Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Hams It Up... A Lot

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Last week the long awaited sequel to Marvel's breakout hit Guardians of the Galaxy was released. After the surprising success of one of the lesser known comic titles in the Marvel brand, people have been curious as to how the sequel could measure up to the first film. I personally saw the film here this past Monday, and in my opinion it more than measures up. However, there was one problem I did have with it and it's that it tried way too hard, in moments, to be the first film. (WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD)

It is no secret that a huge amount of the charm we found in the first Guardians of the Galaxy was it's quirky sense of humor and an excellent, classic soundtrack. While the soundtrack is certainly there, and there are plenty of moments that certainly live up to that same standard, the majority fall ultimately just short. In other words, it really WANTS to have that same clever humor, but it definitely feels hollow at times. This fact is not aided by the fact that there is literally a joke almost every 5 seconds of screen time and about half miss their mark.

That being said, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol:2 is a far cry from a bad film, in fact there are many moments that I feel surpass the first. For instance, the baby Groot dance number in the opening minutes of the film more than matches Chris Pratt's dance solo that introduced us to the first film. Watching that adorable tree creature dance along to great music while the rest of the team battles a giant space monster was fantastic. Yondu and Rocket's subplots were well written and show again just how much Rocket is James Gunn's favorite member of the team (although I do wish we had gotten to see more of Yondu's early time in the Ravagers to better feel the loss that he has endured by being banished from the fleet). I also thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between Kurt Russel and Chris Pratt in the film. I also feel it is important to note that the ending of the film left me and the entirety of my row sobbing, very emotional closing to a film. (PS there are 5 post credit scenes, so be patient).

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is another solid edition to the Marvel Cinematic. On it's best days it will  stun audiences just as much if not more than it's predecessor, on it's worst it falls only a little short from it's first films, but nailing a sequel is a difficult task to begin with so kudos to James Gunn for pulling of one that is so good. I give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 a solid 7,5 out of 10. If you had asked me right after seeing it would have undoubtedly be higher, but after calming down and actually examining what I watched there are some flaws that can't be ignored.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you've enjoyed, and I'll see you again soon!

Poor Reactionary Response to Marvel Free Comic Book Day Issue

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about the goings on in the world of nerd!

So this past weekend was Free Comic Book Day. Yes it's exactly how it sounds. Companies put out singular free issues for release on FCBD in order to give people previews on upcoming series or storyarcs. This year Marvel released two: An All New Guardians of the Galaxy one and a Secret Empire one.

Now it is no mystery that the emergence of this "Hydra" Cap has been an issue of controversy. Steve Rogers was created to be the embodiment of the American ideal, and as such people have looked to him as a light through the darkest of times throughout comic book history. However, this reaction is a bit much:

I would like to start off by saying that I understand everyone's right to free speech. I also understood why people burned the first issue of Spencer's run of Captain America: Steve Rogers in protest, however, this is just stupid. Ultimately what does burning a free comic book that you chose to pick up do? It honestly kinda makes you look like an asshole (not to mention that the second half of this book is an AMAZING preview at the new Spectacular Spider-Man series hitting the shelf in June). I get it Steve Rogers as Hydra is not something anyone should be happy about, but that's not an argument that Spencer has ever made during his run on the book. This whole arc is a bravely written story that actually tries to shed some light on the state of a splintered country.

Now I obviously can't accuse any of these people of not reading the run, however, I can accuse of them of misinterpretation or missing the point. A while back I wrote a post that describes the importance of this very series, not just to marvel, but our current society. The creation of this arc, in a lot of ways, serves as an analogy for what's become of us as a country. Recently I found a quote about Captain America in a book called Take That Adolf! The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War (written by Mark Fertig) said by comic book legend Jim Steranko:

He was the American Truth. The face unrevealed behind the mask was ours.

