Injustice: Gods Among Us, Vol. 1 (Injustice: Gods Among Us, Year One Series)

Published:  November 19th, 2013

Injustice: Gods Among Us, Vol. 1 (Injustice: Gods Among Us, Year One Series)

By: Tom Taylor, Jheremy Raapack (Illustrations), Various (Illustrations)

DC Comics

ISBN-13:  9781401245009

From the makers of Mortal Kombat comes the critically acclaimed prequel comic to the smash hit fighting game, Injustice: Gods Among Us!

Things in the DC Universe have changed after Superman is tricked into destroying the one thing he loves the most.  Now unwilling to let crime go unpunished, the heroes of our world must choose if they are with Superman or against him.  But not every country will submit to his new world order and neither will Superman's greatest threat -- Batman!

Collects #s 1-6 of Injustice.

Review

       So, I am more of a casual comic nerd than anything else.  I have my favorites, just like anyone who gets drawn in by comics.  In general, I make it a point to read off the wall rando stuff like Panthaa or Vampirella just for the hell of it.  But my must-reads are Hellboy (Dark Horse comics) and Green Arrow (DC Comics), usually.  The rest of the DC Comics characters I could usually do without, although I have a casual interest in them.  I had been curious about the game (I'm a fan of the original Sega Genesis Mortal Kombat games - yes, I'm old!) and finally played some single-battle mode with my brother.  I'll stick to my Genesis gaming-wise, as there are too many damn buttons for an X-Box 360 fighting game.  The story still intrigued me though as a fan of anything to do with alternate universes, so when I was in Comic City the other day I bought this Volume to see what the hype is about.  I definitely understand now!

       

       God, what can I say about the artwork and the story that hasn't already been said?  It starts with Superman finding out he's going to be a father and asking Batman to be the baby's Godfather.  Than the Joker targets Superman (wanting to win for a change, instead of losing to Bats again) and basically tricks him into killing Lois (and the unborn baby) and blowing up the entire city of Metropolis.  So Supes loses his city, his wife and his child all in one fell swoop.  Mad with grief, he decides that the superheroes in the world should use their powers to force the humans to stop their wars - an enforcement of peace on earth and all that jazz.  So he goes out and starts enforcing.  Batman is against Superman's tactics (which veer into "violence for the greater good").  He manages to convince some of the other heroes to join with him and oppose Superman.  But who can really oppose a man with godlike powers, with others that are the same backing him up?

       

       It's got questions of morality, and focuses a lot on making the right decisions, i.e. when to interfere and when not to.  Batman understands that even without the fighting/weapons, the conflicts still exist and aren't truly resolved.  It surprised me to see Wonder Woman (aka Diana) as Superman's right-hand man and top enforcer.  The Amazons sent her there as an emissary of peace and she's fighting bloody battles.  I particularly like the interactions between her and Ares, God of War, who she impales and taunts harshly.  The scenes with Aquaman and Arkham Asylum reiterate the fact that no one is safe from Superman's self-imposed reign of peace/terror (depending on your views).  Batman protecting the villains wasn't surprising in and of itself, as he doesn't believe in being judge/jury/executioner like Supes does.  It creates some scenes of comic gold, especially between Harley Quinn and Green Arrow, who are thrown together when he agrees to protect her from death via Superman.  The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, with every one of the characters coming across as flawed and human.  I especially liked the sequence with The Flash, where he's running on that Australian road, thinking about a kid that was playing superhero that got paralyzed because of Superman's tactics/orders - and his compliance.  It's an amazing moment of self-introspection and probably one the things that stayed with me most after I finished reading.

       

       There are three main character deaths in this (four if you count Jimmy Olsen) and they definitely won't be the last if it continues the way it started.  And I really hope that it does.  It's a brave new world, with Superman as the antagonist (which doesn't necessarily translate to "bad guy") and Batman as the protagonist.  There is particularly interesting, if albeit a little preachy, scene with Catwoman and Batman visitng the President and telling him that he has to do better, for the people that voted him in.  I think that's something that speaks to the general feelings of the American public, in our actual world we live in right now.  The cliffhanger left me reeling, but hopeful for another truly interesting comic volume.  One that makes me think, gives my eyes beautiful artwork to feast upon, has beautiful and funny dialogue and it just plain fun.  I highly recommend this to people who love comics, a good story, and just long for something different! :D

VERDICT:  5/5 Stars

One Of My Favorite Scenes

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Sorry, I Can't LARP With You...

