When the first issue of The Sandman went on sale in November 1988, it was unlike anything else in the DC lineup. While Neil Gaiman had originally conceived the book as a revamp of the 1970s superhero by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, his editor, Karen Berger, asked him to rework it into something completely new. “Keep the name. The rest is up to you,” she said.

With that in mind, Gaiman came up with an eight issue outline that slowly carved a clear trajectory away from the DC Comics superheroes and into a bold new mythological world. In it, he introduced us to a different kind of Sandman. Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, wasn’t inspired by the classic comic book but by the mythical character from folklore instead. Over the course of seven years and 75 issues, Gaiman and a host of incredible artists – Chris Bachalo, Kelly Jones, Colleen Doran, Mike Allred, Jill Thompson, Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, among others – would collaborate to build out this world, telling stories of fantasy and horror, populating it with characters from religion and folklore, and using all of it to create a compelling new mythology all on its own.

The Sandman would win eighteen Eisner Awards and become the first and only comic to ever win a World Fantasy Award. Norman Mailer would call it “a comic book for intellectuals.” By the time the series came to an end in 1996, it hadn’t just become the flagship title of DC’s expanding Vertigo imprint, but was also outselling Superman.

What Is The Sandman About?

The comic opens in 1916, with our titular character – The Sandman, Morpheus, Dream, Kai’ckul, Oneiros, Lord Shaper (he goes by many names) – captured and imprisoned by a group of black magic occultists. They were looking to control Death (Morpheus’ older sister) but ended up trapping the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams instead. Afraid of what Morpheus might do to them if they free him, the occultists, lead by their Lord Magus Roderick Burgess, keep him locked up for 72 years.

Morpheus would spend most of the 20th century in captivity. His imprisonment would have devastating consequences on both the world of the living and the dreaming. Some individuals became trapped in their dreams, while others suffered even worse fates. His domain fell into disarray and his subjects, finding themselves without a master, were suddenly left to their own devices. Some good. Some bad. Some utterly disastrous.

The first seven issues of The Sandman chronicle Morpheus’ escape from captivity and his struggle to regain control of the world of The Dreaming and the powers he once possessed. He takes revenge on those responsible and then sets out to rebuild his broken and neglected domain. Once all of that setup is done, the rest of the series then becomes this extensive meditation on the power of dreams and nightmares, and their impact and influence on who we are as human beings. The story of Morpheus eventually becoming but a framing device for a much larger philosophical inquiry into the nature of stories.

Did You Say That Death Was Dream’s Older Sister?

Oh yes. There is that. Morpheus, or Dream, has six siblings. They are called the Endless, immortal beings who are unique manifestations of a crucial aspect of life itself. They are older than the Gods and will exist until the last living thing dies. To quote Death: “When the last living thing dies, my job will be finished. I’ll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave.”

We won’t list down all of the Endless because some of them have story arcs and identities that are best left unspoiled.

Like Morpheus, each of the Endless rules over their own domain. They can traverse every realm. They each interact with mortals in different ways. Death is a cheerful, gothy young woman. Destiny is a cloaked figure who carries a book that contains the record of every single thing that has and will ever happen. And Desire is an androgynous, scheming, and somewhat sinister individual who enjoys toying with others for sport.

Given their nature as anthropomorphic representations, the Endless also tend to change appearance depending on who is looking at them. Morpheus, for the most part, looks like a paler, gaunter cross between David Bowie and Neil Gaiman, but he has also been a Black man, a giant cat, and even a Martian god.

All of That Sounds Really Interesting, but What Is The Sandman Really About?

The overarching story of The Sandman isn’t something that is clear until the very end of the series. Yes, there is an endgame that ties everything in the series together (even the most mundane and seemingly inane plot points), but to reveal what that is would be to spoil the entire experience.

It’s also important to note that The Sandman isn’t just a singular story, but many, many stories. This is a story about stories. It is about every story ever told. From the oral histories handed down from generation to generation, to the religious parables that guide our morality, to the tall tales that we tell our children to entertain them. It is a powerful reiteration that great stories exist, and should exist simply for the sake of it.

Every arc across the 75 core issues of The Sandman is about action and consequence. About the choices we make in our lives. About making sense of the stories we tell ourselves in order to continue living with those decisions.

So don’t concern yourself too much with what The Sandman is all about. Enjoy the journey. It is as important as the final destination.

Do I Need to Read the Comics Before Watching This Series?

First, a little bit of background. Season 1 of Netflix’s adaptation, 10 episodes in all, covers the first 16 issues of The Sandman comic, beginning with “Preludes and Nocturnes” and finishing at the end of “The Doll’s House” story arc. The series promises to be a faithful adaptation which means that you shouldn’t have to read a single page of the comic to enjoy or understand what’s going on.

That said, there is no way that we’re telling you not to read these comics. Like Watchmen, and The Dark Knight Returns, The Sandman is seminal. It is joyous. It is everything that great literature should be. It’ll inspire you and move you. It’ll reshape the way you look at the world.

We have no doubt that reading the comics will give you a richer experience of the series. There is a new trade paperback edition of The Sandman that collects all of the issues adapted in Season 1 of the show, and it will give you the best overview of what the series is all about. It is also a good initial investment if you’re still on the fence and just want to dip your toes into the warm and welcoming waters of this universe.

We will also tell you that the first few issues of the comic are far from perfect. Gaiman is still finding his voice and the art doesn’t quite come into its own until Mike Dringenberg takes over pencilling duties in Issue #5. The sixth issue, “24 Hours,” will end up being one of the best horror stories you will have ever read. And the eighth, “The Sound of Her Wings,” will change your life.

So, What You’re Saying Is That This Thing Is Really Good!

Yes. That is precisely what we’re saying. If it wasn’t clear by now, we think that The Sandman is one of the best comic books ever published. And if the Netflix TV series can capture even a fraction of its magic and genius, then we’re in for a real treat.

All 10 episodes of The Sandman drop on Netflix on Friday, August 5.

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Daredevil (Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto)

In mid August, 2021, Marvel announced that Daredevil issue number 36, released this month, will be Chip Zdarsky’s final turn as the writer, as well as the series’ final issue.

Matt Murdoch has always been an interesting character for me. It all started when, as a child, my dad had bought a Daredevil action figure for me because that was a character that he had known. Being a kid who’s introduction to comic book characters were from the Saturday morning cartoons, I had never heard of Daredevil. But that action figure, in deep maroon red, holding two batons, was incredibly intriguing. And then, my dad truly blew my mind when he told me that Matt Murdoch, the Daredevil, was blind.

Fast forward to 2019, and as I step into a real comic book store for the first time in a very long time, I was thrilled to find that a new Daredevil comic had just kicked off. This new Daredevil series (officially known as Daredevil, Series 6) was written by a writer that I had not heard of, but one who would quickly become a personal favourite, Chip Zdarsky.

