Review: Batman: The Dark Knight: Master Race

Batman: The Dark Knight: Master Race by Frank Miller
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Despite the low score I'm giving this one, I actually enjoyed the story. The setup reminds me of Batman Beyond, in which Bruce Wayne is an old man no longer capable of filling the role of Batman and mentoring the next generation. At some point he needs to pass on the responsibility to someone else instead of trying to do it all on his own.

The villains in this one are a group of Kryptonians that escape from a miniature city in a bottle and decide to take over the world. The motivation is weak, but it allows Miller to explore the idea of what it would mean for Superman's offspring to have to choose between Krypton and Earth. And that's a lot of what the story ends up being with various members of the Justice League mixed in. As big as this book is, I felt like some of the extra storylines needed more to them. There are some big moments that are really cool, but not much happens in this story.

I hated the art in this book. At first it didn't really bother me. It was kind of quirky and I could deal with that. But there are times when the female characters look like men with boobs. And the posture choices in the second half of the book just seemed odd, especially when they were repetitive. I guess it is meant to emulate the style from Miller's previous Dark Knight books, but some of it seemed out of place for the character.

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Review: Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 1

Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't know why, but I never really got into the Fantastic Four. There's a lot of potential. Something about the characters never hits home for me. This book collects the first two volumes of the Ultimate series. The first volume is okay. It introduces the characters and sets them in the world. Volume two is really good because it focuses on the conflict with Dr. Doom and explores some of the ideas that I tend to associate with these characters.

The FF are younger in this series and are involved in a government program to train the brightest minds in the country. An accident gives the heroes their powers, which is nothing new. Despite some reframing of character origins/ideas the initial story is, or seems to be, mostly a throwback to older FF comics. As someone who hasn't read much of those, it didn't work very well for me. The art is cartoony and bright for the most part. It's not bad, but it's not my preferred style.

The second half of this picks up quite a bit. I could have done without the backstory that is used for Doom. Maybe it seemed cool or edgy, but it just ends up pigeonholing the character. It's like he couldn't even have a chance. Anyway, the effect that the accident in volume one has on Doom is interesting. I feel like the story plays to his strengths in a lot of ways and gives a realistic approach to his situation. The art felt like more of the same from volume one. As much as I enjoyed the second half of the book, I don't anticipate reading more from this series.

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Review: Shadowman, Volume 3: Deadside Blues

Shadowman, Volume 3: Deadside Blues by Justin Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is something of a mixed bag. It doesn't follow up on the events of volume two in any specific way, but there are a couple instances where it is referenced. It's really a collection of stories surrounding Shadowman and his enemies that does a wonderful job to flesh out this corner of the Valiant universe.

First off, it opens with the origin of Shadowman's number one nemesis: Master Darque. This story is fan-freaking-tastic. It's dark (sorry) and gives an added dimension to this character. I want to read more about Darque and his sister Sandria after this one. Loved the art too. It has a quality to it that reminds me of watching really old movies, which is really fitting.

This leads into a story that explains the origin of Shadowman and how the Darques are involved. It does leave some questions, but I thought it did a great job rounding out a sort of mini-arc. Again, I enjoyed the art, although it is pretty different from the last story. The coloring really makes certain characters and images stand out.

I could see some people feeling a bit put off by the third issue. It isn't really connected to anything else in the Shadowman series up to this point. Sure, it utilizes Dr. Mirage from the second volume and gets into the supernatural more. One thing that I felt this story could have used was a better introduction to the spirits that Shadowman faces off against. Overall, it was a fun side story on what might happen in a day of the life of Jack Boniface. This probably had the weakest art in the volume. I can't say it was bad in any specific way though.

The last issue is actually three different stories that take turns exploring the character. They do a good job showing off the character of Jack, for better or for worse. We get to see a little bit of the Deadside and some of Shadowman's exploits in New Orleans. This volume as a whole builds on what was introduced in the first two books. I'd like to see a more cohesive story for the character down the road though.

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Review: Babyteeth Volume 1

Babyteeth Volume 1 by Donny Cates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book despite the fact that not a whole lot happens. It's not dragged out or stagnant, but it spends a lot of space setting the foundation. Sadie is a 16 year old girl that gets pregnant with what may or may not be the antichrist. There is certainly some weird stuff that goes along with the pregnancy/birth. And part of the story is just her trying to deal with having a baby, no matter how strange it is.

There are some cool elements of this book. The first thing that comes to mind is when Sadie goes into labor. Up until that point the book could have been just about a normal teenage girl that gets pregnant. Near the end it really starts to pick up and show that there is a plan for the story as a whole. I'm not quite sure where it's going at this point, but I want to find out.

I did enjoy the way the book is told. It uses a frame narrative in which Sadie is telling the story to her child. This allows her to give hints about what is going to come in a more natural way; sometimes things just slip.

The character art seemed kind of rough. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also isn't something I look for in comics. The backgrounds and set pieces are usually done really well. Part of this might be the coloring. Babyteeth is creepy and awesome.

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