When Matt Bors‘ name is on a comic, you know it’s going to be a satirical look at our world, skewering something. Justice Warriors #1 takes on a lot taking jabs at a lot of institutions and delivering a lot of laughs while doing so.
Bors and Ben Clarkson take us to the future where society lives in perfection under a dome while everyone that doesn’t deals with squalor and crime. The story follows two police officers one of which falls in the line of duty while attempting to take on a gang. The surviving officer Swamp Cop must teach naïve rookie Schitt about the beat and what it means to be a cop.
Take every goofy cliché from police television shows and films and throw them together and you have just a small taste of Justice Warriors #1.
Bors and Clarkson take things so much further skewering modern society as a whole with product pitches during funerals and normal human resource work activities also having product pitches. Add in a Mayor who is more interested in album sales than fixing issues and you have a combination that’ll leave you with a smile on your face and then frustrated at how close to home the comic hits.
The police show utter lack of any want to protect society and are full of incompetence that hits the news in what feels like every day. Politicians and their utterly useless staff have a complete disconnect from reality instead focused on the valueless bubble that is celebrity and digital metrics. It does what this type of story does best, rips apart reality.
Clarkson provides the art while Bors handles the lettering and Felipe Sobreiro handles the colors. The comic is packed with as many visual jokes as come out in dialogue. It all comes together for a fun machine gun delivery of humor that’ll keep readers on their toes. The world is futuristic and the team is able to mix in mutants and even a head that looks like an emoji poop with such ease readers won’t even question it. It’s all fantastic.
Justice Warriors #1 also includes two additional stories by Bors that feature all the witty humor you’d expect from him. It’s a fantastic start delivering everything I hoped it’d be and then some. Just a fantastic read that’ll have you laughing at the absurdity and then crying at the reality it skewers.
Story: Matt Bors, Ben Clarkson Art: Ben Clarkson Color: Felipe Sobreiro Letterer: Matt Bors Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy
AHOY Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Z2 Comics has announced a collaboration with pop culture icon “Weird Al” Yankovic to publish The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Written by “Weird Al” Yankovic, this career-spanning visual feast unites some of our top cartoonists and illustrators to express Al’s “Yankovisions.” The Great AL-merican Songbook features 20-plus classic Al songs interpreted by such artists as Bill Plympton, Aaron Augenblick, Peter Bagge, Steve Chanks, Felipe Sobreiro, Gideon Kendall, Michael Kupperman, Wes Hargis, Ruben Bolling, Fred Harper, Ryan Dunlavey, R. Sikoryak, Jeff McClelland, Jeff McComsey, Hilary Barta, Johnny Sampson, Tom Richmond, Bob Fingerman, and many more! The book also features cover art by Drew Friedman and Mike & Laura Allred, as well as a custom art print set from Jesse Philips, a collector’s card set by Danny Hellman, and a foreword from legendary comic Emo Philips, who is also opening for Al on his current 133-show tour of North America, with an accompanying illustration by master MAD alumnus Sam Viviano.
Z2 Comics and “Weird Al” Yankovic present The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic in both softcover and hardcover formats, as well as oversized hardcover deluxe, and an oversized hardcover deluxe hand-signed edition. Drew Friedman and Mike & Laura Allredprovide cover art. Deluxe editions include a wax pack of collector’s cards illustrated by Danny Hellman, a 3-piece art print set from Jesse Philips, a vinyl slipmat, drink coasters, and, in the Super Deluxe Edition, Al-signed books as well as a “Weird Al” Yankovic branded mini-accordion.
Often with comic events, the spin-offs are rather lacking. They just don’t have the same quality as the main story in numerous ways. Many times they come off as side quests that just gives characters something to do. The clear goals is that the characters are enough to sell the issues. Other times, they feel like they’re story that couldn’t be shoved into the main series. Generally, they’re a mixed bag. Devil’s Reign has been breaking that trend with spin-offs. They’ve been solid in their own ways, telling their own stories that could take place even without the event. Devil’s Reign: Winter Soldier #1 is a prime example of that using the event to focus in on Bucky Barnes’ journey and to set up what’s to come for Captain America.
Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, Devil’s Reign: Winter Soldier #1 focuses in on the files that Wilson Fisk has on Marvel’s heroes. It’s a bit of info that has been brought up a few times in the main series dancing around what it means. Bucky is having issues sleeping, having nightmares of the crimes he committed in the past but can’t remember. He’s hoping that some of his history is locked away with Wilson.
