Ultraman: The Official Novelization by Pat Cadigan

 

'An exciting modern adaptation of the original 1960s Ultraman, bringing the classic era of the iconic Japanese superhero to established fans and newcomers alike.

'Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth's atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is threatened by alien invaders, terrifying monsters or any threat beyond the capabilities of humanity, Shin Hayata transforms into the towering Ultraman to restore peace and save the day.'

We've had some big franchises spawn out of Japan that have taken the rest of the world by storm. Godzilla is probably the first to come to mind, with Super Sentai having a foothold in the US and UK thanks to the Power Rangers adaptation. And then there's the dozens of manga and anime series that have global audiences. One franchise that, surprisingly, seems to have a much smaller following, at least here in the UK, is Ultraman. Despite being one of the biggest franchises in the world in the 80's, I had no knowledge of the series growing up, and much like Kamen Rider it seems to be one of those franchises that are extremely hard to find English subed or dubed releases of. 

Luckily, for those who might not have been able to find a way of watching the original series, though some of the franchise is now available on the official Ultraman Youtube chanel, a new novel adaptation is available from Titan Books and author Pat Cadigan.

Ultraman: The Official Novelisation tells the story of Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, who finds himself investigating strange light up in the mountains, and find his jet over a forest lake when a sphere of light from space smashes into him, destroying the aircraft and apparently killing him. When his colleagues come to investigate his death they're shocked when a huge monster appears from beneath the lake's surface. Fortunately for them, Shin didn't die, and instead was saved by an Ultra, a being from a far off part of the universe, who was chasing the giant monster to Earth. Shin and the Ultra make a deal, to fuse together and share a body. Returned to Earth, Shin uses the powers given to him by the Ultra to become Ultraman, a hero capable of battling this monster, and many more that threaten the safety of the Earth.

If you're unfamiliar with the original series this is a good introduction to it, as it follows pretty closely to several of the episodes, beginning with a fairly faithful adaptation of the pilot episode, and summarises all of the important lore quite well. For those that have seen it, the book doesn't add a whole lot new. 

The blurb promises 'An exciting modern adaptation', and it's certainly an adaptation. Does it feel particularly modern? Not hugely. And is it exciting? For me, unfortunately, no, it's not. The recent Marvel Comics Ultraman releases are new adaptations of what has come before, with new characters and old mixed together, with new lore and a deeper universe than was first presented in the original series. That is what I would expect from 'An exciting modern adaptation'; but this was simply an adaptation. It didn't feel like it added much or injected anything new into things.

Perhaps this is me knowing the source material, and thus not really having that much new to experience here, I don't know, unfortunately what I do know is that more often than not I found things kind of boring reading the book. Maybe it's me, and I hope that's the case and that others can pick the book up an enjoy it. It's a decent introduction to the franchise for sure, but some fans might find the book a bit lacking.

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Birds of Prey #4 - Comic Review

 

The start of this new series of Birds of Prey promised readers that a new, deadlier team was needed for the mission Black Canary was going on. It's the kind of promise I'm sure comic readers are used to hearing, as each new creative boasts that their new villain or their story is going to be the biggest and baddest, or the most earth shattering. And a lot of the time this can fall flat, as the hype fails to deliver. But this issue really does demonstrate that this story is more than delivering on promises, as the birds go up against one of the toughest foes in the DC Universe, Wonder Woman.

With Wonder Woman having been treated as something like a spectre in the last issue, a threat that the team were trying to avoid. This issue, however, has Wonder Woman front and centre as the group have to try and survive not only an island full of amazons, but one of the most powerful people on Earth. 

The issue opens with Zealot clashing with the princess, before Diana flies off, leaving Zannah to fight a group of Amazons; testing her vow that she would not take an Amazonian life. As Diana pursues Dinah, Harley, and Sin, Barda comes into the fray, giving us a brutal smack down battle between the New God and the Amazonian princess. You can really feel the power of the two characters here, and their blows feel solid and destructive in ways that other characters in the book are just unable to do.

After Diana manages to subdue Barda she comes up against Cassandra, who has been lying in wait, preparing to take her on. This fight uses some of the old 'Batman could win if he had prep time' type arguments, as Cassandra uses uses traps and gadgets that she's scattered around the woods to try and slow Wonder Woman down. Smoke bombs, nets, and explosives do little to stop Diana, however, who manages to take Batgirl down in one punch. It does feel a little unfair, putting Cass up against someone so powerful, yet despite losing the fight she lasts a decent amount of time, and does better than probably any other regular person could against Diana.

Knocking Cassandra out seems to enrage Barda, who likes the 'little bat', and she and Diana clash again, in a fight that sees Diana use the lasso on the New God. Barda reveals the reason why they're there, and puts some doubt into Wonder Woman. Once the Birds are all captured, Diana begins to look into the reason that they were there, sure that the Birds believe that they were doing the right thing in breaking into Themyscira. This leads her and the Amazons to discover that Megaera, an powerful entity, has infiltrated the island. As the Amazons fall to the creature, including Wonder Woman, the freshly escaped Birds of Prey ready themselves to take it on.

This is easily the best issue of the series so far. The book is filled with action, and really well done action, the story advances in cool new ways, and the final moments set up nicely for an even bigger, wilder finale. I have to be honest, I liked the first issue, and found that the book slowed down a little come the second one, and was a bit unsure if I liked it or not. But the issue three and this issue have made me fall in love with this series. I really want to see more of this team, even Harley who isn't always gone that well. I honestly found everything Harley said this issue to be funny, and like how Dinah is warming to her.

The way that relationships have been building between the characters has been really good, and we're really seeing it come through in strong ways as they're having to fight together against the Amazons. The mismatched, kind of unusual group from the first issue feels like a fully fledged team now, and I want to see them hanging out as much as I want to see them charging into battle again. I don't know if the series has been renewed after issue six, but I really hope it has as this is a fantastically fun time.

Leonardo Romero does the art on the issue, with Jordie Bellaire on colours, and I think this might be the best in the series. The moments of action are wonderfully executed, and there are times where the fighting feels quick and precise, and others where it's brutal and all about the power. The art manages to illustrate the different styles of combat the team has, and there are some really fantastically designed moments, like Barda hammering Diana with dozens of punches, and smashing her over her knee like she's Bane breaking Batman, or when Diana takes her out with a single punch, the shock waves of the hit altering the shape of the panels. This book feels the closest to the big scale destructive fighting from something like Dragon Ball Z I think I've ever seen executed in a DC book.

