#IReadsYou Review: THE SHADOW #1

THE SHADOW #1 (1986)
DC COMICS

WRITER/ARTIST: Howard Chaykin
COLORS: Alex Wald
LETTERS: Ken Bruzenak
EDITOR: Andrew Helfer
COVER: Howard Chaykin
32pp, Color, $1.50 U.S., $2.00 CAN (May 1986)

“Blood and Judgment”

The Shadow is a fictional character that debuted as a mysterious voice narrating a radio program.  It was July 31, 1930 that The Shadow began as the host of the radio program, “Detective Story Hour.”  Street and Smith Publications, publishers of Detective Story Magazine, hired writer Walter B. Gibson to create a character concept that fit The Shadow's name and voice and to also write a story featuring him.  The first issue of The Shadow Magazine went on sale on April 1, 1931.

Howard Chaykin is a long time comic book writer, artist, and writer-artist.  He is best known for drawing the first ten issues of Marvel Comics' original Star Wars comic book series and for his adult science fiction comic book series, American Flagg!, which began publication in 1983 via First Comics.

In the 1970s and 1980s, DC Comics held the license to publish comic books featuring The Shadow.  In 1986, The Shadow and writer-artist Howard Chaykin came together in a four-issue miniseries, simply entitled The Shadow.  Chaykin's creative team on The Shadow included colorist Alex Wald and letterer Ken Bruzenak (a frequent Chaykin collaborator).  Chaykin's Shadow re-imagined the origins of The Shadow and of his alter-ego, Lamont Cranston, and also updated the characters.  The miniseries has since been collected in book form as The Shadow: Blood and Judgment.

The Shadow #1 opens with a series of savage murders of elderly men and women.  Eventually, federal agent, Mavis Lockhart of the “Crime Statistics Bureau,” figures out that these elderly victims were former agents of the mysterious vigilante, The Shadow.”  Mostly focusing on the area in and around New York City, The Shadow waged a brutal campaign against the criminal underworld in the 1930s and 1940s before disappearing.

Mavis happens to be the daughter of Harry Vincent, a former agent of The Shadow, who is still alive.  Also living is Mrs. Donald Forsythe, formerly known as Margo Lane.  The Shadow's best known agent, Lane was one of the few agents who knew many of his secrets, and she was the lover of both Lamont Cranston and The Shadow.  As it turns out, Vincent is also a target the killers of The Shadow's agents, and the killers turn out to be a gang of “Punk-Sex-Ghouls.”

Although he left, The Shadow still has agents in America that keep him abreast of the situation in the country, and one of them is “Lorelei.”  The Shadow is now known as “Ying Ko” and lives in the legendary kingdom of Shambala with his two sons, Ching Yao Chang and Hsu-Tei.  Learning that his former agents are being targeted, Ying Ko and his sons travel to New York City.

Reunited with the bitter Harry and the even more bitter Margo/Mrs. Forsythe, The Shadow reveals his true origin to them.  His real name is Kent Allard, and via a series of criminal misadventures back in the 1920s, he would up in Shambala, a land of mysticism and super-science.  With him was someone else, Lamont Cranston, the wastrel son of a rich man.  After seemingly killing Cranston in self-defense, Allard assumed his identity and arrived in New York in the 1930s as The Shadow, a paladin of Shambala, with a body physically, mentally, metaphysically and cybernetically enhanced.  Allard returned to Shambala in 1949 as the kingdom prepared to hide itself away.  Thanks to the science of Shambala, Allard/Ying-Ko still looks like a 30-something man 35 years after he left.

It turns out that the real Lamont Cranston has survived and is now known as Preston Mayrock, a wealthy businessman whose interests include legitimate and criminal enterprises.  Now, wheelchair bound, Mayrock launches his ultimate plans, which include his son, Preston Mayrock, Jr., that the elder Mayrock paid twenty-five million dollars to be “specially bred.”  Mayrock wants Allard to take him and Junior back to Shamballa where, he believes, the super-science will transfer his brain into his son's body.  And if Allard/The Shadow refuses, Mayrock has a low-yield nuclear weapon that he will launch on New York City.

THE LOWDOWN:  Howard Chaykin's The Shadow was controversial at the time of its initial release.  The most noted critic of Chaykin's work on The Shadow was the late speculative fiction author, television writer, and essayist, Harlan Ellison.  Chaykin basically brushed off his critics as being childish, although his response to critics of his work on The Shadow and of his work in general tended towards being childish.

However, the negative reaction to The Shadow is a classic pre-World Wide Web example of the insistence by a small group of fans that stories featuring particular fictional character are not just fiction, but those stories are also that characters' mythology.  And that mythology is holy writ.  Even if a fictional character is not featured in any story for decades, when that character is revived, the tellers of the new stories must treat the previous stories with reverence.  For instance, if the old stories said that a particular character loved ice cream, the new writer cannot make him lactose intolerant.  To do so would be an unforgivable violation of the (fictional) character and a betrayal of the fans who believe that they are the ones who have kept said character “alive” so that he could be revived.

When I first read Chaykin's The Shadow I had heard of the character, but had never read a word of the old pulp stories that Walter Gibson had written.  I have read The Shadow: Blood and Judgment, as it is now known, a few times at different points in my life, and I have always enjoyed it.  Whether it is dated on not is a matter of personal opinion.  I love that it is gleefully violent, over-the-top, and ruthlessly sarcastic about what was then the contemporary culture of New York City.

I like Chaykin's drawing style, but his sense of page design and the graphic design in his compositions are what always drive me to his work.  A Chaykin comic book is page after page of visually striking graphics, including Ken Bruzenak's dramatic lettering and spectacular sound effects.  Bruzenak is so good at what he does that he seems to create a soundtrack for Chaykin's comics, especially the action sequences.  Colorist Alex Wald makes the best of the techniques available to him at the time of this comic book's publication.  His rich coloring makes Chaykin's illustrations pop.

There have been a few times when I have been asked about The Shadow, and I do not hesitate to recommend The Shadow: Blood and Judgment, as a comic book or as a trade paperback.  I think that it is an excellent example of Howard Chaykin's work, and it is probably the best modern take on The Shadow.  I think I'll read it again, soon.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Howard Chaykin and of The Shadow will want want to read the miniseries now known as The Shadow: Blood and Judgment.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

[This comic book includes the essays, “The Shadow's Agents: From the private annals of the Shadow as told to Anthony Tollin” and “The Man Who Created The Shadow,” both written by Anthony Tollin.]


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#IReadsYou Review: THE BATMAN'S GRAVE #1

THE BATMAN'S GRAVE No. 1 (OF 12)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Warren Ellis
PENCILS: Bryan Hitch
INKS: Kevin Nowlan
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
LETTERS: Richard Starkings
EDITOR: Marie Javins
COVER: Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jeehyung Lee
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2019)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

The Batman's Grave is a new twelve-issue, comic book maxi-series.  It is written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Bryan Hitch (pencils) and Kevin Nowlan (inks).  Ellis and Hitch worked together on the comic book, StormWatch (1997), and are best known as a team for their run on the hit comic book, The Authority (1999), which the two created.  Colorist Alex Sinclair and letterer Richard Starkings complete the creative team.  The Batman's Grave finds Batman a.k.a. “The World's Great Detective” forced to inhabit the mind of a murder victim with a half-eaten face in order to solve the crime.

