Scott's Take: Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw by Tom King, illustrator Daniel Sampere

Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw by Tom King, illustrator Daniel Sampere, deals with a complicated situation. During a bar fight, an Amazon allegedly kills several dudes. Somehow, the media and the government turn it into an indictment on all Amazons. All Amazons are ordered to leave the country by the United States government. The government creates Amazon Extradition Entity to hunt down any Amazons who refused to leave the country. Amazons like Wonder Woman. She is attempting to uncover the truth of what really happened and why. Of course, things get complicated fast.

 

Wonder Woman has not had a big-name writer in years until now. Frankly, DC has mishandled the franchise for several years. The last few runs were not bad, but they were not good. They were just okay. Each writer tried something different and none of it worked.

 

This run, so far, is both acclaimed and criticized in equal measure. More importantly, it is getting talked about. That is far more than I can say about previous runs. People are interested, they care, and they are actually reading it. This time, the interest is expanding past the usual base as many people are making this their first Wonder Woman book. I enjoyed it, but I also agree with the criticism.

 

The two main villains are sexist and dumb. They underestimate Wonder Woman to such a large degree, that might be the point. But the idea that even a sexist would come up with a plan of sending basic infantry with tank support against Wonder Woman who fights gods, monsters, and supervillains, and expect to win is laughingly bad. The idea that Steve, on and off boyfriend, is depicted as concerned for her against these enemies is dumb. Yea, babe, I saw you wreck a god just a few months ago, but these guys with guns are a concern.

 

Tom King never writes a character like anyone else. Tom King writes his version of a well-established character so everyone is either going to be slightly off or way more off.  All the character development to make several of her rogue’s more frenemies over the last years seems to be gone here. The government is always bad or incompetent. One expects that as he always does this because he is a former employee of the C.I.A. and clearly has issues with his employment and expresses that in his work.

 

Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw does have its positives as well. The art is incredibly good. Daniel Sampere does some really impressive work. The fights are action packed, Wonder Woman is complicated, she is kind but fierce, her rogue’s gallery is used well even if character development has been changed back to what was previously done in some cases. The new villain is interesting commentary on the country.

 

The Wonder Girls actually are all here and play a role. Most of the time the Wonder Girls are usually either not in a run or only one of them. All four have a role to play. There are some humor moments too. Tom King is clearly a fan of Wonder Woman and has done his research. Not many people remember that Wonder Woman has a pet kangaroo, for example, as the Kangaroo is allowed a small cameo.

 

I am looking forward to reading the next volume called Sacrifice which is coming out in November. Despite DC planning on rebooting a lot of the lines later in the year for their new All In (the new banner/marketing term for the DC books which has nothing to do with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his rants) campaign, this title is one of the few which should not see major shakeups as DC is happy with the product.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YqTtDe

 

My paperback reading copy came from the Timberglen Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Second Girl by David Swinson (Mulholland Books, 2016)

Second Girl by David Swinson (Mulholland Books, 2016) is the first book about retired Washington, DC, cop Frank Marr and the gritty underworld of DC. Ostensibly Marr retired before he had his 20 years in because of burn-out, but in reality he is a drug addict and his supervisors eased him quietly out so as not to jeopardize the dozens of high-profile convictions Marr had obtained. Now Marr does investigative work for a few lawyers and whoever can pay him while he searches for his next fix. As the book opens, he’s panicking about his diminishing supply of cocaine.

He has identified a small-time group of drug dealers on the east side of DC. He watches the crew for a few days to learn their schedule. He waits until they leave with their first haul of product to sell at the nearby park, then breaks into their apartment and is searching methodically for their stockpile when he hears a noise from the closed bathroom. He opens the door to find a nude teenaged girl, handcuffed to the pipes under the sink. She is bruised and battered and terrified. While Frank generally has the tenderness of a Mafia hit man, he can’t bring himself to leave her there. He scoops her up and takes her to the office of a lawyer he works for, buying himself some time to manufacture an explanation for how he happened to be in the apartment where she was locked up.