I hope that we get more like this as we go into the final part of the arc, and with it looking like the Birds are Themyscira's best hope of surviving things seem set for a brutal, over-the-top action finale.

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Beast World: Waller Rising #1 - Comic Review

 

Tie-in's can be a unusual bag. Whenever a big story has tie-in books you have to ask yourself which ones you want to check out, hoping that you get the ones that are key to the event. On occasion, tie-in's will interrupt a regular run, occasionally in ways that only feel tangentially connected, and other times a tie-in seems to come out of nowhere and does entirely its own thing. Beast Word: Waller Rising falls into that latter category, and with a few tiny changes could take place with no connection to Beast World at all. Because of that, this doesn't feel like it's really needed for the event, but instead does its own thing that's really interesting.

The story takes place a very short time after Titans: Beast World #1, as Garro's spores are falling across the world and leaving chaos in their wake. It's during this chaos that Doctor Hate has managed to break free of whatever control Amanda Waller has over him, having gone rogue. This is something that wasn't set up in that issue, so feels a little out of nowhere here. But, this is the least strange part of the book. 

Hate has managed to find a way to access the Kingdom, a pocket dimension that connects to the different life forces of the planet, such as the Red and the Green, and he's trying to corrupt and destroy it as a form of sacrifice to the Lord of Chaos. Now, this is where the plot got a little bit confusing to me. It might be because this feels like a four issue mini-series crammed down into a double sized issue, and it might be because I'm in the middle of a fibro flare and have a lot of brain fog going on; but there are parts of Hate's plan that just didn't make sense to me.

Parts like, why does he keep kidnapping powerful heroes and takes them to the Kingdom? I'm sure there's a line somewhere in the book that explains it, but I think I missed it and just had to go along with the ride without really fully understanding it.

Despite not knowing why the villain was doing it, several heroes find themselves inside the Kingdom, such as Val Zod's Superman, Nubia, Freedom Beast, and Doctor Mist, whilst Batwing, Vixen, and Black Manta work from the outside on a way of getting in. Mixed up in all of this is Deadeye, Waller's psychic nephew who first appeared in Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution. This is his second appearance, and we finally get some information on who he is. Despite being related to Waller, he seems to dislike her, hates her methods, and only agrees to help out to save people, rather than through family obligations or patriotism. He seems to be an interesting character, and I hope we get more from him other than appearing in single issue tie ins to events once every six months.

The various heroes and villains manage to come together and defeat Doctor Hate, delivering him back into Waller's control. The issue ends with Batwing considering forming a new team that includes the heroes that they fought with here, as well as some others. It seems like fairly standard fare for the formation of a new team. However, the thing that will immediately make this group, and the proposed other members, stand out is that they're all Black.

I've already seen people online complaining about this. Complaining both about why all of the characters that Hate took were Black, and why the proposed team at the end are all Black, and it seems fairly ridiculous. If the team were all white no one would be demanding an explanation for why only white people were taken, or why an all-white team would exist. Most super hero teams that we have all began as all white, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Avengers, X-Men, and more, so this is nothing new. But, then it is kind of new in the sense that DC hasn't had an all Black team before, and the idea is a fantastic one. 

DC has a great pool of Black characters that it can draw from to create a new team if it wanted, and a lot of them are really good characters haven't really been given much of a spotlight before. I hope that this proposed team does go ahead, and I'm excited to see what characters end up on the roster.

I mentioned how I found some of the story hard to follow, again perhaps due to my brain not working right today, but I also found that the art in some cases added to this. Keron Grant provides the art on the book, and whilst it's really nice art to look at their style isn't the most traditional, and sometimes felt almost psychedelic. There are pages where the panels have other images bleeding through them, almost like a double exposure, whilst others would use harsh lighting and glare on the characters. These are not new techniques, but I found the combination of these more unusual styles with a story that I was already struggling to keep up with just led to an reading experience that felt dense and heavy to be even more so.

Overall, this is a really solid stand-alone issue, one that barely ties into the main event, and promises some interesting things to come in the DC Universe. If this all Black hero team does emerge then this is an interesting first chapter of what could be a fantastic new idea. But, if that team doesn't come along then this will feel like both an empty promise, and something of a wasted opportunity. Hopefully DC will make the right choice.

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The Poetry of Ran vol 1 by Yuske Osawa - Manga Review

 

'Torue is a young bard looking to make a name for herself, when she encounters the monster hunter Ran at a sleepy village. Ran is a 'child of impurity' capable of slaying monsters called Karma; taking their evil into himself so it doesn't pollute the world. Ran is feared and shunned, but always puts his own life on the line to do good, so Torue decides to write a poem about him...'

The Poetry of Ran takes readers to a fantasy world where monsters called Karma can draw into themselves the souls of the dead, taking on all of the cruel and evil deeds a person has done. This energy transforms them into even more powerful, and twisted creatures that are more than regular warriors can handle. The become the targets of children of impurity, specially trained fighters who upon killing the Karma, take their evil into themselves to stop its spread.

The story begins in a small town, where a young bard named Torue is trying to earn some gold with an old ballad. Unfortunately, most of the people in the village either know the song, or just don't care, and she's struggling to get by. Torue doesn't know many songs, and is finding the bardic life tough. It's then that a huge pile of coins are dumped in front of her, as a thank you for her song by a mysterious hooded figure. Torue soon learns that this figure is a child of impurity, named Ran, and who's been hired to destroy the Karma that's been tormenting the village.

An outsider herself, Torue is shocked when she sees how the villagers treat Ran, a man who has come to risk his life in order to help them. Parents warn their children not to go near him, lest he somehow infect them with darkness, and some in the village question their leader as to why they even need him. Torue follows Ran, and spends some time talking with him on the village outskirts. She learns that Ran is lonely, that whilst he's a kind and caring man he's often treated with suspicion, and even outright hatred. He doesn't even know how to smile properly. Torue decides that she's going to travel with Ran, to give him a friend on his journey, and to compose songs and poetry of his brave adventures.

The first volume of The Poetry of Ran is split into three adventures, told across its four chapters. The first one is an origin for our characters, it deals with the meeting between Ran and Torue, and shows us how the two of them end up becoming friends travelling together. It starts small, and focuses on the character more than it does the monsters or the action. We spend much of the chapter with Torue and Ran sitting around a camp fire, sharing details about themselves and building a rapport. It's a nice intro to the world and the characters, and it means that when the action does start you're at least a little invested in these lonely, kind of broken people.

