Best of DC: Week of January 22nd, 2020

Best of this Week: Far Sector #3 – N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell and Deron Bennett

I was once told, “If we all think the same, then are we truly living?”

That’s the question that the story of Far Sector centers around thus far as Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein has to operate as the protector of the planet sized City of Enduring where the three dominant races, the Nah, the @At and keh-Topli, are kept in line by having their emotions stripped from them. After a murder occurs on the planet after 500 years of peace, Jo has to investigate a drug called “Switchoff” that turns off the emotional inhibitors of its users. After dancing with the handsome Councilor Marth, she discovers that the issue of Switchoff use goes far deeper than she expected.

In a brilliant scene drawn by Campbell, we see how Switchoff affects Marth and turns him from a monotone man with natural charm to a sexy, dreadlocked, high elf before our eyes. He’s a lot more relaxed and muses of his people’s past with Jo as they play a game similar to chess. He’s drawn with a wide grin that hides his inner pain and lamentation over the loss of emotional connection his past. He is lit in purple lighting signifying his higher status and he even notes that he’s not the only Councilman that’s using Switchoff.

Two of the biggest themes of this issue, compared to the others so far, are centered around the ideas of memory and the past. After Mullein leaves Marth’s presence, she heads to her home on Enduring and receives a chapter of a book from Earth that she’s been reading and confirmation that her father sent an email reply to her. This is especially strong as while she’s lying in bed, she cries while reminiscing of her childhood on Earth – watching westerns and Saturday Morning Cartoons. These are the things that brought her joy, especially hearing that her father sent her a reply. She’s so far away from home kinda misses it.

At the same time, her duty is to the City of Enduring and those in charge of it, so when she’s called to pull a little bit of crowd control, she’s a bit annoyed but accepts the task. Things are different in the City than they would be on Earth. Two sides have decided to protest against one another and the solution of the Peace Division is to kill them all in order to keep the peace. Mullein is understandably shocked, but the Peace Officers look pretty nonplussed, keeping with the idea that their emotions are heavily suppressed as no one would want to slaughter so many.

Mullein is given a choice to stop both sides before the kill order is given and she takes it. Campbell gives us many great shots of Mullein doing heroic poses before separating the two angry mobs with shields of green and looks of annoyance. It’s a great way of showing us her personality without vocal exposition. Jemisin contributes to this by showing us Jo’s thoughts on peaceful resolution, saying that her dad talked about two kinds of peace in her youth: temporary peace by shutting conflict (with a note asking readers to look up Martin Luther King Jr.) and peace made when people get what they want and need.

I take a small bit of umbridge with her thoughts because Dr. King’s methods did eventually lead to widespread change if not also due to his martyrdom, but I might be reading Jo’s words wrong or taking them to heart when I need not.

Mullein actually tries peaceful conflict resolution by asking both sides what they’re arguing about with one side saying they’re against Switchoff users because emotions caused the “Burnover,” a war between the three races. The other side argues that emotions aren’t the problem, aliens are. Neither side wants to acknowledge that it’s the races themselves and their inability to take personal responsibility that’s the real problem. When one of the aliens complains about the Switchoff users being criminals and wanting to respect law and order, jo flashes back to racial injustices that she potentially witnessed on Earth.

I have to hand it to Jemisin for how she chose Mullein to handle the situation. Instead of saying that both sides have points, her thoughts lead her to asking the Switchoff users to make demands to The Council, saying that the emotionless way had been tried for thousands of years so it’s time to give the other side some shine too. Mullein comes off as someone that wants to promote real change instead of being a fence sitter and it’s actually kind of inspiring. She acknowledges the dangers of following the law and order as they have been forever and wants to protect the people of Enduring from the same.

Unfortunately for her, the time to get the crowds to disperse ends and the kill order is given. Jemisin and Campbell do an amazing job of showing how frantic Mullein is as she tries to get the Peace Officers to stop, with Deron Bennett’s lettering the emphasis of certain words are made paramount as Mullein rushes to reach the Officers. Shots are pulled in close to her face to show the frustration and fear in her eyes as she realizes there’s nothing that she can do to stop it after hearing who ordered the firing.

