Episode 1624 Talkback - Off the Racks: Deathstroke Rebirth #1, Kill or Be Killed #1, & Superwoman #1
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
This month we're bringing you murderous vigilantism (Image's Kill or Be Killed), conscientious contract killing (DC's Deathstroke), and tried-and-true superheroics (DC's Superwoman), all spiced up with just a dash of RIOS! Plus bonus reviews, and a brief discussion about what made the Bronze Age of Comics great. (1:47:54)
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Comments
Thanks @wildpigcomics for the glowing recommendation for Comic Book Fever. I'm really glad you’re enjoying it so much. I'll just add that if anyone is interested in purchasing the book, they might want to consider ordering directly from TwoMorrows so that they can get the free digital edition that comes with it. The digital edition has a few items that had to be cut for space in the print edition (including my own letter to the “letters pages”).
As for the comics reviewed today, I appreciate all the give and take...and definitely regret not buying Superwoman #1 (having heard good reviews from other sources as well). Like Murd, characters like Deathstroke starring in their own titles hold no interest for me. I'm also usually not a fan of noir stuff...but "Kill or Be Killed" sounds like it's worth a look. Maybe I'll catch it in trade.
Another great episode, guys! Keep up the good work!
Deathstroke, I'd put as a high borrow. I actually bought it for my son, who (through youtube videos, I think?) is a huge fan of Slade Wilson. I read it, and I enjoyed it--particularly the artwork from Pagulayan, whose work I don't think I was familiar with before--but it didn't engage me like I hoped it would. I've enjoyed Priest's work before, mainly as Jim Owsley, and I like the Deathstroke character, but, for some reason, this didn't do it for me.
I didn't read Superwoman. But I have read Alex Robinson's Our Expanding Universe, and I would echo what Chris said. In fact...why don't we see what I thought of the book?
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Thanks again for all you do.
-chris
Just put COMIC BOOK FEVER at the top of my holiday wish list. Wow @nweathington, it sounds like you've created something I will be loving forever, thanks in advance :)
And was surprised to hear an OTR ep in which all three headlined books were liked by all/most of the CGS geeks. I can't recall when that happened last! Usually it's "#1 will be pants'd / #2 will be borrow-y / #3 will be praised," so thanks for mixing it up and surprising me.
For Kill Or Be Killed, I am in the @wildpigcomics 's camp in that I think Brubaker and Phillips are one of the best collaborations in comics, and I will be there for everything they make.
That said, to judge by the first two issues, this is a departure for them. I do feel like, even compared to other characters who make aberrant or questionable choices, like those featured in Criminal, or to a lesser extent the leads of Fatale or The Fade Out , this time around I feel like they are actually not that sympathetic or empathetic towards their main character. Which is not to say that he is not written well, as are the characters around him, but this time around it feels like they are going concept-first and character second. Which is to say, the idea was to do a modern take on the 70s realistic street vigilante genre. Basically to do a book that was their own version of Taxi Driver, but set in the now. And sometimes it feels more like they are exploring a pathology, and writing a character around THAT, rather than going in with a feel for the character first, which is what the different stories in Criminal always felt like to me.
And while I have no evidence for this, it is just a gut feeling, but I feel like they don't like their main character very much, as a person (and, of course, a pretend person, but you know what I mean).
They have had characters they have written in the past who are violent and can do despicable things, like a Tracy Lawless, but those felt to me written with more sympathy, or at least compassion than this time. So far, Dylan feels like he is there to represent something that has gone wrong. That we may relate to some of his feelings, but that he is more a commentary or something, rather than a character they love.
I don't know, that is my feeling so far. And, where a book like Fatale lasted many issues longer than they originally planned because they loved the characters and the world they were in, I expect this one may be one of their shorter books, maybe only 12 issues, because it feels to me like it all feels unpleasant to them.
I read Deathstroke Rebirth, and the first issue of the series, since I was intrigued to see what Priest would do. I have never been a Titans reader, and never read much of Deathstroke as a character in the past, so I feel like all the history referenced was lost on me. As far as the present tense political thriller story, it was fine. But didn't grab me to the point that I will stick with it. I am glad that Priest is back writing more comics, though. I will continue to try what he does, whether more books at DC or other places.