The second chapter takes us to one of the bigger cities in this world, Lillbit, where the children of impurity come to help suppress the power of the impurities they draw into themselves, as well as lessen the pain they experience. It's here that we meet another child of impurity, the elf Mina. Mina seems to be something of a friendly rival of Ran's, with her treating their work as a friendly competition where she competes to see if she can beat more Karma than she can. The competition seems to be a little one sided, with Ran not really appearing to care too much, but it's a fun dynamic between the two of them. It's in this chapter that we also learn that some Karma have been appearing in the middle of cities, and that some children of impurity have been killed fighting them.

Of course, we've not long learned of this when the city bells begin to toll, and a Karma appears. This horrible amalgam of insect and chameleon begins attacking the town, forcing Ran and Mina to have to jump into action in order to save people. We get hints at a bigger plot at play here, as a mysterious robed figure with a horrible skull-like face watches over things, making cryptically evil comments to himself about needing to wipe the children of impurity away.

The final two chapters deal with one story, of a huge dragon that has become a Karma. The monster is wiping out entire villages, killing hundreds. The Knights of the Black Wolf have been sent to try and stop the monster, but need Ran's help to do so. This is by far the best part of the book. It's big and epic, and Ran basically has to fight a kaiju. the Knights of the Black Wolf begin somewhat antagonistically towards him thanks to Jill, a fierce fights with an explosive hammer weapon, who wants to take down the monstrous Rampage herself to avenge her father, who died to it a decade ago.

Jill is an interesting character, a bit weird at times sure, but she seems to be focused on killing the monster and saving the day, so she's not all bad. Whilst she does treat Ran with little respect, and is quite dismissive of him she eventually comes to admit they need his help; and her and Ran leading the cavalry charge against the monster is a really awesome moment. As is how the creature is finally defeated.

However, before Ran can absorb the curse from the Rampage's corpse the mysterious figure appears once again, this time announcing his presence to our heroes. He takes the curse and uses it to create a monstrous creature of his own, something that looks similar to himself that he calls his kin. The book ends with the skull faced man announcing that Ragnarok is one step close. It's a hell of a cliffhanger for the volume, and absolutely makes me want to read the next one as soon as I can. A lot of manga series can take a few volumes before the big story really kicks in, but The Poetry of Ran seems to want to get readers hooked quickly, and this volume certainly does that.

My only slight criticism with the book is the focus on breasts. Torue has very large breasts, something that's made a point of on the third page of the book. Ran ends up staring at her chest a few times, and there's a point in the book where they're riding horses and the art depicts her breasts bouncing up and down, once again grabbing Ran's attention. It's not just her, however, as both Mina and Jill wear costumes that show off their chests, even if it's impractical for warriors to have little to no armour. When Jill meets Torue she picks up the smaller woman and hugs her into herself, smothering Torue's face with her breasts. It just feels a little bit much. I like breasts as much as the next person, but the repeated focus on them and use of them as humour does sometimes feel like it messes with the overall tone of the book a little.

Yuske Osawa's art is really nice, and everything is crisp and cleanly presented, with some cool character designs. Where the book really looks the best is in the monsters though. The first creature they fight is a nightmare manta ray type thing made up of bones and flesh with screaming skeletal faces. Osawa has spent some time designing some really cool creatures, monsters that draw upon familiar things, such as reptiles and insects, but mashes them together in horrible ways. I really like the small pieces that we get to see of the big bad too, and the designs for these creatures are as much something I'm looking forward to seeing as the story that revolves around them.

If you're looking for a cool fantasy action manga, one that has some fun characters and some extra heart to it, but also packs in the action, then The Poetry of Ran is absolutely one that you're going to want to check out. 

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Crave #1 - Comic Review

 

Crave is a new comic series that explores desire, what people are willing to do to meet those urges, and how much control people might give up to get what they want. 

The story opens in an unnamed university campus, where a mysterious new app has appeared on everyone's phones, Crave. The app is simple in its execution, you type in what you desire, and if possible, the app will help you to get it. At this stage of the story the app has already been around for a little while, and people are beginning to see results from it. People have made public declarations of their love that have won over their hearts desire, whilst others have found the courage to enter into queer relationships, and some have used it for casual sex. To be fair, most have used it for this.

We meet David, who hasn't used the app yet, but is seeing the results that it's bringing for others and is starting to become tempted by it. David receives a sexy picture of Alexandria, a girl he's always wanted to date, via the app with the question of if he wants to see more. This comes at the same time that David is having a bit of an argument with his girlfriend, who has ignored his wishes and has arranged for him to travel home with her to meet her family. Perhaps in part spurred on by the app, David dumps her.

His roommate, Albert, gives into the app, telling it that he's always wanted to hook up with one of the prettiest girls in there, a girl that would normally be out of his league. The app tells him to immediately leave the room, to go to a specific lift, and get inside. Following the instructions, Albert finds himself in the lift with the focus of his desires, just as the lift breaks down. It appears that the app is more than just a hook-up device, a way of horny teens finding each other so that they can bang. The app knew where to send Albert, it knew where the girl he liked was, and it either knew the lift would break, or caused it.

The hints that there's something more sinister at work are emphasised when their roommate, Saito, has to leave the campus. The small note he left them, a post-it with the words 'Whatever you do DON'T USE the "Crave" app!!' written on it falls to the ground, unnoticed by the others. 

The issue ends with David ducking into a darkened science room to avoid his ex and her friends, a room that is quickly invaded by a student and teacher who start having sex on one of the work benches as David hides beneath. Listening to the sound of them fuck, when the Crave app asks him once again if he wants to see more pictures of Alexandria in her lingerie and bondage gear, he clicks yes, unleashing a torrent of images.

Crave is an interesting series. It seems to be using sex to sell, with a scantily clad Alexandria on the cover, and the Crave app is being used mainly for sex. But it also feels like the book is laying the groundwork for something more sinister. The book seems to be gearing up to ask the question what happens if people can get everything they want? Even just one issue in we're seeing that people are acting out of character, that things are becoming somewhat chaotic, and the the app is hurting people as well as fulfilling some's desires. I also suspect that it's going to be touching upon the idea of freedom, and of how quickly people are willing to give up part of their autonomy in order to get what they think will make them happy.