I'd like to think that remains true. The truth of the American spirit is Steve Rogers. However, where has that spirit ended up recently? We recently had an election where hate was the center focus. I am not making accusations to rhetoric attached to either side (though it most certainly was there), but people straight up chose their votes out of hate. Whether it was for a candidate, or for people with different thoughts and beliefs, or for people with different orientations, or even skin color, this election was determined by hate. In an America like that is it any wonder that this is what Steve became in this arc?

You see, if you ask me, this has been the entire point of Spencer's run all along. When paired along with Sam Wilson's Captain America title, you get a very dark painting to how far we have fallen as a country. Spencer has gotten a lot of flack since that first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers, but I honestly feel that he made quite possibly the bravest call in writing that anyone has in years. Yes, he turned Steve Rogers into the very thing he was meant to fight. It hurts, it is a punch to the gut and is tough to read, because each issue you are hoping that Steve snaps out of it, but the fact is that this is Steve Rogers just not the one we grew to love.

Furthermore, in an age where making heroes fall to villainy is a constant (look at the success of Injustice: Gods Among Us), it was kind of odd we never saw this coming sooner, and with that we should at least appreciate that the writing for it is so damn good. Steve Rogers has proven to be quite possibly the most horrifying Marvel villain I have seen in a long time. From moments in his own title, to his puppeteer act throughout the Civil War II event, and ESPECIALLY his villain monologue that is Civil War II: The Oath, Steve has taken all the things that have made him essential to fighting evil over the past 75 years of creation and he has used it to put Hydra on top of the world. He has beaten all the super heroes, and more horrifying than that is still worthy of wielding Mjolnir (as revealed in the FCBD issue). This whole arc has been hard to read, my stomach has knotted at times. Captain America is my favorite superhero, and on top of that I was raised Jewish, so the idea that he become Hydra hurts more than most could understand. However, great writing is just that, and it serves a purpose. So rather than burn a free comic book in order to protest, perhaps you should actually take time to read the arc and understand exactly what Spencer was trying to do. He is after all a professional comic book writer, so he has a bit of an inkling on layering a story.

On a side note, I want to thank everyone who has become my audience here. I have over 20 posts up, but you guys are what make doing it worth it. I have officially garnished over 1,000 reads on my posts, and while that is a tiny milestone for the modern internet, I still sincerely wish to thank all of you for your continued support!

Additionally, I dedicate this article to John Barber, one of the best friends I have ever made. Initially this article was more of a rant, and I was not seeing clearly and said things that I feel would have been taken as me being ignorant or incredibly judgmental. John verbally slapped some sense into me from across the country (as is his usual) and got me to edit it. Thanks for having my back man, and I hope you enjoyed the article!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! Thanks for reading and we will see you again here soon!

Avengers Assemble! Followed By The Echo of Gunfire: A Review of Secret Empires #1

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd.

On May 25, 2016, Marvel made a huge reveal to the world. A reveal that felt like an act of terrorism in the comic community. In the finale of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, the titular character declared an allegiance to the evil organization of Hydra (comic book super Nazis essentially). The internet exploded, and to be frank, at a moment on the cusp of a troubling election, my heart broke. It was a complete betrayal of everything that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had done in creating him. However, since then the series has become one of my favorite runs Marvel has ever done. Every issue is an emotional roller coaster, teetering on the hope that Captain America would overcome whatever had been done, that it was all a trick, and what's worse is that the way Spencer writes makes you feel like the old Steve is still there. However, instead you see this Hydra Cap using the qualities that made Steve the hero he was to betray and back stab all of his friends to further his agenda. Now all of those actions have culminated in his success in Secret Empire #1.

