DWD's Reviews

Originally published in 2019. Witchy started out as a highly acclaimed webcomic that has since been printed as a graphic novel on high quality paper.  Witchy is set in a world where magic exists and the length on a person's hair determines the power of the magic user. The kingdom of Hyalin uses magic users to enforce its regime. They train young users in an academy with the goal of providing magic users as soldiers in the elite Witch Guard. The Witch Guard fights external enemies and tamps down internal dissent with brutal, often lethal force. The graphic novel has a lot of positive things: -The drawings are clean, crisp, and very clear. The art is great. -The characters all easy to differentiate from one another (sometimes artists makes a lot of characters that look alike). -There are several great characters, especially the raven familiar. But, there are negative things as well: -The ground rules of the universe are not explained well. This graphic novel deserved an written in...

Published in 2024 by Seven Stories Press. The 2008 Financial Crisis and the Great Recession that followed led to a myriad number of local problems all over the United States. In some places, major projects slowed or stopped. In others, manufacturing came almost to a halt. In others, there were so many subprime mortgages issued in that area that the housing market practically collapsed. Detroit is famously home to tons of auto-related factories and they all slowed dramatically. It was so bad during the Great Recession that the American auto industry had to be bailed out by the federal government. Those job losses left the Detroit economy in a shambles. On top of that, Detroit was one of the places with simply too many subprime mortgages. It wouldn't have been a problem if Detroit's economy didn't have any hiccups. The problem is that the Great Recession was much, much more than a hiccup - it was like a financial bomb went off in the city. This graphic novel details the finan...

Written by Charles Soule Art by Tony S. Daniel Published in 2015 by DC Comics Synopsis Superman has fought and defeated Doomsday, but during the fight he was infected with a Doomsday virus of some sort that is slowly merging into his genetic code and changing him into Doomsday. Superman can hold it off simply by will and the sheer strength of being Superman, but Earth-based planetary defenses have released Kryptonite into the air around the world to drive the Superman/Doomsday hybrid away. Good enough, except that Brainiac has unleashed an attack on Earth and the Justice League really needs Superman's help... My Review This graphic novel was confusing and unnecessarily complicated. It seemed like it was an attempt to bring every possible character into the story and it was missing a key component - the fight with Doomsday. The reason for that is simple - the story of that fight is not included in the Superman / Wonder Woman series. It is actually in a stand-alone volume called Supe...

Published in 2014 by DC Comics. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Tony S. Daniel Synopsis In the New 52 reboot of the DC universes we have a world where Superman and Wonder Woman are secretly dating. They are working through their relationship, dealing with cultural differences, a massive age difference, and the fact that a lot of her Greek god family basically hates him because he is a commoner, despite his extraordinary powers. As part of larger plot to escape from the Phantom Zone, General Zod released Doomsday. Doomsday, you may remember, is the creature that killed Superman in the "Death of Superman" series back in 1992.  This is one of  the first appearances of Doomsday in the New 52 reboot and he is as fearsome as ever.  Meanwhile, Clark Kent's partner in an online publishing venture (Cat Grant) publishes an exclusive video that she received from an anonymous source. It shows Superman and Wonder Woman making out and suddenly they are the "it" couple around...

Published in 2023 by DC Comics. Written by Gerry Duggan Art by Matteo Scalera and Deron Bennett. Synopsis Inspired by the "spirit of Christmas," Batman, Robin, and Alfred discuss the possibility that a hardened criminal can actually reform. Batman and Robin decide to reach out to Mr. Freeze and offer to fund his research.  Mr. Freeze has always justifies his crime sprees with the rationalization that he needs the things he steals for his research. He put his wife in a frozen stasis in order to stop the progression of a fatal disease and the research to fight this disease is incredibly expensive and sometimes requires exotic materials.  Now, Batman has provided everything Mr. Freeze needs in an old LexCorp lab. T heoretically, this should put an end to Mr. Freeze's criminal career, right? It turns out that Mr. Freeze is far more complicated and far more creepy than anyone knew... My Review I read all of the graphic novels in the One Bad Day Series this summer and I think ...