And despite pushing the sex angle on the covers, the book doesn't resort to pushing it in your face as you read it. Most of the book is characters talking, university halls and lecture rooms. It's not wall to wall sex and nudity, and even when it does happen the art, by writer Maria Llovet, never really gets explicit. Most of it is suggestive. We see a student giving his teacher oral sex, but it's angled in a way that you see nothing. Alexadria's pictures are sexy, but there's no actual nudity in them, with her nipples always covered, and underwear always on. It uses things like rope play, ball gags, and the tiniest hint of bush to provoke images of more overtly sexual acts, but the book never goes there explicitly. As such, those coming to this book purely for sex might be surprised to find that this first issue is focused more on character and story.

Crave has a pretty solid first issue, one that set the series up to go in some interesting directions. Whether it strays into the realms of sexual thriller, or just ends up as pornography is yet to be seen, but it feels likely that it's going to be the first; and I'm interested in seeing what comes next. 

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Green Arrow #6 - Comic Review

 

During the finale of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths Green Arrow was pulled away, lost to another universe, or to time, gone from his friends and family. The current Green Arrow series, which almost ended with this issue, but was extended thanks to sales, has not just been about getting Ollie back, but has asked the question why can the Arrow Family never just all be together. Turns out it's not editorial issues or writers not wanting to do it, but a foe from Ollie's past who's been messing with him the whole time.

After jumping through time and meeting different versions of himself, Ollie learns the true identity of the person setting out to ruin his life this issue. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to fans of the character who'd be behind this, even if this kind of scheme is a bit beyond their normal levels. Merlyn, the Dark Archer, has been manipulating Oliver, all with the aim of preventing him from ever getting to be happy. 

I don't know if the reveal is a surpise or not. If you were to ask me who Ollie's biggest enemy is I'd have said Merlyn, so him being involved feels natural. But on the other hand him having Ollie removed from time, making deals with figures like Paralax and Amanda Waller does feel different to what we've seen from him before, so him being behind all of that does feel different to past Merlyn schemes at least. 

However this reveal sits with you, the issue doesn't give you a huge amount of time with it, as Oliver is soon joined by Lian and Connor, who help him to get away from the Dark Archer, and back to the real world, where they arrive on Starfish Island, where Dinah is waiting for them. She'd gone 'back to the beginning' in her search for Ollie, returning to the island whilst Roy and Cheshire followed their own leads, resulting in a small reunion between them. But, with Roy gone the entire family still isn't together yet. 

Whilst Ollie and Dinah are meeting up, Roy and Cheshire are heading to a secret location where they're hoping that they can find the information needed to bring Oliver and the others home; unaware that they've already managed to do so themselves. However, the two of them have barely begin their infiltration of the hidden facility when they're both shot several times, by Amanda Waller. The issue ends with Waller standing over them, with the promise that things will be continued in 'The Hunt For Arsenal!'

This issue brings the first arc to a nice conclusion, and the reunion between Ollie and Dinah is a really nice moment, and will likely end up being one of the images from this arc that people will remember; the two of them embracing in the surf of Starfish Island as the sun shines down upon them. The further building of Waller and her schemes is a nice addition, and her continues machinations in the background of a number of titles has been an interesting mystery that feels nowhere near answered yet. I do wonder if this was the way the series would always have been ended if it hadn't have sold well, or is Roy was always going to go down this path. Good job we've got more to come so we can further continue this story.

The art on the issue is done by a number of people, with Phil Hester returning to the character to provide the art on the sections of the book that take place in the past. I really like this choice, and it absolutely helps the reader to feel like we've gone back into some of Ollie's history. The rest of the book features art by Trevor Hairsine, and Sean Izaakse, with Romulo Fajardo Jr. on colours. There are a number of really good looking moments in the book, such as the Merlyn reveal, and the final page, but as said earlier, Dinah and Ollie embracing on the beach is a beautiful moment from both a writing and art perspective, and might be my favourite part of the book.

Oliver Queen is back in the DC Universe, and now he has the chance to put his life back together; but first we're going to have to go save Roy; and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

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Titans Beast World #1 - Comic Review

 

Cosmic horror comes to the DC Universe as the Beast World event kicks off. Spinning out of the pages of Titans, where we've seen weird alien spore-like creatures climbing inside people and taking them over, and learned that the leader of the Church of Eternity is actually a Tamaranian, this new event puts the Titans squarely in the centre of things.

The Church of Eternity has launched a mission to the moon of Titan, which raises some questions about why most of the solar system hasn't been colonised yet if a small, new religious organisation can mount a space flight that far out. Perhaps it's due to the leader secretly being an alien, but it feels like it should either be so common place that no one is talking about it, or that bizarre that everyone should be looking into how this was done. 

When the ship lands on the moon the two astronauts discover an ancient temple carved into a mountainside. Using their suits coms, Brother Eternity speaks some ancient Tamaranian, and the temple activates. The moon begins to shake apart as a giant monstrosity breaks its way free from beneath the surface.The Titans, who were watching the televised mission, spring into action, with the members capable of surviving in space boom tubing to the remote moon. They're unable to save the astronauts, but manage to escape as the moon breaks apart, revealing a huge alien monster.

As the heroes gather on Earth, Starfire reveals that she knows what the creature is, telling them about ancient Tamaranian history. The monster is known as the Necrostar, and appears to be similar to Starro. The creature, which looks kind of plant-like, unleashes smaller versions of itself that help it to take over and destroy worlds. Her people rose up against it, billions of beings with the same super powers as her. She's asked how they beat it, to which she replies that they didn't. Starro did. Starro and the Necrostar battled, and when the Necrostar was beaten the Tamaranians sealed it in a prison and sent it out into space; where it would eventually become the moon of Titan.

Hope of defeating the Necrostar seems thin, but Beast Boy has a plan. As the stronger heroes head into orbit to slow down the spores, and the ground based heroes do their best to deal with the ones that make it through, Beast Boy uses his ability to become other animals to turn himself into Starro. Garro, as he jokingly calls himself, flies into space to fight the Necrostar, as his own spores tackle those attacking Earth. Garro beats the monster back, and Cyborg opens up a boom tube that sends it to the coldest place in the universe. All seems well, and the day is won.

But then Doctor Hate arrives on the scene. The sinister version of Doctor Fate that we saw Amanda Waller create at the end of Night Terrors uses his powers to wipe away Gar's mind, leaving him as the creature he's mimicking. Garro returns to Earth, now a conqueror as well. However, whilst Starro normally just uses his spored to control people, Garro's ones go inside people via their mouths, and transforms them into humanoid animals under his control.

