DC Black Label Archives - GeeksHaveGame

August 28, 2020

BATMAN – THE THREE JOKERS [Review]: Three’s Company.

**BATMAN: THE THREE JOKERS #1** – DC Comics

“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007

Taking a bit of a breather between introducing the concept, and completing the meta-narrative Doomsday Clock, writer Geoff Johns’ first issue of Three Jokers has finally hit shelves.

As he had done with Doomsday Clock, Johns is balancing a few different narrative threads while simultaneously offering a meta-textual exploration of Gotham’s Clown Prince Of Crime. In doing so, he parses through several of the Joker’s most memorable — and influential — personas, and how he has affected most three central members of the Batman Family: Batman, Barbara Gordon, and Jason Todd.

The story opens by focusing on the scars left by the Joker on the three members of the Batman Family most impacted by his presence. First, a literal web of scars on Batman’s body, as Alfred stitches him up, and a focus on when and how each scar was made: a stabbing by the Penguin; a bite from Killer Croc; a branding by the Riddler…and a plethora of lethal tricks, one after the other, from the Joker. Next, we cut to Barbara Gordon, jogging on a treadmill, flashing back to the Joker’s paralyzing assault of her, and later, washing up, the scar from the bullet hole that paralyzed her.

And finally, we encounter the Red Hood, beating up several Joker hoods in a graveyard, casually maximizing the pain inflicted, as at one point his helmet slides off, and we see an impact scar at the back of his head, and a flashback to Joker swinging a crowbar at him. Weaving between these three different settings are news reports of the Joker striking separate parts of Gotham…seemingly simultaneously.

Faced with the prospect of another convoluted Joker plot, the trio of heroes attempt to logically parse out whatever the Joker’s got planned: there’s no possible way there’s more than one of him, there have to be copycats. And yet, Batman remembers his experience in the Moebius Chair, and its tantalizingly confusing declaration: “There are three.” And three there are, as, in a scene set in secluded cabin, three manifestations of the Harlequin of Hate rendezvous: the Criminal, the Clown, and the Comedian, each personified in differences in clothing, and slight variations of demeanor.

The Criminal Joker — ostensibly the “leader”, inasmuch as the Joker can be led by anyone — is quiet, cold, patient, and a spitting image of the character’s first appearance in Batman #1 from 1940.
The Comedian Joker seems the most unpredictable, yet almost whimsical, and the most unstable…constantly jabbing barbs into his other counterparts, and is responsible for recreating his Joker Fish scheme at the Gotham Aquarium (as well as bringing back diminutive henchman Gaggsy), this time updating it by infecting a Great White Shark with his nearly-patented smile.
The Clown Joker seems to straddle between the two: cold, but not without his dark sense of humor, and calculating, but still prone to unpredictability.

Breaking the villain into these three distinct personalities seems a natural evolution from Grant Morrison’s morbid, cynical, yet fascinating, take on the character from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth: the Joker, as a person, has no real personality, but merely reflects and reacts to whatever is stimulating him on the day, in a sort of “super-sanity”, a sensory overload to which he merely reacts accordingly…or overwhelmingly.

That would go a long way to explaining why in some stories he’s a criminal mastermind; in others, a whimsical fool, almost silly and playful (“Joker’s Utility Belt”, anyone?); and now we have the latest incarnation: a homicidal genius who is quick to make fun, but quicker to slice throats at random. Somewhere between Morrison’s concept of the Joker’s “super-sanity”, and the idea of the character constantly reinventing himself in a bizarre rebirth of sorts, Three Jokers sits nicely.

The art by Jason Fabok is fantastic, as is most of his works. He is capable of subtly discerning between the three individual Jokers, complimenting Johns’ almost supernatural understanding of this universe and its characters. Tying the entire history of this villain — which also requires exploring some of the meta-textual themes of the evolution of Batman, himself, as a character, along with his main villain, and the evolution of comic-book violence and nihilism as well — seems as risky a venture as writing a sequel to Watchmen that incorporates that universe to the larger DC Universe…while also simultaneously deconstructing the meta-narrative history of comics as a medium. Will we get to those same highs? Probably not, and the result will probably be just as uneven (as great as Johns is at building up narrative and meta-textual ideas, he doesn’t quite always get the landing).

