Batman: The Detective #4 - DC Comics

BATMAN: THE DETECTIVE No. 4, September 2021

Predominantly focusing upon Bruce Wayne’s “gruelling Interpol interrogation” for the “attempted murder of former mentor and teacher Henri Ducard”, Tom Taylor’s narrative for Issue Four of “Batman: The Detective” probably disconcerted many within the mini-series’ audience thanks to the plot’s perturbingly vulnerable portrayal of the crime-fighting billionaire. Indeed, it’s arguably hard to imagine a more trusting Caped Crusader than the one the Australian author depicts nonchalantly answering the authority’s threat-laced questions and overconfidently drinking the Police’s fizzy soda water; “I was hoping for something nice from the Champagne Region. But instead you’ve brought me sparkling disappointment.”

Delightfully however, once it becomes clear that the Dark Knight’s alter-ego has naively allowed himself to be detained by the murderous Equilibrium in a moment of misplaced conceit, this gripping grilling becomes even more exciting. The revelation that Wayne has been lethally poisoned by cyanide is really well-penned by the Victoria-born writer, and debatably creeps up upon the reader incrementally in precisely the same manner as it does the somewhat haughty, super-wealthy industrialist.

Equally as well delivered is Wayne’s plan to escape so grisly a demise, following his captors’ swift departure. Physically handcuffed inside a cell, his throat swelling and a large knife embedded in his right shoulder, the ‘old man’ follows his training to the letter by slowing his heartbeat and “lowering my metabolism”. Then, with the super-human effort of will the Batman is renowned for, the Justice Leaguer manages to break his bonds and flees to a chemist where he swiftly swigs down an antidotal cocktail of his own devising.

Adding plenty of apprehension to this comic’s ultra-tense atmosphere is Andy Kubert’s pencilling, which genuinely helps sell the sincere shock in Bruce’s eyes when he comprehends he’s been played for a profusely sweating fool by his merciless opponents, and is very likely to die at their hands within mere minutes. In addition, the American artist does a first-rate job of showing the Dark Knight’s more tender side when later inside his mobile headquarters he emotionally discovers the late Alfred Pennyworth has left him a toy dinosaur holding a giant coin as an affectionate reminder of the real subterranean Batcave beneath Wayne Manor.

Writer: Tom Taylor, Pencils: Andy Kubert, and Inks: Sandra Hope

Shang-Chi [2021] #3 - Marvel Comics

SHANG-CHI No. 3, September 2021

Providing an interesting balance between top tier close combat action and the disconcertingly dark evil-doings of some within the Five Weapons Society, this particular twenty-page periodical’s plot probably pleased most within this ongoing series’ fanbase. But whilst Issue Three of “Shang-Chi” most definitely depicts a fascinating fracas between its titular character and the hugely-popular X-Man, Wolverine, it is arguably hard not to shake the impression that James Howlett’s limited involvement in this narrative is something of a wasted opportunity, and should have consisted of something a bit more believable than the mutant suddenly appearing on the shore of Muckross Lake in Ireland simply to thwart the prejudicial protestations of some dim-witted demonstrators; “It’s your birth right to come with me to the island of Krakoa. No one will hunt you there.”

Mercifully though, so off-putting an observation can easily be set aside considering just how intriguing Gene Luen Yang’s storyline involving another half-sibling the titular character “never knew he had” actually is. Indeed, the shadowy background to Zhilan of the House of the Deadly Staff genuinely seems set to shake up the already somewhat precarious status quo of Shang-Chi being the supreme commander of his dead father’s cult-like criminal organisation, with the initial determination of both Brother Sabre and Sister Dagger to kill “the Lake Witch” simply because she’s a mutant far from boding well.

Likewise, the American author’s ability to produce an emotional response from the reader is repeatedly proved with his penmanship during this story. Whether it be the absolute disgust at a truly ungrateful tourist’s reaction to post an encounter with a deep sea monster on social media despite being asked not to by her saviour, or the sheer shock at Esme’s derogatory choice of words to describe Wolverine’s people, there’s plenty of dislikeable behaviour on show within this publication to stir the sensibilities of any perusing bibliophile.

