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Review: BATTLE ACTION SPECIAL Takes A Thrilling Step Back In Time

Battle Action
Battle Action cover art work Credit: Rebellion Publishing

New from Rebellion, the publisher behind 2000AD, comes Battle Action: a hardcover, one-shot war comic born out of the history of British comics. More than a homage to the bygone days of action comics, this new special is entirely written by Garth Ennis. It features some of the most extraordinary artistic talents currently in the business. This anthology comic features characters that were created decades ago but will be brand new to a lot of the readers.

Full of violence, cunning, and meta-fiction, Battle Action has an unsurprising surface level, but the undertones, and one story in particular, will definitely be more than you might be expecting.

Battle Action: Johnny Red Credit: Rebellion Publishing

A Little Bit of History

There are very few genres within comics that manage to maintain consistent popularity, the superhero genre being an exception. Horror drifts in and out of fashion, and genres such as romance died out, with the few attempts to rekindle the flame barely making a mark in the mainstream. However, all genres have a following within the small press, and whatever you are into, you can find graphic storytelling to fit your needs. However, in British shops, War comics have always held a spot on the shelf. From the early 1960s, with the publication of Commando War Stories In Pictures, war comics have proven to be popular, and a range of titles have come and gone over the decades. However, Commando is still being published to this day.

Another tradition in British comics are weekly anthologies, from those aimed at younger readers, such as the Beano and the Dandy, to more adult and famous titles such as 2000AD. The war comics were no different, with titles such as Warlord telling the adventures of numerous characters week after week. Battle Picture Weekly first appeared in March 1975 and contained stories set mainly during the first and second world wars, with Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun’s Charley’s War proving to be one of the most enduring and, in Ennis’ opinion, finest comic strips of all time.

In 1977, Battle merged with another title, Action, to form Battle Action. Action was another anthology title but contained a wider range of genres and inspiration. The superb Hook Jaw was introduced within the pages of Action along with BlackJack and Kids Rule OK! Action was born in the era of punk rock and the aura of anarchism sweeping Britain in the mid-1970s. It was not accepted by polite society and managed to ruffle all the wrong feathers leading to some self-censorship and a final merging with Battle.

Ennis is no stranger to war stories or writing politically charged, based in reality, comic strips. His first story was set on the streets of Belfast during the height of the Irish Troubles. He then went on to re-invent the Unknown Soldier for DC-Vertigo before writing Weird War Tales and War Stories for DC. Next, he wrote Phantom Eagle for Marvel and more War Stories for Avatar Press before writing a collection of various war-based adventures for Titan Publishers and Aftershock Comics, which brings us to the new Battle Action special from Rebellion.

Battle Action: Hellman V Glory Rider Credit: Rebellion Publishing

Opening Shots

Battle Action contains seven short stories featuring characters who appeared in the original run. The opening story, Johnny Red, is bright and bold with intricate ink work from Keith Burns. Jason Wordie’s colors reflect the coldness of the conflict and the deception inherent in the narrative. There is realism to the visuals, but Wordie plays with the environment to create emotional context. Rob Steen squeezes the conversation-heavy dialogue into the landscape, enforcing the visual style that is both 1970s nostalgic while also being very modern comic storytelling. The wide, thin panels suit the aviation action, and the fine lines of the aircraft easily slice through the panel borders creating the grander scale of the aerial conflict.

Rob Steen’s typewriter-style font in the caption boxes emphasizes the documentary storytelling style in The Sarge. The strip reads like a soldier’s letter from the front, and this is used to great effect in the script and the visual design. P J Holden’s artwork is extremely detailed and has a heightened dramatic flair as if it represents an over-the-top representation of the actual events. Again, it is the exaggeration of memory, the focus on specific details at the cost of surrounding elements. The decision to print this strip in stark black and white refers back to the original comics and to the single-mindedness of memory recall. It is very ‘matter of fact,’ which is essential in this story.

Chris Burnham’s work on Crazy Keller is much more comical and expressionistic. There is a ludicrous element to the tale being told, which is reflected in the artwork, with its floating heads and blend of classic children’s comic language and over-the-top performances from the characters. Burnham draws humorous faces and exaggerated gestures, creating visual punchlines not always backed up by the script. Crazy Keller is Ennis writing a War story set in a Loony Tunes cartoon, and it is full of cheek and charm.