What Zdarsky has done in his 34 issues (living in Malaysia means I’m always a couple of issues behind) at the helm of Daredevil was, in my mind, to solidify Matt Murdoch’s struggles as the man with no fear. Kevin Smith’s version of Daredevil gave Murdoch faith, falling back on his Catholicism as things went from bad to worse, but Zdarsky takes that faith in God to another level. Zdarsky’s Murdoch is a man struggling with his faith and what it means to be “a devil.” 

Daredevil had always been classed as a “street-level superhero,” with all the connotations that term may bring. But while he may never fight villains on the scale of Thanos or the Chitauri, while he may never go to space and take on alien races, the Daredevil’s place in comic books is undeniable. If Peter Parker was a placeholder in the Marvel universe for every kid growing up into adulthood, Matt Murdoch was a placeholder for the adult trying to make it in the world. 

Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil wasn’t a big splashy thing. Probably the splashiest thing Zdarsky did to Matt Murdoch was to send him to jail. But the reason behind the character going to jail was what really set the Zdarsky Daredevil apart for me. Matt Murdoch, after accidentally killing a gang member, turns himself into the police because both his day job, and his night time escapades, needed him to be on the right side of the law. He murdered someone. And for that, he must put his faith in the justice system that he has sworn to uphold. Despite the head of that justice system being his long time nemesis, and now mayor, the Kingpin.

Chip Zdarsky’s Matt Murdoch is a man that had lost his faith, regained it, and is now trying to clear his conscience by abiding in the laws of the land. Zdarsky’s Matt Murdoch is a man riddled with guilt, physically bruised and battered, fighting his own fragility of faith, trying to do right by God and man. Basically, Zdarsky’s Matt Murdoch is human. 

Quick Post Script: That first issue of Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil, released in early 2019, featured a short four page story called “Sense of Self,” and for two years I have not been able to stop thinking about it. In it, the Daredevil reads a report of a kidnapped child and goes to save her. Fairly straight forward. But the way that short story is delivered is just comic book high art. “Sense of Self” is told both in normal person view, and from the perspective of Daredevil, with each facing page translated into Daredevil view. It is simple, elegant, and beautiful. 

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette)

So you grew up watching those glorious Universal monster movies, and Freddy, and Wes Craven, and David Cronenberg. You enjoy reading Stephen King, and Dean Koontz, and Clive Barker. You know what comic book would really float your boat? This one.

This one is seminal. This one is on every best-of-must-read-most-inspirational-comics-are-actually-literature list you’ll ever come across on the Internet. And rightfully so. Alan Moore’s deconstruction of Swamp Thing blew the boundaries of the comics medium wide open. Remember that no one was doing this back in 1984. Not Gaiman. Not Vaughan. Not Waid. Not yet anyway. Before Moore, no one thought to mine “lowbrow” comic book characters and use them as a foundation to tell mythic stories.

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Admittedly, my first introduction to Swamp Thing wasn’t from the comics or Wes Craven’s underrated camp-fest, but rather from the very short lived animated series (there were only five episodes) that displayed startling similarities to Captain Planet. It would be a while before I would finally dig into Alan Moore’s take on the character, by which point, my horror sensibilities would already be well bolstered by at least a decade’s worth of monster movies and Stephen King novels.⁣⁣

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I’ve read this work at least three or four times since then and each time has been an exercise in discovery. As I grew, and learned, and evolved, so did the comic book. What was, on the surface, a bizarre gothic eco-horror story, turned out to also be a tale of identity politics, environmental existentialism, corporate greed, and buddhist philosophy wrapped up in a package full of gore, allusion, surrealism, and the Justice League. From rednecks name-dropping Don’t Look Now, to Hamlet-esque soliloquies, to Jesus metaphors up the wazoo, this is an expertly balanced piece of pop-culture. ⁣⁣
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It is also one of the the most sex positive comic books to come out of the era.⁣⁣
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If you enjoy your horror with a dash of metaphysics, then it really doesn’t get any better than this.

Quick Post Script: The Saga of the Swamp Thing was the first mainstream comic book series to completely abandon the Comics Code Authority (CCA). After the CCA denied issue #29 the seal of approval, DC created the Vertigo imprint in order to publish the series and no longer submitted issues of The Saga of the Swamp Thing to the CCA for approval.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out Daredevil and The Saga of the Swamp Thing? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

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Primordial (Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino)

The premise of Primordial is a deeply compelling one. Back in 1957, in those early years of the space race, the USSR sent a dog, Laika, up into Earth’s orbit. Two years later, the United States responded by sending two monkeys named Able and Baker. These brave animals, the first earthly creatures to venture beyond our planet and into space, never returned. But they didn’t die up there in orbit. They were taken.

That’s where Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino’s latest collaboration kicks off. Primordial is a subjunctive history, one that is inspired by the paranoia of the Cold War, and taken to its wildest and bizarrest ends. It is sci-fi. It is horror. It is a “what if?” that feels fresh and exciting.

Umapagan Ampikaipakan: Okay, let me get the gushing out of the way. We love both Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. Individually, they are two of the best creators working in the medium today. Together (as witnessed in the brilliant Gideon Falls), they have a rhythm that is shared by very few in the industry. Moore and Gibbons. Brubaker and Phillips. Wolfman and Perez. The way Sorrentino brings Lemire’s words to life is nothing short of astounding. There is a real dynamism in the way each page unfurls, from a Ditko-esque six panel grid, to an explosion of colour and space that is, in all honesty, completely overwhelming.

Primordial was already laser targeted towards a reader like me. Someone who isn’t just obsessed with that period of history, but also utterly preoccupied with the conspiracy theories of the time. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of those whackjob idiots who thinks the moon landing was faked. I’m just a guy who loves whenever writers and artists ask “what if?” as a way to explore an idea?

What if Nixon beat Kennedy? What if the space race just fizzled out? What if those animals we sent up all those years ago suddenly came back?

Bahir Yeusuff: And it is that last question that really got me into this. Primordial has got a great concept. Those animals “did not die in orbit… they were taken. And now they are coming home.” I mean, come on! How does that not grab you by the scruff of the neck and scream read me!

That first issue is also just so well tuned. It is so tight. It does everything a great TV show pilot needs to do in its runtime. It needs to introduce the world (alternate reality, Nixon beat Kennedy, both Russia and America abandoned their space race, the Cold War still brewing), it’s characters, and it’s concept immediately. There have been a few comics that have done that to me. Kieron Gillen’s Die just immediately grabbed me. Something Is Killing the Children too. Nice House by the Lake did the same. In those first pages of the first issue, the writer can’t give away too much, but must do just enough to ensure that you will come back, and Lemire does everything right here. This isn’t a case where I have to read one or two more issues to see if this is something I’d love. Primordial gets it right immediately.

Also, the art is just amazing. Gorgeous. That style of drawing lifelike characters, almost as if they were traced from a photo. Doubled with Sorrentino’s wild colors and graphics. It just grabbed me and never let go. 

