Shadow War: Omega Review

 RIP Deathstroke Inc. I guess 

Shadow War part 8 

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Stephen Segovia, Mike Henderson and Howard Porter. 

Colorist: Hi-Fi

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Ben Abernathy
Cover: Jonboy Meyers

This crossover was one big letdown, full of inconsistencies, boring and unnecessary long.

First, let's talk about what they did to Brion here and how it makes zero sense. Terra never died in today's continuity, he has no reason to hate Deathstroke, and what Talia did to him is way worst. Just like in the beginning, this whole crossover depends on inconsistencies and that the reader forgets certain things, but, it also mentions some previous comics. So, it wants you to remember certain things, but not all things that is referencing. This is lazy writing. The way Brion gets taken down is just as stupid as Talia beating Slade in a fair fight. Also, it feels wrong, the fact that Talia kills a man who did nothing wrong to her, shows no remorse, but does not kill the one who's actually guilty here. Making the message of the comic pointless and empty. Turning Geo-force into a murderer and a villain is stupid enough, it kills the point of character, but how they made it here is even worst.
The only moment that could be good, Batman talking with his son, gets thrown away. I find no redeeming aspects here, even the art is weird at some places.

About the epilogue now. Another thing that makes zero sense. Did the writer forget that Slade can heal himself from that type of injury? Everyone knows that Slade has a healing factor, he has survived worst things, why would the society feel the need to use the Lazarus pit on him? Oh, yeah, plot. This is supposed to connect to Dark Crisis. It was one of the selling points. But the connection comes only in the last pages.

Since we're getting a new writer and a new arc about Slade's origin in Deathstroke Inc., and looking at how this event did with the title, I also fear that DS inc has been thrown under the bus for nothing. Wasted potential. Reminds me of what they did to MJS Thor run for Siege.

This could have been great. Make Slade be the one who killed Ra's, he would have reason to, Make Talia ask for Geo-Force's help to take Slade down. Make Geo-force the hero and Slade the villain. Also, don't kill Respawn. Remember the term "woman on the fridge"? Even tho he's not a woman, they just introduced him, to kill him, to give Slade a reason to attack Talia. This is also lazy writing.

Robin #14 Review

If i had a coin for every time Slade died is this series I would have 2 coins. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

Shadow War part 7 

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Roger Cruz

Inks: Norm Rapmund

Colorist: Luis Guerrero

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Editor: Paul Kaminski
Cover: Roger Cruz, Norm Rapmund and Luis Guerrero 

This issue disappointed me. Slade vs Talia is a stupid fight, I'm sorry. Talia is a good fighter but she should not be a problem for Slade, she beating him is even more ridiculous. And the fact that this series is killing Slade again is just stupid. And Talia is unbearable here, going after Slade for something he didn't do, being responsible for the death of a kid and showing no remorse for it. I just can't root for this character. The reveal of who the fake Deathstroke is makes sense but is something I don't see the point. Pre-Flashpoint comics like Outsiders for instance had dealt with his rivalry with Slade. Especially when most of the events that made Geo-force hate Slade were erased from continuity. Seeing him as a villain feels weird too. It kind of kills the point of his character. Just as this issue killed my hype for this crossover.

Deathstroke Inc. #9 Review

 Ghostmaker meets Deathstroke

Shadow War Part 6

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Paolo Pantelena 

Colorist: Romulo Fajado Jr. 

Letterer: Steve Wands

Editor: Ben Abernathy 
Cover: Jonboy Mayers 

First of all, I do appreciate that this issue takes time to grief over Respawn's death(funny to think that he "fridged" to give Slade proper motivation here). Also, when Slade has Clownhunter as a hostage it was clearly a parallel to Judas Contract where they first telled Deathstroke's origin. A lot happen here, which is good, since now this crossover is nearly its end. Again, another solid issue however, I must admit, this crossover is feeling a little bit boring to me. Maybe this is due to the size of it, this storyline could be shorter.

Shadow War Zone #1 Review

Easy money, isn't that right, DC?

Shadow War Zone

Writers: Joshua Williamson, Ed Brisson, Stephanie Phillips and Nadia Shammas
Artists: Otto Schmidt, Ann Maulina, Michael Bowden and  Sweeney Boo
Letterers: Steve Wands, Awls Troy Peteri and Andworld Design
Editors: Ben Abernathy and Dave Welgosz 
Cover: Jonboy Meyers

Why does this exist? I hate using the term "cash grab", and even though this doesn't really fit the description, the word definily comes to mind after reading this. Nothing here feels like it needs to exist. Black Canary's fight with Angel Breaker went nowhere, we still don't know much about the two. The only purpose of their encounter is to set up another fight in the future, feels flat and disappointing. And that's the only story that's worth mentioning. You can definitely have some fun with the rest of the comic, it isn't bad, but again, why does this exist? This is supposed to show the impact this crossover is having but it feels so small and inconsequential. It also suffers from "Character is on the main cover but plays no role in the issue".

Again, this isn't a bad comic, for exemple, seeing Ghostmaker and Clownhunter as some kind of Batman & Robin is fun, but I don't think you will be losing much or feeling lost if you skip this over.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #3 Review

 Last issue came out 84 years ago

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! Book three 

Writer: Brian Azzarello 

Artist: Alex Maleev 

Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

Editor: Mike Cotton and Chris Conroy
Cover: Alex Maleev 

After what felt like years, this series finally hits its end.  

