Terra Formars: Rendezvous

I read Terra Formars, Vol. 7

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Review: WE ARE ROBIN #1

WE ARE... ROBIN #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review originally appeared on Patreon.]

STORY: Lee Bermejo
ART: Jorge Corona; Khary Randolph (Epilogue)
BREAKDOWNS: Rob Haynes
COLORS: Trish Mulvihill; Emilio Lopez (Epilogue)
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Lee Bermejo
VARIANT COVER: James Harvey
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T” for Teen

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger; Robin created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson

“We are... Robin!”

The DC Comics character, Robin, is best known as Batman's sidekick/partner.  Robin's civilian identity, Dick Grayson, was Bruce Wayne's young ward.  Robin/Dick Grayson was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson to serve as a junior counterpart to Batman and first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (cover date:  April 1940).  Eventually, Dick Grayson became a new superhero, Nightwing, and over the last 30 years, there have been other Robins.

As part of the “DCYou” event/publishing initiative, there are several aspiring teenage vigilantes in Gotham City taking the moniker, “Robin.”  The focus will be on Duke Thomas, an African-American teenager previously introduced in the Batman story arc, “Zero Year,” and who becomes part of the movement to fight crime in Gotham.  Duke and the other teens are the stars of the new comic book series, We Are... Robin.  It is written by Lee Bermejo; drawn by Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, and Khary Randolph; colored by Trish Mulvihill and Emilio Lopez; and lettered by Tom Napolitano.

We Are... Robin #1 (“We are... Robin!”) opens with Duke Thomas on the receiving end of a schoolyard beat-down.  That means Dr. Leslie Thompkins will have to find the orphaned teen another foster home.  Duke doesn't want to sit around in another  foster home/dump.  He would rather discover the fate of his parents who were exposed to the “Joker toxin” (in the Batman story arc, “Endgame.”).  His search takes him underground where he finds trouble and also a group of admirers.

We Are... Robin #1 is not as well-composed as the first issue of the new series, Robin: Son of Batman, but I will give it a chance.  As someone who was once a Black child who wanted to be Robin in order to have adventures with Batman, I can certainly buy into the central conceit of We Are Robin.  I can also find myself becoming a huge Duke Thomas fan.

Lee Bermejo is an acclaimed comic book artist, but here, he is the writer.  However, he does provide the cover art for We Are... Robin #1, and it is a striking illustration, indeed.  However, Bermejo's drawing style is also strikingly different from the interior art, but I like the series artists; their styles seem as if they will work for We Are... Robin.

In some promotional information released for We Are... Robin, Bermejo said “We Are... Robin is a new approach to showcase diversity in the DC Universe for readers.”  Too bad someone can't showcase the diversity of DC Comics by showcasing the work of more African-American creators, especially writers.  For the time being, however, I can settle for more White women and Asian-American/Canadian creators because, in the DCYou, there is a Black kid trying to be Robin.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: ONE-PUNCH MAN Volume 1

ONE-PUNCH MAN, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: ONE
ART: Yusuke Murata
TRANSLATION: John Werry
LETTERS: James Gaubatz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8564-2; paperback (September 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Created by manga creator, ONE, One-Punch Man began as a web comic.  It quickly went viral and garnered over 10 million hits.  Japanese manga publisher, Shueisha (which is also VIZ Media's parent company), eventually secured the publishing rights to the series.  One-Punch Man was remade, with acclaimed manga artist, Yusuke Murata, best known for his work on the football series, Eyeshield 21, as the series' new artist.

One-Punch Man is the name of the man and the manga.  When he was 22-years-old, Saitama started training to be a superhero.  Now, 25-years-old, Saitama is a superhero.  He just does not look like it, with his lifeless facial expression, his bald head, and his unimpressive physique.  But he beats the snot out of supervillains with one punch.

As One-Punch Man, Vol. 1 (entitled One Punch; Chapters 1 to 8) begins, Saitama is in danger of being bored to death.  He just beat the latest city-wrecking villain with one punch.  He beats another, and another, and even an invasion of subterranean monsters.  Then, a girl who controls a mega-mosquito swarm and a cyborg teen named “Genos” arrive in City Z.

[This volume includes bonus manga.]

