brush as the third film, Hellraiser IV: Bloodline feels like an improvement over that film in every way, and offers one of the surprisingly better stories in the series.

Each of the four movies in the set have been restored from the original film negatives, and the films look great. Having already owned a copy of the first film on Blu-ray the difference here is quite noticeable, with a sharpness and crisp quality that wasn’t present before. And this is done across all four of the movies, with this set being the best versions of all of them that I’ve seen. Whilst the improvement in quality of the films is a decent draw for this set, it’s the extras that are really worth the price of admission, as each disc is packed to the brim. Each of the movies comes with audio commentaries, with previously released commentaries for the first three movies also being included (two for each), along with brand new commentaries for each film, giving viewers ten in total. There are also brand new video essays, discussions, and documentaries for each film, along with archival material, that offers hours of extra features that go in depth into each of the films, as well as the franchise in broader terms.

Hellraiser is a series that took risks when it first came out, that challenged the sensibilities of the time, and was something of a subversion of the horror genre that people were used to. It ushered in a new kind of horror, and created an icon of the genre that has become instantly recognisable. Whilst the subsequent films in the series vary greatly in quality, with some decent psychological horrors to be found in the later movies alongside some absolute trash, the first four movies are a pretty good representation of the franchise as a whole, and show off some of the different directions it would take. This new set might be pricey, but it offers up some great movies, and if you love going behind the scenes and learning more the extra features are a goldmine.

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Captain America #2 - Comic Review

 

There's a pretty big Nazi problem in the world right now. Despite media, and history books, showing Nazi's to have been some of the worst of humanity over the last several decades there's been a rise in far right and Nazi ideology in recent years. Nazi's no longer seem to fear making themselves known, and will show up in public trying to use fear and intimidation to spread their hateful ideology and suppress anyone they don't like. It makes a lot of sense then that a character like Captain America, a man famous for punching Hitler in the comics, to tackle the issue of Nazism in America. 

The first issue began a new status quo for Steve Rogers, seeing him becoming a landlord for the building he grew up in almost 100 years ago. Not being the kind of landlord who suck people dry and leave them living in terrible conditions, Steve has been doing the place up, making it nice to live in, and seems to be trying to find people to help with it. This issue he even offers one of the finished apartments to the contractor he's hired, who's having to live in the back of his car with his wife and son.

This issue also sees Steve's hard work on the building getting interrupted by Spider-Man, who needs Captain America's help in taking on the Sinister Six. Spidey being on the cover also seems to be setting this up as the main focus of the book, a fun little team-up between the two of them. But, the fight never happens, the villains never appear, and Spidey just kind of comes off as a bit annoying and something of a time waster. And not just wasting Steve's time, but ours too. Valuable page space goes over to what I can only assume is supposed to be a joke, but it just feels like wasted time and use of the character.

Luckily, the flashbacks in the issue give us a lot more, and prove to be the most interesting part of the book. The previous issue ended with a down on his luck Steve going to a rally in the park, having been promised free food being given out. However, it turns out that the rally is for the German American Bund, the American branch of the Nazis. Of course, even before becoming a super soldier, Steve has no love for the Nazis, and calls them out in public for the crimes of the Third Reich, an act that gets him beaten up and thrown out. 

This doesn't dissuade Steve from standing up to Nazis again, and the final scene of the book is him squaring up to a group of Nazis harassing some Jewish people. One of the things that I love about Captain America is that the values and drive that makes him such a good hero is nothing to do with being a hero, it's just the kind of person Steve is. And this series is really showcasing that. The final image of the book, with the young Steve helping the two abused man and his shadow being that of Captain America is a little bit cheesy, a little bit The Phantom Menace poster, but I like of love it too.

It's a shame that other parts of the issue just don't seem to be as exciting as those set in the past. Steve doing up a building and going on a failed team-up is a bit dull, and the villain subplot finally at least has an explanation as to what the demonic entity is wanting to do, but it's not something hugely interesting at this point either. And, considering the fact that there is a very real Nazi problem in today's world it's something of a shame that this isn't a part of the book too. It could have very easily been about Steve witnessing the rise of the far right and Nazism today, and it reflecting his past experiences, with the two narratives tying together. As it is, they feel kind of disconnected.

Overall, this is a decent, enjoyable issue, though one that is failing to really wow me. I'm not ready to give up on the title or anything like that, but I've yet to be left feeling excited to read the next issue. 

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