Following the aftermath of Secret Empire #0 (where Steve Rogers takes over the country and gets rid of the most powerful heroes who could stand against him), the issue starts off in a classroom. They are covering history and immediately you get to see just how much has changed in such a short time. Already the youths of the country are being told that Arnim Zola, not Abraham Erskine, was the scientist that designed that designed the super soldier serum for Steve Rogers, that the Allies LOST World War II but on the eve of defeat rewrote reality with their super weapon called a cosmic cube. The plans of Steve Rogers have come to fruition and it seems he is all but untouchable at this point. While Steve has kept some old allies around, most are in hiding and are being hunted. Hawkeye and Black Widow run a safe house in California for them and other super powered individuals. This is not the focus of the issue though. Captain Marvel, Alpha Flight, and the new Ultimates are stuck out in space facing an endless Chitauri hoard while they are prevented from returning home by the very tool that Captain Marvel implemented to save Earth from the Chitauri: The global defense shield.

Where the issue mainly focuses on is the impending execution of former compatriot Rick Jones, who for a time dawned the mantle of Bucky alongside Steve, but had since been a hacker that worked with Steve. He is being executed for seemingly delivering the "secret" to undoing all that Steve had done (of which I will theorize here in the second part of the article). Alongside that the issue focuses on the fact that Steve is not happy. This is a cause that Hydra Cap has devoted his life too, and he has accomplished it, so why does he look and feel so empty?

If you look at Steve's expression he almost looks ashamed

The issue has a very stirring finale. Steve Rogers sits in the chair of the oval office making an announcement, captioned with:

"It was a speech everyone said they'd never forget. But the truth is if you pressed them... no one could recite more than a few words of it back to you. They'd just tell you where they were... and how it changed them. We'd fallen so far... seen everything we believed in collapse and vanish. Evil had finally won."

Rick Jones is simultaneously marched out before his firing squad. He stares them in the eyes, and with a final cry of defiance he screams: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! the guns fire, his body is limp, bloody, and the smoke from the bullet holes steam from within him. However, as it says in the book itself, the nightmare was just beginning, and with that the Hydra conquest for the world begins followed by those dreaded words of things to come: "to be continued."

This is an incredibly dark first issue of a very compelling arc. Honestly I don't feel I could ever do this issue justice with my summary, and to be frank I didn't even touch the scene between Rick and Steve because it's one that should be read, not described. However, what I want to do now is take a quick minute to do some theorizing.

Just How Will Hydra Cap Come To An End?

I feel this has been a question that fans have been wondering since the beginning, some with more enthusiasm then others, people want Steve back to who he was. In times like these characters like Steve Rogers shine brightest because they resemble all the good that people have faith in, so honestly this arc has a lot of people hurting. However, I am happy to tell you that this is all on the verge of ending, and I'd wager that we will see it's end before the end of the arc. 

Now the Hydra Cap arc is one that has been expanded over several titles: Captain America: Sam Wilson, Captain America: Steve Rogers, Civil War II, Civil War II: The Oath, Thunderbolts, and US Avengers. All that being said, I feel the secret to Steve returning to normal lies in the way he became Hydra Cap. Now according to Hydra Cap, and there is genuine real world (by that I mean existing within the 616) implications that this is the case, the Allies were on the verge of losing WWII thanks to his efforts as a sleeper agent to Hydra, when they created a cosmic cube and rewrote the history of the war. However, I believe it's more than that. In a recent issue of Thunderbolts, Kobik (the sentient cosmic cube girl who restored Steve and turned him into Hydra Cap) tries to do the same thing to Bucky in order to "fix him." Bucky is transported back to that mission where he and Cap went under ice, except this time it's just him strapped to the rocket and when Steve comes into the light he reveals himself to be Hydra and extends his hand for Bucky to join. Bucky refuses and Kobik pauses the reality and explains he has to say yes, just like Steve did to become the Hydra Cap. Bucky then screams at Kobik for ruining everything, however, that's not the part I want to focus on. Steve Rogers agreed to this Hydra rewrite, it had to be HIS choice, so what exactly is it that made him say yes?