This issue is pure set-up, getting us into the place for the main thrust of the event; but it's absolutely fantastic set-up. The Necrostar is genuinely scary, in a way that Starro never is. Maybe it's a combination of the name and the spinier, more dangerous looking design, maybe it's the cosmic horror of something sealed away for generations in the coldness of space, but this thing feels like a big threat. It's a shame its dealt with in this one issue (apparently), but it's used perfectly here. It spurs our heroes into action, and it gives us a reasoning for Gar turning into a Starro that makes perfect sense.

After Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths the Titans were given the reigns to be the premier super hero team, to take the Justice League's place for when things are at their worst. It didn't really feel like they were doing this during the events of Night Terrors or Lazarus Planet, and their own title still feels fairly small in scope. But, this time we get to see them leading. They're the first to try and deal with the Necostar, Starfire is their source of knowledge, Gar is the one coming up with the plan, and the other heroes are listening to them and taking their lead. It may have taken a while to get there, but this finally feels like the team are doing the thing that the trinity asked of them.

One thing that's unclear here, and I'm hoping will come up as the mini-series goes on, is was everything planned out by Waller. Waller has been in the shadows planning things and pulling strings since Dark Crisis, and whilst Doctor Hate comes along and sends Gar bad on her orders I wonder if this is them taking an opportunity that presented itself, or if she engineered the release of the Necrostar hoping for this outcome. I can see Waller being adaptable, of seeing what was happening and knowing how to take advantage of it, but if they turned around and revealed that she was helping Brother Eternity I wouldn't feel surprised by that. She's one of those characters who you can have do most things and make it feel in character for her with a good enough explanation. 

This issue also saw Doctor Hate remove his helmet, though we didn't see his face. But Gar did, and not only did he recognise them, but seemed shocked by who they were. With Waller having messed with the multiverse this seems like we're probably getting a character we know, though they might not be this world's version of it. The shock that Gar has might be a 'why are you doing this' kind of thing, but it could also easily be a 'you're supposed to be dead' or 'I just spoke to you a minute ago and you were good' kind of thing. There is definitely a new mystery now as to his true identity.

The book is drawn by Ivan Reis with Brad Anderson on colours, and the book looks absolutely fantastic. There's something about Reis drawn books that just have this bigger feel to them. He feels like an event artist, one who draws the big, special things. The scale of the threat in this issue, along with the art makes this book feel bigger than Night Terrors or Lazarus Planet. Maybe this is me remembering things like Blackest Night, and how big that was, and putting some of that remembered hype and projecting those feelings onto this. Whatever the reason, this book just feels special.

Beast World looks set to be a fun event, one that isn't going across too many books, and that doesn't have a ton of tie ins. If it's kept to this kind of quality throughout, without it disrupting large parts of the wider publishing line it could end up becoming one of the better events from DC in years.

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Amazons Attack #2 - Comic Review

 

Amazons Attack is a strange pick for the title of this series. Not only is it drawing to mind an absolutely terrible past event with that name, but it's incredibly disingenuous. Though I am willing to give it a slight pass as being how the bigots in the US see the events of this book, as no matter what our group of women do they're painted as terrorists and killers. 

The new Wonder Woman series is doing some big things with the Amazons. Making them enemies of the US, using them as a way for every right wing bigot and angry commentator in the country to vent all of their hatred towards women. Some of the things said in Wonder Woman are infuriating, not because it's badly written, but because it reflects the bigotry and hatred that exists for real in our world, just magnified. The Amazons are a danger, they're coming to destroy your way of life, they're corrupting your women, they're going to wipe out good, decent white men. All of the shit that you see blamed on minorities are being used in this story.

And, as Queen Nubia tries to set things right the Amazons are set up even more, made to look even worse, and now angry mobs and every law enforcement and military in the country are going after her and her team; and they don't seem to care if they kill them. The end of the last issue saw Nubia, Faruka, Yara, Mary Marvel, and Hoppy the Rabbit in the middle of Time Square, their pictures on every screen declaring them enemies of America.

This issue deals with the four women and their rabbit friend trying to stay alive long enough to get out of New York. As such, the book has a lot of stuff going on, whilst not a huge amount happens at the same time. They're having to try to avoid getting grabbed by mobs, or being shot by the military, so there's a lot of action, dodging attacks, and trying to get Hoppy recharged so that he can get them out of there.

The best part of the issue is actually that last one, and I think that Faruka and Hoppy might be one of the best pairings we've had in a while. They have some great banter, such as her giving him condolences when he tells her he's a boy, and him scolding her and telling her to pay for the food he needs is frankly adorable. There aren't many characters that can tell Faruka off and get her to do something she doesn't want to, but it seems like Hoppy might be one. Being a bunny parent though, I have to say they as a species are absolutely up for theft, so I don't believe Hoppy would make her pay.

This issue also draws upon some of the elements from the New Champion of Shazam! series that had Mary dealing with the new Dr Sivana and her magi-tech devices. It's very lightly touched upon here, and there's decent enough explanations for what it is so that those who didn't read the other mini-series don't feel left out. We also see that there's more going on than just regular bigotry and mob rule, as an Apple of Discord is involved. Whether this is going to be it's own thing, or tied into the Soverign stuff in Wonder Woman waits to be seen.

The issue ends with team managing to get out of New York and arriving at Akahim to talk to the oracle to find out more about the vision she had of this group of women. However, they arrive to find the city in ruins, with the word 'sanctuary' scrawled on it.

Art duties for the issue fall to Vasco Georgiev with Alex Guimarães on colours. The book looks great, and the scenes of chaos in New York are staged really well. It feels frantic and dangerous, and you get the sense that the team are constantly rushing around, on guard and ready for things to go bad. The characters are all really expressive and have some great emotions on their faces (again, see the scene with Faruka and Hoppy). It's a great book to look through, and the final page reveal of the devastation at Akahim is gorgeous.

This is a pretty fun series, more fun that a book called Amazons Attack should be. I like the group of characters that are being used, and including Mary in Amazon stories gives her stuff to do outside of whenever the Shazam! title decides to use her, and adds some power variety to the team. I'm looking forward to seeing where this chapter of the Amazon story goes next.

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Alan Scott: Green Lantern #2 - Comic Review

 

I put Alan Scott: Green Lantern on my pull list for two reasons, one is that I love Green Lantern, and it's the main thing that I collect and am trying to get all of. The second is that the Justice Society are my favourite comic team. With those two things in mind I didn't expect that the main thing that I'd come to love about this series is the beautiful, and even moving queer story that would be presented within the pages. Only two issues in it's quickly become one of my best comic of the year.