The Batman's Grave #1 opens at Wayne Manor, the stately home of Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman.  We find Bruce's butler and Batman's brother-in-arms, Alfred Pennyworth, tending to the graves of Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne.  There is a third grave.  It is empty, and Bruce will one day fill it.

In Gotham City, Batman saves a young couple and their child the way no one saved young Bruce and his slain parents.  Alerted to an unanswered 911 call, Batman finds himself at a rundown apartment building.  There, he finds the corpse of Vincent William Stannik.  By his own admission to Alfred, Batman can only think like a victim.  And this almost psychotic identification with murder victims causes him to immerse himself in the lives the victims and to obsess over every detail of their deaths.  But will this focus on the victim as he approached death lead Batman to his own grave?

I often lament that comic books featuring the world's greatest (comic book) detective are more often than not more superhero-action comics than they are mystery comics.  After reading this first issue's 24 (not 20) pages, I think that The Batman's Grave will be a mystery comic book that will have Batman play detective to solve murder cases.  At the same time, The Batman's Grave's creative team will investigate the minds of both Batman/Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth.

In fact, I love (and yes that is the word I want to use) Warren Ellis' depiction of Alfred Pennyworth as a tired, old friend, exhausted by a war on crime of which he wishes Batman was also exhausted.  Ellis presents Bruce Wayne and Batman as one in the same – psychotic.  I am especially curious to see where Ellis takes this series.

The artists of The Batman's Grave, Bryan Hitch on pencils and Kevin Nowlan on inks, are a dream team.  Hitch's eccentric, stylish pencils can only be inked by a veteran and/or supremely talented inker, and of course, that is Nowlan.  The resulting art is beautiful, mysterious, and haunting – the perfect graphical storytelling for a tale of murder, obsession, and graves.  Alex Sinclair, as usual, colors the crap out of the art and embellishes this story with a perfect mood that recalls Edgar Allen Poe.  Letterer Richard Starkings, as usual, does standout work; I guess if you have Ellis, Hitch, Nowlan, and Sinclair, you have to have Starkings on the team, also.

So I am ready for more, and truthfully, this is the only Batman comic book I feel like I have to read right now.  I recommend that you try at least The Batman's Grave #1.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE

DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE
DC COMICS/DC Zoom – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Michael Northrop
ART: Gustavo Duarte
COLORS: Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERS: Wes Abbott
EDITOR: Sara Miller
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8413-8; paperback; (July 31, 2019 – Diamond / August 6, 2019)
176pp, Color, $9.99 U.S., $13.50 CAN

Age Range: 8 to 12

Dear Justice League is a 2019 original graphic novel staring DC Comics' marquee super-team, the Justice League.  It is written by Michael Northrop; drawn by Gustavo Duarte; colored by Marcelo Mailol; and lettered by Wes Abbot.  Dear Justice League features some of the greatest superheroes of all time answering questions sent to them by young fans via text, email, and letter.

Dear Justice League was originally published under DC Comics' “DC Zoom” imprint, which offered original graphic novels for readers that were 8 to 12-years-old or that were classified as “middle grade” (MG) readers.  DC discontinued many of its imprints in 2019, so Dear Justice League would now fit under a new designation (“DC Graphic Novels for Young Readers”?).

Dear Justice League finds its members going about their usual business, but they occasionally take time to answer questions sent to them by young fans.  In a “Dear Superman” letter, the Man of Steel is asked, “have you ever messed up?”  In “Dear Hawkgirl,” the high-flying hero, who is also known as Kendra Saunders, is asked if she, as Hawkgirl, eats small animals.  In “Dear Aquaman,” Black Manta has high-jacked a nuclear submarine, but Aquaman wonders if he smells like fish, as one fan has asked.

In “Dear Wonder Woman,” a young fan who is about to turn 11-years-old wants to know if Wonder Woman remembers her eleventh birthday.  In “Dear Flash,” two envious boys, “T-Bone” and “J-Dawg,” pose a time-centered challenge to “the fastest man alive” via a dishonest question.  In “Green Lantern,” the newest Lantern, Simon Baz, is asked if he has ever suffered a fashion faux pas.

In “Dear Cyborg,” a young fan asks for Cyborg's screen name so that the fan can challenge the hero in an online video game.  Meanwhile, Cyborg/Victor Stone is monitoring a possible alien invasion.  In “Dear Batman,” the new kid in town asks Batman if he has ever been the new kid in town.  Finally, in “Dear Justice League,” eight of the world's greatest heroes, the Justice League, battle an invasion of “Insectoids” from the planet, “Molt-On.”  So a fourth-grade class sends a letter asking the members of the League, “How do you always manage to show up just in time and save the day?”

Well, how do they do it?  And have they done it this time in order to stop an Insectoid invasions?

I am slowly making my way through DC Comics's first wave of original “DC Zoom” and “DC Ink” titles.  I still have a few to read before the lines were discontinued.  I have to say that I am quite surprised by how much I like Dear Justice League.  It is not a great work, because it has some missteps, but it is exceptional because there is nothing else like it on the superhero comic book market.

In Dear Justice League, Michael Northrop has written a funny comic book, and some of the fan questions are quite good.  Asking Aquaman if he smells like fish falls flat, although asking Hawkgirl if she eats small animals seems just perfect.  Asking Wonder Woman to recount her eleventh birthday strikes the right story notes, and that question carries over into “Dear Flash,” in a clever little bit about two jealous boys.  Batman gets a great question – has he ever been the new kid in town – but Northrop doesn't execute the answer as well as he could have.

Gustavo Duarte's illustrations and graphical storytelling are perfect for a kids-oriented Justice League comic book like Dear Justice League.  His stretchy drawing style, which recalls classic Looney Tunes cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, captures the funny side of the eight particular heroes of Dear Justice League.

Marcelo Mailol's colors on Duarte's art look as if he used color pencils and also recall classic four-color comic book coloring (but is better than most of it was back in the day).  Letterer Wes Abbot turns on a symphony of lettering fonts that provide a colorful and varied graphical soundtrack for a story that offers a lot of different sounds, from the noise of battle to the rackets of errors and mistakes.

I highly recommend Dear Justice League to readers who want to share Justice League comic books with younger readers.  It would also be nice as a semi-regular series.

B+
7 out of 10

Dear Justice League includes the following extras:

• A six-page preview of the original graphic novel, Dear Super-Villains, by Michael Northrop and Gustavo Duarte
• A six-page preview of the original graphic novel, Superman of Smallville, by Art Baltazar and Franco
• the two-page, “Hall of Justice Top Secret Files”
• the one-page, “Auxiliary Members” (pets of the Justice League)
• biographies of Michael Northrop and Gustavo Duarte
• “Dear Michael Northrop,” a letter from younger Michael Northrop to older Michael
• a mock-up of a page of lined paper so that the reader can write a letter to the Justice League
• bonus illustrations

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN #1

SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN No. 1 (OF 3)
DC COMICS

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

STORY: Gene Luen Yang
ART: Gurihiru
COLORS: Gurihiru
LETTERS: Janice Chiang
COVER: Gurihiru
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Kyle Baker
80pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (October 2019)

Rated “E” for “Everyone”

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Part One

Superman is the most famous DC Comics superhero characters.  Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (cover dated: June 1938).  Superman was first a baby named “Kal-El” shot into space via rocket from the doomed planet, Krypton.  Brought to Earth by that rocket ship (or space craft), Baby Kal was adopted by Martha and Thomas Kent of Smallville, Kansas.