Published:  May 7th, 2013

The Summer I Became A Nerd

By: Leah Rae Miller

Entangled Teen

ISBN-13:  9781620612392

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blonde cheerleader - perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback.  But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad.  That she's a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn't just unknown, it's anti-known.  And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop's counter uncovers her secret, she's busted.  Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie's whisked into Logan's world  of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games.  And she loves it.  But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become...and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

Review

     I generally tend to like/love most of the books I read published by Entangled Teen.  They always manage to find either really off-the-cuff, odd but loveable stories or ones that are just so fluffy they are a great break from all the heavy fic out in the world.  This book is some combinations of the two.  After a humiliation that Maddie suffered in middle school when she let her freak flag fly, she has done her absolute best to make everyone forget that it ever happened.  On her quest to achieve this, Maddie has gained mega-popularity by denying the things that really interest her and pretending to be someone she's not.  Most of the time Maddie has is spent doing things she hates, she doesn't even really like her boyfriend, and is desparate not to lose her best friend, who is the only one she really loves in her fake life.  Only during the summer does she have a break from all the lying.  Nerdy t.v. show marathons, comic books and not having to shop 'for fun.'  But she goes to the local comic store so she won't have to wait for the last issue of her favorite comic for months before it can be shipped offline to her.  Of course the boy behind the counter is Logan, a nerd from school who has the power to blow her cover.  Hilarity ensues and romance blooms.  But can Maddie finally learn that to really be happy she has to be true to herself?  Or will she continue with her fake life and lose any chance she really has with Logan?

     I have to say that while I understand the appeal this book held with all the people who recommended it to me, I really wasn't really all that pleased with it.  I spent the majority of the book disliking Maddie and thinking she was pretty damn stupid.  I got past my popularity woes when I left middle school and entered into high school, so maybe that's why I couldn't really relate to her.  In the synopsis it sounds like a bearable plot, but it practice the obsession that Maddie has with popularity (at the cost of her own happiness) was extremely obnoxious.  She treats going to the comic book store like a secret spy mission for chrissakes!  Everything she does in regards to her nerdy obsessions was over the top and I wasn't always able to suspend my disbelief.  And the absolutely low opinion she obviously has for a girl who has been her best friend for years now, is disgusting to me.  She spends the whole friendship lying to her on the pretext that she won't like Maddie if she knows the truth.  Well guess what, that's not a real friendship then is it?  I thought not!  The crushy flirting and escapades with Logan were adorable and I love when he takes her LARPing (live-action-role-playing for those who don't know the acronym).  Watch Role Models (with Paul Rudd) and you'll get kind of an idea of what it is, only not as detailed or nerdy as it appears in this book!  Near the end of the book when everything hits the fan, the plot started to drag for me.  Yes, by the conclusion girl gets boy and finally removes her head from her ass.  There were a lot of cute scenes in this book, but I guess I need to just avoid books with popularity as a main issue from now on.  I just won't really care enough to empathize and will probably end up being a mean old lady, like I was just now.  Not for me anymore! :)  But I think a younger teen, probably about 12-16 would like this book.  They could probably relate a lot better!

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on May 7th, 2013.*

Too Broken For Understanding

Expected Publication:  August 27th, 2013 (First Published: June 1st, 2012)

Broken
By: Elizabeth Pulford, & Angus Gomes (Illustrations)
Running Press Kids
ISBN-13:  9780762450046

Zara has one immediate and urgent goal, and it is to find her brother, Jem. She faces a few complications, though, not the least of which is searching for him in her subconscious while she is in a coma.
Zara’s coma has pulled her into the world of Jem’s favorite comic-book hero. But no matter how quickly Zara literally draws her own escape, she is taunted deeper into the fantastical darkness by the comic’s villain, Morven. All the while she is caught between the present with visits from friends and family in the hospital and the past by flashbacks of a traumatic event long ago forgotten.
The search for her brother may help Zara see the light, but in order to find him, she must face her innermost secrets first. In a multi-layered tale that intertwines comic-book/graphic novel elements with first-person narration, Elizabeth Pulford explores the dimensions of hope, love, loyalty, denial, and truth.