UA: For me it was also the concept. I’ve read so much about the space race, about both the Russian and American missions, and yet the fates of Laika, Abel, and Baker isn’t something I’ve spent much time thinking about. The reason the Russians sent up a stray dog was because it was dispensable. It’s the same with the Americans and their monkeys. We just don’t value an animal’s life as much as we do a human’s. But they were a critical factor in our next steps into space.

And so, the idea that there is somehow more to their story is just exciting to me. Because we’ve seen a take on what happens if the Americans had lost the space race (Apple TV Plus’ For All Mankind), we’ve seen how the world changes if JFK didn’t die in 1963 (Stephen King’s 11.22.63), but I don’t think anyone has done this story quite like this.

BY: And it does look like the story will be more focused on the aforementioned space animals. I mean, that last page itself is as good a cliffhanger as I have ever seen. But there is also so much to look at on every page. There’s a psychedelic element to the art. The panels are thrown across the page. There are characters talking from dark shadows. Each page is just so beautifully rendered that it took me much longer to get through this issue than most.

I was just staring at it, panel to panel, page to page. There is a sparseness to the pacing of this comic, but everything feels so tightly wound. I haven’t read anywhere near enough of Lemire’s stuff, but this shows me what I’ve been missing.

How much of the writer’s voice comes through in comics do you think? Is there a “Lemire” tone? I know I like the stories Chip Zdarsky tells, but I don’t know what Lemire’s “voice” is.

UA: There is most definitely a Lemire “voice.” His preoccupations vary. And you can tell from how broad his scope of work has been. Sweet Tooth is very different from Black Hammer, which is very different from Gideon Falls, which is very different from Old Man Logan and Moon Knight.

That said, he is definitely a comic book writer that has his own unique style. He isn’t quite as verbose as Tom King. Nor is he as philosophical as Kieron Gillen. I’ve found Lemire’s work to be rooted in the humanity of his characters. It doesn’t matter if they are superheroes or a kid with antlers, the thing he’s concerned with is how they cope with and navigate being human.

If I had to pinpoint Lemire’s voice, that’s what I would say it was.

BY: For me I love how he grounds and simplifies a high concept idea. Some of the examples that you’ve listed out have some high concepts, and in the wrong hands could become muddled and too high falutin. But like you said, Lemire focuses on very real human themes. And in a story about disposable animals sent to space, the “humanity” of it all will be a really interesting place to go.

There are already little nuggets of spy stuff happening, and maybe bigger political plays, and even bigger cosmic stakes. But that seems like an entry point to the story of Laika, and Able, and Baker.

I can’t wait for Issue #2. Also, being only six issues long feels like a strong creative decision. Like everyone working on this has a clear ending in mind, and God knows that always gets me excited.

UA: This also feels like a horror. And not just in the Event Horizon sense. Yes, the first issue hints at some dark and unknown force on the horizon, but there are also elements of nationalism and jingoism which are put forth as mirrors to what still happens today. 

All of the worldbuilding and mythmaking around that is top notch. It builds on the “what if?” stories that have come before while adding the welcome twist of exploring how it relates to our relationship with animals. 

It’s a very cunning way at making us reassess our present by forcing us to confront past sins. How do we treat organisms that we deem to be lesser than we are? What happens when humanity is the weaker, dumber, disposable species? 

I’m not entirely sure where this series is going, but it feels like it might force us to think about some of those things.

BY: We have five more issues and I really can’t wait. Like you, I think there are bigger things at play here, bigger things that will impact how we look at this story. This isn’t just an aliens against humanity story I don’t think. It can’t be. The way the humans in the story have written off the animals they sent out into space on their behalf feels like the catalyst of a bigger story.

There was a hesitancy for me in reviewing Primordial so early. One good issue doesn’t make for a good comic run. But, when you have a first issue as exciting as this was, I could not pass up the chance to talk about it. Like everything you’ve said, I want to read this issue again. I want to savor every page and every panel. It’s exciting and tense. There are mysteries, and spies, and politics, and cosmic stuff happening here. 

UA: I swear that’s all I’ve been doing. I’ve just been poring over these pages. Touching Sorrentino’s beautiful spreads. Just taking it all in. I swear it’s gotten in the way of my other reading.

I love how cinematic this comic book is. I love how the ill-defined panels force me to look at every page in a different way. And I love how all of it is laid out like a broken puzzle just waiting to be solved.

Honestly, this is such an intricate work that it makes so many of the other comics that I’m reading right now look downright plain and lazy.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out Primordial? Have you already read this comic? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List #34: Primordial appeared first on Goggler.

Afterlift (Chip Zdarsky, Jason Loo)

Chip Zdarsky is quickly becoming one of our favourite comic book writers. His ComiXology Original, Afterlift, released in April 2020, takes the concept of ride-share from hell to its most literal conclusion. Correction. It is, in fact, the ride-share to hell.

Afterlift follows Janice Chen, a ride-share driver who is about to have the weirdest night of her life. After picking up a passenger, Janice finds that she is unwittingly transporting a demon from hell and his catch for the night, to hell. And as difficult a concept as that may be for Janice to grasp, there is also the competing demons that have come for the soul.

Zdarsky’s Afterlift is, as any good stand alone story should be, multilayered. There is the adventure/heist story of Janice and Suzanna, the soul she is transporting. There is the drama of hell, of Lucifer pitting his demons against one another. And there is Janice’s own history, only ever told in glimpses, of her family and her sister. Zdarsky does enough with the supporting stories to build up a bigger picture. Even though the focus of Afterlift is that ride-share to hell, that isn’t all there is.

The art in Afterlift is also gorgeous. Jason Loo’s character and panel designs feel grounded, even as the comic bounces cars off each other, or when Janice drives up the side of a building. Loo’s design of the demons are new and, as he tells it, drawn from the designs of Indonesian wooden masks that he saw in his uncle’s home. But what truly stands out is Paris Alleyne’s bright, glowing colours. His ability to mix and pull colours feel like the next evolution of comics. Alleyne’s panels and colours feel digital, and in the best way possible. With ComiXology Originals being (mostly) digital, Paris Alleyne’s art really takes advantage of that by mixing hues and shades creating contrasts that are brighter than bright. (I may be making this up,) but it feels like he’s been able to put on screen what print could never do.

Afterlift feels like Collateral, only with demons and angels, and hell and heaven. There are no discussions as to what is the correct hell or heaven, or whose version of it they are heading to. It doesn’t matter which religion you subscribe to.

At only five issues long, Afterlift cleverly avoids all of that big stuff to tell this one intimate story of Janice and Suzanna. There is probably enough here to take on a longer story arc (purgatory, the crossing of the river between earth and the underworld, hell), but in keeping the story focused on the journey that Janice and Suzanna take, this was more than enough.

Human Target (Tom King, Greg Smallwood)

My first encounter with Christopher Chance wasn’t by way of the comics. It was instead in that short-lived, but incredibly fun, television series (no, not the seven episode, 1992 version with Rick Springfield – yes, THAT Rick Springfield) starring Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley. (The series even had this fantastic theme song!)