Battle Action: Dredger Credit: Rebellion Publishing

The Difficult Middle Section

There is no escaping the Dirty Harry inspiration behind Dredger, but John Higgins’ masterful artwork will entirely occupy your journey through the twelve-page story. Complex layouts contain superb compositions and clever storytelling that almost negates the need for Rob Steen’s lettering. Sally Jane Hurst’s colors create tension on the page, instantly drawing the reader’s focus to specific panels, complicating the layouts but always benefiting the reading experience. Out of this anthology, Dredger is the most visually exciting, even if some of the narrative elements feel familiar in niggling ways rather than the nostalgic references that feature in all of the other stories.

Hellman V Glory Rider is a little too similar to the Johnny Red story, only with tanks. For some reason, the narrative lacks a hook unless tanks shooting tanks is all you look for in a story. Unfortunately, a touching moment between the heroes of each comic strip (for this is two classic comics merged into one) isn’t enough to make this story shine or even stand out against the other strips on offer. Mike Dorey’s artwork is reminiscent of 1970s war comics and wouldn’t seem out of place in the pages of Warlord or Commando, but it is overshadowed by the stories that precede and follow it. One of the downsides of anthologies is that good stories can fade into the background when placed alongside brilliance, and this is Hellman V Glory Rider’s unfortunate fate.

Battle Action
Battle Action: Crazy Keller Credit: Rebellion Publishing

Politics and Social Commentary

I’ll return to Kids Rule O.K., and instead skip to the final story, Nina Petrova and the Angels of Death, with Patrick Goddard’s artwork and Jason Wordie’s colors. The narrative follows a group of Russian bombers on a night raid and the triumph and tragedy that follows. This strip allows Ennis to touch on slightly different themes than the other stories, and the emotional impact of the action is more sincere. The story highlights the lack of strong female characters in the genre but demonstrates that nothing needs to be lost because of gender. Goddard’s fine line details bring the characters and aircraft to life, while Wordie’s colors make the pages stand out. The cold darkness of the night creates an imposing atmosphere which Wordie uses to his advantage to instill moments of shock or excitement in the narrative. The destruction is more visible within this story because of the contrasting color palette used; bright reds of flame leap out of the cold blues of the night.

The penultimate story in this anthology is perhaps the most exciting and interesting. It is definitely the story that stands out the most and takes a different approach to the nostalgia inherent throughout this entire comic. Kids Rule O.K. has an infamous past and is often cited as the story that caused the downfall of the Action title in the 1970s. In this new tale, Ennis and Kevin O’Neill decide to mix two styles and two narratives to capture the theme of the original comic strip but also the reaction to violence within British Comics at the time. By intercutting the comic strip with full-page splashes of conversation, minus any visible characters, Ennis is able to openly discuss the comics’ form and history in a way that seems natural and fitting for this anthology. The twelve-page story looks and reads like it was taken straight from the pages of Crisis, the comic where Ennis’ first story was published and references the 1980s and 1990s as much as it does the 1970s. This story, more than any in this anthology, is about the history of British comics and the general public’s perception of publishers, distributors, and creatives involved. Kids Rule O.K. is the most abstract of the comic strips, and some of the subject matter, for example, police brutality, is especially hard-hitting, being as relevant today as it was when the original strip first appeared. Kevin O’Neill’s artwork is perfect for this kind of story, and the banality of ‘reality’ heightens the excessiveness of the comic strip. Something is unsettling in Kids Rule O.K., and it’s not just the mindless violence perpetrated by the central character and the police response. It is a reflection of a different time that is unfortunately still relevant today.

Battle Action: Nina Petrova Credit: Rebellion Publishing

Conclusion

Anthologies have always been a part of British Comics, and war stories have always found a place within the pages of these comics. Battle Action is a wonderful celebration of the genre and the perfect homage to the creators who made British Comics so popular. Ennis has an obvious love for this genre and understands why these characters were popular at the time, but the real genius is that he has made them relevant today without turning them into parody.

There are some clear standouts in this comic, as there are with all anthologies, and there are no real duds. The most impressive story is the Kevin O’Neill illustrated Kids Rule O.K., which seamlessly mixes nostalgia and social commentary to tell a tale of historical relevance. It is an essay about British Comics and the uphill struggle they face against a society that doesn’t understand or accept them.

