Review Category: Comic Books

DC’s range of graphic novels for the Young Adult audience has been surprisingly delightful so far. The idea is pretty simple. Tell super-hero stories, but concentrate on the human drama.  We get action scenes sure, but before the heroes get beaten up, they spend a chunk of time making us care about them first.

Beast Boy Loves Raven sees both heroes at the start of their career. Beast Boy is trying to control his powers where as Raven is trying to figure out how she can avoid unleashing hell on earth.  Both have been lured to the city of Nashville by a mysterious stranger called Slade , who claims to be able to help them.  Those familiar with Teen Titans from other media will be well aware that this is a bad idea. Luckily, they meet up with other super-human types along the way.

The book mostly focuses on Beast Boy and Raven’s inner-monologue. This is a fun little tale of two young people growing to trust each other, with a touch of super-hero fantasy thrown in for good measure. It is a little two-dimensional in places; Raven seems to be more of a stereotypical goth than a haunted hero. Beast Boy is a little too gullible but given that the character is meant to be sweet to the point of stupidity, this barely a massive shift in personality.

Gabriela Downie’s lettering work on the book is a perfect blend of teen magazine and accessibility. It’s bright and brings the book to life. David Calderon’s colours are very pleasing; these books lean toward the pastel and  Calderon’s approach is to use colour to remind the reader of the main character’s powers. This is very well done. Kami Garcia’s writing is strong. It does lean a little too heavily on tropes, but this is a super-hero book, that’s expected. Gabriel Picolo’s art strikes the balance between cartoon and drama – it’s distinctly a Young Adult comic but with just enough nods to Teen Titan’s legacy to make it fun for everyone.

Over all, a great read.

Writer and Artist Edgar Camacho has produced something a little bit different with his latest graphic novel, Onion Skin. On the face of it, this is a pretty straight forward tale of two people who strive to do something special with their lives and find happiness. It’s also a story about creepy people in clown make-up, the value of doing what you love and the magic of spicy food. As we dig deeper, it becomes a tale of self-determination and empathy.

Rolando is a young man who hates his pointless and repetitive job. An injury leads to unemployment. Deciding to continue to take risks, he finds himself meeting Nera during a wild night on the town. Nera’s chaotic creativity complements Rolando’s common sense and together they team up to wander America serving delicious fast food out of a van.

The narrative relies heavily on flashbacks to peel back the layers of the various character histories. The simple story is slowly revealed throughout, and though the narrative is very sweet and heart-warming, it’s also a bit messy. Though the art tries to communicate that we’re following different time lines, the colouring is just a little bit too muted for this trick to work.

It’s tempting to describe Onion Skin as a messy and  odd story that reflects how difficult real life can be, but that’s under-selling the more whimsical parts of this tale. The art, much like the writing, seems determined  to make the reader work harder than they need to in order to be entertained.

The result is something much like the titular Onion Skin, easy to discard and not as appealing as it first appears.

DC’s range of graphic novels aimed at young adults have been consistently charming and entertaining. Not only are these fun ‘slice of life’ style stories, they also tend to be accessible and inclusive, eschewing lengthy lore explanations in favour of relatable content and fun.   Whistle, A New Gotham Hero continues the trend and tells a story of Gotham City crime busting that doesn’t require a post-graduate degree in Batman Studies to enjoy.

Our protagonist is 16-year-old Willow Zimmerman. She lives in a run down part of Gotham that’s slowly but surely getting worse thanks to indifference from City Hall and various community areas becoming over-run with vegetation over-night, a process the locals call ‘greening’.  Willow’s mother is sick and they can’t afford the healthcare.

Willow works part-time at a dog shelter to try and make ends meet, but over all things are pretty bad. Then she gets another job with a real estate tycoon called E. Nigma and things get a lot more complicated.

Even though it doesn’t sound like it, this is a super-hero origin book. Willow’s transformation into Whistle is a little jarring and ‘dog based’ powers are a little silly, but this is a story based in Gotham City, this sort of daft fantasy is very much expected. One of the things that really helps sell the story is Manuel Preitano’s artwork. It’s gentle, detailed stuff that really does make Gotham feel like a place that people actually live in. Gabby Metzler’s colours are soft and pastel-like for the most part, and this makes everything easy on the eye, drawing the reader rapidly into the story.