This is an interesting opening issue (with an ending I wasn’t quite expecting…but which is very satisfying regardless), and if it can be read as a more meta-textual deconstruction of the Joker, rather than a linear, exact, “serious” story, then I’ll probably appreciate it much more. More pieces like the aforementioned Arkham Asylum seem the perfect style in which to explore a character as manic as the Joker. Here’s hoping the remaining two issues in this series remain as compelling, otherwise the joke will be on us. 3.75/5 Joker Sharks.

-J.L. Caraballo

January 21, 2020

THE BATMAN’S GRAVE / VENOM – THE END / THE QUESTION [Reviews]: Second Coming.

Well, well, another week, and yet another Fistful of Comics coming your way, care of GodHatesGeeks. We’ve got a who’s who of titles, and publishers, and you best believe we’re gonna give you our say in which ones to pick up! From heroes, to villains, to antiheroes, to Jesus Christ Himself, we’ve got more characters here than you can shake a fist at, with some books so good, one of our faithful just had to write two reviews!

Let’s get right to it, geeks and geekettes…!

This was Bryan Hitch’s issue. Bryan choreographs a pretty stiff fight. He captures Batman’s necessary brutality in taking down enhanced thugs who do not feel pain. Sometimes it seems his movements are off balance and awkward but Bruce is enjoying every second.

Warren Ellis is on cruise control and injects his wit in the form of Alfred’s comedic retorts to let the reader know it’s still his book. I laughed out loud on two occasions. Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch seem to be criticizing but also having fun with the BATMAN mythos since issue one. It’s definitely worth picking up, and I hope they collect it in giant sized hardcover like an an Authority Omnibus. 3.5/5 Bibles.

-Rob Maldonado

Second Coming has ended its initial run with issue #6, and this series has been an absolute, hilarious blast with a surprising amount of heart and pathos for a plot that could be boiled down to “What if Jesus Christ and Superman teamed up?” Creators Mark Russell (writer) and Richard Pace (artist) show a deep understanding not only of Christian and biblical lore, but also superhero lore itself, and have managed to successfully merge the two in a way that is genuine, sincere, and actually shows respect to both mediums, while not shying away from ultra-violence, or swearing (it is remarkable how staying true to the Bible results in gratuitous violence and nudity). God tasks Sunstar (the equivalent of Superman) with keeping an eye on Jesus, and to “toughen Him up”. Meanwhile. Sunstar and his girlfriend (Lois Lane surrogate Sheila) are traversing their own relationship problems before having a third wheel dropped in on them, and Satan himself is taking advantage of Jesus’s return to present one final temptation, while convincing God to end reality if Jesus fails to succumb to it. Here, with Sunstar incapacitated, Satan presents Jesus with his final temptation…and with genuinely surprising results.

The series itself found God allowing Jesus a second chance at coming down and preaching on Earth, only to find that the planet has changed considerably in the 2000 years since He left. And while society at large has grown up much more jaded and rough, perhaps in ways that are less discernible and obvious, it’s also stayed the same. The temptations are the same, only now, with 2000 years between appearances, His lessons and teachings have been subverted and used in callous, often selfish ways. Russell’s characterization of God Himself is a riot: angry, despondent, and impatient, God is here self-centered, a Father who can’t be bothered to be responsible for His children, His creation, or to face the fact that He perhaps just doesn’t care about any of it. He comes off almost like a drunk father toeing the line of abuse…which tracks surprisingly well with the Old Testament. He’s petty and disinterested and seemingly fickle (in a scene recalling Abraham’s faith, God almost blithely commands him, “I’m gonna need you to cut off a piece of your dick”, like it’s the most normal thing; or, following Jesus’s crucifixion, during a flashback: “Forgiveness? You call THAT a religion?!”).