Campbell ends the issue with two amazing pages: One showing the Peace Officers firing indiscriminately into the crowd. The page is colored with intense red hues from the weapons. The faceless Officers stand firm in their actions and the people are screaming and cowering as the beams violently blast through them. It’s a horrifying scene, even more so as Lantern Mullein watches on in horror before it turns to absolute rage. Earlier she mentioned how she can’t and won’t fight cops, indicating some traumatic incident in her past or her currently being a space cop, but that is thrown out of the window after seeing this injustice.

Campbell then gives us a taste of Mullein’s willpower as she slams down in the middle of everything and prepares to fight.

This was a really strong issue and showcased a little bit more of Mullein’s past while also expanding on the social unrest on the City of Enduring. Even though emotions are supposed to be stripped from the people, the tensions still run high between them all, suggesting that things might not be as on the level as even the people believe. I definitely want to learn more about Marth and the other Councilmen given the new knowledge that the aren’t even following their own laws. N.K. Jemisin has crafted a very interesting story with a compelling lead that I can’t wait to get more of, especially with Jamal Campbell drawing her every month.

Absolutely high recommend.

Best of DC: Week of December 4th, 2019

Best of this Week: Justice League #37 – Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez and Tom Napolitano

I had a really difficult time between choosing this or Deathstroke #50, but ultimately, this was just far more epic.

The war for Justice and Doom has been building up and raging for months now and it’s been leading up to issues like this one and I am here for it. Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez must have been binging a bunch of shonen anime to prepare for this because this book was full of so many amazing moments of overcoming the odds, sacrifices and comebacks that would fit perfectly amongst the best Dragon Ball or Naruto storylines.

To start off, Lex asks if Batman and the rest of the heroes are smart enough to surrender to the impending Doom as he pilots the Hall of Doom, commanding his forces. Jarro, however, steals the show by saying that they’re nowhere near that smart and that they’re about to get real #$%^ stupid and Batman adorably agrees. I swear I love them. Even more so as Batman himself pilots the Hall of Justice like he’s Roger Smith from The Big O or Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

The double charge between the generic forces of the real Legions of Doom and the various heroes of Earth was ASTOUNDING to look at. With Damian Wayne leading the charge, the heroes scream with rage and Hope as they rush the battlefield. Almost everyone’s there: Jay Garrick, Superman Prime One Million, Vampire Wonder Woman, Kamandi, most of the Titans excluding Kyle Rayner, but even Guy Gardner is front and center, ready for battle!

Meanwhile, the rest of the League do their best to telepathically turn the Earth from Doom to Justice with the help of Miss Martian and the remaining Starmen. They get far enough that they start to blur the Symbol of Doom in the sky, but they lack the power to disrupt it altogether. The only two that could reasonably do it are Hawkgirl and her son Shayne, but they’re lost in space with John Stewart looking for them. Superman motivates them all to keep trying until help arrives.

As that’s all going on, Hawkgirl does her best to defend her son from The Ultra-Monitor, the fused body of the Monitor, World Forger and Anti-Monitor at the helm. Jorge Jimenez gives her defense so much weight as she holds back the worst of his blasts with her Wings. He facial expression sells her pain and the destruction the Ultra-Monitor causes is beautiful with debris flying around them. Alejandro Sanchez accentuates this by making all of the colors cosmically beautiful, bright and vibrant. Both the Ultra-Monitor’s beams and Hawkgirl’s wings are enough to overpower the darkness in space, but unfortunately, he proves stronger than her.

When things look to be their most dire, out of nowhere comes John Stewart in The Flash Mobile, plowing into the Ultra-Monitor with enough Speed Force to separate the brothers from each other. The impact and subsequent explosion are absolutely devastating and REALLY cool, it’s all made even better when John steps out from the wreckage and poses like the damn hero that he is. This entire run has been made of epic moments, mostly drawn by Jimenez and this one takes the cake, especially because John Stewart remains one of the most effortlessly cool heroes out there.