Battle Action is an exciting read and more thought-provoking than you’d expect.

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Review: Religion and Politics in SEVEN SONS #1

Many stories have imagined what would happen if the Second Coming went unnoticed, but hell, what if it was a sellout? What if the candidates for God’s new humanly host got their own campaign trails and action figures? The creative team of writers Robert Windom and Kelvin Mao, artist Jae Lee, colorist June Chung, and letterer Simon Bowland present such a world in Seven Sons #1. Maybe making such a spectacle out of the Second Coming is a bit crass and commercial. But you’d still better buy your tickets months in advance if you don’t want any chance of missing out.

WRITING

Windom and Mao begin the story by establishing the world’s cultish devotion to a prophesied second coming. Their object of devotion is The Book of Seven Sons, a collection of religious prophecies that foretold the birth of seven identical sons born from seven virgin mothers, one on each continent. Initial reaction to the book had been muted, until the miraculous births actually happened. Now, thirty-one years since its publication, the planet has been gripped with religious ecstasy. Especially since the day has come for the true son of God to be chosen from the seven. …Though that choice may have been made a bit easier than first thought.

Establishing a world run on very specific religious prophecy means devoting time to setup. So this issue spends time bouncing between a ground-level view of religious mobs and an in-universe interview with the author of The Book of Seven Sons. The former shows the setting’s religious mania firsthand, while the latter gives essential details to the laws that govern it. Admittedly, some of the exposition can feel a bit unnatural (Jimmy Carter is introduced with “Thanks to former Two-Term president Jimmy Carter”), but by and large, the book does a good job of establishing a seedy world where the second coming is saddled with the suits, smiles, and empty promises of politics. A no vacancy sign hung on a soup kitchen across the street from a 50% off “Jesus is Reborn” sale.

With such a strong focus on mob mentality and the status quo of a global empire, not much time is spent learning about specific characters. The closest thing to a point-of-view character is a man with amnesia. He’s swept from place to place, buffeted with shouts and handfuls of cheap merchandise until he literally collapses. This is a cold, inhuman world reflected through the storytelling. However, the last few pages of the issue hint at a stronger focus on some of the Seven Sons themselves moving forward. Whether they’ll continue to reflect the world’s cold, impassive attitude or reveal their more petty, human sides has yet to be seen.

ART

After a long absence, Lee is back to independent comics and immediately returns to stories of second comings and religious fervor. But while Hellshock took a psychological angle, focusing on dingy asylums and small changes in expression, Seven Sons takes a grander approach to its subject matter. The first page announces itself by showing a cross between a church and a casino. Lee’s approach is defined by gaudy commercial excess and cold, piercing eyes. He experiments with layouts, but keeps them harsh and geometric, all straight lines and angles with thickly defined gutters. Chung’s colors are washed out and dominated by cool blues, the brightest colors coming from either advertisements or bursts of violence. Bowland’s lettering is understated as well, his sound effects opting for thin, sloping balloon letters that quietly announce the “Krash” of a door being kicked down.

VERDICT

Lee’s Hellshock was about a guy with a cross painted over his face. This time, the cross covers the entire planet. It’s hard to know where the book is headed at this early stage, but the world it presents is at least one worth checking out. SEVEN SONS #1 is out now from Image Comics.

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Read The First 5 Pages: THE ALL-NIGHTER #7 (Comixology Originals)

The All-Nighter (Comixology Originals) #7

THE ALL-NIGHTER #7 hits Comixology on June 21, but thanks to the digital publisher, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for our readers. The issue is written by Chip Zdarsky, with art by Jason Loo, Paris Alleyne drops the colors, and you will read Aditya Bidikar’s letter work.

About THE ALL-NIGHTER:
Alex is bored–flipping burgers for strangers all night is no way for a vampire to live. But he and his fellow vampires Joy, Cynthia, and Ian have agreed to blend into human society. Inspired by superhero movies, one of few passions in his un-life, Alex decides to don a cape and start fighting bad guys. But his decision will have bigger consequences than he realizes—for himself and for everyone he wants to protect.

About this issue: Joy confronts her past while Andrea begins to realize that she can be a cop, or she can help her vigilante friends–but she can’t do both.


Enjoy the preview below.

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AfterShock Comics Exclusive Preview: ASTRONAUT DOWN #2

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

ASTRONAUT DOWN #2 hits your local comic book store July 6th, but thanks to AfterShock Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you.

