Killer Comics: Justice League Dark #1 (2018)

Killer Comics: Justice League Dark #1 (2018)

DC has just hit us with a new Justice League Dark line-up and a fresh series, and this group and the book they inhabit are both well served by a gruesome first issue that fires on all cylinders.  Some might view it as being heavy on the text, but James Tynion IV does a stirring job with his words, giving this book a distinct feel.  It shows some self-awareness, weaves in a few good laughs, and deftly introduces us to the team while delivering a few quality jolts along the way.  As first issues for team books go, I'm not sure that we could hope for much more.  The pencils by Alvaro Martinez Bueno are simply amazing, with reach designs and a wealth of detail leaping off the page in a series of well-choreographed panels that keep the story moving in spite of all the exposition (which is prominent without getting in the way, another big win for this creative team).  Genre mainstays like Zatanna and Swamp Thing (love the new look) are front and center, while we get a few cameos, a few surprise additions (Detective Chimp and Man-Bat, both of whom are granted new depth and utilized to maximum effect) and one superstar outlier, Wonder Woman.  The stakes are high and while the overall pitch (magic is dying) may seem familiar to comic book aficionados who have enjoyed Marvel's recent work with Doctor Strange, Justice League Dark seems to be taking the concept in a different and more frightening direction.  If you're looking for a new title to latch onto and you enjoy either horror comics or any of the characters involved (they had me at Swamp Thing), this feels like a book that you need to add to your reading list ASAP.

Final Grade: A

Short Attention Spane Review - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)

While Marvel has kicked DC's ass all over the big screen for years now, DC has consistently produced better animated features.  That trend continues with Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, a surprisingly good movie that places Aquaman front and center.  If you just groaned, I feel you.  Aquaman jokes are old hat, and I too initially avoided this one because I just couldn't imagine a tale focused on him being all that good.  Well, I must admit, Throne of Atlantis actually wound up being one of the better animated movies from DC that I've had the pleasure of viewing.  I wouldn't put it up there with a true gem like Flashpoint, but it was highly entertaining.  To be fair, while Aquaman was the man of the hour, the rest of the Justice League were provided with a lot of screen time and therefore this was far from a solo affair.  Batman wound up being the biggest badass in the movie (yawn), but all of the big guns were allowed to shine.  Throne of Atlantis only runs 72 minutes, so it moves at a fast pace and boasts a lot of action and just enough character development to give the piece some weight.  At the end of the day, it felt like the primary thrust of the picture was to welcome Aquaman into the fold and present him as a major player (I reckon that the powers that be at DC aren't big fans of Aquaman jokes) and it certainly managed to do that.  Ideally, Jason Momoa will be able to make an even bigger splash as Arthur Curry when he tackles the role for Zack Snyder.  Regardless, I had a good time with Throne of Atlantis and I think that anyone who likes this type of fare will not be disappointed by it.

Final Grade: B

Color me surprised--Aquaman isn't a total nerd after all.

Comics Corner - The Immortal Hulk (2018 - Present)

Comics Corner - The Immortal Hulk (2018 - Present)

One comic that has been garnering a lot of praise recently is Marvel's latest take on the Hulk, aptly titled The Immortal Hulk.  This is partly a fresh approach, but it also serves to turn back the clock to the days when everyone's favorite green behemoth first hit the scene.  Once upon a when, the Hulk was more of a monster that men feared who only became a hero when greater threats arose--sort of like Godzilla in the flicks where he gets to play the good guy.

Writer Al Ewing has certainly cast the Hulk as a creature to be feared in this stellar run, and he has conjured up some wicked threats to pit against the titular character.  Joe Bennett has done a gnarly job of translating Ewing's vision to the medium.  Combine their fiendish efforts, and this book somehow manages to give me the Hulk I crave while seemingly paying homage to the grotesque delights of John Carpenter's The Thing, or perhaps some of Sam Raimi's work when he's in "paint the screen red with blood" mode.  Then there's the icing on the cake: the covers from Alex Ross, who is always impeccable, but has taken things up a notch with these diabolical visions of everyone's favorite raging jade goliath.

With Marvel being known and loved the world over for its playful sense of humor, I feel that people probably underestimate what I and other fans mean when we refer to this as a horror comic featuring the Hulk.  It's not a typical Hulk book with him facing off against a few beasties with red eyes, it runs much, much darker than that.  The Hulk himself is a tortured creature, and he has been dismembered, corrupted, and even taken to hell in the fourteen issues of this title released to date.  He has faced off against some deeply malevolent foes, and the pages have dripped with sinister imagery.  Is it on the same level as Alan Moore's legendary take on Swamp Thing so far as plunging a beloved entity into the very depths of the macabre is concerned?  That's a good question.  Maybe it hasn't gone quite that far, but then again, maybe it has.

It hasn't been as surreal as Moore's work with DC's green force of nature, though it has paused to ask some very profound questions and there have been some metaphysics in play.  I like the way the supernatural elements have been portrayed in a straightforward manner--it's quite unique, somewhat akin to marrying high adventure to the sort of body horror that David Cronenberg is famous for.  Seriously, I'll stand by that.  I have always enjoyed the Hulk, but this direction caters directly to my sensibilities, and I will join the choir in hailing it as perhaps Marvel's finest offering in 2018 and 2019.

In short, if you dig comics, and you like the Hulk, you may well be intrigued.  If you dig horror and you like material with some serious oomph, you too may enjoy this title.  And if you dig the Hulk, you have love for comic books, and you're a horror fanatic like yours truly, this is looking like "can't miss" territory, isn't it?  While there are a lot of good books out there these days, and the last couple of years have been really kind to horror lovers (Elvira, Gravetrancers, Blackwood, Justice League Dark, and The Spider King are among my recent favorites), this is probably the title I look forward to most on my pull list these days.  The hype is real, my friends.  Long live The Immortal Hulk.

Final Grade: A