Published in 2022 by DC Comics. Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Wilfredo Torres and Jordie Bellaire. Synopsis Superman '78 is a short series (sadly) based on the Christopher Reeves movies that were released from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. Like the movies, the plot is pretty simple and everything follows a very traditional Superman storyline - red shorts, sassy Lois Lane, bald Lex Luthor, and so on. That's fine by me - I really like traditional Superman. Brainiac saves the city of Superman's Kryptonian home from ultimate destruction when Krypton explodes by shrinking them and storing them safely on his ship in a glass jar. He keeps them stored away because they are the remnants of "a careless, dangerous civilization." When Brainiac discovers that Earth has a Kryptonian (Superman), he seeks to save Earth by eradicating Superman because he is an infestation of an alien civilization that has already destroyed their own world. Kryptonians are dangerous a...

Published in 2018 by Seven Stories Press. Written by Noam Chomsky and Jeffrey Wilson. Art by Eliseu Gouveia. Jeffrey Wilson interviewed Noam Chomsky for The Instinct for Cooperation and the results probably would have been a typical interview with Chomsky. The interview was about the Occupy Wall Street Movement and the little groups that organically formed within the protests, such as the food tent, the medical tent, and the library.  Wilson wove in interviews that he had done with people who participated in the Occupy Movement, students and teachers who had bad interactions with education "reform" movements, and other topics like student loan debt.  This could have easily been a mess, but Wilson does a very good job of weaving together all of the interviews so that it felt more like a natural free-flowing conversation. The illustrations helped move everything along to make this very digestible. There is a lot of food for thought. Well done. 5 out of 5 stars. This graphic no...

Published by DC Comics in 2023. Written by Collin Keely and Jackson Lanzing. Art by Xermánico and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. Synopsis Clayface has moved away from Gotham City and has gone to Hollywood to be a movie star. The original Clayface character from 1940 comic where he premiered was a B movie actor named Basil Karlo. Basil Karlo is working as a waiter in Batman - One Bad Day: Clayface while trying to make it big in Hollywood. He's diligent about everything, but he does not have a light comic touch that is called for in romantic comedies. His roommate does, however. When they both read for the same part it becomes a problem when the roommate gets the part and Basil Karlo doesn't. Being Clayface means you can make yourself look like anyone - at least for a little while. Clayface kills the roommate and then assumes his shape so he can get his big Hollywood break. And then one murder leads to another. And another. And another. And another and so on. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is in t...

Published in 2023 by DC Comics Written by Tom Taylor Art by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, and Brad Anderson Synopsis The One Bad Day series looks at individual top level Batman villains (If you are a fan of Bootface, sorry) and gives them a comic that focuses on just that villain.  In Batman - One Bad Day: Ra's al Ghul we encounter a newly brought back to life Ra's al Ghul. He looks at the current state of the world - a world with just a few corporate oligarchs controlling the media, manufacturing, shipping, etc. and decides to take action.  When Batman notices the odd string of deaths Bruce Wayne's corporate peers, he decides to start investigating (the "World's Greatest Detective" actually does some detecting!). Ra's al Ghul lashes out to deter the investigation, and he goes after what Batman values most... My Review As I write this review, I want to be clear that I am not a fan of the Ra's al Ghul character, but his goals in this graphic novel made for a...

Published by Licensed Publishing in 2019. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Guiseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, Terry Pallot, David Curiel, Dono Sanchez-Almara, and Erick Arciniega. Synopsis This series tells the story of the completion of the training that turned Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. The Emperor is, at best, an emotionally and physically abusive teacher. In Fortress Vader , Darth Vader is granted a planet to use as a home base to complete his studies and perhaps learn how to bring his beloved Padme back from the dead. But, he needs a temple to focus the power of the force and a relic from the Emperor promises to provide what he needs... My Review Soule really likes this relic. It also appears in his Lando comic where it is much creepier. In this comic the relic picks up a comic quality that I don't think was intended. The construction and reconstruction of this temple was not at all interesting to me. This collection was the worst of the series. I rate this graphi...