They named their new adopted baby, “Clark Kent.”  Earth's yellow sun gave Clark amazing powers, and he used those strange powers and abilities to become the superhero, Superman.  As a character Superman was an immediate hit.  In the 1940s, Superman was not only the star of comic books, but also of movie serials, novels, and radio serials.

The Adventures of Superman was a long-running radio serial that originally aired from 1940 to 1951, originating on New York City's WOR radio station and eventually being syndicated nationally by the Mutual Broadcasting Company.  One of The Adventures of Superman story arcs was “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” which found Superman fighting an racist and terrorist organization that was a fictional stand-in for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

The “Clan of the Fiery Cross” is the inspiration for a new young readers and “all ages” Superman three-issue, comic book miniseries, Superman Smashes the Klan.  Acclaimed comic book creator, Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Superman), is the writer of Superman Smashes the Klan, presenting his personal retelling of the adventures of the “Lee family” (the target in the original radio serial) as they team up with Superman to smash the Klan.  Superman Smashes the Klan is drawn and colored by Gurihiru and lettered by Janice Chiang.

Superman Smashes the Klan #1 opens in 1946 at the Metropolis Dam.  There, Superman smashes “the Atom Man,” a Nazi-inspired villain seeking to avenge the “humiliation” of the “master race.”  Witnessing Superman's victory is Lois Lane, the star reporter of Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet; and Jimmy Olsen, a cub reporter for the Planet; and Inspector William Henderson (an African-American character) of the Metropolis Police Department.  Shortly after the battle, Superman is overcome by a powerful smell that emanates from the device that powers the Atom Man.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lee, a scientist, is moving his wife and two children, Roberta and Tommy, from Chinatown to the new home located in a neighborhood in Metropolis.  Tommy quickly adjusts to his new home, even joining a baseball team that was started by a local religious organization (“The Unity House”) and is managed by Jimmy Olsen.  Roberta struggles, feeling awkward and out of place.

You see Dr. Lee and his wife are Chinese immigrants to the United States, but their Roberta and Tommy were born in America.  Although the family tries to fit in with their new neighbors, they have drawn the ire and attention of a dangerous racist and terrorist organization, “the Klan of the Fiery Kross.”  Now, Superman must help protect a family and perhaps save three children from the evils of racism and bigotry.

If I remember correctly, Superman Smashes the Klan was announced early last year (2018), so it has been long-awaited and eagerly-awaited.  And I am not at all disappointed; in fact, I am absolutely thrilled.  It is one of the most enjoyable Superman comic books that I have ever read.  If the remainder of the series delights me as much as this first issue did, I might call Superman Smashes the Klan an instant classic.

Writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Gurihiru seem to act as one creative unit, fashioning a story that captures the true all-American spirit of Superman.  That spirit conjures the Man of Steel as a fighter for the little guy; a model of fair play and honesty, and a champion of truth, justice, and the American way.  Yang's depiction of Roberta Lee is superb character writing, delving into the struggles of a pre-teen girl who is trying to adjust to a new life and new neighbors.  However, I also like that Yang has made Roberta a fighter and a budding champion of justice in her own right.

Giruhiru's lovely art, with its Walt Disney-like qualities, might be called “cartoony,” but it is also true to the spirit of the clean, somewhat minimalist comic book art of American comic books' first three decades, especially the comic book art of the 1950s and early 1960s.  On the other hand, Giruhiru's compositions are clearly inspired by the kinetic and expressive nature of animated films and television series.  Giruhiru's graphical storytelling is also powerful and immediate, and her glorious colors pop off the page.  Paired with Janice Chiang's classic-cool lettering, Giruhiru's art and colors recall the graphic classicism of Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier (DC Comics, 2004).

Superman Smashes the Klan #1 also includes the first part of a feature article or essay by Gene Luen Yang that discusses the history of the Ku Klux Klan and its history of violence against African-Americans after the civil war and against Chinese immigrants.  The essay also concerns the history of the persecution of Chinese immigrants and Yang's personal background.

Obviously, I love Superman Smashes the Klan #1 and can't wait for the second issue or graphic novel (because this series is really like a graphic novel miniseries).  By the way, I must congratulate Yang for making the saying of the slur, “ching-chong,” feel like someone is saying “nigger.”

[This comic book includes the essay, “Superman and Me, Part 1,” by Gene Luen Yang.]

A+
10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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#IReadsYou Review: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: The Golden Child #1

DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: THE GOLDEN CHILD No. 1
DC COMICS/Black Label

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Frank Miller
ART: Rafael Grampá
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: John Workman and Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Mark Doyle
COVER: Rafael Grampa with Pedro Cobiaco
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Andy Kubert with Brad Anderson; Frank Miller with Alex Sinclair; Joelle Jones with Dave McCaig; Rafael Grampa with Pedro Cobiaco; Paul Pope with Jose Villarrubia
32pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (February 2020)

Ages 17+

Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (also known as DKR) was a four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman.  Published by DC Comics in 1986, this prestige-format comic book was written by Frank Miller; drawn by Miller (pencils) and Klaus Janson (inks); colored by Lynn Varley; and lettered by John Costanza, with the book covers drawn by Miller and Varley.

DKR told the tale of a 50-year-old Bruce Wayne, long retired as Batman, who dons the cape and cowl again to take on a new crime wave in Gotham City.  When an institutionalized Joker discovers that Batman has returned, he revives himself and begins a new crime wave of craziness.  Batman also battles Superman who is trying to force Batman back into retirement.

DRK was a smash hit, and from the time of its publication, it became a hugely influential comic book, especially on the editorial mindset of DC Comics.  There have been sequels to DKR, as well as other comic books set in its “universe.”  The most recent DKR comic book is Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child.  It written by Frank Miller, drawn by Rafael Grampá; colored by Jordie Bellaire; and lettered by John Workman and Deron Bennett.  The Golden Child finds the heirs to the legacy of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel taking on adversaries of their predecessors.

Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child #1 opens three years after the events depicted in the nine-issue miniseries, Dark Knight III: The Master Race (2015-2017).  Lara, the daughter of Wonder Woman (Diana) and her consort, Superman, has spent that time learning to be more human.  After spending her life with the Amazons of Paradise Island, however, Lara has a great disdain for humans.  Carrie Kelley, the former Robin, has been growing into her new role as The Batwoman, after Bruce Wayne/Batman finally retired.

The Batwoman has been battling the Joker and his gang of Joker clones, who are in full rage as the day of the U.S. presidential election approaches.  [Although he is not named, President Donald Trump's image and presence are prominent throughout this comic book].  But Joker has found a new partner in a terrifying evil that has come to Gotham – Darkseid.  Now, Lara and Carrie must team-up to stop two evils, but their secret weapon, young Jonathan, “the golden child” (Lara's brother and Diana and Superman's son) is also the object of Darkseid's murderous desire.

