Daredevil Noir #1

So I have never really read anything from Daredevil.  My closest experience with this hero has been the god-awful movie with Ben Affleck and the appearance of Matt Murdock as defending Spider-Man in court in Amazing Spider-Man recently.  But, since I've been reading Spider-Man Noir and it is incredible, I figured I'd give Daredevil Noir a go.  I know all about Daredevil and his character and I figured he would be easily adaptable into a noir-type story.  So, I was hoping it would be as good as Spider-Man Noir and it almost was...

Daredevil Noir #1

Written by Alexander Irvine

Art by Tomm Coker

We begin the issue with a scene of mass murder in a house, or a bunch of guys lying in a ransacked room with tommy guns lying about and bullet holes in the wall.  Then, the Kingpin in his shadowy room, the door open and the shadow of a man with devil horns on the ground.  I was immediately on board.  The grainy, shadowy images in every panel are amazing.  Very few faces are completely visible, Daredevil's own face is always completely blacked out in shadow or they create a face that truly makes him look terrifying.  The images look like the comics of old, lots of point shadowing and faded colors.  It is the Prohibition Era, New York City, Hell's Kitchen.

The beginning pages show Daredevil face-to-face with Kingpin, ready to "end this".  But, as Kingpin points out, to know the end, "you have to know the beginning" and so we go back to the beginnings of this story and of Daredevil.  His origin is the same as it is in the regular books, the son of a murdered prize-fighter, stricken blind as a young boy.  He's not a lawyer in this book, but the assistant to one.  We're given his origin amidst a courtroom scene, where Murdock sits with the lawyer, viewing Hell's Kitchen justice, a man who we're led to believe is guilty, is let off scott-free.  

There's talk of the "Bull's Eye Killer," homage to the villain Bullseye, who I am expecting to make an appearance later on.  A woman comes to Murdock and his friend, the lawyer Foggy Nelson, she is the girlfriend of Hell's Kitchen crime boss Orville Halloran.  Halloran is a bad guy on the verge of war with the Kingpin, both dabble in the business of illegal liquor.  She is prepared to give up information for Halloran but the lawyer Foggy is hesitant, Murdock is not.  He makes a hit on Halloran's business as Daredevil, and we get a glimpse of the Kingpin and Halloran attempting to make a deal to stop the impending gang war.  The end gives us a flash back to the scene with Daredevil and Kingpin and while Daredevil is eager to tell the story in a nutshell to us, Kingpin urges him to "let the story tell itself...it's just warming up".

That's exactly what this issue is, a warm up.  It's a great scene-setting piece, this is when we are, where we are, and who we're going to be dealing with.  You've got Orville Halloran, a bad guy not quite as bad as Fisk, the Kingpin, but bad enough.  Then you've got Fisk, a man who you know is the bad guy, as you can see the final showdown between Fisk and the titular hero is eminent.  The images are typical 1920s New York, dark, wet, bustling with both crime lords and businessmen working hand-in-hand or the latter in fear of the former.  Then you have Matt Murdock, the Daredevil, a vigilante blind man who is making a whispered name for himself, putting fear into the crime lords that the law cannot do.  They need to get rid of him for their business to work efficiently and we're set up to see Halloran attempt to do this, possibly using this infamous "Bull's Eye Killer".  As a precursor this issue works to the T, and I enjoyed every page and panel of it.

7.5/10

--Patrick

World of New Krypton #2

Alright, since my esteemed colleague is an hour behind me and I just finished this issue, I'm getting right to it.  Despite my overwhelming anticipation to read Green Lantern #39 today, I can't ever read anything before a Superman-family title when one comes out.

Superman: World of New Krypton #2

Written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson

Art by Pete Woods

A brief plot synopsis: The issue starts off with the Guardians of the Universe talking about New Krypton and how it requires the attention of the Lanterns of Sector 2814.  They decide to dispatch Hal Jordan to New Krypton to decide if the Green Lanterns do indeed need to pay attention to New Krypton.  Then, you have Superman, now in Krypton's military guild first meeting his unit, the Red Shard Tactical Response Unit.  During some type of art gala, Superman's unit is quickly given an assignment to stop a rampaging species of animals called Though Beasts from destroying some of their equipment crucial to terra-forming the planet.  After dealing with the situation, Superman is speaking with General Zod when a soldier informs him members of the Labor Guild have taken a group of people hostage using a stolen cache of new weapons.  They demand their guild be equal to all the others.  Commander Gor in turn takes a group of Labor Guild members hostage himself and demands the release of the hostages or else...which is where we're left.

Undoubtedly, I must commend Mr. Woods' incredible pencils in this issue and in the previous one also.  But, since this is the first issue to take place entirely on New Krypton, he shines more brightly here.  He gives New Krypton a tangible life with ease, as well as Kryptonian culture.  You've got members of the various guilds in almost every panel, brilliant images of buildings, art, and architecture that reflect what Kryptonian culture and life is like.  While I felt the situation with the Guardians was a little out of place at the beginning, I know its necessity, given I've seen the cover for future issues.  I felt like their conversation about the Green Lanterns maybe needed to pay attention to New Krypton may be more essential after the hostage crisis is made known, or not in this issue at all.

