G.I. Zombie: Futures End #1 - DC Comics

G.I. ZOMBIE: FUTURES END No. 1, November 2014

I am not very familiar with “DC Comics” Fifties book title “Star-Spangled War Stories” but do know that it ran for over two-hundred issues until the late Seventies when it was renamed “The Unknown Soldier”. I also own the 2008 twelve-issue limited series “The War That Time Forgot” which was a re-launch of one of its most popular regular features.

None of this information is especially relevant to “G.I. Zombie” however, as Sergeant Jared Kabe is actually a completely new character to the DC Comics Universe. It’s just that this new horror/war series has the iconic “Star-Spangled War Stories” banner bolted atop its title. Indeed I’d be entirely oblivious to the modern-day undead soldier if it was not for the stunningly superb 3-D motion cover to this “G.I. Zombie - Futures End” one-shot comic.

Drawn by Dave Johnson, it depicts Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray’s creation momentarily surrounded by zombies, before punching one in the head so hard the living corpse’s eyeball breaks free. Gross, bloody and gory it is but also so eye-catching (pun) that it convinced me to purchase the edition just as soon as I saw it. Lucky for the publisher too, for if I’d had an inkling as to the quality of the artwork inside the comic I’d have been sorely tempted to give the book a miss… despite the cover illustration on its own probably being worth the ‘price of admission’.

As a stand-alone story, co-writers Gray and Palmiotti certainly plunge the reader into the action right from start. The very first panel has a would-be looter getting attacked by a hungry ghoul, and before many more have passed you have an American aircraft carrier being overrun by zombie paratroopers. Throw in a family’s headlong dash for Gotham City with a horde of hungry undead biting at their heels, and an aeroplane battle which ends up with a fist-fight in the sky and there’s probably not a great deal more that could be contained within the storyline’s twenty-pages.

Unfortunately it is all appallingly drawn by Scott Hampton, whose indistinct minimalist sketchings leave an awful lot to be desired. There is simply no detail on any of his figures, and as a result most of the panels appear to be filled with just the outlines of people and the suggestion of something taking place. It is certainly no wonder that the freelance comic book artist colours his own illustrations, as I’d imagine another professional looking at his ‘chicken-scratchings’ would not know where to begin.

Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, and Artist/Colorist: Scott Hampton

Superman: Futures End #1 - DC Comics

SUPERMAN: FUTURES END No. 1, November 2014

The major selling point of this one-shot title has to be without a doubt the stupendous Ken Lashley 3-D motion cover which not only depicts the Man of Steel in all his glory but the masked Superman variant costume as well. It’s certainly the only reason I was willing to hand over good money for it. Coming into “DC Comics” whole New 52 reboot a couple of years too late I’m rather unfamiliar with a lot of what’s taken place, or rather hasn’t taken place considering that the publisher has apparently erased vast swathes of notable DC Universe history. I’m also not sighted on the eleven-month weekly limited series “Future’s End”. But many will be aware that there has been a new-look Big Blue soaring above the rooftops of Metropolis recently and that for a while no-one knew whether he was the genuine article or not because the American cultural icon had taken to wearing a mask. Issue 17 of “Future’s End” revealed that the man beneath the hood was none other than Captain Marvel and so this comic, entitled “Haunted”, deals with the fall-out from that revelation.

Written by Dan Jurgens, who did such a stellar job scripting “Captain America” (Volume 3) back in the Nineties for “Marvel Comics”, this book tells a simple tale as to the motivation behind why Billy Batson traded his red and gold costume for blue and red tights, and donned a mask. Put simply, the once homeless newsboy feels guilty that having saved Shazam from the treachery of Black Adam, Superman faced his (possibly ultimate) fate during the Earth’s battle against Apokolip’s armies alone. There’s a real sense of childish logic behind this sentiment that suitably fits the character of Captain Marvel. I can genuinely see that such a boy ‘trapped’ in a man’s body really would believe that they were in some way responsible for the World losing its Superman and feel obliged to try and make amends by keeping the Man of Steel alive… in some form at least.

Unfortunately any lasting impact Jurgens storyline may have upon the reader is swiftly and utterly destroyed by some simply appalling artwork and colouring by Lee Weeks and Dave McCaig. Ordinarily I’m a fan of the early Nineties “Daredevil” comic book artist, especially his black and white pencil work, but clearly something has gone spectacularly wrong with this book’s illustrations.

There’s little to no depth to the majority of the panels, some appalling approximations of human anatomy and a ghastly green sickly hue to everything. Lois Lane’s interview of Billy Batson in particular simply consists of a series of thin weedy pencil lines grotesquely coloured in bland shades of yellow and cyan. Indeed I’m far more inclined to believe the fault lies at the door of the Canadian colourist as opposed to Weeks, and can’t help thinking that this comic would have been so much better if its penciller had simply inked their own work and produced a monochrome visual medium instead.

Batman: Futures End #1 - DC Comics

BATMAN: FUTURES END No. 1, November 2014

Lured into buying this particular one-shot “Batman” comic because of the excellent Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson cover, it is still hard to fathom out just why this issue succeeded in becoming the highest-selling “DC Comics” title of September 2014. Though doubtless the extra gimmicky 3-D motion cover variant edition contributed substantially towards Diamond Comic Distributor’s estimated sales of 127,823 copies; a figure only bested that month by the first two issues of “Death Of Wolverine” by “Marvel Worldwide”.

However any purchaser who went so far as to open the clear polypropylene bag and check the artwork inside would have found that the interior drawings were infinitely inferior to that of the Canadian artist’s front page illustration. Having previously worked on the 2013 “Constantine” title for the American publishing company, the pencilling of Aco within this book is indistinct, poorly drawn and simply shoddy; possibly some of the worst most incomprehensible artwork witnessed in a comic. Indeed even the quality of drawing from some of those first super-hero strips of the Forties and Fifties is superior to this, and it is actually hard to shake the feeling that the artist knows it too; why else would Bruce Wayne be walking around the Batcave in a white T-Shirt with the Batman logo emblazoned across the chest if it wasn’t to help the reader recognise who the sketchily drawn poorly-animated figure was meant to be?

Fortunately things do get a little easier on the eye when Aco uses an entire page to pencil a panel, an early drawing of The Batman swinging across the rooftops of Gotham City being a strong case in point. But even then the drawing leaves an awful lot to be desired, and these larger illustrations only make the awful two-dimensional colouring of Fco Plascencia all the more obvious.

Grotesque artwork aside, “Futures End – Remains” has little going for it in the plot department either. Fellow “Constantine” collaborator Ray Fawkes (with Scott Snyder) has penned a simple and admittedly action-packed plot which dwells upon one of Bruce Wayne’s most deep-rooted fears – what happens to The Batman after he dies? Who will continue his legacy? The solution, at least according to these writers, is simple… break into Lexcorps impenetrable priority biolab and steal Luthor’s cloning technology so he can create a new Batman with all of his memories ‘up to the night in his father’s study’. Throw in some ED-209 security robot rejects, Bizarro and a wizened, goatee-wearing bespectacled Alfred, all appalling rendered by Aco, and give The Batman forty minutes with which to do it…

Writer: Ray Fawkes & Scott Snyder, Artist: Aco, and Colors: Fco Plascencia