#IReadsYou Review: WWE #1

WWE No. 1
BOOM! STUDIOS – @boomstudios

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dennis Hopeless
ART: Serg Acuna
COLORS: Doug Garbark
LETTERS: Jim Campbell
EDITORS: Jasmine Amiri and Eric Harburn
COVER: Dan Mora
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jamal Campbell; Rob Guillory; Oliver Barrett; Adam Riches; Brent Schoonover; Scott Newman; Corbyn Kern; Daniel Warren Johnson; Mike Henderson; Fabio Valle; Nakia Mann; Audrey Mok; Jerry Gaylord
24pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(January 2017)

“Breaking of The Shield”

WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is an American integrated media company and entertainment company known primarily as a professional wrestling league.  It is also a media and entertainment brand that includes licensed products like toys and clothing... and comic books.

As far as I can tell, the first WWE licensed comic books were first published a decade ago.  First, Titan Books of the United Kingdom published their wrestling comic book, WWE Heroes, with publication dates both in 2010 and 2011.  NBM Publishing, under its “Super Genius” imprint, published a comic book, WWE Superstars, with publication dates beginning in 2013 and possibly ending in 2016.

Beginning in 2016, BOOM! Studios published several “WWE” branded comic books, including an ongoing series, WWE, that ran for 25 issues from 2017 to 2019.  The main story in each issue of WWE was produced by the creative team of writer Dennis Hopeless; artist Serg Acuna; colorist Doug Garbark; and letterer Jim Campbell, as far as I can tell, for the duration of the series.

WWE #1 (“Breaking of The Shield”) opens with Seth Rollins, a member “The Shield,” one of the most dominant factions in WWE history, winning his latest match.  Seth, the ultimate opportunist, uses his victory to split with his partners in The Shield, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.  Seth apparently betrays his mates at the best of the legendary wrestler, “Triple H,” the self-styled “King of Kings” who is now the authority in control of WWE.

Now, Seth is eager to prove that he is ready to fight for the “WWE Championship,” but his ambition puts him on a collision course with his former brothers.  And just what are Triple H's plans for Seth Rollins... really?

I never thought I would say this, but I liked WWE #1.  I was a wrestling fan as a 'tween, but after that, I rarely watched any matches on television.  In the time since then, I have sometimes watched a few minutes of professional wrestling produced by the WWE (formerly the WWF) and a few other pro wrestling organizations.  I find myself mildly interested, but watching pro wrestling would mean cutting into time I give to other entertainment and pastimes.

WWE #1 interests me because writer Dennis Hopeless tells an intriguing tale in the worlds of professional sports and in the entertainment industry.  That is the story of an ambitious ladder-climber who will betray any and everyone for his shot at making it to the top.  Such blind ambition can get you what you want, but that sometimes comes at the cost of losing things, both exterior (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) and interior (self-respect, peace of mind, pride, etc.).  By telling such a story, Hopeless sets up the WWE's atmosphere both of intrigue and backstabbing and of hope and glory, which could make for an engaging comic book series.

Artist Serg Acuna captures the brawniness and vitality of the wrestlers and also the pro wrestlers' propensity to strike quickly at opponents and adversaries.  Acuna's compositions have energy and suggest a sense of movement, and that is well served by Doug Garbark's tone-perfect coloring.  Letterer Jim Campbell pounds out the story in lettering that smartly tends to hang at the edges of the panels.  This doubles the power of the story, which is told in muscular illustrations and in Hopeless' straightforward dialogue and exposition.

I am not saying that WWE #1 is great, but it is quite good.  The highest praise that I can give it is to say that I will seek out WWE back issues.

7.5 out of 10

[This comic book features the back-up story, “The New Day's Optimistic Odyssey” Part 2, written by Ross Thibodeaux; drawn by Rob Guillory; colored by Taylor Wells; and lettered by Jim Campbell.]

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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Review: STAR WARS: Vader - Dark Visions #1

STAR WARS: VADER – DARK VISIONS No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum
ART: Paolo Villanelli
COLORS: Arif Prianto
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Greg Smallwood
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Elia Bonetti; Leinil Franics Yu with Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2019)

Rated T

“Part 1 of 5

Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is a new five-issue, Star Wars comic book miniseries from Marvel Comics.  The series presents characters who view the Star Wars universe's ultimate villain, Darth Vader, in ways that are different from how most familiar Star Wars characters view the Sith Lord.  Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is written by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum.  The art team for the first issue is comprised of illustrator Paolo Villanelli; colorist Arif Prianto; and letterer Joe Caramagna.

Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1 opens on a lush green, but devastated world where we meet a young native boy.  The boy, who also narrates this story, refers to his world as “Cianap.”  His people live underground, but enjoy a brief time above ground, a time called “the Slumber.”  While enjoying the current season of the Slumber, our narrator witnesses a fireball that explodes above Cianap's atmosphere.  This conflagration is the result of a fierce battle above the planet between forces of the Galactic Empire and of the Rebel Alliance.

One of the participants in the battle is Darth Vader, whose TIE fighter is damaged, forcing him to crash land on Cianap.  When Vader emerges from his fighter, to the boy, he looks like a “Black Knight.”  To the boy, this Black Knight may be the one to save his world from the god called “Ender.”

Fans of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, especially the Star Wars novels, remember the series of novels now known as the “Thrawn trilogy.”  In the second novel of the three, Dark Force Rising (1992), Princess Leia visits the planet, Honoghr, where the denizens of the world view Darth Vader as a savior (a matter which turns out to be a bit more complicated).  When I first read the novel, I became intrigued by the idea of people and sentient beings who viewed Vader as some kind of hero or savior, especially people that did not directly serve or work for the Empire.  In the years since, I have waited for someone to take that idea present in Dark Force Rising and expand on it.

In this standalone story that is Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1, the writer Dennis Hallum (who previously wrote under the pen name, “Dennis Hopeless”) offers a nice tale that satisfies may craving for Vader-as-hero.  Hallum's story has a fairy tale quality, and it strips Darth Vader of the complexities that surround the character and focuses on his power and on the striking nature of his black costume-suit and physicality.  At thirty pages in length, this story, which is more like a campfire tale, is a nice Star Wars tale, a desert for readers who are used to the main Star Wars narratives, which often seem like the storytelling equivalent of a elaborate, dark, and heavy 12-course meal.

Artist Paolo Villanelli's illustrations for Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1 have an eye-catching quality and remind me of the work of Bryan Hitch.  Villanelli's storytelling here is stirring and always seems to be striving forward, carrying the reader just as the boy-narrator is dragged along by the circumstances of an epic battle.  Colorist Arif Prianto offers a muted palette that still manages to make the story crackle, and, as usual, Joe Caramagna delivers lettering that makes the story bigger.

I hope the rest of Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is like this really nice first issue.  I heartily recommend it to Star Wars comic book readers.  And it gives me what I want – characters who have a view askew of Darth Vader.

8 out of 10

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


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

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Review: THE ANSWER! #4

THE ANSWER! #4
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton
SCRIPT: Dennis Hopeless
ART/COVER: Mike Norton
COLORS: Mark Englert
LETTERS: Crank!
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2013)

Part 4 of 4

The final issue of The Answer! does provide some answers. It also made me ask a lot more questions.

The Answer!, a four-issue comic book miniseries created by writer Dennis Hopeless (Avengers Arena) and artist Mike Norton (Battlepug), comes to end. The series focuses on Devin McKenzie, a research librarian, and The Answer!, an odd, masked crime fighter with a giant exclamation point on his face mask. Both characters are embroiled in a conspiracy surrounding a mysterious motivational speaker and a secret organization.

As The Answer! #4 opens, the director of the Brain Trust shows his crazy side. That is, however, not the biggest crazy. Chip Carney, the motivational speaker, reveals how he is tied to the Brain Trust. He even reveals his connection to Devin’s past. Now, Carney confronts Devin with the Anaximander Codex. Will The Answer! save the day? Can the mystery man save himself? Or will Devin have to save herself before Chemical X turns her brain to mush?

This comic book review of The Answer! #4 first has to say that the series offers an enjoyable ending and an explosive conclusion. In fact, there are actual explosions. Also, the strangeness, that the first issue of the series offered, returns, both in the execution of the story by the artists and in the story itself.

I noticed, particularly in this final issue, that Mike Norton’s art has a quality similar to John Byrne and Jerry Ordway’s Fantastic Four art back in the 1980s. That is fitting, as there is a vibe to The Answer! that suggests past comics. In the end, the best thing that I can say about The Answer! is that I certainly want another miniseries.

Readers wondering if they can find a superhero comic book that is both offbeat and fun to read have The Answer!

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: THE ANSWER! #3

THE ANSWER! #3
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton
SCRIPT: Dennis Hopeless
ART/COVER: Mike Norton
COLORS: Mark Englert
LETTERS: Crank!
PIN-UP: Francesco Francavilla with Dominic Marco
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2013)

Part 3 of 4

We get closer to the Answer in the latest issue of The Answer!

