Review: Forever Evil #1

It's finally time for the New 52's first Universe-Wide event, Forever Evil, but was the first issue worth all the hype? Check out my review of Forever Evil #1 below! But a bit of a warning here, there will be spoilers for the series below...

 

 

 

 

I have to say, just before I start the main review, I'm a little bit confused as to why DC Comics had trailer Trinity War for so long as their next massive event, when it was simply a set-up event for Forever Evil, and they couldn't have just focused on the current event that I'm talking about here, but I won't let that get in the way of what I thought about this issue...

 

Anyway, I did really enjoy this issue, which is an odd thing to say considering it's very bad for the heroes of the DC Universe, but still, a great issue, and the Crime Syndicate seem like a really interesting group of villains for the series.

I always love reading how Geoff Johns' starts these big event comics, this one begins with a rather sinister business deal being made by Lex Luthor, and it really shows you how evil and self-obsessed he is as a character, that he's perfectly happy to threaten and ruin people's lives just to expand on his empire. I think this scene is deliberately used as an example of how vile a character Luthor is, since we know this series will feature him leading a group of his fellow villains to attempt to save the planet, and I think what Johns wanted to do was demonstrate how desperate the people of Earth are that somebody this evil will have to save them, and the scene is a clever way to show this.

 

I think the method that the Secret Society use to broadcast their message to the world is interesting, and provides a good way to show reactions from characters all around the world, but I do think it's a bit too similar to the how General Zod spoke to the people of Earth, both ways including taking over every device that with a screen or a speaker, such as a phone, an earpiece, televisions...

 

Now, I think the most important part of this issue is what happens to Nightwing, and while I won't spoil what actually happened in this post, I can say that it's massive for the character, and a major change in the status quo, I hope it has an immediate effect on his solo series, which would make Forever Evil really feel like a major event. I am glad this was put in the first issue of the series, because I'm not too keen on events that take months to have a major happening, or a shocking moment, I feel like this kicks off the story well ( obviously not for Dick Grayson, though... ).

 

One problem I do have with the issue though is how annoying Power Ring is, I feel like Johns is forcing the concept that he's the opposite of Green Lantern because he's so cowardly and afraid on us, and it got a bit tedious for me...

 

Now onto the art, and I really can't seem to find any problems with the art at all; I've looked over the issue several times now and there's no fault that springs to mind with it, David Finch's pencils work brilliantly with Richard Friend's inks and Sonia Oback's colours.

 

My favourite sections of the art throughout the entire issue were the four page fold out, showing what I'm almost certain is around one-hundred DC Universe villains ( with three from the Teen Titans animated series, which made me really happy ), and the final page, featuring Lex Luthor, which sums up how lost the world seems at this point, Finch along with Friend and Oback, is a great fit for this series.

 

In conclusion, I think this was a brilliant issue, and it shows you just how powerful the villains are, reading the ways that make the Secret Society the opposites of the Justice League was really interesting. Great writing,  great art, my only real complaint is that I got a little bit bored of Power Ring, apart from that, I really enjoyed it. I definitely suggest picking up this series, a major event for the DC Universe, and a must read for all DC fans.

 

Rating: 9/10

 

 

First look at Villains Month issues for The Riddler, The Court of Owls, Reverse-Flash, Lobo and more...

Just as they did last week, DC comics have been teasing September's Villains Month issues. In which the biggest villains of the DC Universe take the spotlight from the usual heroes for every book that month.

Below are the preview pages for ( in order ) Black Manta, Braniac, General Zod, Harley Quinn, Killer Frost, Mongul, Mr. Freeze, The Reverse-Flash, The Riddler, Solomon Grundy, The Court of Owls and Trigon.

( Source: DC Comics)

MAJOR MAN OF STEEL SPOILERS: Looking back on my Man of Steel predictions: The Right and The Wrong

 

Warning: There are HUGE spoilers for Man of Steel in this post, if you haven't seen the film yet, see it and then read this once you have.

I can't tell you enough how bad an idea it would be to spoil this film for yourself.

Final warning: Major Spoilers.

