Hellblazer - The end of an Era.

First issue of Hellblazer, 1988.

I can say without a doubt that I have read every single Hellblazer comic and every single mini-series and graphic novel that has been put out by the DC, Vertigo Comics imprint. I didn't like the new John Constantine in Justice League Dark, or in DC's New52. Somehow it didn't feel right to me. As a comic reader/fan/reseller six months away from turning 40, I expected to grow old with John Constantine, as he has aged over the past 28 years. Unlike any other character in the comic industry in the last 50 years, John has grown old, going from 35 years old when he first appeared in Saga of the Swamp Thing - created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch - to an old guy in his late 50s.

Alan Moore -The Legend, The Myth pt 2 of 2

(for the first part of this article, click this link)

Opinion (conclusion)

Constantine movie poster

When Alan Moore began voicing his views on the Watchmen movie, comic books fans like myself were divided. Fans buy into the characters and heroes in comic books. They become our escape. And like Moore, some of us don't want to see the comic books become 'harmed' by those who want to cash in on these characters being 'cheapened' by film versions - despite how loyal (or not) the directors are to the comic books themselves, or not. By that I mean that their representation in other forms may take away their value to us. And sometimes their adaptation isn't as loyal to the comic books. Constantine is an excellent example of when something can go so wrong. I am not saying that the movie itself was bad, I loved it, but that it cheapened its comparitive-value to the comic series. Over the past two and a half years, as I began to think of comic books as a creator/writer/illustrator, and not just a fan or collector, I started to see the holes in what Alan Moore as a legendary creator/writer had been pointing out about his creations being portrayed in other mediums. 

Alan Moore -The Legend, The Myth pt 1 of 2

From page 1 of Absolute Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 

Recently, a lot of stuff is being said about Alan Moore's latest addition to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen opus (Century 2009), and how it has a Harry Potter type character in it. After reading his comments about it and the latest round of Before Watchmen books, I thought I would take a wider look at Alan Moore's works. I have already read a lot of the graphic novels he has written and like millions of other fans I love Watchmen, From Hell and being a Socialist I love V for Vendetta.

DC Animated : The Dark Knight Returns (Part 1)

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS - PART ONE

It's that time of year again, when DC's animation house releases its next movie - this time around it's a legendary story that is beloved by fans and is the first to be split into 2-parts, adapting the legendary series into this first part and the follow-up graphic novel as the second.

I know I’m preaching to the choir but I’ve gotta say it. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is one of the greatest Batman stories ever. It’s right there in the top 5, oscillating between positions one and two, because this is one story that you can’t rate lower. Heck, we’re talking about a comic-book that changed the world here. 

DVD Review : Superman VS The Elite (DC Animated)

(Click to Enlarge)

Directed by : Michael ChangWritten by : Joe KelleyFeaturing the voice talents of : George Newbern, Pauley Perrette and others.

The folks at DC animation seem to be back in form after a lacklustre adaptation of All Star Superman and JLA : Doom (which wasn’t as good as it should have been). Superman v/s the Elite is an adaptation of a critically acclaimed story called What’s So Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way which I have to confess I haven’t read. I’m sure it pales in comparison to the source material, but Superman v/s The Elite is a really good film.
What I love about this film is that the story it tells is immensely personal, yet affecting on a very grand scale. Also, it’s quite relevant. The Elite are a group of Super-powered youngsters with a warped sense of morality and they don’t hesitate when it comes to killing criminals. And know what? The people bloody LOVE it. They want their criminals tortured, butchered, made to suffer. The people want their criminals killed. Superman, who stands by his no-kill ideologies comes under fire for not resorting to Elite-like tactics. But he knows their methods are wrong, and it’s up to him to prove why.

Week In Review : Ame-Comi Wonder Woman #1 + B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth The Transformation Of J. H. O'Donnell + Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who : Assimilation2 #1 + The Ravagers #1

Back for more dear readers? Well we're as happy to be here as you are and we've got a new lot of fresh-off-the-presses comics reviewed just for you!

Ame-Comi Wonder Woman #1 (DC Digital)

Story : Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray

Art : Amanda Conner

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

If you had told me months, weeks or even days ago that I would not only be reading but thoroughly enjoying a comic based on a really cheesy Wonder Woman statue created as a gimmick and be a proper fan by the end – I'd have smacked you sideways and sued you for defamation. And I would have been dead wrong.

The first big-awesome on this comic? It's created by the master-class team of Gray/Palmiotti/Conner that brought us the much-missed Power-Girl series (pre-reboot) that was and still is one of the single best heroine-centric series. Period. I admit openly that I'm overjoyed to find that amidst the mess that DC is making of a lot of titles that could be better and screwing-up the mainstream (not completely but a fair bit) titles, it's great to have a book that is lighter, more enjoyable and disconnected from the massive weight of history that DC just doesn't seem able to shake off for some reason.

Week In Review : Daredevil #12 + Earth 2 #1 + Teen Titans Annual #1 + World's Finest #1 + X-O Manowar #1

Welcome back for more new issues! Read the feedback from our crack staff as they review the books fresh off the racks!
Today is a bit DC-heavy, but given the huge number of titles they put out every week and a bunch of hotly anticipated new titles - so more books tomorrow, but for now, enjoy!

Daredevil #12 (Marvel)

Story : Mark Waid

Art : Chris Samnee

(Reviewed by Anupam Sarkar)

First of all, the cover is extremely awesome and sexy. Man, I just love Paolo Rivera!

The issue starts with a date between Matt Murdock and Kristen McDuffie, the Assistant DA, where she, (in a sexy pose) asks Matt to tie a scarf around her head as a blindfold. The reason for her to use a blindfold is to experience how a blind guy like Matt “enjoys” the world.

Within the issue, Matt tells Kristen about how he and Foggy became friends and also about their 'mock trial' against a professor at the university who had accused Foggy of cheating.

Mark Waid is a brilliant writer and storyteller and has brought something new with each issue. Daredevil #12 is not one of the action packed comics but more like knowing 'bout the guy behind the Daredevil Mask. In fact, there are only two glimpses of Daredevil in this issue (including a shadow).

Chris Samnee's art is pretty awesome and he provides with some jaw dropping visuals.

C2E2: New Comic News!!

Good day one and all!

Apologies for a hectic week and not enough comic-y goodness for all of you (largely my fault, but I blame the IPL and various other things for our shortcomings!) but we intend to make up for it and then some in the days to come!

For those of you who follow this stuff, there's a HUGE load of comic news that came out during the recent Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, popularly known as C2E2 amongst fans. I've been keeping an eye on their news and announcements and have for you here a sumptuous feast of some of the most choice and tender treats to tickle your taste buds!

This post is a special recap where I've tried to put together as much of the news as possible for your geeking-out pleasure (in alphabetical order for general ease of use!).

So let's just get to it shall we?

To kick things off, from the strange and frighteningly awesome Avatar offices:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Michael DiPascale’s new project announced at C2E2 is Hero Worship which will premier in July. Keith says that Avatar Press rarely does superhero comics, noting the exceptions by Warren Ellis, and Christos Gage, saying they don’t do them unless there’s something unique about them. He then describes Hero Worship a bit, telling us Zak Penn will be writing, and it’s a six issue miniseries and is about society’s worship of superheroes and how that can be used to screw the system. The main characters are Adam and Zenith. Adam is a normal boy and Zenith is a Superman-style superhero. Adam is Zenith’s biggest fan, and the book is not really about him, so much as the world around him.

Week In Review: B.P.R.D. : The Pickens County Horror #1 / Bloodstrike #26 / Daredevil #10 / Justice League Dark #7 / The New Deadwardians #1 / Voodoo #7

Welcome fellow ComicAddicts, to another new week of releases - and do we have a load of amazing titles for you guys this week! In fact we had so many great releases that we have more than the usual number today AS WELL AS TOMORROW! So dive in and enjoy!

B.P.R.D. – Hell On Earth : The Pickens County Horror #1 (of 2) (Dark Horse)

Story : Scott Allie

Art : Jason Latour

(Reviewed by Anubhav DasGupta)

None of our usual BPRD players turn up in Pickens County Horror. There’s no Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien or Johann Krauss. Instead, we are treated to two field agents who land up in South Carolina to investigate something about a fog that, well, “moans”. There are Vampires in this issue.

