Tag Archives: vigilance

Review: Vigilance #3

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Vigilance #3

One of the best things to come of the Krypton television show’s short run is an expansion on some key canon characters. We got a different look at Zodd and saw just how connected his family is to Superman’s. Then there’s the evil genius of Brainiac and how he ruled over the power structure on Krypton. The one character that gave Superman fits and appears on the show, Doomsday, is a bit more realized here.

It’s true that the character had more of an arc on Smallville. It’s one which in the end, became quite a quandary rather than a cool entry into the show’s canon. At least in Krypton we find out exactly what Superman had to fear. In the third issue of Vigilance, our hero finds out what type of toll, physically and mentally, a defeat can impose on most.

We find Vigilance in Columbus, Ohio, where she’s fighting a new villain who goes the name Void. It’s a challenge and villain which actually overpowers our hero. As Void informs her of their connection, her stigma to the title of Destroyer is exposed as if there was something that Justice was holding back in his training. We rapidly find out Queen Ma’la had used her guilt and memories against to gain an unfair advantage in beating her. By the issue’s end, Vigilance tells her psychologist of the mental dismay this battle caused her, a fight she was never ready for.

Overall, probably the best issue in the series so far. It offers readers a deeper dive into what makes a superhero tick. The story by Alverne Bell is well characterized and evenly paced. The art by the creative team is engaging. Altogether, a story that seeks to push the definition of the superhero genre.

Story: Alverne Bell
Art: Eder Messias, Matt Keltner, Veronica Smith, and Danny Cooper
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Vigilance #2

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Vigilance #2

Supergirl is one of those shows you either love or hate. It’s easy to see as a copy of Smallville, which it shares some similarities, other than the canon. One of those things that it charmingly imbues is the heart that most superhero shows shy away from. It often reveals the vulnerability of their protagonists, something that the comics usually do. The show’s third season more than pushed the show creatively, in some ways it surpassed what its predecessor did in its lengthy run.

This particular run showed a protagonist both broken and brokenhearted. It also introduced a villain as daunting as she had ever faced in the World Killer, Reign. The first seasons saw her fight villains that gave her a run for her money, but this one was the first time where the villain pretty much left her thunderstruck. In the second issue of Vigilance, our titular hero faces off someone even stronger than the threat she just neutralized.

We find Vigilance, soon after stopping a threat has destroyed much of Hong Kong, when its master, Imperito Lux, an alien invader, stops our protagonist in her tracks, as she soon realizes her new foe’s might. We also get treated to Imperito’s backstory and she came into power, while not only enslaving armies but also entire planets. Imperito also underestimates Vigilance, as we get battle royale between the two superpowered beings as the we also find out that Imperito targeted Earth so she can face off against Vigilance.

Overall, an interesting chapter in this ever-evolving story, one that shows fidelity in the promise its showed in the debut issue.  The story by Micah Cox is action-packed and is well versed in the art of worldbuilding. The art by the creative team is auspicious. Altogether, a story that definitely deserves to be in the pantheon of great superhero stories.

Story: Micah Cox Art: Mel Joy San Juan, Danny Cooper
Story: 8.8 Art: 7.0 Overall: 9.4 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Vigilance #1

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Vigilance #1

When the news broke that Marvel Studios was going to make Captain Marvel, it was a progressive foot forward. One that will take years before anyone can really understand the impact. It’s true that Wonder Woman, had come out the year before and was directed by a female director. That movie was great but did not erase the years of the character being maligned by the very company that birthed her.

Captain Marvel was different in this aspect, as the character had been rebooted and brought up to date by the great Kelly Sue DeConnick. She painted a different hero than anything else in the Marvel Universe. She’s one that constantly topples tropes and subverts gender stereotypes. As great as this is, most of us wanted to see Monica Rambeau, something we may still get. In the very first issue of Vigilance, we get a superhero like Carol Danvers but looks like Monica Rambeau, and in some ways a fiercer titan.

We find Vigilance hurt, as the Extra Human Division has found her, and just her luck, Justice shows up to her rescue. As she recovers, Justice approaches her about being part of the organization using her powers for the greater good, as his honesty was enough for her to follow. As she learned how to be a hero, at first reluctant, as the challenges were too easy for her, but soon she felt a sense of purpose, as the dangers she prevented and the life she saved, became a welcome feeling. She soon finds out that her fame comes with detractors, both human and extra-human.  By issue’s end, a skirmish with a new villain leads her to meet with a greater threat.