Lockhart’s storytelling is excellent throughout. Detailed, atmospheric, accessible and fun,  Whistle is a comic book that will absolutely bring young readers into the world of DC comics and has a little bit of something for everything. Also, we’re a sucker for a story that features cute dogs. Recommended, and certainly one to add to the Christmas stocking filler list.

It’s been almost thirty years since Michael Keaton last donned the cape and cowl to play Batman – last seen facing off against the Penguin, Catwoman and Christopher Walken in the iconic Batman Returns. Other Batmen have come and gone since, but fans have held out hope that one day Keaton might reprise his most famous role. And, with Keaton set to step back into the rubber suit for The Flash, those fans are about to get their wish.

But first, Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones bring back the Burton-verse with this six-part miniseries, picking up where Batman Returns left off. With Gotham beset by roving gangs of Joker wannabes and copycat Batmen (what, no hockey pads?) ambitious District Attorney Harvey Dent blames the Dark Knight for the steep rise in crime. Pursued by the GCPD, Batman attempts to subdue Gotham’s criminal gangs while also avoiding its increasingly militant police force.

It took almost thirty years, but fans finally get a glimpse of what could have been, had the Burton-verse not been hijacked by Joel Schumacher, bat-nipples and a neon-crazy art department. Batman ’89 brings the return of Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent, an older, greyer Bruce Wayne, and teases a very different kind of Robin.

The Gotham City of Batman ’89 will be immediately familiar to fans of the Tim Burton Batman movies. Dark and imposing; its alleyways packed full of violent criminals and dangerous thugs. Its Batman, too, has been unchanged by his 28-year absence. Kicking off the book’s first big action sequence by blowing up a helicopter full of goons, this Batman is as blasé about life and death as he ever was. It’s no wonder Dent wants the Dark Knight apprehended.

Familiar as Hamm and Quinones’ Gotham City may be, Batman ’89 is modernised with a vibrant and inclusive cast of supporting characters, diving into what a black Harvey Dent means for the character and his city. For the first time, audiences get to know Billy Dee’s Dent, discovering what makes him tick before… well, you know what comes next. Robin, too, is introduced, and in a manner which is set to explore the chasms of difference between a rich white vigilante and his city of the oppressed and underprivileged. While, at the same time, casually blowing up a helicopter full of living, breathing miscreants (who, granted, do appear to escape at the last minute, A-Team style).

Batman ’89 could well have been content to trade purely on nostalgia, but this story feels new and vital while also delivering on everything fans want to see. The book is packed full of Easter Eggs for the eagle-eyed – introducing new versions of old characters, celebrity likenesses, and giant pennies.

Quinones’ art is more stylised than one might have expected (reminiscent of Paul Gulacy’s work on Batman: Prey) – his Batman more svelte and lithe than Keaton ever managed to be. But his Gotham looks great, and the character work is incredibly expressive. Leondardo Ito’s colour work is particularly impressive too, delivering a lush and vibrant Gotham City.

Bat-fans have long resigned themselves to the fact that Burton’s Batman universe was cut short before its time, bastardised into unsanctionable (but fun!) buffoonery. Burton, Keaton and Billy Dee may never have gotten their dues, but Batman ’89 is the next best thing.

The start of a new venture like The High Republic is always going to attract attention from the content-hungry masses, but when that launch – originally planned for just a few days before Star Wars Celebration in August 2020 – is delayed, like Celebration, by the coronavirus pandemic, then the interest is escalated even more. Much like the novel Light of the Jedi that launched the era, the comic title from Marvel grabbed major attention, but in the safe and steady hands of Cavan Scott it quickly became not only a big-selling title, but a crowd-pleaser.

We’re introduced to the title’s two focal characters, the Trandoshan Jedi Master Sskeer and his padawan, the feisty Keeve Trennis. Keeve is high on talent but low on self-belief, and we watch as Sskeer convinces her that she is worthy and powerful enough in the Force to achieve her potential, a destiny that can’t come quickly enough for the galaxy as the Drengir, a plant-like race that has been in hibernation on thousands of worlds for eons, are awakened. Communicating through a hive-mind,  the Dregir explode across the galaxy, just as another threat, that of the pirate-like Nihil, threatens to engulf the stars during what should be its greatest years.

Our Jedi encounter stricken ships with slain Hutts as the insidious tendrils of the Drengir take control of one of their greatest Jedi, while populations of worlds spread across the galaxy are decimated. It’s a clever ploy by the Project Luminous writing team to split the threat between Drengir and Nihil, stretching characters like Marshal Avar Kriss thin, fighting furiously against the Drengir as her compatriots battle the Nihil. When the Hutts arrive – as slimy and untrustworthy as we know them from the original trilogy era – and a pact is made to work with the Jedi to counter the Drengir threat, you know things have got bad.