Lanzing and Kelly deliver a heist comic with a bit more depth. Each character sleep walks in their own way eventually clashing in brutal results. They’re two sides of the same coin with one awake to the crimes and horrors he’s committed and the other asleep and completely unaware. There’s a layer to the comic that’s very smart and deserves to be examined by readers.
The art by Nico Leon is fantastic. Leon is joined by Felipe Sobreiro on color and Joe Caramagna on lettering. The issue’s art has an interesting mix of being both an action heist comic and somewhat dreamlike. The transition from one to the other is impressive and the result is a comic that slowly involves into being a nightmare visually. The team does it in a way that’s subtle and doesn’t go over the top so it’s distracting. Instead, the art balances things between the action and spy elements and that of the horror that follows.
Devil’s Reign: Winter Soldier #1 is a solid issue that stands on its own. While it’s part of Devil’s Reign, it feels more like a one-shot that will lead to something down the line. It’s a perfect example of a character’s involvement in an event enhancing their story instead of just being a part of the event. A fantastic issue that has us excited to see what Lanzing and Kelly does in the future with Captain America’s corner of the Marvel Universe.
Story: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly Art: Nico Leon Color: Felipe Sobreiro Letterer: Joe Caramagna Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Let Them Live! Unpublished Tales From the DC Vault #1 kicks off a new DC digital series, this one a current exclusive to the new DC Universe Infinite digital app. The series is pretty straightforward and something many have wanted for a long time. It’s a digital series that will release comics that have been on the shelf for a long time.
Let Them Live! Unpublished Tales From the DC Vault #1 kicks off with a story from writer Jim Zub and artist Tradd Moore featuring the Suicide Squad. The story, “Twenty-Minute Marathon” was Zub’s first script for the big two and done in 2011.
Zub and Moore deliver a simple Suicide Squad as they go on a mission to take out a target on behalf of Amanda Waller. There’s nothing complicated at all in the story. It’s a bit of the ole over the top violence with a nice dose of humor.
I love one and done comics and Let Them Live! Unpublished Tales From the DC Vault #1 is exactly that. Zub and Moore deliver a story that could be continued if he chose to or you can just enjoy it on its own as well. What’s really solid is Zub’s use of the unknown in the comic. By the end, you’ll debate what you’d do yourself if you were in Deadshot’s position. Was it the right choice? Was Waller playing and lying to him? I don’t know the right answer to the situation. Walking away from the comic like that actually feels kind of cool and refreshing.
Moore’s art is top-notch. Felipe Sobreiro provides the colors with lettering by Nate Piekos. The art is full of comedic moments and the team captures the energetic glee and craziness of it all. Even the over the top violence brings laughs as to how Moore handles the brains splattering and blood flying.
Let Them Live! Unpublished Tales From the DC Vault #1 is bookended with segments featuring Ambush Bug who introduces the concept of the comic. It’s a fun “Crypt Keeper”-like role for the character and it’d be fun to see him being used more to explain more of the history of the comic. We don’t get that here but writer Elliott Kalan, artist Mike Norton, colorist Marissa Louise, and letterer Saida Temofonte deliver some solid moments and more laughs in the issue.
As an unexpected and “free” comic on the DC Universe Infinite app, Let Them Live! Unpublished Tales From the DC Vault #1 is a solid read and start. Even when it eventually makes its way to other digital platforms and possibly print, it’s still well worth getting. We’re seeing DC realizing that digital platforms are taking the shackles off of them and opening up their ability to do releases like this. The fact they’re diving into standalone one-and-done comics is even better. It’s exactly what this platform is great at, quickly digestible content you can pick up and enjoy and escape for a little bit.
Story: Jim Zub, Elliott Kalan Art: Tradd Moore, Mike Norton Color: Felipe Sobreiro, Marissa Louise Letterer: Nate Piekos, Saida Temofonte Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation Buy
Rene Auberjonois was one of those actors whose calming voice, steady demeanor, and gravitas made him both inscrutable and mesmeric. I remember watching him as a child on the all time classic, Benson. Looking back now, his character of Clayton, was the Squidworth (Spongebob Squarepants)of that show. He would go on to portray even more memorable characters throughout the rest of his years.
One of my favorite characters that he brought to the screen and much more deserving of his talents was Constable Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His keen eye and sharp mind made for a memorable performance as the lone lawman on this classic iteration of Star Trek. The show pushed on the actors’ strengths, even more so with Auberjonois’s talents. In Constable Odo’s solo adventure he uncovers a mystery. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:Too Long a Sacrifice, the character unravels his own Murder on the Orient Express aboard the space station.