I believe the answer to this actually lies in the pages of the last issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers. The Steve Rogers we all have come to appreciate is a man of conviction and morality. However, he has an Achilles' heel for the ones that he cares about. Now if their is one person that we can attribute his morality to, it's his mother. Her never back down attitude, and her early demise and last words (beautifully depicted during the Rick Remender run on the character) are what defined Steve's attitude and moral compass. So there is no doubt that when Kobik was showing him this alternative history, for 99.9 percent of it he resisted, that was until this moment below:

In the "history" where Hydra would have won, Steve's mother would never have died. Now, while this may not have been something his mother would have wanted, the overwhelming emotion of this scene would have certainly been enough to cloud Steve's judgement in the moment. Now, that brings us to this issue of Secret Empire. Hydra Steve has won. He has conquered the country, and driven his enemies to the wind, so why does he look like someone sent him a video on infinite loop of someone kicking his favorite puppy? The answer is actually in the pages of Civil War II: The Oath. Steve tells an unconscious Tony Stark that while he is different, the Steve Rogers he knew was still inside as well.  Something tells me that the Steve we know is going to start to fight for supremacy, because no matter how much he might love his mom, it is not enough for him to ignore the pain and destruction he is causing his friends.

Either way you slice this cake, if what we saw in the first issue of Secret Empire is any indication on how this arc is going to go, then it is going to be a must not miss.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! See you again soon!

Fantastic Failings, The Key to a Successful Fantastic Four is in it's Foundations

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the nerd world!
So the other day I was in a discussion on one of the more controversial topics in the comic book movie industry of the Fox ownership on X men and Fantastic Four, two of the great teams that have defined Marvel history. While pretty much everyone wants to see the rights of these properties return to Marvel or a collaboration to be struck between the two companies for the X franchise, there is not a lot of love for the handling of the Fantastic Four as a franchise. Between the first two films starring a pre Cap Chris Evans and Jessica Alba's body (for she did not do much acting in it), and the most recent one with quite possibly the strongest cast one could hope for (but still bombing horrifically both in the box office and the critics), the world has yet to be blown away by a Fantastic Four film, and frankly it's hard to blame them. So this begs to question: what exactly did the studio do wrong in their approach?

In an era where the super genre is such a powerhouse, why is it so difficult to make a film on the team that made Super heroes cool again (most don't realize this but the revival of super hero books in Marvel was a result of Stan Lee writing the first Fantastic Four book)? Well the biggest problem is that they aren't staying true to the team they are writing. As I said super heroes are this HUGE  box office titan at the moment, and as such the studios want to take that aspect of the team and capitalize it. That's honestly the biggest problem with it though because outside of some individual affiliations to other super hero teams, the Fantastic Four aren't so much super heroes so much as super powered dimensional/space explorers.

Super hero films, even at their best, are rather formulaic. Introduce good guy, show good guy morals, introduce villain, have an initial clash between hero and villain, have hero question his morals, then a final clash that results in the hero overcoming his villain. While there are some minor twists and turns made in these films, that standard outline tends to fit most of them. Confining the Fantastic Four to this formula really hurts them as they are individuals as well as a team. While Avengers managed to make a similar formula mentioned before work, that was only after 5 movies of world building. The Fantastic Four are together from the very start and as such need to have every character equally explored while simultaneously focusing on their team dynamic. Also establishing a villain for the Fantastic Four should not be a one movie ordeal (Dr Doom is a great and iconic villain, but in all honesty using him in the first film is an insult to his character when you should build him and his rivalry to Reed Richards).

Now That The Problem Is Out There, The Question Is Of Course: How Do You Fix It?

Well the first answer to this problem is to eliminate it from the genre of film entirely. A franchise like Fantastic Four with so much depth and source material requires time and care to properly adapt. Instead, they should source a budget for an HBO or Netflix budget series that focuses on the Fantastic Four traversing space, time, and dimensions. If anything you could turn Fantastic Four into a pseudo Doctor Who or Start Trek experience where traversing through reality allows them to explore their own humanity.

