Category: DC Comics

Written by Neal Adams

Art by Neal Adams & Clem Robins

Cover by Neal Adams

SUMMARY:

Released by DC Comics, Deadman’s 2017-18 mini-series is reprinted in this 168-page collection.  Boston “Deadman” Brand might finally gain justice vs. the shadowy group that orchestrated his murder years before.  Evidently, the series sub-title is: “Still Dead … After All These Years!” 

In Japan, Deadman & Batman thwart an assassination attempt on Commissioner Gordon, who is a temporary U.S. ambassador inspecting Japanese nuclear sites.   Deadman encounters the assassin Hook and a ghostly Sensei, both of whom contributed to Brand’s assassination. 

The Spectre, Phantom Stranger, and Etrigan the Demon become involved, as the trail leads Deadman to a family reunion at the circus he once starred in.  Borrowing his twin brother Cleveland’s body, Deadman learns some shockers from their parents, including that his brother Aaron and sister Zeea disappeared long ago.

With the Spectre’s aid, Deadman uncovers his own family’s involvement with Ra’s Al Ghul and his League of Assassins.  Etrigan is violently rebuffed trying to rescue Aaron Brand from Al Ghul’s minions.  Seeking answers, Deadman’s gambit returns him to mystical Nanda Parbat.  In an extended Himalayan battle, Deadman relies on Zatanna Zatara; Doctor Fate; the Spectre; Taj Ze the samurai; and Etrigan at his side vs. mutants, monsters, zombies, and robots.  Deadman explores some weird possibilities, including whether or not he’s really a ghost.  

REVIEW:

As a writer-artist, Neal Adams is known for decades of phenomenal work in the comics industry, i.e. for Batman.  In this instance, however, Adams’ visual talents far exceed his inexplicably muddled storyline.  First up is Deadman’s trademark body-hopping, which contributes to a chaotic read. 

Other oddities include: since when is James Gordon a designated expert in inspecting foreign nuclear facilities?  Or why is the Spectre seemingly so out-of-character?  Or why is Etrigan’s assault by the League of Assassins strangely dropped, so Etrigan is at Deadman’s side for the Himalayan battle?  Or why is Batman deceptively advertised for the last segment when he isn’t involved?  The list goes go on and on. 

As fair warning, this last chapter is the book’s worst segment since Adams doesn’t resolve any pertinent loose ends.  Exceedingly patient readers will be disappointed by an unsatisfactory finish.  Despite Deadman’s sub-par scripting, Adams appears at top of his game in terms of its artwork. 

If Adams had added an insightful introduction or afterword, it might have offset his bewildering one-man show.  Short of an infuriated Deadman unambiguously telling off Batman, the Spectre, and a few others at regular intervals that they “suck,” Adams exerts too little effort to fix his storyline’s incoherent twists.  It’s a shame that long-time Deadman fans will likely find this storyline a squandered read. 

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

All seven full-page covers (including a Deadman # 1 variant) by Adams are included.  Also, eight full pages of his pencil sketches (specifically: pages 1, 5-6, 8, 12, 14 20, and 22) from the first issue are part of this package.  Character images help decorate the separation of chapters.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                 4 Stars

Written by Scott Snyder; James Tynion IV; & Joshua Williamson.

Art by Francis Manapul; Marcus To; Riley Rossmo; & Jorge Jimenez; Hi-Fi; Alejandro Sanchez; and Andworld Design.

Cover Art by Francis Manapul.

SUMMARY:

Released in 2018 by DC Comics, this 144-page collection presents Justice League: No Justice # 1-4 and its prelude from DC Nation # 0 from earlier that year.  As both Earth and Brainiac’s home world, Colu, are threatened by four cosmic entities, a contingent of DC’s heroes & villains form a resistance under Brainiac’s command. 