Now if you don’t know The Human Target, and we wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, he began life back in the 1950s as a side character in Detective Comics called Fred Venable. He provided a very specific service based on a very specific set of skills. Venable would impersonate his clients – people who, for some reason or other, were marked for death – in order to catch their assassins red handed. Two decades later, Len Wein and Carmine Infantino would revive the character, rewrite him as Christopher Chance, and give him new life.

The Human Target appealed to all of my pop-culture preoccupations. One part Mission: Impossible, one part Quantum Leap, with plenty of comic book sensibilities thrown in for good measure. He was essentially a gun for hire, but one who was lead by his own moral compass, and who was always there for anyone who needed him. Here was a character who harked back to the men I used to watch on TV growing up, those do-gooders and vigilantes, the likes of Michael Knight, and Stringfellow Hawke, and Colt Seavers. Christopher Chance was all of the A-Team in one. And I loved it.

So imagine my excitement when I heard that one of my favourite comic book writers, Tom King, was taking on the character in a brand new DC Black Label series. And boy does he deliver.

The story begins with Christopher Chance taking on a job to protect Lex Luthor from being killed. Why is he helping the most villainous of villains? We’re not sure yet. We know he’s broke, down on his luck, and hopelessly in love. He’s coughing a lot and that’s never a good sign. And just when he thinks he’s thwarted the assassin and saved Lex, something goes horribly wrong. The Human Target is poisoned and he needs to find out whodunnit before it’s too late.

Everything about this first issue just sings. From the very first page, we meet a Chance who is tired, aging, and world-weary. Christopher Chance isn’t quite a superhero, but he perfectly inhabits their world. In his trademark style, with an economy of dialogue and an intriguing mystery, King sets the character up as a true enigma. He’s got Bogart’s swagger. He speaks like he hasn’t quite left the 1950s. And like all the best noir characters, he is as much a mystery to himself as he is to us.

Like much of King’s work – Strange Adventures, Rorschach, Mister Miracle – this story also plays it fast and loose with time, jumping back and forth within a narrative, using it as a method to build tension and surprise. I love writing that makes demands of the reader and this is a comic that all but insists you revisit it as soon as you’re done.

Which brings me to Greg Smallwood, whose immense talent is on full display on every page of this first issue. His art is beautiful. It is hypnotic. It is utterly engrossing. There is something so cinematic in the way we frames this story, in the angles he picks, in his close-ups, in the finish of every panel. You will get lost in these pages. There is so much to see. Everything feels tactile. This is a very different kind of noir. One that pulls from the style and sensibilities of the classics, but adds colour and texture, making it pop in every sense of the word.

If you love hardboiled detective fiction or old noir movies, then this is definitely a must read. King and Smallwood don’t just wear their inspirations on their sleeves, they build on them, they elevate them, in order to give us something that feels both familiar and fresh.

It’s been far too long since Christopher Chance has had his time in the spotlight and The Human Target feels like the perfect start to an adventure that truly befits the character.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out Afterlift and Human Target? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List #33: Afterlift and The Human Target appeared first on Goggler.

The Silver Coin (Michael Walsh, Chip Zdarsky, Kelly Thompson, et al.)

There’s a thing with anthology comics. What may seem like a great idea at first can vary wildly in quality of delivery. And The Silver Coin is a great example of this.

Built on the simple idea of a cursed silver dollar coin, each issue of The Silver Coin is brought to us by some of the best comic writers of the generation: Chip Zdarsky, Kelly Thompson, Ed Brisson, Jeff Lemire, and Michael Walsh, who draws all the art for the entire series.

Each issue tells a different short story, all revolving around this one silver coin that has made its way through multiple hands, causing misery, murder, and death at each stop. The problem is that of the five issues that have been released, some fare better than others at building a story around the cursed coin.

The first issue in the series, written by Chip Zdarsky, really does a great job in building the powers of the coin, how it affects the owner, and how it demands a blood sacrifice. Zdarsky sets up the entire mythology of the coin, ready for the other writers to carry it on, but despite the pedigree of writers that take on the following issues, the coin itself seems to fall a little by the way side. The need to get to the horrific outcomes don’t do enough in taking up the building blocks that Zdarsky has put down.

Issue 2, titled “Girls of Summer,” is about a girl who goes to summer camp and is bullied by the other kids. She runs off into the woods, finds the coin upon a blood altar, and goes on a murdering spree.

Issue 3, written by Ed Brisson, does the same thing. We meet three robbers on a job, they accidentally murder the victim, and get into a high speed chase with the police. One of the robbers, having grabbed the coin from the victim, ends up murdering her accomplices and running into the woods where she is received by spirits.

Issue 4, by Jeff Lemire, feels like the most out of place in the entire series. Jumping into the future, it tells the story of a dystopian society and, again, another robbery. After, yet another, high speed chase with the police, one of the robbers stumbles on to an old forgotten part of town, finds the coin, and then goes to murder the police officer chasing her.

I’m being very short with these descriptions because I felt a little shortchanged. That was until we got to Issue 5, which was written by series creator Michael Walsh himself. Zdarsky’s opening issue really set the tone for the series for me, a tone that was largely ignored by following three issues, until Michael Walsh picked it back up and reeled me back in. Issue 5 jumps all the way back to the 1600’s and the witch that started the curse.

The Silver Coin started off as a five issue run. But following a tremendous reception from the public, publisher Image Comics has converted the comic to an ongoing series. There is a strong idea behind The Silver Coin, but so far, it’s been something of a mixed bag for me.

Savage Game (Shawn Kittelsen, Chris B. Murray)

Shawn Kittelsen’s Comixology Original, Savage Game ends on a cliffhanger. Which is a little annoying seeing as how much these 60 pages do to tease out an incredibly interesting world.

Conner and his father Howard Bowen have a rocky relationship, in that they haven’t spoken in the ten years since the passing of Conner’s mother. In that time, Howard, a bioengineering genius, has gone on to build an island for himself out in international waters in order to allow himself, and his team of scientists, to create things that most governments, and society at large, would not approve of.

Howard Bowen isn’t building the latest doomsday weapon. He’s trying to solve the world’s big problems. A reprogrammed HIV strain to eat cancer cells. A drought resistant tomato made by splicing animal DNA with plant DNA to help eradicate iron deficiency in developing nations. A genetic memory project to access ancestral memories of humanity. You know, the kind of thing the FDA would bristle against.

The problem with solving all of humanity’s big problems is that it costs money. And to that end, Howard Bowen has decided to get into the entertainment business. The gladiatorial entertainment business to be precise. Think Formula 1, but with nations financing fighters instead of cars, Howard Bowen has taken the idea of gene splicing to the next level. This isn’t a Jurassic Park style Indominus Rex. This is The Savage Game. Lab created apex predators designed to kill, face off with one another to fight to the death for the entertainment (and profit) of Bowen and his labs, to better finance all the future research the organization hopes to do to tackle the world’s big problems.