This brings me to my next point ultimately, while it is a good to bring in iconic antagonists from their respective universe (Dr Doom, Galactus, Mole Man etc.) fighting "super villains" should not be the focus of the show so much as they make enemies on their travels. The Fantastic Four should be first and foremost explorers, and expanding to new territory has consequences of it's own that don't require and outright villain to embody them. As a reminder to the very first point I made, the Fantastic Four aren't conventional super heroes. Very similar to the first super hero films from the early 00's (X-men, Spider-man, The Punisher) The Fantastic Four was written as a super hero that was afraid to fully embrace the standard super hero archetype (for the reason why read my Stan Lee celebration article), and honestly that's a HUGE part of it's charm.  

Another thing that could help is a simple re-branding too. A few years back, renowned comic writer, Johnathan Hickman, wrote a run called The Future Foundation which is considered to be one of the best Fantastic Four runs ever written. 

Anyways that pretty much lays out everything I have to say on the matter. The Fantastic Four deserves a decent portrayal on film (as does Victor Von Doom... it's okay Victor, I still take you seriously despite how they've treated you). 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief!  Next time I will talk about the first issue of Secret Empire.

Kirkman's Invincible Picked Up By Rogen.... Yay?

Welcome to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about the goings on in the nerd world!

So while I was writing for moviepilot  one of my pieces (albeit not my best work) was about how Invincible  should be the next work by comic scribe: Robert Kirkman to be adapted. Lo and behold that adaptation is underway. A few weeks ago it was announced that Invincible would be directed by comedy icon Seth Rogen. Of course this news brings me much joy as someone who has read and kept up with the comic for the past 5 years or so. That being said, the news does give me some hesitation.

To start I feel like a brief summary is required. Invincible is kind of like if Superman had the personality of Spiderman (to explain his power set), Mark Grayson is a high school senior whose father is the world's greatest super hero: Omni Man. Omni Man comes from a super powered Alien race and as such Mark has been waiting since he found out his father's origins for his own powers to manifest. After a long wait, Mark's power's finally start to manifest while taking out the trash at his awful fast food job, rocketing the bag sky high. That same night he develops the ability to fly, and before long he dawns the spandex tradition of super heroes and takes up the moniker of Invincible. He ends up joining this group of teen super heroes and goes off saving the world. However the story only starts here. (SPOILERS) Eventually Mark learns that his father has come to this Earth to conquer it for his alien race: The Viltrumites. The two clash heads, but before Omni Man strikes the lethal blow, he is overcome by shame and leaves the planet. Mark must learn to get stronger so that he may stand a chance against the impending invasion by his people. That pretty much sets up a good chunk of the series. In it Mark deals with all various types of struggles: time travel, alternate reality, betrayals of friends, romance, and alternate versions of himself. It's a fantastic series, but ultimately there may just be too much good and that's the problem.

My biggest hesitation toward this adaptation isn't even Seth Rogen's lack of experience or success in the Super Hero genre. Instead it lies in one simple fact: Invincible has SO much going on it might just be too much for a film medium to handle. In all honesty I was kind of hoping for an HBO style animated series akin to what they did for Spawn in the 90's (if you haven't watched the Spawn cartoon, my advice is drop what you are doing, find it, and watch. Yes it's that incredible). I feel that 2 hours or so is just not enough time to tie up all that you need to tie for an Invincible adaptation.

Don't get me wrong though, I am still psyched. In a world that is presently dominated by the big  names of DC and Marvel, it's super cool to see one of the Independent brands get some blockbuster light, and if there is anyone in the Image universe best capable of it (Spawn being excluded), Invincible is one of your top choices. Anyways, point is that I do still harbor a good deal of hope for this adaptation and I will have to wait and see who they choose for the role (if this were ten years ago Drake Bell would have been perfect... DAMN YOU TIME!!!).

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! See you guys again soon!

Aquaman: Hopes and Expectations

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about the goings on in the world of nerd!