We open on Garak and Bashir having lunch, when suddenly a bomb goes off in Lavin’s Eatery, leading Odo to arrive on deck, to investigate. Eight dead bodies are found, leading Odo to question everything, even pondering the possibility that Quark may be a suspect and finding a clue in Rodinum darts. Sisko handles the diplomatic fallout, which pushes Odo to find the truth that much more integral. Everyone on board including Worf has their own suspicions about who is at the center of this deadly massacre, but what doesn’t help, is the consistent accumulation of dead bodies, even those who were suspects. Eventually, he gets help in the form of Inspector Retlaw, of Federation Security, who is also a Betazoid, making him an empath, leading to someone who was seen putting together an arms deal, just days before, Vedek Teler. By book’s end, remnants of past hostilities and avarice of others haunt the guilty party, and Odo to both be empathetic yet firm in his decision to arrest them.
Overall, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:Too Long a Sacrifice is a searing crime noir that is only upended by its setting, and its excellent characterization. The story by the Tiptons is superb. The art by the creative team is alluring. Altogether, a story that brings us back to the space station, in this fun murder mystery.
Story: David Tipton and Scott Tipton Art: Greg Scott, Ricardo Drumond, Felipe Sobreiro, and Neil Uyetake Story: 9.5 Art: 9.4 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy
IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Writer Peter Milligan, artist Michael Montenat, and colorist Felipe Sobreiro create a high concept dystopian comic in Happy Hour #1. The book’s premise is that being unhappy is a crime and gets you thrown in A Clockwork Orange-style re-education camps (But with better food) where you’re basically tortured into having a Joker smile even when you feel pain, discomfort, or in a state of emotional distress or grief. For example, one of the main characters, Jerry, is thrown into a re-education camp by the Joy Police because he’s sad that his sister has passed away while his mind-screwed mom and the doctor are laughing and making jokes about her looks. This is bad, but one of his fellow inmates at the camp, a bit of a wildcard named Hamm, keeps talking about Landor Cohen, who has a “paradise” in Mexico where anyone can be as miserable as they want. However, in keeping with Happy Hour‘s cynical tone and Milligan’s self-aware writing style, this isn’t as it seems.
Michael Montenat’s mixture of caricature and photorealistic art a la Michael Gaydos (Alias, Pearl) is well-suited for the terrifying supporters of the Joy Police and the status quo with their rictus grins and laughs that look like those infamous stock photos of women laughing at salad instead of genuine merriment. Colorist Sobreiro adds a little juice to the line work during any of the torture or indoctrination scenes from regular electric shocks to a truly traumatizing treatment that is enacted on Hamm towards the end of the issue as the guards grow tired of him jabbering about Landor Cohen. He turns on the reds and then returns to skin tone and then reds again as Milligan and Montenat drop the issue ending cliffhanger.
Plotwise, Peter Milligan has really dug a hole for the characters we meet in Happy Hour #1, and I’m eager to see them try to dig out of it (Or get brainwashed while trying.) over this six issue miniseries. With the exception of Kim, who was an Olympic level athlete, he doesn’t endow Happy Hour‘s leads with a lot of practical smarts or skills to either pull off a prison break, much less any kind of revolution. Montenat draws Hamm like a chiseled, grizzled anti-hero, but he’s no Daredevil in a bar fight, and despite his charisma and machismo, he ends succumbing to the Joy Police easily. He talks a big game, but can’t perform when the chips are down.
Bouncing off this, the protagonists of Happy Hour are truly underdogs instead of badasses Hollywood-coded as underdogs. They’re self-described “miserable bastards”, who just want to rock a resting bitch face occasionally, feel a little pissed about getting a bronze medal, or in Jerry’s case, actually feel honest emotions about the loss of a loved one instead of being forced to smile and conform to a false reality. In the flashback sequences, Milligan and Montenat get in some quick satire about the American opioid and mental health crisis even though there seems to be a bit of a distance and reliance on well worn tropes instead of engaging with Americans’ complex relationship with pharmaceuticals and the pharmaceutical industry. They fare much better in the crafting of the main characters from the entertaining, yet very Philosophy 101 introduction to their shared experiences in the reeducation camp ranging from their dedication to being miserable to their begrudging acceptance of the gourmet meals provided.
