SWORD OF SORCERY #0

STORY: Christy Marx and Tony Bedard
ART: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Okay, I'll admit it: I was seriously not ready to like Sword of Sorcery. The name alone kept it at a proverbial arm's length for the months leading up to this first zero issue. While I enjoy fantasy stories, I'm not into "hard fantasy", so I really just didn't pay this new series any mind. I offhandedly decided to review Sword of Sorcery #0 on "The Endless Reel" because I wanted to review all four of the "Third Wave" titles that DC is putting out this month, simply because there's a new one each week (unlike the "Second Wave" that dumped most of the new titles in the first week and left only two for the consecutive three weeks of the month).

I stand (or sit and writing, in this case) corrected. While the cohesiveness of the 'New 52' universe is nice, it's refreshing to see a series so far removed from the main line of books, similar to Dial H and Resurrection Man. I know, I know - a certain someone shows up in the final panels to put a slight damper on that notion, but "Amethyst" is such a cult favorite that I assumed it would be a total bust trying to interpret it for a modern audience, in a more modern comic book universe. It would seem like it's actually the perfect time for something like this.

Christy Marx does an excellent job setting up Amy Winston in the opening pages of Sword of Sorcery #0. The "cool kids" chatter in the halls of a high school is a passable way to introduce readers to Amy and her current situation, but it's also a little sappy. It really gets interesting when Amy's mom takes her out in the evening for what seems to be battle training. Why is she training? Why is her mother so adamant about it? Why does this training interfere with regular life? Marx skillfully navigates this narrative, revealing only small bits of information at a time, and switching focus from Amy and her mother to the Queen of GemWorld, a planet (I'm assuming) that doesn't get much of an explanation - it stands to reason that a bit more will be revealed in issue one. In this regard, Marx has succeeded in truly writing a worthwhile "Issue Zero". She's given us readers enough information about the beginning of this tale to keep us interested, knowing that Sword of Sorcery #1 will start to answer some of the questions brought up in these pages.

Similarly, I was originally put off by the prospect of the "Beowulf" back-up story. Why, for goodness sake, do we need another Beowulf story? Hasn't this tale been done to death already in every medium imaginable? Again, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Tony Bedard's first chapter of this epic. And really, all that interest comes from the fact that Beowulf apparently exists in an advanced cryogenics chamber within an abandoned laboratory, while the world outside is seemingly dated somewhere in the Dark Ages. It's utterly fascinating. Seriously. All the Beowulf/Grendel stuff aside for now, the dichotomy of technology in a pre-pre-pre-industrial civilization is just so cool, I'm going to keep buying Sword of Sorcery if only for this back-up.

GRADE

B+

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #12

STORY: Dan Jurgens
ART: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

It's the beginning of the end for the JLI. Save for Justice League International Annual #1 - being released in this month's fifth week, along with a slew of other Annuals - Dan Jurgens' seminal series has come to a close with the "Funeral of Rocket Red". While the story title itself is a bit of a misnomer, this month's issue takes the team to Russia to visit Gavril Ivanovich's grave for a proper send-off by the teammates that stood by him in the end.

As the end of a series, Justice League International #12 has a lot of loose ends to tie up. Fortunately, Jurgens takes the time to bring proper conclusions to the plot points that matter. Last month, the late Lightweaver's twin brother, Malik, vowed to destroy the JLI, whom he believes was the responsible party in Lightweaver's death. If you read JLI #11, you saw that it was actually the government-ordered strike that killed Lightweaver. The fight between Malik and the JLI serves mostly to symbolize the team's position as the most accessible and relatable Justice League team. The League proper deals with situations that are so big, so dire that the end nearly always justifies their means, while the 'Justice League Dark' operates outside the public eye - their methods kept secret due to their controversial nature. The JLI sits in the middle of this spectrum as the Justice League that isn't quite perfect, yet are still accountable for their actions. In this sense, Malik's ambush works on both a technical and narrative level.

The group's trip to Russia to honor their fallen friend also points to their humanity. The death of a teammate is never taken lightly in the pages of DC's comic books, but rarely is it given the respect it deserves. Often, whole slews of characters will be killed off in major events, only to be noted in a mass-funeral or memorial wall in a later issue. Very often, death is taken lightly in comic books. Going against that trend, Dan Jurgens sees the importance of grieving and finding closure after the death of a friend and uses these emotions to weave a tale that brings the JLI full-circle and looks forward to the future and the potential it holds.

While Guy Gardner uses his GL ring to transmit a live feed from the hospital room of Ice and Vixen, Fire is inexplicably left in her induced coma, unable to even remotely attend the funeral. Jurgens doesn't give any reason for this story choice beyond the medical decision, which is a total cop-out. Knowing this would be the last issue, it would have been nice if Jurgens had brought everyone together. Perhaps I'll get my wish in JLI Annual #1 later this month.

Batwing resigns from the team for no other reason than he was barely on it to begin with; he cites "too many duties elsewhere", but he was never really all that interesting anyway. Batman's reasons for leaving are a bit more poignant. Bruce takes the time to explain that he's no longer needed, that Booster Gold is more than qualified to lead the team, and that their old headquarters and bankroll had been reinstated. Much in the vein of the JLI's history within the DCU, Batman sees the potential in this rag-tag group and gives them a chance - the chance no one else was willing to give them after a less-than-perfect inaugural outing.

GRADE

A

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #11

STORY: Dan Jurgens
ART: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Dan Jurgens has done an excellent job with Justice League International in the 'New 52'; it's one of my favorite titles out right now. Each issue adds more character development that has taken a group of misfits that couldn't make it in the Justice League proper and turned them into a formidable team that sheds their original United Nations sanction to take care of themselves.