About the issue:
Inter-dimensional astronaut Douglas Spitzer has overshot his destination, and he’s now in a world that is both familiar and different. In his home world, a cellular cancer has destroyed 90% of the planet and the people along with it. But this new, parallel world cured it. And while the green sky and clean air is enough to deal with, there’s another reason Douglas is hesitant to complete his mission…love. 

Meanwhile, mission control has to deal with the fallout from another failed launch and the rapidly encroaching cancer outside, all while trying to aid Douglas – who’s the only hope to save their dying world.

The series is by writer James Patrick and artist Rubine, with colors by Valentina Briški, and letters by Carlos M. Mangual. The cover is by Rubine.

Check out the ASTRONAUT DOWN #2 preview below:

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down

aftershock comics exclusive preview astronaut down


Are you reading AfterShock’s ASTRONAUT DOWN? Sound off in the comments!

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Review: LOVE EVERLASTING #4 – Back to Square One (But Not Really)

Love Everlasting is a series that thrives on repetition. Joan, our “lovelorn” protagonist, is stuck in an endless cycle of sappy romance stories. Every time she finally embraces the man she loves, she finds herself back at square one, in a completely different life with another sad sack trying to win her heart. Writer Tom King, artist Elsa Charretier, colorist Matt Hollingsworth, and letterer Clayton Cowles have given themselves a very difficult task: How do they tell the same story over and over, and still keep us interested? Love Everlasting #4 begins to answer that question in a surprising way.

Matias Bergara’s variant to LOVE EVERLASTING #1’s upcoming physical release through Image Comics.

Writing

King is making a point of showing that he’s taking his time with this series. He’s asking us to be patient, or even to feel Joan’s impatience, as he teases a story out of subtle clues and little nods. Yes, there’s an overall arc that’s being crafted, but the journey is more important than the answers to all of our questions. Love Everlasting #4 takes us right back to the beginning. We’re with Joan in a love story and there’s very little sense that there’s anything more to the issue than just that – it’s a love story. Period. Joan isn’t trying to escape, she isn’t fighting against the narrative beats and struggling for independence. She’s resigned to what’s happening.

If we didn’t know better, we’d even think that maybe she wasn’t the Joan we’ve come to know, or that this chapter somehow got shuffled into the wrong place of the series. But that’s the beauty of King’s slow moving storytelling. He trusts that the reader does know better. He trusts that he doesn’t have to tell us what’s going on in Joan’s mind for us to have an idea of it. Yes, we’re waiting for Joan to make a move, but we’re not thinking she’s back to being fooled by these love stories. She’s not just the passive character she appears to be. Yet, in spite of all of these factors, King still manages to make us feel something. He does away with the melodrama and the theatrics and tells a quiet, sad story of love during war. Every emotional beat lands despite the fact that we know it shouldn’t – that this is all some strange prison Joan is stuck in. We’re willing prisoners of this story, just like Joan.

Art

Charretier communicates so much through her placement of characters. The first scene we see, Joan and her new lover (Dane) are pictured amongst a group of people. Smoke clouds fill the room, all blown from the mouths of patrons, and we see men gathered around a table having a drunken good time. Joan and Dane are the main focus of a lot of these panels. But as the scene ends, they’re shown in the background. In the foreground, men share drinks and tell stories, but off in a quiet corner we see Joan and Dane having their own private moment. As the issue progresses, the bar becomes more and more empty. Fewer men are returning from battle with each passing month. But we still get panels of Joan and Dane off on their own. Whether we’re separated from them by happy bar patrons or simply by empty chairs and tables, they’re still given their own space. As readers we almost want to lean in to see them closer or even want to hear what they’re saying, just as they themselves lean their heads closer together and intimately whisper to each other. It’s a stunning use of character placement that actually makes the reader mimic what the characters are doing.