Digital manga readers already have access to Vols. 1-7 of the One-Punch Man manga via VIZManga.com and the VIZ MANGA App for the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch, Android-powered smart phones and tablets.  Those same volumes can also be purchased through the Nook, Kindle, Kobo, comiXology, iBooks and GooglePlay stores.

VIZ Media is simultaneously publishing the first two volumes of One-Punch Man in print editions.  For a limited time, readers could read the first three chapters of One-Punch Man Volume 1 for free at VIZManga.com.  As entertaining as those first three chapters are, however, they do not do justice to the out-sized fun of One-Punch Man.

I love the superhero anime, Tiger & Bunny, and its manga adaptation, and I love One-Punch Man because it is a blast of superhero fun done in a different way.  Tiger & Bunny is a Japanese take on superheroes that is eccentric, but would not really seem like the odd-comic-out if placed among American superhero comic books.

One-Punch Man is a shonen battle manga with a superhero as its lead character and protagonist, but all the other characters (at least early in the narrative) are staples of shonen action fantasy.  One-Punch Man's writer, who goes by the name, ONE, unleashes his inner kid as he unleashes a series of monsters, demons, minions, man-beasts, and evil men on one hapless city after another.  Mass mayhem and destruction ensue.

Artist Yusuke Murata brings ONE's imagination to life in graphical storytelling that epitomizes the “dynamic storytelling” that Stan Lee pitched with gusto in How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.  Also, the art is so pretty, so detailed, and so full of texture and magnitude.  I love this manga, and I think that if you keep reading past the first three chapters, you will love it, also.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: ROBIN: Son of Batman #1

ROBIN: SON OF BATMAN #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY/PENCILS: Patrick Gleason
INKS: Mick Gray
COLORS: John Kalisz
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Patrick Gleason with John Kalisz
VARIANT COVER: Robbi Rodriguez
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T” for Teen

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

“Year of Blood” Part One

Damian Wayne is the (illegitimate) son of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, and thus, the grandson of Batman villain, Ra's al Ghul, Talia's father.  An unnamed male infant credited as Batman and Talia's child first appeared in the original graphic novel, Batman: Son of the Demon.  Other writers would later compose speculative stories about the child's life.  In Batman #655, writer Grant Morrison reinterpreted that child as Damian Wayne, the centerpiece of the story arc, “Batman and Son.”

Damian Wayne was eventually killed off and then resurrected.  He is now the star of a new comic book, Robin: Son of Batman, which is part of the “DCYou” publishing initiative.  It is written and penciled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Mick Gray, colored by John Kalisz, and lettered by Tom Napolitano.

Robin: Son of Batman #1 (“Year of Blood” Part One) opens in Bialya, where Damian/Robin is confronting Abush.  The self-proclaimed king is holding Goliath (“Don't call him a man-bat”) prisoner.  There will be bigger threats for Damian to face.  The first is the revenge seeking daughter of Morgan Ducard a.k.a. “Nobody,” whom Damian apparently killed.  Secondly, Damian will have to face his legacy as an al Ghul in the “Year of Blood.”

I am definitely adding Robin: Son of Batman to my reading list.  Next to the Bat-Mite miniseries, Robin is, thus far, one of the “DCYou” titles that I have enjoyed reading the most.  Writer-artist Patrick Gleason has created a story that reminds me of the international adventure that was a big part of Robin, the 1991 five-issue miniseries.  I am intrigued and pleased that Gleason seems willing to dig into the darkness that is part of Damian Wayne the way Batman writers have obsessed over depicting the darkness within Bruce Wayne, especially over the last four decades

Even as a longtime comic book reviewer I have been reluctant to heartily recommend a superhero comic book title to all of my readers, even the ones who do not read superhero comics.  Well, I heartily recommend Robin: Son of Batman to all of you – superhero, alt-comix, indie, and manga readers alike.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: KOMOMO CONFISERIE Volume 1

KOMOMO CONFISERIE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Maki Minami
TRANSLATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: John Hunt
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8139-2; paperback (September 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

The works of manga creator, Maki Minami, include Kanata no Ao (Faraway Blue), S•A (Special A), and Voice Over! Seiyu Academy.  VIZ Media is publishing her new series, Komomo Confiserie, under the company’s “Shojo Beat” imprint, with new volumes scheduled for release in print and digitally on a quarterly basis.  Komomo Confiserie is available digitally via VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores.