Once Brainiac is seemingly destroyed, separate squads emerge: Mystery (Superman; Starro; Sinestro; Martian Manhunter; and Starfire); Entropy (Batman; Lex Luthor; Beast Boy; Deathstroke; and Lobo); Wisdom (Harley Quinn; Flash; Cyborg; Damian Wayne’s Robin; and the Atom); and Wonder (Wonder Woman; Zatanna Zatara; Etrigan the Demon; Raven; and Doctor Fate).  Each team investigates a cosmic tree linked to one of these entities.  Yet, they must coordinate their efforts to save Earth and Colu.      

With Earth mostly undefended, Amanda Waller takes drastic action that Green Arrow & Supergirl may regret.  Green Lantern Hal Jordan and four other Lanterns must answer Green Arrow’s mayday call for Earth’s last stand.  Ultimately, a new status quo is established re: the immediate future for DC’s major super-teams. 

REVIEW:

Justice League: Too Far Out of Its League, unfortunately, is a more apt title for one of DC’s worst-ever mega-events.

All too ironically, the actual title foretells what readers get in return for buying this kid-friendly dreck.  Is this muddled, would-be epic remotely comprehensible?  The answer is emphatically ‘no,’ as there’s virtually zero depth and logic in motion.  A few bits and pieces are conveyed (i.e. Batman’s repeated paternal scoldings of Damian Wayne’s Robin; Lex Luthor’s untrustworthiness; the gradual building of team chemistry among these four squads), but far too little else happens. 

Worsening this book’s ultra-contrived storytelling is lukewarm sludge posing as artwork.  Clearly, half-hearted visuals won’t disguise the New Age-inspired cosmic nonsense that the writing team is incoherently peddling.  In retrospect, an awe-inspiring, galactic team-up of heroes & villains under Brainiac’s command might have had some intriguing potential as a premise. The caveat being that an inspired lead writer needs to take command and make the storyline work.  

The weakly-executed Justice League: No Justice, however, isn’t the answer, as its creative team is asleep at the wheel throughout this Crisis wanna-be.  For all the plot’s exploration of ‘cosmic trees,’ all hapless readers come away with is eye-rolling sap.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

Full-page color covers are included.  There’s a five-page color sketchbook from artist Francis Manapul that includes some of this project’s imagery and team portraits.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                  2½ Stars

Written by Grant Morrison.

Art by (See Credits Below).

Collection Cover Art by Ryan Sook.

Notes: To clarify possible confusion, the complete Seven Soldiers saga was initially compiled into four paperback volumes in 2006-2007.  This same 400-page compendium (it’s the equivalent of 2006-2007’s Volumes 1-2) first appeared in hardcover form in 2010. This title is also available digitally. Lastly, there is a nearly 800-page Omnibus hardcover version, which compiles the complete epic.

SUMMARY:

Released in 2012 by DC Comics, this mammoth 400-page paperback reprints the first half of the Seven Soldiers saga consisting of: Seven Soldiers of Victory # 0; Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight # 1-4; Seven Soldiers: Guardian # 1-4; Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy # 1-3; and Seven Soldiers: Zatanna # 1-3.  The concluding fourth issues for Klarion and Zatanna appear in Volume 2. 

• Seven Soldiers of Victory # 0.  Art is provided by J.H. Williams; Dave Stewart; and Todd Klein; with Williams & Stewart as the cover art team.  Greg Saunders – the elderly Golden Age Vigilante (a member of the original Seven Soldiers) recruits five D-List super-heroes/mercenaries to help him hunt the monstrous Buffalo Spider in the Arizona desert.  Once their mission ends horrifically, the enigmatic Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp initiate a contingency plan to thwart the extra-dimensional threat known as The Sheeda.

Note: Continuity-wise, Seven Soldiers of Victory Issue # 0 occurs shortly after Zatanna # 1 and before Shining Knight # 3-4.

• Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight # 1-4. Art is provided by Simone Bianchi; Dave Stewart; Nathan Eyring; and Rob Leigh, with Bianchi & Stewart as the cover art team.  Escaping Camelot’s destruction by demonic forces, young knight Ystin (Justin) and a flying white horse, Vanguard, are mystically propelled into modern-day Los Angeles.  Once an immortal mobster takes custody of Vanguard, his posh, heavily-armed estate is brutally attacked by The Sheeda.  A fugitive Ystin later seeks the local police’s help.  Taken captive by the demonic Sheeda Queen known as Gloriana Tenebrae, a defiant Ystin’s secret is revealed.    

• Seven Soldiers: Guardian # 1-4.  Art is provided by Cameron Stewart; Moose Baumann; and Pat Brosseau; with Stewart as the cover artist.  Recruited as a crusading New York newspaper’s in-house super-hero, ex-cop Jake Jordan (aka the Manhattan Guardian) battles gruesome subway pirates beneath New York City to rescue his girlfriend.  Jordan then saves surviving hostages from a state-of-the-art robotic theme park where one of its creators has gone amok. Seeking to quit, a disillusioned Jordan learns from his benefactor the shocking truth re: the original Newsboy Army’s mission to Slaughter Swamp.  Another revelation pertains to background characters also appearing in Shining Knight and Zatanna. 

Note: The bleak finale has only one panel implying who a homicide victim must be.  Scenes in Zatanna # 2-3 also briefly allude to this same mystery.

• Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy # 1-3.  Art is provided by Frazer Irving & Pat Brosseau, with Irving as the cover artist.  Klarion and his feline accomplice, Teekl, flee their underground home known as Limbo Town (the home of the lost Roanoke colony) to explore the surface world.  Yet, Gloriana Tenebrae’s treacherous husband, Malmoth, manipulates a naïve Klarion in a covert bid to invade Limbo Town.

• Seven Soldiers: Zatanna # 1-3.  Art is provided by Ryan Sook; Mick Gray; Nathan Eyring; Jared K. Fletcher; Nick J. Napolitano, with Ryan Sook & Dave Stewart on the cover image.  At a New York therapy group session for super-heroes, a seemingly powerless Zatanna Zatara confides her self-blame for the recent incineration of some trusted friends helping her in a personal matter.  Despite her depleted confidence, she embarks on a cross-country road trip with a mysterious young female, Misty, whose own magical powers replicate Zatanna’s by using a mystical die. 

Note: For continuity purposes, the Zatanna # 3 segment occurs shortly after Shining Knight # 4.

REVIEW:

Seven Soldiers’ first half is a definite game-changer re: mature and sophisticated super-hero story-telling. Hence, writer Grant Morrison’s nightmarish vision oozes considerable potential, but it’s far from perfect.  As seen in Shining Knight # 1-2, Klarion # 1-2, and some scenes in Zatanna # 1, Morrison’s muddled epic becomes near-incomprehensible once all the Vertigo Comics-style weirdness just stops making sense. 

Even deliberately grisly visuals justify only so much of the murkiness permeating Seven Soldiers.  Think of it this way: deciphering large sections of Seven Soldiers is like trying to fathom mind-blowing science fiction like Robert A. Heinlein’s novel, The Number of The Beast, or Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Slaughterhouse Five – as far as casual reading is concerned.  At least, Morrison (or maybe it’s really DC) bleeps out sporadic profanities to keep his dialogue somewhat clean.   

Still, Morrison and his art squads overdose on the macabre, which results in some vile excuses for shock value.  Unsurprisingly, these plot elements don’t help explain what exactly either The Sheeda or The Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp are, let alone what they intend to do.  That’s where perhaps Morrison makes his biggest misjudgment. 

For all the ingenious crossovers bridging these four mini-series, Morrison doesn’t try hard enough conveying better hints of what’s really going on to his audience.  Yet, the premise that these Seven Soldiers will supposedly never meet, or even know of each other’s existence, still seems brilliant – at least, in theory.   

As ghoulish as many of this saga’s scenes are, the worst offense is a late plot twist depicting a child molester/murderer.  The fact that Morrison exploits this putrid sub-plot with an issue title of “Sex Secrets of the Newsboy Army!” inexcusably speaks for itself.  Perhaps it’s best that Morrison doesn’t divulge specifics beyond implying the culprit’s fate.  In other words, the repugnant ‘Newsboy Army’ murder-mystery really has no business in Morrison’s grand scheme, as it’s more like a diversion vs. finally getting some helpful insight re: The Sheeda.    

