Review: Justice League: Cry for Justice Issue 1

Puttering Plot but packed with B-List Heroes and Extras (4 stars)

The mini series, Cry for Justice, reflects a wonderful theme of heroics and what the obligation of heroics entails. The comic starts off with a collective meeting of super heroes including Hal Jordan, Superman, Supergirl, the Green Arrow, the Flash, and others. With despair over the friends they have lost in the battle against evil this body starts to fracture about how they should push back and take the fight to their enemies; obviously with Superman taking the side of protecting and "fighting the good fight," so to speak.

The Green Lantern and the Green Arrow splinter off to take the fight to their enemies instead of waiting and responding. James Robinson does an excellent job of painting the camaraderie and friendship between the two Green Heroes, and alludes to a collective past history. Issue 1 of Call for Justice shines in the character relationships and interactions but it falls short in direction and plotting. By the end of the issue there has been little to no development of the master plan of the apparent antagonist Prometheus. The storyline jumps all over the place and follows several heroes and their personal call for justice and gives a little insight into how each character ticks. These scenes include the opening scene with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, Ray Palmer and the Atom, Starman, and Congobill.

While the plotting and direction drags in this opening installment there is definitely a feeling of the larger scope of good versus evil on the horizon. On its own right, the storyline is certainly not the strength of this issue, but the cast of characters and the way they interact with each other is the shining beacon. The illustrations by Mauro Cascioli are beautiful and realistic. For readers that enjoy the realistic touch with the edgy feel this is a good comic to fall into.

In addition, Cry for Justice issue 1 is packed with additional materials including writer James Robinson's commentary on the series, some panel sketches, and an origin story of CongoBill. While the Origin story is extremely short (only two pages) it contains a nice short story of how CongoBill came to be supplemented by some beautiful illustrations of the golden gorilla. Robinson makes it clear that he is interested in spotlighting some less famous heroes in this series so there should be some expectation for future Origin stories in the remaining issues. Interestingly enough, Robinson states that his desire with CongoBill is to bring him more mainstream and get him known simply by Bill; which becomes apparent in Issue 2 when Bill introduces himself. The commentary really adds to the entire experience.

Good reading,

Plants and Books

Review: Death of Superman

Title: Death of Superman
Author: Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jerry Ordway
Copyright: 1993
Publisher: DC Comics
ISBN: 1563890976


Notes: First graphic novel adaptation of the Death and Return of Superman. Includes crossover issues from Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics.

The Death of an American Icon - 3 stars - a book review

In 1992 DC Comics killed off the superhero who brought comic books to their glory days. In a similar fashion, the death of Superman brought thousands upon thousands of new readers to the genre since Superman had become an American cultural icon. While short lived, this collection of comics represents a turning point in the comic industry, where no superhero was safe any longer. Shortly thereafter, DC Comics pulled a similar "stunt" with their other flagship hero, Batman, with the Knightfall story arc. Regardless, what transpired in the pages of these comics would be talked about for years.

Introduce Doomsday, a mysterious and sinister alien killing machine, with one thing on his limited mind: destruction. After escaping from being buried beneath the Earth's surface for who knows how long, Doomsday stages a one man mayhem show across half the United States.

Doomsday first faces off against the Justice League of America, quickly leveling them to nothingness, rendering them obsolete with his power and strength. Their combined powers do little to stop Doomsday, who time and time again proves he cares nothing for anything, killing birds in the palm of his hand and strangling a deer for no reason. What happens next would be the fight of the century against this beast and America's cultural icon, Superman.

The Death of Superman story arc is long in the action scenes and short in the storyline.
Absolutely no information is given about Doomsday at this point and the only focus of the remaining storylines is stopping him from destroying Metropolis (and everything else in his way). There are a few brief moments of reflection among minor characters about how Superman saved them or what Superman means to them. The virtue of the mysterious nature of Doomsday is appreciated, since it adds to his allure as a supervillain; similar to the recent movie, The Dark Knight, and the villain Joker. The reader is absolutely unaware of any motivation, making Doomsday that much more treacherous. Readers wouldn't find out about the history of Doomsday until the Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey story arc published in 1994.

While Superman is one of my personal least favorite heroes, this collection is a must read for the same reason it sold out overnight with a starting number of published issues that had never before been dreamed. With Superman being such a cultural icon, watching his fall is a must anyone. The action is unparalleled as it had to be since the stakes had never been higher. How do you create a monster worthy of killing a Superman? The satisfying answer is in the Death of Superman.



Good reading,

Plants and Books

Review: The Man Who Laughs (Batman) by Ed Brubaker

Title: The Man Who Laughs
Author: Ed Brubaker
Illustrator: Doug Mahnke
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: DC Comics
ISBN: 1401216226



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An Unbalanced Collection of Two Batman Stories - 3 stars - a book review

I still cannot imagine for the life of me why DC Comics published these two Batman stories together in one volume, let alone why the volume was name The Man Who Laughs (other than the title story sharing the same name). I can only wager a guess that when it was published The Dark Knight (the movie) was looming on the horizon and DC Comics wanted to get as much Joker/Batman as they could on the shelves. The two stories contained in this graphic novel include Batman: The Man Who Laughs and Batman: Made of Wood.

Batman: The Man Who Laughs introduces (again) the Joker, Batman's number one villain and a fan favorite from the beginning. While the story is familiar to most (especially those outside the comic world who have seen the original Batman movie), it is portrayed in an excellent, very straightforward fashion. There is not a lot of depth to the story; but the visuals and characterizations are what make this story strong.

Batman: Made of Wood was originally a three part story in Detective Comics, revolving around an unsolved mystery. Not only does the Joker not appear in this arc, but the Green Lantern makes an appearance. The story itself is a typical murder mystery with a retired Jim Gordon playing a major role as well. The depiction of Jim Gordon is perfect, in my opinion. In a collection titled The Man Who Laughs, one would expect the Joker to be a central figure in both stories; however, no mention of the Joker is made in Made of Wood.


Both stories are well told and wonderfully illustrated, making the stories real and full of life; but the seemingly polar opposites of the stories make this an awkward collection. With so many great Joker stories out there, and trying to capitalize on the Batman/Joker mania with the upcoming (at the time of publication) The Dark Knight film, could there not have been a better collection? Especially considering that Batman: Made of Wood was longer than Batman: The Man Who Laughs.


Fans of Batman will be sure to enjoy this one; but fans of the Joker will surely be disappointed.

Good reading,

Plants and Books