The last issue ended with a full page splash of Alan Scott going through electro-shock 'therapy' in Arkham Asylum. I saw some people online jumping to the conclusion the book was going to be doing one of those 'is the lead character actually crazy and is this all fake?' type situations. Other than that being a quite tired and well used trope at this point, it also ignored the bigger issue. This is a queer story in a time of rampant homophobia. My only conclusion was that the people who thought that's where the story might have been going might be unaware of the horrors inflicted upon the queer community at that time; because as soon as I saw it I knew that Alan Scott was going to be tortured for being gay.

And this is what this second issue is about. Much of the 'present day' (still in the past, just not as far back) part of the story deals with Alan recounting the tale of his time in Arkham, and the events that led up to him becoming the Green Lantern, rather than the continuation of the central conflict for him in that era. In some books this would slow things down considerably, especially as it would be dealing with the history of an established character that you'd have to assume the audience is familiar with. After all, Alan Scott has been around for more than eighty years, with him debuting just behind Superman and Batman, and before well known characters like Wonder Woman or other members of the Justice Society, so you'd expect his backstory to be a well known one. 

But not only has it been a long while since DC really covered Alan Scott's origin, it's also gone through some substantial changes. In Infinite Frontier #0 Alan came out as gay to his son and daughter, revealing that it was something that he'd been hiding for most of his life. But, thanks to the shifting times, and likely in large part to seeing his son as an openly, happy, gay super hero, Alan joined the ever expanding ranks of queer DC characters. Of course, this prompted outcries from the conservative right, who hated that 'yet another straight character has been turned gay'. The fact that he'd not been openly gay this entire time, and had children, seemed to be an easy out for some to dismiss it out of hand and deny it being a story worth telling; completely ignoring the fact that Alan's coming out actually mirrors a lot of older gay men's experiences. 

This series is exploring the reasons why Alan never came out, or at least that's how it seems to me. The first issue dealt with the tragedy of his first real love, the man he was prepared to run away with and 'marry' die in front of him. The two of them had fallen in love within the military, hiding their love in an institution that would never accept it. And that's the reason why in this issue we find Alan in Arkham, having gone there to save his career. His commanding officers had figured out he and Johnny were in love, but couldn't just throw Alan out after saving hundreds of lives, so gave him the chance to 'straighten out'.

And thus, this issue we see Alan living in an asylum, taking part in group therapy, being told that his love his wrong, and seeing what happens to those who don't opt to parrot the lie. This issue introduces a new piece of lore to the Green Lantern mythology. In the original story of him getting powers a green railway lantern is imbued with magic, and grants him his abilities. But where did that lantern come from? You'd assume that it was just part of the train that Alan is on when he gets his powers, but this issue reveals that it was something that belonged to Alan before this, and it does so through what might be my favourite single issue character.

Alan's roommate is a trans woman named Billie. The 1940's was not a time where people were unaware of trans people's existence. The first gender realignment surgeries took place in the 1930's, and there was considerable research into trans people in Germany during this period. Those huge bonfires of books that the Nazi's burned that you've surely seen photos and videos of included the contents of the Institute of Sexology, and all of their research on trans people. Germany was pioneering trans acceptance in many ways, and it was the actions of the Nazi's that would set this back decades. As such, it's no surprise to see that Billie in this book is treated less as a person in need of acceptance and help, and as a mentally ill man who needs fixing. 

Billie is presented masculinely, with only a single panel where she's shown in a more feminine way, applying lipstick and wearing a wig, something that Alan warns her about getting caught doing. She's living in fear, desperate to be herself yet unable to; though accepted by Alan. Alan calls her by her name, even when being 'corrected' by the staff at Arkham, and he never once talks about her as anything but a woman. And it's due to that respect and the friendship that forms between them Billie presents him with something she made in metal shop; a train lantern she fixed up. A trans woman gave Alan Scott his lantern. This was a new addition to the lore that floored me when reading it. As a trans woman who loves this character, seeing this representation, having a trans person become so linked to this character, it meant a lot.

Sadly, Billie is taken away for special treatment that day. A week goes by, and Alan is given no news about where she is, and if she's ever coming back. Then the staff bring her back into their room, pushing her in in a wheelchair. Her head is wrapped in bandages, and the light has gone out of her. The wonderfully expressive, insightful woman who never backed down or let the powers break her is gone. She'd been lobotomised. This moment broke me completely when I read it. Tim Sheridan had introduced this new character, made her a part of Alan's history, and then used her to show the brutality of the treatment towards queer and trans people at the time. It made me weep. 

This isn't a criticism though, it's important that these kind of stories aren't shied away from. Queer and trans people have been victims of extreme brutality in history, and to this day, and whilst we might want to see better stories, stories that don't end tragically and in which our community get their happy ending we can't always sugarcoat reality. Life is hard for the queer community, and pretending otherwise is a lie that only helps to keep that brutality going. Most people, the kind of people who don't encounter this kind of hate because they're not the targets of it, and not the instigators, can go through their life never knowing how harsh it can be. My mother was visibly shocked and disturbed on an occasion in which I told her the kind of abuse I'd received, abuse that was second nature to me, yet made her see the hard reality of her daughters life. Sometimes a bucket of cold water to the face is needed, and Billie's treatment here is just that.

But Billie's death, for her lobotomy was the death of the person she was, is not in vain. Through mourning her and writing in his diary Alan is caught by the staff, and his admission is changed from voluntary to forced. They see that he is unrepentant in who he is, and need to punish him for it. He's taken through to the elctro-shock room, and he's tortured. And now we know what that final page of issue one meant. But if the staff were hoping to break Alan they were woefully mistaken. Instead, Alan gathers together all of the inmates there for conversion therapy, the queer patients who are either going to be tortured into lying about their sexuality and gender, or killed for it, and he stages a prison break. A prison break whose way is illuminated by the lantern Billie made for him. Even when she's gone her presence is there, helping to light their way to freedom.

After escaping Arkham, Alan begins to work on the railroad, his lantern with him every step of the way. He continues to love men, and engages in sexual activity with them, always in private, knowing now what horrors await him if caught. The night that the train Alan is on is derailed he wasn't there alone. Another change that Sheridan has brought to the origin is that Alan wasn't working in the engine room when the train derailed, but was with his lover, the two of them stealing a moment of intimacy in private. Alan loses yet another person he loves, another queer character lost in a world that seems to hate them at every turn. But, as this issue has been telling us, death is not the end.