Despite Morrison’s unforced creative errors, his wicked storytelling improves at some necessary junctures (i.e. both Klarion # 3 and Shining Knight # 3-4 make far more sense than their first two issues).  His impressive Zatanna series (which is faithful to her character’s history, including interaction with the Phantom Stranger) is easily this book’s winner, though Guardian early on scores some fine moments, too. 

As for this collection’s best asset, it’s the potentially high-caliber visuals (including this volume’s terrific Ryan Sook cover).  The flip side, unfortunately, is a nasty fixation on can-you-top-this? carnage.  Melding DC continuity with Vertigo Comics-esque storytelling, Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory, Volume 1 is a formidable read. Yet, its deep flaws should have a necessitated a definitive edit, if only for good taste’s sake.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

Morrison’s two-page introduction elaborates his somewhat pompous rationale for this project.  Each of the individual stories appears with its full-page cover image.  A full-page advertisement reveals a black-and-white sketch image of the second volume’s cover.  A ten-page section insightfully explores the artistic evolution of the Seven Soldiers saga, including some detailed character costume design sketches for Morrison’s new Seven Soldiers.  A two-page color spread vividly reflects the original Books 1-2 paperback covers from 2006.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:            6½ Stars

Written by Joel Rose & Amos Poe

Art by Tayyar Ozkan

SUMMARY:

Published as the 94-page black-and-white conclusion of the La Pacifica trilogy, it was released by Paradox Press (a DC Comics imprint) in 1995.

Arriving in New York City, motel owner Don Cooper’s persistence pays off, as he finally locates the elusive Holly Stone as a Bloomingdale’s salesgirl.  He wants answers from this ex-girlfriend of the deranged culprit who recently slaughtered seventeen guests at Cooper’s idyllic La Pacifica motel in California.  Despite suspecting her true nature, Cooper’s libido succumbs to a steamy affair with Holly. 

Confronting Holly with her shadowy past, Cooper’s worst fears are realized once she tries to manipulate him into killing her alleged stalker.  He barely evades her demented knack for corrupting ordinary guys into potential killers trying to ‘protect’ her.  When he and girlfriend Libby learn that Holly/Molly is ominously coming to see him, it appears their bloodthirsty game isn’t over just yet.   

REVIEW:

It’s contemporary noir, complete with hardcore profanity-laced dialogue.  Though this suspense thriller resembles a movie, Sucker’s End is still a R-Rated cliché-fest.  Between the seemingly well-intentioned protagonist whose obsession is betrayed by his own impulses and a sultry, identity-shifting mystery girl, one will readily smell the inevitable swerve coming. 

The rugged Don Cooper represents the kind of roles that Al Pacino, Tom Berenger, and Michael Douglas have personified on-screen for years.  As for the manipulative Holly/Molly, she relies on the same sleazy playbook previously utilized by femme fatales personified by actresses like Kathleen Turner, Linda Fiorentino, Sharon Stone, and Ellen Barkin.  Still, if contemporary casting means anything, Thomas Jane would make an ideal Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence could readily pass for Holly/Molly. 

Yet, the real non-surprise is how the only likable character (Cooper’s girlfriend, Libby), has far too little to do, even in the finale.  It’s the book’s biggest detriment — neither of the two leads endear themselves to readers, thus making their ultimate fates all the more meaningless.  It’s unfortunate, as the narrative of Sucker’s End is occasionally intriguing. 

The choice of gritty black-and-white visuals makes perfect sense, but this book’s mediocre artwork leaves readers with close to a zero impression.  Despite its basic potboiler elements, the Cooper vs. Holly/Molly feud falls far short of contributing anything new to this genre.     

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

The front inside cover summarizes the first two volumes of the La Pacifica storyline.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    3 Stars