Created by writer Dennis Hopeless (Avengers Arena) and artist Mike Norton (Battlepug), The Answer! is a four-issue comic book miniseries. The series follows Devin McKenzie, a research librarian, and The Answer!, an odd, masked crime fighter with a giant exclamation point on his face mask, both of whom are embroiled in a conspiracy surrounding a mysterious motivational speaker.

As The Answer! #3 opens, Devin McKenzie is living out her dream at the Brain Trust. She’s eating her favorite foods, and all she has to do all day is think big thoughts. High on “brain boost,” she doesn’t have a care in the world, but fellow thinker, Kara, is about to rock Devin’s comfortable world. And what is the Anaximander Codex?

Meanwhile, the Answer is stuck in a nuthouse nightmare. Strapped do a gurney and in a hospital gown, the strange superhero finds himself in a predicament. When he tries to escape, the hero ends up with his ass hanging out and a chemical in his brain that disconnects his central nervous system. Devin and the Answer will have to wake up and work together if they are going to unravel the mysteries of the Brain Trust.

After the novelty of the first issue of The Answer! wore off for me with the second issue, The Answer! #3 makes me say that the thrill is not gone. Mystery, eccentric characters, by-the-skin-of-their-teeth escapes, and fisticuffs – all with a humorous bent – are what this series does well. There are more revelations, and less of the coy act the second issue put on. The killer ending here prepares the way for what will likely be a good end. Read this series.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: THE ANSWER! #1

THE ANSWER! #1
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton
SCRIPT: Dennis Hopeless
ART/COVER: Mike Norton
COLORS: Mark Englert
LETTERS: Crank!
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Part 1 of 4

Mike Norton is the creator of the Eisner Award-winning web comic, Battlepug. Dennis Hopeless is a writer for Marvel Comics (Avengers Arena). The Answer! is a new, four-issue comic book miniseries created by Hopeless and Norton. The series focuses on a librarian and an odd, masked crime fighter.

In The Answer! #1, we meet Devin McKenzie, an insomniac librarian who works at a research library. Devin has a knack for solving puzzles, which results in an out-of-the-ordinary 30th birthday gift from her mother. The gift leads to the “apeiron” website and Chip Carney, an ominous-seeming motivational speaker. When things go crazy, things get really crazy when Devin meets The Answer!, a masked crime fighter with a giant exclamation point on his face mask.

The cover for The Answer! #1, by co-creator and series artist, Mike Norton, does not convey how different this series is. I don’t know if The Answer! is a superhero; he seems like a costumed hero/masked man type – more like The Spirit than Batman. So The Answer! comes across less like a superhero fantasy and more like a mystery series featuring a resourceful heroine. This is a girl-on-the-run tale, and of course, there is a man of mystery who happens to understand the conspiracy set against our girl-hero.

And I love it. I like Norton’s clean, traditional art, which owes more to Alan Davis than to Bryan Hitch. Dennis Hopeless’ script is smart, funny, and (dare I say) sassy, like its heroine. Although I think that this first issue offers too much teasing, for my taste, I am delightfully surprised, and I want to read #2, now! Readers wondering if they can find something both offbeat and good will find The Answer!

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: THE ANSWER! #2

THE ANSWER! #2
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton
SCRIPT: Dennis Hopeless
ART/COVER: Mike Norton
COLORS: Mark Englert
LETTERS: Crank!
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Part 2 of 4

We’re still waiting for The Answer! The Answer! is a four-issue comic book miniseries created by writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Mike Norton. Norton is the creator of the Eisner Award-winning web comic, Battlepug, and Hopeless is a writer for Marvel Comics (Avengers Arena). The series focuses on Devin McKenzie, a research librarian, and The Answer!, an odd, masked crime fighter with a giant exclamation point on his face mask.

As The Answer! #2 opens, Devin McKenzie has been on the run with The Answer! ever since he broke into Newberry Library, the research library where she worked. Now, the mismatched pair faces off against a small army of brawny men dressed in medical scrubs. While the hero fights off the muscular brutes, a mysterious trio absconds with Devin. The three strangers claim to be from an organization and quasi-secret society called the Brain Trust, and they say they want Devin’s smarts.

The novelty of The Answer! being different from other superhero comics has slightly worn off for me. The series is, at this point, still hiding too many things. This goes beyond “the mystery deepens” and has just become withholding-info-just-to-be-cute. Still, The Answer! makes me think of the 1980s ABC romantic-comedy and crime series, Moonlighting, so I’m ready to read #3.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux