Comic Book Reviews: Week of 02/11/09
May contain SPOILERS!
The Walking Dead #58
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Art by: Charlie Adlard
If you are reading this on Robotpanic.com, that means several things:
1. Obviously you like comics just by reading this review
2. You like zombies.
3. You may even like zombies IN comics.
Much akin to the legendary amalgamation of peanut butter and chocolate, zombies and comics are becoming two halves of the same whole. And NO ONE mixes both ingredients as well as Robert Kirkman. 5 years into his legendary series, The Walking Dead, Kirkman has yet to let his fans down. I mean legendary series as in the fact that there is a 99.9% chance that when this zombie vs. human survivor, drama/action/thriller tale is completed, it will be regarded as an absolute must read. It will be mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, and Kingdom Come. I am not fucking with you.
If by some absolutely astounding reason that you read comics and ARE NOT reading this, you need to stop buying whatever issue you think you might need and pick up EVERY SINGLE ISSUE OF WALKING DEAD. By issue 1′s end, you will be hooked, or dare I say, you will be zombified? You will not be able to put this series down until you have read every available issue. So that being said, onto this month’s ish.
58 deals with the aftermath of Rick’s explosively violent outburst in issue 57. By viciously lashing back at would be road bandits, he not only saved his own skin, but his son’s, Carl, and the new found “friend”, Abraham. Discussing their various pasts, each is spilling their hearts about what it takes to survive in a world where it may come down to survival of the fittest, even in it’s most cruelest sense. Each man describes the horrors of trying desperately to save their own family, and the terror of coming to realize that they might not be able to. Each reaffirming that they are all in this together, like it or not.
Casting aside differences in pursuit of some kind of escape from the invading horde of zombies, survivors in the Walking Dead have come to realize that the undead outside might not be so terrifying as the living on the inside. Sometimes your dearest friend might just be your worst enemy or vice versa. And this is what is so great about The Walking Dead. Each issue, Kirkman manages to twist your emotions and likewise to the characters. They have been simply put through the wringer over the course of the series. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As depressing as this series is, and by god this issue is definitely one of the most depressing and emotional issues I’ve ever read, the scenes with characters just talking are far better than the ones with pure action. Characters letting loose with heart felt drama really cements this book as one of the finest stories out there. Never before have pencil and ink drawn characters felt so human and lifelike. Each character has their own voice, style and feel to them. Kirkman has a finely crafted work here, and each month it shows. Sure, there is a time when a good zombie murder spree is in order, but it is issues like this that I most look forward to. Characters sitting around and discussing life can be as beautifully chaotic.
I cannot state this anymore clearly. You absolutely MUST be reading this series.
Green Lantern Corps 33
Written by: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils by: Patrick Gleason
Well here we are, the road to “Blackest Night”. If “Blackest Night” turns out to be anything like the “Sinestro Corps Wars” did, I will be ecstatic. Already been introduced to the newest Lanterns, “Blackest Night” hints at a new Black Lantern, with an evil agenda.
But before we get to the Blackest Night prequel of this issue, the main storyline is in order. The new self proclaimed leader of the Yellow Lanterns, Mongul, holds congress with the Yellow Corps. Declaring himself ruler of the Corps, he is not welcomed so easily. Arkillo steps up to challenge Mongul’s authority. Battle ensues. We are also shown an interesting scene between a Sapphire and a Green Lantern. An interesting discussion occurs between the two involving love and death. One Lantern cannot feel love while the other’s duty is to protect love. Also, Kyle Rayner, having found out his true love with the help of the Sapphires, reaffirms it with Soranik, a fellow Green Lantern. Green Lantern law decrees love between Lanterns is illegal, yet when the decision to fight and die in a difficult battle or to be with the one you love most is placed in front of a Green Lanterns member, most have chosen to quit the Lanterns and be with their loved ones. Leaving the Corps in dwindling numbers. The constantly ascending death toll to the Corps isn’t helping matters either.
Kyle Rayner and Guy decide to make a tribute to the fallen soldiers. Which leads us to the Blackest Night prequel.
Kyle and Guy are joined by other Green Lantern members. This is one of the calmest scenes in recent Green Lantern history. And some of the most amusing. But during the joyful event, we bear witness to the slow birth of the Black Lanterns. It is a stark contrast to the joyous tribute being held amongst Green Lantern ranks. With clever visual foreshadowing and not too subtle metaphors, we are given the hint that Blackest Night will begin consuming the Lantern universe. Definitely a creepy and foreboding tale is unfolding. Evil occurrences are sure to arrive very soon.
