Comics Review - w/c Wednesday 23rd October 2013

Unforgivably, a missed blog last week due to late nights at work and other lames excuses.

In all honesty, it has been a quiet few weeks with monthly comics as I have been reading mainly trades with Walking Dead, Captain America: Red Menace, Batman: Killing Joke, Avengers Disassembled, and House of M. It’s possibly for this reason that my monthlies have gone by fairly unnoticed.

For last week, here are my brief thoughts.

Justice League #24

Writer: Geoff Johns

Art: Ivan Reis

Whilst DC have gone overboard with their Forever Evil titles, Justice League #24 marks itself as one of the key issues as it tells the origin story of Earth 3’s Ultraman. Seemingly, wherever any good happened to good ‘ol Clark Kent, the exact opposite would be the case for Ultraman as he lays waste to his foster parents and continues his path of destruction towards joining the Crime Syndicate.

There is a brief mention, kind of, of Darkseid that reinforces my belief that, after Forever Evil, a truly huge ‘event’ is not far off. Darkseid is the villain that appeared at the beginning of the New 52 so is very prominent with this current version of the DCU. I expect him to take centre stage some time soon.

Rating: 3/5

Velvet #1

Since I am currently reading through Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run, it is no surprise I am a fan of his new title, Velvet.

Set in the 1970s, this espionage tale is certainly not the most original in terms of plot, however it is a very well polished product with the interesting premise of a slightly aged female character as lead. Whilst her backstory is not fully played out, she is seen as an office secretary for a covert organisation but with secret shit-kicking skills. I always find it hard to judge a first issue as its likely not all the characters have been introduced at this stage who may offer the series a different dynamic.

As with Cap, this feels very familiar, in a good way, as the sense of conspiracy, paranoia, and intrigue are all present with a gritty realism that is often missing in today’s comics.

Is it even a surprise that this is an Image title?

Rating: 4/5

As my weekly comics are on hold for financial reasons, the next blog will be on Twisted Light, the next trade by Neil Gibson. If people are unfamiliar with his work, check out the brilliant Twisted Dark.