With a genuinely rag tag group of characters, a touch of intellectual wit and real emotional honesty from Peter Milligan’s script, and some downright unsettling art from Michael Montenat, Happy Hour #1 is the perfect comic for folks who want to feel their feelings instead of embrace Stoic philosophy like the rest of the fake happy influencer crowd.
Story: Peter Milligan Art: Michael Montenat Colors: Felipe Sobreiro Letters: Rob Steen Story: 7.9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy
Ahoy provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Paramount Players, a division of Paramount Pictures, has acquired the film rights to adapt the acclaimed graphic novel Planet of the Nerds written by Paul Constant and illustrated by Alan Robinson, Randy Elliott and colorist Felipe Sobreiro. In Planet of the Nerds, three high school jocks in the 1980s are accidentally frozen by an experimental cryogenics device, only to be revived almost 40 years later. They awake in today’s computer-driven, superhero movie-loving world— in an era ruled by nerds.
Planet of the Nerds is on sale in comic shops now and will be available at bookstores on Tuesday, October 29 from AHOY Comics, featuring a cover by David Nakayama and an introduction by Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings.
The deal was brokered by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Inc.
Out this Wednesday, May 15th, is AHOY Comics‘ Planet of the Nerds #2 with a main story by Paul Constant, artist Alan Robinson, colorist Felipe Sobreiro, and letterer Rob Steen.
After the thawed-out 1980s jocks start a riot at a comic convention, they learn to their horror that everyone in 2019 uses computers like a bunch of poindexters.
But, AHOY Comics is packed with entertainment and we have an exclusive preview of the back-up story “Drew Johnson – Testing Week” by writer Paul Constant, artist Randy Elliott, colorist Felipe Sobreiro, and letterer Rob Steen.
This back-up story features Dragonflyman and Stinger, the stars of the breakout AHOY Comics series The Wrong Earth which you can get in trade in comic shops and book stores now.
Check out the exclusive preview of some of what you’ll find in Planet of the Nerds #2 below.
Wait, I thought this was an Asgard-centric event? Even though the bad guys are all elves, trolls, giants, and evil minotaur CEOs, the predominantly Big Apple-centric setting of War of the Realms#1 and #2 allows for some of Marvel’s street level vigilante to shine (Daredevil) or fall flat on their faces (Punisher). This week’s issue of War of the Realms and its tie-ins were the true definition of a mixed bag. War of the Realms #2 continued and wrapped up the big New York battle from the previous issue before spending a lot of its page count setting up various upcoming tie-ins in a pretty way from artist Russell Dauterman and colorist Matthew Wilson. Plot-wise, there’s one small surprise, and we’re finally up to the events described in last week’s Unbeatable Squirrel Girltie-in. Speaking of tie-ins, they run the gamut from the instant classic that is Thor #12 to the should have been a one-shot and the first true stinker of “War of the Realms” that is War of the Realms: Punisher #1. In the middle is War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1, which tells some entertaining side-stories about Daredevil, the Warriors Three, and Wolverine (Confession: I don’t know how he’s back from the dead.) and squanders a cult book creator reunion.
War of the Realms#2
Feeling a little nostalgic for the 1980s, writer Jason Aaron titles this story “Midgard Massacre” in homage to the “Mutant Massacre” crossover where Morlocks were killed by Reavers, and characters like Daredevil, Thor, and the Power Pack showed up in X-books. A bunch of seemingly mismatched characters show up in War of the Realms #2, but Aaron, Russell Dauterman, and Matthew Wilson’s story lacks the emotional resonance of the previous Massacre until the final page. Plus Aaron and Dauterman wring out some great moments for Jane Foster and Freya beneath the fighting/strategic retreats. Jane gets to ride Valkyrie’s horse, Aragorn, fight with a sword, and is hinted to want to become Thor again even though it would mean the return of her cancer.
So, a big pitched battle in New York between superheroes and various fantasy creatures is an objectively cool idea and a reason why I decided to do this weekly column. However, it really starts to drag in War of the Realms #2 even with gorgeous Dauterman/Wilson tapestry pages to show the Valkyries entering the battle with a heavily wounded Odin to turn the tide Wagner style. Aaron tries to do the whole Battle of Hoth, “good guys get their butts kicked and retreat to another area” plot maneuver and succeeds in getting all the heroes from point A to point B, but stumbles in the execution. They don’t lose because they’re overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but because Dr. Strange’s teleport spell malfunctioned, which is a weak plot device featuring a tangential character. We don’t even see the costs of his spells like in Bendis and Hickman’s Avengers runs.
