Review: Free Country: A Tale of The Children’s Crusade

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Publisher: Vertigo (an imprint of DC Comics)

Creative Team: Neil Gaiman, Toby Litt, Alisa Kwitney, Jamie Delano, Chris Bachalo

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“I found this flier stuck to a fence, and I need a detective agency.” 

 Considering the excellent pedigree behind this book (mainly Neil Gaiman), I was incredibly excited to dig into this crossover comic, starring the children of many different Vertigo comics such as the Dead Boy Detectives and Tefe from Swamp Thing.

The basic premise behind the story is that children have been abducted and taken into somewhere named the Free Country (a part of Never Never Land), and it’s up to the Dead Boy Detectives (probably because they have the word detective in their name) to find them and bring them home.

Whilst the premise might sound interesting, unfortunately (as I seem to be saying in a lot of these reviews), it’s execution is sorely lacking. The story just isn’t that great. It’s poorly structured and as a result of this not much happens in order to propel the story forward. It’s as if the writers knew they had fragments of an interesting narrative but weren’t sure how to connect those fragments in order to create an interesting tale.

Contributing to this frustrating reading experience is the overwritten, expository dialogue crammed into text boxes. This makes it seem that there is no confidence in letting the artwork assist in conveying the plot (which is strange since Chris Bachalo’s contribution is very competent) and instead the creative team chose to assault the readers visual senses with far too many words which don’t actually seem that relevant to the plot. It also doesn’t help that nearly all of the dialogue wasn’t particularly interesting to read.

These problems result in a frustrating reading experience that becomes very difficult to recommend. I would instead direct anyone interested in anything recent by Neil Gaiman to the excellent The Sandman Overture which is about to publish its final issue.

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Grade: E

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: Grayson Volume 1 – Agents of Spyral

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Publisher: DC

Creative Team: Tim Seeley, Tom King, Mikel Janin and Jeremy Cox

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“The downside of a solo act. No one around to see you do the cool stuff.” 

 During the events of Forever Evil (warning: spoilers), Nightwing was brutally beaten and unmasked as Dick Grayson by the Crime Syndicate on a televised broadcast to the world. A bomb is then wired to his heart supposedly ‘killing’ him. Batman decides to take advantage of Grayson’s legally deceased status and sends him to infiltrate a secret spy organisation called Spyral, in order to discover the identity of the enigmatic Mr. Minos.

Grayson is renamed Agent 37 and partnered with Helena Bertinelli (previously known as Huntress, now known as Matron). They are tasked with a different mission in each issue, resulting in an episodic feel to this opening arc. These assignments share a common goal: To track down what appears to be body parts known as paragon organs. These organs are implanted in certain targets and each assignment revolves around their retrieval. Frustratingly however, the purpose of these missions and the reason for the urgency of the retrieval of each new organ is never explained.

The nature of Spyral and the purpose of these retrieval missions is a continuous guessing game. It is disclosed that they are actively attempting to discover the true identities of superheroes (apparently Batman has gotten incredibly incompetent at keeping his identity a secret) but what they intend to do with this information is not divulged.

This is pretty much how the previous Nightwing comic ended.

Eventually, the moral code Grayson binds himself to begins to affect his ability to successfully complete his assignments. In particular his refusal to kill results in severe consequences. It’s a genuinely emotional moment as he realises his naivety has irrevocably changed lives for the worse, the opposite of his contributions as Nightwing.

One of the more noteworthy highlights is the return of Midnighter, a character originally intended to be a parody of Batman. Keeping a watchful eye over Spyral, he attempts to prevent them repossessing the paragon organs which results in a memorable fist fight between himself and Dick. This only accentuates the suspicions of the reader as to the motives of Grayson’s new employers.

A noticeable flaw, however, is the fourth and final issue. Rather than move the story forward and create anticipation for the succeeding volume, it halts any momentum the previous issues had built. Dick is chased shirtless by some college girls because, wait for it, they think he’s attractive. Whilst the lighter tone of this comic compared to the rest of the DC line up is appreciated, here it veers into silly territory, which is a bizarre tonal shift when compared with the rest of the story.

Grayson marks the writing debut of Tom King; formerly a C.I.A agent now turned writer. This expertise helps lend an authentic feel to the spy centric action and he writes the strongest two issues of this volume (issue 3 and Future’s End).

The art that accompanies the writing by Mikel Janin is outstanding. Not only can he draw expressive characters and beautiful scenery, he also very competently visually choreographs action scenes ranging from chases to unarmed combat. The layout of panels during throughout the comic are set up to complement the dialogue making them easy to follow. The colours by Jeremy Cox are vivid and bright, distinguishing its visual style from the rest of the DC lineup which usually goes for a dark and gritty colour pallet.

Agents of Spyral is successful in establishing a new and exciting direction for one the more popular Bat family characters. Hopefully by further peeling back the layers of the intriguing mysteries at its core, it will turn into one of DC’s best ongoing monthlies.