The Anti-Monitor, sensing his impending ass beating, cries out for his mother across the multiverse. We then cut to her in the middle of destroying Earth-44, a universe where the heroes of the Earth are all robots made by Dr. Will Tornado (a cool combination of Will Magnus and Red Tornado). Earth-44 chooses Justice over Doom and DocTornado tells her to go to Hell. Perpetua, hearing the cries of her son, chooses an even more dastardly fate for Earth-44 than just crushing it. She palms the planet and throws it like she was Nolan Ryan (I had to research a baseball reference for you guys, appreciate it) towards her sons. It is epic as hell to see, her hair whips with the force she throws it with, there’s a tear in space-time and DocTornado embraces his end like Bardock, basking in his virtue.

His is not the only sacrifice, however, as The World Forger makes a tough decision. Because of almost all of his energy being sapped from him the Anti-Monitor, he only has enough left for one short portal before the planet impacts all of them. It’s somber to see as The World Forger looks downward towards his hammer. He muses of the other times he’s been reformed, but knowing that Perpetua is in control of the Multiverse that may not happen again. He completes his full character arc, going from a villain that wanted to destroy the other universes for one Perfect one, to a hero willing to sacrifice himself for the good of all.

The World Forger picks up his hammer, flexes his muscles as he gets into his strongest hitting stance and prepares for the end. Sanchez does their best to sell just how hot the planet is coming in with the screen being coated in purple-ish, red hue with the next panel being mostly stark white with red streaks.

The fighting continues on Earth-Prime as everyone is in the thick of it. Batman and Luthor duel in the crimson skies, Wildcat and Kamandi watch each others backs and Lightning, Zatanna and JSA Doctor Fate hold their own, but are obviously getting winded. Luthor cracks the hull of the Hall of Justice as the rest of the League feel something coming for them, but Luthor brings the hammer down and causes the Hall to have a crash landing. Damian, Green Arrow and the other forces, presumably, begin to get overwhelmed and all hope starts to dissipate…

Until a beam of energy disrupts the Symbol of Doom entirely, causing Perpetua to pay attention and Luthor to see a supercharged Justice League ready to put down his movement.

Everything about this issue was amazing. Start to finish, the writing was stellar, the art and coloring was exceptional and the lettering was perfect and immaculate. I found myself getting pulled in to the Hawkgirl and World Forger stories and felt satisfied with their payoffs. I got hyped when the battle kicked off and the energy stayed on that level the entire time.

As much as Dark Nights Metal was a saga with twists and turns, this run of Justice League has far surpassed it in my opinion. Scott Snyder wrote this in such a way that it was easy to get invested in the stories of every member of the League, even managing to return Hawkgirl to a state of prominence since her entire New 52 absence and making her an amazingly compelling character. The same can be said for the new addition of the World Forger, the third brother of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor. His design and character arc was amazing despite my initial misgivings.

Jorge Jimenez and Alejandro Sanchez are an amazing team together. Jimenez has alway been amazing on all of the books that he’s been on, but almost every issue of Justice League that he’s done has been beyond amazing. Scenes are drawn with dynamic posing, epic scale and weight that makes you feel EVERYTHING that the characters are going through. Sanchez brings these amazing scenes to life with stylish and shiny looking colors that really pop on the page and draws yours eyes in. Amazingly, nothing is lost in color or details that either of these guys make and it makes the reading and viewing that much more fantastic.

Overall, this is one of those runs that comes along every once in a while and gives you things to remember. Given that this is the penultimate issue to the Justice/Doom War and it’s already given us so much, who knows how much more there is in store for us in the future? High Recommend!

Best of DC: Week of June 5th, 2019

Best of this Week: Justice League #25 – Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez and Tom Napolitano

The Year of the Villain is upon us.

The book begins with Clark in his youth, impatient and wanting to solve all of his problems by using his power, but being told to be patient by Pa Kent. Cutting to the future where he and Jon can’t light a lamp in Pa Kent’s honor, he’s drenched in rain under the cover of night. In the present an emaciated Superman floats through the Sixth Dimension in total darkness, left there by the glistening White Superman of the Utopia created by the World Forger.