Coloring

Hollingsworth use of color is striking and immediately noticeable. The bar, itself, goes through multiple transformations. At first it’s cast in a deep blue light. When we next see it, the bar looks purple. It almost feels like a nightclub. The richness of the atmosphere is apparent. But when we see the bar again, it’s grey. Some of the life has been drained out of it. And the empty bar at the end of this story is shown in a pale yellow coloring. It feels as though life hasn’t just died in this locale, but it’s beginning to rot and turn. Dane is shown in dark green and you half expect him to keel over at any second. But all through the issue, even in the yellowing bar at the end of the story, we get moments of brightness. Hollingsworth uses the same shade of pink over and over. The first instance is Dane’s face as he’s watching Joan perform. He’s smitten and blushing. (It’s kind of lovely that this color signifies love from this moment on.) When she touches him, the backdrop of the panel is pink. When they embrace, there’s the same pink. It’s a beautiful representation of love surviving in the midst of such dreary realities.

Tula Lotay’s variant for LOVE EVERLASTING #1’s upcoming physical release through Image Comics.

Lettering

There’s plenty of variation to Cowles’ lettering. The dialogue of drunk men is shown in word balloon’s that have wobbly outlines. Joan’s singing is surrounded by colorful music notes. You can hear the silences in the large spaces between word balloons and you can feel the nervous energy in the dialogue that almost overlaps each other. When Dane returns to the bar, drunker than he’s ever been, he sings one of Joan’s songs. The wobbly word balloons make us fully aware of his inebriation, but the surprising thing is we still see the colorful music notes. Cowles does nothing to make the notes seem pale or twisted. They look just like when Joan sings. Cowles shows us that Dane might sound drunk, but there’s also charm to his singing. It’s another great example of this creative team’s quest to find beauty in strange places.

Verdict

Love Everlasting #4 pulls us right back to where we started. But by doing this, it shows us the nuances that have been hiding in the margins of these stories all along. And somehow, despite us knowing that these tales are all a part of Joan’s strange imprisonment, this creative team still manages to reel us in and make us care. In a series that parodies and lampoons, we still get issues like this that are unapologetically beautiful and raw. Love Everlasting #4 is available to paid subscribers of Everlasting Productions and will be available for free in the coming weeks.

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Justin Madson’s BREATHERS To Be Collected By Dark Horse Comics & IT’S ALIVE Press

exclusive breathers announcement justin madson dark horse

Justin Madson’s nine-issue series BREATHERS, originally published by IT’S ALIVE!, will be collected for the first time by Dark Horse Comics (in collaboration with IT’S ALIVE!) and released in comic stores on February 22, 2023. The collection will also be released in bookstores on March 7, 2023.

About BREATHERS:
Follow the lives of a small cast of survivors as they struggle to keep going in a world where the air is fatal. A detective battles not only the deadly air, but his own demons; a lost pair of siblings question the supposed apocalypse; a mother and daughter fight tooth and nail to stay together; and a salesman peddles breathing masks, trying to do some good to make up for the sins of his past. They are all survivors—they are all Breathers.

exclusive breathers announcement justin madson dark horse

On the reprinting of BREATHERS, Madson said, “Long before the word ‘pandemic’ became a part of our daily conversation, I started work on BREATHERS, a story set in a world where the air was deadly to breathe, so everyone had to wear gas masks when they went outside. Wearing these “breathers” was an accepted part of life since, really, there was no other option. It seemed like a bit of a far-fetched idea at the time, but, as recent years have shown, I was not too far off. I am thrilled to be working with IT’S ALIVE! and Dark Horse to bring my dystopian tale, BREATHERS, to a wider audience.”

In 2019, writer Grant DeArmitt, reviewing for MFR, called BREATHERS “an indie comics masterpiece,” praising Madson’s art and his commitment to the world he created. You can read Grant’s full review of the series here.

The BREATHERS paperback is available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at your local comic shop and bookstore, and will retail for $29.99.


Did you read BREATHERS when it was originally published? Will you be picking up the paperback? Sound off in the comments!

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REVIEW: DARK CRISIS #1 Gives Us A Reason To Believe Again

The Justice League is no more. As fans of DC Comics, we enter into the Dark Crisis. There may not be a worse time in the DC Universe than right now. The pillars of the DC Universe are dead; who will step up and take charge in this time of need? Joshua Williamson is the architect for this series and the writer. Daniel Sampere lays down the pencils with colors by Alejandro Sanchez and letters by Tom Napolitano.