Ultimately however, this book’s success depends upon the inclusion of X-Force’s field leader and once the brown-costumed super-hero shows up, things really start to sizzle. Feisty, angry and unwillingly to listen to reason before rushing in with his deadly claws, Yang’s version of Len Wein’s co-creation simply bristles with his infamous hostility, and resultantly proves irresistible to the eye when he soon engages Shang-Chi in a battle of stomach-wrenching blows.

The regular cover art of "SHANG-CHI" #3 by Leinil Frances Yu & Sunny Gho

A Man Among Ye #6 - Image Comics

A MAN AMONG YE No. 6, August 2021

Considering that this particular issue’s narrative is largely restricted to the affairs of Anne Bonny whilst the hung-over Pirate Queen stands helplessly imprisoned inside a Caribbean gaol, Stephanie Phillips’ writing still manages to provide the audience with plenty of excitement courtesy of both the murderous machinations of the mysterious Amira, and a foul-looking, tooth-stealing vagabond who stalks this comic’s leading cast for the latter half of the book. Indeed, it’s impressive just how much tension the American author manages to generate from a storyline which predominantly has the likes of Mary, Iris and Jane Castor steadfastly held behind iron bars at the utter mercy of Governor Rogers’ loyal Redcoats.

Foremost of these agitating antagonists has to be the aforementioned Amira, who is soon depicted as being as deadly as she is voluptuous. It’s arguably clear straight from start, whilst she is flirting with a naïve prison guard, that the beautiful woman is up to no good. But even so, the poor man’s grisly poisoning still comes as something of a shock, especially when his terrible death is later made all the more brutally evident by Josh George prodigiously pencilling the still open-eyed deceased staring up at the ceiling in a pool of his own vomit and blood.

Similarly as successful is Phillip’s portrayal of another assassin presumably determined to collect the bounty upon Bonny’s flaming red head. Unlike the extremely talkative Amira, who seems truly blessed with the ‘gift of the gab’, this cold-hearted killer barely utters a syllable, and instead manages to project plenty of intimating menace simply by walking down the jail’s corridors whilst scrapping the end of his blade along one of its walls. Of course, the fact the scarred mercenary also takes the time to gleefully remove one of the dead guard’s teeth with his dagger additionally helps mark him out as one of this twenty-page periodical’s bad guys.

Enchantingly however, not everything within this publication is focussed upon Anne’s somewhat suspicious rescue attempt, with the plot occasionally flitter upon the treacherous Jack Rackham and his own plans to lethally dispatch his former lover. These scenes showing the traitorous pirate being less than happy with his plight as Woodes obedient lapdog are rather satisfying, but also strongly suggest that Amira may well be motivated by more than her desire to recover the long-lost treasure of San Marcos as she claims; “And if we want to catch a woman, we have to do more than think like one. We need a woman’s touch.”

The regular cover art of "A MAN AMONG YE" #6 by Josh George

Star Trek: Year Five #23 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE No. 23, May 2021

Packed full of pulse-pounding phaser combat and seriously exhilarating spaceship shooting shenanigans, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly’s script for Issue Twenty-Three of “Star Trek: Year Five” certainly must have struck many Trekkies as containing the perfect mix of action and adventure. Indeed, considering that this twenty-page periodical depicts the increasingly damaged Constitution-class starship single-handedly fighting off the entire invading Tholian fleet for the sake of the Universe, it is hard not to agree with the pre-publication press release by "IDW Publishing" that, alongside artist Stephen Thompson and inker Elisabetta D'Amico, the two “showrunners” have concocted “the biggest battle the Enterprise and her crew have ever faced.”

Disappointingly however, those same franchise fans were also probably shaking their heads in utter disbelief when at the climax of this major mission the vessel’s Captain suddenly invokes the little know Starfleet Order 104 and relieves himself of command so as to teleport himself back to Earth. This uncharacteristic decision, which conveniently puts the unrecognisably troubled Mister Spock in charge so as to force the half-Vulcan to face his misgivings about being a competent leader, comes completely out of the blue, and simply seems to have been predominantly penned to ensure James Kirk is able to swap verbal pleasantries with a wholly homicidal Gary Seven; “You’re the time traveller. If that’s what you say I’ll do, I’ll believe it.”