RETRO REVIEW:
The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past
Written by: Chris Claremont
Art by: John Byrne
Ask any X-fan to list off their favorite mutant stories and 99.9% of the time, “Days of Future Past” will be in their top 3, if not higher. By now, alternate realities are played out, especially in the X-Men universe, but “Days of Future Past” is the single most influential future tale written. It has been copied and revisited countless times, but none can match up to the original. Chris Claremont single handedly reshaped comics, forever. He is widely regarded as a legend in comics. Spinning tales such as the “Dark Phoenix Saga” and the simply brilliant “God Loves, Man Kills”, but as great as these are, they cannot eclipse “Days of Future Past”. And he contained this fantastic story in two issues! 2! Nowadays it would take a writer to accomplish such a task over the course of eight issues.
“Days” is the dystopic tale of an alternate future that holds a world who has finally attacked mutant-kind, either locking them up and forcing them to be registered, or by simply killing them. Most of the country’s mutants fall into either catagory, but one important one remains alive, yet placed into a mutant internment camp; Kitty Pryde. Kitty is chosen to be the “bridge” between the current, alternate future and the past. She is the guinea pig for Rachel Summers telepathy powers. Using her telepathy, Rachel sends Kitty’s mind back into the past to warn the X-Men about the Brotherhood of Mutants attempt to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly, the biggest proponent of mutant registration. In the alternate future, we learn that the X-men failed to stop the Brotherhood, thus leading to the death of Senator Kelly and the birth of the mutant registration and in turn, the internment camps and overabundance of Sentinels.
Over the course of the story, Kitty does succeed in helping the X-men stop the Brotherhood, but the alternate future stills exists, just in another timeline. So she did help the past avoid the apocalyptic outcome.
Like I said earlier, this whole story takes place over the course of two issues. That doesn’t mean that the story isn’t dense with dialogue and narration. Quite the opposite. Back in the 80′s and 90′s and even before, comics where quite different than the ones we read today. The stories are much more fleshed out and loaded with exposition. Thought balloons and narration panels liter the pages. They were a much heavier read than what we find today. So if you are new to reading past issues of X-men comics or frankly any older issues of any character or team, you will find this fact to be true almost immediately. It was just a different way of telling stories back then.
That being said, “Days” doesn’t let up. Every scene is pretty much vital to the overall tale. Each page reveals more about the current predicament of both the past and future timelines. “Days” is truly a essential read for any X-men fan.
Given the fact that we have seen more alternate futures than we probably should be forced to, “Days of Future Past” is one of the best. It has been emulated to death. Few have ever achieved what it has. Currently, the new Wolverine series is dealing with an alternate future storyline and it is shaping up to be fantastic. So, it has been a long time coming and shows that there is room for others, but none will be quite as memorable as “Days of Future Past”.
Also, anyone interested in learning more about the X-men, check out the Uncanny X-Cast podcast. The show is uploaded bi-weekly, due to the fact that they only review and discuss X-men related books. It is in my top 3 favorite podcasts, following Drunken Gamers and SModcast of course. Each episode, Uncanny X-Cast features current age books and retro reviews. The retro reviews are in sequence. In earlier episodes, they started with Uncanny X-men #1 and have since worked their way up to Secret Wars 2. It is a long episode, ranging from 2 hours to just about 3 hours in length, but it is worth listening to. The hosts have uncanny chemistry and mix in humor with a shit ton of knowledge of the X-men universe. Check them out here! (Sorry, Panicbot 5000! Don’t destroy me for mentioning another podcast!)
My Next Week’s Pull List
Marvel
Amazing Spider-man 587
Dark Avengers 2
Uncanny X-Men 506
X-Men Legacy 221
DC
Robin 183
Supergirl 183 (hey, it’s actually kinda good now)
Wrap Up
So with the New York Comic Con ending last weekend, we learned a lot about the upcoming comics scene. Blackest Night holds popular, and big stuff is in store for Batman in Battle For the Cowl. Also, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting will helm the June-ish release of “The Marvel’s Project”. An origin of the Marvel Universe starring Captain America, the original Human Torch, Bucky and Namor. Those two are consistantly outstanding in what they do, and I look forward to this with anticipation.
Gamewise, we got a lot of previews for upcoming games. Comic Con is apparently not just about comics, go figure. We got to witness the unveiling of the new Marvel Ultimate Alliance trailer, dubbed efficiently as Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Basically it will be centered around the Civil War conflict. While I never finished the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I do look forward to this upcoming one, even though Iron Man looks pretty bad in this trailer. And bad as in bad, crappy looking, awful, etc.
See ya next week!
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Tags: comics, green lantern, walking dead, x-men
