#7: 25th June 2014

Hi there! Unfortunately, again with overdue reviews. 25th of June was amazing. Best week this year. We got four issues, which could easily be named on other release dates as 'Books of the Week'. At first I planned to post five new reviews, but because of my trip to other city, tennis tournament and some other things, I did only three (skipped Legacy #16 by Dark Horse and Batman #32 by DC). But still, three reviews of remarkable issues. You can read them below.

Invincible #112

Let's start with Image. All Robert Kirkman's series are for me Image's flagship titles. Kirkman's my favourite writer. What he's doing with Invincible recently is amazing. There is so much action, twists and unpredictable events, each time I read this series I feel stunned. 

Invincible #112 focuses on Robot and he's plan to take over the world. I was slightly dissapointed we didn't see what's going on with Eve, Mark and Viltrumites. But I can understand it, after all, so much happened on these 22 pages. Robot's actions have taken their harvest. We saw some major deaths. Whole issue was incredibly brutal. Times when Invincible was a family title has gone away forever.

The main part of the plot was a conversation between Robot and his lifelong love - Amanda. These panels showed us who Rudy really is - a monster seeking for revenge. An intelligent and genius monster. Is there any more dangerous mixture? I don't think so. He will not stop until he becomes a ruler of planet Earth and kills all enemies. Exactly like in that other dimension, where he lived for many years. But there were weak creatures up there, here we have humans, Viltrumites and... Invincible.

I am sure many characters will die soon, there will be a massacre, which will change Mark's life forever. Invincible and al Kirkman's titles are like wine. The older, the better. This series is smashing. Check it out, you won't regret it.

Outcast #1

I waited sooo long for this issue! New Kirkman's title - knowing only this, I momentally preordered Outcast. When for the first time I read what it will be about, I got confused. Usually I am not a fan of horror stuff - especially demonic possesions, exorcisms, demons etc. But I decided to give it a chance. First double-sized issue was only for $2,99, which is a great price. Now, having read Outcast #1, I can say that if issue's price was estimated by its qualigy worth (plot, artwork...), this one would cost at least $10. It was this good.

Our main character's name is Kyle Barnes. Through the whole life he had a contact with some kind of demonic posession. Poor guy. His past is shown as many short backflashes. Surprisngly, he's not this issue's only star. We have a young boy, Joshua, a posessed one. His mother asks a local priest, an exorcist, to do something with it. Having met earlier Kyle, he goes into Joshua's room accompanied by Barnes, to face demon. As we see on the panel above, a demon knows Kyle, it has plagued all his life and a mission of our character is to find out why.

It is only the first issue, so I can't say if this series will be good or not. What I read was promising and I believe in Kirkman. Upcoming issues will show how Robert used a potiential of Kyle Barnes.

Also I need to mention about gorgeous artwork and even better cover art. I was amazed by it. Robert chose artists perfectly.

Outcast #1 was sold out in the release day. It proves that this comic is a great read.

Superman #32

I've never been a fan of Superman. I always considered him to be lame and camp - a superhero running and flying everywhere with his pants on the suit. When I read on Comic Book Resources that Johns is going to work with Romita Jr on one project, the Superman one, I thought, I'll give Kent Clark a chance. Could there be any better opportunity?

Do I regret it? I'm not sure. It was a tremendous issue. Written really well with dynamic drawings and fun dialogues, but Superman is still that man, of whom I've never been fond of. Hopefully, Kent isn't the main character here. We are introduced to Ulysses, a guy possessing powers strangely and suspiciously similar to Superman's.

Superman #32 ia a really fun read, we have an enjoyable team-up, an origin story and some talking. Usually it's enough for the issue to be well regarded. Unfortunately, because of my prejudice to Kent Clark, I didn't find #32 as good as I should have. I hope my attitude will change after 2-3 more issues. That would enable me to enjoy Johns' and Romita Jr's Superman run in 100%.

I mentioned earlier how good the artwork is. Maybe it's not very realistic, or full of details, but Romita Jr is one of the most talented artists out there, who can draw everything dynamically. John definietly was aware of it and knew how to panel each page to use his talent at maximum level.

Overall, issue no. 32 of new Superman run is a beginning to a cooperation between Clark and Ulysses. I'm sure Johns and JRJ will serve us a great story. Maybe I wouldn't recommend to buy this series in single issues, but trades seem to be a fair idea here.