Review: Man of Steel

Warning: There are Minor Spoilers for the film below, nothing huge that will ruin the film for you, but if you want to go into the movie completely spoiler-free, come back to this once you've seen it.


Best Superman movie of all time. Quite a bold statement to begin a review with, I know, but I thought I'd get to the point. I honestly feel like that statement is true. To be honest, and I'll go straight in and say it, I feel like this is the greatest comic book movie In recent history. Into more specifics, I guess:

This film does in the first three minutes what a lot of films only do around an hour into them, it jumps almost immediately into the action and into the main theme of the soundtrack. It won't be much of a surprise to you that the movie begins on Superman's home planet: Krypton, but this is a very different Krypton from what we've seen in the previous films. This incarnation of Superman's father, Jor-El, is also quite a big departure from the usual scientist, he gets quite a lot of action revolving around him in the first scenes of the film, and as unexpected as that was from a character who you hardly ever see fighting, even in the comics, it was probably one of my favourite scenes of the film. Also, the action scenes on Krypton are really breath-taking, some of the best cinematics I've ever seen in a film.

After the first twenty minutes or so, the film does tone down the action a little bit, this felt like quite a drastic change for me, but the scenes in that section of the film were enjoyable nonetheless. In fact, the Smallville scenes are some of the most interesting, it really shows a good insight of how it would be growing up on Earth, trying to be a normal child with all of these incredible abilities and the Kents' struggles to keep their adopted son's secret being revealed.

The film jumps back and forward between three phases of Clark Kent's life, his time as a child in Smallville, him in his late teens to early twenties and the current time. At first the changes were a little bit confusing, jumping from significant points in his life really quickly, but in time you get used to it and can really appreciate the method of storytelling used. In fact, one of the most moving scenes in the film takes place in one of these flashbacks, and it really strikes you right in the heart, I won't spoil it but I think you'll know which one I mean if you've seen the film and you'll definitely spot it when you see the film if you haven't already.

Every character in this film is played just right. Michael Shannon's Zod is the man willing to do anything to protect the Kryptonian race, Amy Adams' Lois Lane is the often overly reporter fascinated with Superman ( And I think I prefer Amy Adams' Lois Lane to the one appearing in the actual comics ), Kevin Costner's Jonathon Kent is the loving father who is willing to sacrifice anything to keep Clark Kent's secret safe, even if he's not his natural child, and pretty much every character in this film feels like the character they're based on, the reason I didn't include Henry Cavill's Superman in the list above is because I feel like he's just Superman, and the best portrayal of him away from the comic books I've seen.

See, one thing I've always wondered about Superman movies is: How do you make the final battle interesting? More than just another punch up. To me, the final fight in a Superman movie, or any movies like this, has to have some sort of personal impact on the protagonist. I feel like this film accomplished that, and I won't spoil it, but I feel like it made this huge, violent physical fight between Superman and General Zod moving in a way. The circumstance Superman is put in really brings out one of Superman's core themes that I think is often overshadowed by all of his powers, he's willing to sacrifice anything to save the lives of humans.

This film has some amazing cinematics, it really shocked me just how amazing it was. I saw the film in 3D and it really took my breath away, I watched the final thirty minutes of the film with my mouth open, I was just so taken a back by it.

Drawing to the end of the review now, I thought I'd mention that I sat through the entire credits of the film, and it wasn't to see if there was a post-credits scene, I needed time to think about the film, I was so amazed by what I'd just seen, I just sat and listened to the soundtrack as I thought what a brilliant movie it was. In fact, I saw this film with my Dad and my Sister, when we'd gotten out of the cinema, I didn't speak to them for around twenty minutes, I just couldn't speak, I couldn't walk properly, I know that sounds like I'm exaggerating but I'm honestly not. It was such a moving and epic film that I was literally speechless. No film has ever done that to me before, but they'd captured Superman so perfectly and shown just how brilliant he can be that it was overwhelming.