The teenager is one of several missing girls from the Virginia suburbs. Her parents are so grateful to Frank that they tell another set of parents whose daughter has been gone for months. These people are desperate and beg Frank to search for their daughter. Frank does not want to take the case, believing the girl to be out of the area by now, but he agrees to work a week and begins to annoy the police on the case as well as the drug dealers who had been trafficking girls.

David Swinson is a retired police detective from the DC Metropolitan Police Department himself and his writing bristles with knowledge of local police operations and the neighborhoods of DC. Frank Marr is an inspired creation, casually cruel and unscrupulous while fundamentally kind. He spins one whopper after another to cover up his addiction. He tap dances around the DC and Virginia police and the drug dealers, all of them suspecting he’s pulling a fast one but none of them able to figure it out. Breakneck pace, good writing, authentic setting, and a brilliant antihero.

Starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. Recommended!

 

·         Publisher: ‎Mulholland Books (June 7, 2016)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎368 pages

·         ISBN-10:‎ 9780316264174

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0316264174

  

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Scott's Take: Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Zero- The Complete Collection by Tom Taylor

Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Zero- The Complete Collection by Tom Taylor is a prequel to all the injustice games and rest of the injustice comics. For those who are unfamiliar with that universe. It is a lot like the original DC universe except in the Injustice Universe Superman becomes a dictator with several justice league members supporting and enforcing his dictatorship. At the same time, Batman leads a group of resistance fighters attempting to overthrow Superman. In that Injustice Universe the Joker tricks Superman into murdering a pregnant Lois Lane and destroying Metropolis. This act causes Superman to snap and murder the Joker. Superman falls into a mental breakdown where he decides that the only way to stop evil is by ruling the earth with an iron fist. If humans won’t stop hurting each other, he will make them. Several other heroes join Superman on his new mission while Batman and others attempt to stop him.  One major group of heroes that are never referenced prior to this book in the Injustice Universe is the JSA or the Justice Society of America. Why are the JSA never involved in the rest of the series? This 2021 prequel miniseries answers the question as to what happened to the JSA?

 

Part of this read is set during World War 2 while the rest is set during modern times. During World War 2, the JSA had a secret mission involving a magical amulet. That same amulet later comes to be in possession of the Joker is current times. The amulet has given him a powerful upgrade and the Joker sets out to kill the JSA which will impact the later formation of the Justice League and hurt Batman. It is up to the JSA and the Justice League to combine forces and stop the Joker.

 

This miniseries hinges on the relationship between the Justice League and the JSA. For those who don’t know, the JSA inspired many of the Justice League Members to become heroes. In the original DC universe, the JSA acted as the mentors to the Justice League and are their heroes. Here in the Injustice Universe, the Joker is attempting to destroy that relationship. As a fan of both the JSA and the Justice League, it is fun for me as a reader to see them team up since they do not do it very often.

 

Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Zero- The Complete Collection is a very dark and violent tale that is just as twisted as one would expect if they have read anything from the Injustice Universe. Once again Tom Taylor tells an excellent tale featuring lots of deaths and pain for the heroes involved. Being an Elseworld’s tale, the characters in this book are less safe than they would be normally. This read is excellent even if you have no prior experience with any of the rest of the Injustice Universe. However, this read nicely sets up the original Injustice Comic series and the first video game.

 

I highly recommend this for DC fans.

 

Injustice Gods Among Us: Year Zero- The Complete Collection

Tom Taylor

https://www.tomtaylormade.com/

DC Comics

https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/injustice-gods-among-us-year-zero-the-complete-collection

July 2021

ISBN# 978-1-77951-129-4

Hardback (also available in eBook format)

152 Pages 

 

 

My reading copy came from the Central Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

Scott Tipple ©2021

DC: Zoinks! DC Offers More Than 250 Scooby-Doo Comics for Free

Scott told me about this and thought it might be of interest to some here: 

DC: Zoinks! DC Offers More Than 250 Scooby-Doo Comics for Free

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar: Reviewed by Ambrea What would happen if Superman never crash-landed on a small farm in Kansas?  What if he never met the Kent...