Of course, just like Jurassic Park, something goes wrong, the apex predators get out, and mayhem ensues. But Savage Game never gets there in these 60 pages. Savage Game feels like the first act of a traditional three act story. The comic ends at the point of the inciting incident, just as our protagonist answers the call to adventure. We don’t, however, get to see the payoff.

The unfortunate thing is that I don’t know if we ever will. Savage Game was released exclusively on Comixology in June 2018 and, three years later, there still is no word on whether or not there will be a follow up.

Shawn Kittelsen’s Savage Game isn’t new. It’s familiar. It’s very much in the vein of The Island of Doctor Moreau with its ideas. Savage Game is interesting in its concept, a genius bioengineer engineers hybrid animals for entertainment, but all for the greater good. It’s a great read. So here’s hoping we get to see how the story ends.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out The Silver Coin and Savage Game? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List #32: The Silver Coin and Savage Game appeared first on Goggler.

With that in mind here are 10 things from the Hawkeye comic we’d love to see in the Disney Plus series.

1. Okay, This Looks Bad

The short episode count doesn’t leave a lot of time to flesh out Clint, introduce his protégé Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), provide some villains for them to go up against, and wrap all that up in a satisfying resolution. And this is for a show whose main character has been barely sketched up to this point!

Hopefully the showrunners have recognized one of the smartest moves and great joys of the comic: the small details and callbacks that have thus far built up Clint’s personality in subtle ways. Like the way he drinks coffee directly from the coffee pot (due to post Avengers related adventure exhaustion), or the repeated lament that opens many of the issues: “Okay, this looks bad.”

It’s cute, and after a few issues, variations start to pop up. It speaks to “comic Clint’s” hangdog outlook, perpetual ability to get himself into trouble, and the self awareness of his ability to get himself into trouble. This could be something the show offsets onto Kate to build up her character, but it’d be a fun way to start every episode. 

2. Seriously Bro? [CONFIRMED]

One of the funniest recurring motifs of Fraction and Aja’s comic run are the tracksuit bros. As their name implies, they’re a bunch of bros who wear tracksuits, BUT the cherry on the cake is that they also say “bro”… A LOT!

It’s probably seems like the least threatening salutation at first, but as the stories proceed, it becomes a portent of doom. It’s ludicrousness matched only by Clint’s exasperated reaction as the bros interrupt whatever it is he’s currently supposed to be doing for another go around.

The bros have already shown up in the trailers but we dearly hope their catch phrase sticks around as well. As annoying as it could be, it’s like one of those Simpsons jokes that is funny at first, then goes on for so long it stops being funny, before coming back around even funnier. It would also save a lot of time in writing dialogue, bro.

3. Pizza Dog Episode!

We’ve already seen Lucky, the Pizza Dog, in the show but, with only 6 episodes, it’d be pretty funny if, as they did in the comic, the showrunners dedicated an entire episode to an adventure with Lucky.

In Issue #11, “Pizza Is My Business,” Fraction and Aja tell the entire story from Lucky’s perspective, as he sniffs his way around the apartment building Hawkeye lives in. Looking for pizza (he loves pizza), Lucky investigates a murder on the roof of the building, figures out some major developments for the story, and discovers an intriguing hint as to the identity of a mysterious stranger who’s been cropping up in recent issues. 

Ingeniously, Aja and Fraction tell the whole story with minimal text, with only some words like “pizza” (spoken by the people around Lucky) actually legible. The rest of the stylish comic uses icons to illustrate the smells and priorities of the dog detective. We know this a bit of a stretch, but can you imagine the reaction the show would get from an entire episode with no dialog, told entirely from the point of view of a dog!

4. A Man With a Very Particular Set of Skills

Despite his prominent role in the Avengers films we don’t know all that much about the MCU’s Clint Barton. Sure he’s good with a bow, but is that all that qualifies him for membership with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, or SHIELD for that matter?

And no this doesn’t mean we want to hear any more about Budapest. The comic fleshes out Clint’s skills, making him pretty good with his fists when he doesn’t have a bow handy. On top of this, the comic emphasizes that Clint is a deadly weapon with pretty much anything that’s to hand. While taking out a group of bros with a deck of cards is pretty hardcore, wait until you see what he does with the collar stays.

The trailer hints at some of this as Clint catches a Molotov cocktail, before throwing it back. Let’s hope he gets to show off his skills in a few more impressive ways.

Fraction and Aja also do a great job of illustrating Barton’s mastery of time. No, not another “time heist,” they just show us how time slows down for him, as he notches an arrow. More of this please.

5. Barney!

I’d forgotten this development in the comics until a recent re-read. We’d love to see Barney, turn up in one form or another. If you don’t now who Barney is we won’t spoil it, or how he relates to the rest of the characters in the series (just read the comic!). Suffice to say he’s introduced as a background character who doesn’t seem long for this world, before having his “not-so-secret identity” revealed. It’s a neat twist in a comic filled with them and, as the MCU moves forward, it needs to start introducing as many new characters as possible as their main actors age out.

6. The Robin Hood Shot

We all know the “Robin Hood“ shot. It’s where one archer lands an arrow in the middle of the bullseye in a competition, only for their opponent to split their arrow in two right down its shaft. It’s a staple of Robin Hood movies and, according to Kate in Young Avengers Presents Issue #6, a shot “nobody can make.”

She’s wrong about that.

Whether Clint or Kate makes the Robin Hood shot, it can be used to speak volumes about their mindset and their relationship to each at that time. We’re pretty sure someone will make the Robin Hood shot in the series, but who nails it, and when it happens, will tell us a lot about where the series is going.

7. Madame Masque

While the post credits sting from Black Widow hinted that Clint is due a visit from Natasha’s “sister,“ Yelena (Florence Pugh), we doubt she’ll be the primary antagonist for the show.

In the comic series Clint, and more often Kate, had a few run-ins with Marvel villain Madam Masque. Later issues, which we doubt the show will cover this season, saw Kate striking out on her own in California where she once again ran into Madam Masque. That plot line also revealed Kate’s (rich) family’s criminal ties.

With the MCU’s need to simplify things for the screen, could Hawkeye combine Madam Masque and Kate’s family crime connections into the form of Vera Farmiga’s Eleanor Bishop?

Coincidentally, in Issue #20 of Hawkeye, Kate offhandedly mentions how Madam masque once “got her brains bashed out by Moon Knight one time but then got all better.” Guess who else has a Disney Plus TV show due out in 2022? That’s right, Moon Knight. Could it all be connected?

After the rehabilitation of Loki, the MCU needs some good villains, and ones who will stick around and not get murdered at the end of their movie/show. Could Madam Masque be the start of a new wave of Marvel supervillains?

8. USB Arrow

We’ve already seen some of Clint’s deadly trick arrows in the trailer, as Kate frantically looks for a less lethal way to take out some pursuers, but we’d love it if this hopelessly outdated USB drive arrow makes it into the show somewhere.