Overall, a debut issue that struggles to be interesting. The story by Micah Cox is layered and introspective. The art by the creative team is standard. Altogether, a story that I hope will get better as the story unfolds.

Story: Micah Cox
Art: Valdeci Nogueira, Veronica Smith, Danny Cooper, and Michael Watson
Story: 6.0 Art: 5.0 Overall: 5.7 Recommendation: Read

Review: Vigilance #2

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In the world of superheroes, there are a few tropes, things that you know will happen, and the enjoyment is based on the execution of it all. There are some annoying tropes, like civilians not being able to tell heroes from their alter egos. Another annoying trope is the obsession certain villains have for their nemesis, the superhero. The least favorite of all the tropes that exist in the comics medium is how people in positions of power and importance in these books are readily acceptable of these beings who otherwise would be outcasts or deemed threats.

Now, all the tropes are not necessarily bad, the favorite of mines are the battle royales between the opposing two characters, and thy have not necessarily been the good versus bad. Hulk versus Wolverine, now only their first, but their subsequent fight is legendary within comics. Then there are the many fights between Batman and the Joker, which got downright disturbing in the recently revisited The Killing Joke. They can be more than fun, as in the second issue of Vigilance, where she takes on Queen Ma’la.

We pick up right where the first issue ends, as Vigilance has just defeated many of the Queen’s minions, but Vigilance clearly underestimates the Queen, as she has met her match. Within the context of the fight, the reader gets the origin story of Queen Ma’la, as Vigilance is not fighting an ordinary regent, but one who has had not to overcome her society’s expectations of her as a woman and a royal, but just how ruthless she could be. She has come to even enslave whole societies. By the end of this episode, both individuals have found their match, but the reader and Vigilance are left with a mystery, as to why they call her “destroyer”.

Overall, a fun issue that gives you backstory as well, it is if someone took the fight scene from The Players Club (which is one of the best I have ever seen and was even highlighted in the documentary, Ultimate Fights from the Movies ) and Chronicles of Riddick, in the same universe, definitely a movie I would watch any day. The story by Micah Cox does something totally left field of what would a regular big bad fight, to something more introspective but keeps the fun. The art by Mel Joy San Juan is masterful and captures these characters in the best light. Altogether, a fun issue that raises a lot of questions and which this reviewer can’t wait to keep pulling on this string to find those answers.

Story: Micah Cox Art: Mel Joy San Juan
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Vigilance #1

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Comics and superheroes have always gone together like a hand and a glove, as it has always served as a medium for this genre. I can remember my very first impressions of superheroes involved Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. As these three characters and the universe, they eventually spawned, represented the ideals that were considered human and good. The very era in which they were created, has been mentioned numerous times, as the “good old days”, as it was the most romanticized version of America itself.

The problem that most people don’t realize, about that now bygone era, that it was only “the good old day”, for parts of the population, as any person of color, during that era, can attest, including my grandparents, as they suffered marginalization and discrimination almost everywhere thy go, as they never felt part of America, as I remember my grandmother telling me about the “no Filipinos Allowed”, signs everywhere. This invisibility and parodying of stereotypes took precedence in characters like Amos N Andy and Charlie Chan. Within the comics medium, the first black superhero was created by Jack Kirby and has come front and center in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther, and a viable ecosystem of black superheroes was not fully realized until almost 30 years later, with Milestone’s Dakota Universe. Therefore, when I read about the comic book, Vigilance, I was more than excited.

In this first issue, we get introduced to Vigilance and her “super” origins, as she crashes to earth, and gets trained by another Superhero, Justice. As she saves the world, one incident at a time, as her place in this world as she more than has a purpose, but there are those who would question why. As public perception, are afraid that superheroes, don’t help humans, but handicap, as one reporter implies. By issue’s end, public perception is the least of her worries, as she encounters a supervillain by the name of Lady Thundersaw.

Overall, an excellent first issue, which puts you right in the middle of the main character’s world, as she saves humans, fights public perceptions and supervillain. The story by Micah Cox, is quite superior to many of his peers, as what could have been a pedestrian superhero story, becomes something deeper. The art by Valdeci Nogueria, is fun and reminds me of Mike Judge’s cartoon style, but feels refreshingly new under Nogueira’s art style. Altogether, much like the rest of the world, this is what “normalization,” looks like, this is the type of superhero comic book the world needs.

Story: Micah Cox Art: Valdeci Nogueria
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy