Well, it took a little longer than
expected but I have finally returned to the New
52 and today we’re going to be taking a look at The Edge. Now, with the
exception of The Dark, this is the
area of The New 52 that probably has
the least know characters and two things come of this as a result. The first is that it produces some of the
best of the New 52 and it produces
some of the worst, (or at least the most boring), as most people probably have
never heard of many of these characters.
In the hands of a good writer, this can allow them to develop said
characters and stories in ways that you would never think. In the hands of a bad writer…well, we’ll get
to that in a minute. This particular
post will contain reviews of Stormwatch,
Voodoo, Grifter, Deathstroke, Suicide Squad, O.M.A.C., Blackhawks, Men of War, and All Star Westerns. We have
quite a few lines with mixed success so let’s dig into it. This is The Illusive One’s Review of The New 52 Part 6: The Edge.
Stormwatch
I have to admit, by the time I got
around to this line I was really tiered of comic lines that involved teams of
superheroes protecting the Earth from big threats. While this one doesn’t quite revive my
interest in these kinds of stories it one proved to be the best. It follows a secret organization, (I am
really getting sick of these!), known as Stormwatch as they guard Earth from
intergalactic threats; first against a creature who inhabits the moon and then
against a species of extra-dimensional invaders that try to harvest the gravity
of the Earth.
And,
unlike a lot of the other lines that involve alien invaders, this one was
actually interesting. The whole idea
behind having these kinds of invaders is just ingenious as they don’t follow
the same rules our galaxy does and it takes some great thinking to save the day
in these situations. As with most of the
other comics, the art work and action sequences are great, (although I’ve come
to expect that at this point). And
supporting these concepts and artwork is a good cast of characters, with unique
powers that keep the team in balance.
Some are almost as strong as Superman and others have the abilities to
manipulate the very fabrics of the universe and it’s really cool to see the way
these characters interact off one another.
The
only real downsides to this is that the characters, while good, aren’t anything
special and I can’t help but ask how many more world-wide crisis, superhero
teams and secret societies can exist in this universe and on this world? But despite this, this may actually be the
best line involving a secret team of superheroes defending the world and I say
give it a read before you check out anything Justice League in the title.
Verdict
Read
Voodoo
Oh boy. This one is a little strange to talk
about. It follows an alien and agent of
the Daemonites as she tries to gain information on humans and eventually has to
run from them when she is discovered which leads to more incidents and more
characters to come into the fray.
Now
before I get into what makes this story so…wired to talk about let me go over
what is good about it. For starters, there
are actually some good concepts within it regarding the aliens and the art work
is pretty good. Some of the characters
are half way decent, and once it gets to issue 6 it really isn’t halfway
bad. I also like the way there really
aren’t any rules to who lives and who dies in this series. People just do, often allowing you just
enough time to get attached to them and offing them just as fast. It’s the kind of things that in my opinion
literature in general doesn’t do often enough.
But
then we get into the first four issues and that’s where things…shall we
say…makes you feel dirty reading it. The
series starts out with an alien who poses as a stripper to learn things about
the men of Earth. I am not joking about
that. It doesn’t even sound real! It sounds like some creepy fanboy’s
fanfiction or some late night skin flick on Cinemax and for the first few
issues it really looks like it was going to go in that direction. I mean half the time I was expecting the
alien chick to start screwing the government agents that were perusing
her. It’s something that is really wired
and keeps me from taking the series seriously.
All
I can say about this series is that it does have potential and could get better
in the future. But the first few issues
really do taint the whole thing. If you
can look past that, it does get better in the later issues but keep your
flamethrowers ready all the same.
Verdict
Browse
(But
Keep Your Flamethrowers Ready)
Grifter
Of all the lines in this section,
this is probably the one that I have the least number of feelings on. It follows conman and former special ops operative,
Cole Cash as he battles a race of aliens known as the Daemonites and somehow
gets turned into the most wanted man in the country. All I really have to say about this one is
that Cole is a surprisingly compelling protagonist, the action sequences were
good, but there was some questionable artwork and a few very contrived plot
points. Mainly, there are a lot of
people who just seem to show up out of nowhere with storylines that don’t seem
to go anywhere. It’s not bad I guess but
it just didn’t really leave much of an impression on me and I suggest you get
your own opinion on it because I just don’t have one.
Verdict
Browse
Deathstroke
Holy hell! This one kicks ass! The storyline, (but who honestly cares?)
follows Deathstroke as he takes on various jobs, tries to improve his dwindling
reputation, and seeks out someone who may have captured his son and faked his
death.
In a nutshell, this is a line of
comics that you can’t help but love. The
best comparison I can make is to the God
of War games as this line is very similar to those games in a lot of
ways. The characters are, in all
honesty, underdeveloped but you just can’t help but like them. The fights are ridiculously over the top yet
they are just so enjoyable in how insane they are, full of all kinds of gore
and insane explosions. Like Kratos,
Deathstroke is a colossal prick but is just so enjoyable in how much the
writers revel in it and is an all-around badass character. The main storyline is also halfway decent as
it does explore themes regarding revenge and parenthood and does a decent job
at it.
The only real downside to it is that
it’s one of those series that isn’t technically “good” as the story and
characters are underdeveloped. But
everything is so enjoyably over the top and awesome that you just can’t help
but be enjoyed.
Verdict
Read
Suicide
Squad
This storyline revolves around a
team of supervillains known as Task Force X as they take on various high risk
missions for a black ops organization of the government run by Amanda
Waller. And good God is this one
awesome! I mean this one just kicks ass
in every possible way! For starters, the
characters are incredibly compelling and entertaining, particularly Dead Shot
and Harley Quinn. Unlike some of the
other badass characters of the D.C. Reboot, Dead Shot actually seems like a
real person. He’s badass and ruthless
when he needs to be but shows that he has a softer side on rare occasions and
that he has limits on how much he can take, (there is one incident that seems
to have shaken him to his core and I’m curious to see how that will play
out). Then we have Harley Quinn, and
holy hell is this one good! This version
is crap yourself scary/insane and damn near does for the character what Heath
Ledger and Chris Nolan did for The Joker in The
Dark Knight. I also like the way they
re-cannon her origin story as the way they put it together makes a bit more
sense than it did in the animated series.
For spoiler reasons I really can’t say any more but trust me when I say,
it’s great and from a writing standpoint I really like what they’ve done with
the character.
The rest of the characters are
ok. Characters like El Diablo, King
Shark and Black Spider are good, but like the characters of the original Knights of the Old Republic, only a few
really stick out and the rest just kind of fall in. Some people may not like the fact that these
characters aren’t A listers but I think that works to the series advantage, as
the threat of death is present where it’s just absent with a lot of the other
titles.
The storylines and how the
characters react to them are just as good.
The missions they go through range from taking out a stadium full of
cyborg zombies, (which works a lot better than you would think), to taking on a
terrorist cell to fighting one of their own and all keep you on the edge of
your seat in suspense of what will happen next.
This is also probably the only comic that seems to acknowledge the fact
that these people do have physical and mental limits and many characters do die
in horrific ways or get physically maimed which adds a layer of tension to the
series, (the threat of death always does that).
And the action and art are really good to and unlike all the other
series, this is a secret government agency that I can believe exists.
The only real negative things that I
have to say about it are that Harley Quinn’s outfit is….shall we say a little
fanboy pleasing and would make the ones in the Arkham games blush. I also don’t care for the way they more or less
established the Killing Joke story as
Joker’s cannon story. Alan Moore was
smart enough to leave it ambiguous but everyone just seems to think it’s
simpler just to say it happened.
All around, however this was an
awesome line and is probably my favorite of the New 52. Its characters are
great. The storylines are great. The action and art is great and it’s just an all-around
great series. Give it a read. You will not be disappointed.
Verdict
Browse
O.M.A.C.
And now we get into the first line
of this section that got the ax, O.M.A.C. So did it deserve this fate? Did it deserve to be cut off before it got
the chance to develop into a full fledge series? YES!!
I mean, good God! Can you get any
more confused or unfocused then this line?
I mean this is a series that was full of issues that clearly needed more
rewrites.
Ok let me start at the
beginning. The series follows Kevin Kho
as he is turned into a cybernetic creature known as O.M.A.C. under the command
of a satellite known as Brother Eye. But
the whole series is just lame. For
starters none of the characters are compelling in anyway as you never get attached
to any of them. Kevin is not a
compelling protagonist in any way and by the time the series ends, we know next
to nothing about him other then he has some OCD problems. He just comes off as a character that is
along for the ride and doesn’t really have any substance to him. The same can be said for all of the other
characters. The supporting ones just
don’t work and have no depth to them whatsoever. They try to throw in some in the last issue
but it was just too late by then and was a clear attempt to try to get a reader
to care about this character for some future plan.
The “villains” make no sense. I get the impression that we’re supposed to
hate Brother Eye for controlling Kevin’s life but this is rendered moot I don’t
give a crap about Kevin or his life. And
other than that, Brother Eye doesn’t really do anything villainous and quite
frankly gives me the impression he’s one of the good guys but just has
draconian ways of doing things. The same
can be said about his principle enemy, Checkmate. They don’t really seem bad just a little
power hungry. And as you can probably guess, the plot isn’t
that good either. It’s just O.M.A.C.
taking on whatever Checkmate throws at him and whatever monster Brother Eye
sends him to kill. It’s just nonexistent.
The
only real good things I have to say about this line are that some of the fights
are pretty good and Issue 7 was hilarious, particularly Superman beating the
crap out of O.M.A.C. But other than that
this series just sucked. While not quite
as engagingly dull as Red Lanterns,
as pointless as Mr. Terrific, or as
underwhelming as The Savage Hawkman,
this was still an all-around lame line.
Thankfully it was canceled and hopefully we’ll get something new and
better to take its place.
Verdict
Burn
Blackhawks
This is another series that doesn’t
leave much of an impression. It follows
a U.N. funded military group as they battle various technological terrorist
threats. And that’s about it. And again nothing leaves much of an
impression. Not the story, not the
characters, not the art or the action.
It just feels very hollow. But
with that said, it really isn’t anything horrible. It’s just bland and there are a lot of other
comics in the New 52 that are
worse. I say take a look and get your
own opinion but keep your flame throwers ready in case you decide you hate
it. I just don’t really have anything to
say about it and I’m not surprised it got the ax.
Verdict
Browse
(But
Keep Your Flamethrowers Ready)
Men
of War
And now we have Men of War, the last in this section to get the ax, and I have to
say of all the lines that I’ve reviewed so far this one was the least deserving
of it. The story follows Sgt. Rock on
various black ops missions and then switches to an anthology series in the last
two issues with one following a British solider then another that follows Frankenstein
fighting Axis threats in WWII.
So why did this one not deserve the
ax? Well for starters, Sgt. Rock was a
really compelling protagonist and if this series is worth checking out if for
no other reason than to see his story unfold.
The other two storylines in Issues 7 and 8 were excellent. Seeing this new guy hunt down this terrorist
leader was extremely satisfying and interesting. In Issue 8 it’s awesome to see Frankenstein
fighting Nazis and it’s interesting to see how his relationship with a robot
named J.A.K.E. formed. For more info on
that, you’ll have to read it.
But I have to admit, the problems
with this series are kind of big. For
starters, the main narrative was pretty incoherent. The storylines in the first 6 Issues didn’t
really make any sense as we had no idea what the objectives were or even who
the characters were fighting. Like the
main storyline, we know next to nothing about the supporting characters and it
leaves the reader uninvested in them.
The action has a similar problem as it seems like entire panels of what
was happening were left out. The art
direction was also kind of crappy as the coloring and looks of the characters
seemed to change from panel to panel.
All around I can see why this one
was canceled but of the comics I read thus far it was least deserving and there
were other lines that continued that deserved it far more. Some of it I liked and some of it I didn’t
and it’s one line that I suggest you get your own opinion on.
Verdict
Browse
All
Star Western
And now for our final comic of the
day, All Star Western, and thankfully
I get to end this post on a positive note because this is a really great
line. It follows Jonah Hex and his
adventures in post-Civil War Gotham and is divided into three major parts. The first deals with his battles against a
cult that wants to turn Gotham into the Vatican for crime, (that explains a
lot). The second deals with an
organization that uses poor children for slave labor for an underground project
and the last deals with Jonah fighting an anarchist group known as August 7as
they try to destroy factories and ships full of immigrants.
So what makes this line work? Well for starters, Jonah Hex is a hell of a
protagonist. He’s badass, he’s ruthless,
and he doesn’t care what other people think about him and doesn’t want or asks
for help but still hints at much more complex character underneath his scarred
façade with his own sense of moralities and justice. The other major character is Amadeus Arkham
who is a great contrast to Hex; a man constantly looking for psychological
reasons behind men’s actions, particularly criminals. It’s very odd paring but the way the two work
off each other is just perfect and have a great dysfunctional
relationship.
The
tasks the two undertake are also really good as well. The first and best revolves around the pre-mentioned
cult and the less that is said about that the better. The other storylines are also pretty good if
not as good and there are hints that this may lead to Jonah to battle the Court
of Owls, (I believe issue 9 revolves around such a battle but I have yet to
read it), and I honestly hope that happens.
But the less said about the plot the better because like any mystery the
best part of it is in the suspense of what you don’t know.
The only real downside to this
series is that the general art direction is kind of crappy and I can’t help but
think that some of the storylines end a little too soon. But all around this was a great line. It had great mysteries, great character
interaction and as long as you can at least tolerate westerns you’ll like this
one as well and is one that I highly recommend that you give a look.
Verdict
Read
And that’s it for my look at the
Edge and I have to say this one was quite hit or miss. Stormwatch
was a great team story, Deathstroke
was insanely awesome, Suicide Squad
was incredible, and All Star Westerns
was fantastic. But we also got forgettable
stinkers or series on the bubble like Voodoo,
Grifter, O.M.A.C. and Blackhawks
and these, in all honesty I would recommend you skip. The only one that I would consider a “True
Browse” is Men of War as it’s a series
that has noticeable pluses and minuses. Take my opinion for what it’s worth and
check out those I recommend and burn those I said to burn. Next time I’ll be concluding my look at The New 52 with the Young Justice section and let’s hope that there are some that prove
to be as good as the ones I’ve read here.