Oh, and it would be great if Clint was still super enthused about a whole 256 MEGS (not GB, but MB) of storage.

9. Human After All… and Yet… Impossible Escapes!

In addition to showing off Clint’s skills sans bow, the comic repeatedly highlights that Clint is just a normal human. Without any super soldier serum, advanced tech, or magical artifacts to help him out, he gets beat up a lot.

That doesn’t stop him from giving his all though. While constantly showing him covered in cuts and bruises, the comic also shows that Clint is all too willing to put it all on the line when his friends or neighbours need help.

That doesn’t prevent him from ending up in absolutely ridiculous situations that Tony Stark or even the God of Thunder might have trouble getting out of, and yet Clint always manages to find away. Even if he might need to sleep for a week afterwards.

These would make for some great cold opens too, with each episode staring with Clint in some perilous, seemingly unescapable situation.

10. Clint Barton Must Die!

Apart from an awesome line, the internet would most likely lose it’s mind if Kingpin, and a who’s who of street level Marvel villains, turned up in the Disney Plus series. Even more so if the Kingpin was once more portrayed by (the great!) Vincent D’Onofrio from Netflix’s Daredevil.

It’s a wish that might not be that far off with rumours suggesting that Marvel’s Netflix characters might be making their MCU debuts sooner rather than later.

Even if the Kingpin doesn’t turn up, after the Black Widow‘s post credits sting, we’d settle for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine saying the line (and reveling more of what she’s been up to).

All this said, even if Disney Plus’ Hawkeye includes none of these 10 things, we’re still pretty hyped to see what they do with Clint and Kate.

The first two episodes of Marvel’s Hawkeye premiere on Disney Plus on Wednesday, November 24th

The post 10 Things From the Comics We Want to See in Hawkeye appeared first on Goggler.

Extinction Parade tells the story of two vampire sisters in Malaysia and how they, and vampires in general, had to figure out how to deal with a zombie outbreak that was decimating humanity, and with it, their food source.

Laila and Min have a human manservant that has done everything for them, from doing their laundry, to doing their “laundry.” But what happens to this aristocratic class when all that is upended? When their very livelihoods and servants, who are technically one and the same, are no longer? What happens when this class of society suddenly have to not only fight for themselves, but fight for their future, that of their servants, and of their food?

In a very weird, and ultimately too short a series, Max Brooks has been able to not only tell a story about class divide, but also implanting the idea that sometimes the ones with the servants may end up being the ones enslaved by their own constructs.

The Goggler Pull List #30

When we released that review last week, we never, not in a million years, expected Max Brooks to read it. Sure, we occasionally tag creators on social media, but they almost never respond. Especially when something is 7 years old.

Max Brooks did.

Being the cheeky sods that we are, and never ones to give up a good opportunity when we see it, we asked him if he’d be up to answer a few questions about Extinction Parade. This, boys and girls, is a lesson in why you should always take your shot.

With that, here is our quick chat (that took place over a series of Twitter DMs) with author Max Brooks about his comic series Extinction Parade.

Extinction Parade: A Brief Interview With Writer Max Brooks

Goggler: Max, thank you for doing this. We just loved that you used Malaysia as a setting, and how accurate you were with all of it, from the identification cards, to the names of some of the smaller towns you used. There just isn’t enough good zombie/vampire fiction that’s set here, so we thank you for that. Why did you choose Malaysia? Was there any particular reason or familiarity with Malaysia, or was it just a random choice for a new location that wasn’t America or England?

Max Brooks: Why Malaysia? Many reasons. For starters, it was the scene of one of the most devastating and unnecessary disasters in military history: the fall of Singapore. The British might have held out so much longer against the Japanese (like Americans at Bataan) but they were so arrogant and stupid that they committed strategic suicide… like the Vampires in Extinction Parade.

Max Brooks: Like the British in World War 2, I wanted the Vampires to throw away the geographical advantage of the Malay Peninsula. This narrow choke point is one of the most defensible locations on Earth, so it’s up to the defenders to fail. I also needed a country to illustrate how bad the vampires were at dealing with change. Malaysia is perfect for that, a country that has advanced so far, so fast, that it makes our vampire’s head spin. When you add all these flavors up, you have a perfect setting for this story.

Goggler: As a Malaysian we knew that the arrogance of the British pulling away to Singapore during World War 2 was a strategic error, it just never occurred to us that they also gave away a massive strategic advantage. I love how you drew on that to parallel what the Vampires did in Extinction Parade.

Goggler: Will we ever get to see Extinction Parade: Endangered? It’s been 7 years since Extinction Parade: War and is the third part still happening at some point?

Max Brooks: I’d like to see a third instalment of Extinction Parade, but that’s up to Avatar Comics. I’m not sure why they didn’t move forward. Maybe they will some day. We’ll see.

Goggler: There was also talk about an Extinction Parade TV series, what can you tell us about where that is?

Max Brooks: There was a TV show in development, but we never got farther than a few meetings. When Thomas Tull sold Legendary Entertainment, a lot of projects got put on hold. Who knows if they will revisit Extinction Parade or if another company will take an interest in it. That’s the crazy thing about show business; projects, like zombies, are never truly dead.

Click here to read our full review of Max Brooks’ Extinction Parade series.

Click here to find out more about Max Brooks.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out the Extinction Parade series? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous instalments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List Special: Writer Max Brooks Responds appeared first on Goggler.

ZOMBIES, AND VAMPIRES, AND HUMANS? OH MY!

It was purely by chance that I stumbled on to Max Brooks’ (son of filmmaker Mel Brooks) comic series Extinction Parade and Extinction Parade: War. So imagine my surprise when, in 2014, I saw a comic book cover that I thought featured a vaguely familiar building in the background, and a Malaysian flag on a missile.

If the name Max Brooks is vaguely familiar, it’s because he had already written a couple of zombie books, one of which, World War Z, was turned into the globetrotting Brad Pitt zombie action film of the same name. (Take my word for it, the book was better.)

What I’m saying is, Max Brooks has a thing for zombies. And in the Extinction Parade series of comics, he and artist Raulo Cáceres take it a step further by introducing vampires. Of course there are humans too in this story but they very much are an incidental part of it. Because Extinction Parade is really the story about vampires and zombies, with humans caught right in the middle of it all. 

EXTINCTION PARADE (2013)

Extinction Parade tells the story of two vampire sisters, Laila and Min, who have found themselves in, of all places, Malaysia. They aren’t recent arrivals, but rather have been here since the beginning. The first series is made up of five issues and all throughout, Min, who is narrating the story, makes references to moments in Malaysian and Malayan history, the tin mining town of Kuala Lumpur, the Japanese occupation, Communists, and the 1969 race riots. They had seen it all.