I really like Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child, but not because of Frank Miller's story.  It is a hot mess of sound and fury signifying nothing.  It is like someone's incorrect idea that the sound of Jack Kirby is not big (in relation to Darkseid, a character he created), but is histrionics.  Miller does offer a few good ideas, and he is one of the few mainstream comic book creators that could get away with not only casting Donald Trump in a DC Comics title, but also portraying him in an unflattering light.  Teaming-up Joker and Darkseid is not one of Miller's good ideas, and Miller's portrayal of Lara and Jonathan is a mixed bag.  But I can tell that Miller really loves Carrie Kelley, a character he created in DKR.  She is glorious as The Batwoman.

No, I don't love Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child because of Frank Miller.  I love it because of Rafael Grampa, the Brazilian film director and comic book artist.  Grampa's style in Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child is a mixture of Frank Miller's graphic style in both Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and in his Sin City series of miniseries and one-shot comic books and also of Scottish comic book artist Frank Quitely's graphic style.

Grampa's gorgeous illustrations and compositions look even better under Jordie Bellaire's inventive coloring and varietal of hues.  But even all that pretty art can't create superb graphical storytelling from Frank Miller's mish-mash of a story, except in a few places – the Batwoman sections of course.  Carrie Kelley is absolutely spectacular in the double-caped, leathery Bat-suit, which also looks like an actual man-sized bat.

Well, you can't get everything, although John Workman and Deron Bennett also deliver some fine-looking lettering.  So I'll be satisfied with Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child #1 being one of the beautifully drawn and illustrated comic book one-shots that I have ever read.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: "THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN" is a Battle Royale

The Death of Superman (2018)

Running time:  81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action including some bloody images.
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu and Jake Castorena
WRITER:  Peter Tomasi (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Studio MIR

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, Nyambi Nyambi, Jason O'Mara, Jonathan Adams, Rocky Carroll, Trevor Devall, Paul Eiding, Jennifer Hale, Charles Halford, Erica, Luttrell, Max Mittelman, and Toks Olagundoye

The Death of Superman is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and directors Sam Lui and Jake Castorena.  It is the thirty-second film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The movie takes its story from “Doomsday!” (also known as “The Death of Superman”), a story arc that ran in various DC Comics titles in late 1992.  In The Death of Superman movie, Superman battling a seemingly insurmountable foe.

The Death of Superman finds Superman (Jerry O'Connell) at the height of his popularity as a superhero in Metropolis and around the world.  However, Superman has some brewing domestic issues in his civilian life as Clark Kent (Jerry O'Connell).  Clark is dating Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn), a fellow reporter at The Daily Planet.  Clark's parents, Ma and Pa Kent (Jennifer Hale and Paul Eiding), are visiting, and they will finally meet Lois, but that only forces Clark to face the fact that he has not told Lois that he is Superman.

Elsewhere, without warning, a meteor has crashed on Earth causing trouble above in Earth orbit and below in the ocean depths.  Emerging from the meteor is a gray-skinned, white-haired monster with incredible strength, stamina, and invulnerability.  Also, its skeleton protrudes through its skin in the form of multiple razor-sharp spurs.

The creature, whom Lois dubs “Doomsday,” quickly dispatches the Justice League.  Doomsday beats Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Batman (Jason O'Mara), Aquaman (Matt Lanter), Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Flash (Christopher Gorham), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter (Nyambi Nyambi) nearly to death.  Now, only Superman stands before the creature, but to defeat him, Superman may lose his own life.

The Death of Superman is not the first time that the “Doomsday”/“The Death of Superman” story line has been adapted into a direct-to-DVD animated film.  The first was 2007's Superman: Doomsday, which I did not care for all that much.  Concerning this newer film, I don't like the graphic design of the characters, who all appear to have anemic faces.  In fact, their heads are all face – odd, angular faces.  I find them a little jarring to look at, but the animation moves smoothly.

I thought the first half of 2018's The Death of Superman was dull, but the second half is a blast to watch.  Doomsday's fights with the other members of the Justice League are filled with bone-crushing blows and near-death intensity.  The Superman vs. Doomsday battle is so powerful that calling it “epic” does not completely describe the insane violence displayed in this literally to-the-death fight.

The character drama between Clark and Lois is also well-developed, and the depiction of the edginess in their relationship keeps the first half of the movie from being a total loss.  This film also includes a strong version of Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), one that could have taken over this film.  Ultimately, I am giving The Death of Superman a high recommendation because of the Superman-Doomsday battle.  This fight is like an animated equivalent of a battle one might find in a Disney/Marvel Studios' Avengers films.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN: Doomsday

Superman: Doomsday (2007)

Running time:  74 minutes (1 hour, 14 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR:  Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery, and Brandon Vietti
WRITERS:  Duane Capizzi; from a story by Bruce Timm and Duane Capizzi
PRODUCER:  Bruce Timm
EDITOR:  Joe Gall
COMPOSER: Robert Kral

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Adam Baldwin, Anne Heche, James Marsters, John Di Maggio, Tom Kenny, Swoosie Kurtz, Cree Summer, Ray Wise, and Adam Wylie

Superman: Doomsday is a 2007 direct-to-video animated superhero film.  It is based on “The Death of Superman,” a 1992 story line that ran through DC Comics’ various Superman comic books and that culminated in the death of Superman in Superman #75 (1987 series; cover dated: January 1993).  Superman: Doomsday was the first release in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies from Warner Premiere (a now closed label of Warner Home Video) and Warner Bros. Animation.

In Superman: Doomsday, Lex Luthor (James Marsters), through his company, LexCorp, unleashes a powerful alien monster known as “Doomsday,” from his burial place deep in the Earth.  Doomsday then goes on a murderous and destructive rampage.  It’s up to Superman (Adam Baldwin) to defend the Earth, but at the apparent cost of his life.

Later, after his burial, Superman appears to have risen from the dead.  Lois Lane (Anne Heche), his secret lover, is suspicious.  With the reluctant assistance of fellow Daily Planet reporter, Jimmy Olsen (Adam Wylie), Lois seeks the truth and discovers that Lex Luthor is behind this risen Superman, who certainly doesn’t seem like his old self.

Bruce Timm was known as one of the minds behind the popular animated TV program, “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-95).  He wears many hats in the production of this straight to video film, Superman: Doomsday, although the look of the animation in this film is different from Timm’s earlier work.  In fact, the character design is streamlined with crisp line work, and the art direction emphasizes rich, dark colors.  Technically, the animation is quite good (although the movement of the characters is often a bit awkward and stiff), which is essential in a film with so many extended, elaborate fight sequences and scenes of destruction and explosions that rival big-budget Hollywood sci-fi and action movies.

The problem is the story and voice acting.  Not only is the narrative’s mood very dark, but the film is often violent, shockingly so, as Doomsday often kills humans – sometimes ever so slightly off screen.  That’s not really a problem, except for very young viewers.  The problem is the leaden pacing and flat mood in what should otherwise be an exciting and riveting movie.  Superman’s death and resurrection just doesn’t have the emotional impact they should have.

Superman: Doomsday is a picture show of pretty and quality animation.  It just doesn’t live up to its potential as an epic story.

