Web Exclusive Batman: Life After Death
Tony S. Daniel, DC Comics, $19.99 (200p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2834-7
A man takes cautious first steps into the heroic role once held by his mentor in a story that hits all the expected notes of the superhero genre but doesn't do anything to impress. Daniel, known mainly for his skills as an artist, also takes on the writer's role for this story of Dick Grayson stepping into Batman's boots following the disappearance and presumed death of Bruce Wayne. Grayson must prove himself as skillful a detective as his predecessor while instigating a resurgence of a Black Mask-led criminal gang that's using mind-altering technology to recruit innocent civilians to commit violent crimes. In dealing with Bruce Wayne's former allies and enemies, Dick begins to prove that he is capable of being Batman but will do so in his own style. Daniel's writing is not nearly as strong as his artistic ability, and he often stumbles over a disjointed collection of subplots that pop in and out of the main story. While this is a noteworthy step in the history of a beloved fictional character's cast, it's not an otherwise memorable tale. (Oct.)
Web Exclusive Lobo: Highway To Hell
Scott Ian and Sam Keith, DC Comics, $19.99 trade paper (144 p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2891-0
Lobo, the scruffy super-powered metalhead space-biker and bounty hunter, was one of the most popular characters in ‘90s comics, due to his occasionally amusing adventures that brimmed with over-the-top juvenile antics and cartoonish ultra-violence. Pretty much a one-note creation unless handled by talented creators, Lobo's narrative limitations are quite evident in this effort. Lobo journeys to Hell seeking vengeance for an offense allegedly committed by Satan, and the usual mayhem ensues. The concept has some potential, but in writing the script, Ian, the talented rhythm guitarist for the metal band Anthrax, proves himself a talented rhythm guitarist. The narrative is crammed with forced and unfunny attempts at humor that quickly grow tiresome, and Keith's (The MAXX) art looks rushed and loose even by his impressionist standards. The whole endeavor has the feel of the creative team having lost interest, a condition that will doubtless be shared by most readers. (Oct.)
Web Exclusive The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography
Tetsu Saiwai, Penguin, $15 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-14-311815-2
It would perhaps be asking too much for a biography of the 14th Dalai Lama, divinely appointed leader of Tibet, to treat its subject with a skeptical eye, particularly when it's obviously being written from a teach-the-children perspective. Any sense of skeptical inquiry is resolutely not what writer/illustrator Saiwai (an educational Manga artist and puppeteer) is up to in this brisk and action-packed overview of the Dalai Lama's life. Starting in calamity in 1939 with the passing of the 13th Dalai Lama and the locating of his reincarnation in two-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, Saiwai moves quickly through the major signposts of Tenzin's life. Drama is cranked to the max, with bellowing mouths and frequent exclamations of rage or despair as the ancient mountain kingdom of Tibet falls to the crushing dictatorial oppression of Mao's China. Eventually it is revealed that the story is styled mostly as an autobiographical speech delivered by Tenzin to an adoring multinational crowd. While Tenzin's life is inarguably one of great faith, determination, and generosity, Tetsu's lack of perspective ultimately works to flatten, not enhance, the story. (Sept.)
Web Exclusive The Wild Kingdom
Kevin Huizenga, Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95 (108p) ISBN 978-1-77046-000-3
This brilliantly conceived pocket book casually expresses a crystalline analysis of our own imprecise and muddled thinking. Formatted like a textbook from an alternate world where comics are the standard mode of discourse, it references general interest pop-science television programs like the titular "Wild Kingdom," complete with commercial breaks which punctuate the book's more overtly narrative passages. Sequences featuring Huizenga's everyman character Glenn Ganges depict the minor catastrophes that inevitably result from industrialized humanity's coexistence with the animal world, from an unwelcome insect at home to an ill-fated pigeon on a four-lane highway. The book's "commercial" sequences echo with the quasi-religious recurring phrase "I was saved from my own life," a slogan that points to the paradox at the heart of "man versus nature"--a perceived alienation from the natural world from which man springs; this schism is effectively leveraged to sell products promising transcendence from man's earthly origins. Huizenga's lyrical storytelling highlights the ways in which science, education, entertainment, and commerce have been hopelessly comingled, and the book's absurdist climax suggests that this state of affairs can't continue forever. Huizenga continues to forge a path as one of the most important graphic novelists working today. (Sept.)