But the arrival of the zombies, or the subdead as Min calls them, changes everything. From having to come up with elaborate kills, or feeding on society’s forgotten classes, the subdead outbreak had changed the game to allow the vampire sisters to kill openly, murdering police officers and military men, while the world around them descends into the zombie outbreak.

All is not as it may seem for Laila, Min, and the other vampires though. What at first appeared like a blessing, allowing them to murder and devour humans on sight, soon turns to a curse as they realize that the zombies are also killing their only food source. The first five issues ends with the vampires picking a side and declaring war on the subdead on behalf of the humans, something their kind would never have done in all their history.

EXTINCTION PARADE: WAR (2014)

Extinction Parade: War picks up soon after the events of the last issue, as the humans have moved further north to Penang island, with Laila and Min forming an unofficial first line of defense. This second series of books, also five issues long, deals with Laila and Min, as well as the rest of the vampires in Malaysia, coming to terms with their own limits. Having never been physically tested themselves, fighting the zombies, while also having very little to feed on, tests the sisters’ resolve and abilities. 

Throughout this second series, the idea of these vampires as beings stuck in stasis is repeated over and over. Having not had to learn anything in their long lifetime, constantly having slaves and helpers around to either show them how to do things, or to do it for them, have left the sisters, and vampires at large, as grown up children. Other vampires try and form a military force, and to make a concerted effort to fight the subdead, but are left powerless and immobile as they argue the philosophies of war, instead of actually fighting it.

The vampires begin to show themselves as being academically superior, but action inferior. As the second series ends, Laila and Min have left the makeshift vampire military force and made their way back to where it all started for them, where they grew up. And unfortunately, that may be the end of it.

EXTINCTION PARADE: ENDANGERED (???)

Despite it being teased at the very last panel of the very last page, the third series of comics in the Extinction Parade series doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. Seven years after the last issue of Extinction Parade: War, there has been no news on any new issues. I did come across a 2014 report that the comic book had been picked up to be developed as a TV series, but there has unfortunately been no update on that front in the seven years since.

IN THE END

Extinction Parade is not for young eyes. There is nudity. There is a lot of blood. And there is A LOT of gore. The sight of brains is a regular occurrence. As are human intestines. But the Extinction Parade series also does a lot of interesting things with the tried and tested tropes of vampires and zombies. Putting them both in the same story for one. And also not telling that story from the point of view of the humans who are caught right in the middle.

In an interview with Bloody Disgusting from 2013, Max Brooks talks about how he envisions the vampires in this series as the aristocratic class of Europe, with the humans as both food and slaves. Laila and Min have a human manservant that has done everything for them, from doing their laundry, to doing their “laundry.” But what happens to this aristocratic class when all that is upended? When their very livelihoods and servants, who are technically one and the same, are no longer? What happens when this class of society suddenly have to not only fight for themselves, but fight for their future, that of their servants, and of their food?

In a very weird, and ultimately too short a series, Max Brooks has been able to not only tell a story about class divide, but also implanting the idea that sometimes the ones with the servants may end up being the ones enslaved by their own constructs.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out the Extinction Parade series? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

For another comic book with a Malaysian connection, check out our review of Gun Honey here.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List #30: Extinction Parade and Extinction Parade: War appeared first on Goggler.

Check it out…

Batman: Reptilian (Garth Ennis and Liam Sharpe)

I was all in on Batman: Reptilian from the very first encounter. It takes place outside the Gotham courthouse where yet another crime boss, Edgar Licchario, has been let off the hook. His lawyer is gloating to the press, telling them about how his client’s name das been tarnished, and how he’s thinking about suing the city for defamation, when Batman shows up. He doesn’t swoop or swing. He doesn’t screech in on the Batmobile. He just walks up to Licchario and gets in his face. He calls him a coward, taunts him, and provokes him into violence before incapacitating him in front of everyone.

The first six pages of this comic immediately sets the tone for the comic book we’re getting. Gritty. Grimy. Grounded. Batman feels colder and more caustic than his in-continuity counterpart. And throughout this issue, Ennis reminds us of just how terrifying the Dark Knight is to the cowardly and superstitious criminals of Gotham.

The story of Batman: Reptilian can best be described as a horror mystery. It used to be that The Dark Knight was the one stalking in the shadows and striking fear into the hearts of bad guys, but something far more frightening has found its way onto the streets of Gotham. Someone is carving up the city’s criminal underground, savagely mutilating Batman’s most ruthless enemies, and leaving them for dead.

This is a street level Batman story. One that is grounded in his persona as the world’s greatest detective but with an element of fear and off-beat weirdness that makes it stand out as one of the most unique Batman titles to come out of DC in a while.

I’ve complained before about DC relentlessly churning out one Bat story after the other in what feels like a shameless cash grab. I get that he is their most popular and bestselling character, but sometimes too much is just… well… too much. That said, if they continue to tell stories like Batman: Reptilian, in this way, with this kind of talent on display, then by all means bring it on.

Garth Ennis’ understanding of Batman in this series feels so utterly complete. The dialogue is clipped. Criminals are scum. His banter with Alfred is terse. This is a Batman who uses his words and his fists in equal measure, who, in true Sherlockian fashion, uses both his mind and body in service of his vocation.

There is plenty of prose here, but nothing ever feels slow or drawn out. Ennis is an absolute master at pacing and action (see: The Boys!), striking that perfect balance between message and madness. There is real nuance to the way he writes the character. There is a distinction between the humanity we see in his conversations with Alfred, and the unhinged vigilante he portrays when he’s threatening a thug by hanging him off the side of a building.

The real hero here, however, is Liam Sharpe. His art, psychedelic and uneasy, is more than just a sight to behold, it also creates the perfect atmosphere of fear and anxiety that the story demands. Batman has never felt more intimidating. Gotham City has never looked quite as majestic or as haunting. Think Dave McKean meets Bill Sienkiewicz, but with enough of Sharpe’s own expressive eye thrown in for good measure.

It’s been a while since I’ve read something that was this tonally harmonious. The prose and the art are perfectly in sync creating a truly unique reading experience. Batman: Reptilian can best be described as a mood. The kind that DC’s Black Label imprint was made for.

Wonder Girl (Joëlle Jones)

Back in January 2021, DC did what DC tends to do every now and again, and throw up an “event.” DC Comics don’t call it a reboot, and it’s not, but it’s one of those things that are designed to try and hype up their comic book characters, and possibly introduce new ones to both new (and old) readers.

Overall, the Future State “event” felt like a money grab that went nowhere. Clark Kent has gone off world, Bruce Wayne is presumed dead, and Diana Prince has a meeting with The Spectre about her future. The introductions of Luke Fox (son of Lucius) as the new Batman, a new Aquawoman, Superman (Jon Kent, son of Clark), didn’t really feel like the big set up that DC had wanted them to be.

Once in a while, however, these comic book events accidentally kick up a good one. And for Future State, that “good one,” was Yara Flor. Future State: Wonder Woman is not a Diana Prince Wonder Woman comic (that was Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman) but rather the introduction of a (potentially) new Wonder Woman in Yara Flor. 