Alan explains how ever since encountering the crimson flame he seems to be stuck in a cycle, one where death would lead to a new life; resurrection, and renewal. Even though the military went searching for the crimson flame in the first issue, Alan tells us that he'd also learned of the emerald flame of life, something that seemed to be drawn to him, possibly due to his interactions with its crimson counterpart. Whatever the reason, it chooses Alan, and as he dies in the wreckage of that train he's reborn as the Green Lantern.

This series has taken the origins of one of DC's oldest characters and expanded it in ways that I never expected it to be. The fairly simple story has been given depth that it never had before. Not only has Sheridan expanded the lore, introducing the crimson flame, and the Red Lantern that was teased in other books who makes his first mysterious appearance on the final page of this issue, but in Alan himself. Now Alan coming out way in the future isn't a 'sudden change' of a character that was never gay, it's a moment of self acceptance that's been a long time coming; perhaps even the greatest battle that Alan Scott has ever had.

I've spoken in depth about the writing on this issue, and I appreciate that this review has already gone on much longer than it normally would, but can't end without talking about the art. Cian Tormey draws the issue, with Matt Herms providing the colours. As you've seen from the description on the plot, there's not a whole lot in this issue that's particularly visually flashy in the story, apart from the spectacular splash page of the train crash. But that doesn't mean the art here isn't worth talking about. 

The art team have a much tougher job than depicting larger than life heroes and villains battling each other. Instead, they need to depict the human heart of this story. It's the expressions on Alan's face as he's learning to process his grief over Johnny, his outrage at Billie's murder, the moment of resignation as he finally dies moments before being reborn as the Green Lantern (another fantastic visual moment). The art on this book is like the story, it's dealing with the human. It helps us connect with Alan Scott even more. It portrays the horrors that he has lived through. Some people might look at the book and see the lack of flashy costumes and big moments and dismiss it, or say that the art is boring, but it's not. The art puts you into the frightening, heartbreaking moments, and does some truly important storytelling. 

This isn't how I normally do my comic reviews, and this feels more like it's strayed into an essay over a simple review; but I couldn't read this issue and not spend more time talking about it than I usually would. Comics are entertainment, they're designed to be fun, pulpy, and quite often ridiculous. You can't have a universe with flying supermen and amazonian warriors without a little silliness. But sometimes there are comics that come along that make you double take. They're wrapped in a super hero skin, but they're so much more than what most people think comics can be. We're only two issues into this series, but it already feels like the kind of book that is going to make waves. 

As a queer comic fan it often feels like people within my community are unrepresented. Things are changing, and there are more and more queer characters being introduced into comics, and it seems like DC is leading the way with that. And we get things like DC Pride, which are nice to see, but sometimes feel a bit too light, a bit too empty to really be saying much other than 'yay, queer people exist'. Media made to cater to queer audiences can sometimes feel a little cash-grabby, made to make money and draw in queer fans. But this book feels like the polar opposite. It feels like it has a very real, very important queer story to tell. I don't know if this will last through to upcoming issues, if the queer part of the text will take a backseat for the more traditional super hero action, but if it stays like this Alan Scott: Green Lantern will end up being one of the most important queer comics we have.  

As a queer and trans comic fan who loves this character I couldn't be happier with this series. I love how Alan Scott has been reinvented in this way, how much richer his story has become. And whilst I cried at the loss of Billie, she's a character that I'm going to remember for a long time despite her only nine pages of a single issue. Tim Sheridan and his team are creating something amazing.

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The Comic Cave – Batman Versus Predator

 

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 Batman Versus Predator, the very first time the Predator crossed-over with a pre-existing comic creation.

When the Predator franchise first came to comic form in 1989 it was a success for publisher Dark Horse, who had taken something of a gamble with the IP. Unable to use the character of Dutch, played in the film by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the writers instead created a brother character, a cop who has to deal with the alien hunters coming to the big city. Whether or not the popularity of that story, later re-printed under the name Predator: Concrete Jungle, led to the second Predator movie taking a similar route in its own story is conjecture, but what we do know is that the popularity of the book led to Dark Horse investing more into the franchise.

That same year Dark Horse crossed the Predator over with their other big 20th Century Fox franchise, Aliens, creating Alien vs Predator. Much like all of the best pairings, it’s hard to think of the two franchises as not being linked. It feels like they must have always been designed to go together, because they work together so perfectly. And it’s become a pairing that has only continued to grow in popularity over the years, even surviving terrible films. Putting the two of them together in comic form basically printed money for Dark Horse, and so the next question was ‘what other cross-overs can we do?’.

According to Dave Gibbons, who would pen the script for the cross-over we’re looking at, the idea to jump universes and put the Predator in the pages of Batman belonged to Dark Horse editor Mike Richardson. At first glance it might seem like a strange pairing, and it might seem like the only reason to put the two together is to cash in on Batman’s sales numbers. But when you consider that Batman not only exists in a universe with aliens, but is best friends with one, him fighting the Predator isn’t too outlandish. And when you look beyond his familiar rogues’ gallery and see that he’s fought demons, vampires, ancient gods, and all kinds of supernatural, there’s nothing that’s really too out of character for Batman to fight.

The book opens in Gotham City, where a boxing title match is underway, with each of the fighters representing one of two warring crime bosses in the city: Alex Yeager and Leo Brodin. Across the city, in one of the junkyards, a man sits in his trailer watching the fight when something spooks his dog. Investigating, his gun drawn and ready, the man is blown apart by an invisible killer. The Yautja hunter enters the trailer, watching the end of the fight on the screen, with Yeager’s fighter crowned the city’s champion.

Later that night the winning fighter is relaxing in his hotel room with his girlfriend when the skylight shatters, and the Predator drops into the room, thirsty for blood. When the police come to investigate they find the blood and carnage and the Bat-signal is immediately lit. Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and his right-hand woman, Detective Kandowski, examine the scene, finding the headless boxer and the traumatised girlfriend, all whilst the invisible killer watches on. The Predator identifies Batman as worthy prey, and follows him as he leaves to question Leo Brodin and his men, believing them responsible for the death of the winning fighter.

Batman goes to Brodin’s gym, and briefly fights with the criminals there, but leaves satisfied that Brodin had nothing to do with the death of the champion fighter. Returning home to Wayne Manor, he spends some time time thinking over the case, but is summoned back out into the night by Gordon, who reveals that Brodin’s gym was hit after Batman left, and that everyone but a blind trainer was slaughtered. As they lead the trainer out of the gym he’s shot by an energy blast, killing him. The GCPD open fire on the rooftop, but fail to hit anything. Three red dots briefly appear on Batman’s chest, before the creature leaves, his warning given.