The final main point I'll mention is one that I only realised the morning after seeing the film: I wanted Superman to win. I know this is a bit of an odd statement, but let me explain; When I watch superhero movies I always want to know what would happen if the Villain won. That's a side of the story that has always interested me, and I've always wanted to see that happen. But this was a different story all together, Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan, Henry Cavill and all of the other actors involved with the film had done such a great job with the Superman character and made me really care about him and his supporting cast that I really, truly wanted Superman to beat Zod, to win the battle and save the Earth, this is the first film that has made me truly want to see the protagonist win for a while, and I was very impressed.

Overall, after way over a year of waiting and suspense, this film delivered. Not only that, but it exceeded my expectations and was so much better than I could have ever imagined. I don't feel like any film will stand up to this one for a long, long time. The greatest comic book movie in recent history, overtaking all of Marvel's franchises and even, in my opinion, the Dark Knight trilogy. This is a film that you'll want to see over and over again, as I do. The Last Son of Krypton is shining brighter than ever before! Thank you, Zack Snyder!

Rating: 10/10!

I was so tempted to give it eleven, but I know it doesn't really work that way, just know that this film is honestly amazing. The best I've seen pretty much since I was born. That's a huge statement to make, but I'm being honest. This film is Truly Unmissable.

Man Of Steel predictions

With the upcoming Superman movie, Man of Steel, released very soon I thought I'd go through some of my predictions for the film. Obviously, since these are all from my own head, no real spoilers for the film, but if you really want to stay completely Spoiler-free, you might want to skip this post, I am basing a lot of the points off of things I've seen in trailers. Basically, Possible Spoilers below.

What if Krypton wasn't destroyed?

This one is a big prediction, what if Superman's home planet, Krypton, isn't destroyed in the film? Okay, I do have some evidence to support this idea: At no point in any of the five or six trailers for this film that I've seen, do you see the destruction of Krypton. You see who are supposedly Zod's forces attacking, but would that be enough to blow up a planet? (Answer: Probably not). What I'm getting at here is, maybe Krypton wasn't destroyed, maybe it was overtaken by General Zod.

Think about it, Jor-El sends his son away to Earth so he's safe from the war on his home planet, Zod takes over and he travels to Earth because Superman escaped him. Notice Zod says that Earth is "sheltering one of his citizens", that would imply some sort of civilization to go back to, and there won't be much civilization to go back to if the planets been blown up.

This would definitely be a brave move for Zack Snyder to make, almost too brave to go ahead with it, but how else could Zod have a fully formed army with huge ships to travel in? He'd need some time to prepare.

Knee-El

At the beginning of the film we get a recap of the history of the Krypton in a Q & A style, young Kryptonians ask questions to their elders about the council's history. One small child asks about the Generals in the Kryptonian army, the answer "Before we had General Zod, we had the ancestor of the El family, Knee. To rephrase, we had Knee-El before Zod"

(I'm sorry but I had to build that in somehow)

The Daily Planet

We already know that a large chunk of this film takes place in the city of Metropolis, with a lot of scenes focused on the Daily Planet considering having Lois Lane, Perry White and more in the film. What we haven't seen though, is Clark Kent in the Daily Planet. This is was I think they'll use for the final scene of the movie, Clark Kent arriving in Metropolis and turning up at the Daily Planet.

Diamond Cream

It happened.

Remember that episode of Arrested Development where Tobias covered himself in a body-cream made of ground-up diamonds to follow his wife, Lindsy? What do you mean "No"? Okay, in your defence, I watched that one just the other day, but back to the point. There's an entire website set up by a shaving company dedicated to finding out how Superman shaves. I have it. What can cut Steel, I ask you? The answer, is Diamonds. If Superman were to get some of Tobias' diamond cream, he could apply it to his face and it could cut his beard. Okay, maybe I'm not the best scientist, but wouldn't that be amazing?

The death of Pa Kent

I'm not sure why I think this could happen, I just have a strong feeling that it will. It just feels like something that will happen to me, Pa Kent's death, to me, for some reason seems inevitable. My theory on why, is Zod uses this as a method of drawing Superman out so Zod can defeat him. I can't really remember an incarnation of the Superman story in which Jonathan Kent hasn't died, and it just seems obvious to me.

The destruction of General Fluffy

He's pretty angry, what other motive could he have?