The art and humor are definitely the selling points here, but the story and characters, at least to me, are lacking in weight. Yeah, it's the Suicide Squad, they' supposed to be replaceable but we should care about them, they should grown and learn as the story progresses, so we feel something when they die. Harley Quinn for example, I find somewhat weird how she's treated here. After all these years, the character has grown out of her "love" for Joker, even having in mind that this is an alternative reality, still kinda jaring seeing how she is written here. Also, I have problems about how Jason Todd is treated, at the end some dialogue feels like a commentary about the character but it simply does not work for me. Yeah, I'm talking about this due to how the last issue ends, with a second Suicide Squad, having Deathstroke as one of its members showing up. I find weird how some of them are using costumes from The Suicide Squad movie, some from Arkham Origins and some from old comics but that's just an observation. The only thing that's worth pointing out about the second Task Force X is how they have Deadshot and Deathstroke and yet they are mmissing everyone on Jason's team at the bar where this issue begins.  Seriously, Floyd alone would kill them all in 3 seconds with headshots (Ok, that's a nitpick). 

Again, amazing artwork and I love the acid humor, but the lack of character progression lefts to be desire. 

RIP George Pérez

Remembering George Pérez, one of the greatest names in comic book history. 

 Yesterday(may 06 2022), the great George Pérez passed away at age 67. I want to take a moment and a few words to talk about his amazing career and how wonderful his soul always will be. 

Pérez was born in 1954, he started drawing at age 5 and simply didn't stop. In his teens, he became Rich Buckler's assistent. One year after that, he made his debut in the comic book world, drawing a 2 page story in Astonishing Tales #25.

After that, Pérez started working on The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, where he co-created White Tiger, the first hispanic Marvel superhero. After that... Avengers. And I think one could say this was the point where his legend as one of the greatest comic book names began. After all, Pérez is more well known for drawing big splash pages with tons and tons of characters. I consider him the absolute master and it comes to multiple characters in one place. While working on Avengers, Pérez co-created the mercenary Taskmaster. 

I won't be talking about every single work Pérez made since that is impossible, his career is so massive with so many comics that is more than deserving of his legendary status. But let's keep going. In 1980, Pérez began working on Justice League and of course, the classic, The New Teen Titans. During this time, Pérez co-created an insane amount of characters, including Deathstroke the Terminator (obviously). I love this run with a burning passion, this is where I got presented to George's amazing art and style. 

And in 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths happened. The definition of epic crossover event, a 12 issue series of cosmic proportions. Crisis was a massive success, i'm not exaggerating by calling this comic "the definition of epic crossover event". 

After the event ended, DC started to give his heroes updated origins and Pérez, with help from Greg Potter and Len Wein, made what I consider the best Wonder Woman run till this day. 

You probably are familiar with the MCU, and of course, even that owns some of its success to George. Pérez was the artist for Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet story, one of the major inspirations for the MCU. Pérez went back to The Avengers main title a while after. 

Next, we go to 2004 to remember JLA/The Avengers 

And what a insane story with even crazier artwork. Pérez always knew how to make everything look gigantic and epic. 

Unfortunately, we have to talk about the New 52 now, where Pérez was tasked with writing for Superman and due to DC editorial that did not go so well. In 2019 Pérez announced that he would be retiring and spoke about how poorly DC editorial treated him during his Superman run. According to him, that was a George Pérez comic in name only. 

Now, speaking personally, Pérez work really helped me while growing up. Having comics to read, worlds to enter, while things around me looked bad, it was really special. When you look at a artpiece made with heart, with passion, you created a connection of sorts with the art and the artist I think. Maybe that's why Pérez is and always will be loved. He did everything with passion, giving 100% of his talent and effort. You can feel it just by looking at any art of his. And there's nothing you can do besides falling in love after that. 

According to people who have meet him in conventions and other places, he always tried his best to make fans happy. And nothing is more George Pérez then that. 

I'm not good with words, but I would like to say that George is immortal. He lives in the hearts of his family, friends and fans. And of course, his art, his amazing work.  We all will miss you, George. By in a way, you're still with us. 

George Pérez, one of the most loved names in comics. 

Batman #123 Review

 Is the fake Deathstroke cosplaying as Hobgoblin?

Shadow War: Part 5

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Howard Porter

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Editor: Ben Abernathy 
Cover: Howard Porter and Tomeu Morey 

I feel secure saying that this crossover is finally at full steam. We continue to get moments of focus on the more human aspect of the characters, Damian wanting to help his new brother feels genuine and cohesive with everything we saw Damian go through all those years we spend reading comics about him. The hunt for Ra's murderer is going much faster now, Slade, who probably already know who he is, has even more motivation to wreck this guy up. Seeing Batman Inc in action is nice too. The art continues to feel weird but not much as the last issue of Batman.
The comic ends with a tragic death that did hit me, what a tragic journey. A death in comics that works and has impact is so rare these days. In a way, shame, wasted potential. But if it works, it works.
The backup story was the low point. Batman and Slade newest first encounter had no reason to exist.

But this was a good issue, my hype with this crossover lives again