Elsewhere, the League fights their future selves in an amazing action sequence by Jimenez and Sanchez. The clashing of ideals is in full force as these perfect beings from different eras fight each other for the future. Our Justice League fights with the fury of youth, uncompromising in their belief that a future where the lives of billions are lost in order to achieve justice is no future at all. The Future League, however, with their vast experience and tainted souls fight with certainty, knowing that their world has no pain or injustice.

Their battle is captured excellently through sheer scale and intensity as the book rumbles on. Wonder Woman knows what she’s capable of taking and throws down on her older self with punches and kicks befitting a warrior with the heavy impacts to match. Lantern Stewart has an architectural mind, but his older self has obviously come across bigger, but doesn’t count on the flash decking him right in the mouth. The Flash himself doesn’t see it coming when he catches a flurry from himself and who I believe to be Wally and Bart as they phase in and out of existence.

Martian Manhunter uses his shapeshifting abilities to become something out of any Kaiju movie as he tears through the city and himself. Batman… dear God Batman and his beautiful Bat-Mech. The machine is over designed with sharp edges, a bright white color scheme with a gold Bat logo and big dumb Bat wings, but it is AMAZING to look at. Appearing to be on the side of the World Forger, he tells the team to see the Light, telling them to listen to his words and imagine light as they get beat down by their future selves.

Back in the Sixth Dimension, Batman thinks back to the light ceremony and how the League was there to help him and Jon and suddenly lights begin to appear, not just any lights… suns. In what may be one of the greatest sequence of pages in the last few issues of Justice League, (and there have been some great ones) Superman is re-energized. He dives through one sun and then another and another, regaining the hope and strength that he is so known for and rushes towards his friends.

The World Forger readies his hammer to strike this future reality into existence until he feels the vibration. He tells Future Lois Lane to shoot it down, but she sees the “S” and begins to cry. Flash sees him, Diana, J’onn and especially Bruce as Superman RAGES INTO THE BATTLE AND WITH A SINGLE, WORLD EXPLODING, PUNCH puts and end to the World Forger’s machinations.

Instead of destroying the World Forger in that instant, he extends his hand, telling him that there is another way to save the Multiverse if he joins the Justice League. Batman had his suspicions of the future the whole time and upon learning of Superman’s fate, decided to give him a chance to find his way back to his friends and if he didn’t then the Utopia was meant to be, but he always knew that Clark would find a way. Clark focused on hope and the happy memories. He knew that there was always another way and that the World Forger’s ideas that there was only one path or a few that involved him fighting against the Justice League were misguided and that there was one he hadn’t considered; joining them.

Before jumping into the latter 1/3rd of the book, I have to praise this book for having such a satisfying conclusion to this arc. I love that the League didn’t just have to vanquish another threat, but gained a new ally in their fight against the coming Doom. The art was amazingly frenetic and bright with the colors popping in ways that made everything all the more epic and badass. Shading and detailing made everything seem so much more inspiring and dire at times, which is exactly what this needed with special praise going to the single splash page of Superman roaring his arm back for a Real Superman Punch.

Things finally coalesce with the second story of this issue written by James Tynion IV and drawn by new series regular artist, Javier Fernandez. Paying off the events of the Year of the Villain One-Shot, Lex Luthor has made his plea to the people of Earth. After the Legion of Doom saves the world from a raging Mxypytlk, Lex tells them what a mess of things the Justice League made of the Source Wall. He encourages the citizens of the world to shun the League and become Villains just like him as it’s the only way to save themselves since the heroes obviously can’t.

The people are listening and have already started rioting in the streets. Unlike in The Last Knight on Earth, the League has hope. The World Forger hopes to gain the aid of his brothers, the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor. Starman hopes to gain the aid of other heroes from the Multiverse. Wonder Woman wishes to stay on Earth and utilize the Largest League that there has ever been and J’onn says that they have to do it all. At the same time, after his supposed Death, Lex brings himself back to life in a strange body, saying that Doom is just beginning.

I have never been more excited for Justice League than I am now, especially given how widespread this story will be. There are hints of the same kind of scale as Jonathan Hickman’s run on Avengers, with every small thing in every tangential book affecting some part of the larger narrative and that’s the kind of storytelling that I adore. Offers are going to be going out to every villain in the DC Universe and things are only going to be more intense from here on out and I am here for it.