The big plot development other than a death for a character, who is already in a grey area between life and death and is about to be swapped out with her more popular movie version, is Malekith and his forces taking over Midgard. This is told to us with word balloons instead of on-panel, or in the tie-ins, which mainly take place in New York. There’s no heroic last stand, or emotional connection, but Aaron rushes off to characters setting up the next issue or tie-in’s plot in expository dialogue with the occasional fish out of water joke like Luke Cage’s eye roll when he talks about fighting trolls in Harlem. War of the Realms #2 feels like a giant action figure battle with a slight touch of emotional resonance every time Jane Foster brandishes her sword, or when Freyja decides to lead the rescue mission to get Thor in Jotunheim. It barely gets the overall verdict of Read because of a harrowing final page, Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson’s art, and because it has the seeds of potential to be a great Freyja and/or superhero buddy team-up book.
Thor #12
For better or worse, the modern character of Loki will always be defined by the way Tom Hiddleston portrayed him in the MCU films and the way Kieron Gillen wrote him in Journey into Mystery and Young Avengers doing clever plotting, world-building, and crafting a character that desperately wants to change, but can’t. These stories were often in the middle of event tie-ins, and Jason Aaron and Mike Del Mundo join this tradition in Thor #12, which is Journey into Mystery meets A Christmas Carol. Loki is being eaten by his own father, Laufey the Frost Giant, and wants to just die when he’s visited by his past, present-ish (Kid Loki), and future self aka Loki the NecroGod. Aaron has established the past and future selves in various flashback and flashforward stories in Thor so he can get straight to the character study part.
Thor #12 is full of “a-ha” moments beginning when Loki realizes that he basically created the villain Malekith when he orchestrated a war between the Dark Elves and trolls, and young Malekith was subjected to the trauma of constantly burning the corpses of his people into a mass grave. He and his past sins are responsible for the War of the Realms, and Del Mundo nails this moment of recognition with great facial expression work for an artist who is mostly known for his layouts and Heavy Metal approach to superhero stories. He uses a varying color palette as Loki goes from the fires of Svartalfheim to the cold of Jotunheim and finally ooey gooey stained glass of the end of all things. This issue is easily my favorite work of his since Elektra.
But Thor #12 is more than great art. Jason Aaron offers a pinpoint look into how Loki is just a man who has been lying to himself all his life about who he is and the consequences of his actions beginning with one about how his magic tutor, Eldred, would have died in a dungeon any way. This lie led to others and became Loki’s character and story that he is fated to follow even though fate, er, the Norns are off the table in Aaron’s Thor run. This self-deception coupled with a death wish persists until the end of time, or currently, in some kind of hellscape caused by being eaten by his own father. Even if you’ve sworn off “War of the Realms”, Thor #12’s overall verdict is a Read because of Mike Del Mundo’s triple threat of art styles and Jason Aaron’s razor sharp characterization of Loki that is conversation with Gillen’s work while also breaking fantastic new ground.
War of the Realms: War Scrolls#1
One of my favorite pleasures from event comics are the anthology miniseries that tell either serial or one-shot stories about fan favorite D-list characters or give up and coming creators a chance to play in a shared universe sandbox. War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1 has a good amount of this with Josh Trujillo (Dodge City) and Ricardo Lopez-Ortiz (Kingpin) doing a combo Warriors Three and Cloak and Dagger story while Ram V (Paradiso) and Cafu (Imperium) tell the story of an Asian-American teenager’s experience with Wolverine. Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones, and Rico Renzi’s return to Howard the Duck is well-drawn, if underwhelming and sophomoric. This is made up for by an intelligent, wonderful Daredevil by Jason Aaron and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino in a looser style with colors by Matthew Wilson that should have gotten its own mini and is the multi part serial of the bunch.
Jason Aaron’s Thor: The God of Thunder (Especially the “God Butcher” arc.) was as much theodicy as Viking metal space opera, and his work on the various Asgardians have touched on big questions, like faith, belief, fate, and higher powers, from a predominantly skeptical point of view. So, it’s very intriguing to see him write Marvel’s man of faith, Daredevil, who is shocked when he meets Thor and his heartbeat is steady when talking about being a god.
