Comic Books Reviews: Josh’s Haul 9/18/13
Green Lantern #23.3 (Black Hand)
Written By: Charles Coule
Art By: Alberto Ponticelli
The Black Hand has always been one of the more interesting characters in the Green Lantern Universe thanks to Geoff Johns and the Darkest Night story. We have seen him die and be “reborn” countless times and we again get to see that happen in this issue. This time it was a very interesting way that the ring reformed his body and added a new element to the power ring that might have not be thought of before.
The Green Lantern universe is one full of colors except when Black Hand is involved. Ponticelli does a great job with the death in the issue and really puts a lot of detail into the bodies. This is not an origin story as many of the villain month issue have been. This is just another interesting story about Black hand trying to determine who he is again and wanting to get revenge on Hal.
Overall, Black Hand is an interesting character and with him alive again readers can only hope he makes it back into a battle against the corps. The art worked well in this issue since it was a dark issue. Black Hand has risen again and maybe he will be a factor in Forever Evil.
Review Score:Â 5 (out of 7)
Swamp Thing #23.1 (Arcane)
Written By: Charles Coule
Art By: Jesus Saiz
Last we saw Arcane getting defeated in the rot world story line and sent to Hell. In this issue, we see Arcane awake it what appears to be a very beautiful peaceful place without death. Since there is no death there is no rot and this is what Arcane’s Hell looks like. This is a powerful character and seeing him basically defeated and not able to cause the fear and destruction he normally does, made for a boring issue.
The art looked great there was a nice mix between the colors and vibrant “Hell” and the decay that was present in the flashback pages. The art makes up for a story that just seems to kind of fall flat. With an issue such as this, more focus on Arcane would have been nice. There was one flash back when he was a boy that was interesting other then that it was a let down.
Overall, Arcane is an interesting and powerful character that was not done justice in this issue. More flashbacks on how be became the villain would have been nice. We know he will one day cause problems again and learning his history would have been nice.
Review Score:Â 3 (Out of 7)
Wonder Woman #23.1 (The Cheetah)
Written By: John Ostrander
Art By: Victor Ibanez Ramirez
The Cheetah has a messed up childhood, which works well for her character. This is a great way to do flashbacks and something that would have worked will with the Arcane issue. The flashbacks give the reader some insight into why The Cheetah is not a fan of Wonder Woman from the beginning. The flashback showing them together first worked well to establish this dislike.
The art was nothing to get very excited about, but was not bad by any means. The story will allowed the issue to flow nicely and helped create a decent backstory for the character while also showing that she might have a bigger part to play in Forever Evil.
Overall, The Cheetah story had good pacing while showing us what a messed up childhood the character had. Hopefully we get to she her face off against Wonder Woman in Forever Evil or in a later story at some point.
Review Score:Â 6 (Out of 7)