As a whole, Justice League International is a classic 'rags to riches' story for each member in their own way. Unlike the major Leaguers - who aren't depicted as having a need for adoration or praise - the members of the JLI are characters who are much more grounded, and thus more relatable. Booster Gold pretty much a joke in the superhero community, Godiva's a small-time street hero with no worldly experience, August General in Iron attempts to make a better name for himself and his country, Red Rocket wants to honor the legacy of his title, Batwing works to make himself a better hero for his home and for Batman, and O.M.A.C. just wants to be normal. It's this sense of making oneself better that makes JLI so enjoyable. Everyone has wanted or needed to prove themselves at some point in their lives, and these characters need to prove themselves to the superhero community and the world at large.


Guy Gardner narrates Justice League International #11 as the team has their final stand against Breakdown and his anti-superhero agenda.  The eponymous villain wants to see the end of superheroes because of in the inequality in both physical ability and social hierarchy. With the help of a few small-time villains and growing animosity from a civilian mob, Breakdown manages to put up a good fight against the JLI. It's not often than writers feel the need to delve into the personal lives of villains - unless that's the point of the story, in which case most tend to flub it up - Dan Jurgens uses minor criminal Lightweaver as the emotional core of the "Breakdown" arc. 

We've already seen interactions between Lightweaver and his younger brother debating the nature of good and evil, and this month, Breakdown's right-hand man is murdered during the final fight, only his younger brother at his side in his final minutes. Obviously, Lightweaver's brother acted as a physical conscious, encouraging him to end his current life of crime, but Lightweaver consistently ignored these warnings until it was too late. It's a sub-plot that deals in emotional ramifications, familial issues, and a desire to be something greater.


O.M.A.C. presents a similar situation, as Kevin - the boy stuck in the big, blue body - has to fight himself to take control of the overwhelming power and drive than comes with being a One Man Army Corps. The team must first incite O.M.A.C.'s rage to help free them from Lightweaver's energy prison, then later calm him down when he loses control and starts rampaging through the city, even though the fight is over. O.M.A.C. is such an interesting character, it's a shame DC cancelled not only his self-titled series, but has now doomed Justice League International to the chopping block. Here's hoping Boy Blue can make a third, successul comeback.


Dan Jurgens loves the JLI. He's nurtured this book since day one, and it's been a slowly evolving tale that just gets better and more cohesive with each issue. It really is a shame that such an excellent series is ending so soon.

GRADE

A

(COMIC) JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #8

STORY: Dan Jurgens
ARTWORK: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan

This month heralds the arrival of Batwing as the newest member of the JLI. Though Batman's African counterpart is an obvious - and easy - choice for a team made of up of international heroes, Dan Jurgens seriously flubs this introduction. Justice League International #8 is the least cohesive and most scatterbrained issue of the series thus far. Jurgens tries to interweave too many plots and after a few pages, it becomes difficult to understand exactly what it happening. Also, Batman keeps changing his tune concerning the JLI; one month he wants them to disband, and now he's recruiting members.

The team is still reeling from the bombing at the end of issue six; Booster Gold is facing off against the new Lightweaver, Fire and Ice are still in the hospital, Red Rocket is still dead, and Jurgens another villain who somehow fits into the scheme of the story. Roland Norcutt is a new character (at least I think he is) whose ability lets him break anything down to it's basest of forms, then repurpose that raw matter into whatever he likes. Taking the name Breakdown, Roland escapes from his prison transport and convenes with Lightweaver and some other villains.

I understand that Jurgens is building towards something. It's obvious that this issue is a 'filler' issue meant to introduce some characters and little else. The story doesn't advance at all from last month, and the only real exciting part about this issue is the arrival of Batwing, which itself is pretty lackluster. I've been extremely happy with Justice League International every month, and one hiccup isn't enough to turn me off of a great, great book.

GRADE:

C+

(COMIC REVIEW) Justice League International #7

Written by Dan Jurgens
Artwork by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Justice League International quickly became one of my favorite titles to read back around issue four. The team is solid, their relationship is existent, but not fully-formed, and Jurgens was allowed to keep Batman, if only for the first arc - which ended with an explosion that potentially killed them all. My only reservations about the JLI thus far have been about their status quo amongst the superhero world. Up until this issue, Booster's rag-tag team has been backed up by the United States government, giving them just a little bit of legitimacy in a world dominated by bureaucratic red tape and by-laws. This issue explores the aftermath of the explosion and how it has affected the team.

The narrative bombs starting falling when Fire and Ice are found, both with critical wounds due to the blast. As soon as they're taken care of, August General emerges from the flames with the corpse of Gavril Ivanovich, the Red Rocket. Though he was short lived, this iteration of Red Rocket was one of my favorites. Instead of drenching the character in Russian nationalism, Jurgens decided to give him a realistic, modern take on his home country and how it fits into the world. Kicked out of the actual Red Rockets, Ivanovich was as much a Russian as he was a JLI member, and it really was sad to see him go.

Andre Briggs and Emerson Esposito are the next to go. Searching through the wreckage, Booster finds their scorched bodies and weeps for them. In an issue that could have come off as really cheesy and forced after only six months of storytelling, Jurgens finds a groove and doesn't diverge. The emotion feels real and the subsequent anger and frustration are understandable and relatable. Even Batman's exit leaves you feeling less comfortable, as the team just keeps getting smaller.

The fight between Booster and Lightweaver was fun, but ultimately just the set up to introduce Batwing into series and onto the team in upcoming issues. It makes perfect sense, now that there's a Batman in Africa, but it still seems weird. I'm not a fan of Batwing, and I hope Jurgens keeps his panel time to a minimum in the tradition of the real Batman.

GRADE:

A