It’s amazing that a book like 5 Weapons, one so colorful and fun, can manage to touch on so many social issues without once feeling preachy or sanctimonious. However, as we start to delve deeper into story and character motivation Jimmie Robinson manages to deftly yet casually touch upon issues like bullying or immigration and use them as plot points and backstory without getting mired in their politics.
With the passing of Damien Wayne last week, all of the months Bat books will be stamped with the marque of ‘Requiem’ as each title feels the ripple of the most recent Robin’s passing. In this Bat-family memorial service, Batman & Robin 18 serves as the perfect wordless eulogy. Without a single word of dialogue Tomasi crafts true honest emotion in the pages of this book while reminding us that comics are a visual medium for storytelling.
A eulogy is not a time for commentary nor proselytizing. It’s not a time to discuss whether cousin Timmy feels vindicated or if uncle Grant should have even been invited. It is not the time to focus on the faults or even the triumphs of the deceased. Rather it is a way for those still living to honor and uphold their memory and use this period of mourning to bring a sense of closure.
Snapshot: we’ve heard all the rave reviews already. Diggle and Jock strike again with a wildly innovative story; the story of Jake Dobson, who on finding a cell phone containing evidence of a murder on his way home finds his life immediately overturned and those closest to him in grave danger. The arts cinematic flares in panel layout and motion are deftly housed within a modern noir tale steeped in style and tone.
It’s the later I’d like to talk about today. Yeah, we could discuss how the minimalistic backgrounds, and heavily shadowed black and white layout sets a surprisingly stylized feel for something so refreshingly simple. We could talk of how utilizing modern tech puts an ingenious twist on the classic mystery motif. However, I propose that Snapshot’s true genius lies in being perfectly grounded in the now. Five years from now this technology will be obsolete and maybe the whole story rendered moot. Five years ago some of the mindsets of the characters would be very different and the narrative wouldn’t be playing out like it is. But we are here now in 2013, locked in a place of ever increasing class division, 24 hour news sources and self-imposed isolation. Crime does pay, because it can afford better corporately funded lawyers; and in a battle of good vs evil, evil might just have the upper hand as apathy passes for good these days.
A Harry Potter-esque academy for assassination training, rendered in a style reminiscent of a manga inspired Series of Unfortunate Events; yes please!
Five Weapons is the story of Tyler Shainline, a surname that draws respect and awe amongst his peers at Five Weapons Preparatory Academy; where, you guessed it, they train and compete in one of five weapon disciplines. While each of these “clubs” vie for Tylers fealty; he enters their world armed with neither firearm nor sword, but merely his rapier wit. It’s a simple yet ingenious hook that more than backs itself up with an entertaining and engaging plot!
Written and drawn by Jimmie Robinson (Bomb Queen), this was just a lot of fun to read. He takes a straightforward enough premise and weaves in a unique backstory that makes this book breeze by. It feels perfectly at home at Image, seemingly the home of individual and unique storylines; they are fast becoming my new favorite publisher. Slated at a 5 issue arc, it finds a good pace in what reveals the world of the story, exploring the first of the 5 clubs (knives, staves, archery, exotic weapons, and guns) starts to look at character backstory, and sets up the conflict and exposition to come. Page one sets up a ‘How did I get into this situation’ type flashback, while simultaniously posing to the reader a ‘which side are you on’ type challenge. Page 2 reads like a brochure for the assassin academy; and if that’s not enough to hook you, then just stop reading here.
Today’s release of Batman #17 has already generated a lot of buzz. The fanboys love it, the critics hate it; one thing they can agree on though, it’s definitely not an ending anyone saw coming.
This issue concludes Scott Snyder’s Death of The Family arc, touted as the biggest modern day Joker story in recent memory; and with his first major appearance in DC’s New52iverse, expectations were certainly high. As we saw earlier this week, when comics news enters mainstream media, hype and expectations go through the roof. Snyder does a great job in the overall story drawing upon Joker tales from the past, even incorporating them back into Digital Age continuity. In a world where characters are constantly being retooled, rebooted or otherwise re-imagined it’s nice to know Bat-history can remain intact. It was speculated that somebody wasn’t going to survive this event, fueling months of debate on just who might not be returning to the DCU after Batman #17.
****WARNING SPOILERS BELOW****