Review

     Zara is looking for her brother Jem, because she's lost him to his favorite comic book hero.  But unknown to herself, Zara's brother is dead and she's in a coma from the motorcycle accident that killed him.  Sorting through the traumatic events of her childhood and the recent mistakes of her life, Zara must wade through everything to get to the truth.  But inside the world of comics there are villains, who always do everything they can to stop the 'good guys' from winning.  Can her family and friends drawn her back into the land of the living, where she'll be forced to face the truth?  Or will Zara choose to keep looking for her brother and leave the land of the living for good?

     This book sounded a bit like an Australian version of If I Stay, only with a darker edge.  Even though I normally steer clear of Aussie YA lit because I just never seem to connect to it that well.  But being who I am, I dove right into it regardless of my initial misgivings.  I felt that this was a great premise, but it suffered from extremely poor execution.  The combination of the childhood kidnapping and it's total disconnect from the main plot about the accident that leaves Zara comatose was really confusing.  I felt like the author was trying to link the two, but they had NOTHING to do with each other so it made zero sense and was distracting.  The idea of Jem being lost in a comic book world was an interesting segue into illustration and allowed for a platform for Zara to work out her issues.  But it was jarring going back and forth between the fictional exploits in the comic world (mixed with her memories/subconscious), and the visits of her friends and family as they try to bring her out of the coma.  

     And I agree with another reviewer that I've seen who said they were frustrated with Zara's mission to find her brother.  It's not like we didn't know what happened to him since the beginning of the book and it makes her 'quest' seem that much more childish and annoying.  Also, the entire book is in flashbacks/one way dialogue.  It makes it kind of hard to build any real semblances of relationships between Zara and the other characters based on the present and not past events/interactions.  Overall, I felt like something was missing from the story that was crucial to me becoming invested in it.  I spent the majority skimming through disinterestedly.  This was not the book for me, but I'm sure there is someone out there who will love it.  I just wouldn't recommend it personally unless you feel some kind of unflagging desire to read it.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is August 27th, 2013.**

We Meet Only In the Shadows

Expected Publication:  August 6th, 2013
Dark Shadows / Vampirella Vol. 1
Written by: Marc Andreyko, Illustrations:  Patrick Berkenkotter & Jose Malaga
Dynamite Entertainment
ISBN-13:  9781606903957

Two legendary vampires meet for the first time in this epic crossover!  Investigating a series of disappearances and murders puts Barnabas Collins and Vampirella on a collision course with each other! Can these two very different vampire heroes set aside their mutual distrust and team up to bring down the notorious and brutal "Big Apple Butcher," or will their bloodthirsty natures destroy them before they can solve the crimes? And who - or what - is pulling the strings of the "Butcher"? The answer is an evil older than Barnabas and Vampi combined! All this, plus appearances by Quentin Collins and Pantha! Critically acclaimed writer Marc Andreyko (along with artists Patrick Berkenkotter and Jose Malaga) brings them all together in an adventure that can only be described as a bloody, and we mean very bloody, good time!

Review

 

     This was a crossover between the 'Dark Shadows' (1970s) T.V. soap opera fandom and that of famous comic hero Vampirella.  In this story, the heroes combine forces to investigate a rash of murders and disappearances that have a distinctly supernatural touch to them.  Barnabas Collins gets involved because a woman who is descended from one of his victims is killed.  He has sworn to atone by protecting his victim's families, so he must solve her murder.  Vampirella is involved because it's on her home turf.  They fight for dominance and her fun nature clashes with his serious, old-fashioned one.  They also have help from his cousin Quentin Collins and her fellow supernatural friend, Pantha.  The murderers are both historical figures, which was a nice touch in a comic series arc about vampires playing detective.  But the best thing about this series was it's sense of humor.  It was consistently amusing, fast paced and kept me interested from beginning to end with no boredom at all.  It was splashy, gory and colorful in the best way.  The artwork was right alongside the written story, every step of the way. It never detracted from it or felt wrong/misplaced in any way.  The perfect amount of camp was involved, especially when you consider that the main characters are a highly sexualized (practically nude) female vampire, and another vampire from a really cheesy, old soap opera.  Yes, it was fairly predictable and left the door open for further crossovers.  But in this instance, that was perfectly alright with me.  I highly enjoyed it and it's definitely a clever read for comic lovers who want a bit of wit in their speech bubbles! :)  But I will caution that there is copious amounts of blood, violence, nudity, and other adult content.  So be forewarned if you're thinking of reading this one and that bother you.  Overall, recommended to fans of good comics, whether they're familiar with the original fandoms that are rebooted, or not.

 

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

 

**I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Netgalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is August 6th, 2013.**