Simple, Zod's annoyed because he's just lost his hamster. He travels to Earth to take out his anger on the only person he can punch without blowing them up, Kal-El. I don't need to mention much else about this idea, apart from how stunned I would be if this happened, which it won't, which I guess means it's not really a prediction, but that doesn't matter too much.

New Krypton

New Krypton was an amazing story by Sterling Gates, James Robinson and Geoff Johns a few years ago. Basically, the bottled city of Kandor's residents were released onto the Earth, they caused trouble, started their own planet on the opposite side of the Sun to the Earth and then, I'll be honest here, I haven't finished the story. It's only really the start that you need to know right now. Obviously, this plot won't happen in the movie, it's not big enough for that, but a set-up or quick reference could be likely. Just mentioning Kandor or showing the bottle city inside the Fortress of Solitude would be a good start for setting up that story possibly for a future sequel. Another idea, of course, is that that's where Zod's army came from, Zod took them out of the bottle city and trained them to take on Superman.

"We're putting a team together, DC style"

We all want it to happen, every comic book fan seeing this film wants to see a set-up for the Justice League. With Marvel's Avengers franchise booming at the moment, DC are apparently trying to set up a future Justice League movie. If DC do want to set up a connected universe, they need to start here, with this film. I'm not expecting to see another actual Justice League member at the end of the film, but I'm pretty certain there'll be some sort of big start for DC's major Superhero team.


Man of Steel is released on June 14th, directed by Zack Snyder, Produced by Christopher Nolan and Starring Henry Cavill as Superman ( Kal-El/ Clark Kent), Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Russell Crowe as Jor-El and more.

New Man of Steel trailer released, and it's pretty epic

With the countdown to Man of Steel coming to a close, you can expect a big increase in the amount of promo and trailers the film will be getting soon. Today, Nokia released their exclusive trailer for the new Superman film, and I have to say, I'm impressed.

I feel like the music doesn't quite fit the footage in time, but it's an awesome trailer none the less.

I'll be seeing Man of Steel in iMax the day it's released. Then I'll probably watch it again, then again, and again, and again and I think you get the picture. Basically, it's going to be good!

Man of Steel is released on the 14th of June 2013, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill as Superman (Or Clark Kent/ Kal-El), Michael Shannon as General Zod, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Russell Crowe as Jor-El and many more.

DC Comics' "Action Comics" solicits for September 2013, Villains Month

Below are the September 2013 solicits for DC Comics' Action Comics title. Every New 52 book in September will be taken over by one of it's villains, sometimes more than once with multiple issues of the series coming out in the same month. Check out the rest of the post to see what's going on in Action Comics for Villain's Month!

Action Comics #23.1: Cyborg Superman

Written by Michael Alan Nelson

Art by Mike Hawthorne

3-D motion cover by Aaron Kuder

On sale September 4 - 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US - RATED T

Deep in space sits a cybernetic force of evil unlike any other. What terrible connection does Cyborg Superman share with Krypton? And what alien force commands the robotic terror? Find out here!

Action Comics #23.2: General Zod

Written by Greg Pak

Art by Ken Lashley

3-D motion cover by Gene Ha

On sale September 11 - 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US - RATED T

General Zod storms into The New 52! Witness the origin of this genocidal maniac, and learn how far he will go to destroy those who oppose him!

Action Comics #23.3: Lex Luthor

Written by Charles Soule

Art by Raymund Bermudez

3-D motion cover by Aaron Kuder

On sale September 18 - 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US - RATED T

Evil genius, sadistic businessman, sociopathic inmate -- Lex Luthor is all this and more. Now released from prison, there is nothing to stop Luthor from getting his way ... not even Superman!

Action Comics #23.4: Metallo

Written by Sholly Fisch

Art by Will Conrad

3-D motion cover by Aaron Kuder

On sale September 25 - 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US - RATED T

Before he became Metal-Zero, John Corben had two great loves: his country and Lois Lane. Awakening from a coma after the events of Action Comics #8, Corben finds himself betrayed by both -- and now his Kryptonite heart beats only for revenge! And when he joins up with the Secret Society, there's no limit to the destruction he can cause!

(Source: Zap2It )