Firstly, this comic is not groundbreaking or mindblowing, but it gets the work done. What really stands out in this issue is the art. I love this Latour guy. This is the only comicbook of his that I’ve read, but he’s impressed me, and I’m totally going to fish around for more of this guy’s work. The amount of character he brings out in each and every panel is amazing. And the nighttime scenes are just brilliant. It also helps that Dave Stewart is handling the colors. I bet his colors would make a page drawn by even Rob-goddamn-Liefeld look good, and with Latour’s art, it not only looks amazing, but also adds to the story.

The pace is just right. This comic takes its time, letting us know the characters before heaping the good stuff on us and ending with our heroes in a questionable situation. This is textbook horror storytelling.

DCAnimatedU Movie Review - Justice League: Doom

Director - Lauren Montgomery  

Writer - Dwayne McDuffie

Featuring the voice talents of - Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Nathan Fillion and others. 

Based on - Justice League: Tower of Babel by Mark Waid 

"Tower of Babel" is one of the greatest Justice League books ever written. And if you haven’t read it yet, take a step back and punch yourself in the face. 

You deserve it. Now go buy it and read it. 

Now, Justice League:Doom takes quite a few liberties with its source material. It isn’t just a Batman story anymore. And there’s more than just one villain. 

Is it a good movie? Of course it is. It’s a DC animated film. I’ll be damned if they ever go wrong. 

But how is it compared to the rest of the DC animated films? Not that great. I’d place it somewhere between Superman/Batman : Apocalypse and Justice League : Crisis On Two Earths. Heck, this is director Lauren Montgomery’s worst DC animated film yet. But it is good. It’s helluva lot of fun and very enjoyable.

A Big Halloween Treat: An Interview with How It Should Have Ended

Since most everyone who reads Comic Addicts is too old to go trick or treating we decided to give a big ol' treat anyway. We were able to have a chat with the folks at How It Should Have Ended (HISHE). They were really cool folks who were happy to chat with us.

For those unfamiliar with HISHE it's a couple of guys, and a gal, who decided that movies didn't always end the way they felt they should have. So they started doing their own parody endings much to the amusement of many people. We here at Comic Addicts were curious about some of the things over at HISHE and here is what they had to say:

Shade, The Changing Man, Vol 3: Scream Time

Writer: Peter Milligan

Artists: Chris Bachalo, Bryan Talbot, Mark Pennington

Collects: Shade, The Changing Man issues 14 -19

Published under VERTIGO

And now, we come to the third and final (at least till date) volume of Peter Milligan’s Shade, The Changing Man. The inevitable confrontation between Shade and The American Scream does occur here, and we learn a few secrets about Shade, Kathy, Wizor, the American Scream, the zone of madness and the Madness Vest.

Animal Man: Origin of the Species

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Chas Truog, Tom Grummett

Published under VERTIGO

Collects: ANIMAL MAN issues 10-17, origin story from SECRET ORIGINS

(SPOILERS continue, though no interior pages this time around! )

And I continue into Vol 2 of the unbridled harrowing rollercoaster ride that is Animal Man. I think the only problem I’m going to have in this series is I’m going to hate to see it end. But end it must, eventually.

More then just a Flash-in-the-pan?

 Good day folks!
Welcome back to another Weekly sit-down with yours truly. A pleasure, as always, bringing comic thoughts to you.
I was going to write about a new madcap series in an effort to top last weeks Kill Shakespeare piece which Ive actually been told was enjoyed by more than a few - but at the last minute decided to shelve that till next week because there's something I really want to talk about NOW!! (While there's still time...)
Those of you who saw the previous post here by our venerable leader himself know have read DC comics announcement of the relaunch of all DC title post August when the latest event "Flashpoint" by the nigh-legen-waitforit!-dary Geoff Johns comes to a close.

What I want to touch on is a little more of a readers perspective on the event itself and the aftermath. I have to admit right off the bat that my eagerness for this series is predicated on three points primarily:

1. I love alternate world titles, some of the best ever have been in this genre!
2. Im a MEGA fan of Booster Gold, even more so since DC's iconic "52" event and how that has tied into this event! :) Love it!
3. And finally, because the teams of writers and artists working this event... I dont think Ive been this awed by the writing talent in a LOOOOOOONG time!