To add insult to injury though, this title’s writers also decide, presumably because they realised they may well have conjured up their own Kobayashi Maru by placing the lone Enterprise up against the “Tholian horde bearing down on Earth”, that the starship’s crew can now rewrite the code controlling the alien invaders’ biology, and thus easily pass through the extra-terrestrial’s supposedly unassailable blockade by creating "Potassium-Rubidium Quantum Gas!" As with Kirk’s shocking change in personality, this contrived solution appears from out of no-where, and is as unconvincing as Scotty’s ability to apparently “overclock” his warp engines to produce an all-too convenient miraculous super-speed.

Of course, such ‘liberties’ with established canon can usually always be forgiven if the storytelling warrants such a divergence for the sake of dramatic effect or just a 'gosh darn good yarn.' But debatably little of what takes place within this comic’s narrative can make any such claim, with even the motivations of Seven’s all-powerful Aegis to forever “lock the galaxy in a perfect stasis” partially being driven by their apparent disgust that all four quadrants will eventually militarise themselves so as to defeat the emotionally merciless Borg Collective in the future..?

Writers: Jackson Lanzig & Collin Kelly, and Artist: Stephen Thompson

Shadowman #4 - Valiant Entertainment

SHADOWMAN No. 4, July 2021

As demonic blights who walk upon this world go, Cullen Bunn’s monstrous creation for Issue Four of “Shadowman” surely must have disconcerted many within this comic’s audience with its unnerving ability to send both new-born babies and canine pets fatally mad with a psychedelic overdose. Of course the ‘Master of Horror’ incorporates plenty of other disturbing sub-plots into the twenty-page periodical, not least of which is the titular character finally having a face-to-face confrontation with this ongoing series’ lead antagonist. But when ‘boiled down’ this book’s central premise is arguably based upon Jack Boniface’s battle against a pill-pushing junkie who takes far too much pleasure in giving his hapless victims a ‘trip to end all lifetimes.’

Thankfully for “mankind” however, this depraved killer who can transform crawling toddlers into tentacle-faced hallucinogenic nightmares which even a mother can’t love, is soon confined to a London-based abandoned dwelling, and subsequently used by this publication’s writer as an opportunity to shed even more light upon the enthralling relationship between the titular character and his supposed supernatural benefactor, Baron Samedi. It’s abundantly clear that Boniface’s bony companion actually seems to relish misleading the Darque powered-champion from time to time. Yet on this particular adventure the loa of the dead readily admits previously playing Jack false for the sake of reassuring Jim Shooter’s co-creation that he is all-too serious in providing some assistance on this solemn occasion; “I’ve lied to you often and with great delight. But I’m telling the truth now. I did not know.”

Furthermore, Bunn’s narrative also takes a big step away from presenting Shadowman as simply a scythe-carrying super-hero who seems destined to thwart any Deadside incursions on an ever-repeating singular circle, by intriguingly having him finally realise the futility of just such an existence. Instead, it is made clear to both the skull-faced fighter and the reader, that matters are now far too advanced for such episodic interventions, and that a much larger, bolder strategy needs to be employed if humanity is not to be drowned out by the malicious magic of the man’s mysterious arch-nemesis. 

Undoubtedly helping the American author in this comic’s entertainment value are Jon Davis-Hunt’s layouts, which seem to be particularly relied upon towards the end of the book when an utterly delirious Boniface experiences the effects of the brazen blight’s mind-altering abilities up close and personal. Indeed, whether because Cullen desired to provide the illustrator with plenty of sheet-space with which to demonstrate his prodigious pencilling, or due to this magazine’s storyline requiring some ‘extra padding’, the artist provides one of the highlights of this magazine by drawing two consecutive double-page splashes of Jack struggling to withstand an intoxicatingly deadly assault upon his senses.

The regular cover art of "SHADOWMAN" #4 by John Davis-Hunt

Bad City Blue - Rebellion [Part Two]

BAD CITY BLUE, August 2021

Debatably turning the character of Blue completely upon his head, by having the rogue button man finally remember his past as the notorious gang leader of the Skulls and resultantly revert back to his disagreeably repugnant “devil killer” persona, Alan Grant’s script for the second half of “Bad City Blue” definitely portrays this graphic novel’s lead protagonist as a much less sympathetic ‘hero’ than the Scottish author did during its opening chapters. Indeed, the Inkpot Award-winner actually appears to go that extra step in presenting the “slumscum” as something of a brainless barbarian, who needs to be repeatedly taught just how to manipulate the engine alignment controls so as to blast the asteroid-based municipal free of a nearby Black Hole.

