Dr.Finger
05-28-2007, 08:32 AM
Welcome to Week Twenty-Two of the Official Evil Avatar Comic Book Reviews
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 3 – Week 22
Countdown #49
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: DC Comics
Head Writer: Paul Dini
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciller: Carlos Magno
Inker: Jay Leisten
Colorist: Rod Reis
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Marts
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Countdown%2049.jpg
Stretching the Truth
I’ve waited a few weeks before reviewing Countdown because judging the series on the first two issues would be something akin to judging a movie on the opening credits. But, this is still a serial medium, and the first two issues didn’t quite grab me. Week three however was the first time I finished the issue and couldn’t wait for the next one. But lets get the bad out of the way first – namely the art. I know that on a project like this consistency is the most important virtue an artist could have, but the finished product here was mediocre to flat out bad in spots. However the story he was illustrating was pretty cool. Jimmy Olsen, in Arkham to interview the Joker, is attacked by an escaping Killer Croc. But instead of getting shredded, Jimmy stretches like Mr. Fantastic and escapes without a scratch, although even he doesn’t seem to realize what he did. This is an intentional nod to the silver age Jimmy Olsen, who used to gain superpowers on a regular basis, and he fought crime as Turtle Boy, Gorilla Man and yes, Elastic Lad (the ID under which he even joined the Legion). Piper and The Trickster force a fat-cat industrialist to give them his entire fortune (upwards of 9 digits), in a bid to rejoin the Rogues, although the money changes hands several times due to a series of paybacks, betrayals and blackmails. You really get a sense of the Rogues here. Piper is basically a good guy forced back into crime by circumstance and familiarity. He goes out of his way to save the industrialist’s life, even though it would come back to bite him. Trickster does it more for the fun of it, but he’s not a (really) bad person, although that doesn’t stop him from blackmailing Piper for saving the victim’s life. Lastly Mirror Master, and by extension the r other Rogues, are just bastards. We get a few pages of Karate Kid, in the JLA brig, taunting Red Arrow because he’s the only member of the current League not remembered in his time. Roy tells him to ‘Wax Off’ (for the record – the DC Karate Kid predates the movie by about 20 years). The Monitors debate the fate of their member that killed Duela Dent. He argues that they should eliminate the various anomalies, including Ion, Supergirl, Troia, Red Hood, Nightwing and Karate Kid, before they trigger another Crisis. I still don’t have a good feel for the Monitors yet. They’re obviously big players in this series, but seem more like plot devises than characters at this point. Lastly we meet up with Mary Marvel, still searching for both her powers and Captain Marvel. She’s running from some street hoods and runs into a decrepit building that she feels drawn towards. Inside she finds someone infinitely more dangerous than a guy with a knife – Black Adam. Of the five storylines touched on in this issue three really jumped up and grabbed me, while even the two that didn’t at least didn’t detract from the overall story. Countdown is still starting out a bit slowly, but its also improving as it goes.
Bottom Line:
Building momentum, but still not at full speed.
Rating: Decent, but leaf through it before buying it. (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
Star Wars Legacy #12
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: John Ostrander
Penciller: Jan Duursema
Inker: Dan Parsons
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Editor: Randy Stradley
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Star%20Wars%20Legacy%2012.jpg
Ghosts, Part 2
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and on the glowing recommendations of several board members, I decided to give Star Wars Legacy a try. Legacy is set more than a century after Return of the Jedi and the universe has changed a lot in that time. The New Republic collapsed under the weight of an external invasion, and was again replaced by the Empire, albeit a somewhat more benevolent one. Soon after the Emperor himself was betrayed by his underlings and overthrown by the Sith Lord Darth Krayt. Krayt had abolished the Rule of Two and had built the Sith into an organization similar to the old Jedi Order complete with masters, knights and apprentices. Into that setting we meet Cade Skywalker, Luke’s grandson. Cade is now a pirate, having forsaken his Jedi training and heritage after his father was killed in the battle of Ossius, and a Pirate Lord rescued Cade from the vacuum. Cade’s been through a lot, and now he’s started to reacquaint himself with his heritage, but he knows that he straddles the line between the light and dark sides of the Force, so he fears is power. Cade had retreated to the abandoned Jedi academy on Ossius to ponder his fate, only to meet up with several of his old masters and fellow apprentices. Their positive influence on him, combined with some advice from a ghostly Luke, prods Cade into action to right a wrong. Early in the series Cade and his crew, who were unaware of his legacy, had turned a Jedi over to the Empire to collect a bounty. Cade resolves to rescue that Jedi from Krayt’s clutches, even if it kills him.
Ostrander is the modern master of deep, dark comics with morally ambiguous protagonists, and he brings his A-game here. He makes the reader want to like Cade, despite his actions. He also mines the Star Wars universe for some fun nuggets that really make the comic feel alive (although I’ve never read the New Jedi Order books, on which a lot of the backstory is apparently based). This issue isn’t a great jumping on point – lots of exposition based on the earlier issues, but its meant to be a bit of a breather before the next major story arc, and in that respect it succeeds.
Bottom Line:
A fun, interesting look into the future of the Star Wars Universe with a great cast of characters.
Rating: Worth the time and money (4 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg
Quick Hits:
newuniversal #6 - Good, but if this story moved any slower it would go backwards.