As is now expected with Cavan Scott stories, the characters are well-drawn, and with the artistic duo of the unmatchable Phil Noto on covers and Ario Anindito on interior art, the stories shine. Annalisa Leoni on colours adds depth and energy to the already kinetic art, and as a team they bring to vivid life these new characters, inhabiting a galaxy we know, but with a twist. We start with no wars, no sith, little conflict, and a Republic keen to reach out to the Rim and bring all worlds of the galaxy into the fold, launching the ambitious Starlight Beacon, the first of many such stations, to embolden their claim that ‘We are all the Republic.’ It’s a commonly heard statement through the books and comics, and as we progress, one that is severely tested as Padawans, Knights, and Masters fight for their lives against the encroaching darkness.

It’s very different, and thankfully not as olde-worldy as might be expected, and there are a LOT of characters to meet and familiarise yourself with, but it’s worth the effort, and as such Volume 1 – There Is No Fear – is a key part of Phase 1 of The High Republic. Recommended, to ease into the era and learn the background of what is certain to be a downhill slalom of obstacles for the Republic and Jedi of the era.

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC – VOL 1 is on sale from September 9th

It’s important to remember that comic books are for everyone. As many of us are introduced to comic books when we are young it’s sometimes tempting to think that the books have grown-up with us, and to ignore the simple joy of fun stories told well.  Marvel Action Avengers: Off The Clock is a short graphic novel that brings together some Avengers stories that are firmly aimed at younger minds, but they’re a total joy to behold.

The premise of the book is simple; what happens when you tell Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to take a day off? Well of course wackiness ensues; we get Thor having to face Loki in a flea-market,  Captain America teaming up with Squirrel Girl to teach road safety (and to face one of Spider-Man’s dumbest villains) and Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel getting together to deal with a  run away cape.

The Infinity Saga this is not, but writer Katie Cook has perfectly captured the elements of the Marvel heroes that we find most interesting, whilst maintaining a sense of child-like fun and wonder. Butch Mapa’s art captures a ‘Saturday Morning Cartoon’ vibe throughout, and effortlessly sells the various sight gags and silly scenes to the reader.

Marvel Action Avengers: Off The Clock is not going to join the canon of classic Marvel books and it’s not one that most collectors will seek out, but if you have a younger person in your life, we strongly recommend you pick it up for them and have a sneaky read first, you will laugh your socks off.

 

What, if you ask DC executives, can comic books not have enough of, these days? Invariably, it’s members of the Bat-family. And, aside from the Bat himself, there’s none so in demand as his Joker-adjacent children and hangers-on. Harley Quinn (recently reformed, and one of the Good Guys) and Jason Todd, who probably never should have been resurrected. 

Now Todd joins that other DC mainstay, The Suicide Squad, brought on by Amanda Waller for the gang’s latest mission. Get Joker sends the Squad after, yes, the Joker, who is being funded by the Russians to destabilize life in the West. An interesting twist, and not Get Joker’s only comment on recent politics (one of the team being a January 6th Insurrectionist… as if Batman wouldn’t have been there kicking the shit out of them if it’d been attempted under his watch).

This Black Label miniseries follows the standard Suicide Squad formula; the first book setting up Todd as a fledgling member of the team. Thankfully writer Brian Azzarello resists the urge to fill his team with the usual suspects – only Harley Quinn remains from the movie line-up(s) – making Get Joker feel more like its own thing, rather than just another movie cash-in. Which it still is, a bit.

Like most Suicide Squad / Brian Azzarello / Black Label stories, this all feels rather try-hard – particularly in the swearing and its Clockwork Orange Joker sequence – but it sets the stage well for a thrilling adventure. The looser continuity of Black Label allows for a greater degree of unpredictability, and stronger standalone storytelling – both beneficial to Azzarello’s hard-boiled style.

With Alex Maleev on art, this is a strong combination of writer and artist. While Maleev is less slick and flashy than some, there’s a grit and maturity to his scruffy linework that suits the story and characters. With the first book ending on a game-changing twist, it will be fun to see how Maleev and Azzarello’s characters react once the shit really hits the fan.

DC probably has more than enough Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad and Joker comics on the stands as it is, but Get Joker will leave readers begging for more regardless.