John Blaze Comic Reviews

Finally, we have the team up of writer Howard Mackie and artist Chris Samnee. This story, in tone, may be the darkest story of the issue as Bruce Wayne tries to solve a murder mystery while balancing his corporate life and risking the well being of others. The idea has certainly been explored before that Batman and Bruce Wayne cant be in two places at once, but is a very good read nonetheless. In an issue that gave us Batgod Neal Adams pencils as well as the tremendous art of Sean Murphy, it was brilliant to see that Chris Samnee emerged victorious in the contest for best art. Samnees precise line work and stark black inking provide for a very dark and retro looking story that gives this detective story the feel of a lost Batman story.

This is my first run in with artist Paulo Siqueira and I must say I was impressed. The first half of this story in which Darkseid gains his powers is riddled with such detail and line work that it had a great depth. However, in similar fashion to the writing of the issue the art begins to suffer in the second half. Too many things are happening and the art becomes far less clear. It also lost the depth that made the first half such a joy to look at as the character work fell flat. Despite the problems it had though, this was a fun story and solid installment into Justice League that I feel is worth the $3.99 price tag.

Although it is only on its third issue Quantum and Woody is quickly becoming one of my favorite books to pick up and is definitely one of Valiants top series. If you guys and gals havent been reading up on it I cant recommend this series enough. It embraces some of my favorite qualities of superhero comics, telling a funny, crazy story that is sure to get better each month. Furthermore, if youve been missing out on Valiant goodness, know that this is completely its own story and is as new reader friendly as comic books can get. However, if you havent been keeping up with Valiant I highly recommend picking up any of their series as they are extremely new reader friendly and great reads.

Tom Fowler continues to grace us with incredible artwork. The expression on his characters is phenomenal, and truly conveys each and every emotion that they are feeling. If the awesome character work wasnt enough, Fowler also draws bombastically awesome action scenes that are brilliant superhero, sci fi fun. Jordie Bellaire also continues to cranks out some wonderful colors giving the scenes a very fun pop to them. I even want to give a shout out to letterer Dave Lanphear who uses some very creative text bubbles that tie into the actual story. This book is quickly becoming a fan favorite and deserves your dollars.

Also, has anybody else noticed that there is a rising occurrence of Space Sharks in comics as of late? Weve had them in Thor: God of Thunder and Green Lantern: New Guardians as well. Is 2013 the year of space shark? If it is, the may be the best one yet!