World Comic Book Review

26th March 2024

Return of the Morningstar

Lucifer #1 (2016 series) [review]
DC Comic, December 2015
Writer: Holly Black
Review by Neil Raymundo, 21 December 2015.

In April 1989, the fourth issue of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” introduced the fallen angel Lucifer. Mr Gaiman initially modelled the look of Lucifer after David Bowie, and the character seemed languid and detached from reality. When the character returned in the acclaimed story “Seasons of the Mist” within the pages of “The Sandman” he was somewhat different: tired, resentful if unrepentant, the abdicating ruler of Hell.

In 2000 writer Mike Carey began the ongoing adventures of the character. This iteration of Lucifer was different again. Obviously patterned after the Miltonian version, Lucifer does not tussle with superheroes, does not have ridiculously overbearing supervillain monologues (Mr Carey deliberately shied away from internal monologue, preferring the story to be told from the perspective of various supporting characters), and – unlike other depictions of the devil in comics – did not hide his name behind vague nom de guerres in an effort to mollify religiously conservative readers.

Read more

About the Death of Many Cats

“Scarlet Witch #1” Marvel Comics, December 2, 2015 Writer: James Robinson “Scarlet Witch #1” is part of Marvel Comic’s All-New, All-Different (ANAD) rebranding campaign. The proposition is that the role and visual identities of established superheroes are taken over by other characters. There is a palpable sense of invigoration attached to the process, and especially … Read more

Alone Against the Rebellion

Star Wars: Vader Down #1 [review]
Marvel Comics, November 2015
Writer: Jason Aaron
Review by Neil Raymundo, 23 November 2015

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” premiere, it is not surprising that tie-ins are sprouting like mushrooms on just about any medium available to its license holder. And while Star Wars comic books were being churned out regularly these past few years, the six-issue mini-series “Vader Down” is notable for a couple of reasons.

First is that the story is set after the events of “Star Wars: A New Hope” (the first movie) and before “The Empire Strikes Back” (the second movie), which means “Vader Down” does not have much leeway with regard to the direction of the story. The timeskip between the two movies should provide ample room for a new story in terms of chronology, but the existence of both movies restricts what “Vader Down” could do in terms of character progression and continuity.

Read more

Mark Waid’s Irredeemable: What Makes a Man Super?

With Warner Bros. and its subsidiary business DC Comics getting ready to lay all of their cards on the table in the forthcoming movie entitled “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, Superman is once again going to be the trump card. The character has to share the space with Batman, though, and if the movie stays true to the source material, The Man of Steel is not going to be cast in the brightest of lights. But the property is still the cinematic draw, which means Superman deconstructions and pastiches are going to become, again, a popular theme in comic book writing.

Case in point is one of the most recent and effective deconstructions of the Superman mythos: Mark Waid and Boom! Studios’ Irredeemable – a 37-issue series published from April 2009 to May 2012 about a Superman analogue called the Plutonian. This character, Superman by another name, went rogue and killed a large portion of the human population, before hunting down the rest of his former teammates (who are themselves based on various DC Superheroes.)

Read more