C+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT Powered by Strong Characters

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – video (2018)

Running time:  78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg (based on characters from the graphic novel, Gotham by Gaslight, by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Bruce Timm and Benjamin Melniker & Michael Uslan
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  The AnswerStudio

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Bruce Greenwood, Jennifer Carpenter, Scott Patterson, John DiMaggio, Grey Griffin, Anthony Head, Bob Joles, Yuri Lowenthal, William Salyers, and Tara Strong

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  It is the thirtieth film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” series.  It is also a loose adaptation of the 1989 Batman graphic novel, Gotham by Gaslight, written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell.  Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is set in an alternate world in which Batman begins his war on crime in Victorian Age Gotham City just as Jack the Ripper begins killing women in the city.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight opens in Victorian-era Gotham City.  A serial killer called “Jack the Ripper” is killing Gotham's poor and destitute women, especially in the area of the city known as “Skinner's End.”  Bruce Wayne (Bruce Greenwood) is also operating in the city as the bat-garbed vigilante, “the Batman.”  One night, Batman saves an unwary couple from being robbed by a trio of orphans who are in service of an abusive criminal handler.  At the same time, Pamela Isley, a prostitute and exotic dancer who performs under the name “Ivy the Plant Lady,” encounters Jack the Ripper, who savagely kills her.

Many citizens of Gotham believe that the Batman and Jack are the same man.  Stage actress, Selina Kyle (Jennifer Carpenter), is a protector of the women of “Skinner's End.”  She berates Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon (Scott Patterson) and Chief of Police Harvey “Bulldog” Bullock (John DiMaggio) for their failure to stop the Ripper murders.  Later, when the Ripper targets Selina, Batman rescues her, but Batman discovers that Jack the Ripper is a formidable opponent who possesses the fighting skill to defeat him.  Initially, Selina rebukes Batman, but soon the two begin working together, even as the city prepares to blame Bruce Wayne for all the Ripper murders.

Writer Jim Krieg, probably one of Warner Bros. Animation's best writers (if not the best, as far as I'm concerned), has fashioned, in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, a Batman “cinematic universe” that could be as interesting as any other world of Batman films.  Taking the source material (the Gotham by Gaslight comic), Krieg has created a world that has possibilities rather than just being a one-off, alternate-universe spin on Batman.  Batman: Gotham by Gaslight feels like it has a tangible back story behind it and an unknown, but full future ahead of it.

Krieg fills Batman: Gotham by Gaslight with highly-developed versions of familiar Batman characters.  Here, Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same; there is no light and dark, separate personalities so much as there is a man who understands the right time and right place to put on the correct public face – or mask, as it may be.

All the supporting characters are strong.  In fact, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight's Selina Kyle could carry her own film.  She is fierce and independent; she is beautiful and personable, even when she is being forceful in her mission to protect poor women.  Hugo Strange (William Salyers) is what some critics might call “deliciously devious,” while Alfred Pennyworth is devious in a benevolent and sly way.  And I can't help but love the “cock robins,” Dickie, Jason, and Timmy.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is pretty in its graphic design and art direction, and the animation moves smoothly.  Director Sam Liu oversees a film that not only plays a mystery, but offers an actually mystery that requires Batman and Selina Kyle to do some investigating.  The film's last act – a rousing section of prison escapes, brutal fights, and a burning park – is perfect escapism and also entertainment with a touch of art.  I thought that I might like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, and I did.  I simply got far more joy out of it than I imagined I would.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #108

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (2010) No. 108
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Sholly Fisch, Alex Simmons
PENCILS: Walter Carzon; Leo Batic
INKS: Horacio Ottolini
COLORS: Silvana Brys; Paul Becton and Sno Cone
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; Rob Leigh
EDITORS: Courtney Jordan; Joan Hilty (reprint)
COVER: Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini with Silvana Brys
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (April 2021)

Ages 8+

“The Devil (Dog) You Say?”

Welcome, dear readers, to my continuing journey through the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series, which began publication in 2010.  I renewed my subscription (for a second time), and this is the tenth issue of my third subscription run that I have received.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #108 opens with “The Devil (Dog) You Say?,” which is written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini.  Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma have been called to a “house on the moors.”  The caller is one William Gottrich III, and his home is under siege by the monstrous “Devil Dog.”

Gottrich has already called on three other individuals for help.  There is Tom Katt of Animal Control, whom the dog has trapped in the house since the previous day.  Next, is Professor Rosetta Stone, the county historian, who believes the Devil Dog is really the legendary “Hound of the Moors,” that brings doom to anyone that sets foot on the moors.  Finally, there is Madame Persona Nongrata, a noted psychic who believes that the dog is a messenger from the “demonic underworld” sent to drag its victims back to its “fiery realm.”

So what can Mystery Inc. do?  Well, it seems that this is a case that only Scooby and Shaggy can solve!

The second story, “Prisoner of the Ghost in the Iron Mask,” is, as usual, a reprint story and is written by Alex Simmons and drawn by Leo Batic and Horatio Ottolini.  [This story was originally published as the back-up story in Scooby-Doo #79 (cover date: February 2004).]   Mystery Inc. is in the country of “Morovania,” smuggled there by Princess Adora.  The princess needs to the gang to solve the mystery of the “Ghost in the Iron Mask,” which has been chasing off any man who might marry Adora.  The ghost has been haunting Adora's family, on and off, for generations, but hopefully it won't take Scooby and company that long to solve this ghostly mystery.

Ever since I first saw the 1939 film, The Hound of the Baskervilles (starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes), I have been fascinated by the film's story, which was based on the 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles (written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).  I often find myself enjoying other adaptations of the novel, including humorous adaptations or spins on the story, like “The Devil (Dog) You Say?”  Of course, I enjoyed the story and the art by the team of Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini.  Actually, I pretty much like any Scooby-Doo story they draw.  I also like that writer Sholly Fisch gave all four guest/supporting characters enough personality and background to make them interesting or, at least, good comic relief.

“Prisoner of the Ghost in the Iron Mask,” this issue's reprint story, is notable mainly because of the slightly offbeat way pencil artist Leo Batic draws the Mystery Inc. characters.  Batic's interpretation of Shaggy, with an expressive rubbery face and wiry, bendable body, stands out.

So, I recommend Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #108 to fans of Scooby-Doo stories set in haunted mansions and castles.  And until next time, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

B
6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: "Wonder Woman 1984" is Pretty, Empty and Goofy

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Running time:  151 minutes (2 hours, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG - 13 for sequences of action and violence
DIRECTOR:  Patty Jenkins
WRITERS:  Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callahan; from a story by Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and created by William Moulton Marston)
PRODUCERS:  Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot, and Stephen Jones
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Matthew Jensen (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Richard Pearson
COMPOSER:  Hans Zimmer

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Lucian Perez, Kristoffer Polaha, Natasha Rothwell, Ravi Patel, Oliver Cotton, Lilly Aspell, and Lynda Carter

Wonder Woman 1984 is a 2020 superhero fantasy film from director Patty Jenkins.  The film stars the DC Comics superhero, Wonder Woman, who first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (1941) and was created by writer William Moulton Marston (with artist Harry George Peter).  It is a direct sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman and is also the ninth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film series.  In Wonder Woman 1984, our titular hero must battle a colleague and a businessman whose desire to have everything they ever wanted and much more could destroy the world.

Wonder Woman 1984 opens on the island of Themyscira, the home of the Amazons.  There, young Diana (Lilly Aspell) is trying to be the most accomplished Amazon.  In an athletic event against older Amazons, young Diana must also learn an important lesson about getting what she wants.

The story moves to 1984.  Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) works cultural anthropology and archaeology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  Secretly, Diana is also the superhero known as “Wonder Woman.”  At work, Diana meets and eventually befriends a new museum employee, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), a shy woman whose professions are geology, gemology, and lithology, in addition to being a cryptozoologist.  Barbara is barely seen by her co-workers, and she comes to envy Diana, whose radiance draws people to her.

One day, the FBI asks the museum to identify some stolen antiquities, and among them is a mysterious item, a “citrine” that turns out to be called the “Dreamstone.”  Also interested in this item is a failing businessman, Maxwell “Max” Lord (Pedro Pascal), who believes that the stone has “wish-granting” powers that can both save his failing oil company, “the Black Gold Cooperative,” and make him the powerful man he has always wanted to be.  No one really understands how dangerous the Dreamstone can be, even Diana, who gets her deceased lover, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), back into her life.

I like that Wonder Woman 1984 deals with such themes as immediate gratification, getting things the easy way without working for it, cheating to get what you want, and the desire to have something before you are ready to have it.  However, it is the execution of these themes that is problematic.  For a film that beats viewers over the head with the idea that it is bad to get whatever you wish for, Wonder Woman 1984 is filled with magical thinking.  This film's story is illogical, nonsensical, silly, and full of pretty pictures while being largely empty and devoid of substance.

Having Steve Trevor's spirit possess the body of an actual living man and control it is a horrible idea.  Supposedly, co-writer/director Patty Jenkins says that the Trevor subplot is a reference to the body-switching trope found in films like Freaky Friday: The Movie (1976) and Big (1988).  If true, this explanation is lame.  Having Wonder Woman basically hold a man hostage so that she can use his body to play kissy-face with her dead lover's spirit does not seem like something Wonder Woman would actually do.  I won't go into the non-consensual element of this relationship...

However, that is just one element of the entire nonsense that is having Steve Trevor in this film.  In one sequence, it just happens to be the Fourth of July, which leads to Wonder Woman and Trevor stealing a conveniently located jet and flying through the clouds that are lit up by the holiday fireworks below.  Wonder Woman asks Trevor what makes flying as a pilot so special to him, and the dude says that it is because of the wind and the air...

I'm not even sure why this movie is called Wonder Woman 1984, as very little about that year really permeates this film.  1984 seems like nothing more than an arbitrary date, while calling this film “Wonder Woman: The Year of Schmaltz and Syrupy Sentiment” would seem more accurate.

Nothing epitomizes Wonder Woman 1984's nonsensical, trite, contrived nature than the “lead” villain, Max Lord.  Heaven knows that Pedro Pascal gives it his all in order to fill the vast emptiness that is Max, but even his acting skills can't save this bomb of a character.  Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns' hackneyed script gives Max a child, Alistair (Lucian Perez), a pensive-faced waif who just loves his daddy no matter how much daddy ignores and minimizes him.  The presence of the child only emphasizes how lame Max Lord is.

The better villain is Kristen Wiig's Cheetah (who is not called that in the film), but the script relegates Barbara Minerva/Cheetah to side-piece status.  Minerva and Cheetah had the potential to be an excellent counter to Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, but no, the man-villain must be the center of attention.  Also, I'm pretty sure that Cheetah appears merely for licensing purposes – perhaps, as a hard-to-find, low-run, female action figure.

Just as she was the last time, Gal Gadot is gorgeous in this film, but whereas the Wonder Woman she played in the original film was so strong, independent, and fierce, the Wonder Woman of the sequel is a clueless broad who pines after the ghost of a long dead man.  Everything the heroine of this sequel does is either strange or thoughtless, and she puts herself and others in danger cause she's just gotta have her (dead) man!  Wonder Woman 1984 turns Gadot's Wonder Woman from historical in the first film to hysterical in the sequel.

The only reason that I am not giving Wonder Woman 1984 a grade of “D” or even of “F” is because I was so happy to see Lynda Carter, TV's Wonder Woman of the 1970s, in a mid end credits scene.  Yeah, that's a spoiler that I didn't warn you about, but hey, I am warning you about the rest of Wonder Woman 1984.  Now, dear readers, you can watch it while expecting much less of it than I did.

C

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: TEEN TITANS: Raven

TEEN TITANS: RAVEN
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kami Garcia
ART: Gabriel Picolo with Jon Sommariva and Emma Kubert
COLORS: David Calderon
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
ISBN:  978-1-4012-8623-1; paperback; (June 26, 2019)
192pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Rated: “Everyone”; Age Range: 12 and up

Raven created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

Raven is a female DC Comics superhero.  Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, Raven first appeared in a special insert in the DC Comics digest magazine, DC Comics Presents #26 (cover dated:  October 1980).  She was one of the new members of a revamped version of the DC Comics teen superhero group, Teen Titans, that launched in The New Teen Titans #1 (cover dated:  November 1980).

Raven was the daughter of a human mother and a demon father (named Trigon).  Raven was a powerful empath who could sense the emotions of others.  She could also project her “soul-self,” which took the form of a large shadowy, Raven-like figure.

DC Comics introduces a new version of Raven in the original graphic novel, Teen Titans: Raven, published under the “DC Ink” imprint.  Recently made defunct, “DC Ink” offered original graphic novels for readers 13-years-old and older.  DC Ink titles, according to DC Comics, featured coming-of-age stories that encouraged teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.  [DC Ink is now known as “DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults.”]

Teen Titans: Raven is written by bestselling author, Kami Garcia.  Garcia is the author of “The Legion” young adult novel series and with Margaret Stohl, is the co-author of the “Caster Chronicles” series (the best known being the 2009 novel, Beautiful Creatures).  Teen Titans: Raven is illustrated by Gabriel Picolo with the assistance of Jon Sommariva and Emma Kubert.  David Calderon colors the art, and Tom Napolitano is the letterer.  Teen Titans: Raven focus on a teen girl who moves to New Orleans to live with her late foster mother's family, as she struggles with memory loss and with the strange visions and voices she experiences.

Teen Titans: Raven opens in Atlanta, Georgia where we meet 17-year-old Rachel “Raven” Roth and her foster mother, Viviane Navarro, just before a tragic accident takes Viviane's life.  Three weeks later, Raven is in New Orleans living with Viviane's sister, Natalia Navarro, and her daughter, Maxine, also called “Max.”

Raven is trying to finish her senior year in high school, but starting over isn't easy – especially when you suffer from memory issues.  Raven remembers how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can’t remember things like what were her favorite songs, favorite books, or even her favorite candy.  Raven does not know who she was before the accident.  Luckily, Raven grows closer to her foster sister, Max, and Max's circle of friends accepts Raven.  There is even a persistent boy, Tommy Torres, who is crushing on Raven and who accepts her for who she is now.

Still, Raven hears voices in her head, and she can seem to make people do things she thinks about them doing.  Some of her dreams seem to be about things that people actually do in the waking world, and sometimes, a dark figure haunts her dreams.  And everyone around her apparently has secrets:  Natalia, Max, and even Tommy.  And worst of all, what secrets are Raven's lost memories hiding from her?

Including the two previous “DC Ink” graphic novels that I have thus far read. Mera: Tidebreaker and Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, Teen Titans: Raven is the best written.  That is saying something because the Mera and Catwoman graphic novels were wonderfully engaging stories.  I think what I like about Teen Titans: Raven so much is that writer Kami Garcia focuses on the notion that what is important is what a person is now in the present.  What is less important is who you were, so while it is important that Raven regains her memories, she can be a good person regardless of her past and without her memories of her past.

Garcia also fills Teen Titans: Raven with so many wonderful supporting characters.  Garcia portrays Natalia, Max, and Tommy with such engaging personalities and with so many intriguing secrets that each could be the star of her or his own graphic novel.  Without spoiling anything, I can say that there is a female army (of sorts) that could carry a miniseries or a maxiseries or even an ongoing series.

Gabriel Picolo's art is so evocative, especially in portraying emotions and attitudes.  Picolo's graphical storytelling is at once a high school melodrama and then a tale of mystery and magic.  He balances the natural and the mundane with the supernatural and spectacular with the deftness of a veteran comic book artist.  Picolo's striking cover illustration also makes Teen Titans: Raven hard to ignore on a bookshelf.  Teen Titans: Raven doesn't have DC Ink's best art, but Picolo is good.  [I am still declaring “best art” for Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale.]

David Calderon's mercurial coloring adds to the sense of magic and mystery.  Calderon's use of two-color in some sequences and his juxtaposition of multi-color and two-tones matches the fragmented state of Raven's memories.  Letterer Tom Napolitano captures all the modes and moods of Garcia's story and Picolo's art, conveying the narrative while suggesting the ethereal.  That is a magic trick.

Teen Titans: Raven is the best Teen Titans-related comic book that I have read in several years.  After three DC Ink titles (and one DC Zoom title), I can say that, right now, DC Comics' best publications are its original graphic novels for juvenile readers.

9 out of 10

Teen Titans: Raven contains the following extras and back matter:

• two author biographical pages
• an 11-page,  full-color preview of the graphic novel, Teen Titans: Beast Boy, from Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo and David Calderon

Reviewed by Leory Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN Has Lovable Heroes, Dull Villains

BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN – video (2017)

Running time:  74 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content, language, violence and action, and for rude humor
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Bruce Timm and Jim Krieg; from a story by Bruce Timm (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter Michael McCuistion Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Kevin Conroy, Melissa Rauch, Loren Lester, Paget Brewster, Kevin Michael Richardson, John DiMaggio, Eric Bauza, Robin Atkin Downes, Trevor Devall, Rob Paulsen, Mindy Sterling, and Bruce Timm

Batman and Harley Quinn is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  The film shares a connection and design style with the animated television series, “The New Batman Adventures” (1997-99), and is spiritually related to that series' predecessor, “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-95), which is the series in which Harley Quinn made her first appearance.  In Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman and Nightwing are forced to team with Harley Quinn in order to stop a global threat.

Batman and Harley Quinn opens with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and his partner, Nightwing (Loren Lester), who was once known as Robin, the Boy Wonder.  The duo has discovered that the villainess, Poison Ivy / Pamela Isley (Paget Brewster) has teamed up with Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man (Kevin Michael Richardson), an alien plant creature that shares Poison Ivy's desire to give plants supremacy of Earth over humanity.  Poison Ivy and Floronic Man plan to create their own viral version of the “bio-restorative formula” that transformed Dr. Alec Holland into the Swamp Thing (John DiMaggio).  To that end, they have kidnapped a scientist, Dr. Harold Goldblum (Rob Paulsen), and forced him to help them replicate the formula.

Ivy and Woodrue are unaware that their altered formula could destroy all life (human, animal, and plant), so Batman and Nightwing must stop them before they finish their formula.  However, “the Dynamic Duo” are struggling in their mission to find the villains and reluctantly turn to Ivy's best friend, Harley Quinn (Melissa Rauch), in the hopes that she will have an idea or two on where to find Ivy.  But Harley has gone into hiding after her most recent recent parole from imprisonment.  Finding Harley won't be easy, and who says she wants to help Batman and Nightwing find her BFF – best friend forever!  And if she does cooperate, can Batman and Nightwing trust Harley?

Bruce Timm was one of the main creative forces behind “Batman: The Animated Series” and “The New Batman Adventures,” as well as other wonderful animated television series that featured DC Comics superheroes.  So I am always happy when he returns to his corner of the animated DC Universe, this time as a writer and executive producer.  One of my favorite animation writers, Jim Krieg, co-wrote Batman and Harley Quinn with Timm.  Voice actor Kevin Conroy, who is beloved for his work playing the voice of Batman / Bruce Wayne on several animated TV series and films, also returns as the voice of Batman for this film.

So I have a few reasons to love Batman and Harley Quinn, and I did indeed enjoy it, but it isn't one of the better direct-to-DVD animated DC Universe films.  The Floronic Man is an uninteresting bag of wind as a villain despite the best efforts of talented voice actor, Kevin Michael Richardson.  Also the Poison Ivy of this film is shallow, and looks weird.

The plot is lame, but their a few things that make me like Batman and Harley Quinn.  First, Timm and Krieg offer strong takes on the characters of Batman, Nightwing, and Harley, and the relationship dynamic between them as a trio or as a trio of duos sparkles with wit and genuine feeling.  Secondly, there are some surprisingly magical moments in this film, such as the karaoke medley in the middle of the film.  The Sarge Steel (John DiMaggio) and A.R.G.U.S. subplot is nice.  Finally, I love the design of the animation and the animation in general in this film.  It is as if “The New Batman Adventures” returned from the old cartoons graveyard for an hour or so.

Despite my reservations concerning its weak plot and villains, I highly recommend Batman and Harley Quinn to fans of Bruce Timm's 1990s Batman TV shows.  When it comes to animation overseen by Timm, I'll take anything and everything I can get.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #107

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #107 (2010)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Derek Fridolfs; John Rozum
PENCILS: Randy Elliot; Cameron Stewart
INKS: Randy Elliot; Andrew Pepoy
COLORS: Pamela Lovas; Paul Becton
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; John Costanza
EDITORS: Courtney Jordan; Joan Hilty (reprint)
COVER: Derek Fridolfs with Pamela Lovas
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2021)

Ages 8+

“Striking Terror”

Welcome, dear readers, to my continuing journey through the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series, which began publication in 2010.  I renewed my subscription (for a second time), and this is the ninth issue of my third subscription run that I have received.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #107 opens with “Striking Terror,” which is written by Derek Fridolfs and drawn by Randy Elliot.  Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma solved “The Mystery of the Terror-Dactyl” a day earlier.  Now, it's time for a day off, and the Coolsville bowling alley is the place to be on a Friday night.

The gang aren't the only ones that feel that way because “Coolsville Bowl” is packed.  However, electrical problems are causing the bowling pins on several lanes to freeze, which means the kids are going to have to wait for a lane to open up for them.  Lanes may become available soon though, as the the ghostly and headless “Skulldugger” is haunting the place.  Using his bowling ball, which glows with a cackling green skull inside, the Skulldugger wants everyone to leave the bowling alley.  Looks like Mystery Inc. will have a mystery to solve after all

The second story, “Witch Pitch,” is, as usual, a reprint story and is written by John Rozum and drawn by Cameron Stewart and Andrew Pepoy.  [This story was originally published as the back-up story in Scooby-Doo #37 (cover date: August 2000).]   Once again, Scooby and company are looking for an opportunity to sit down and have some fun.  This time they are at Maize Field for a game featuring Fred's favorite baseball team, the Nebraska Corndogs.  The evening is nearly ruined when a witch flies in on her broom and puts a curse on Corndogs pitcher Hector Martinez, just as she recently did to his teammate, “Spanky” Schultz.  Time to chase a witch!

Ever since I first started watching the seminal Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoon, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” (1969-70), so many decades ago, I have been a fan of the green-hued specters and haunts that Mystery Inc. has chased.  “Striking Terror” is an average story as the stories in this series go, but I love the look of the Skulldugger as drawn by Randy Elliot and colored by Pamela Lovas.

“Witch Pitch” is a good story, and I would would like to see it adapted into one of those direct-to-DVD films that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has been releasing since 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.  Also, I think this is the first time that I have come across the idea that Fred is a baseball fan and that the kids like to bowl.

So, I recommend Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #107 to fans of Scooby-Doo haunted sports stories.  And until next time, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

B
6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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#28DaysofBlack Review: HARDWARE: The Man in the Machine - no text

HARDWARE: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE
MILESTONE MEDIA/DC COMICS

WRITER: Dwayne McDuffie
PENCILS: Denys Cowan; J.J. Birch (issue #8)
INKS: Jimmy Palmiotti; Mike Manley; Joe Brozowski; Joe James; Jason Minor
COLORS: Noelle Giddings
LETTERS: Janice Chiang; Steve Haynie; Steve Dutro
COVER: Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti
EDITOR: Bob Joy
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2598-8; paperback (March 30, 2021)
192pp, Color, $19.99 U.S., $24.99 CAN

Hardware created by Dwayne McDuffie; Derek Dingle; Denys Cowan, and Michael Davis

Milestone Comics was the publishing division of Milestone Media and was published and distributed by DC Comics.  Milestone was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers, consisting of Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle.  Milestone Media's founders believed that minorities were severely underrepresented in American comic books and wished to address this.  In 1993, Milestone Media launched its first four titles Icon, Blood Syndicate, Static, and Hardware, the subject of this review.  DC Comics ceased publication of Milestone titles in 1997.

Hardware was created by the late Dwayne McDuffie; Derek Dingle; Denys Cowan, and Michael Davis.  The first seven issues of Hardware were written by McDuffie and drawn by Cowan (pencil art) and a rotating group of inkers:  Jimmy Palmiotti; Mike Manley; Joe Brozowski; and Joe James; colored by Noelle Giddings; and lettered by Janice Chiang, Steve Haynie, and Steve Dutro.  The eighth issue featured the art team of J.J. Birch (pencils) and Jason Minor (inks).

In 2010, DC Comics published the trade paperback Hardware: The Man in the Machine, which collected Hardware #1 to #8 (April 1993 to October 1993).  Like all Milestone titles, Hardware was set in the Milestone Universe, called the “Dakotaverse.”

Hardware #1 (“Angry Black Man”) introduces Curtis “Curt” Metcalf, a genius inventor.  He uses a special suit of armor (the “Hardware shell”) and a variety of high-tech gadgets to fight his employer, respected businessman, Edwin Alva.

Metcalf was a working class child prodigy and inventor who was discovered at age 12 by Alva.  With the blessing of Metcalf's parents, Alva enrolled Metcalf in “A Better Chance,” which was “a program intended to get minority students into elite prep schools.”  Metcalf proved to be much smarter than all the other prep school students and graduated at age 14.  With Alva paying his college tuition, Metcalf earned the first of his seven college degrees at age 15.  In exchange, after graduation, Metcalf began working in Alva Industries' “Inspiration Factory,” where the employees created high-tech gadgets by the hundreds.  However, it was Metcalf's inventions that made Alva many millions of dollars.  After a few years, Metcalf approached Alva about getting a share of the profits from his inventions.  Alva not only declines, but he also tells Metcalf that he is a mere employee, a “cog in the machine,” Alva's machine.

Metcalf begins secretly using Alva resources to create the hardware, software, and technology that becomes Hardware.  Metcalf also discovers that Alva is secretly a powerful crime boss.  Metcalf as Hardware begins his war against Alva, destroying Alva's criminal machine one piece at a time.  However, Hardware also rings up a high body county, so will he lose his soul in his personal war against his boss?

THE LOWDOWN:  When the discussion of black superheroes pops up, it often turns to the question of whether actual African-Americans as writers would tell better stories about Black superheroes than writers who are white.  Of course, some always say skin color doesn’t really matter, but they’re always white, speaking from the perspective of advantage and of white privilege.

A white man can certainly write really good comic books featuring African-American characters.  In the 1970’s, Marv Wolfman and Chris Claremont wrote excellent darkly comic and bloody horrific stories featuring Marvel Comics’ vampire hunter, Blade.  But there’s just something about a writer who has lived as a black man in America writing stories about a fictional character that is not just a black superhero, but also a black person living in America.

But sometimes, being a black writer spinning a narrative about a black character does matter.  Witness the short-lived, mid-1990’s comic book series, Hardware.  Hardware was the first comic book published by Milestone Media.  Milestone was an imprint of DC Comics that sought to publish superhero comic books featuring a more diverse cast in terms of skin color and ethnicity, in particularly African-Americans.  In the case of Dwayne McDuffie, who died in 2011, Hardware’s scribe and co-creator, the title had a storyteller who certainly understood what it was to be a talented African-American who repeatedly bangs his head against the glass ceiling of white privilege, of white supremacy, and of white racism.

What McDuffie gave Hardware was the sense of being more than just a fictional character with a skin color default setting (as many, if not most, white comic book characters are).  McDuffie made the character, in a sense, an idealized version of a black man struggling to prove that he can be and is exceptional in spite of what others may expect of him based on his skin color.

It is not impossible for a white man to write a title like Hardware.  Still, there is something that rings true and feels genuine about the African-American experience in McDuffie’s work on Hardware.  From the opening scene in which a young Curt Metcalf studies the parakeet that will not stop banging its head against the glass window for freedom to the scene of an adult Metcalf learning to check his rage and see the bigger picture of his revenge, McDuffie was likely writing what he knew, but regardless, it reads like the truth.  That is what made McDuffie not just a really good black writer of comic books, but an exceptional comic book writer when compared to just about any other comic book scribe.

Hardware is not perfect.  The character blends Marvel's Iron Man with DC Comics' Batman, but the storytelling and graphic design seem to owe a lot to the big guns and high-tech gadget superheroes that defined most of the early Image Comics superhero titles of the 1990s.  The issues that make up Hardware: The Man in the Machine focus on Curt Metcalf's violent, ruthless, and gory war of revenge.  Hardware is indeed an “angry black man,” and that makes the series mostly stuck in violent mode early on.  Hardware is not Dwayne McDuffie's best work, but it is unique.  Also, there is the chance to enjoy the inventive designs and imaginative compositions of another under-appreciated black comic book creator, the great artist, Denys Cowan.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Milestone Comics will want to read Hardware: The Man in the Machine.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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