Today James Wan posted a nice little tease for us on his twitter: the Aquaman film has begun filming and moreover, it has a title: Aquaman: Ahab. This last bit isn't MUCH news as we have had an idea that "Ahab" was the tile of the film for the past few months (Ahab being in reference to the literary classic character from the Melville classic Moby Dick). In one of my most recent articles, I talk about some concerns I have for the film in regard to the casting of 3 major players of Aquaman's Rogues gallery. However, I want to be clear that doesn't mean I think the film is doomed. In this piece I will be talking about my hopes for the film and providing some insight as to why the film was titled the way it is.

Villain Focus and World Building

This title might be a bit confusing. I just wasn't exactly sure how best to word it, so for that, I apologize. What I mean here is that this film has casted 3 different villains in it, All three of whom are excellent characters that frankly deserve their own movie to shine. However, what I hope this film does is introduce these characters and set up the prospect of future villainy while simultaneously focusing on one of them as the film's primary antagonist. 

Now if I were to guess, the key to the film's villain lies within it's title: Ahab. I realize that most readers more than likely are familiar with this character, but for those who are not familiar with the iconic character, here is a brief overview. Ahab is one of the main characters and antagonists of the Melville classic Moby Dick. In it Ahab is driven to obsession over hunting this giant white whale that cost him his leg at one point and he has been hunting the creature for ages. To make a (VERY) long story short, this obsession ends up driving him only one place: dead and strapped to the side of the whale for a very much unwanted aquatic safari ride. Anyways, the reason this film was titled the way it was (other than the clear aquatic referencing) I feel is a HUGE clue into the primary antagonist of the film. 

Now if you read the article that I had previously mentioned, I do a brief character break down of each of the cast villains: Ocean Master, Black Manta, and King Nereus. Of these listed, one character stands out as a majorly obsessive one. I feel that the obvious choice for this is Black Manta. I feel that Ocean Master is too complex a villain, especially his New 52 version, to be set up in one film, and Nereus has too little written about him to make him the prime villain of the FIRST cinematic outing of Aquaman. You want a character that is iconic to the Aquaman brand and especially after the success and popularity of his portrayal in both New 52 and Young Justice, Black Manta seems like the solid choice. Black Manta has an iconic history with Aquaman, and his New 52 revitalization makes him the perfect character to pose against Arthur in their first outing. Manta's obsession over killing Arthur is so similar to Ahab's hatred of Moby Dick, and the reason for that hatred is Arthur's greatest shame. 

What I hope for the other characters is, firstly, for Orm/ Ocean Master shown to be one of Arthur's most trusted confidants and for him to be an ally to Arthur in this first film. However, throughout the film I want for Aquaman's interactions with Black Manta to justify his aversions to surface dwellers, thus fostering a huge mistrust in Arthur's judgement that could lead to him being manipulated by Nereus in the second film into doing something awful, like say, INVADING THE SURFACE WORLD AND CAUSING AN ALL OUT WAR (insert maniacal evil laughing here)!!! Secondly establish Nereus right off the bat as kind of an Iago (Iago is probably my favorite Shakespearean villain, so he will more than likely be referenced by me quite frequently) character. With as intelligent as Dolph Lundgren is in REAL life with a PHD in physics and what not, it is a shame none of his cinematic portrayals have had his brain match his brawn. I feel that you could have Nereus be a key overlapping villain of the Aquaman cinematic films where he is more often than not the villain behind the scenes. After all, in the comics, Nereus is a king of a rogue Atlantean faction, so the allure of court politics is not amiss to him. Seeing Dolph Lundgren as a behind the scenes villain over a direct threat would be unique to his usual portrayals and I think could really work well. 

