Comic Book Reviews – Josh’s Haul 6/12/13
Batman #21
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
Well it has finally arrived Zero Year. I have been looking forward to seeing Snyder’s take on the early years of Batman. Many people may not want a new “origin” story, but with the respect Snyder and company feel about Year One, I was excited to see what they would do.
What occurs in this issue is something great. It is always tough to review the first issue in a new story arc but this seems to set up something excellent. I will at first it seemed very “wordy” at least more then a normal Snyder issue, but the artwork was beautiful and made gotham “pop”. It was nice seeing gotham in the daylight for once, with Bruce wanting to save Gotham on his own. Things heated up toward the end with the reveal of the possible villain, which I remember reading in an article but the way he was presented still kind of shocked and had me excited.
Little side note: I loved the hat Bruce was wearing.
Review Score: 6/7
Green Lantern Corps #21
Written by: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by: Bernard Chang
Well the first Corps issue after the exit of Geoff Johns. This book is now going to focus more on John Stewart, which is a welcome sight because he seemed to take the back burner recently. We do get him as the “main lantern” in this issue but again he seems to take the back seat. This issue for the first 3/4 seemed to be all over the place. There were characters that just sort of showed up and we got a quick half page back story then disappeared until the end.
It was interesting to see things again on Oa in the aftermath of the first lantern, and I do like how these books will be connected but not mandatory reading. We see Hal send the message in Green Lantern and here we see the Corps receiving it, very cool. The art i enjoyed felt it was better then what I saw in Green Lantern #21 but still not as beautiful as the art in Green Lantern #20. The final few pages did pay off as we got to see these sort of “random” characters have the ring summon them to the Green Lantern corps. I will be interested to see these new character and how John will fair on his own for a bit.
Review Score: 4/7
American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Well yes it is Scott Snyder week, what can I say the guy has some fantastic stories out there this week. I was sad to see American Vampire take some time off, but we got Superman Unchained so that works out too. This issue is a one shot that basically says, “Hey read me, you don’t need any background about the story, but when you get to the last page you are going to want to read more American Vampire!” This story is basically a love story that is pretty awesome.
We see the 50’s spring to life with Albuquerque’s art, and he did a fantastic job. This is an oversized issue that tells a complete story and left me ready for the return of this series. The issue did not feel dragged out, the only downside I can think of is it being $7, as well as having to wait for the series to return. Overall, we get a love story about a new vampire couple on the run and it comes with plenty of blood and death.
Review Score: 5/7
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