Superman's adjustment to being a military commander is a focal point in character development with Rucka and Robinson.  Kal tries to maintain his light-hearted attitude, which doesn't go over well at all with his new Executive Officer Lieutenant Asha Del-Nar, a 9th generation military guild member.  Kal's inability to "fit in" with his fellow Kryptonians is a crucial point in this series, and there's a good deal of that problem within this single issue.  We see him almost become an unrecognizable person when he takes sharp command of his unit, whipping them into shape with stern discipline when he finds them clowning around with a new "aspirant" (a private-like rank I assumed in the Kryptonian army).

This sharp attitude of discipline and order is foiled by the way Kal leads his unit in dealing with the problem of the rampaging Thought Beasts.  While his men wanted to use their spiffy new weapons to just kill the animals, Kal would not allow it.  The Thought Beasts create illusions within the mind and hallucinations when someone gets close to them.  Kal promotes the teamwork of his men and promises that they will each keep one another in focus when the hallucinations begin.  He opts to use non-lethal means to herd the beasts into a safe and non-threatening pen created by using their collective heat vision.  They succeed in diffusing the situation in this manner and Kal is even praised by Zod for his ability to lead his men effectively.

Before Superman left to deal with that situation, at the art gala he had a brief few words with a member of the labor guild, Tyr.  This was a major flag for me in reading and I felt like Rucka and Robinson were utilizing a fresh and almost limitless well of ideas to develop Kryptonian society.  Despite its scientific brilliance and their powers, they still have a hierarchical society with the Labor Guild being glorified slaves to all the others.  Tyr expresses a feeling of discontent within the Labor Guild about this.  They feel since Krypton has gotten a fresh start, they should get equal rights with all the other guilds.  It is a brilliant and effective development to use by the writers to present a society that may have trouble maintaining its own structure with its new planet and rebirth.  It was this that led to the hostage taking, which Superman obviously opposes the methods of Commander Gor, which Zod praises for his "improvisational skills".

I loved the development of Kryptonian culture the most in this issue and I hope they continue with this line of thought throughout the series.  The conflict between the rigid society and its unprivileged is one that has been seen in societies on earth for all of history, especially in the United States in the early 20th century.  It makes Kryptonian society more relatable in a way and more graspable.  All in all, I felt this issue was strong on all its points and Rucka and Robinson have this going full-steam-ahead with great promise.

9/10 overall.

--Patrick.

The Mighty #3

Greetings! I guess to differentiate between us, I'm Patrick, I'm the other half of this collaboration going on right now with this.  While, I normally would have picked a Superman-family title to be reviewed first by me, since none came out this week of April 1st, I decided to pick another.  Here goes nothing...

'The Mighty' #3

Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Keith Champagne with Peter Snejbjerg doing the art.

I must say I decided to pick this title up when I saw that Peter J. Tomasi was the author.  He had me in his hip pocket with his writing on  Green Lantern Corps, which I began reading last year.  I really enjoyed everything he had done in that since I've been reading it and I was already on board with this.  I hope it's okay I assume anyone who reads this to have already read #1 & 2, if you have not, hopefully I could convince you to go back and buy all three of these.

This issue begins in the wake of the title's hero, Alpha One, diffusing a situation at the end of issue 2.  He and the title's other, more down-to-earth hero, Captain Gabriel Cole, are left consoling the son whose mother was inadvertently killed at the end of issue #2.  With Alpha One, the character is very Superman-esque.  He is almost as carbon copy, but he's not an alien (that we know of so far) and he's impervious and all that.  Some people find those types of heroes difficult to relate to, but this opening scene wiped any speculation I think a reader might have that Alpha One is a character one cannot relate to.  He is lamenting that the fact the woman is dead was his fault, a stray bullet ricocheted off Alpha One and hit her, he is shouldering the majority of the blame here.  Cole suggests Alpha One talk to the woman's son, and in doing so, Alpha One begins to cry and apologizes.  That's the beauty of what Tomasi does with this opening scene, sure you can have anyone cry and say it is giving them a human quality, but I felt he moved beyond that.  Alpha One sheds tears, an impervious being is on his knees and weak, face-to-face with a young boy, who wipes his tears and tells him not to cry.  The boy says "heroes shouldn't cry", but while this is a great line for a kid who is 6 to say, the thing that lingers here is that heroes should cry, heroes must cry.  It was a beautiful mix between Tomasi's writing and Snejbjerg's art that makes this such a powerful scene.  While I feel I've lingered quite a bit on this opening scene, I felt it was truly the highlight of the issue, with the rest sort of giving away to plot development.

Alpha One and Gabriel go out to a diner that Gabriel's wife operates and have a drink (non-alcoholic as Alpha One makes sure to say).  When I said Alpha One was almost a carbon copy of Superman, when he's disguising himself so he won't get mobbed (like a celebrity), he has on a leather jacket and Cole gives him a pair of glasses.  I mean, what more could they do?  It reminded me so much of the Clark Kent depicted in Geoff Johns' "Lost Hearts" story line.  I haven't decided if that is a bad thing, or an amazing thing.  Afterwards, Alpha One wants to take Gabriel Cole into his "secret base" or as I said in my mind his "fortress of solitude," I felt we were given the next best characterization of Alpha One in this issue.  I am enjoying this series so far because I feel like Tomasi develops Cole and Alpha One's characters side-by-side, giving them each equal weight and importance.  Alpha One tells Gabriel that he trusts him, and wants him to lead the Section Omega (the law enforcement, clean up crew or support group for Alpha One).  Gabriel is reluctant to take the position because of the huge amount of responsibility that is required for it.  Here's where I'll give my interpretation of these two characters so far.

In regards to the title, I feel like "The Mighty" is applying to both Cole and Alpha One.  On the one hand, you have the ultimate hero, the impervious unstoppable, unflappable being Alpha One.  He is every kid's hero and idol and every citizen's guardian angel.  Yet, he weeps, he gets down on one knee and apologizes to a kid whose mother was killed accidentally.  While he has all of his powers and strengths, he still breaks down like every person you've ever met.  He doubts himself, he worries, he cries and he tries to shoulder the safety of everyone he can physically help.  He is out to save anyone and everyone that he possibly can, a point driven home by an endless tower of television screens for him to monitor any potential problem on earth in his sanctuary.

On the other hand we have Gabriel Cole, an essential "every man".  He is in a decent job, a Captain in the Section Omega, somewhat like a good-standing FBI agent.  His wife works late, he works all the time, so much that their dates take place one night a week to catch a midnight movie.  He has worries about money, the stress of his job, all the while trying to do his duty and protect the people in danger when assisting Alpha One.  He is afraid to take on the responsibility of the leader of Section Omega, but in the end, he decides to take the job.  Both of these characters appear to be "mighty" in their own way. Cole is mighty because of his perseverance and his committment to his marriage, his duty, his humanity.  Alpha One is mighty for his powers, his ability and willingness to shoulder an unimaginable amount of responsibility and at the same time, be down to earth to weep and "hang out" with his only friend.

That's what this issue brought to the table, a furthering of development in the two powerful characters in the book so far mostly the only two characters being followed.  In terms of plot, after Cole is named the new head of Section Omega and gets a large "A" embedded into his palm, a distress signal mechanism to call Alpha One, he has trouble on his first day, being overwhelmed by everything involved in his new job.  In the end, Alpha One flies off to intervene in a fire at a chemical factory, which Section Omega and Gabriel rally to assist him with.  What occurs there is yet to be seen...

I'll give this issue an 8/10, and I promise to have this more concisely down to a science next week.

Battle for the Cowl # 1

Who is going to wear the cowl? Who's going to try and take the mantle of the Bat? Can Gotham survive the transition? After reading this issue the answers are clear
I don't know. I don't know. And Probably.
I will say that I haven't read much of Mr. Daniels work before, but I found this issue to be filled with all the Batmany fun a fan could ask for. We have Gotham in chaos, Arkham in shambles, criminals all manipulating one another to be the high man on the totem pole.
What I found interesting though, is this story follows Tim more so than it does Dick. Perhaps a bit of misdirection or maybe each issue will be focusing on different characters. Regardless, The story really shines in two areas.
The first being Gotham in ruins and the effects it has. Almost every street level hero in and around Gotham you can think of makes a brief appearance. Black Mask rounds up a treasure trove of Arkham inmates and forces them to work for him. He seems to have an overwhelming desire to see Gotham burn.
The second shinning light of this issue, is the conflict between Dick and Tim on how to handle The Mantle of the Bat. Tim adopts the "We need a Batman to protect Gotham" approach while Dick goes for the "There is only one Batman and that's Bruce Wayne" approach. What I find interesting is how their conversation echoes a lot of fan debates over the issue of Batman's legacy. It's clear there will be a new Batman in June, but there are those who think like Dick in saying that only Bruce Wayne can be Batman while others would love to see the idea of a legacy being carried out by Bruce's children.
We also get to see the development of Damian as a character and his relationship with the rest of the Bat-World. We kind of see Dick taking an older brother/father role to him for a few pages near the end. It is interesting to see Damian as something more than a ruthless, spoiled child and as a vulnerable, terrified little kid.
Of course the issue isn't without it's fair share of problems. We are all forced to suspend our disbelief that none of the other heroes would show up to help Gotham out. I believe in this time setting, Superman and Wonder Woman are gone, but where's Green Lantern? Where's the Justice Society (all of them)? Where's the Flash? I know they all have their own things to deal with as far as stories go, but it is just hard to swallow that NONE of Bruce's old teammates would show up to help. Luckily, if you can suspend your disbelief over that issue, the story itself is rather well constructed.
Some of the art is spotty in some places. Most of his long distance and splash pages are a little rough, but Tony does a great Job on several key scenes (like Dick in the Bat Cave looking at the Bat Suit like a child) to really bring the emotion in them.
All in all, it was a great opening issue to kick this big time event off. I highly encourage everyone to go pick it up. Oh and if the review isn't enough, there are two Batmen in this story
8.5/10
See you in a few weeks for Army of One