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Grade: B

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: Arkham Manor Volume 1

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Publisher: DC

Creative Team: Gerry Duggan and Shawn Crystal

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“We’ll move the loonies to…Wayne Manor” 

The idea behind the narrative of Arkham Manor has potential. During the events of Batman Eternal Vol.2, Arkham Asylum was destroyed leaving Gotham City in dire need to relocate it. The mayor eventually decides Wayne Manor should be the new home of the city’s most criminally insane. Its concept should have delivered at the very least a competent comic book. Unfortunately, Arkham Manor commits the cardinal sin of the entertainment medium. It’s just plain boring.

To begin with I was never entirely sure why exactly the decision to relocate to Wayne Manor was agreed upon. When the central premise behind your story isn’t clearly explained it creates confusion as to its purpose. Was it truly due to the power of eminent domain (a result of the martial law enforced in Batman Eternal Vol.2)? Or was there some sort of seedy secondary motive that Gotham’s mayor was harbouring with this decision? Since this is the only volume I guess we’ll never find out. I feel I should point out that it’s an absolutely terrible idea. No sane individual would believe that moving a group of dangerous psychopaths into a notorious playboy’s mansion is a genuinely great plan. If I was the mayor I’d be concerned about my re-election prospects.

After the inmates are successfully moved into their new home, surprising absolutely no one a major problem occurs. Someone begins targeting and killing the inmates. Since Batman’s detective skills have been poorly showcased in the new 52 Detective Comics series, I was genuinely excited to see Batman get down to some good old-fashioned sleuthing. However, this book achieves something exceptional in that it turns the hunt for a serial killer into a tedious and monotonous read.

Exaggerated character features made the artwork seem blurry when read on a tablet.

Batman decides to go deep undercover with the world’s least convincing disguise (a different hairstyle and mustache and apparently you’re unrecognizable even if you are one of the world’s richest men) as Jack Shaw. Duggan writes Batman as a complete imbecile as it takes him far too long to find a serial killer operating in his own house. Having this much trouble navigating his place of residence when he’s supposed to have lived there most of his life makes him seem remarkably stupid rather than the World’s Greatest Detective.

The only time Bruce Wayne progresses with this manhunt is when he ditches the Jack Shaw persona and suits up proving that the whole undercover process was a massive waste of everyone’s time.

When the murderer is finally caught the reveal is thoroughly underwhelming as no name or motive is provided and (*SPOILERS*) the culprit seems to be a random lumberjack. Maybe this whole book was secretly a crossover with Dexter masquerading as a Batman story. It would explain a lot.

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Grade: D 

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: Fables Volume 22 – Farewell

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Publisher: Vertigo

Creative Team: Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham

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“But Fabletown can’t be done…not like this” 

Fables is a rare breed of comic book. Similar to Sandman, Y: The Last Man and 100 Bullets it has been one of the few long-running, yet consistently excellent stories that this medium has produced. After 13 years and 149 previous issues, with this final volume it is brought to a close. Alas, all good stories must come to end.

The most frustrating thing with stories in any medium whether that be television, books or film is when a series you have invested a considerable amount of time and emotion into fails to provide a well executed and competently told resolution to its story. Dexter is the first example that comes to mind.

Resolution and rewarding the reader’s investment seems to be this issue’s primary concern. The main focus is the impending civil war between Snow White and Rose Red. This is narrated through chapters focusing on different characters and their contributions towards the side they represent. Whenever there is preparation for war, however, casualties are sure to follow. The fact that this conflict is between two Fabletown denizens rather than an outside threat make the inevitable demises seem even more senseless and tragic. The creative teams also include short chapters detailing the fates of the surviving characters of Fabletown which contribute considerably to this issue’s extensive 160 pages.

Bigby Wolf and Snow White. One of the greatest power couples in comics.

When the preparations for the war which has been ominously approaching are finally complete, the conflict itself is quickly and in my opinion rather disappointingly dismissed.  It was all very anti-climactic; and it made the sacrifices of those who lost their lives fighting for either side seem meaningless, almost as if they were included to fulfill some sort of quota dedicated to conforming to the reader’s expectations.

The enjoyment you get from this book depends on what you want from it. If you come into this final issue looking for a neat and tidy resolution, then I imagine you will finish it feeling very pleased.  On the other hand, if the prospect of a civil war between the Fables seemed intriguing and you were eager to see how this conflict would play out, you might complete it feeling a little bit disappointed. I fell into the latter camp, especially considering the brilliance of some of the previous story arcs.

I would also like to point out as I received a copy from Netgalley and the publisher Vertigo (whom I thank very much) there is some hard to read font (especially on digital devices with smaller screens) in some of the beginning chapters.

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Grade: C

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 12 – Vengeance Part 1

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Publisher: IDW

Creative Team: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Mateus Santolouco

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“Just once I wish the fighting would lead to something good and not more fighting” 

Shredder and Krang are missing. Donatello appears to have died. Big changes with long-lasting consequences occurred to the TMNT universe in the excellent previous arc Attack on Technodrome. Vengeance Part 1 is a slower paced volume which deals with the fallout of these shocking developments from the previous volume and the changes that have occurred as a result of these events.

The Turtles and Fugitoid are trying to save Donatello’s life after Rocksteady and BeBop attack him as vengeance for his betrayal of the Foot Clan, whilst also trying to maintain law and order in the city as it appears that new gangs are stepping up to fill the void after the Foot Clan’s apparent dismantling triggered by Shredder’s ‘death’.

By focussing on the turtles struggle to get over the guilt of failing their brother Donatello and Splinter’s feeling of helplessness over his inability to protect his sons, the importance of family seems to be the theme of this volume. There is a very well-written page where Splinter recounts how sticking to his honourable principles has repeatedly resulted in tragedy for himself and his family. It’s a surprisingly touching look at how heroes are often the ones who sacrifice so much so selflessly, and yet always appear to pay the ultimate price.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful.

The continuous nature of series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has one drawback, in that we never appear to get a definitive ending that timeless heroes such as these ultimately deserve. It’s in moments such as Splinter’s reflection on his sacrifices that we see the effect this has. They are the ultimate heroes in that they will always be fighting against the forces of evil. There will never be a truly happy ending for them, just the endless struggle that having selfless, heroic principles entails.

The Purple Dragons led by Hun (Casey’s father) make a big comeback in this volume. They serve as the primary antagonists, trying to take back the neighbourhoods they lost whilst the Foot Clan were still operational. Casey Jones and Hun have a fascinatingly broken relationship which is explored further. Hun believes the turtles and April are responsible for his son hating him and he is portrayed him in a slightly more sympathetic light as he tries to fix the relationship he appears to have destroyed beyond repair. Once again in choosing to focus on these relationships the volume has a slightly erratic pace to it, but it does give each character more depth rather than simple good and bad labels.

Whilst this is happening, in the background a bigger conflict is being set up and a new army is being built. Vengeance Part 1 ends on a huge cliffhanger, and as far as I’m aware the next volume could be the final one for this creative team. I for one cannot wait to see what they have in store for us next.

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Grade: B

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: King Issue 1

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Publisher: Jet City Comics

Creative Team: Joshua Hale Fialkov and Bernard Chang

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“Oh SWEET! KARATE ROBOT BEAR ” 

If you’re wondering why the medium of comics isn’t taken seriously by some people, it’s because comics like King still exist. After completing the first issue, I felt as if I read something written by a teenager that’s just hit puberty and discovered sex and violence. Actually this feels like a comic written by Quagmire from Family Guy after that episode where he discovers the internet.

This was terrible mainly because the story doesn’t seem to have any coherence. I imagine when brainstorming ideas for this story there was a mind map titled: Things That Are Awesome. Once finished literally every single one of those ideas was used in the space of 20 pages.

Let me list some of the things I came across whilst reading the first issue of King: The mention of Interspecies porn, a karate robot bear that shoots lasers out of its nipples, a joke about getting your private parts cut off (but not in the fun way – wait what?) and then a joke about interspecies porn involving murder – again with the added commentary of not in the fun way.

In case you thought I was making those jokes up. At least the art is pretty…

This issue can be summarized as an apocalyptic setting accompanied with a couple of terrible jokes and literally no appealing threads to the story it tries to tell. Finding a life seed that could restore the world to its former glory is the driving force behind the story but even that reveal turns out to be disappointing.

King himself is your typical dudebro hero with the mandatory wisecracking tough guy personality. The only saving grace is Bernard Chang’s art which is very, very pretty. Does this series have potential? Definitely but this first issue does not make me confident at all that this potential will actually be fulfilled.

I received a copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank both them and the publisher.

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Grade: E

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)

Review: ODY-C Volume 1

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Publisher: Image

Creative Team: Matt Fraction and Christian Ward

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“Just as fast, it all went to hell” 

A retelling of Homer’s Odyssey set in space with an all-female cast is an intriguing concept, backed by the considerable talent of Matt Fraction. I was excited to read this volume purely due to my interest in whether or not this ambitious idea would execute into a great comic.

Unfortunately in my opinion, ODY-C is a very hard read. At various different points, I lost track of the story or was purely unaware of what was going on. There were certain pages of which I was unsure of what their exact purpose was.

Can someone please tell me what this means?

This resulted in the majority of this volume being very frustrating to try and read. If I were to try and pinpoint the cause of this it would probably be the dialogue, which appears to be a combination of modern syntax mixed in with the original text. The two styles didn’t really complement each other at all.

On a more positive note, the art drawn by Christian Ward looks fantastic. If I did have to point out a small criticism it’s that some of the proportions of the human characters were just bizarre. It could be that this was an intended effect that went right over my head.

Just like the majority of this comic.

I received a copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank both them and the publisher.

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Grade: D 

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Grading System: A (Essential Purchase), B (Recommended Purchase), C (Worth A Read), D (Poor), E (Avoid)