In the Batcave, Batman examines some rust left behind at the gym, and comes to the conclusion the killer is hiding in a scrapyard. As he goes off to watch over a meeting between the crime bosses and the mayor, he sends Alfred to check out junkyards for him. At the meeting the Predator attacks once again, and Batman learns that he’s dealing with an alien. Brodin manages to wound the creature, and it escapes. Using Alfred’s information, Batman heads to one of the scrapyards to confront the monster.

Unfortunately, the Predator comes close to killing Batman, and he’s forced to flee in the Batmobile before it finishes the job. Heavily wounded, he begins to recover at Wayne Manor as the Predator continues his hunt. Over the coming night more victims are claimed by the creature, including the Mayor, and Leo Brodin. It seems like everyone who makes a statement on television about stopping the murders becomes the creature’s next victim, and once Commissioner Gordon appears on the news he becomes the next target.

As Batman lies in his hospital bed, recovering from his wounds, he works on technology that he’ll need in order to challenge the alien once again, knowing that until he does there’s no way he can survive. As Batman continues to fail to answer the Bat-signal the city starts to lose hope, and the Predator reigns supreme. Eventually, it comes for Gordon, killing its way through his protection detail. It’s only thanks to the sacrifice of Detective Kandowski that he survives the night. As he retreats back to GCPD to think of a plan the Bat-signal ignites. Gordon and his men rush to the roof, to find an armoured Batman waiting for them. Rematch time has come.

Batman uses the signal to lure the Predator in, and the two clash once again. His new armour protects him from the energy weapons, and his mask lets him see the creature, giving him half a chance. The two fight across the GCPD roof, over the edge, and into the street below. Knowing the city is no place to fight the monster, Batman summons the Batmobile, and drives away, with the Predator clutched onto the bonnet, trying to kill him. Speeding out of the city, Batman takes the creature to the forest outside Wayne Manor. Here he uses bat swarms to disorient it, causing it to crash through a hole into the Batcave, where a net is waiting for it. However, the Predator breaks free.

Fortunately, Batman was prepared for this, and lures it into a trap, caging it behind thick metal bars. With nowhere to go, knowing that it’s lost, the monster activates the bomb on its wrist. Batman recognises it as a bomb, and stops it from going off; he breaks it, but releases the Predator in the process. The creature begins to get the upper hand, and starts beating Batman across the cave. It’s then that we get the best moment in the book, an ‘ahem’ from off panel as Alfred stands holding a blunderbuss. A polite ‘That’s quite enough thank you’, then Alfred shoots the Predator in the chest. I love Alfred Pennyworth, and this might be one of the greatest things he’s ever done.

The heavily wounded Predator escapes from the cave, up into Wayne Manor, where it smashes through the window in the games room back out into the forest. Batman follows behind, grabbing the first weapon he finds in the wreckage, a baseball bat. Finding the creature in the woods he starts smacking it around with the weapon with a ridiculously brilliant ‘it’s me… Batman’, before the forest is illuminated by an alien ship. Several Predators come out, including their leader. The leader hands the defeated Predator a sword, and it uses it to take its own life, ending its shame. The sword is then presented to Batman as a trophy, and the aliens leave.

The first question for stories like this, where two unconnected things come together, is ‘is it actually any good?’. Yes, absolutely so. Batman Versus Predator does the perfect thing for a crossover: it makes both sides work well. The Predator in the book here does do some things a little differently to others we’d seen by this point and since, such as taking hands as well as heads as trophies, and does kill an unarmed man at one point, but he still seems to be playing by rules. Much like the creature in Predator 2, which focuses on Danny Glover’s character to a scary degree, this monster is doing his own thing, and going to an extreme, but you can see a twisted logic to it.

The Predator goes after the champion boxer because the TV said he’s the city’s champion, so that makes him worthy prey. After his death, the other boxer is declared champ by default, so becomes a target. And as the TV that has been left running in the trailer the creature has set up shop in keeps showing people who declare that they’re going to stop the killings and bring the Predator down it adds more and more victims to the list. The only person really who ends up becoming a target the traditional way is Batman. This Predator is different to most, but he’s still recognisably a Predator, and he still gets moments to shine, he still gets gory kills, and to be scary, and so the book ticks those boxes.

But the Predator was probably the easiest thing to get right here; making it work with Batman is the harder part. Luckily, Gibbons is experienced with the character, and knows how to make something as outlandish as this work in his world. Batman fighting the Predator feels no more out of place than him dealing with Bane, or the Joker. And, as with some of his villains, he has to investigate to find the bad guy, he is physically challenged, and has to overcome the odds using his brain to win the day. In some ways it almost feels like a proto-story for Knightfall in which Batman will be so beaten by his opponent that the city falls into terror, and the next Batman builds armour to fight him. So yes, this absolutely works as a Batman story too.

Other characters like Gordon and Alfred get utilised well here too, and the scenes in which Gordon is saved by Kandowski are dark and upsetting, and Gordon’s reaction to it makes it the only death in the book that feels like more than just a moment of gore and spectacle; she was someone you were supposed to care about, and Gordon makes you do so. But as my enthusiasm earlier made clear, Alfred is the stand out here. Alfred defending the Batcave with a gun is something that gets used again in future stories, but none of them work as well as they do here. The fact that this is all in continuity for the DC universe, and that these are our regular versions of these characters makes it better too (you actually get to see a Predator mask in Batman’s trophy room in issue 56 of JLA a decade later).

The art on the three issue series is by Andy Kubert, with his brother Adam lettering and inking, with Sherilyn van Valkenburgh on colours, and looks absolutely gorgeous. Kubert is a name that folks into comics will recognise, and Andy and Adam are sons of the great Joe Kubert, who founded The Kubert School which has taught many comic artists over the years. The book is suitably grim and gritty looking, with dark colours and grime abounding. But it also has a sharpness and crispness to it that makes this a wonderfully atmospheric and detailed book to read. The Kuberts are true giants of the industry, and most pages of this book could easily adorn any wall.

The success of the series, released as three prestige bound books, led to further crossovers between the two characters, though none received the acclaim that the first did. As with most DC crossovers with the Predator and Alien franchises, the first time is usually the best, and thanks to Disney now owning Fox, and the Alien and Predator books being made through Marvel, there will not only likely never be any more crossovers with DC, but no more copies of these stories printed. So, if you ever find a copy of Batman Versus Predator on the shelf, do yourself a favour, and grab it whilst you can.

Batman Versus Predator was published by DC Comics and Dark Horse from December 1991 to February 1992.

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