Published by D.C. Comics in 2023. Written by Joshua Williamson Art by Howard Porter and Tomeu Morey Synopsis The One Bad Day series looks at individual top level Batman villains (If you are a fan of Johnny Karaoke, sorry) and gives them a comic that focuses on just that villain.  In Batman - One Bad Day: Bane we find Bane working as a professional wrestler in Mexico where he reenacts the moment where be broke Batman's back in match after match to the cheers of adoring crowds. Bane has wealth and fame, but he is broken inside. This graphic novel is the story that explains that brokenness... My Review Up until the halfway point of this graphic novel, I was sure that this edition of the One Bad Day tales was a dud. It was initially very confusing and the drawings seemed to be all overdone muscles, veiny arms, and monstrous faces. The moment that changed the book was a moment of great sacrifice. It changes the arc of Bane's life and makes this a surprisingly hopeful (and grisly...

Published in 2023 by DC Comics. Written by Mariko Tamaki. Art by Javier Fernandez and Jordie Bellaire. Synopsis The One Bad Day series looks at individual top level Batman villains (If you are a fan of Polka-Dot Man, sorry) and gives them a comic that focuses on just that villain.  Batman - One Bad Day: Two-Face begins with a flashback of a hostage situation on the roof of a tall building. One of the cops on duty down below is Patrolman Christopher Nakano. Flash forward to the present day, for some inexplicable reason, Mayor Christopher Nakano offers Two-Face the chance to resume his job as the District Attorney of Gotham City. Batman goes along and is determined to reform Two-Face so he can just be Harvey Dent Why? Why? Why? Is Two-Face the only attorney in the city? So, things go really well and Two-Face retires a hero. Yeah right. My Review If you can get past the weirdness of responsible adults offering a violent felon with serious mental health issues an important job like D...

Written by Tom King. Art by Mitch Gerads. Published in 2023 by DC Comics 2023 Eisner Winner - Best Single Issue/One-Shot 2023 Eisner Nominee - Best Limited Series 2023 Eisner Nominee - Best Writer, Tom King 2024 Libby Award Nominee for Best Comic/Graphic Novel Synopsis The One Bad Day series looks at individual top level Batman villains (If you are a fan of Condiment King, sorry) and gives them a comic that focuses on just that villain.  Batman - One Bad Day: The Riddler begins with The Riddler in jail. He is ruminating over his abusive childhood and the reader gets to see his first steps into the world of crime. All of that ruminating has made The Riddler change his game plan when it comes to being a criminal... My Review The flashback scenes were extremely good, but the current day scenes were full of literally unbelievable things. *****Spoilers***** There are multiple things that just made me roll my eyes. Things that just don't make sense, even in a comic book world. 1) The s...

Written by Tom Taylor. Art by Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, and Guru eFX. Published in 2019. Issued during the build up to to the theater release Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker , Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Villains offers four separate stories about four different villains featured in the sequel trilogy.  The four villains are Captain Phasma, General Hux, Snoke, and Kylo Ren. Each story tells is set before Episode VIII and demonstrates the true nature of each of them. Since these are all villains, there are lots of instances of betrayal and backstabbing.  The art work was great, but the stories do not do anything to really illuminate the characters. Three of them involve fighting on some planet of the edges of the Empire when things go bad and the villains commit villainy to survive to be villainous on another day. Following each story there is an essay about the character. It includes comments from the actors that play these characters in the movies. I rate...

Written by G. Willow Wilson Art by Jamie McKelvie Synopsis The One Bad Day series is a look at some of the biggest Batman villains in a book just dedicated to that villain. A lot of them, but certainly not all of them, take a sympathetic look at that villain. Batman - One Bad Day: Catwoman is one of the more sympathetic takes.  Catwoman is looking through an auction catalog for high end jewelry when she finds an unusual listing for a piece of post-World War II French jewelry that commemorates the end of Nazi occupation. It is a rare piece with a message of a return to freedom for France's artists its reserve price is $30,000. It is also a piece her mother sold to a pawn shop for only $200 when Catwoman was a child in order to attempt to make her rent money that month. Catwoman decides to take back the jewelry and right a wrong... My Review This one was interesting because the stakes, in reality, are really pretty low - a piece of jewelry that is worth thousands instead of millions...

Published in 2016 by Marvel Enterprises. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts. Synopsis Lando Calrissian is in financial trouble - he has debts and he is working them off by pulling off "jobs" for the people he owes money to. He makes a deal to pull off one big heist for Papa Toren in exchange for all of his debt being cleared and the possibility of making of making a lot of profit for himself. Lando and his sidekick Lobot (see picture below) build a team and pull off the heist - stealing a space yacht from an imperial shipyard. Everything looks great until they find a Sith artifact onboard and realize that they've just stolen the Emperor's yacht! My review This is the fifth Star Wars graphic novel that I've read written by Charles Soule, and it was the weakest of the bunch. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great like the others. The plot had a lot of zip at first but moved from a heist story to a horror story and it slowed down so...

Published by DC Comics in 2024. Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Gavin Guidry and Jordan Bellaire. Synopsis These are the further adventures of the Christopher Reeve Superman from the movie series that ran from the late 1970s into the 1980s. It has the feel of those movies in the simple and clear art style and the look of many of those characters. Interestingly, Superman looks nothing like Reeves and Clark Kent only looks like him from time to time. The plot of Superman '78: The Metal Curtain is pretty simple. The Soviet Union has created a super soldier suit powered by a giant hunk if Kryptonite. The suit is pretty much an Iron Man suit (I know, wrong publisher) with the added benefit that it's fuel weakens the Man of Steel. The Soviet Union is fearful of Superman. They perceive him as a weapon of the United States (because the events of Superman IV haven't happened yet) and plan to use the suit to defeat Superman and America... My Review I really liked the clean art st...

Published by DC Comics in 2023. Story by John Ridley. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, and Arif Prianto. Synopsis Batman - One Bad Day: Penguin finds the hero (!) of the story, Batman's infamous foe Penguin, completely down and out. He has $20 and is sitting on a park bench in the rain. He is taped and bandaged up from a beating. He is unshaven and disheveled. He is waiting for a is waiting to meet a young person to sell him a gun. He has been pushed out of his role of crime boss of Gotham by a former subordinate. He plans to go into the city and take back his organization - but all he has is one little snub-nosed pistol, one bullet, and no friends. Turns out he didn't really need to pistol or the bullet - it's your friends that count. My Review I truly liked this comic. The way the story went surprised me and I really enjoyed it. Penguin can be a surprisingly sympathetic figure for a super-villain. His origin story isn't the roughest, but just about everyone has ...

  Originally published in 2001 by NBM Books. Ted Rall's graphic novel 2024 is a loose re-telling of George Orwell's classic novel 1984 . It feels like a healthy dose of Huxley's Brave New World has been thrown in as well.  This is an alienating tale - it is hard to find any character with any redeeming qualities at any point. It is hard to really understand their society and how it works - until you realize that Ted Rall was actually quite the prophet. In this world, the economy is controlled by massive corporate conglomerates that control the government as well. The main character is Winston. At work, his job is to re-write history (just like he does in the original novel). History has been re-written so often that even Winston can't keep track of what the official story is.  He spends a great deal of time day trading and shopping for items online that he doesn't really need. Parts that I thought were prophetic include:   -Winston's country, Canamexicusan, an...

Published in 2018 by Licensed Publishing. Written by Charles Soule. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, David Curiel, and Java Tartaglia with Guru-eFX Synopsis This series tells the story of how Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader under the dangerous and abusive tutelage of Emperor Palpatine.  In the first story of  Darth Vader: The Burning Seas , Mon Cala has been reluctant to join Palpatine's empire. Governor Tarkin has been sent to Mon Cala to negotiate with their king. Mon Cala is the home world of fan favorite Admiral Ackbar. Ackbar is only Commander Ackbar in this story, but he plays a prominent role. Meanwhile, Vader and his team have been sent to Mon Cala to hunt down a Jedi that the Empire suspects is helping Mon Cala in their negotiations. When the shuttle carrying the Empire's negotiation team is destroyed by a bomb, all out war erupts... The second story ties in with the movie Rogue One. It is set on the planet Geonosis where the Empire is working o...