The purpose of DC’s Future State was to show a “possible future” for some of DC’s biggest heroes, and in Future State: Wonder Woman, we’re thrown right into the deep end with a new hero and a new mission. How we got there, however, is explored in issue one of this new comic, Wonder Girl, released in July 2021.

Wonder Girl begins where all stories start, at the beginning. We meet Yara Flor, a young woman who is making her way back to Brazil, where she was born, for the first time. She is immediately pulled into the deep end (read issue one and you’ll know what I mean) and has an encounter with her namesake Iara, then Eros. Because there’s more to Yara Flor than meets the eye.

There is also a secondary story in the pages of Wonder Girl. Yara’s arrival in Brazil has set in motion gears outside her control as the mystical lands of Themyscira, Mount Olympus, and Bana-Mighdall all send envoys to intercept Yara and stop her from meeting her ultimate fate. Wonder Woman is not a character that I have read a lot of. But there was something about Yara Flor that attracted me to this book. Maybe it was the idea of a South American potentially taking over the mantle of one of DC’s big three. Maybe it was Joëlle Jones’ beautiful art (she’s also the writer). Or maybe it was just the idea that here is a character that didn’t come with 80 years of backstory that I could get into.

DC have recently introduced several new characters that have really clicked with their readers. Jo Mullein, the newest addition to the Green Lantern Corps had her own 12 issue run in the comic Far Sector. Brian Michael Bendis’ Naomi has not only blown up, she is now a member of the newly reformed Young Justice after a successful 6 issue run in her own comic. Naomi is also the latest addition to the CW DC TV-verse with her very own series being developed by award winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

Now for my money, Yara Flor’s Wonder Girl series is the next big title to watch out for. Three issues in and we’ve already been given a multitude of mysteries to go on. Who is Yara Flor? How did she end up in Hell in the Future State comics? Why do Queen Nubia of Themyscira, Hera of Mount Olympus, and Queen Faruka and Artemis of Bana-Mighdall want to stop her?

Needless to say, it’s been three issues and I am totally hooked.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out Batman: Reptilian and Wonder Girl? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

The post The Goggler Pull List #29: Batman: Reptilian and Wonder Girl appeared first on Goggler.

Check it out…

We Have Demons (Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo)

Anyone who has read their 2011 run on Batman – one of the few bright spots in DC’s misguided New 52 reboot – can attest to the fact the Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo make for a legendary team. The pair that gave us The Court of Owls, Death of the Family, and Dark Nights areback for their first creator-owned collaboration with Comixology and it’s an absolute blast.

We Have Demons opens with quite the hook. Our protagonist, Lam, is telling us about a couple that she’s meeting with. She refers to this couple, the Spoons, as “Godfolk.” And you’ve met their kind. Intensely altruistic. Motivated by faith and faith alone. They’re the kind of people who seem hell bent (pun intended) on being nice, and helpful, and agreeable all the goddamned time. The page ends with Lam saying: “In three weeks, they’re supposed to have triplets. I’m supposed to be the godmother to the babies. But the thing is, one minute from now, I’m going to murder the spoons with this hatchet.”

You see what I mean. It really is quite the hook.

After that, Snyder and Capullo jump backward forward in time, through nested flashbacks and multiple points of view, in order to set up a thrilling new creation myth about who we are and how we came to be. What begins as a story about a father and daughter, and the secrets they keep, very quickly develops into a complete reinvention of the idea behind angels, demons, and their confluence with humanity.

We Have Demons is also a story about faith. Faith in a higher power. Faith in our family and friends. Faith that everything happens for a reason. Faith that this world we live in, in all of its insanity, can somehow be explained. 

The thing I find most exciting about where Snyder seems to be taking this story is in the distinction he draws between religion, and faith, the myths we construct, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to navigate our world. There is power that manifests when large masses of people, good and bad, focus their energies on a belief system. And Snyder exploits that truth and uses it here to great effect. (I particularly like the idea of weapons that are powered by faith.)

Snyder can be a bit wordy, but I don’t mind that when the words are this good. Capullo’s art is as wonderful as ever, using the broadest assortment of lenses to ensure that we feel everything that is happening on the page. 

I don’t think of myself as being particularly religious, but I’ve always been a sucker for stories that stem from sacred texts. There is that foundation of good versus evil in every one, plus just the right amount of fantasy, that lends itself for a good adventure.

We Have Demons is a book that is just brimming with great ideas, and if this first issue is anything to go by, then I think we’re in for quite the ride.

Green Lantern: Earth One, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko)

There’s certainly a level of freedom when thinking of recreating an established character’s origin story. Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Earth, was created 62 years ago this month, and in that time, his beginnings have been well established. A test pilot who stumbles upon a crashed alien who bestows upon him a green ring of power, Hal becomes the newest member of an intergalactic policing force known as the Green Lantern Corps. 

But what if you could reimagine the beginnings of that story? What would you do differently? In 2009, DC announced its Earth One series to launch a new origin story for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Teen Titans, and finally, in 2018, Green Lantern.

Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko’s new story imagines Jordan (now Harold instead of Hal) in the not too distant future as a part of a space mining operation when he stumbles on the deceased body of an alien (although not named, it is still Abin Sur), and a green ring of power. Over the course of the first volume of Green Lantern: Earth One, we follow Jordan as he finds out there is more to the universe than humans and slowly pieces together the story of the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians of Oa, and the power the ring possesses. Hardman and Bechko’s story feels smaller and more focused, without ever giving up the scale of the universe. The characters Jordan meets are all familiar to the original Green Lantern comic books – just slightly askew. Kilowog, Arisia Rrab, and Sinestro, all make an appearance, but the story really focuses on Jordan.

The second volume of the Green Lantern: Earth One series was released two years later and expands the story further into the Green Lantern universe. The last remaining Guardian of Oa has built himself a new team of ring wielders in the Yellow Corp, and through his machinations, has created a new threat to Earth, and the universe of alien races that Earth is trying to be a part of.

Much like the first volume, this second part takes the story further, while keeping all of its moving pieces intact. Sinestro and Jordan are still on opposite sides of the philosophical divide on what it means to be a Lantern. The race of Guardians still want to stop all wars and strife in the universe and think a protector force is the way to do it. It’s all still there, just one dimension off.

These Earth One retellings are not a vital addition to the comic book character. As a fan of Superman, or Batman, or Wonder Woman, you don’t need to read them. They are, however, an interesting new take if you are a fan of the characters. We all have our favourite comic book character and Hal Jordan is definitely mine. Reading the Earth One won’t change your favourites, but what it does is give you a new perspective, and a new story. And speaking as a superfan of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, reading about Harold was a nice change.

We get our comics either from our local comic book store, The Last Comic Shop, or on Comixology. Are you interested in checking out We Have Demons and Green Lantern: Earth One? Have you already read these comics? Let us know by getting in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out our previous installments of The Goggler Pull List here.

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