Subversive, irreverent, and with a rather unexpected ending, this is one of the more surprising titles I’ve stumbled upon, and there’s enough respect (and introspection, and dissection) of the source materiel that it actually works as an exploration of biblical themes…from a critical angle, and not proselytizing, which I greatly appreciated. Don’t let the use of the Bible as a source of inspiration put you off (I’m not at all religious), but if you come in with at least a base understanding of Christianity (or Christian tropes in general), you’ll be surprised at how much you might enjoy this title. I know I was. Where this title goes from here is anyone’s guess, but I’m in it for the long haul. 4.5/5 Literal Bibles.

-J.L. Caraballo

In a slightly stunning return to “The End” one-offs, Adam Warren and Chamba Cruz bring us Venom’s final battle and it isn’t the battle we thought it would be. The two “ends” that stick in my mind are the Hulk’s, and the Punisher. Hulk ends with him turning back to Banner one last time to let him die and then the Hulk gets his wish, to finally be alone; and with The Punisher, Castle finds himself in a nuclear holocaust killing one last bad guy before succumbing to radiation poisoning and seeing his family as he passes away. In both of these one-shots, the titular hero faces one more battle that we are used to, but in Venom, Warren takes us a different way.

We see a Venom that has kept Eddie Brock “alive” for centuries until he literally turns to dust. Earth, and the Milky Way, has been overcome by a techno war between the Phalanx and the A.I. of Tony Stark. Once those two entities join forces, it’s them versus the symbiote that is Venom. He then decides to reach into his codex to pull out the mutant powers of various X-Men to literally reproduce the galaxy. But here is where it gets even crazier: by the end, he finds out that he can create whole galaxies by ripping himself apart and re-starting the Marvel Universe 1 trillion years in the future. So Venom’s end is Marvel’s recreation. That’s it.

The writing is pretty clever, and I will admit that Warren did a great job of writing the issue in a witty and unexpected ways. I did appreciate that it never explains the connection between Venom and Eddie Brock, because you don’t really need that. The art by Cruz and colorist Guru-eFX is crisp and clear and vibrant and really beautiful. The issue is fun and entertaining, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to this one like I have The Punisher’s End. While I appreciate that this issue took Venom’s end in a very heroic fashion, but I think maybe a final battle with Spider-Man might have been maybe more dramatic and maybe there could have been more intriguing. But maybe that’s just me. 2.5/5 Bibles.

-Robert Bexar

**THE QUESTION: THE DEATHS OF VIC SAGE #2** – DC Black Label

The original Question — Vic Sage aka Charles Victor Szasz — is back from the dead…only to awaken in Hub County, in the late-1880s. While issue one ended with Sage seemingly dead, this issue finds him considerably less stiff…at least until the end of the final page. Here, we get a better sense of what has happened to our duality-obsessed antihero. Hub County has no shortage of unsavory types, quick to judge and even quicker to violence, and Sage fits right in, trying to right wrongs in an attempt to find out if there is any good left in him, and a larger understanding of what is actually happening to him is slowly coming to light: someone called the Man With A Thousand Faces is either forcing Sage into the past at various points in history, or he is reliving past lives. As it is explained to him by a native seer, the Man With A Thousand Faces has existed for as long as humanity has existed, and only a specific someone named “Charlie” will end him.

Jeff Lemire once again brings a lot of psychological depth to the Question, with the art team of Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz once again knock it out of the park here. The art is harsh, moody, vibrant, and utterly alive; dreamy and jagged and as crisscrossed with lines as Sage’s mind is with doubt. The creative team is perfect for this title, and now that there’s a better idea of what the actual story is and where it seems to be going, the possibilities are growing. Next issue finds Sage in the 1940s, as a gumshoe, and if Lemire is content with showcasing the seedier sides of once-reliable and heroic genre staples, he could not have picked a better antihero than the Question.