WRITING

There is a lot to unwrap this issue. Some of this issue deals with Jon Kent attempting to assemble his new Justice League. Williamson handles this part of the issue well. Jon isn’t Clark. His attempt to pull some strings doesn’t have the same weight that Clark has. He’s met with many no’s in his attempts to recruit heroes. Williamson paints a world for the reader where hope and faith are lost. Citizens hold signs saying the end is near. Villains are attacking non-stop. The world needs a new Justice League, and they need hope. This issue sets the tone for what we’ll see throughout the following seven issues. Williamson has laid down the groundwork. From here on out, it should be an action-packed thrill ride that brings new heroes to the forefront of the DC Universe.

ART

Sampere is absolutely on fire this issue. His pencils give us gorgeous panel after gorgeous panel. Action sequences are drawn crystal clear. Yara and Jon punching a demon together is beautiful. Sampere puts everything he has into this issue to make it the best possible book he can. This comes through on the page. No panel lacks quality. Even when multiple characters appear in small panels during the Justice League recruitment, Sampere makes everyone look amazing. The art in Dark Crisis #1 is flawless.

The colors by Sanchez go hand in hand with what Sampere lays down. Sanchez’s vibrant colors allow Sampere’s pencils to leap off the page. Jon visiting the statues erected for the fallen Justice League is colored wonderfully. Sanchez allows the backdrop to have the sun shining on the fallen heroes perfectly. When things turn grim, the backgrounds and colors get darker too. As villains descend on Titans Tower, the sky is dark, and Sanchez uses heavy blues on the page. This shift in color also represents a shift in the tone of the story. Earlier, Wally and Jon took care of low-level villains. The sky was bright, and things were easy. The colors get darker when the heavy hitters arrive and the fights get harder.

The letter work by Napolitano is effective. One of the best-lettered panels in the issue is when Booster Gold and Blue Beetle fist bump. Napolitano uses a “bros” placed right above their heads as they bump. The sound effects are incredible on this issue as well. As Batman chases a car full of criminals, gunshots “bang” fill the page. Insane laughter from the criminal outlines his face. Napolitano fills up pages with the little sound effects we all expect to see in comics. He makes them feel alive, and that makes a massive difference in this book.

Conclusion

Dark Crisis #1 is an excellent start to an exciting event. Williamson is a writer who crafts good stories and can do something great. You honestly can’t say enough about Daniel Sampere’s pencils on this issue. His work is as perfect as you can get in comics. Dark Crisis #1 is on sale at a comic shop near you!

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Review: POISON IVY #1 – Horticulture With A Body Count

From writer G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel, Invisible Kingdom) and artist Marcio Takara (Incorruptible, Hellblazer) comes a twisted tale of woe, love lost, and parasitic fungi in Poison Ivy #1. Featuring colors by Arif Prianto and lettering from Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, this opening chapter sends us on a road trip of plant-based death starring one of DC’s greatest villains. With a cutting, delightfully twisted script and staggeringly gorgeous art, this issue is a phenomenal start to this highly anticipated mini-series.

“Pamela Isley has been a lot of things in her life. A living god, a super-villain, an activist, a scientist, and dead. In a new body that she didn’t ask for and with a renewed sense of purpose, Ivy leaves Gotham and sets out to complete her greatest work-a gift to the world that will heal the damage dealt to it…by ending humanity.”

Writing & Plot

G. Willow Wilson crafts a hugely entertaining and emotionally complex script for Poison Ivy #1. There’s so much fun to be had here on the surface, but all the while our titular protagonist has hit rock bottom. This first chapter poses questions about what Ivy has gone through to send her on this lonely road trip of murder and apocalyptic intent. Wilson does a stellar job of having enough flashbacks and self-reflection to raise the emotional stakes, but keep the full story of whatever tragedy befell Ivy obscured for later issues. The event that occurred before this comic not only emotionally broke her, but also affected her powers. As such, she’s on a quest for world-ending vengeance that’s just as harmful to herself as it is everyone around her.

DC has been on a bend these last few years with trying to make Poison Ivy less of a villain and more like her misunderstood antihero lover, Harley Quinn. While this is all well and good, it is truly delightful in a twisted way to see the Queen of the Green wreaking absolute havoc once again – even if there’s so much sadness behind it. Wilson’s narrative voice and dialogue is snappy and brimming with attitude, making the already fun comic even more engrossing. The script maintains a steady, lighter tone while still having genuine emotional weight. This is a brilliantly written comic, and it makes the wait for the next chapter near-torturous.

Art Direction

Any DC comic that involves all the weird and wonderful things The Green can end up requires a true artistic talent. Fortunately, Marcio Takara is the visual mastermind behind Poison Ivy #1. As such, this comic is a mind-boggling joy to behold. Takara’s character animations and details pull readers right into the scene with Ivy and her poor victims. However, as great as his character work is, the best material is of course the plant shenanigans. Instead of the usual crawling vines and man-eating flowers usually found in an Ivy story, this one is full of poisonous fungi. Whereas there is a sort of demented beauty to Ivy’s prior powers, what Takara does in this issue borders more on outright body horror. The end result looks like concept art from Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us games, and this is intended as a compliment. Ivy has never been this outright sadistic, and the physical torment she’s inflicting upon her victims matches her new mission. It’s impossible not to compare Takara’s work here to that of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben on Swamp Thing. The effects of Ivy’s fungi result is the victim having euphoric hallucinations as they die. The artistic result then is a surprising and rad joy to behold. Never has a comic presented Poison Ivy to be as monstrous as she is in these sequences.

The whole visual experience is brought together wonderfully by Arif Prianto’s colors. His work here paints the characters, settings, and fungal-death sequences in a soft yet vivid palette that leaves Takara’s pencils bleeding with life. The real-world sequences, which make up the majority of the comic, are of course stunning and alive with thoughtful detail. The way that Prianto makes a hometown bar in the middle of nowhere just look and so right is some truly brilliant work. The most notable highlight here though is obviously the hallucination sequences. Pages ooze with psychedelic colors all bleeding into one another in the background of the gore and body horror taking place. Prianto does incredible work with Takara in making stomach-churning horror appear oddly beautiful. The lettering from Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is as fantastic as ever. He uses a very modern font style and injects it with a liquid, dynamic personality that morphs perfectly with the tone of each passage. Overall, this comic is a piece of high-fidelity visual mastery.

Verdict

Poison Ivy #1 is a deliciously snarky and wonderfully grotesque start to this solo series starring one of Batman’s coolest foes. G. Willow Wilson captures Ivy at her lowest and most enraged, with a complex script that manages to stay even-toned despite its breadth of emotional turmoil. The visuals from Marcio Takara and Arif Prianto are stunning and vivid, using a varied range of visual touches to create a comic that feels conventional at points then gives way to horror and psychedelia. This is an outstanding #1, so be sure to grab a copy when it hits shelves on June 7th!

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Marvel Comics Exclusive Preview: MOON KNIGHT: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD #2

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

MOON KNIGHT: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD #2 hits your local comic book store on June 15th, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you!

About the issue:
Another hard-hitting series of tales told in a limited palette of black, white and red, by today’s top creators! Benjamin Percy and Gerardo Zaffino have Moon Knight seek out an odd favor from Doctor Strange! Moon Knight’s four personalities come together to debrief the night’s events in a story by David Pepose and Leonardo Romero! And Marc Spector’s mercenary past comes back to haunt him in an adventure by Patch Zircher!

As stated in the solicit, the issue features stories by Benjamin Percy & Vanesa R. Del Ray; David Pepose, Leonardo Romero, & Chris Sotomayor; and Patch Zircher. Cory Petit letters the whole book, and the main cover is by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, & Carlos Lopez.

Check out the MOON KNIGHT: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD #2 preview below:

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview

moon knight black white blood exclusive preview


Did you pick up the first issue of MOON KNIGHT: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD? Sound off in the comments!

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AfterShock Comics Exclusive Preview: THE NAUGHTY LIST #3

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

THE NAUGHTY LIST #3 hits your local comic book store June 29th, but thanks to AfterShock Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you.

About the issue:
We pick up Santa Claus exactly where youd expect to find him – in a beat pick-up truck, hundreds of feet in the air, heading to New York City to catch a killer. But before we get there, Nick debunks classic Christmas myths and shares the origin story of RoShamBo – the only known by-product of a troll-human coupling…and the SOB who probably stole the Naughty List.

The series is by writer Nick Santora and artist Lee Ferguson, with colors by Juancho!, and letters by Simon Bowland. The cover is by Francesco Francavilla.

Check out the THE NAUGHTY LIST #3 preview below:

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview

naughty list aftershock comics exclusive preview


Have you checked out THE NAUGHTY LIST from AfterShock? Sound off in the comments!

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