Happily however, liking the brutal "Grexnix" isn’t a precondition to thoroughly enjoying this comic strip’s insanely violent zarjaz action, and actually makes perfect sense once it becomes clear just how much street-fighting savvy Blue is going to need to remember if he’s ever going to make it to the central computer buried deep within the Power Dome alive. In the past, whilst being wracked by mind-controlling headaches, the befuddled assassin was understandably somewhat vulnerable, and quite quickly fell prey to a pair of his government-sponsored peers when he encountered them at the entrance to the city’s jungle habitat.

Now that “Dirty Blue” is involved in an exhilarating ‘race against the clock’ though, the aspiring “Big-Chief Boss” needs to be at his very best if he is to outfight an entire posse of experienced button men - all of whom have been dispatched to kill the “real bad scummer” before the man can complete his life-or-death mission. These deadly skirmishes, stunningly pencilled by “Scrotnig” artist Robin Smith, really help ensure that the audience are constantly kept guessing as to whether or not the foul hooligan will be effective in his endeavours, and definitely help reiterate the notion that the brutal hitman is bereft of any pity or compassion; ““Horgan an’ Shrap eat ‘crete. R.I.P., bruds!” 

Ultimately though, this “digital first” publication’s most memorable moment has to be its sense-shattering conclusion, which doubtless traumatised many a Squaxx dek Thargo when it was first revealed within the pages of “2000 A.D.” way back in July 1986. Having somehow managed to overcome the last button man, Teco, despite suffering a “shoulder shatter”, a semi-distraught Blue realises that he’s going to need to hurry if he wants to be known as the “top scummer, citywide”, and is last seen powering through the space-floating metropolis on his skimmer, plotting his presumably short-lived ascension.

Writer: Alan Grant (a.k.a Craig Lipp), Artist: Robin Smith, and Letters: Steve Potter

Star Trek #3 - Marvel Comics

STAR TREK No. 3, June 1980

Somehow managing to cram the concluding events of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” within this comic book adaption’s meagre eighteen pages, Marv Wolfman’s plot for “Evolutions” certainly moves along at a perplexing pace. But whilst the Brooklyn-born writer predominantly sticks to simply shoehorning in the movie’s overly-long dialogue-driven screenplay, he does still manage to inject the publication with an element of action by stepping away from the film’s theatrical release and having Admiral Kirk actually join Commander Spock on a spacewalk exploring the “alien intruder vessel called V’Ger.”

This departure from the ‘official version’ certainly adds some much-needed excitement to the adventure, whilst additionally giving Trekkies an intriguing insight as to what might have been had director Robert Wise not rejected the infamous Memory Wall scene during postproduction and Robert Abel’s Special Effects Team gotten fired by “Paramount Pictures”. Indeed, alongside Dave Cockrum’s proficient pencilling and Klaus Janson’s inks, the somewhat dynamic sequence depicting the U.S.S. Enterprise’s Captain being attacked by an aggressive crystalline swarm arguably provides the storyline with a golden opportunity to explain to its audience just what the two lead protagonists are thinking about without frustratingly reverting back to the script’s sedentary, corridor-based conversations.

Disappointingly however, once the half-Vulcan’s unconscious body is brought aboard the Constitution-class starship, this comic’s narration debatably once again becomes an unimaginative carousel of word balloons, which disconcertingly even manages to make the Admiral’s decision to activate the Federation vessel’s self-destruct device rather uneventful. Sadly, such lethargy also seems to even permeate into some of the book’s panels, with the American artist repeatedly neglecting to provide them with any sort of background whatsoever, and simply sketching the likes of Kirk debating with Will Decker across a noticeable blank void; “Each of us, at some point in our life turns to someone… A father, a brother, a God, and asks -- Why am I here? What was I meant to be?”

Perhaps this magazine’s biggest drawback though comes with its super-swift ending, as Commodore Matt Decker’s son directly keys in “the old NASA code signal that instructs the probe to transmit data”, physically merges with Voyager Six’s probe and suddenly disappears along with the gigantic extra-terrestrial spaceship within the blink of an eye. In fact, the sudden destruction of “the deadly V’Ger” debatably isn’t even seen, and instead the reader is just left with a solitary sketch of a lone U.S.S. Enterprise presumably orbiting the now safe planet Earth…

Script/Edits: Marv Wolfman, Pencils: Dave Cockrum, and Inks: Klaus Janson