Ending the Thought that Aquaman is a Wuss 

In all honesty, this will more than likely be taken care of by the Justice League film and by Jason Momoa's choice as Arthur. However, if nothing else comes out of the Cinematic universe of DC or this film, I hope it's that Aquaman is no longer the butt of everyone's jokes. While I find the Robot Chicken skits with Aquaman, and the several degrading internet memes immensely enjoyable, it's a shame that quite possibly one of the most powerful heroes in the DC universe gets such little regard and respect. While initial depictions are filled with some cheesy aspects, the character has always had an impressive power set. That's not even talking about the fact that he holds regency over 70 percent of the earth, and is the king of an highly advanced aquatic civilization (and as such commands a standing army of Atlanteans as well as all ocean life). Honestly this is my biggest hope, that in this solo Aquaman film we get to see Aquaman rise above his stereotypes as the badass character he was meant to be.

To finalize, this article is my hopes and dreams for this project, it is in no way reflective of what will happen in the film. If it does, GREAT! If not, oh well. However, I hope I have been clear enough that those reading have not gotten to this point getting all hyped up for a whole bunch of things that are mere speculation and suggestion. Ultimately, I feel that this film has some of the most potential as it provides a chance to reinvent a character, while simultaneously getting DC a strong foot in the door for establishing its surrounding universe.

Aquaman is the King of the Seven Seas. This reluctant ruler of Atlantis, caught between a surface world constantly ravaging the sea and Atlanteans looking to lash out in revolt, is committed to protecting the entire globe.

Hope you have enjoyed this edition of Comic Relief! see everyone again here very soon! 

The Bat Looks to His Shadow for Answers in the First issue of an Epic Crossover Between Batman and The Shadow

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd.

This past week something happened that I have been personally waiting for quite some time to happen. The Batman has discovered the evil that lurks in the hearts of man with his 2017 run in with The Shadow in the first issue of the Batman/ Shadow crossover  was released this past Wednesday on New Comic day, and boy did it not disappoint.

When you think of enigmatic and theatrical heroes the list is topped by two people: Batman and The Shadow. As the latter provided inspiration for the former, having the two crossover seems only natural. While it has been done before, this new story was scribed by the legendary Scott Snyder, whose run writing the Bat throughout the New 52 is considered to be one of the greatest runs an author has had on the character. The blending of these two characters so enshrouded in the darkness was just meant to be and Snyder writes it beautifully. (Just as  a warning there are spoilers ahead )

The story starts off with Bruce going to see a former mentor about a murder he is having issues with, after all what else could bring these two detective figures together better? However, there is a twist. The victim of the murder in question is a young food caterer to Arkham Asylum: Lamont Cranston (this name should be familiar to those who are fans of the Shadow as one of the alter egos to the character). While investigating the crime, Batman has a run in with a suspect he can only assume to be the murderer of Lamont that turns out to be The Shadow. Eventually Bats gets out stealthed and The Shadow literally disappears without much of a trace. Bruce then takes it upon himself to research the victim and ends up finding out that the original Lamont Cranston was in fact The Shadow.

After following some leads and interrogating those of The Shadow's associates left alive still (including an AMAZING moment where an old and jaded Margo Lane punks out Batman), he finally had found a safe house for The Shadow. While exploring the safe house he came across some evidence that gives him a lead that his aforementioned former mentor also trained The Shadow. Leading him to confront his old teacher on the location of Lamont Cranston.

This brings us to the end of the issue where the greatest reveal of all happens. The teacher recounts Bruce's first time coming to him, calling him "Ducard the Manhunter" and describes his struggles as one of going against the grain. However, while he is explaining the panels get smoky and distorted and while Bruce's back is turned, the former mentor's form begins to change, until it finally is revealed that Bruce's mentor, Ducard, is in fact none other than The Shadow himself!

As a fan of the Shadow, naturally I let out a high pitch squeal, frothed at the mouth, ran in a circle and hit a wall a few times in excitement. I realize this is a crossover arc, but I am praying that it is cannon to the Batman mythos. It is just such an excellent nod to the fact that Batman has taken much of his inspiration in character and design even from The Shadow, so to see The Shadow literally be one of Bruce's mentors, I nearly had a stroke from joy. An excellent ending to what is an incredible start to a promise miniseries!

Well this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon!