Shadowland (Review)

Writer: Andy Diggle

Artist: Billy Tan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Collects: Shadowland #1-5; X-Men: Curse of the Mutants Spotlight

As I understand it, Shadowland was conceived as a street-level equivalent to big, cosmic, universe-threatening comic book Events, and was born out of Andy Diggle's run on Daredevil in which the Man Without Fear became the leader of the Hand, an ancient alliance of powerful ninja. Daredevil thought he could turn the Hand towards good, but things didn't quite turn out that way.

I'm not entirely sure if the "mini-Event" label is accurate. On the one hand, Shadowland did not have the same "everything must change!" impact that most Big Events have. On the other, it was nice just to read a good story for the sake of reading a good story. On the third hand, while many may decry the unrealistic plot points -- the Hand buys Hell's Kitchen and turns it into a fortress, complete with dungeon -- this is proportionally equal to the much grander scale plots found in regular Events.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Villains United (Classic Review)

Originally released in 2005.

Writer: Gail Simone

Artists: Dale Eaglesham and Val Semeiks

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Villains United #1-6

Back during DC's Event story Infinite Crisis they released four tie-ins that added extra backstory or angles to the overall plot. Villains United explored the formation of Lex Luthor's "Secret Society" and their "scrappy underdog" counterparts (and adversaries), the Secret Six.

The anti-villain characters of Scandal, Deadshot, Catman, Ragdoll, Cheshire and Parademon would prove to be so popular a team dynamic that, with a few minor changes to the ever-fluctuating roster, they eventually got their own ongoing series out of it.

But Villains United is where it all started. With the Secret Society recruiting pretty much every supervillain in the DC Universe into its ranks, the Six were formed by the mysterious Mockingbird to uncover the Society's true purpose. Six villains who were either too insignificant or too proud to join the Society, but were swiftly transformed into some of the most intriguing characters in the DC pantheon.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Blackest Night (Classic Review)

Originally released earlier this year. I wrote this review for a different site when the trade came out and thought I'd repost it here.

Writer: Geoff Johns

Artist: Ivan Reis

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Blackest Night #0-8; Blackest Night Director's Cut #1

DC's big Event story for this year comes out of Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern. The dead are rising in the form of the Black Lanterns, and they are out to terrorise the living.

Like Larfleeze with his Power Battery, I could not put this book down. First of all, its visuals grab your attention and refuse to let go. I've never really been one for Ivan Reis' art – I don't hate it, it just never clicked with me – but Blackest Night completely won me over. Every single one of the eighty zillion characters that appears in this is stunning, with Reis capturing their beauty and/or power each time, whether they be in the back- or foreground.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!