Plus the flashback is a chance for Sorrentino to kick it Silver Age style, Ben-Day dots and all. The present narrative features Daredevil playing the role of street level hero, protecting his neighborhood from otherworldly threats, and then getting an Asgardian upgrade that will be described in an upcoming issue of War of the Realms. It’s nice to see one of Marvel’s consistently best written and drawn heroes play a key role in an event comic, and Kingpin’s role in the story makes my mouth water. There’s also the aforementioned Andrea Sorrentino style switch up that isn’t at the cost of making his work less iconic beginning with a little Frost Giant dismemberment.
Speaking of cartooning, Trujillo, Lopez-Ortiz, and colorist Felipe Sobreiro go for lower stakes, but don’t skimp on the fun in their Warriors Three story where Hogun, Fandral, and Hildegarde have to drag an indisposed Volstagg to the Sanctum Sanctorum. There’s action, derring do, Shakespearean English type banter, and slapstick humor with a side of horror as they meet up with Cloak and Dagger and protect the ordinary citizens of New York on the way to their destination. Ram V and Cafu’s Wolverine story is in a similar vein as teens named Jae and Chris rush through the streets of New York to make it to the Sanctum Sanctorum and watch Logan’s six along the way. Cafu’s renderings are a little stiff, but Ram V truly believes in the inspirational power of superheroes even ones that are rough around the edges. His banter between Wolverine and Punisher is also deadpan funny too, which makes it all the more sad that Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones return to Howard the Duck isn’t witty, satirical, and filled with sight gags, but one long pee joke. However, War Scrolls #1’s overall verdict is still Read, and I’m very excited to see what Jason Aaron and Andrea Sorrentino do with Daredevil and Kingpin.
War of the Realms: Punisher #1
On the surface, I thought that War of the Realms: Punisher #1 and “War of the Realms” was just an excuse for Frank Castle to kill things with no moral dilemmas, and unfortunately, I was right. Writer Gerry Duggan, and capital “G” gritty artists Marcelo Ferreira and Roberto Poggi along with solid colorist Rachelle Rosenberg make the Punisher a heroic figure compared to the dark elves and fire trolls he fights and the prisoners he recruits as allies to escort patients from a hospital in Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey. Old Uncle Frank will ignore your weed stash in return for some piano wire, not take revenge on a Frost Giant to get a man out of a burning car, and even shoot a criminal in the head to show what happens if you don’t help him escort some “innocent” patients to Jersey.
The Punisher shooting elves and trolls while helping people get from New York to New Jersey with hardened criminals as allies would make a decent action-oriented one-shot. Like a high fantasy version of The Raid, but with a vigilante, not a cop. However, War of the Realms: The Punisher #1 spends almost its entire page time on Frank Castle hero worship and mowing down purely evil creatures and only sets up its premise at the very end saving the tunnel action bits for the upcoming two issues.
War of the Realms: The Punisher #1’s is drawn in a superhero house style with thicker and darker inks from Roberto Poggi and flashes of powerful colors from Rachelle Rosenberg like when a car becomes almost entirely flame. It’s the comic book equivalent of Eli Roth’s footloose and conscience free Death Wish remake with extra trolls, giants, and elves and no pesky moral grey areas. It’s no surprise that its overall verdict is Pass.
Two issues in, and Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, and Matthew Wilson are still in pure action figure geek mode matching up a plethora of superheroes against fantasy races established in their work on Thor’s solo title. There are still compelling stories between the fights, obvious tie-in setups, and off panel plot developments like Aaron and Mike Del Mundo’s captivating standalone Loki story in Thor #12, Aaron and Andrea Sorrentino’s intriguing Daredevil/Kingpin serial, and Josh Trujillo and Ricardo Lopez-Ortiz’s Warriors Three short. But there are also stinkers like War of the Realms: Punisher, an ill-fated Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones Howard the Duck reunion, and hopefully not the core War of the Realms miniseries. But, hey, at least, we have a few more issues of Sorrentino drawing Daredevil.
Panel of the Week
Logan circa 2013 feels personally attacked by this panel. In all seriousness, Jason Aaron writes a great Loki (Thor #12, Art by Mike Del Mundo.)
The War of the Realms is raging across the Marvel Universe and there’s so many stories to be told. War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1 kicks off the anthology miniseries with four stories.
It features the works of Jason Aaron, Andrea Sorrentino, Matthew Wilson, Josh Trujillo, Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, Felipe Sobreiro, Ram V., Cafu, Brian Reber, Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera, Rico Renzi, and Joe Sabino.
Get your copy in comic shops April 17th! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