Moody, violent, mysterious, and misanthropic, this is a series that isn’t pulling punches (some of the plot points were downright shocking: let’s just say Lemire isn’t afraid of Game-Of-Thrones-ing some characters. And NO, I DON’T mean ignoring character developments! Stop it!) If you liked the debut issue, you’ll like this one. If you like Cowyn or Sienkiewicz, you’ll like this one. And if you like Lemire, then you best believe you’ll like this. 4/5 Bibles.

-J.L.

November 3, 2019

JOKER – KILLER SMILE / BASKETFUL OF HEADS / EXCALIBUR / RED GOBLIN / HELLBLAZER / DEATH OF SUPERMAN [Reviews]: Tales From the Dark Multiverse.

BOO, geeks and geekettes!!! It’s the end of not only Halloween…but also Dia de los Muertos, and have we got some spooky titles this week (including one from the son of the king of horror!) So while there’s still candy corn and witch’s hats laying around, let’s take a look at what’s worth spending your hard earned dollars on, shall we?!

Taffeta “Dutchess” Darling
@TaffetaDarlin

DC’s Clown Prince of Crime seems to be hitting the g-(eek) spot pretty hard the last half of this year and despite my eternal die-hard Bat-Fandom, the thought of me reading and/or watching another incarnation of Batman’s most notable foe seemed near daunting. Thankfully and unsurprisingly Joker: Killer Smile by Eisner Award winning team Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, with colorist Jordie Bellaire, doesn’t feel like chore (or bore) to choke down as the newest addition to a growing list of Joker media.

As an intro issue, it comes off as a familiar face in which psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Arnell, thinks he can “cure” Joker. But as time (and continuity) has told, Dr. Arnell has his work cut out for him as he attempts to unravel this unknowable mind, all while trying to keep his own sanity from drowning in a downward gyre pool of madness.

Here Lemire takes note of the Joker’s greatest trick with the corruption of one Harley Quinn, and sets up the series as an exploratory look at the psychological effect The Joker has on his surroundings. So far it lacks the contrasting slapstick cheesy humor you’d expect with this subject and essentially reads as a suspenseful thriller told through the need for Joker’s want in creating something beautiful, whatever that is.

Lemire again provides proof of his unlimited ability for ominous creativity, and it’s no wonder that Sorrentino melancholy artwork and Bellaire’s perfectly matched colors are partnered with his work. 5/5 Crooked Smiles.

-Taffeta Darling

Joe Hill launched Hill House Comics, a place where horror and comics could come together in ghoulish delight, and Basketful of Heads is one of his personal contributions to the new line. Set in the early 1980’s and evoking Amity Island feels in both the setting, introduction of the character, and costuming, Hill’s dialogue and Leomacs’ illustrations bring an air of familiarity off the bat.

Basketful of Heads is the story of young lovers Liam and June, celebrating the end of summer (and Liam’s job as a Deputy) on Brody Island. Their plans to get frisky and attend a clambake are detailed slightly when convicts escape transport and find themselves loose on an island. They hole up in the sheriff’s house with his wife, son, and collection of ancient Nordic weaponry (including an axe that mysteriously lit up…..to be continued?).

What is going to happen when the missing convicts stumble into the house in the middle of the night? Only time will tell. Hill has proven himself to be a solid horror storyteller, and Basketful of Heads has the makings of another solid outing. This is the season of being spooky, and this title is a perfect fit. 4/5 Severed Heads.

-Sarah Obloy

To say that Excalibur is one of my favorite Marvel concepts is a bit of an understatement. During the glory era of the 90s, the two X-titles that I would go out of my way to get my hands on were Peter David’s X-Factor and Claremont/Davis’ Excalibur. This creative team does a good job of carrying the torch. War rages on in Otherworld. Its current regent, classic Marvel villain Morgan Le Fay. The sorceress is having a rough go of it due to her powers being interfered with by mysterious fauna…fauna that originates from Krakoa. Howard does an excellent job dropping us into the action and, despite a long exchange going into the history of the Braddock family; she handles Betsy and Brian damn well. Gone are the stalwarts of this book like Nightcrawler, Shadowcat or Rachel Summers. Instead, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Trinary and Apocalypse fill out the roster. Everyone’s characterization felt true, but Jubilee and Trinary really felt like they were just there. Hopefully in future issues, they’ll be fleshed out more.

The evolution of artist Marcus To’s work has been quite the thing to watch. Here, he does his best to pay homage to prolific artists of Excalibur and Captain Britain such as Alan Davis and Leonard Kirk, but still with his trademark animated facial expressions and extra detailed splashes, like the celebratory scene on Krakoa. Colorist Erick Arciniega’s colors were bold, going heavy on the pinks and blues. I think that, stylistically, this works for the most part, given that Psylocke was our point of view character for this story. With Betsy returning to her original body and her sporting an updated version of her original costume, that palette seemed apropos.

I’ve heard rumblings of complaints about the surprise last page. And to all those people, I ask this; have you EVER read an issue of Excalibur? This may be the best work from writer Tini Howard in quite a while. And if you’re a diehard X-fan but have not been a fan of the other X-titles that are closely tied to Hickman’s concept (I mean, I am, but I know of people who aren’t), then this is the book for you. 4/5 Bibles.

-Gene Selassie

**RED GOBLIN: RED DEATH** #1 – Marvel Comics

Summarized from inside the front cover, “Spider-Man cured Norman Osborn of his Green Goblin serum induced insanity by injecting him with an antidote… he found the one thing that could purge the antidote… the Carnage Symbiote… The Red Goblin was born!” This comic is told in three parts: “Great Responsibility”, written by Rob Fee, art by Pete Woods; “Big Mouth”, written by Sean Ryan, art by Pete Woods; and “The Wayside Darkness”, written by Patrick Gleason.

These three parts are just massive killing sprees. Very gory, but awesome! Norman tries at the beginning to keep the Symbiote’s violence at bay, but eventually, and not surprising, he cannot keep his hunger for killing under control. These action shots look AMAZING and scary. Shots where Red Goblin is just staring down its target. The last panel in “Big Mouth” comes to mind. It is a shot, staring at the Red Goblin from the point of view of inside the mouth of the person who is having their mouth ripped open. Huge props to the artists Pete Woods (Robin, Action Comics) and everyone else involved because the creepy tone that this art provides really accompanies the story very well! There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the current Absolute Carnage run and how insane it is. This comic has sold me. I will be grabbing the next issue of Absolute Carnage (and catching up on the ones I have missed). 4.5/5 Symbiotic Hosts.

-Tim Markham

**THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE PRESENTS: HELLBLAZER** — DC Comics

My boi Constantine’s back, bloodied and just as much the bastard he’s always been, in this prelude to the DC Black Label relaunch of Hellblazer. Beginning near the end of an apocalyptic battle with Timothy Hunter, Constantine has just sacrificed his long-suffering brother-in-arms Chas to be a distraction, only to find himself mortally wounded AND conversing with an apparent future version of himself. It’s doom, gloom, and guilt…just the way Constantine knows how to do it. Finding himself in 2019, Constantine’s locked up in a psych hospital, and looking to reorient himself in a Great Britain he no longer recognizes.

Writer Simon Spurrier is a godsend to this character, and being part of the “more mature” DC Black Label line is the right choice for Constantine. If he isn’t cussing up a storm and drinking like a fish, it just doesn’t seem right (looking at you, Young Animal. As interesting as your Hellblazer title was…it was holding back SIGNIFICANTLY.) Spurrier’s got a way with handling Constantine’s bastard characteristics, and artist Marcio Takara makes some interesting stylistic choices, blending a few of the more recent incarnations of the Hellblazer line and making it something new (Constantine with a crew cut is certainly a new, interesting look). The tone’s right, the guilt’s right, and using Chas as a crucial emotional plot point is a wise choice. As someone who absolutely LOVES everything Constantine (perhaps my second-favorite fictional character ever, in any medium), I am digging this: story, art, character, plot, everything is clicking. Black Label just got itself a regular buyer. Oh, and MAJOR PROPS for Spurrier and Takara for making the Keanu Reeves Constantine absolutely canon in this issue. 5/5 Bibles.

-J.L. Caraballo

**TALES OF THE DARK MULTIVERSE: DEATH OF SUPERMAN** – DC

From the pages of Sideways, comes the entity Tempus Fuginaut, who claims to be more active than Marvel’s Watcher, Uatu and flaps his gums like a Monitor. We’re getting a Detective Comics “What If” which may or may not actually impact the DCU. I mean the Batman Who Laughs comes from this Darkness engulfing the DCU’s Multiverse.

I’m feeling this is more Snydery than Morrisonesque. I would like to see a bat-winged eyeball take on the Fuginaut or bite off one of those gears in Temp’s forehead or have him walk into a Grinning Dark reality infecting tenement building. It parallels Marvels what if series with time freezing monologues by the DC Watcher Temp and the “so so” art. The story really plays off the 92/93 mentality that came when Cable and the Punisher were offing their foes as Lois takes a blunt approach to solving her world’s problems after inheriting Kryptonian abilities.

Being a fan of Phil Jimenez’s series, Superwoman, I find this take on Lois’s emotions pretty base. We’ve seen Lois with powers and she’s a lot more composed than this version. It’s just that with this story, I can see some dude saying , “yeah bitches is crazy!” It reverberates of “this is why a woman can’t be president”.

The art resembles the ridiculousness of this mentality and reminds us to chill because it’s not that serious and we may not have to see this “crazy bitch” again. I think it’s an insult to Lois. The name of the Sideways Watcher made me laugh because it was a play off of “Time Flies” Tempus Fugit when the book really dragged. In the end, I could see this being written in the 90’s Married With Children era and it was nostalgic but not clever. 2/5 Bibles.

-Rob Maldonado

September 24, 2018September 24, 2018

BATMAN – DAMNED / THE WRONG EARTH / WWE – NXT TAKEOVER [Reviews]: The Dark Night.. Rises.

Happy Moonday, geeks and geekettes! Another weekend may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to end too. That being said, we’ve got one hell of a Monday Morning Stash for you today, including a review of one of the most talked-about new releases of the past week, a fun one-shot, and the launch of a whole new publishing house. Let’s get right to it, and talk about the hard stuff first, and not let the biggest news just flop around. Yes. We’re going to jump right in with…

**BATMAN: DAMNED #1** – DC Black Label/ DC Comics

The Joker is dead and Batman can’t remember what happened.

BatPenis aside, this was DC’s Black Label launch and it’s a great one at that. Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo are a fantastic pairing. They are known for such great graphic novels like Joker and Luthor. They are both great at the crime noir feel and Azzarello is one of the best. He does play around just a bit with Batman’s childhood by implying that Thomas Wayne was having an affair and that the Enchantress might have had some involvement in Bruce’s future endeavors. Since this is turning out to be a story leaning heavily on the mystic, you can’t take a step without bumping into either John Constantine or Zatanna, who turns out to be a street card shark hustler.

Bermejo’s art is consistently beautiful and stunning. He captures the look of Batman, Bruce Wayne, Gotham, all of it, in such a realistic fashion and with a very distinct, unique look. There is just one panel that looks off and it’s the opening panel where Batman has been fatally stabbed and the blood looks Photoshopped in. Outside of that panel, the book is a beautiful piece of artwork. Now, yes, the first printing of the issue does have BatWang in it and DC is going to take it out from here on out, but that isn’t the reason you should pick this up. 4/5 BatWangs.

-Robert Bexar

Ahoy, matey!!! You’ve just treasure mapped your way into a dead man’s chest full of golden comic bounty!!! So…just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this comic port, aboard this pirate’s grip…

Abundance. Humor. Originality. Yes. Yes, these words comprise the acronym from whence AHOY Comics has plundered its namesake. Captained by Publisher Hart Seely (National Lampoon), AHOY’s gone burly Blackbeard and shanghaied a motley crew of comic world rogues and rapscallions to bring hijinks and mayhem into the oft-conventionalized Seas of Stupor-Heroed Cheez… all to leave you drunkfully punched into Caribbean Rumdom with.

So…come along now, lasses and ladies, for an unfair maiden’s voyage aboard a sea-scaring vessel known as…The Wrong Earth #1…

Dragonflyman (imbued of a Green Hornet/The Tick costumed aesthetic), gives good old-days, wholesome, Boy Scout delivery with his overly-sanitized rhetoric, as his literally red-headed stepchild-like sidekick, Stinger, buffoons it through his best Boy Blundering schtick; watch as both of them go galavanting around in codpiece-smothering tights and gossamer wings, in order to fisticuff a numeral-obsessed supervillain and his ruffians into lawful subservience – all whilst our heroic twosome manage to elicit the oft-conjectured true love dynamic that may exist amongst more famous “crime-fighting” duos, such as: Batman and Robin, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck, and Burt and Ernie from Sesame Street.

The adroitly monikered supervillain, Number One (a lounge lizard-looking meth-head in stripped pants and gaudy gold jewelry, who looks like he was fathered by Gene Simmons, of KISS, and Thurston Howell III, from Gilligan’s Island), and his literally-numbered henchwomen and henchmen (looking Harley Quinnian, cruise ship-costumed, and gimp-hooded, in their respective appearances), comprise an initial galore of goon gallery offerings; with visual allusions to other various DC and Marvel comics criminals, and James Bondian villains, alike. Further conflating this coterie of Pop culture pulchritude, comes the inevitable multiverse collision factor. Yes…that’s right!!! You’re getting more than one whirled in your comic peas here. Earth-Alpha, meet Earth-Omega. The Righteous, to the Wicked. Dragonflyman, meet Dragonfly. A superman, to one who likes to punish men. A Stinger in one world, but maybe not in the other. 4.25/5 Tear The Wings Off.

-Jason Bud

Destiny “Evangelical” Edwards
@mochaloca85

One week in November 2017, two suspiciously similar-looking groups of women made their main roster debuts on RAW and Smackdown Live. From that moment almost one year ago, the inspiration for this title was born. In this one-shot issue from BOOM! Studios, these pages feature the women of NXT (and a brief William Regal cameo). Writer Dennis Hopeless tries to provide an explanation for the cloned factions appearing post-Survivor Series and, well, it’s a better backstory than the actual backstory the WWE writers came up with.

Hopeless’s characterizations are spot-on: I heard the Iconic Duo’s lines in that weird sing-song tone that they use when cutting promos; and Paige pointing out that there wouldn’t be a Women’s Revolution without her was the most truth I’ve read…this week. So far, anyways. Hyeonjin Kim’s art is expressive and captures everyone’s faces wonderfully, which helps in the long run, since, in general, it’s a bit hard to translate wrestling to the printed page; however, it works here, and this was a pleasant surprise. 4/5 RamPaiges.

-Destiny Edwards

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018

DC BLACK LABEL [News]: ‘The Other History’ of the DC Universe.

This August, DC Entertainment will start a new imprint called Black Label. The concept is for some of the biggest name creators in the industry to craft out-of-continuity tales on likely the biggest guns of the DCU.

DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim Lee spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in regards to this news. “Creating DC Black Label doubles down on our commitment to working with all-star talent and trusting them to tell epic, moving stories that only they can tell with the highest levels of creative freedom.”

The initiative will be spearheaded by a three issue mini-series titled Superman: Year One written by Frank Miller with art by John Romita Jr.

These are the other proposed titles:

Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez
Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter by Greg Rucka and an artist to be announced
The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ridley and an artist to be announced.

Whether fans clamor or cringe at the news, these books are sure to be a hot topic of conversation for the foreseeable future.

-Gene Selassie