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Graphic Breakdown: Aquaman, Batman, The Wild Storm, Bug! and The Red Death Make The ‘A’ List!

Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown!

It’s a fine week of comics over at DC. Let’s talk about a few of them!

 

Aquaman #28
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Stjepan Sejic

Whoever the genius was that asked Stjepan Sejic to illustrate this book should be commended. I never would have thought he would be as excellent and as adept at drawing this book as he is. His work is thrilling, like discovering Michael Turner for the first time. The story is damn good too.

This is the finale of the “Underworld” storyline.

Aquaman has been unseated by King Rath from his throne. But he’s not giving up without a fight!

Rath has been doing his best to keep the secret that Aquaman is still alive away from the denizens of Atlantis.

Aquaman isn’t happy about that.

The story by Abnett is tops. The storytelling is incredible. It’s beautiful and the action sequences are amazing. This is one of the best storylines of the year.

Pick this up. It’s amazing.

RATING: A

 

Batman #31
Written by Tom King
Illustrated by Mikel Janin

The War of Jokes and Riddles rages on here! This has been out of this world. Batman is caught in a war between the Joker and the Riddler and it’s the readers who are being rewarded. I’m rooting Tom King on at this point all the way to the finish line.

Batman is caught in the middle of the two warring factions. He spends the issue trying to balance one against the other.

King shows a crafty side to Batman I just love. He’s also made the dialogue much more interesting than it’s been.

The art by Janin is just the stuff of legend. I love his work so much. The line drawing is great as well as the pacing of the panels.

This is some great comic book storytelling here, folks.

Don’t miss out.

RATING: A

 

The Wild Storm #7
Written by Warren Ellis
Illustrated by Jon Davis-Hunt

So far, this has been a wacky take on the Wildstorm Universe.

But that’s to be expected. Warren Ellis is the man behind this enterprise and of course it’s completely different than most comics.

This issue has Angela Spica waking up in Jacob Marlowe’s place. She saved his life. It makes her reflect on the events up to now.

After that respite, they are forced into action again. The way Ellis writes is smart and intelligent. He also can write one hell of an action scene.

The art is something really special. Davis-Hunt is one of the most underrated artists out there.

Pick this up. It certainly is something great to read.

RATING: A-

 

Bug: The Adventures of the Forager #4
Written by Lee Allred
Illustrated by Michael Allred

Man, I’m enjoying this title. I couldn’t remember where I saw the Forager before.

Then I reread Cosmic Odyssey and remembered him from there.

He’s a great underused character and it’s great to see the Allred’s taking advantage of him.

In this issue, the Forager meets Deadman! Yes, this issue guest stars Boston Brand.

I love Boston Brand! These two characters work extremely well together. Boston Brand is stuck in a robotic body. It’s up to the Forager to travel through time and space to help the guy out.

Lee Allred keeps the writing fast and frothy. The art pops off the page due to Mike Allred. Pick this up. It’s fairly awesome.

RATING: A-

 

Batman: The Red Death #1
Written by Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by Carmine Di Giandomenico

I love this. Metal is totally bonkers and this is a totally bonkers one shot featuring one of the Batmen in there.

This is an issue focusing on The Red Death.

Who is the Red Death?

Well, he’s the Batman version of a speedster. A nightmare version actually.

This is the first of a series of one shots that tell stories of these individuals. There is a lot of great details here into the world of Metal that deepens the characters.

It’s great they tapped the best Flash creative team on this.

The story is kooky and the art is wonderful. Pick this up.

Metal is hot and this is great.

RATING: A-

 

Superman #31
Written by James Bonny
Illustrated by Tyler Kirkham

What the devil is going on with this book?

Why is the team of Tomasi and Gleason off the writing duties. Who’s on first? I don’t know but James Bonny writes a tepid tale that really goes nowhere.

This issue guest stars Deathstroke the Terminator and it’s wordy.

Like REALLY wordy.

Deathstroke is coming to Metropolis and it looks like Superman must confront him. That actually never materializes in this issue. It’s all rather boring too.

At least the art by Kirkham is rather good. It has an energy and a verve I quite liked. Still, this is a filler storyline from the looks of it. One that is also not very good or interesting overall.

RATING: C

 

Future Quest Presents: Space Ghost #2
Written by Jeff Parker
Illustrated by Ariel Olivetti

Jeff Parker is back writing Space Ghost and all is right in the world again. This is a grand issue and it’s a lot of fun from start to finish.

Space Ghost and his cohorts are on the planet of Amzot. They decide to explore the caverns to see what may going on in them.

What they find is that it may be more than they bargained for as there is danger in every turn!

Parker keeps the story light and fun. It’s a heck of an adventure he created here. The art is great as well and fits this book to a tee.

As long as Jeff Parker is writing these Future Quest books I’m in it for the long haul.

RATING: B+

 

Trinity #13
Written by Rob Williams
Illustrated by V Kenneth Marion

I had a hard time getting through this issue. Trinity is a hard comic to like. I’ve tried. It could be because of overload but I’m generally bored when I read this.

This is part two of the Dark Destiny storyline.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman team up for with some of the mystics of the DC universe to fight against the Pandora Pits. We also find out where the Pandora Pits came from in this issue.

It’s frankly dull.

Rob Williams isn’t my favorite writer and here he shows why. It’s uninspired and just feels like he was collecting a paycheck. The art is fairly generic as well.

Pick up another book with your money. This one is just not very good.

RATING: D

 

Wonder Woman / Conan #1
Written by Gail Simone
Illustrated by Aaron Lopresti
Published by DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics

Wonder Woman and Conan have teamed up here!

I’m not sure why this event has to happen but here it is! The two icons have finally met. It’s sort of fun but also sort of totally unnecessary. Here we go!

The story here isn’t bad. Gail Simone is a decent writer and she makes the individual scenes work pretty well. She has a great handle on Wonder Woman and a decent handle on Conan.

The problem for me is the art. Lopresti’s art gets on my nerves. It’s just bland. It makes the comic rather unexciting.

It’s still cool to see these two icons together. I can’t answer why. Maybe that’s part of the fun.

RATING: B

 

 

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