Jacques Cloete Comic Reviews

Abe's conversations with the professor are slow and moody and the flashes are rapid and hasty. Some of the effectiveness of this type of storytelling is lost to the rapid transitions between the different settings. Apart from this, it is narratively engrossing and visually stunning. Abe Sapien #33 continues to be a comic that is beautiful in its ugliness, and that's a good thing.

"If it ain't broke." This is maybe the best analogy to describe DC's Rebirth event with regards to Batman. More than any other solo comic book outing, Batman has retained much of its key plot elements, characters and styles throughout the old DC universe, New 52 and now, Rebirth. With Batman: Rebirth #1, Tom King and Mikel Janin take over from the creative juggernaut that was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Fortunately for us, "taking over" means "continuing and improving" in King's vocabulary.

Artist Chad Hardin keeps all the visuals in place from Harley's previous solo outing, opting rather for bright visuals and thin line work rather than the heavy shading and washed-out colors that have become synonymous with zombie-related comics.

Mike Mignola, the creator of the series and its characters, clearly knows how he wants to end his run. The almost poetic writing is emotional, touching and thematic. Mignola wants Hell to change. Just like the change that a new season brings, with the snow beautifully closing one chapter, it promises a fall of something better for Hellboy and Hell.

John Layman is the real law in this series. Whatever he says, goes. And with good reason. This is a crossover done right.

All in all, Predator: Life and Death #3 is the most beautiful and intriguing entry in the series thus far.

War is at the forefront in the final issue of the Predator: Life and Death series. The Colonial Marines are still split into two factions as Piaget leads a strike on ground zero in the jungle while Roth and his brutes take on the Predator attack that concluded the previous issue. This is a satisfying end to the finale, even though some characterization had to be sacrificed in order to give the final war the epic scale it deserved.

As expected of the first issue in a series, Prometheus: Life and Death #1's ending slingshots (you'll laugh at that one after you've read the comic) the characters into unknown territory which is both thrilling and frightening. I am much more invested in the characters and the story this time around, which I expect might have been the plan all along. If Predator was the Terminator for this Life and Death saga, Prometheus is Judgement Day.