We’re now in Week #2 of DC’s Villains month and the evil is truly mounting up. Will DC survive?
Geoff Johns had been building a massive fanbase through his years at DC by reinventing Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the entire Justice League, infusing them all with clever, creative writing. Now the entire New 52 Universe is at his mercy with the crossover mini-series “Forever Evil”. At the end of the 6-issue “Trinity War” that spanned all three Justice League titles, readers were shocked to find Superman dying from a sliver of kryptonite implanted in his brain, Cyborg separated from his metal cybernetic side (now running independently as the Ultron-like “Grid”), and most importantly, a villainous JLA from another dimension now transported to the New 52 Universe. Fans of the DC direct-to-dvd-animated-features line may recognize the Crime Syndicate from the recent “Justice League : Crisis Of Two Earths” film, but the fact is, Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, etc. have been plaguing the DC Universe for decades throughout various storylines.
Got all that? A lot to digest at once, I know. In conjunction with the “Forever Evil” mini-series, 52 villains from the DC universe are getting their own special one-shot stories all month long as part of DC’s Villains Month. Before we dive into the actual comics, let’s take a moment to look at the really evil aspects :
NUMBERING : While each villain’s one shot is labelled on the cover as a #1 issue, they ALSO effectively take over the title they would normally appear in as a “supplemental” issue. In other words, Batman #23 is being followed by #23.1 for the Joker, # 23.2 for the Riddler, and so forth. From a collector’s standpoint, that can be a logistics nightmare. The indicia for the comics makes no mention of “Joker #1”, “Killer Frost # 1”, etc. but avid collectors may want to file them that way. Seriously, though, if the mini-series is going to run 7 issues, wouldn’t it be more sensible and collector friendly to use issues #24-30 to tell these stories?
3D INCENTIVE COVERS : Each issue is being released in two formats. The standard edition is $2.99 OR for $3.99 you can get the exact same issue with a glossy lenticular 3D cover. During the 1990’s, it was gimmicks like this (hologram covers, multiple variant covers, etc.) that caused the glut that made most people’s collections worthless on a financial level. If spending the additional $52 now to collect the special editions now makes you happy, that’s fine, but the $1 boxes at comic conventions are overflowing with the “specialty cover” issues from yesteryear, and it pains me to think that a few years down the road, 52 more will be joining them.
So now we get to the actual comics themselves.
FOREVER EVIL #1 opens with incredible artwork by David Finch and Richard Friend. It also opens with a shocking plot point. Shocking in that it was directly lifted from Marvel’s Civil War storyline. A major DC hero’s secret identity is revealed to dozens of super-villains (upon first reading I THOUGHT it was revealed to the world, but I was thankfully wrong). There are only so many ways of resolving this by the end of the story (Zatanna’s “Identity Crisis” mindwipe, a new identity for our hero…..) but I can’t see any of them leaving the fans happy. Still, if Geoff Johns wanted people’s attention, he sure gets it here.
JOKER #1 (Batman #23.1) is easily the most popular one-shot so far, thanks in part to the awesome cover by Jason Fabok & Nathan Fairbairn. Writer Andy Kubert makes several wise choices, starting with setting his story long before the events of Detective Comics #1. Rather than a standard origin issue, Kubert shows us the Joker’s distorted world view as he recruits a new henchman (well-known to fans of Batman #666). Andy Clarke’s artwork is a mixed bag, borrowing half of his style from Bill Sienkiewicz, but the parts that are strictly his own vision are well done. The twist ending alone makes this issue worth your while.
LOBO #1 (Justice League #23.2) is the most controversial one-shot so far. Longtime fans of “The Main Man” will be shocked as the character is re-RE-introduced to the New 52 universe. According to writer Marguerite Bennett, there are TWO “Last Czarnians” in the universe, one of whom resembling the “fragging expert” fans have supported for decades. The OTHER, however, more closely resembles the bastard offspring of Jacob and Edward from “Twilight”, and HE claims the Lobo we know is an “imposter”. Oddly, it’s the imposter that fans are familiar with who appears on the issue’s front cover. The Lobo of this issue tries to come off as cool but longtime fans are already raising their ire and pitchforks online.
DEADSHOT #1 (Justice League of America #7.1) is a personal favorite. Writer Matt Kinot has re-envisioned Deadshot’s origin in a way that fans should really appreciate, making him considerably more accessible. Sami Basri & Keith Champagne do a great job with the artwork. If there’s anywhere in all these one-shots that makes a good jumping-on point for NEW readers, this is the one to recommend, especially as it carries the main story further.
More reviews coming soon.