Komomo Confiserie focuses on Komomo Ninomiya.  As a little girl, 6-year-old Komomo delighted in picking on 5-year-old Natsu Azumi, the son of her family’s pastry chef.  Ten years later, her family fortune is lost, and 15-year-old Komomo has no place to live.  She encounters Natsu again.  He is a 15-year-old prodigy patissier who has returned to Japan to care for the family business, Méli-Mélo, a confiserie.  Now, Natsu the master pastry chef will help Komomo, but only if she works for him at his new confiserie!

Komomo Confiserie, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens with a recollection of the past, 10 years earlier.  Komomo is a spoiled princess, who picks on young Natsu.  The truth is, however, that she loves the sweet treats the boy can prepare, even at his young age.  In the present day, Komomo is broke, living in a boarding house, and keeps losing her wage-slave jobs.

Her savior arrives, and he even has a new place for her stay – right above the family confection shop.  He's the boss, and now, he delivers the torments.  Meanwhile, Natsu's pal from France, 23-year-old Yuri Lacroix, is coming to join the fun.

[This volume includes two bonus manga.]

I am not sure that I will enjoy the Komomo Confiserie manga as much as I enjoyed creator Maki Minami's previous manga, Voice Over! Seiyu Academy.  But there is a chance that I will.

Komomo Confiserie Volume 1 introduces a heroine in Komomo Ninomiya that has potential.  She is naive, but worldly.  She is bedraggled, but determined to be on top again.  She is a crybaby with the stiff spine of a stoic.  Yes, Komomo Confiserie has potential, and I want to see what the next volume has to offer.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: DCYou "BATMAN BEYOND #1

BATMAN BEYOND (2015) #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Jurgens
ART: Bernard Chang
COLORS: Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERS: Dave Sharpe
COVER: Bernard Chang with Marcelo Maiolo
VARIANT COVER: Kalman Andrasofszky
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T” for Teen

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Fingerprint

“Brave New Worlds”

The animated television series, “Batman Beyond,” debuted in January 1999.  Set in a futuristic Gotham City (Neo-Gotham), the series introduced a teen-aged Batman, Terry McGinnis, a 17-year-old high school student.  A reformed troublemaker, the athletic teen had a sense of personal justice, and circumstances lead him to steal the “Batsuit.”  Eventually, the elderly Bruce Wayne accepted Terry as the new Batman and guided the teen in his exploits.

This future Terry McGinnis Batman crossed over into DC Comics and eventually became part of its mainstream universe (the DCU).  An older version of Tim Drake, the third teen to become Batman's sidekick and partner, Robin, has replaced McGinnis as the future Batman.  Drake is now the star of the “DCYou” relaunch of Batman Beyond.  This new Batman Beyond is written by Dan Jurgens, drawn by Bernard Chang, colored by Marcelo Maiolo, and lettered by Dave Sharpe.

Batman Beyond #1 (“Brave New Worlds”) presents THE definitive future of the DCU (according to DC Comics).  It is, however, different from the world of the original Batman Beyond.  Tim Drake is a future Batman without Bruce Wayne to guide him.  Drake fights to keep Neo-Gotham safe from Brother Eye, which destroyed the future.

Outside the safe confines of the city, Drake is about to meet a mysterious, but familiar ally who might be able to help Batman in the fight to raise humanity from an opponent that has already won.  Meanwhile, Terry McGinnis' younger brother, Matt, wonders if, under different circumstances, his older brother would have given him the Batsuit.

I had misgivings about this new Batman Beyond series; I don't know why.  However, the series is in safe hands with Dan Jurgens, who was one of the writers on The New 52: Future's End, the weekly event miniseries that was the precursor to this new Batman Beyond.  Artist Bernard Chang offers solid storytelling, eye-pleasing compositions, and sharp graphic design that looks even better with Marcelo Maiolo's coloring.  I think I will add Batman Beyond to my reading list.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You September Morn

It's another September 2015 to remember.  Welcome to I Reads You, a ComicBookBin web and sister publication (www.comicbookbin.com).  We write about the things we read:  mostly comic books, comics, and related books.  Sometimes, we’ll write about or link to other topics:  typically books, politics, and entertainment.

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