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #30 - Waid & Kitson’s swan song, and it was brilliant. From the plot twist to the swerve to the beautifully cyclical ending. Great stuff.
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 3 – Week 22
Countdown #49
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: DC Comics
Head Writer: Paul Dini
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciller: Carlos Magno
Inker: Jay Leisten
Colorist: Rod Reis
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Marts
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Countdown%2049.jpg
Stretching the Truth
I’ve waited a few weeks before reviewing Countdown because judging the series on the first two issues would be something akin to judging a movie on the opening credits. But, this is still a serial medium, and the first two issues didn’t quite grab me. Week three however was the first time I finished the issue and couldn’t wait for the next one. But lets get the bad out of the way first – namely the art. I know that on a project like this consistency is the most important virtue an artist could have, but the finished product here was mediocre to flat out bad in spots. However the story he was illustrating was pretty cool. Jimmy Olsen, in Arkham to interview the Joker, is attacked by an escaping Killer Croc. But instead of getting shredded, Jimmy stretches like Mr. Fantastic and escapes without a scratch, although even he doesn’t seem to realize what he did. This is an intentional nod to the silver age Jimmy Olsen, who used to gain superpowers on a regular basis, and he fought crime as Turtle Boy, Gorilla Man and yes, Elastic Lad (the ID under which he even joined the Legion). Piper and The Trickster force a fat-cat industrialist to give them his entire fortune (upwards of 9 digits), in a bid to rejoin the Rogues, although the money changes hands several times due to a series of paybacks, betrayals and blackmails. You really get a sense of the Rogues here. Piper is basically a good guy forced back into crime by circumstance and familiarity. He goes out of his way to save the industrialist’s life, even though it would come back to bite him. Trickster does it more for the fun of it, but he’s not a (really) bad person, although that doesn’t stop him from blackmailing Piper for saving the victim’s life. Lastly Mirror Master, and by extension the r other Rogues, are just bastards. We get a few pages of Karate Kid, in the JLA brig, taunting Red Arrow because he’s the only member of the current League not remembered in his time. Roy tells him to ‘Wax Off’ (for the record – the DC Karate Kid predates the movie by about 20 years). The Monitors debate the fate of their member that killed Duela Dent. He argues that they should eliminate the various anomalies, including Ion, Supergirl, Troia, Red Hood, Nightwing and Karate Kid, before they trigger another Crisis. I still don’t have a good feel for the Monitors yet. They’re obviously big players in this series, but seem more like plot devises than characters at this point. Lastly we meet up with Mary Marvel, still searching for both her powers and Captain Marvel. She’s running from some street hoods and runs into a decrepit building that she feels drawn towards. Inside she finds someone infinitely more dangerous than a guy with a knife – Black Adam. Of the five storylines touched on in this issue three really jumped up and grabbed me, while even the two that didn’t at least didn’t detract from the overall story. Countdown is still starting out a bit slowly, but its also improving as it goes.
Bottom Line:
Building momentum, but still not at full speed.
Rating: Decent, but leaf through it before buying it. (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
Star Wars Legacy #12
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: John Ostrander
Penciller: Jan Duursema
Inker: Dan Parsons
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Editor: Randy Stradley
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Star%20Wars%20Legacy%2012.jpg
Ghosts, Part 2
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and on the glowing recommendations of several board members, I decided to give Star Wars Legacy a try. Legacy is set more than a century after Return of the Jedi and the universe has changed a lot in that time. The New Republic collapsed under the weight of an external invasion, and was again replaced by the Empire, albeit a somewhat more benevolent one. Soon after the Emperor himself was betrayed by his underlings and overthrown by the Sith Lord Darth Krayt. Krayt had abolished the Rule of Two and had built the Sith into an organization similar to the old Jedi Order complete with masters, knights and apprentices. Into that setting we meet Cade Skywalker, Luke’s grandson. Cade is now a pirate, having forsaken his Jedi training and heritage after his father was killed in the battle of Ossius, and a Pirate Lord rescued Cade from the vacuum. Cade’s been through a lot, and now he’s started to reacquaint himself with his heritage, but he knows that he straddles the line between the light and dark sides of the Force, so he fears is power. Cade had retreated to the abandoned Jedi academy on Ossius to ponder his fate, only to meet up with several of his old masters and fellow apprentices. Their positive influence on him, combined with some advice from a ghostly Luke, prods Cade into action to right a wrong. Early in the series Cade and his crew, who were unaware of his legacy, had turned a Jedi over to the Empire to collect a bounty. Cade resolves to rescue that Jedi from Krayt’s clutches, even if it kills him.
Ostrander is the modern master of deep, dark comics with morally ambiguous protagonists, and he brings his A-game here. He makes the reader want to like Cade, despite his actions. He also mines the Star Wars universe for some fun nuggets that really make the comic feel alive (although I’ve never read the New Jedi Order books, on which a lot of the backstory is apparently based). This issue isn’t a great jumping on point – lots of exposition based on the earlier issues, but its meant to be a bit of a breather before the next major story arc, and in that respect it succeeds.
Bottom Line:
A fun, interesting look into the future of the Star Wars Universe with a great cast of characters.
Rating: Worth the time and money (4 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg
Quick Hits:
newuniversal #6 - Good, but if this story moved any slower it would go backwards.
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #30 - Waid & Kitson’s swan song, and it was brilliant. From the plot twist to the swerve to the beautifully cyclical ending. Great stuff.